Noemi's  hypnobirthing story

I went past my due date on the 30th of October and chose to reject induction and membrane sweep for the first time.

I had a 41+2 appointment scheduled with my midwife in case I didn't go into labour naturally before then.

During the last period, I experienced some cramps, but nothing else. Nonetheless, I had a strong feeling that the moment to meet my little one was not far away.

I diligently practiced hypnobirthing techniques with my husband. I put up a picture of my baby's perfect position (as there was a concern about breech presentation, but it was confirmed to be head down), positive affirmations on the wall in our bedroom, and listened to hypnobirthing MP3s whenever possible. I focused on the dream birth I wished to experience.

On the 3rd of November, around 7:30am, I woke up with mild period-like sensations that kept recurring every 15, 10, and 8 minutes, although they were short. I didn't mention anything to my husband until 10am, as I didn't want to unnecessarily get him too excited.

After telling him that something had started, I used my phone to time the surges. A few minutes later, I went to the bathroom and discovered that I was losing my mucus plug. I felt incredibly excited and happy because I knew that something significant was happening.

Although the surges were irregular, I decided to have a shower around 11:15am to prepare myself. Afterward, I relaxed in the living room with my birthing ball, essential oils, candles, and the Wise Hippo mp3s.

At around 12pm, I had lunch and felt like going for a walk at 2pm. The surges became a bit more regular, occurring every 7-8-10 minutes.

Around 2:20pm, I called the triage just to be on the safe side, considering this was my second baby. They said I could go in if I felt like it, but I didn't feel ready yet.

From 3pm, I tried to take a rest, and things slowed down for a bit. I had one surge in 28 minutes, then another in 10 minutes.

My toddler and husband joined me from 4pm to 5pm. Around 5:45pm, I ran a warm bath and tried to relax with my favourite songs and affirmations for a while. I continued losing the mucus plug.

After the bath, things started to speed up very quickly, with surges occurring on average every 3-4 minutes and lasting around 30-40 seconds. Despite the intensity, I remained calm, relaxed, and felt I could still breathe through them.

Lorant noticed that the surges were becoming more frequent, occurring every 2-3 minutes. By 8pm, they were even more frequent, happening every 1-2 minutes. However, I decided to wait for at least one more hour to see if they would become longer.

I can understand that most people would just go crazy at this point and probably running to the hospital much earlier, but I was just so calm and listened to my inner voices. No need to mention the excitement at this point from Lorant's side, seeing that I have surges almost without break and asking me every 2 minutes if we need to go in.. :) 

While doing the bedtime routine with my son, I had a feeling that something has changed and it was time to go, so Lorant called the birth centre, and my mom stayed with our son.

We arrived at the birth centre within 15 minutes. At this point, I couldn't sense any breaks between the surges, and they were very intense. The midwife examined me and found that I was already 9 cm dilated, soon with a strong urge to bear down. 

I was shocked and overjoyed.

Lorant informed the midwife about my birth plan which was a water birth, and they said they would take me to the room as quickly as possible. However, there might not be enough time to fill up the birthing pool, as it could take up to an hour and the baby might come before that.

Due to the urgency, we didn't have time to set up anything we had planned, but I wasn't stressed about it, I knew things were going as they have to be. It was a very beautiful, silent night.. We were finally in the relaxing room, and I could feel that we were very close to meeting our baby.

As soon as we entered the room, I felt the need to be on all fours with some bean bags and the birthing ball. The midwife was incredibly supportive and kind, which made me feel comfortable. Lorant was by my side, and the MP3s played in the background.

The midwife advised me to listen to my body and do what it was telling me to do.

A few minutes later, my water broke, and it was perfectly clear.

Things became more intense at this point, and I was in complete transition. I didn't know how, but I knew I could do it.

I combined breathing and humming down techniques with pushing, as it felt right for me.

The midwife informed me that she could see a bit of the baby's head and that it was very close. She reassured me that I was doing really well.

Lorant held my hand and provided all the support I needed.

Soon, I felt the head starting to crown, but it slipped back a few times before finally emerging. A few minutes later, our beautiful little surprise baby was born at 22:19, just 1 hour and 10 minutes after arriving at the hospital.

My husband announced that we had a little boy, and he was placed on my chest. We opted for delayed cord clamping, allowing the baby to receive all the beneficial stem cells from the placenta.

Although I initially wanted to wait for the natural birth of the placenta, I felt very sensitive and requested the injection to facilitate its delivery.

We were fortunate to have two golden hours of uninterrupted bonding time with our baby before he was weighed.

To our surprise, our baby weighed 10.47lb and measured 59 cm, bigger than our first son. We were overjoyed that I was able to give birth without any tearing, especially after experiencing a long and challenging forceps delivery and a third-degree tear with my first baby. 

I couldn't believe that I had achieved the birth I had dreamed of, without any interventions or pain relief. The feelings were indescribable.

After this peaceful night, in the morning, at 9am, we arrived home safely and soundly, ready to embark on this new journey as a family of 4.

Hypnobirthing and The Wise Hippo Birthing Programme truly empowered & equipped me to believe in my body, instincts and my baby. 

My heart will always be full with gratitude.