BIRTH STORY
The arrival
of Santi
Through the practice of Hypnobirthing,
Martina Melim had an enjoyable, natural
birthing experience. She shares her story.
T
his is a day I will never forget. It is one that I relive on
a regular basis, I still cannot believe how incredible
and strong my body is. I grew a tiny human in there
and managed to get him out all perfect in one piece!
I was overdue - 40 weeks plus 3 days. The midwives
always tell you how you are officially 'full term' from 37 weeks and
how baby could come at any time. As soon as I hit that 37-week
mark, I instantly thought the baby would come any day. I had
waited this long and as soon as you know in your mind that your
baby is ready, you get a sudden feeling of desperation to meet what
has been growing inside of you. So, we began to try all the methods
that people convince you 'work' to induce labour. You name it, we
tried it! And, the truth is - nothing worked! Your baby and body
will tell you when they're ready. In all honesty, after 40 weeks and
3 days, I forgot about all the methods I had been trying and as
soon as I felt truly relaxed and unprepared, that is when labour
started.
Early labour
At 9.15am on 10th May 2018, I felt my first twinge. It was a small,
sharp pain in my lower back and it was not uncommon at this
point during my pregnancy. Was baby lying in a funny position? I
was unsure - so I decided to ignore it. At 9.23am I was desperate for
the toilet, so I popped upstairs for a wee and upon wiping I noticed
a funny coloured type of mucus in my knickers. Could this be my
mucus plug? I had heard that you can lose your mucus plug up to
3 weeks before giving birth, so I was confused about this weirdly
coloured discharge so late on in the pregnancy.
I wasn’t sure whether to go straight to the hospital, but May had
explained that the longer I stayed in my home comforts, the faster
I would dilate. So that was that. I was unsure how to feel, it was a
mixture of excitement, nerves, anxiety and relief. The day we had
been waiting for was finally here. I felt so ready on paper - my
hospital bag was packed, I had snacks bagged up and ready to take
to the hospital, my birthing preference was in full swing and I was
so overly organised that I had nothing to worry about. Saying that,
being ready on paper sometimes isn't enough. I did not feel ready
emotionally to deal with what was to come.
I called the hospital at 11.55am and explained that I was having
strong contractions and that my baby was on the way. I had the
phone in one hand and I was also bouncing on my birthing ball to
help at this point. The midwife on the phone was so confused as
to why I wasn't screaming, the pain was so intense I just couldn't
talk, all I could manage was to blow puffs of air. This is the 'breathe
baby down' technique that May had spoken to me about. I was
automatically putting it into practice!
Arriving at the hospital
My contractions were now strong enough to a point that I would
not speak or even open my eyes, but as soon as the surge went away,
I was back on my feet, sipping water and joking with people around
me. It is so weird how I went in and out of that state for a matter of
hours. Great news - I was 4.5cm dilated!
I cannot believe I had managed to stay at home until the half
way mark - that felt like an accomplishment in itself. I hadn't
even taken a paracetamol, just using my breathing techniques and
keeping myself distracted had worked for me at this point. I was
not opposed to having an epidural or any other medication they
had to offer, but I had come this far, so I decided to test myself and
see how much longer I could hold out. I really wanted a water birth
and some medications (such as the epidural) would mean that I
would not be allowed in the water.
Minutes turned in to hours and in all honesty, the contractions
became so repetitive and continuous that I didn't even focus on
the time. Michael must have arrived around 1.40pm and offered
support by rubbing my back and feeding me snacks - before I knew
it, it was 4.30pm. I had a moment of weakness and I asked the
midwife what pain relief was available. Before the midwife offered
me any pain relief, she asked if I was able to get up off the floor and
onto the bed so that she could examine me. I am aware that on my
birthing preference I asked them not to offer me even a paracetamol
unless I asked, and thankfully when she examined me, I was 9cm. I
couldn't believe what I was hearing. I survived 4 and a half hours of
active and intense labour, could I make it to the end?
Time to meet baby
Once they dipped me in the warm water of the birthing pool my
body just took over. I had gas and air on standby for the final stage.
From that point onwards, the story becomes a bit fuzzy. When
I speak of my body taking over, I closed my eyes and I felt my
mind take me elsewhere. It can only be described as an out-of-body
experience. With that being said, I dunked my head into the pool,
chin to chest and just gave the hardest push I could give. It's funny
how your body just knows what to do in the moment. I could
faintly hear Michael's voice in my ear telling me to take a deep
breath as I kept holding my breath during each push!
All in all, my active labour lasted for 6 hours and 40 minutes.
9 hours 40 if we count from my first twinge. I know that in my
case I was very lucky being able to stay at home for so long and
cope with the pain, something which I feel was only doable due
to Hypnobirthing. I am the type of person who cries when I have
to get an injection, so I am still in disbelief that this birthing
experience belonged to me.
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