Hey Rosie,

6 weeks later, finally getting around to updating you on the birth of our bub  

Let's just say, my unmedicated water birth didn't go as I'd hoped.

At 39 weeks I was admitted to hospital at 2230pm after figuring out I had been leaking amniotic fluid for a couple of days and experienced a minor bleed post sex (trying to get baby out ) I was popped on IV antibiotics to protect bub and encouraged to have an induction the same night/morning to ensure bubs was at low risk of infection. During my first exam, the doctor let me know I was already 5cm dilated, much to my shock as I had not felt any contractions so far!! 

I had an artificial rupture of membranes and things were moving. The IV syntocinon was commenced at 0215am and boy did things move quickly. The pain went from a comfortable 1/10 to a complete 10/10 in a matter of minutes. I began using the gas for pain relief however I began vomiting shortly after and decided to ditch it. I asked for an epidural to control the pain. The anaesthetist came and popped that in at 0320am. Over the next 30 minutes the pain got more intense and it was evident the epidural had no effect on me. In hindsight I find it a blessing that I got to experience the full brunt of labour. At 0410am I got the unbelievable urge to push! I asked my amazing midwife to check my cervix and low and behold I was all the way to 10. After a couple of position changes and a few grunts later, our girl Millie was born at 0426am. Even though my birth was not how I had anticipated, it was a beautiful experience. I followed my gut and instincts the throughout my labour and made sure I advocated for myself and for my baby. I know it's crazy to say but I'm looking forward to my experience with my next baby! 
​

​​I just want to thank you Rosie on your wonderful Birth Prep course. If Jarryd and I didn't delve in to learning the ins and outs of birth and early parenting with you I don't think we would have coped with our situation as well as we did. Understanding all aspects of birth was crucial for us to remain calm and somewhat in control while going through a labour that I most definitely didn't plan. I was able to advocate for myself and made sure I was informed of everything before it happened. If anyone asks me where to do a birthing course I will most definitely send them your way! 

Millie Thewlis
10/01/23
0426am 
4040 grams
50 cm long 
35 hc

​Rosie Fitzclarence is a Registered Midwife, Registered Nurse, Childbirth Educator (Geelong Born) and a Hypnobirthing Australia Certified Practitioner.

She is based in Geelong and can be contacted by email at [email protected] or phone 0419170783.

To find out more about Geelong Born Birth Prep private classes via Skype or face-to-face CLICK HERE

​
​41+3 woke up at 12.30am with surges, by 2am I was out of bed and in the shower! I was in labour. All throughout pregnancy I wanted a spontaneous labour and it was happening! I laboured in the shower, on a fit ball with use of a labour comb and TENS. I was unable to sit down as my surges were in my back. 4am I woke my husband and said I needed to go to hospital (my plan was to labour at home as long as possible). Surges were 5mins apart and they were consistent.  Soon as I woke my husband I vomited. I called the hospital and said I was headed in and asked if I can have the room with the bath - I got told it’s not allowed for VBAC! I said read my 40week appt as it was clarified then. I knew it was going to happen and I was so angry at it. 
Headed into hospital and surges slowed right down - 45min drive. Once I got there surges were every 10mins. They didn’t pick back up. I accepted CTG - despite not wanting it my whole pregnancy and fighting to not have it for so long. After the decelerations in bubs HR I felt comfortable with it. At 10am I accepted a VE (4cm) The staff offered me to go home. I however didn’t feel comfortable with it - I knew I couldn’t sit in the car. The staff suggested I go to the postnatal ward and labour there as they needed the room. I agreed and walked the (once again could not sit). The walk really kicked things off. I was in the post natal room for around a 1.45hrs before moving back to birth suite as my contractions were every 5mins again (12.30pm). I got my bath at around 1.30-2ish. Until this point I had been labouring with shower, labour Comb +/- TENS. 

 
​I had been booked in for cervical ripening on Wednesday the 8th of September. This would be the 42 week mark. The hospital had wanted me to book an induction prior but I was so determined for a spontaneous labour I wanted to give myself as much time as possible so I had declined a few times prior. 

On the Tuesday morning we went for a walk to get a coffee with my in laws! Just as a last hoorah before two became three. 

I decided since I’d be going to hospital the next day I should fill up the freezer, so I did a huge cook up.  Then cleaned the kitchen and did some washing. I cooked us a nice healthy dinner because I knew I had a big day the next day. Lots of nesting! 

After dinner I asked Dom if he would watch Notting hill with me, I had it on my list of things to do while in pre labour because I love that movie and what better film to get some oxytocin flowing. 

I got a message from my MGP midwife at 8.45 saying she would come over in the morning at 8.30am. She had been off for the week. I really wanted to see her before being induced as I was feeling really scared, since it wasn’t the birth plan I had intended. I felt instantly relieved knowing she was back. 

When the movie finished I put my birth playlist on and Dom started watching tv. I was sort of feeling a bit twingey but I was ignoring it because I just didn’t want to get my hopes up again. Then 10.20pm, POP! Water everywhere. It was nice and pink which meant no meconium which was super exciting. Since babies that come later have a greater chance of having mec in the waters. 

​The soft touch Dom was doing that we learnt at hypnobirthing felt so comforting and nice. He was also so calm and kept reminding me to relax my shoulders and jaw and that was unbelievably helpful. I didn’t even notice I was tensing until he would touch me and tell me to relax.

We hopped in the shower and Dom had the water on my back which felt good for a bit. 

I feel like having an educated birth partner played such a vital role in me being able to labour the way I wanted to. He knew exactly how I wanted it to be and he didn’t get overwhelmed at all when things were pretty full on. 

​After a while I wanted to get out of the shower and use the tens machine again. I was most comfortable kneeling on the floor leaning over the couch or bouncing on the ball. 

It was getting very intense and Dom was ready to call Kate our Doula, I kept saying no thinking I would have had sooo much longer to labour before going to hospital and I didn’t want to wake her too early.

It got to 4.20am and he put his foot down and said it was time to call her. On the phone call he told her what was happening and she told him to call the midwife. I told him no because I still thought it was too early and I didn’t want to waste her hours early because I needed her to be there for our birth. 

When Kate arrived she said to Dom definitely call the midwife now and that she didn’t think I was far off. 

While dom was talking to the midwife and getting ready to go to hospital Kate was with me doing soft touch massage and pressure points while I moved between being on the toilet and bouncing on the ball. Her presence was so calming. I remember feeling so hot and her hands felt so soft and cold on my skin. It was really soothing.

Having a doula was priceless, even though she only got to be with us at home as she couldn’t come to hospital because of covid. It made me feel so safe having her there and Dom felt so supported by her too. It was such a confusing time and if she wasn’t there to tell me our baby was definitely coming I probably would have had Clementine on the bathroom floor because I was in complete denial of how things were progressing. 

I kept falling asleep in between contractions and almost falling off the ball. Dom was kneeling in front of me and catching me when I did. He and Kate moved me onto the bed so I could have a sleep. 

Once I was on the bed the contractions ramped up and I started feeling this crazy intense pressure. I wouldn’t describe it as painful in the conventional sense, it was definitely just a feeling of pressure like nothing else I’ve ever felt. My body was literally squeezing itself. 

I was telling Kate I needed to poo and I wanted to push, then once the contraction finished it went away. Kate said it was time to go to the hospital but I wanted a VE first because as much as I felt like I was ready and needed to push I still had it in my head that it was going to be so much longer. Kate called our midwife again and told her she needed to get there ASAP as she thought Clementine was very close. 

When she got there I kept saying it’s ok if I’m only 2cm dilated, I can still do this. 2cm is fine. 

I remember Kate saying your definitely not 2cm. She knew I was transitioning but I just doubted myself so much. I was still telling myself we could be doing this for many more hours and I needed to be prepared and stay calm because I so desperately didn’t want to have any interventions. 

In hindsight I needed to trust how I was feeling but I was so confused about how fast it was happening.

Our midwife checked and said there’s only a small amount of cervix left and it’s time to go to hospital. (I found out later that I was 8cm dilated at this point).

Dom helped me into the car and we left. 

In the car I just kept yelling to myself don’t push, while roaring through every contraction. Dom was thinking little Clementine was going to come out on the back seat. I can’t imagine how he must have been feeling but he just kept saying things like, you’re ok, you’re doing so good Liv. 

In hindsight I wish I had of just stayed relaxed and thought I’d she comes in the car that is ok. Because once I changed my mindset to tell her not to come, it was really hard to change it back when we arrived at hospital. The mind is such a powerful thing. 

We got to hospital at 7.15am, Dom pulled up to the door and got the bags out of the back then helped me out of the car. I had to stop in the entrance through a contraction and I was roaring sooo loudly. I remember there were two men there out the front that would have got the fright of their life but I could not contain my voice I just needed to be loose and let it out. 

They brought out a wheel chair but I didn’t feel like I could sit, so I walked to the birth room. I grabbed onto the side table and started baring down through my contractions. They placed the CTG monitors on because of my gestation being 42weeks. I had thought prior to labour I didn’t want the monitoring but once we were in there I didn’t even really notice it. 

My legs were feeling so tired so they pulled over a mat and I knelt down for a while, then I moved to the toilet because that’s where I felt most comfortable. 

​I was absolutely roaring through every contraction and I remember Dom saying you sound like a warrior, it was the best thing to hear and it made me feel so strong and empowered and I thought.. I am a warrior! 

I moved back to kneeling beside the bed and they started struggling to get a good read on Clementine's heart rate through the monitor so they asked to put on the foetal scalp electrode. Which is a little screw into baby’s scalp to monitor the oxygen levels in their blood. I was happy to do that because I thought if I do need to have any interventions I want to know that it was absolutely necessary to protect her and not just guess work from doctors. 

Her heart rate wasn’t coming back up after dropping and they wanted me to move onto the bed and lay on my left side. I had said the whole way though that I didn’t want to go onto the bed and I would not lay on my back to deliver my baby. But at this point I was so exhausted and I knew that my MGP midwife was going to make sure I got the birth experience I dreamed of if I could. Clementine's safety was the top priority now and trusted that she had both our best interests at heart. So I got up onto the bed. 

Once I was up there Clementine started crowning and my midwife asked if I wanted to move off the bed but I was so tired I just couldn’t.

Dom said her head is there and told me to reach down and feel. I knew it was time to push. 

On my birth plan I had written not to give me push prompts, I would push as my body feels. But I guess as it was my first time it was a strange feeling. I knew I had to push but I wasn’t sure how and I was feeling lost in the contractions as they were short and I couldn’t quite work it out. The midwife then said to me the doctors wanted to come in and do an episiotomy and asked what I thought. I told her I trusted her and what she thought was right. I feel like she gave me a bit of a look and said something along the lines of ‘push, you can do it.’ So I knew I had to dig deep.

I clenched my teeth and pushed with everything I had. The midwives were holding my legs so I could push against them. Dom was cheering me on like I was about to win gold at the Olympics or something and his voice gave me every power I needed to push this little girl out. 

Her head came out and I had to push again to get her body out but I think I was hesitating a bit, I just kept saying “Dom get her.” He assured me he’s got her and so I pushed again and out she came at 9am on the dot. 

Someone had to help him because Clementine had the cord around her neck. I could see the cord wrapped around her but from the education I had done I knew that wasn’t anything to worry about and I was calm while they detangled her. Then Dom lifted her up onto my chest. It was the most bizarre feeling in the world. I looked at this baby and I just couldn’t believe my eyes. She was perfect. I was rubbing her and willing her to cry, so that I knew she was ok and breathing. She let out a big cry and it was the best moment of my life. 

I asked for her apgar score and they said 8 and 9, I was very proud! 

I had requested to birth my placenta on my own without the injection. Those after pains/uterus contractions were awful. I moved to the toilet to try and get it moving, they usually don’t let you have too long to try a physiological third stage. I think my midwife was really buying me my time.  I got 90minutes into that and I decided to have the oxytocin injection to get it moving. The instant relief after it was out I can’t even describe. I’m glad I tried the physiological third stage but next time I’d be happy to have the injection much sooner. 

I had a second degree tear and also a bit of an upwards tear. I’m blaming this on me tensing up and stopping Clementine from coming while I was in the car and not just relaxing and letting my body birth her. 

​I had a local anaesthetic to numb the area so I wouldn’t feel the stitching and I went to town on the gas because that feeling of having stitches down there was so uncomfortable. I squeezed Dom's hand and he squeezed my arm really firm so I could concentrate on him instead of the stitching and that really helped. 

The gas made me so spaced out and I couldn’t help but think that I was so glad I didn’t have it through labour because I wouldn’t have wanted to feel like that when I first met Clementine face to face. 

The grogginess did wear off really quickly though which was good. 

I had Clementine on my chest doing skin to skin the whole way through doing that. She stayed on my chest for the 3 golden hours, which is meant to help with starting off a positive breast feeding journey. 

My midwife helped me get her to latch onto the nipple and she had a short feed. 

After we had the 3 golden hours Dom took her and she got weighed, 4.070kgs, 9 pounds they said. She was 50cm long and her head circumference was 36cm. A big bubba! 

Dom and Clemmy had skin on skin while I had a shower and she got her needles then too. 

​We went to dress her but I had only brought in 5x0 clothing not thinking we would have such a big baby. So Dom had to go to the car to get the 4x0 clothing. When he went he took our bags back so he had less to carry when we left. But he took the bag that had the blankets in it. So after we dressed her and we were ready to leave birth suite and go home we had to wrap Clementine up in Dom's jumper that he had been wearing all night. 

We chose to go straight home from birth suite as I was in the MGP program and would have support from our midwife at home over the following days. Also because of Covid the restrictions on the ward meant Dom could only stay two hours and we couldn’t have any other visitors. So we birthed Clementine at 9am and we left hospital by 2.30pm. I was so happy to get home. 

The education I did during pregnancy- 

• Hypnobirthing Australia course - Geelong born 
• Head start to breast feeding, one-on-one class- Geelong born 
• Birth world, birth time documentary 
• The breastfeeding program- Dr Robyn Thompson method 
• Australian Birth Stories: the birth class. 1. Physiological childbirth with doula Rhea Dempsey & 6. Pain management and birth interventions with midwife Beth Ryan.(I wish I signed up earlier and listened to them all and not just two).

After many appointments during pregnancy, I declined to listen any further about an induction of labour based on my BMI. All of this talk began earlier in the pregnancy. I was fed up. I also explained I did not want my blood pressure to be checked either. 

Fast forward to 34 weeks:
I had my hospital appointment and declined a third trimester scan. I was sure they were trying to find reasons to induce my labour. 
Then I began to get itchy feet. I was able to continue working but of a night the itching began. I didn't think much of it. It wasn't unbearable. 
I commenced maternity leave at 37 weeks and that's when the itching had peaked. Nothing relieved my symptoms. I knew this was cholestasis. I knew it was severe. I knew I was going to have an induction. I was scared.

I had my scheduled appointment and I mentioned how itchy I was. Immediately I was given the pathology forms and the probability of an IOL. 
The doctor was incredible. Knowing how much I didn’t want an induction, she promised I wouldn’t have an induction if my bloods came back okay. 

I received a phone  call saying that my liver was compromised and that meant my baby was compromised. With all the research I had done leading up to this point, I knew my baby was better out than in. I was only 37+3. 
The doctor felt it to be urgent enough to book me in for the next day. I declined. I needed more time. I suggested to go in for a CTG the next day and have the IOL commenced the day after. 
All agreeable I received another phone call from the midwife saying I was booked for an ARM in the morning. 
I didn’t believe as a first time mum my cervix would be ready enough. I insisted on having further cervical ripening. I was therefore booked for that evening. 

I had my birth plan ready to go. 
I had Cervidil overnight. I was still getting the same tightness that I had been getting for the past week. 

The next day 0900 I had my ARM.
My room was set up by my midwife; dimly lit, a diffuser on and the computer playing calming music.  I was contracting on my own 3:10 mod/strong, lasting 45s. 
Boy oh boy, there was a lot of amniotic fluid. 
As per my birth plan, I had intermittent CTG monitoring as I wanted to be in the shower. They had telemetry monitoring but the signal was always getting interference so I declined having it on all the time. 
The shower was amazing. 

A little over 4 hours later, 1330 I had my first VE. 
Cervix-same. 
Suggestion from doctor- epidural and Synt. 
Decline. Continued contracting on my own, using the shower, intermittent CTG. Nick was incredible. Light touch, dim room, reminding me to drink and agreed with my wishes. 

1530 our birth photographer, Shalea arrives. 

1700 
Cervix-unchanged.
Suggestion from doctor-epidural and synt “to relax you” (apparently I wasn’t relaxed enough). 
Decline epidural. Accept Synt. Accepted gas and air. 
Call to anaesthetist for IV. Anaesthetist came in and introduced themselves and went over medical history, continually suggesting “if I didn’t have an epidural prior to emLSCS then I would only be given a general and would be taken to ICU.” 

Holy cow! Not only am I in the middle of labouring, and receiving multiple IV sticks, I have to endure this news too. This played on my mind. My risk of LSCS is so high, and I wanted to avoid an epidural. 
I was on the bed for many attempts at an IV, Synt finally commenced 1945. I was ensured the time waiting for IV and Synt to start would not count against me. 

Continued using gas and air with intermittent CTG monitoring. 
Synt going up and down, up and down depending on contraction pattern. 
Nick continually supporting me. He never left my side. Rubbing my back, light touch on my shoulders or thigh and when a big contraction started and I became more vocal, a grounding touch reminded me to not lose focus. 
It was everything I needed. I felt transitional. I had pressure. Every contraction was pressure. I told anyone who listened how much pressure I had. 

Overnight was a blur. I do remember Shalea coming and taking photos and going back to the car park to sleep in her car. She did not want to miss any action.  I remember doctors continually trying to come into my space. I don’t want them. I don’t need them. They were asked to leave. 

I had my next VE at 0200. By golly you wouldn’t believe it to be true; my cervix, was the same! 
No way, no how. I have all this pressure. I lost focus. I was broken. 
17 hours after the ARM and I’m still the same. 
5 hours after Synt started and I’m still the same? Okay, well, knowing what the next steps might look like, I want the epidural. 
I don’t want it because I’m in pain. The gas and air was fantastic. The shower was fantastic. The pressure I was feeling made no sense considering my cervix was the same.  I got the epidural because I wanted to be awake, I wanted to see my baby be born. Surely the doctors aren't going to take that from me. 

The anaesthetist comes in and explains the procedure. I explain I don’t want any medication through the epidural, but I want it in just in case   But if they don’t give the meds they wouldn’t know if it was placed correctly. So I agreed to the medication but not a continuous one. I want one I can control with the button. 
Anaesthetist swiftly placed the epidural. The CTG is now continuous and IDC is in. I’m on my back on the bed. My mind is broken. My body now numb. I sleep for 4 hours. 

0600 epidural wearing off. All the pressure returns with every contraction. I request a VE. Doctor comes in, VE performed, you guessed it, it’s the same! 

My future is made up I thought to myself. 
My midwife from the night before returns for the morning, Claire. An angel sent from the heavens. 
I asked Claire if the baby’s heart rate was okay?
“Yep, everything is normal” she quickly responded. 
I said to Claire, if that trace is normal, I will not be going for a LSCS. Claire backs me. Nick backs me. I’ve got this, I thought. 

The doctor says next VE at 1100. This is the decider. 
My legs were still so heavy and I thought to have the best chance I needed to move off my back.
I got help to roll to my side. With the epidural still wearing off more and more I have the gas back. The pressure is still so intense. I can’t move myself but my back is aching and I can’t get comfortable. Rolling to the left, rolling to the right, moving up in the bed, I can’t bare it anymore. I beg Claire for another VE. This time I said no doctor is doing it. They’ve not given me any good news. I want Claire to perform it. 
Claire reiterates that the doctors request to do it as they will decide this time what needs to happen moving forward. 
I absolutely refuse. I do not consent to a doctor performing my VE. I beg Claire. Claire agrees after consulting with the doctors. ​

1030 Fully dilated. You beauty! How did this happen? I don’t care, I’m fully. 
I want more movement to be able to birth my own baby. I want more time. I request for passive decent. I need more time for the epidural to wear off more. It’s agreed to have an hour of passive decent. 
Claire leaves the room to update the doctors. Shalea has commenced practice shots to ensure lighting okay for the photos. The room is quite. I only concentrate on breathing. In and out. 
I think to myself I needed to adjust my hips. As soon as I do, I couldn't help what happened next. 
Everything is calm. Everything is quiet. 
I can’t help but push. No body knows this is happening. Claire isn’t here. Nick is by my side. Push after push. Shalea notices! She alerts Nick. Shalea gets Claire. 
I’m crowning. 
Baby’s head is out.
Baby is born. 2nd degree labial tear. 

We have a boy! 
We have a whole 4.2kgs worth of baby to love. 

Rohan James 

A moment to remember forever, Shalea and Rohan now share a birthday. Shalea gave up time with her family to celebrate her birthday to be there for the moment Rohan was born. 


Rosie, you taught us to speak up. Granted I’ve gone against the grain of normal. But It felt so right. We listened to the risks. Together Nick and I decided our plan. And in the end, I had a gorgeous space to labour, the most respecting midwives and I got my vaginal birth. 

Words can not express how much your words during your class encouraged us to ask questions and decide our own path. 

We had an early discharge. We declined baby BSL monitoring. ​

Hi Rosie,

We just wanted to send an email to let you know that Bowie Duane has arrived and we are so in love. Thank you for all of your help in the hypnobirthing course. We learnt so much and it especially helped Jordan to prepare for our home birth. He was amazing. He was so calm, never showed any fear and knew exactly how to support me. 

​

My birth story:

On the 19th July at 39+2 I noticed some stronger braxton hicks in the morning. I felt really emotional and had a little cry with Jordan as well, not particularly about anything! My body was clearing out and I was thinking could this be my body preparing? But I also knew that this could happen over days or weeks so didn’t get my hopes up too much. The braxton hicks fizzled out that afternoon and I did all of my usual things to support my body by walking the dog, drinking raspberry leaf tea, bouncing on my birth ball, using visualisations and most importantly relaxing and accepting that my body knows what to do and when to birth my baby. As I was getting ready for bed that night I lost my mucous plug! Again, I didn’t get my hopes up because I knew this could still mean I had days or weeks ahead of me. 

On the 20th of July at 39+3 I was woken with contractions at 4.30am. I took some paracetamol, heated up my heat pack and tried to go back to bed but I could not get comfortable. I needed to move through these contractions and laying down was making them worse. I got up and thought it’d be best to let Jordan sleep for a bit longer in case we were in for a long night and I woke my mum who was staying with us as she travelled from Adelaide before lockdown to be here for the birth! She was a good distraction for a couple of hours, we watched tv shows and got excited about the fact the baby might be joining us soon!

I didn’t get a gradual build up to my contractions. They were coming every 5 minutes and it seemed that each one was more intense than the last. This made it difficult to find a rhythm with my body and find what works. I moved around and used my heat pack for a while and then I moved to the TENS machine. It was around 7.30am and I had woken Jordan up at this point as I was finding I was getting really emotional and needed the extra support. I used the TENS for an hour but my heart was longing for water so I moved into the shower. Jordan and my mum were amazing at supporting me. Jordan kept the bathroom dark and moved the diffuser there for a little light and I moaned through each contraction. I started to get overwhelmed around 9.30am as they were becoming intense so we called the midwife for an early labour assessment. She arrived at 10am, I agreed to a vaginal exam and I was found to be 3cm dilated with baby in a great position and low in the pelvis.

​Thank you so much Rosie. I 100% owe you and the hypnobirthing course for Jordan’s preparedness and calmness. I wouldn’t of been able to do it without him and he tells me the course gave him so much knowledge on physiological birth and how to support this that he knew my body was doing just what it needed to do and this wasn’t something to be afraid of! 

We are absolutely in love with our little Bowie Duane, all 2.9kg of him! 

Thank you,

Chloe & Jordan :)

I first met Bridie back in 2017 for a coffee in Melbourne. Although not yet pregnant, she had already started her planning for her healing VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean). She was carefully considering her options for care providers, place of birth, support crew and how she would prepare both physically and mentally. Her first labour experience was incredibly challenging, and Bridie worked hard to ensure this birth would be different. I just loved her drive and determination!
 
Bridie and her partner Edd attended my Geelong Born hypnobirthing course via Zoom in May of this year. They went on to have an amazing birth in July…just when lockdown 2.0 was hitting the state.

Thank you for sharing Bridie and Edd and a huge congratulations to you all!!

Rosie xx

Hiya Rosie

Thought I'd send you an email rather than just a text with all the juicy details of what was the best experience of my entire life!

I was convinced that I wasn't going to go into spontaneous labour - but had negotiated with the hospital certain milestones in my pregnancy. I'd declined a stretch and sweep since my 38 week appointment, and then at my 41 week appointment I was assigned a different OB and I had a bit of a cry to her when she asked me what I wanted to do. Induction was pretty much off the table because of my previous caesarean section and secondary tear, so I insisted on waiting as long as possible and to book repeat caesarean section instead for when I would be 42+3.

I was booked into twice weekly fetal monitoring and I had an appointment on the Tuesday where I had higher than average but still ok levels of amniotic fluid. Baby fine but not moving heaps and heaps - nothing concerning but definitely noticed a change.

Anyway when I was in the appointment Dan Andrews announced lockdown pt 2. Edd and I had been on a big walk that morning, but I had an urge to go to Chaddy to make the most of the open shops - and that's when I felt the first surges! I played it cool though and didn't tell Edd.

He cooked up a fabulous roast, oblivious to the fact I was having contractions lol, and i got myself ready for bed with a long shower, cleaned everything up, took hospital bag downstairs and read Scarlett about fifty stories in her bed.

We watched Breaking Bad whilst I bounced on the fit ball - and then I noticed my mucous plug started to come away but there was no blood - so I wasn't convinced it was labour. Contractions coming in about 1 in 10 mins/1:10

After doing some gutter walks like I'd done every night for weeks, i went to sleep around 12am.and awoke at 3 unable to sleep through the pain.

I rang the hosp but as I was getting 2:10 they said have some paracetamol and come in when it's 3:10 or I can't bear the pain. Having done the hypnobirthing course I knew I wanted to stay home as long as possible. 

By now it's around 5am and the paracetamol did nothing and the contractions really amped up so I rang my mum. As soon as she got to my house she felt my belly and she's like 'this is it'!...so I finally woke Edd and he showered and shaved???(men) and we left for the hospital at 6:15.

The car ride there and walk up to pregnancy assessment was horrific! The contractions were stronggg. But all these people who saw us kept saying congrats and good luck .. someone even gave Edd free parking lol. It was a sign haha

I was assessed and told I was breathing through contractions really well and got sent to birth suite straight away - no idea how dilated I was. 

Anyway then it hit us - we were in birth suite!!! Baby was coming!! 

I laboured for about an hour as they hooked me up to CTG then doc came in and gave me a cannula and the antibiotics  then some more time went by and I was vomiting and I started on the gas and air lol. 

I had a dilation check and I was 5cm yay! 

I kept labouring and baby was so so so low they thought she was going to come in the morning! They had me push but it wasn't time. I started to get an uncontrollable urge to push at this point and I felt like every bone and organ in my body was trying to come out and I had to breathe through the pain and stop it. That was unbearable. An hour or two later the doc broke my waters and after two hours of writhing around in pain abusing Kate middleton lol (whilst turning into a roaring cow, my labour animal) I had another check and I was 7cm but the midwife was worried as my cervix was swelling. 

She suggested epidural so my body could relax. The pain from involuntary pushing and trying to stop that was terrible. I was worried the epi would stall my labour but she said it was likely going to be my best shot of vbac.

I agreed and even though it took an hour to come it was absolutely amazing.

I was still having surges and could feel pressure but no pain. For the hour I had the epidural in Edd went down stairs and I relaxed using hypnotherapy techniques and physically relaxing myself.

I was still having 3-4:10 contractions so I had another check and the doc goes "you're going to have a baby within the next hour! You're 10cm!" My body did it! It relaxed and opened up!

I rang Edd and after about half an hour of room set up including wheeling in the little baby cot, I was pushing. We put on some EDM music it was a rave party we were all so excited..

Then I started pushing! She told me she might need to give me episiotomy and I was so not interested in that so I used everything in me to push bubs out myself. My midwife kept me updated on progress by showing me with a mirror! I couldn't believe that was my body when i saw the little head crowning.

The pushing was so pleasant I didn't even feel myself tear and it was all over in 20 minutes! Within the hour as the doc said.

It was just awesome!! The feeling when I pulled her up to me omg I wish I could bottle it!! The most incredible experience.

I am so proud of this birth. My first birth was the worst experience of my life. This one was the absolute best. 

I used hypnobirthing throughout, even though I didn't labour in water and had the epidural. The strength of self it taught me, the breathing techniques and the power of affirmations and visualisation contributed greatly to the success.

I also had incredible continuity of care - no more than 2 staff were in the room at one point and that wasn't because of covid.

I also had an incredible midwife. Supportive yes and quick thinking. Didn't Molly coddle me or be too hard. She was perfect.

I can't fault the experience..my vbac journey started years ago and lots and lots of mental and physical work went into it to give myself the best possible chance of success.

Thank you for being part of my story Rosie! Starting in 2017 with you and culminating this year in the weirdest of all years!

Thanks for believing in me and always being in my corner. ​

Quick version:

👶 Rufus Noel Facey
🧷 boy
⏰ 10:30pm
📅03/03/2020
⚖ 3.02 kgs
📏 50 cms
♓ Pisces
🍉39.5 wks
🍼Spontaneous 18hr labour (No drugs wahhhh)

Long version for those interested:

In the 2 weeks leading up to the due date, I had some high blood pressure readings. This meant going from low-risk midwife clinic appoints to hospital observations every 2 days (one day we were in for 8 hours), booked date of induction, and therefore a lot of extra pressure to get this baby out.

This was a hard mental game, do we try get a few more days to try naturally but put bub and myself under potential risk?

I also found out I was Group B strep positive and was shattered this meant I couldn't labour at home if my waters broke.

The date was tentatively booked for 4th March at 3pm (today), and although we could back out, we did 2 weeks of every natural labour tips:
• Walking every day
• Drinking raspberry leaf tea
• Bouncing on the fitness ball
• Expressing colostrum (fantastic practice)
• Chiropractor adjustment (highly recommend if you are stiff and sore)
• Massage with Clary sage
• Blake spiking my food with chillies
• Acupuncture (amazingly relaxing and helpful)

On the weekend, I purchased the Baby Come Out hypno track and Monday had acupuncture. I had a lot of last minutes fear building up and these help me to get my head calm and positive again. Monday my blood pressure was normal, so I was going to come the day of my induction, and negotiate if that if they were still normal, I didn't want to be induced. I called everyone to get them to get off my back, and stop sending me messages asking if baby has arrived (while lovely, became another overwhelming factor). Ah, peace at last...

.....that next morning, Tuesday 3rd at 4am I woke with period-like cramps and asked my husband to get me a heat pack. I had a bath soon after, had on Surge of the Sea, and stronger cramps that ran up my back and down my thighs. My waters hadn't broken and my mucous plug hadn't shown up, so I kept thinking ' this can't be labour..can it?'

I put my husband to work early with some massages, but didn't like to be touches at all during surges. I also struggled to be standing or sitting on the ball as my surges actually ran down my legs so intensely that I had to lie on my side. But I distinctly remember looking into Blake's eyes and feeling absolutely no fear.

I had a bit of a snooze around 10am and when I woke there was no mistaking I was in labour. I couldn't flop with the back and leg pain surges, the TENS didn't help me, and I started becoming vocal. So we started the surge timer and called the parents to be on standby.

The parents dramatically turned up at the hospital at midday movie-style and were surprise that we were still home. I stayed at home until 6pm, having baths, using the heat pack, listening to Tranquil Chambers on repeat... my husband's mum is a midwife and was trying to make me walk around the house slowly ( later found out she didn't think I was that far along). I was so incredibly happy that I was able to experience early labour with just my husband and my bed and the cat... and then it felt right to move to the hospital.

I walked into hospital at 7pm, felt ill and spewed shortly after, and the force of spewing actually released my mucous plug(!) so I had a quick shower. The midwives commented "we usually send 'first-timers' home, but lets check you" and I was 7cm dilated!!

My waters were still a bit intact so they released them. Baby had done a poop so they were prepped in case he was distressed but I only focussed on myself. I had plenty of rest time between surges but as they were hurting my thighs the only place I felt comfortable was on my side lying down. I kept saying to my husband, I just want gas and then an epidural. Well... no time for that.. I had strong pressure on my bum to push and at 10:30pm baby was here!

I was very loud near the end and worried I nearly crushed Blake's fingers but the midwives couldn't believe it and kept complimenting me. I told them I was sorry for being loud, and they said that when they told me to 'push' I had really understood how to do that in the effective way so they were impressed.

I needed an episiotomy, and have a tear on my rectum.. maybe because he was quick to enter the world, I was feeling tense at that stage, his hand was up near his head or my positioning on my back, but really I didn't care. I was in utter disbelief when he came out. I had done it! We had done it!

The midwives and students were incredible. They spoke to me at length about why I teared, the decisions they made about why they cut me (I had started to bleed even before he was crowning as i was still tight) and even said 'I hope this doesn't stop you from coming back to have more babies!'. Even though they didn't get a chance to read my birth preferences (most of my labour items didn't make it out of the bag) they asked before everything and we did immediate skin to skin, delayed cord clamping, Blake cut the cord, dim lights the entire time, and they all spoke really quietly. And I continue to use my calm breathing while I recover in hospital now.

I hope this helps (please feel free to ask me any questions) and a huge spectacular thank you to Rosie and this class. I know I was only able to have my calm, confident, and positive birth with becoming educated and practicing all the exercises in this course. I had you all in the back of my mind hoping to do you proud.
​
And all I can say now is...

You've got this. 

Ingrid and Blake and Rufus xxx 

Henry’s perspective
​
The day Thomas was born was a very busy day. After weeks of turning up at work to the disappointing looks of my female colleagues who were eagerly anticipating Thomas’ birth I decided that I would take leave from Wednesday regardless of whether Amy had gone into labour. So Wednesday morning I took the boys to the toy library where I volunteer once a month. We did our shift from 10-12 and came home for lunch. Amy had said she was having irregular contractions but didn’t think things were moving too quickly. After lunch the boys and I went to the supermarket to do the weekly shop. It was a hot day and I’d promised the boys I’d take them to the pool after we’d done the shopping. By the time I’d put all the shopping away it was after 4 o’clock and Amy had been timing her contractions that were now at about 10min intervals. I was starting to get anxious and worried I hadn’t been supporting Amy much at all. Nonetheless after getting assurances from Amy, the boys and I headed to the pool for a quick swim at about 5 o’clock. We were home by 6 and I gave the boys dinner and a bath. 


I’d hardly seen Amy all day, let alone given her any support. Thankfully at about this time Amy’s sister Jacqui arrived to look after the boys. This gave me a chance to focus on Amy. She’d written a bit of a wish list and I was able to get a few things that were on it such as light a candle and put a few gardenias in a vase on her bedside table. There was a Swiss ball and a blanket on the floor in the bedroom but Amy seemed most comfortable lying on her side in bed. The boys came into the bedroom after their baths and were their usual boisterous selves. Quite oblivious to the calm atmosphere we were trying to create in the bedroom. It was also so different to Amy’s labour with Jack which happened later at night, lying on the floor in front of the warm glow of the open fire on a cold October evening.
 
The contractions were closer to 7 minutes apart and seemed to be quite painful and tiring for Amy. I thought we weren’t far off needing to leave for hospital but I hadn’t put the last items in the hospital bag that Amy had packed. Thankfully another of Amy’s lists meant I pulled those things together without needing to think too much. It was almost 8pm and the contractions were closer to five minutes apart so we decided it was time to head to the hospital. I called ahead to let them know we were coming. Amy had called earlier in the day so they were expecting us. The boys had only just finished bedtime stories with Jacqui so they all came outside to wave us off which was a strange experience. Thinking we were leaving as a family of four and would return as a family of five. 


The short drive to the hospital in Jacqui’s Mazda bubble was uneventful apart from a couple more contractions for Amy. We arrived at the hospital but despite calling ahead had to wait what seemed like an eternity before being led to our birthing suite. Poor Amy was kneeling on the floor with her head on a waiting room chair because the contractions were so strong she was unable to stand and too uncomfortable to sit. It felt like my first test to be Amy’s advocate and be assertive but I was unable to get access to our room more quickly. By the time I found the first midwife we’d seen on our arrival again to ask what the hold up was, our midwife from the birthing rooms was ushering Amy through to our room.


Once in, Amy took up her earlier position on the bed on her side. The midwife wanted to put the monitor on her belly for 20 minutes to get a reading on how the baby was doing. This restricted the positions that Amy could get into and after less than 10 minutes we asked if it could be taken off. Thankfully the baby was doing ok and the midwife was comfortable taking Amy off the machine.
 
Poor Amy was really struggling to get through the contractions and I felt fairly useless in providing any comfort. At some stage the midwife asked Amy if she wanted her to do an internal examination which Amy agreed to. The midwife said Amy was about 5cm dilated. I think Amy and I were both hoping it was going to be more than that and probably reacted negatively. I tried to stay positive by saying that the first 5cm is much harder than the second but I didn’t feel very convincing. I was thinking about a rule of thumb I’d heard that it takes about an hour a centimetre and I couldn’t imagine Amy having to go through another 5 hours of this pain. But I was annoyed at myself for not reacting more positively and not doing a better job at keeping Amy’s spirit up. I was also thinking how quickly Amy had had Jack after we’d arrived at the hospital and that this time wasn’t going to be the same. It felt much more like Archie’s labour and memories of watching Amy suffer came back and the thoughts I had that Archie’s birth would be the last time I would put Amy through that pain. But here we were again for our third!


Those two previous experiences did mean I was able to find the sick bags in time. Amy stayed in much the same position on her side on the bed. Apart from the sick bags, the only things I could do was offer Amy water, a wet washer and hold her hand. It was very quiet in the room and the midwife had more or less left us to it. I think at about 9.30pm, the obstetrician arrived. She was very calm and quite different to her chatty manner she has at appointments. She put the monitor on the baby and asked how Amy was doing. She didn’t seem to stay in the room long. I can’t remember if she did an internal examination. Then not too much later Amy said she was feeling pressure in her bottom. So I found the obstetrician outside the room and told her this. To which she responded to the midwife that she thinks we are about to have a baby. 


Unlike the previous two labours, this stage seemed more an extension of the labour rather than the relief and surge of energy that Amy seemed to get when pushing Archie and Jack out. Amy was still on her side and I was given the job of holding her leg. That made me feel somewhat useful. At first I wasn’t sure if Amy was ready to start pushing but then she started and then the obstetrician took over instructing her when to breathe through a contraction rather than push and when to push. And it wasn’t too long before Thomas came sliding out. I had a brief moment of disappointment that he wasn’t a girl but that was quickly replaced by the realisation that here was a new life lying helpless but fully formed on Amy’s tummy and that we’d created him. ​