Rebecca gives birth to big baby number 3, Laurence

Hi Patricia, Sorry for very late update, life with 3 is flat out! Laurence is now 4 months. I was induced at 12 days overdue with a pessary. Between 6 hourly monitoring I went for lots of walks. The following day contractions started as I left the hospital for a walk at 9:30 in the morning, I very slowly walked down Barrack road with diminishing intervals needing to stop. Walked back to labour ward after an hour and delivered an hour later. He was as big as his brothers at 4.5 Kg. A very positive experience. I wasn't examined and found your advice of talking to your baby whilst in labour and imagining them going through their journey downward to delivery hugely helpful. A feeling that we were in it together was great. I vocalised a bit and stood up leaning over the bed with some rocking and circling of hips. In short the few classes I had managed to get to along with your evening recap really equipped me to have a very empowering experience. Thank you so much, Rebecca and Will x

Nora's second birth to baby Hanno LAurens

Hi Patricia George and I were delighted to welcome gorgeous little Hanno Laurens on 18th August at 11:10pm! Although he made us wait a few more days than expected, his arrival was a lot quicker than his big sister’s. I started having some contractions in the morning on the 18th and went into labour in the afternoon. We timed our trip to the hospital well and arrived at around 8:30pm when I was between 6-7cm and little Hanno arrived at 11:10pm. It didn’t feel like less hard work than first time round as the speed of the last three hours made it feel pretty relentless, but I managed to deliver with just the tens machine and all went very well. The low risk unit wasn’t open, but by the time I got to the hospital I no longer cared about where I was giving birth anyway. My midwife had some concern about the baby’s heart rate (which fortunately came to nothing), but it meant I had to be monitored and had to deliver on my side which wasn’t the most effective, but all in all things went very smoothly and we both fell in love with the little guy right away. We’re at home since Friday morning and are enjoying life as a ‘proper’ family – needless to say that Hanno is fitting right in and is getting spoilt by his big sister! We’d be happy to come by to tell our birth story anytime – I could either stop by with Hanno on my own or George & Elsa would be happy to come along but would have to be at the beginning of the class as 8:30 is getting a bit late for little Elsa… Off to stare some more at little Hanno J All the best, Nora

Jenni's 3rd birth to Leander weighing in at 9lb 8ozs

Hello Patricia,
Just thought I'd grab this rare quiet moment to let you know that I had little Leander on Friday night. I had a very weird stop-and-start labour since Thursday morning, and things finally got going properly on Friday afternoon. We went to the low risk birth unit at 5 pm in the afternoon and he finally arrived at 10.43 pm. I managed to have him naturally with just some entonox in the final stages. THe midwife was absolutely lovely and the whole experience was generally fabulous, with the exception of a tear. Hardly surprising though, given that the little lad was 9lbs8 and sucking his thumb as he went through the birth canal.
We're all doing well and went straight back home that night.
I'd love to come and share my story at some stage.
Thanks for many happy Wednesday evenings preparing for my latest arrival!
See you soon,
Jenni x

Juliet's birth to Harriet

Hi Patricia
Our baby girl Harriet was born on Wednesday morning. We had a wonderful water birth at the Low Risk Birth Unit with no pain relief required. My waters broke on Tuesday evening at 10 pm without any warning signs at all and 5 minutes later my contractions began. At 4.30am I found that they were becoming increasingly powerful and decided we should head to the hospital. When we got there one of the midwives took us straight through to one of the rooms in the birth unit and checked to see how dilated I was. I was 5cm so was able to get straight into the pool which felt so amazing. After that I completely lost track of time and just got really into the contractions. Each time I felt one coming I had this almost indescribable feeling of power. At no point did it feel like pain, it was just powerful. When the pushing urges came I realised I was making a lot of low moaning sounds and breathing really deeply and slowly, this seemed to come naturally. At 8.10am Harriet was born weighing 8lb 7oz and contrary to what I had heard about babies being calmer when born in water, she came out screaming! I held her for almost 15 minutes before I realised we hadn't checked the sex!
I would love to bring her in after a session in a couple of weeks time. I am positive that the active birth classes were the thing that made me feel relaxed about labour and instead of being aprehensive and tense I welcomed each contraction and it didn't even occur to me to ask for pain relief. I loved every minute of it :o)
Thank you for all of your help.
Juliet xx

Laura's home birth to Poppy

Hi Patricia,
Just thought i'd write to say thank you and let you know I had a baby girl - Poppy Elizabeth - at home on Saturday morning, 7lb 15oz. I was in labour for about 8 hours in total, but had been getting increasingly stronger Braxton Hicks and had a show last Tuesday so things were obviously getting moving. It was such an empowering experience, I loved every minute of it. Seems a bit of a blur now to be honest. I used lots of yoga and my birthing ball. At the last minute, I rented a tens mach ine which seemed to help with the very early contractions, and I tried some gas and air for a couple of contractions but actually found breathing through them and vocalising a lot more useful. I'm feeling really well in myself and starting to get the hang of breastfeeding, which was interrupted due to the below... Phil wants to say thank you as well, he was a brilliant birth partner and really appreciates the help you gave us.
I've attached a picture of Poppy for you to see...
Anyway, I hope you're well.
Love Laura

Tristran's arrival

Hi Patricia,

Just a quick note to say our lovely baby boy, Tristan arrived on the 19th. I am totally in love :-)

He was delivered by ventouse after a long labour and much to-ing and fro-ing between Honiton and Wonford but we are both doing well now and have bonded wonderfully. Breast feeding is also going well which is a relief.

Here's a pic of Tristan and his proud dad.

Love,

Mon xxXXXX

Karen's water birth to Elfie Joy

Dear Patricia

Elfie Joy was born on Thursday 6th January - she was 4 days overdue and weighed 7lb 11oz.
As predicted, my labour was short and this time without any intervention.
Elfie was born in the water at 10.39 am. I woke up at 6.30 am and was feeling a bit uncomfortable, was having regular, serious contractions by about 8.00 am, arrived in the labour ward in Exeter at about 10.00 and managed to get into the pool at about 10.35 having been examined and found to be fully dilated (really just in time!) - 3 good pushes and it was all done. I managed with breathing and my tens machine and did not require any stitches. We did request delayed cord clamping which was fine, I ended up not having a natural third stage as we were still waiting an hour after the birth and the midwife was keen to see the placenta so we went with the injection (after the threat of a catheter to empty my bladder!) I was discharged the same day.
All in all I could not have asked for a better birth experience and the water birth was lovely. I know that the yoga had a positive effect on the whole thing, particularly the breathing so thanks very much.
Karen

Maria's birth to Lauren/beating the system!

Hi Patricia

Just to let you know Lauren was born on 5th November.

We had a bit of a stressful week but in the end she came through!

I went into hospital on the 2nd to be induced after fending off medical intervention for a week. I was given a pessary on the 3rd which did nothing. Thursday evening I went over to the labour ward for my waters to be broken but my cervix had become unfavourable.

I was told that I needed to consider a c section or to try again tomorrow. I was also put on nil by mouth.

Decided to go for c section rather than to be pumped with drugs that I anticipated wouldn't work. I felt that with an elective section I had some control as opposed to 12 hours of induction that may may fail and result in an emergency section.

On Friday, the c section list was busy and it wasn't sure if I would get a slot, though I was still nil by mouth. At 2pm I started to feel sick and I was moved to the labour ward at 3pm. I went from 0 to 10cm by 5.30pm. Lauren was posterior and face upwards but decided not to turn. I pushed until 7pm but was then taken to theatre as there was some fetal dipping.

The plan was for ventouse and possible c section if that didn't work. My contractions were so fast that I am convinced we didn't need assistance however one ventouse pull and she was out.

She was born at 7.20pm at 6lbs 6 oz.

The whole thing was so fast I wasn't very active as the space between then was short, but I used breathing and gas and air from around 4.30pm.

While the birth was not as natural as I had hoped,I felt I managed to beat the system as I went into labour naturally despite all the attempts to put me into labour! One midwife congratulated me on beating the system!

Lauren is very relaxed and enjoying life!

Maria

Louise's positive planned Caesarean birth to Alex

Hi Patricia, I have a son! He was born 7lb 3 and we've called him Alexander, more commonly known as Alex, or a whole host of baby nicknames at the moment. He's a very happy, responsive little thing, and an excellent feeder. Amazing to see that instinct in action. The c-section was ok, a bit tricky in places. We were called in for 8am, but they had loads of emergencies so we weren't seen nntil 3pm, and in the meantime i wasn't able to eat or drink. I think that contributed to me feeling absolutely dreadful afterwards, and i also think they overdid the diamorphine. I couldn;t speak in sentences, and my head and eyes were rolling. After making such a fuss with the birth plan, I was actually too nervous to hold him or try to feed for a while, although my husband held him very close to me. But then a very good, bossy midwife came along and latched him on regardless, and away he went! The surgeons were quite good at accommodating my request about the placenta. We agreed that they would leave it as long as they could, and they said the cord had started to collapse by the time they cut and clamped. It was only a matter of minutes, but i was glad they agreed to it. Overall, I felt they were prepared to be flexible and it did make me feel more in control of the experience, which was what I wanted. My recovery is going well now, although the immediate aftermath was pretty tricky. I was very sick and yellow skinned at times, and quite severely dehydrated. I managed to get home after two nights, though, on Christmas Day. I felt like death, but it was worth it to get out of hospital. Now I'm feeling almost right as rain again. Thanks again for all your help and tips. I think, under the circumstances, I did everything i could to reclaim the experience. Despite the tricky first moments after his birth, I feel a really strong bond with Alex, and i do think the positivity of your classes helped. I was always pretty nervous about parenthood, but it's all coming really naturally. All the best, and happy new year! Louise. xx

Rosie's birth of Coco

Hi Karin. Just to let you know that we had a lovely baby girl on Tuesday 23rd of November. She is called Coco Tui and weighed 6 pounds13oz. Had a really good day of early labour during Tuesday. Very calm all helped with your god-send breathing techniques! End stage was very quick, felt the head coming on the way to hospital and Coco made a surprise arrival outside the lift on the way to the labour ward! We were tucked up at home 4 hours later. Thank you so much for your classes, they were such a calming part to each week. I will miss it!Good luck to the rest of the girls. Rosie

well done Kendra and Matthew! proud parents to Aoife

Hello hello!
And finally I am able to update you on the arrival of Aoife Bethany Byrne, born on Monday 15th November at 7.15 pm - some 3 days after you kindly came over and some 17 days late.
To cut a (very) long story short, she was born by emergency c section.
But the long version:
I had been to the hospital on the Saturday for a check up, and they were happy with all the tests. On the Sunday, I went back again because she had been very quiet, and I was worried. It turned out I was in the very early stages of labour and was having contractions. On some of the contractions, her heart beat was dipping, but nothing of any undue concern. So we decided to give her chance to come out of her own accord, but booked an induction for 1230 the next day just in case things had not progressed.
Contractions continued throughout the day and evening, but stopped at night, or basically whenever I wasn't moving around.
The next morning, M and I got up very early and went for a long walk to get things moving again. I was having much stronger contractions, ones that stopped me from doing anything, but still clearly early labour.
We got to the hosp for 1230, told them we thought I was in labour, and were shown to our room, where my waters promptly broke. HA! So I avoided induction after all! I won! Things then picked up and was I moved to the labour ward. Unfortunately, I was still getting the dips in the heartbeat, even when stood up, and my waters were very very pooey. They started to make concerned noises, but let me carry on to see what happened.
I managed to get to 9cm dilated by tea time without any pain relief at all, not even gas and air! (you would have been proud of the vocalising and breathing!) and the midwife said that she had been a midwife for 10 years and that, as a first time mum, I was the most in control she had ever seen, and that she was very impressed. The consultant came in when I was having a contraction, and asked Matthew what pain relief I had taken - when he said none, she gave a look of total surprise and was equally impressed! Obviously I was oblivious to all this mind you - all I could do was focus on the contractions, as I was not getting that much of a rest in between, and the only place I could be other than on my back (which I had refused to do!) was be stood up leaning on the bed so that they could carry on monitoring.
Sadly, baby's heart beat kept on getting dangerously low after each contraction, and the waters were getting more pooey, so they did the head prick test, which came out unfavourably, so was whipped into theatre before any damage was done. They said that they could have let me carry on labouring for the last 1 cm and pushing, but because they didn't know if that would take 1 hour or 3 hours, it was just too dangerous and risky. I can't really argue with that - I gave it my best shot!
So we are now back home, getting on with coping with a slightly invalid new mum and a new baby! We are starting to get used to each other, and breastfeeding is improving, so I am beginning to settle down and find out what it is I am meant to be doing.
Anyway. Hope thats enough detail for you! Its cathartic to get it all down actually. Having the surgery meant we found out I only have one working ovary and fallopian tube, so I can be more forgiving of myself if/when we try again for another.
Matthew and I would love to come in and tell our story (I'll try to keep it brief) but I have no idea when yet. Matthew has Thomas every other Weds eve, and I now can't drive for at least 6 weeks, so our opportunities are more limited. But I will be in touch and we can sort something out. I want to tell your ladies you can be stubborn and stick to your guns if you want to.
So, thank you thank you thank you for all your guidance and support through this. I am sure had I not been to your class I would have been induced earlier, still had a c-section (due her to her positioning and heart beat issue) and would have felt really shit about the whole episode. I did it my way for as much as I could, and I know that I did my very very best.
I'll shut up now, this is a too-long email!
Many thanks
Kendra xx

Martina's baby girl has been born

Hi Karin,

Katie Alanna Down was born 3 min past midnight on 20 November at home. Her weight was just below 4 kg. I had mild contractions all Tuesday night which stopped in the morning and started again on Friday evening at 6 pm. They were quickly getting stronger and when the midwife arrived after 10 pm I was already fully dilated. Shortly after my water broke and the pushing started. It was a fantastic experience to have had a home birth which was very different to my first difficult birth with Isabel. We did lots of chanting which really helped to cope with the pain.

I had acupuncture with your husband 3 or 4 hours before the contractions started on Friday which I believe helped the get the contractions started again after they had stopped previously.

Could you please pass the news to Richard. He wanted to know if the treatment worked or if we needed to book another one. Thank you.

Thank you for all your classes, support and help. They were a great help.

Best wishes

Martina

Mette's birth to Frej

Dear Patricia
I am very happy to announce that I had a little baby boy Frej Sunday at 21:44 he weighing 5.15lb and measured 48cm.
It all happened very fast. Sunday morning i had some ache but put it down to the baby engaging. However by 13:30 it felt more regular and started to time the aches, by 15:00 it was 10 min apart but i was not in any discomfort at this time. Spoke to the on call midwife who said she would come and see me later that afternoon. I was still comfortable and cooked dinner for the family when suddenly things started to be a bit more uncomfortable the midwife then came around 5-6 o'clock and confirmed my belief that i was having contractions.
Things slowly started to become stronger and arrived to hospital at 20:40pm with me being in discomfort at this stage and confusion between my partner and the midwife I ended up in the labour ward but in the room with the pool so I was quite happy as this was my main priority. I had my temperature and blood pressure checked and was examined everything was fine and I was 8cm at this stage but my water was still intact. I then walked from the bed to the pool and my waters broke. I got into the pool and had gas and air only. I was very much in control of what was happening at this point and the midwife left me to give birth. My baby boy was then born at 21:44 so all in all very fast. I had a natural third stage and the cord was left until the placenta was delivered this gave me time to have nice skin to skin cuddle in the water. When I was out of the water I had a shower and then a nice cup of tea while having skin to skin and feeding Frej everything was nice and peaceful.
I now have two lovely children who is born on the same day and in the same room :)
The birth is everything I could have wished for it was fast, calm and quiet.
I stayed in hospital overnight and was home again monday morning we have now had our first night at home and so far look like i am blessed with a happy and content baby (long may this last).
I would like to thank you for everything I have learned at yoga without this knowledge I dont think I would have been as informed or actively involved in the planning of my birth.

Thank you so much for your help. Mette xx

We did it! Harrison Anthony George Dunbar born 10/10/10!

Hello Patricia I wanted to send you an email with huge thanks for all of your advice and support over the last 5 months - and to bring you and the yoga girls news of our new baby boy Harrison who was born (to his Daddy's HUGE pride!) on 10/10/10 at 0434 and weighing 7lbs 11oz - not bad for an overdue baby! He's long but not huge - was born at 41 + 3 weeks in the end. I felt so prepared for labour thanks to your classes and very very calm when it happened. I had an induction booked for today (Tues 12) and was so upset at the thought of it happening like that, I became a bit inventive! Tried all your advice, homeopathy, etc etc and nothing was happening so on Thurs the midwife did a sweep - I was very unsure if it was the right decision but had waited a week and refused and felt it was better than the drugs on induction. Nothing happening so on Friday night was in two minds about coming to class again as normal but decided to use the time to take on your last bit of advice and try acupuncture! I went to Cathy - she was amazing - did one session at 7pm Friday which brought on a big show straight away and a few Braxton Hicks (which I hadn't had any of previously) that night. Saturday morning and it had all died down again so I stimulated the labour needle she had left in my ear and they started up again - I went for another top up session with Cathy at 11 and the contractions strengthened into the real thing! Went out for lunch with contractions every 5 minutes which were intense but not terrible but headed home at about 3 as it felt like things were stepping up. Laboured at home using hypnobirthing and yoga (both brilliant) until 6pm when we went to hospital already 5-6cm dilated! Admitted straight away and spent the next 8 hours in stage 1. The hypnosis was incredible and (I never expected this) did most of stage 1 with just TENS and hypnosis in total silence! Used the ball too and tried to move around but actually found it quite hard - although standing and leaning helped with the pain. The midwife thought I'd be done by midnight but his positioning WAS an issue (just as you said!) which slowed things down so they broke my waters at about 2 as only progressed to 7cms. Then used birthing pool and did transition and the birth in the pool within 2 hours with gas and air (which wasn't that great but distracting!) He came out posterior after all! which explained why things didn't progress brilliantly, but I cannot praise the midwife enough (Kathy Moore) - she read my birth plan and created total calm and reassurance the whole time. By transition I was yelling for drugs after all! but she pretty much refused me meaning the whole birth was natural with no intervention at all. They said it was really busy but I felt like the only person on the ward and feel incredibly lucky. I'll stop my boring story now! but wanted to say a huge thank you for helping me feel so prepared and confident and excited about the whole thing. The yoga was absolutely brilliant in the run up to the birth and although I wasn't as active as I had expected (because it made me feel a bit odd during labour - probably because of the positioning) I had a clear idea of how to help him progress and what to do to stay active. Please send my love to all the girls and hope to see you soon Jess