Atsuko's Birth Story

The day my husband and I had been looking forward to came suddenly.On 8th December around 5 am,I woke up to go to the bathroom as usual and I realized my waters had broken. At almost the same time I had quite a strong pain in my back and I thought,  "This is not just a tightening, this is it!!"  The next contraction came soon after about 5 minutes later.No time to do all of the things that we initially planned,  like Harry giving me a massage and feeding me etc,  with having to get ready so quickly. We called the hospital who advised me, being a first time mother, to have a shower and take our time before heading down but I don’t think they realized how close it was.Getting ready to leave after my quick shower, progress seemed more intense with each contraction and they were coming every 3 minutes. Because it had all came on so quickly there was a point on the way to the hospital, where I thought I was going to panic but I was also aware of myself and I thought "I have to do something with it",  then Gowri and Debbie’s voice came into my mind when they taught me the relaxation techniques at the Visualisation class. That helped me a lot to breathe properly and relax myself so that I became more calmed and got back in control of myself.When we arrived at the hospital about 7:30 am, the midwife examined and told me “ Well done, you are ready to give birth!” I was already fully dilated!While I was trying to find the best position to cope with, the midwife ran water into the pool and my instinct was to choose to get in the water. I was holding my husband’s hands at every surge and able to breath out through the contractions.My little boy Kensuke was 3420g, born at 9.02 am when he slipped into the water, which was such a beautiful a moment when I look back. It was a very quick, natural birth and I thank Gowri for teaching me as well as Debbie who had given me her warm hands and treated me through my pregnancy. My placenta took a long to come out though so Debbie gave me Reflexology which worked well to bring on good contractions. I believe the Gentle Birth Method I followed prepared my body more thoroughly. Also I thank my husband Harry who supported me throughout the whole pregnancy to the birth. I had no complications and my legs were not swollen at all through to the end of my pregnancy. I think it was because I stuck to the diet and life style Gowri recommended so thank you very much!!!!!!Since giving birth, baby Kensuke is a very calm and easy-going baby; he is breastfeeding well and sleeping well which I think is partly down to the healthy pregnancy and birth he went through with me.MORE STORIES