Birth Story - Tommy

Redeeming and Empowering 

I am in absolute awe of my body and i am still riding such a high 3 weeks after welcoming our son, Tommy. I spent months doing the work, visualizing his birth, overcoming fears from the birth trauma of my first labour and preparing my body.

The birth of my daughter was far from straight forward, being young and naive, i took all of my midwives suggestions as i didn't know what to expect. From numerous cervical checks to heavy medical intervention during labour, i was left in a state of shock and honestly don't remember a lot. 

I was determined to trust my body and my own intuition this time around. I had an incredible midwife who listened and advocated for my preferences, she allowed me to do what i needed to do, and most importantly she never planted a single seed of doubt in my mind. 

I was pottering around home on the Saturday, having Braxton hick contractions that were coming in regular intervals, i didn't think too much into them, just carried on with my day. 

I woke up at 6am having contractions that were 3-4 minutes apart and lasting about 30-40 seconds. I knew they weren't long enough and i didn't have to concentrate through them so i carried on getting my daughter ready for kindy. My partner left for work and within the hour they had become more intense so i informed my midwife and called my mum, so she could drop my daughter off. ( I really thought i was going to be able to drop her off lol)

I popped on my labour playlist of songs that i love and put my TENS machine on. I kept moving through each contraction and tried to rest when i could. 

Around 11am my contractions were 3 mins apart and lasting a minute, i was having to box breathe through each one, so we decided to head to the birthing unit. 

Using the TENS machine in the car was a game changer and allowed me to stay in the zone.

Once in the birthing unit, we dimmed the lights, popped on some music and filled up the bath. Each contraction i swayed, popped the boost button on the TENS and had my partner apply counter pressure to my hips.

I laboured out of the pool, only using the TENS machine and acupressure tools for around 1 hour. I was hesitant to take the TENS off as it was helping me a lot, i only used 3 levels out of 10! They are incredibly powerful.

Once in the pool i was in active labour, around 40 minutes later i felt the urge to push. Baby Tommy was born at 1.06pm! With my partner catching him and cutting his cord.

I was overcome with immense pride and admiration for my mind and body. It really is incredible what we women can do when we put our minds to it. 

After 7 hours of labour, our family was complete.

If i could give two pieces of advice to an expecting mama, it would be to trust your body and arm yourself with as many tools as you can. I was able to achieve the birth i had dreamed of, because i believed in my body and supported my body by having breathwork techniques, a TENS machine, acupressure tools, counter pressure and the pool. These tools allowed me to go fully unmedicated.

Thank you for reading this far and i hope you enjoyed reading Tommys birth story.

With love, 

Holly