The Perfect Ending to a Date Night.

What do you do when your labour starts just as you are about to leave for a long planned date night?

Go enjoy your dinner of course and order a ‘Maybe Baby’ Mocktail!

Well that’s what Alex and Des did.

Here is their story:

“Hi Pip,

We have been meaning to message for some time (almost 6 weeks!) to let you know that we welcomed our little man into the world on June 12th and the birth was everything we had hoped for and more 🙂

Five days before my ‘guess date’ my labour started in the afternoon but we had a babysitter booked and dinner reservations for date night, which I was reluctant to cancel since it might be our last chance for a while! So we headed out anyway, enjoyed some mocktails and dinner, skipped dessert (sadly!), and headed home when my surges were about 8 minutes apart.

I snuggled up and read bedtime stories with my daughter, Des had a nap, and after a few hours of labouring peacefully at home we got to the birth centre at 10:30pm when instinct told me it was time.

You were right about trusting my instinct as our midwife felt it could be too early, but once we arrived she soon revised that opinion!

The breathing techniques, tracks and light touch massage became our favourite tools from the course and I really enjoyed how aware and ‘present’ I felt during the labour – a stark contrast to how I felt last time with the gas and air.

I had a very active labour, no interventions or monitoring, just one vaginal examination (which I didn’t ask the results of) and little Connor Peter Shanks arrived at 1:11am in the water, weighing 3kg.

It was calm, magical, and a memory I will treasure forever 🙂

I got to enjoy uninterrupted skin to skin contact, immediate breastfeeding, and had a quick, easy natural third stage too.

Everything just worked exactly as it should!

The only problem we encountered was tearing and I accepted the gas and air that was recommended. In hindsight that didn’t help me one bit and made me so spaced out and panicked.

In the end I ditched the gas and breathed through it and it was so much more bearable.

I have to say that the hypnobirthing played a big part in the labour itself, but the knowledge that you shared along the way also helped us to cement in our minds the type of birth we were aiming for and to have to confidence to ask for it.

I know you can’t ‘plan’ a birth but you can certainly plan for the best case scenario and cross your fingers, which is exactly what we did, and it certainly paid off!

So many who have heard our story of going out for dinner couldn’t believe how calm we were about the impending birth, and neither could I to be honest!

I just didn’t feel anxious at all – only excited and ready to welcome our boy. I’m sure the hypnobirthing practice tracks were behind that!

Anyway we just wanted to thank you for the part you played in helping us to achieve the birth we wanted. We feel blessed to have met and read advice from so many gifted and passionate birth educators and midwives along the way. Sorry for the long story! But I get a tad excited about sharing a positive experience this time! 🙂

All the best and thanks again, Alex, Des and baby Connor xx”