Joey tells her birth story in her own words…

My pregnancy was honestly a dream. I love(d) being pregnant and truly believed baby would come when they were ready, but for some reason, I also had in my mind that baby would come at 38 weeks 😅 maybe because Bellamy came at 39 and surely this one would be faster right?! 

My home was set up and ready for me to welcome my baby. The pool was ready, just waiting to be filled. 

I was drinking my Pregnancy (raspberry leaf) Tea like it was water and using my clary sage roller in ALLL the accupressure points. 

Then on Monday 17th of April, at 39+3, I started to feel something. It was around 8am, Tung had dropped Bellamy off at my parents for the day and I was starting to get light period cramps. I tried not to get too excited but made Tung and I pancakes as a little treat. 

By afternoon, I decided that my period cramps were getting more intense, so I popped on my TENS machine and started my birth playlist. 

I spent the rest of the day just chilling, with the surges growing becoming stronger and closer together as the day wore on. At 3pm, our app told us it was time to go to hospital 😂

I spend most of the evening then just dancing in our beautiful birth space at home, repeating affirmations to myself and bouncing on the exercise ball. Things were very exciting and my surges still felt manageable. That did not last.

After dinner, Mum had brought Bellamy home. Though I really wanted him to be present at the birth, it was nearing his bedtime and I could see my surges were starting to frighten him. So Tung and I gave him a bath and kissed him goodnight, mum staying the night in his room in case he woke up needing us. 

So then it was go time, I rode the waves of each surge and though I was initially very calm, by 9.30/10pm I felt them start to overwhelm me. Surges were 3-4mins apart and and the midwives were here by 10.45pm.

Transition was upon us. I was whimpering, nauseous and vomiting. Anxious that I had so much longer to go as I hadn’t lost my plug or broken my waters yet. At 11.30pm, the midwives asked me if I’d like to get in the pool and I remember saying “isn’t it too soon?” 😅

I cried when they told me the TENS had to come off, but was gripping onto my birth comb like it was my lifeline. As I was standing up to get into the pool, I could feel myself push. 

Stepping into that bath, submerging myself in the warm water felt amazing. I felt my entire body relax and I felt more in control of my breathing. Naïve me then said “I think the surges have stopped”. But not long after, they were back, I could hear my voice change as baby was moving down. I let my body work for me and felt myself pushing. My waters burst in the pool and the surges became so intense, along with the urge to push. 

This whole time, Tung never let go of me. He was there, encouraging me and physically supporting me. I could tell he was getting tired too, because at some point, the only thing he kept saying to me was “breathe” until I snapped and said “STOP TELLING ME TO BREATHE I KNOW I NEED TO BREATHE.”

And so I was pushing. And it felt incredible, because up until now, I was convinced that baby was still so far away. With a few pushes, I felt baby’s head emerge. Then not long after, the body. Our baby was here.

The midwives helped us bring baby up into my arms and I couldn’t believe that we’ve created another perfect sweet baby. Born at 12.04am on Tuesday 18th of April. Another little boy to adore. 

🌙 Avery Van Ngo ✨

What do you wish you knew before birth?

That we as women are POWERFUL. We know our bodies. We know our babies. We have the intuition and ability to birth. 

That birth is not a medical event (although I completely understand that in some cases it needs to be).

If you could, would you do anything differently?

Honestly, no. I wish I could go back in time and birth my first at home too, it was such a beautiful experience, being able to be in the comfort of home, my puppy near me, my son sleeping down the hallway. 

What did your partner do that really helped during labour/birth?

My husband was an incredible support person and we can really credit our Hypnobirthing class that we did for this. I really felt that he advocated for me and our baby, and he had so many techniques to help me, from massage, affirmations, hip squeezes etc, so he really was an active participant in our baby's birth

What advice/honest truth would give a mama-to-be about birth?

Invest in yourself. Invest in education for yourself and your support person. Knowledge is power. This is your body, your baby, your birth, so take charge. 

Listen to all the stories about birth but protect your space and your mindset leading up to your birth.

You got this ❤