The freebirth story of Luna Rae

Mild surges started at about 7am after a good nights sleep (just as I’d written down in my dream birth vision and meditated on many times for things to start first thing in the morning so they did!) accompanied with a slight trickle of our waters.

My husband and son were still asleep so I listened to a birth affirmations track and just rested in bed staring at their beautiful faces feeling so much love and excitement.

I then got up and took an hour to myself in the garden it was already sunny and warm and I had a little wander around, a squirrel joined me in the garden and danced about too.

About 8.30am they had got up and we had some cuddles on the sofa and I kept myself busy sweeping the kitchen and folding washing, eating breakfast and drinking lots of water.

I moved through the surges walking, pacing the house, dancing, leaning against windows. At about 10am I was walking back from the bathroom when a powerful surge came out of nowhere and dropped me to my hands and knees - I was in denial this can’t be happening this quickly can it!?

I texted my friend to come and pick up my Son and my husband set up the birth pool. This part feels hazy and dreamy but I remember listening to my playlist and just enjoying moving around I spent some time in my bedroom alone on hands and knees on the bed swaying to music.

I got in the birth pool about 11am and the warm water felt amazing and an instant relief. Surges had been coming very regularly but came to a stop as my friend entered to collect my Son, she only stayed for 10 mins and as soon as she left they picked back up again and we’re suddenly on top of each other with not much of a gap between them.

From this point on I was in transition until baby arrived about 2 hours later. I remember writhing around the birth pool trying to resist the intensity moaning and crying pulling on the handle on the side of the birth pool, roaring and mooing - anything to try and get some relief. I kept saying to my husband as I clung onto his neck ‘I can’t do it’ and he just kept gently reminding me ‘Yes you can.’

At some point I just realised that this is birth and instead of saying ‘no’ to the sensations I started saying ‘yes’ and ‘come on baby that’s it’ ‘more’ I looked up and saw one of my birth affirmations that said the only way out is through and I started breathing into the sensation and imagining my body utilising all the energy it was putting out, and this point they became more manageable and slowed for a few mins whilst I entered deep rest with my head on the side of the pool and my husband managed to feed me some fruit and sips of cold coconut water which tasted just divine.

At some point there was a knock at the door and my husband went to get it but I yelled at him to come back (it was just a delivery driver!) at this point he felt like my sturdy anchor in a rough sea and I couldn’t imagine not being able to hold onto him.

I instinctively felt inside and could feel baby’s head right there which was so reassuring I got onto my knees and calmly said ‘baby’s coming now’ in a voice that didn’t even sound like mine.

I didn’t feel the supposed ‘ring of fire’ or any pain at this point just the immensity of her body moving down through mine.

I put some power behind the next surge and her head shot out into the water I instinctively took a position like a runners lunge with one knee up and my husband moved behind me and later told me he could see her head face up and her eyes open at him in the water.

On the next surge her whole body slipped out in an instant and he caught her in the water behind me. I felt on another realm the relief and joy were indescribable, I didn’t even hear the music but later my husband told me that baby can I hold you tonight by Tracy chapman was playing on our speaker as she was born.

He passed her under my leg to me which was a it of an awkward manoeuvre as the cord was quite short but we somehow managed it and I sat back and placed her on my chest and then announced she was a girl as we’d known she would be - our little moon was finally in our arms and it was the most blissful feeling ever! I just kept saying ‘I did it, I did it’ in disbelief! Placenta came about half an hour later as I stepped out of the pool and plopped straight onto the floor!