Bylgja Pálsdóttir – birth story

Hi dear yoga teachers.

I always loved hearing birth stories in yoga, so here is ours.

This is our second child, and my first birth had stayed with me a little. That birth went very well at first, I used the ocean breath a lot, but it was a long birth (more than a day from the first contraction) that ended with 3 hours of pushing, a vacuum and an episiotomy. I took a very long time to recover, completely exhausted.

I was hoping this time would be different, and it was.

I'd had a wonderful day with my older daughter. We went for two walks, played at the playground and then went out for a birthday dinner with the family. We were home around 8 pm and my girl fell asleep quickly. I'd had contractions with mild pain during the day, but I'd also had them for the past 2 weeks, so I didn't suspect anything. I went to bed at 10 pm, tired after the day and glad to rest. That didn't quite happen, though, because fifteen minutes later, just as I was drifting off to dreamland, I suddenly heard a little pop and felt a strange sensation. I got out of bed and told my husband I thought my water was breaking. I walked into the bathroom and yes, amniotic fluid started gushing out. I felt immediately very anxious and tense and started shaking. Suddenly I remembered very clearly how painful my first birth had been and thought, "why on earth am I doing this again". But I managed to calm myself quickly, and it helped so much to think "breathe-relax-trust". Trust the body. Trust the baby. Trust the process.

I called the hospital and was told to rest at home until contractions started, as most women go into labor on their own within a day of their water breaking. I tried to lie down and rest, but more fluid kept gushing out, so I really had to stay in the bathroom. Soon the contractions began and I felt a strong urge to get to the hospital. I think I sensed this would happen fast. My mom came over to be with our older girl and we drove off.

We arrived at the hospital at 00:30. They checked my dilation, which was only 3 (a bit of a disappointment, even though not much time had passed). We were offered to go home, which I wasn't keen on. I felt much safer at the hospital. So I was given 2 Parkodin and could wait in the examination room to see if the contractions eased. They didn't, they only got stronger, so we were moved to the birth room. I asked for a room with a bath and we got to choose between two rooms. We chose number 3, which is absolutely wonderful. A view of Hallgrímskirkja from the window, a bath and a really spacious room. Highly recommend! A lovely midwife was with us. She said of course I could have the gas, but maybe I'd like to wait a little. I waited a bit and tried to stay on my feet so the baby could move lower. Then the contractions got so strong that I lay down on my side in bed and started using the gas. It helped a lot, and I also tried to use the ocean breath the whole time. Still, the contractions felt incredibly strong and I shook a lot between them. I soon decided to try the bath, as I'd wanted to. It was a great relief for my body to get into the bath, but the contractions had become so intense that I found it hard to breathe through them. The midwife offered to check my dilation while I was in the bath, and it turned out I was fully dilated and could start pushing if I felt the urge. I felt it very soon and started pushing in the bath, but then moved to the bed. I found pushing terribly painful and hard and quickly got scared it would end in 3 hours like last time. Then it was good to remember – breathe, relax, trust. Pushing was a bit of a struggle, but after about 1 hour our little girl shot out, and I was so proud of us both for doing it without pain relief or interventions. Such an empowering experience after a hard first time. Our girl came into the world at 04:11, only 6 hours after my water broke and 3.5 hours after we arrived at the hospital. All the staff and facilities at the hospital were top notch. We have been doing so well, I recovered much faster than last time, and overall it was just a wonderful experience of the birth and the first days. I hope someone in the room listening to this story had a hard first birth, hears this and finds faith that the next birth can be much, much better.

Thank you so much for all the knowledge and training in yoga, dear yoga teachers.

Warm wishes, Bylgja Pálsdóttir