CHANELLE'S ALL-NATURAL HYPNOBIRTHING BIRTH STORY

Chanelle Heyneke and her husband, Gerrit, attended a Hypnobirthing course with Positive Birth Jersey, which they say gave them confidence and a sense of peacefulness. Chanelle shares her birthing story.

Ihit 39 weeks on 4th July 2019. My hubby and I chose to spend the day at the beach in St Brelade, to enjoy some last memorable times alone together. We went out on his stand-up paddleboard. Well, why not? I felt adventurous and could still quite easily move around! I sat and he paddled. Very easily we flowed with the water. People heading back towards the beach looked at us and smiled; I thought to myself 'is this strange to do this at 39 weeks pregnant? I mean, I could go into labour any time, or what if my waters break? Would I even know?' All these thoughts ran through my mind. At the same time, I just felt really brave and ‘in the moment’.

When we decided to turn around, the wind had picked up and we weren't moving at all. To keep it short, we ended up around the corner of the pier on a little stranded piece of beach and my husband and I had to climb over rocks to get to a place where we could get into the water again! I timed the waves splashing against the rocks and jumped up on the board. It was very adventurous and a bit scary at the same time! Luckily, I managed to get on the board the first time and Gerrit followed. The Holy Spirit was with us and I knew we were perfectly safe. I trusted God through everything.

This whole escapade went on for over an hour, and the friends we were with had come searching for us as they were worried. But, safe at last, and such a fun memorable story to have. I still believe that the whole experience and rush of adrenaline had an affect on the start of my labour.

Early labour

As soon as I opened my eyes on Wednesday 17th July 2019 I felt a light period-like cramp. It felt different from the general cramps and twitches during pregnancy, but my husband and I went about our normal day's activities.

I continued getting these light surges but did not want to make a big deal out of them as I had read up on so many birth stories and advice. I wanted to keep the good hormones coming and stay in a calm state of mind, so I showered, got myself ready and took a few photos of my '39 weeks 3 days' bump - if you know me, you'll know I want EVERYTHING captured on camera!

I had arranged to do my friend Nadine's nails at 1pm at her place, and as we all live in the same building, we invited our other friend, Marijcke to join for a catch-up. I decided to take my FREYA app with me so I could start timing my surges. I tried to do this secretly but quickly they realised something was up. I remember them looking at each other and thinking, 'Shit, this is it. It is happening!'. We had a bit of a laugh, and I paused now and then to flow with the surge and carried on doing her nails when it passed.

I got home around 3.30pm, at which time my surges were getting stronger. I messaged Gerrit and asked him to head straight home after work as I didn't want to be alone. We thought of everything we had learnt at Hypnobirthing, which helped immensely - I stayed calm and confident during the whole experience. I had something to eat, drank water and ate a protein energy bar. I took two paracetamols and went to lie down to rest between the surges. After speaking to the midwife we decided to stay at home as long as possible, so Gerrit filled a warm bath for me with lavender essential oils, which I rather enjoyed! The surges had slowed down a bit but I didn’t get too worried, instead, I used the time to relax and get a few minutes rest.

After getting out of the bath at around 7:30pm, I lied on the bed in my towel, Gerrit next to me, timing my surges. After an hour passed, we rang the hospital and were told to go in. I remember feeling excited but also a bit nervous!

At Hospital

Once admitted, Gerrit messaged both our parents and siblings - they live abroad so I knew we would have the intimacy and privacy we wanted.

By now, the surges were very intense, so I lay on the bed just feeling the linen on my skin. It soothed me somehow. We turned off the lights and displayed our battery operated tea lights, filled the room with our lavender essential oil diffuser and played my Hypnobirthing music playlist. This consisted of a few Hypnobirthing instrumental tracks as well as a few stories and, of course, my favourite praise and worship songs. I got into a state of complete mindfulness, just focusing on myself, knowing my husband was right beside me.

I did try the gas and air, but I didn’t like it at all as it disturbed my rhythm of breathing and coping. Once the midwife had told me I was 6cm dilated, I felt a bit relieved and asked for the birthing pool to be prepared.

The birthing pool

I loved the feeling of the warm water on my skin and body, it relaxed and comforted me so much. Again the room had dimmed lights and Gerrit brought all our things from the other room. Tea light candles, and my playlist which I am sure the midwives and Gerrit were sick of listening to over and over - it really helped me, though. I heard one or two choruses and that would be enough to keep me strong and get me through yet another surge. I had a lovely midwife and a student midwife and felt so lucky to have two lovely, calm women there with me. They respected all my birth preferences and were very professional at the same time.

I wore my red nightdress which was super comfy and stretchy, and something familiar so I felt like 'me' in it. My positions consisted of squatting and hanging over the edge of the pool. I took sips of water in-between surges, and the two midwives measured our heart rate frequently.

By now my surges were intense. I didn’t want to talk, I just wanted to get it over with. I kept on repeating the birth affirmations, 'the surges are not happening to me, my surges cannot be stronger than me, they are me' and 'the surges are real but it is not dangerous, just breathe through them.'

My husband sat with me in the pool for a while. I did not want any touch or massage, I just wanted him close. I was so tired and felt like I couldn’t continue for much longer. Not long after, I experienced an intense and uncontrollable urge to push. I remember it feeling amazing, I had no words. The midwife explained that I should stay down in the water for the birth; when you get these urges to push you naturally want to move or stand up a bit. I was tired of squatting but I knew I had to push through.

I felt the head coming out slightly before going back in which made me feel quite scared as I wasn't sure if I was doing it right. I stayed calm though, and with the next surge I pushed hard and pop, the head came out! I could feel his head and hair, it was like nothing I had ever experienced before. I also thought, ‘wow, his head is out, it wasn’t that hard!’ - a rollercoaster of emotions. As he had moved position, I had to stand for one final push. Hector was birthed quick and easy at 1:52am on Thursday 18th July.

A few seconds after Hector was born, he gave us the most beautiful crying sound I would ever hear and we held him close in our arms, with a feeling of love, achievement and totally in awe. It was the most intense and heartfelt experience of my life. A moment my husband and I will share forever. I was a little sad that I couldn't catch my baby myself in the water and bring him up to my chest with the cord still attached, but it was pretty close and I knew these were just preferences. Giving birth is unpredictable and I had the chance of having the birth that I dreamed of, so for that, I am so thankful.

After birth

No one ever really talks about the placenta. After spending a little time with my husband and son, I started to get surges again. With the midwife's advice, I squatted low and the placenta was out. I remember apologising for all the blood on the white towels! Once we were in one of the delivery rooms, my beautiful baby boy lay on my chest breastfeeding whilst the midwife checked me over. It turned out I needed to go into surgery because I had quite a bad tear.

My husband was so supportive. I loved that he had a calmness around him and sureness when we had to make decisions. It was about three hours, a spinal block and catheter later and then I could hold Hector again and breastfeed him while chatting away. I felt good. Just extremely tired. The doctors were amazing!

I was in the hospital for a total of four nights. The first night was quite terrifying, I didn’t want my husband to leave. I remember thinking, 'I am now fully responsible for this tiny human being, not the midwives, I can’t just sleep.' Gerrit returned in the morning and stayed until late, bringing snacks and cold drinks with him every time. My first shower was strange, I was surprised at how much blood there still was. I felt amazing afterwards, and more like myself once I had put cream and mascara on.

On Sunday 21st July, we excitedly walked home - the moment was too big to describe. OUR baby is in his bassinet stroller, sleeping, on our way home! My legs felt heavy and light at the same time, but my heart felt even fuller. 