Amanda, Richard & baby Henry
I can’t believe it’s already been 8 weeks of Henry earthside. I have loved taking time to sit & reflect on our beautiful birth and can’t wait to finally share it with you!
8.12.2022
38 weeks and 4 days. I told my Dr. a few months before that I knew Henry would arrive on the 9th of December as it was a full moon. She laughed and said that hospitals do get busy on full moons. That morning I went for a big beach walk, ran some errands, bounced on my birth ball and at 4pm diffused & rubbed Clary Sage on some acupressure points. At 8pm I felt my water break and knew that our beautiful love story was about to begin.
I was so so so excited to give birth. I knew I wanted to have a natural birth and labor in the pool. I had taken a few Hypnobirthing courses and as a yoga teacher knew how powerful our mind and breath really is! I wasn’t against having an epidural or a ceserean birth so I told myself that I would just go with the flow! I knew that whatever was about to happen I was going to meet my baby boy one way or another.
My contractions came quickly but the pain wasn’t very strong. I used my breath to control each surge. I called my Dr and she laughed & said “ Wow you really are in tune with your body, you told me this would be the day!” She asked me to track my contractions and update her. I ate some dinner, packed my bag and around 9pm we headed to the hospital as the contractions started to become more regular.
When we arrived I met my beautiful midwife who checked me and was surprised that I was already 5cm dilated. I told her I wanted to use the water-birthing pool and was going to use Hypnobirthing techniques for as long as possible. She was excited and said that she very rarely has women use the pool so she went and filled it up.
We shifted to the room and my surges started to get more frequent. I took some time to set up our sacred birthing space. We set out tea lights, dimmed the lights and put on my juicy Oxytocin playlist. My husband was laughing at this point as I ran around the room spraying essential oils.
I jummep into the pool and I felt so amazing to be totally nacked and free moving in and out of each surge. I had no idea that I was laboring in there for about 3 hours before the doctor arrived around midnight. To be honest I don´t really recall the timing from 10pm -12am when I was in active labor. My husband said that I was in a deep meditation and he left me to it, offering me coconut water when I needed it. I remember closing my eyes and just moving inward, visualizing my baby, and working with him. Each surge bringing us closer to finally meeting.
9.12.2022
Then things started to shift, I felt a drop and the need to push. I started to get very hot and craving cold water and ice cubes. My amazing doctor arrived just on time, she suggested I come out of the pool to see how far along I was and and to see if I was ready to push and to my surprise after just 4 hours I was 10cm and ready.
My husband was the most amazing birth partner, he held my hand through every contraction. The transition phase was intense. But, I really could feel my baby and I working together. We moved in and out of each surge and I knew that each surge was one step closer to our first kiss. My doctor and midwife were truly incredible, encouraging me while giving me space to breathe and move with my body.
We pushed for almost 2 hours and at 2:22am Henry joined us Earthside. I lifted him up and will never forget the first feeling of holding him in my arms for the first time. We enjoyed our golden hour together for the first time as a family of 3. Pure pure pure magic! I am still in awe of the power of our breath and our mind.
Special thank you to my magical doctor @dr.deemahsalem who has been our biggest cheerleader through this whole journey.
@thedancingbirth you are truly incredible! Ana, from the moment we met you, we knew you would be the perfect Doula with your warm energy and immense amount of knowledge! You really made us feel confident and excited that we would have a beautiful sacred birth!
