I posted this on the Facebook page but completely neglected to post here, I'm sorry! The good news is that baby Darcy arrived safely (albeit a little later than expected) in an amazingly fast natural waterbirth. The story of her arrival...

Three nights of labour contractions preceded Darcy’s arrival. Three nights of contractions from 12pm till dawn, and I was beginning to wonder if my body was ever going to kick over into real labour. 8 days overdue and heavily pregnant, I was more than ready to get things started and meet my third baby girl.

After the third night of contractions, spaced about 10 minutes apart and a very interrupted sleep, I called my midwife to schedule our 41 week appointment, and while talking to her I quietly prayed my contractions would continue as the sun rose.  I used the fit ball to roll on my hips and encourage each contraction, I even had some 6 minutes apart, but at this point I was very wary of getting too excited. My appointment was made for 9am and we made our way to the hospital, slightly more excited by every contraction that came my way.

We arrived and were shown into one of the two labour suites – the best one with views over Murwillumbah all the way to the hills, yay! My 41 week appointment required me to have a trace of the baby’s heart rate so I lay on the bed and was pleasantly surprised to see the contractions I was having were off the charts. Being at the hospital with the realisation that today could be the day had me really emotional, I couldn’t help the tears springing from my eyes with each contraction. Even though the contractions had quite a bite to them, in between, I felt perfectly fine, like I could have walked out and gone shopping. I was still very chatty and in good spirits.

An internal examination after the trace found I was still only 3cms dilated, there had been no change since my last examination 3 days earlier. I decided not to call my doula or photographer (both an hour and a half away) until I was sure things were well and truly going to happen. Since it was early and the room wasn’t needed, my midwife was happy for me to stay around for a few hours to see if anything developed.

I got busy doing everything I could to get this labour started. I closed the blinds for darkness (both my previous babies had arrived in the middle of the night) put on some beautiful music I’d prepared just for this day and alternated between bouncing and rolling my hips on the fit ball and pacing to encourage contractions. During each contraction my husband would rub my lower back, I was wearing a cheesecloth dress and the scratchy fabric was a really great distraction.

By 11am, my contractions were still 10 minutes apart but I was finding a need to vocalise during each one. I sent my husband down the street to grab me a really yummy lunch and a magazine, if this was going to be a long day I wanted to eat while I still felt great. While he was gone, I put on the new Boy and Bear album danced around in between contractions having a great old time by myself. I hadn’t listened to the album much before but it was suddenly the perfect soundtrack to my labour.

Shortly after my husband came back and we had finished lunch, I sat reading my magazine. At the start of each contraction I would swat away my magazine as the contraction would command all of my attention. Afterwards, I would calmly begin reading again, still commenting on how perfectly fine I felt in between those contractions.


Finally tiring of my magazine after about an hour, a particular song came on which really spoke to me. Throughout this whole pregnancy, I had been dealing with my issues of needing to have control of everything, wanting to have my life perfect and in order before the baby arrived. A fantastic psychic that I see regularly had told me time and time again that this baby would push me to learn this lesson. Everything about my pregnancy and labour I had tried to control; from when we conceived, to the sex of the baby, to the location of the birth, who would be there, when it would happen and how it would play out. And baby had, so far, made sure that she broke every single one of those ‘rules’ I’d created.

As I listened to this particular song (house and farm by Boy and Bear http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQybP1h0OgQ) the lyrics pretty much drowned out everything else in the room:

 ‘I held the truth in my arms,
it’s a house and a farm,
and a wife and my children to wait on with open arms.
Run with me to the sea,
and we’ll wait together,
patiently....
It’s too late,
to be carrying on this way...
Cause all that I wanted,
all that I needed,
all that I wanted,
was to be alone.’

Alone. Of course. One of the things I’d done with this birth was surround myself with people – my doula, my photographer, my good friend/houseguest, my parents, and now my baby was making sure none of them would be present.  At this point it was too late to call my doula, she would never make it in time. My photographer was celebrating her own son’s 2nd birthday that afternoon, and my friend had flown back to Sydney. I had the feeling ever since my due date that I was possibly holding back because there were too many people around. My baby wanted it to just be us. I started crying. It was like my lesson was so clear, all I had to do was be patient, my baby was being patient, and we were in this together.

I’m pretty sure that’s all it took for my labour to kick up a notch because right after that song, at 1.30pm my contractions jumped to just 2 minutes apart and I called for the midwife. I really wanted to hop in the shower for pain relief but was extremely wary of getting in too early as I knew once I got in, I would find it impossible to get out if this labour was going to drag out. A midwife that I hadn’t met came in as my midwife was busy with another first time labouring mum who had arrived shortly after myself. I explained that I would like my midwife to come and give me an examination to see how dilated I was before I got into the shower. I remember her suggesting I try the gas in the meantime and me thinking she was crazy. Gas? I hadn't even thought for a single second about using anything other than water immersion up until she mentioned gas. I felt strong and had no need for anything other than to get into that shower.

My midwife Sharon came in only to report that I was now just 4cms dilated, leaving me unsure as to whether I should get into the shower now. However, I remembered my last labour where my baby was born just 2 hours after an examination that showed I was 4cms so I was hopeful things would progress quickly. Something inside told me I would have my baby around 3pm but I didn’t pay too much attention to that thought at the time. (My husband had apparently also had the same thought he told me afterwards!) I decided at that point not to get into the shower just yet, however after just two more contractions I promptly changed my mind.

As we readied the hot water and found my showercap, Sharon asked if we were happy to be alone for a little while longer as the first time mum needed more assistance than us and we were traveling along great. I remember her saying ‘first to 10cms, we’ll be in that room.’

The shower was a welcome relief, and I was really enjoying having just my husband in the room, using the shower head on my back during contractions as I became noisier and noisier with each one. It wasn’t long before we decided to just fill up the bath so I could submerse myself and we are lucky we did because this baby was on her way, and soon!

Sharon popped back in to see how we were going and ask if I needed anything, my husband knew exactly what I needed and asked for a bowl of crushed ice which I greedily devoured while kneeling over the side of the bath. I felt strong and in control and really happy with how things were progressing.

At 3pm I noticed my midwife was now back in the room and I yelled out to her ‘has that lady in the other room had her baby yet??’ I had a realisation I was holding back, waiting until we had her full attention because I knew deep down this birth was going to be quick. ‘She sure has’ she replied and we proceeded to have a perfectly sane and calm conversation about the sex and name of the baby. Relieved it was now ‘my turn’ I sat back on my legs in the bath and had a particularly intense contraction when POP! went my waters and I suddenly realised the main event was all about to happen.

I anxiously asked Sharon ‘it won’t be much longer will it??’ Hoping for reassurance as I quickly entered into the transition phase. She replied that it might not be, but it could also be another ½ hour. I started to exhibit all the typical signs of transition, beginning to panic a little that I couldn’t go through with it as the next contraction hit and I felt her head slip down further into the birth canal at the end of the contraction. Ooooo this was going to be quick! With the next contraction my body took control and bore down and I started to experience the ‘ring of fire’ as her head began to emerge. At this point, I started to freak out a little bit and wanted someone else to take over and have this baby for me. No time for that as the next contraction began and my body pushed a little harder. The feeling of her head slowly coming out was the most intense experience, my last delivery was nothing like this with my second daughter’s head literally popping out in two contractions.

My husband had nowhere else to be except right where the action was, I was propped up in the corner of the bath so he had a full view of Darcy’s arrival, which was a new experience for him. I remember him at this point getting really excited ‘oooh the baby’s coming!!’ I asked if she had hair (she did!) and I was also told that her head was about 1/3 of the way out. My immediate thought was 'ONLY1/3?!' The next contraction was so intense I decided to consciously push with all of my might and didn’t let up until her entire head slipped free. The relief was immediate!

I was awarded a short break between that and the next contraction, the atmosphere was calm and I remember chatting about how the hard part was over and my midwife asked if I would like to touch her head. I reached down and felt her fuzzy head as soft and a peach and she proceed to give me an almighty kick, ‘I scared her!’ I exclaimed. Right before the next contraction Sharon explained to my husband that we were going to let her float out before touching her but to get ready and in position for him to lift her out of the water and on to my chest.

With the final contraction her whole body came right out and my husband saw she had the cord wrapped around her neck twice and her body once. Sharon reached in and quickly untangled her before passing her little blue body up to me. Covered in vernix, she began breathing quietly and making tiny little noises as Sharon rubbed her and I called her name. As she heard her name, her eye peeped open, and she finally began taking some big breaths and then crying loudly. She was here. Finally. And she was perfect.


All the while, my mum had been waiting in the hallway, she was there to collect the car seats so she could pickup our two older girls from daycare. The last part had happened so quickly that she had been waiting for instructions on how to get to the daycare centre. So she was lucky enough to be able to come in around 1 minute after Darcy was born to meet her, which was really lovely. Surprisingly, when we told her the name, she said she had nearly suggested Darcy to us! I had felt all along that Darcy had chosen her own name as it had come up in conversations a few times while I was pregnant, I had added it to our list more as an afterthought but it was the first name my husband jumped at when we had knuckled down to choose a name at 36 weeks. After a few minutes Mum left to collect our girls so they could come up to the hospital to meet their baby sister who they had been so anxiously waiting for.

I had requested delayed cord clamping and a physiological third stage so my husband held Darcy with her cord still attached as I climbed out of the bath and made my way to the double bed where we snuggled as mum, dad and baby. Darcy was a big girl I could tell that much! I couldn’t wait to weigh her and find out just how big she was. First though, she had a breastfeed and a good look around at her new surroundings.

Seeing my big girls arrive with a bunch of flowers and lots of kisses for Darcy was wonderful. My 4 year old said ‘I knew you would have the baby today while we were at school!’ Finally time to weigh her after a few hours of snuggles and a shower for me and she weighed in at 9lb 12oz, 52cms with a head circumference of 36cm – my biggest yet! We left hospital that night at 8pm, walking out with our baby girl felt so surreal just 4 hours after she had been born, home to our house in time for dinner and to start our new life as a family of 5.

Two weeks have now passed since her birth and I could not be more in love with this little cherub. She’s a calm, content little soul who has already taught me so much about patience and really taking the time to do nothing at all except enjoy her. I’m so proud of myself for letting go and birthing by just following my body’s lead – I had no other choice without the typical ‘order’ of things happening the way I expected them to. Darcy’s labour forced me to live in the moment and trust my baby. And I’m so much more in love with my husband who took it all in his stride. He told me that day that Darcy’s was his favourite birth so far. He loved the fact that we did it ourselves, that he knew what was happening, he wasn’t ever worried about me. For me, it was my most intense, but also my biggest learning curve and a day I will look back on for the rest of my life as one of the best.

I'm starting to feel my body preparing itself for labour. The past few nights I've had a little achey lower back, and braxton hicks are triggered by the slightest movement from myself or baby. Nothing regular or anything to worry me, I just have that feeling of being on the edge of labour, I remember it well from last time when I had around 3 weeks of pre labour. My midwife says bub's head is fixed and she's not able to move it at all so she wouldn't be surprised if I went a little early. Music to my ears of course but track record shows she'll still be in there at 40 weeks :)

We are loving our daily swims as well, it's the only place I can forget that I'm pregnant. The feeling of weightlessness is absolute bliss on my back! I'm so lucky to be living by the beach, and also to be pregnant in summer when I can enjoy the water. This little bub is going to be a water baby from the start I just know it.

All perfect and ‘boringly normal’ at my midwife visit yesterday. I’d say pregnancy is the only time I’d like to be labeled as boringly normal - measuring perfectly, baby is head down and happy. She’s definitely running out of room, while her movements are powerful, there’s less jumping around like a little monkey.

The Braxton Hicks this time around are crazy though! Some days I get around one every 15-20 minutes. I figure it’s all working toward a short labour. Wouldn’t it be great if all our muscles gave themselves a workout of their own accord every day while we sat on the lounge?

My main weakness this pregnancy (and each previous pregnancy) has been my addiction to crunching ice. Seriously, it’s better indulging in a whole chocolate block; the crunching, the cold, the metallic taste is more delicious than ANY other food you could offer me right now. I crave it from the moment I wake, to the moment I fall asleep. It’s so bad, that I have to take a thermos full of the stuff with me when we leave the house for fear I won’t be able to indulge in a cup while out and about. It’s so bad that my husband bought me 6 new ice trays for Christmas just so our freezer can keep up with the demand (those 6 trays are filled twice a day!). I know, from previous experience that as soon as that baby has left my body, it won’t have the same effect. Ice will just be regular old ice and that kind of makes me sad!

AND baby girl finally has a name which we chose about 3 weeks ago. I had a huge list of girls names, one in particular I thought was THE ONE. Turns out one name in particular jumped out at hubby and as soon as I said it aloud, I agreed. The name has come up a couple of times in conversations during my pregnancy and I hadn’t really taken notice of it until then. I think, for reasons I’ll explain after she’s here, it will suit her perfectly.

I’ve compiled a list of birth affirmations and will be reading these daily – in those moments where I start to worry whether it’s all going to go smoothly. Where the little devil on my shoulder gets a little too loud. I’ve prettied them up and posted them here, feel free to download and use them in your own birth preparations!

So baby number 3 and I've been there, done that with so many of the baby products on the market. I've found some absolute lifesavers, and some, well, some are still sitting barely used at the back of a cupboard somewhere.

I'm definitely a light packer, I hate mess and baby things covering my house so I choose to just purchase what I find is absolutely necessary. These are some of my must-have items for bub that I could not live without...

1. Clothing by Country Road and Seed. It took me some time to learn the lesson that if I bought quality clothing to begin with, I'd end up spending less in the long run, AND my children look gorgeous at all times :)
2. Ergo Baby Carrier. My first baby cried non stop from 2 weeks of age until 8 weeks and the only way I could get her to settle and sleep was in a sling. My sanity (what little was left) was saved by using a sling, she'd fall into a deep sleep happy as a pig in mud for around 3 hours at a time. Hubby loved carrying her around in it as well :) PLUS this one can be used to carry around a toddler on your back so I can see it being used for a while yet!
3. Toshi muslin wraps. The bigger, the better. Muslin wraps need to be at least 120cmx120cm to swaddle a baby over a few weeks old and these divine wraps by Toshi definitely appeal to the designer in me.
4. Weleda Calendula Change Cream. We've been super lucky to only ever experience nappy rash once but the ONLY thing that ended up working a treat was this cream. Invaluable.
5. Soft, flat cloth nappies for mopping up spills and popping under bub for nappy off time. (Big Softies are available from Big W)
6. Infants Friend was definitely my friend too in those tough weeks from 2-12. It tastes pleasant for baby and I found it really helped to settle fussiness after a feed, especially during the night.
7. Maclaren Vogue Stroller. Anyone else completely OVER folding and unfolding bulky prams will appreciate the Maclaren. So lightweight, it also folds flat for newborns and is probably used every single day in our household. Ours is over 3 years old and still looks brand new. We keep the Maclaren in the back of the car, and a larger jogger pram at home for trips to the park.
8. Bath support for newborns. Because babies are slippery. Because my back will only hold out for so long. Because I hate filling up baby baths on the kitchen counter. Because it's so much easier to bathe all 3 at the same time.

My youngest sister who is yet to have babies started asking me questions about birth this week. Of course, I could talk about birth with her till I’m blue in the face but nothing would be better than her witnessing it for herself.

Back in the old days, women would gather around and support a birthing woman. It was common to see your mum, aunty, friend or sister give birth so you had some idea of what was involved before it was your turn. It’s not such common practice anymore. Most women just read ‘What to Expect when you’re expecting’, start to worry about how they’re going to cope because all they’ve seen is dramatised births in movies and on TV, and then hope for the best (often with a very anxious partner by their side).

I’ve witnessed many women give birth in my line of work, I’m so lucky to have been a part of their experiences because it’s shown me how beautiful and calm and exciting birth can be. These women weren’t special beings either, they didn’t have a super-human pain threshold, they were a mixture of first and second time mums, they birthed in private hospitals, public hospitals, birth centres and at home. But all shared something in common – they left their fears at the door and embraced their labours. I’ve seen women smiling through contractions, a far cry from the swearing and screaming we see in the movies. I’ve heard women exclaim in the immediate moments after birth that they wanted to do it all again, that it was the best thing they ever did, and can they please have 20 more babies? I wish every woman had the chance to witness first hand a really positive birth experience before their own.

I’m so excited today to be able to share with you one such experience. One of my beautiful clients Di, in the moments after the birth of her second bub Rosie, who made her entrance an hour after I arrived at hospital. I began filming some footage just as Rosie took her first breath, and captured Di’s exclamation of how much she enjoyed her calm water birth – truly empowering words to hear. I emailed Di to ask if I could share this little snippet of her birth and was excited to get an email back: ‘Of course I don’t mind! As you know I am so passionate about birth and I loved both my birth experiences. Rosie’s unexpected water birth, was such an amazing, positive and empowering experience.’ So for all those women who could do with a little bit of the good, positive birth stuff, here is Rosie’s first moments, captured on film….

(a little note, Di is a midwife so yes that is her you see up and about taking her own baby’s vital stats soon after birth. What a superwoman)

If I could do everything my mind wants me to, interior styling would be right up there at the top. I ADORE homewares, I'd happily spend my hard earned cash on a vase or new throw pillows than a pair of shoes or a dress (mind you, I'm quite partial to my shoe collection too :)

So when it comes to designing a new room in our house (in this case the nursery) I get all excitable! Surprisingly, I've barely had to buy anything new for baby girl's nursery, I was able to utilise a ton of things we already had. And being baby number three, we already had a cradle, changetable, drawers etc. Of course, I have splurged a little on some very fabulous details - here's just a tiny sneak peek of where I'm up to with this room.

32 weeks is when HypnoBirthing training starts – I assume it’s this late so you don’t get bored with the daily meditation! I actually feel like I’ve been training for this birth ever since my last so I don’t feel the need to soak up quite as much information as I did 3 years ago.

HypnoBirthing for me, is more a philosophy than set of rules on how to birth. The basic idea is that if you are able to let go of all the fear you may have about birth, your body is able to relax during labour and work efficiently AND without as much pain. (some women even report having totally pain free births – I’ll put my order in for one of those thank you very much!) In reality though this is probably a stretch to expect for most women. Yes, it still hurts. But the pain isn’t the focus of the birth experience, you’re able to rise above it, take yourself to a space where you can let go and relax into the experience. And yep, even enjoy your labour and birth.

The more I learnt about natural birth and what I did and didn’t want in my labour, I was able to take the mystery out of birth and realise just how simple it can be. After all, at my most basic level, this is what my body is designed to do. Seeing other women blossom during their birth experience has only cemented the idea in my head that birth, left to nature, can be enjoyable, easy and a wonderful experience. I’m truly excited to do it all again.

I prefer to take what I like from HypnoBirthing, mix it with my own ideas and I’ve come up with a bit of a mish-mash of techniques that I will be using in this labour and birth. I do plan on listening to my daily HypnoBirthing meditation for the remainder of my pregnancy. If anything it’s a great excuse for me to take a half hour out each day to connect with my baby and get in the right headspace for birth. I’ve seen this meditation work wonders in labour too, one of my doula clients was in early labour when I arrived at her house, contractions were sporadic and short and had been that way for most of the day. We sat in her darkened lounge room and she began listening to the meditation on her earphones, almost immediately her contractions increased to a steady 3 every 10 minutes lasting at least a minute each. It was amazing to watch the power of HypnoBirthing in action!

During early labour, I plan to listen to my HypnoBirthing meditation and positive affirmations. But as labour progresses, I have particular music tracks I have chosen to listen to. These songs are the type that give me goose bumps just listening to them now, I expect that during the labour, those goose bump inducing hormones (oxytocin) will help my labour progress and establish. (oxytocin is the hormone released by your brain, which sends messages to your uterus to contract – it’s also the love hormone, hence the lovely tingly sensations and floaty headspace it induces)

When we arrive at hospital, I’ll once again setup with my HypnoBirthing meditation to get me back in the groove after the car trip, possibly while using the birth ball in the shower for pain relief. I LOVE the shower in labour, both times I’ve used a shower cap and held my head under the water, it makes the best noise, drowning out everything else and allowing me to really get carried away by the lovely hormones my body will be producing.

Finally, HypnoBirthing encourages the woman to breathe her baby out, directed pushing (i.e. ‘PUSH! 1,2,3,4,56,7,8,9,10! And again! – sound familiar anyone?) is unnecessary when a woman is allowed to listen to her own body and work with it. I found with my last birth, my waters broke and my body literally took over, bearing down and really taking me by surprise, it was super amazing to almost be a passenger to my body’s power and innate ability to expel the baby so efficiently. First time mums of course take a little longer to deliver because it’s something the body hasn’t done before, and can definitely do well with quiet guidance from a midwife or obstetrician if needed. The emphasis being on quiet :)

Hypno babies are said to be much more relaxed immediately after birth and responsive to breastfeeding and bonding. I cannot wait until those quiet moments after birth, it really is the best feeling in the world holding that little one you’ve been dreaming about for the past 9 months.

If you’ve done HypnoBirthing before, I’d love to hear about your experience! Head over to our facebook page for more discussion.

That's the very beginnings of my hospital bag right there - super exciting right?!

Both my midwife and doula asked me last week ‘have you written your birth plan?’ And to be honest, my plan thus far has one bullet point - make it to hospital. My one fear (and I try not to call it a fear because of my HypnoBirthing in which I should let go of all fear) so let’s say, my one little worry is that I’ll either have this baby at home, or in the car on the way to the hospital.

In my last birth I went from 4cms to 10cms in 2 hours. My waters broke and 10 minutes later, I had a baby girl in my arms. If my waters break this time at home, it could be a very quick delivery indeed. So brings us to the start of my plan…. Don’t fuss about and chill out at home too long! I plan to head into hospital once contractions are around 2 or 3 in 10 minutes or sufficiently strong enough that I’m no longer able to talk through them. If I was closer to hospital, I’d definitely be leaving it longer at home but with the likelihood that I’ll be labouring in the middle of the night with a 30 minute drive ahead of me, I don’t want to take any chances. My midwife also recommend this so at least I know if I arrive quite early she’s not going to set me back on the road again!

Mind you, just as my midwife says, if it happens so quickly that I’m in the car or at home, just call her, she’ll talk my husband through the delivery and everything with those quick births is usually complication-free.

So, onto the nitty gritty of the birth plan. My last birth was near perfect, the only things I’m going to change this time around is to receive my baby myself without anyone else helping if I can, and to have delayed cord clamping and a physiological third stage. Being in a private hospital with my last two, the likelihood of delivering the placenta naturally without syntocinon (a managed third stage) was nigh on impossible. I had one of the midwives once tell me that none of the obstetricians were happy to wait around for a placenta to come of it’s own accord, so it very rarely happened. Being in a very small, publicly run hospital with my own midwife this time around, I can have a completely natural third stage of labour without the time constraints. Delayed cord clamping means my baby receives all of the precious, nutrient rich blood from the placenta and umbilical cord after birth. We wait until the cord stops pulsating (usually only a few minutes) and then the cord is cut.

Then, all going well, I would like to go straight home (usually around 4 hours later) so I can rest up in my own bed and introduce little lady to her big sisters!

I’m very lucky that the hospital I’m going to is very pro natural birth and non-interventional. I don’t have to specify that I don’t want a drip, electronic fetal monitoring or routine antibiotics because it just isn’t part of their policy.

My Birth Preferences

My goal is to delivery my baby as safely and naturally as possible without unnecessary medical interventions. We appreciate your support with our birth preferences.

First stage:
• I would like my labour to proceed at its natural pace, as I will be traveling in early to avoid a quick birth at home, I may arrive in early labour.
• I do not want an internal examination unless it is at my request.
• I wish to have intermittent doppler monitoring rather than continuous electronic monitoring.
• I would like to use the shower, bath and self hypnosis only for pain relief.
• I do not want any augmentation of my labour.

Second stage:
• I wish to have an unassisted delivery and push spontaneously.  
• I would like to deliver in a position where I can receive my baby myself, please help me find a suitable position just before delivery so I can do this.
• It would be great if you would assist during pushing to let my perineum stretch naturally.

Third Stage:
• Please do not cut the cord until it stops pulsating.  
• Please delay any procedures that are not urgent so I can bond with my baby.
• I would like a physiological third stage with time to birth my placenta without cord traction and syntocinon.
• Please ask before administering any syntocinon.
• Please do not give Hepatitis B injections, vitamin K is fine.
• In case of emergency, I would like my husband or doula to stay with the baby at all times.

Any help you are able to give us will be most appreciated. Of course, we realise that unusual circumstances may arise. We do have preferences regarding routine hospital procedures if these situations arise.  
We would like to thank you in advance for your support and kind attention to our preferences.  
We look forward to a wonderful birth.

8 weeks to go – where did that time go? To say I’m excited would be a huge understatement. I’ve treasured every moment of this last (famous last words!) pregnancy and I’m kind of sad it’s coming to an end. Mind you, I can definitely look forward to the day I can sit/stand/lay down/sleep comfortably. Seriously, the mere act of turning over in bed involves a three point turn and re-positioning of numerous pillows.

But 32 weeks along means we’re coming up to my favourite part – the birth! After my last HypnoBirth with baby #2 three years ago, I was left with a high that lasted the best part of 2 years. I STILL get goosebumps when I think about how easy and enjoyable my birth was. Sure there was pain, but that wasn’t the sole focus of my labour. It was also about climbing a huge personal mountain. Being able to get to the end and yell ‘I did it!’ My baby was alert and happy, and I was literally bouncing around the hospital within hours. I certainly felt no where near as exhausted as my first birth which involved an epidural, 2 hours of ineffective pushing and a vacuum assisted delivery.

Since my HypnoBirth, I’ve trained as a doula, and also photographed many women’s births. All up, I’ve been privileged to have been part of over 20 women’s births and it’s been such a learning experience.

So what am I putting into action with my own birth? Well, for a start, I’ve learnt labour is SO MUCH easier with a doula on hand. Not just for me, but for my husband who is able to completely tune in to me and focus on being a part of the labour, rather than worrying about it!  My doula is traveling down from Brisbane (1.5 hours) so pretty much as soon as I start getting tightenings I need to call her. Same goes for my photographer. Yep, I’m having it all documented again. My friend Georgia (www.georgiapeachpictures.com) emailed me and asked if she could photograph the birth for me and I couldn’t say no to having one of the biggest events of my life captured to look back on.

I have so much to talk about, from my HypnoBirthing preparation, to my birth plan and choices for natural pain relief. I promise to keep it light with interludes of how I’m decorating the nursery to the trials and tribulations of being a full time mum to two under 4 and 30 something weeks pregnant.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to post here, completely candidly, about my plans and events leading up to the birth. Of course, not everything goes to plan – I’ve heard many a time that these 3rd babies have a tendency of making a mess of ‘plans’ and I’m prepared for that. But being the type A person that I am, I have a need to plan and make lists and have a level of control over everything (I know, I know, I’m already laughing at myself – control and birth – doesn’t quite go together does it?) and so becomes my plans for my natural birth of baby #3. I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I will!

Danielle first contacted me when she was pregnant with her 4th bub asking about my HypnoBirthing experience. Her previous births had been less than easy and she had a feeling things could be different if she were to take a new approach. I coached her through the benefits of HypnoBirthing and suggested she take a course. We exchanged a few more emails leading up to her birth, she was in a great frame of mind and I had no doubt she was going to give this birth her very best shot. I was thrilled to recently receive an email from her with her birth story - a very successful HypnoBirth and a Mum with a new outlook on birthing and trust in her body. Here is her amazing story....

"On June 1st 2011 we were blessed with another baby boy in our family! After 39 weeks of waiting, 5 weeks of HypnoBirthing classes and 4 weeks of Braxton Hicks, I finally had a couple of strong yet irregular contractions in the late afternoon. I picked up my son from daycare and headed home. My husband was already home thankfully, because he had a feeling we would be going to hospital that night and so did I. We gave our 2 year old some dinner (thankfully I only had my youngest of 3 sons home to get organised) and my husband drove him to Nanna's, while I stayed home and had a hot shower to see if I could bring on labour.

The baby had been posterior for most of the pregnancy and I had been doing the all fours thing and the visualising techniques I was taught in HypnoBirthing classes to try and turn him and managed to get him sideways a few days earlier. So, in the shower I thought if I got on all fours and managed to get him to turn into a better position, then labour might start. I had been in the shower for around 40 mins, alternating going on all fours and leaning on the wall with the water running down my back. I was getting some contractions, but they were not painful, I thought I would practice my HypnoBirthing breathing with these contractions.

I was really focused and calm, I didn't even notice how close the contractions were. I got out of the shower at 8pm and got dressed, just in time for my water to break! From that moment the contractions started coming thick and fast at full intensity around 1-2 minutes apart. I totally lost my focus with the breathing and began to panic as I was home alone. I started cleaning the floor and reached for my phone to page my midwife. My primary midwife wasn't available so the midwife on duty phoned me back and talked me through to get me back on track and we planned to meet at women's assessment in hospital.

Luckily my husband walked in the door at 8:20pm, I told him we needed to go to the hospital and he began to pack the car, while I text our birth photographer and student midwife. I came downstairs to find he was packing everything into his car, when the capsule was in my car... So I told him we need to take my car. He attempted to take the capsule out of my car, but since it was new he didn't know how it worked as it was so different to our sons reversible seat. I got impatient knowing we didn't have much time and said "I'm going to have this baby in the garage if you don't pack everything into my car!" In his defence, our previous labour was 27 hours, so he was thinking we had plenty of time, he even packed his laptop to pass the time!! He obviously hadn't noticed how far I was, as he wasn't home in the beginning and had been packing the car since he walked in the door... So, he took everything out of his car, packed it into mine and we left.

It was the longest most painful car ride I've ever taken! We only live 20 minutes from the hospital, but I felt every bump on that 20 minute journey and had a tear with each one! We got every red light (Murphy's Law), it got to the point where I was crying, "no more red lights, no more red lights..." I really didn't think we were going to make it. It was too hard to stay focused on the breathing in that situation. About half way, I went a bit delirious crying that I was hungry... well we hadn't had time for dinner, but who thinks about food in this situation..?? My husband kindly offered to take me through McDonalds Drive Thru... "NO!" I cried "Keep driving!" Of course, I knew he was joking, but I didn't see the funny side at the time!

We got about 8 minutes from the hospital and I could feel the baby's head crowning and we were approaching another red light... "I can feel the head! The baby is coming!!" I screamed. My husband floored it and went through the red light since there wasn't any traffic on the road. He kept rubbing my arm and saying "we're almost there, not far, just hold on". Well I was holding on as much as I could, I was blocking the baby's exit with my hand and crying "NO NO, BABY STOP!" Next thing I knew we were pulling into the hospital emergency car park. I told my husband I didn't know how I was going to get out of the car, I didn't feel that I could move. I knew any moment the baby's head was going to come out! The seat couldn't recline as the capsule was behind it, so I raised my bum off the seat and leaned as far back as I could.

He parked the car and ran to the emergency door, but by the time he got there, the baby's head was already born! Two nurses came running and got there just in time to catch him. At 9:23pm, June 1st (also my late Poppa's birthday), our little baby boy 'Cruz' was born in the front seat of our car! The nurses wrapped him up and put him on me as they helped me into a wheelchair and took me inside where I was greeted by all the hospital staff on the ward looking to see the woman who gave birth in the car park! So my photographer, midwife, and student midwife ALL missed the birth, even though they were at the hospital! I got taken to the birthing suite where I had planned to have a waterbirth and met them all there.


It was quite an experience to say the least, the HypnoBirthing had obviously helped to prepare my body, perhaps even a little too well considering my previous 3 labours range from 19-27hrs in length,very long and tiring! So, I guess I can say I achieved my goal of a shorter, drug free labour with the HypnoBirthing, though, I was expecting 5-8+ hours still, at least... 1 hour and 23 minutes and delivering in the car was not something I thought I would EVER experience, given my previous experiences! I have heard stories of women giving birth in cars before, now I am one of them! :) And one thing I did notice was how alert he was! I had epidurals with 2 of my previous labours and other medications and pain relief with all 3, so this was my first completely drug free birth and I did notice a difference in the alertness of our baby and how quickly he latched on to feed.

4 hours after he was born, we were allowed to take him home, it didn't feel real... It was all over so fast, but I felt great and recovery was as quick as the delivery! It's just as well he is our last baby... I think if we were to have another one, I'd be asking the midwife to move in! :) We are all completely smitten by him! I only wish he could stay a little newborn forever... He is the perfect finishing touch to our big little family, where the girls are outnumbered 5 to 1!

Thank you so much My Birth My Way for introducing me to the world of HypnoBirthing, enabling me to shorten my labour considerably, even though it wasn't the most ideal place to have a baby, I did it drug free and my body was so well prepared I didn't need a single stitch. I did it all on my own! Very unlike my first two births where forceps and ventouse were used and episiotomies and many stitches were also required. It's just a shame that I didn't learn about this before my other births, as I now have full trust in my body and know that I can do it on my own. I no longer have the fear that I had with the other 3 births, I feel that I could do it all again!"