Birth story - Nikita and baby Ezra

Last Friday, 19 March, I gave birth to my second little boy at 6.10am-and I felt like a warrior princess after that birth!

After a cancelled home birth plan due to covid restrictions, numerous growth scans because they were worried about baby being small, finding out he was breech at 35 weeks and still breech at 37 weeks, spinning babies exercises, a successful ECV at 38 weeks. Then talk of induction once I went past my due date - by the end of my pregnancy I really had no idea what type of birth I was going to have! But thanks to your wonderful account and your amazing virtual hypnobirthing course I was able to use my BRAIN at each stage to make informed choices and help me be at peace with the decisions we were being faced with.

In particular at 37 weeks when I had to start thinking about an abdominal birth if baby didn’t turn from a breech position. Just as I was trying to make my peace with that you shared that incredible birth story and video from Maya Sasikumar which completely changed my mind about how beautiful an abdominal birth could be. Thank you Maya!!

In the end, at 41 weeks plus 2, our little one was ready to make his appearance. I had an induction booked for 3 days time, and I was anxious about that, but I was practicing my up and down breathing every day and listening to your positive affirmations mp3 on loop and I was trying my best to be zen!

At around 3pm on Thursday 18 March (2 days after my eldest’s 4th birthday) I started feeling tightenings every 10 minutes. There was no discomfort or pain, but they were regular, and I remember just knowing that baby was going to be with us in the next 24hrs. At around 5pm after spending time reading stories to my four year old, snuggled up in his bed I decided to call my parents to have him for the night in case the tightenings turned into proper contractions. My dad came and got Noah, who was over the moon about going for a sleepover.

I was able to enjoy dinner in front of the TV with my husband and I kept track of the tightenings on the Freya app. At 8pm I ran a bath with lavender oil, put out some candles and switched on my hypnobirthing mp3s while I relaxed in the warmth. I didn’t get many tightenings while I was in the bath, so I got myself ready for bed thinking that things were probably not going to progress much until the next day.

At 12.50am I woke up while having a strong surge. I lay in bed for a while just focusing on my body and after the second strong surge I started timing them again. They were coming every ten minutes and then very quickly changed to every 6 minutes. At that point I decided it would be better to be in an upright, forward and open position so I got out of bed and started bouncing on my birth ball. The surges were strong but I used my up breathing through each one. At some point I went downstairs and started putting a hospital snack bag together and had some oranges to eat. When I went back up the surges were coming every 4 minutes and I knew it was time to call the birth centre and wake up my husband. When we got in the car the heated seats felt incredible!

We got to the birth centre around 4am. The midwife carried out some checks while they started filling up the pool. The surges were coming every 3 minutes. When the midwife did my internal examination I remember her saying, ‘wow, you’re wonderful, you’re 7cm!’ I couldn’t believe it!

By the time I got to the birthing suite it felt like the surges were every minute-they were constant and strong. I got in the pool while my husband set up our diffuser and put on the positive affirmations on our Freya app, which played on loop throughout my labour.

I’d barely been in the pool for very long when I felt my body bearing down and my breath just intuitively changed to down breath. I couldn’t quite believe I was at that stage already, but then I started to moo inadvertently and I knew that baby was going to be with us soon.

I squatted in the pool during a surge and stood up out of the water during the rest periods, constantly moving and swaying. The 2 midwives in the room were incredible, they were quiet, unobtrusive, and apart from wonderful words of encouragement they never intervened. When I started getting that ring of fire sensation my confidence really faltered and I got a bit scared. My husband kept telling me to just keep breathing. And when a surge came I breathed baby down and kept telling myself that I was about to meet him. But I remember at one point when I nearly got him out and then he bobbed back in, I said ’I don’t think I can do this, I’m going to need help’. Knowingly the midwives just told me to keep breathing. And within another couple of down breaths his head came out. Getting the head out was the biggest relief, I was able to reach down and feel his head and in another 2 surges baby was born! I remember beaming up at my husband with wide eyes and saying, ‘I did it! He’s here!’ There was instant relief, and I was filled with so much love for everyone in that room. I’ll never forget that moment.

And you were there in that room with me, just as you’d been with me throughout my pregnancy. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you! For helping me to be prepared and confident and positive at every stage.

I felt so strong and so capable and so in awe of women everywhere. Birth is truly the most empowering experience of my life.

Little Ezra is now just over a week old and I’ve been reliving that experience over and over again every time I stroke his little head! He’s thriving, and we’re all so in love with him.