As you can see from the photos, Sonya exudes vibrancy and vitality. She just has this positive energy…and when you are around her you can’t help but get swept up in her optimistic outlook.
It comes as no surprise that even before taking the Hypnobirthing Australia Positive Birth Program, she was 100 percent focused on a positive birth!
And she knew exactly what she needed to have that positive birth…she worked with a supportive OB, a massage therapist, and a chiropractor to ensure that she had the best chance to experience the birth that she wanted. Add hypnobirthing. And of course her beautiful partner Mark. And the result was an amazingly positive birth!
Here is Pearl’s beautiful birth story, as written by her inspiring and total rockstar mother, Sonya.
Over the next two hours the waves got closer together, I had the birth affirmations playing in the house and we kept the lights low. I had tried to do a fear release around 1:00am but the sensations were distracting me so I just focused on the things I wanted gone from my head and got back to the affirmations.
Around 2:00am we contacted our OB and let him know we thought something was happening. From then on I pottered around the house packing my bag and stopping to breathe into the waves and crack my toes on the floor!
When sitting on the gym ball started to get really uncomfortable and an intense pressure started inflating in my lower half I called time…we headed to the hospital around 4.30am.
We checked in around 5.15am. The pressure was definitely building and I was worried my waters would break in the waiting area before we got to the birth suite.
All throughout the ride to the hospital and while checking in I had my headphones in, playing the affirmations over and over.
I was surprised at the clarity between surges…going from feeling an intense pressure to feeling fully functioning and almost feeling ‘high’ before the next surge started.
Anyway we made it to the birth suite, where my waters burst spontaneously. I agreed to a cervical check to confirm how far along I was. In my birth plan I had requested not to be told of my progress. However the midwife asked me three times if I was sure I didn’t want to know, the giddy look on her face made me rethink my decision, and she promptly told me I was at 9.5 centimetres!
A water birth was also on my birth plan and the midwife asked if I really wanted one…the pool might not fill in time! I said yes I wanted the water birth, and they had it filled by around 5:45am. Finishing my labour in the water was amazing. I don’t like being crowded, so having the perimeter of the pool as a barrier gave me space that helped me feel safe. I continued listening to the affirmations and the main thing that helped was BREATHING! I focused on my breath as the surges grew closer, trying to steady myself after each one. When I could feel Pearl crowning but not quite ready to come out, Mark guided me and we used the countdown from 20 to 0, and this really helped me refocus.
Being in the tub, I was able to catch her myself and I exploded with emotions as I pulled her up to my chest!
I delivered my placenta naturally after waiting for the cord to no longer contain blood or be pulsing.
The only thing I didn’t put in my birth plan was requesting to see the placenta, it was collected and disposed of before I got a chance to ask. Oh well, not the end of the world and it was confirmed it came out complete.
Since then it’s been a whirlwind of caring and adjusting to being new parents, obviously lack of sleep is now the biggest challenge!
And of course we are so glad we made the effort to do the course…it made such a difference in helping to prepare us, so thanks a million for guiding us!
