Hello Kat,

Apologies for not getting in touch sooner, life has been really hectic since the birth of the wee fella! Baby Mylo Jacob Freeman arrived on 13th November at 11.21 weighing 8lb 2oz.

Things didn’t exactly go to plan with the birth. We fended off talk of induction for as long as we could, and trying everything to nudge Mylo out… acupuncture, reflexology, hot curries, pineapple, raspberry leaf tea, long walks and pogo-ing around the house to music! But he was staying put despite our efforts.

We really wanted to give him enough time to arrive when the time was right for him, but he was just getting too big. After much consideration we finally agreed to have a prostaglandin pessary as an out patient, when I was 41 weeks + 5 days. There were concerns that Mylo was getting too big for me to deliver naturally, after a scan he was estimated at 9lb 4oz plus and our consultant at Homerton was concerned about his size to my pelvis, they were worried I would need an emergency C-Section if it went on any longer.

Anyway, we thought the prostaglandin gel wouldn’t work, but an hour after getting home I was in labour, with powerful contractions 2 ½ – 3 mins apart and lasting up to a minute. It was incredibly painful, as inductions are, we were surprised at the strength and speed it all happened. To cut a long story short, Mylo was born 18 hours later at Homerton Hospital, he was a day off being 42 weeks. It was all rather traumatic, I wasn’t allowed to deliver in the birth centre as they were worried about his size so I was in the labour ward. The induction was really painful and I did opt for an epidural in the end as my body just couldn’t get into a rhythm at all, I wasn’t ready and I was floored by every contraction. The drugs meant I could get a little rest and catch my breath. Unfortunately our birth plan went out of the window! Induced, no water birth, having pain relief… In the end it was all worth it though! We have a gorgeous, healthy baby boy and I was able to deliver him normally rather than have a C-section.

We found HypnoBirthing really brilliant in preparing Nic and I for the birth, even if we couldn’t use a lot of the techniques during the birth as I was induced. I was really scared and anxious about childbirth when I turned up at your house for our first HypnoBirthing session. I can definitely say that the fear of birth completely went away a few weeks in and I really began to get excited about the birth of our baby. Practising the techniques with Nic was also an amazing bonding experience for us, and it was so relaxing doing the scripts and soft touch massage together.

I did feel quite upset that I didn’t have the birth experience I wanted, for myself and Mylo, after the birth. However, hopefully baby number 2 will be more straight forward (fingers crossed) and we will be able to have the lovely natural hypno birth we wanted next time.

We are loving being a little family, Mylo is amazing (we are biased!) and he is quite a character already (and very strong! Those legs!! Phew). Here are a few pics…

Hope to catch up soon, maybe at one of your coffee mornings in the new year.
Have a great Christmas!

Leonie, Nic & Mylo