The beautiful birth of Otis

“the most incredible, empowering and challenging thing I have ever done in my life”

We met our beautiful baby boy, Otis James Watson on Wednesday morning, 22nd April at 5.22am! He is everything we could have wanted and more, he’s healthy and happy and is just absolutely perfect.

McLean and I wanted to thank you so much for all the tools you and Hypnobirthing gave us in preparation for birth. As I said before, in the lead up to birth,

the hypnosis and breathing techniques made the world of difference for me to stay positive and trust my body.

Otis’ birth was the most incredible, empowering and challenging thing I have ever done in my life and I was certain nothing would top that, although breastfeeding is proving to be along similar lines! I’m so proud of my body and strength.

I think Hypnobirthing helped me to see my birth so positively and not focus on a “perfect birth”.

I went into spontaneous labour around lunch on Tuesday (40 + 6) and spent the afternoon listening to my affirmations, hypnosis tracks, in the bath, shower and occasionally resting in bed when my body gave me the opportunity. We kept the room dark, used fairy lights, had the diffuser going and it was exactly as I pictured it. McLean was an incredible support during this time and I was feeling really in control.

We had a midwife visit at around 8pm to check in with us, she checked the baby’s heartbeat, observed me going through my contractions and recommended we keep going and continue to trust ourselves. At 11pm, I felt it was time to go to the hospital and by 5.22am, our little man was on my chest. The last few hours were intense and I felt like I was done, but McLean did an amazing job helping me breathe and the midwives were incredible helping Otis into this world. Initially it was really tough for McLean to see me go through that, but we both felt that overall we had a really positive experience.

I talked to McLean about our birth and have already been asked if Hypnobirthing was worth it. Before I had a chance to give my answer, he responded with yes, 100% yes. He said,

as a partner, I felt prepared to support you, understand how labour could progress and know in detail what your preferences are, advocate for you during birth and be taken seriously in the room during birth

because I had been informed about the difference paths we might need to take. 

I just wanted to say thank you for your education, support and advocacy helping us prepare for birth. I’ve also found a breastfeeding meditation track and it puts me right back into a relaxed state so

I’m really appreciative for learning these techniques to help calm me not just for labour but for parenting too.

Kacey and McLean, April 2020 Buddina, Sunshine Coast