The Birth of Mila (from a dad’s perspective)
Let’s get straight to it! We were getting ready for bed on the 7th of January 2020 at 11:00pm. Maddie’s waters ruptured! It was a very big surprise as we weren’t expecting our baby to arrive any time soon (Maddie was 38 weeks pregnant). We had told our parents earlier that day to not hold their breath as this baby isn’t coming any time soon. We decided to call the hospital and head there just to double check that it was actually the waters breaking and not something else.
Our plan was to head back home after seeing the midwife as we wanted to labor at home and have a good night’s sleep. During Maddie’s examination it was found that she had high blood pressure, and it was advised that we spend the night at hospital as Maddie may have pre-eclampsia.
We were extremely shocked by this news as Maddie’s blood pressure was taken that morning and everything was normal. After further tests Maddie was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and it was suggested that she get induced immediately. This was heartbreaking news, and we asked for a bit of alone time to discuss. We spoke together about it all, shed a few tears as we did not want to be induced. We had only been at the hospital for about 30mins and all of this had happened.
We decided to slow things down a little bit and handed the midwife our birthing preferences and told her that we did HypnoBirthing classes. At this exact moment everything became a lot calmer, doctors and midwife were no longer banging, clanging and stressing us out. We spoke with the doctor and midwife about our options and what the risks were. We asked if it was possible to have more time before Maddie got induced, and it was determined that Maddie’s blood pressure would be monitored regularly, and that we have until 8am the next morning and then they want to induce her. We understood that pre-eclampsia was a very serious risk to both mum and baby and agreed to re-assess things at 8am, which is the same time our Mamta midwife Frankie was starting 😊.
Frankie was amazing, we couldn’t of been happier when she arrived. She allowed us to follow our birthing preferences as she knew how important they were to us. But also thoroughly explained to us that things may have to change. We were OK with accepting this, as Maddie and baby’s health were most important.
At 10:30am Maddie was induced and at this stage Maddie was 4cm dilated. Surges increased drastically. Relaxation music was turned on and Maddie immediately went into the zone.
For the next 8 or so hours Maddie spent a lot of time in the shower. Unfortunately due to the pre-eclampsia she was heavily monitored so was unable to use the bath but Maddie was amazing throughout these 8hrs, she was extremely focused and strong. From a dad’s perspective I am extremely grateful for doing hypnobirthing…without it I would have been useless. It was very rewarding to help out with everything and to play an active part in the labor.
At roughly 6:45pm, after countless cycles through the relaxion playlist, it was clear that this was the last time we’d listen to these songs. It was game time and we were about to meet our precious little baby. We slowly saw our baby arriving and at 7:13pm our little baby girl was born. Of course she was the most beautiful girl in the world. Equal with Maddie 😊
We named her Mila Victoria. We very quickly realized that we had a very alert baby. Within hours of being born she would look around the room, respond to noises and maintain eye contact. I swear she was even looking around the room when only her head was out!
Mila is now 8 weeks old and nothing has changed. She cannot dare go a minute without knowing what’s going on and we are extremely proud of her. She is absolutely adorable! She is smiling at us (mostly mum…I seem to get more frowns than smiles) but a giggle is just around the corner!
Without HypnoBirthing and Frankie our midwife, we can guarantee we would not of had a pleasant birthing experience. As soon as we told the hospital about HypnoBirthing everything changed and became relaxed. Prior to that it felt a bit like get us in, get us out. Ideally Maddie would not of been induced, but it wasn’t to be, and we were both quick to accept that. We definitely made the right decision to protect both mum and baby.
That is our story 😊 of welcoming beautiful baby Mila.
- Tommy