Vanessa's Birth of Lola

Vanessa's Birth of Lola

This is a Hypnobabies birth story! 

http://www.Hypnobabiesblog.org

Most people do not know how long we waited for your arrival, but it was much longer than the standard nine months. After an ectopic pregnancy in 2005, I was left with only one uterine tube, which could have led to fertility issues. But we were expecting Autumn within a few months, so it did not seem to be impacting us. In 2009, I found out I was pregnant just a few months after we had decided we wanted another child. I was delighted, but a few days later found out that I was again having an ectopic pregnancy that had to be ended with Methotrexate. I was devastated and my sadness was compounded by the news that future pregnancies would likely end the same way. The doctor told me that my remaining tube was probably blocked and if we wanted another child our only option was in vitro fertilization. We do not have private insurance and since IVF was financially impossible, I gave up hope of a third child and decided to go back to school.

Dear Lola, imagine my surprise (and fear) that Friday nearly three years later, when looking at my calendar, I realized that I was “late.” Imagine my delight (and terror) when the second pink line appeared after I peed on “the stick”. I kept you, my delicious secret, for about a week, before telling your dad. And we waited another month, until we could see you growing safely in my uterus via ultrasound, until we told Mimi and Pap (then the rest of the world on Facebook.)

So you are very special to us: A wish granted unexpectedly and a joy unlooked for.

After an uneventful, complication-free, healthy pregnancy I headed into the weekend before I reached 37 weeks with the expectation of at least another week or two of pregnancy. In retrospect, I did a lot of nesting that weekend. I bought several last-minute baby items, paid all our bills, filed papers, made a to-do list and a number of appointments.

On Monday, April 30 I woke at 4 a.m. with a dreadful feeling about my appointment with the backup obstetricians that I had scheduled for May 1. The head doctor had called me several time the week before, wanting me to come in a sign yet another liability waiver for my homebirth plans. It was starting to wear on me and I was concerned about what awaited me at the clinic. I woke up Hal and cried to him because I felt that I was being sucked into the hospital agenda, that I would not go into my birthing time naturally or would go beyond 42 weeks. He calmed me down and I slept for several hours, missing my usual 6 a.m. 3-mile walk.

The girls and I enjoyed our first day off from homeschooling. We shopped at the Girl Scout Council store and bought some books for next year and patches. The security guard teased me about when my baby was coming and I wanted to have a Braxton Hicks in front of him to really scare him, but instead we smiles and went on our way. Our next stop was Trader Joe’s for our weekly groceries. I noticed that I was having fairly frequent practice waves and so I used my “Peace” Hypnobabies cue as I drove. Once at TJs, I was having to go to the bathroom with nearly every wave. So we finished shopping fast and I decided to skip my planned stop at Whole Food and ask my mom to pick up the gluten-free pizza crusts instead. I wanted to get home to eat, cook dinner and relax in case “this was it.”

After cooking, I had a sudden burst of energy, so I decided to channel it into my usual walk. The girls went with me for awhile, but mostly I was on my own, listening to my Hypnobabies Pregnancy Affirmations. A neighbor who recently had a baby, teased me about trying to get the baby out. At this point, I was still in denial that the baby could be coming sooner than later.

By the time I got home, Hal was there with the girls and we sat down to eat dinner together. I did not have much of an appetite for the stew and sitting on the hard kitchen chair was not comfortable. During dinner, I started using my lightswitch actively, even though I thought I was still have practice waves. I figured that if they turned real that I would be very relaxed from practicing and if they stopped, I would have gotten a lot of practice.

Finally, I felt like laying down, so I relaxed on the couch while Hal took care of the girls’ bedtime routine. They asked me to join them in Madeline’s room for bedtime stories, but I could not find a comfortable position to sit in, so I ended up wandering around her room impatiently until it was time to turn the lights off. 

I brought down the big laundry basket of baby clothes and homebirth supplies. Hal looked surprised, but I insisted that it did not mean a thing- I was 37 weeks and felt it was important to have them out now. He suggested that I lay on the couch and relax and time some pressure waves while he worked on his final paper for his degree. It was due on Friday and both of us thought he had time to finish it before the baby would be here. But when I timed four waves, I found that they were 2-3 minutes apart and lasting 45-60 seconds. Hal exclaimed, “This baby is coming, isn’t it?!?” I smiled and said I still was not sure. But he was.

When I headed into bed, I decided to call Ellen and give her a heads up. I also emailed my doula who was still in California for her Hypnobabies training. I slept very deeply, listening to the Deepening track, alternated with other ones, like Fear Clearning and Special Place. Using my lightswitch and peace cues all day made it easy to sleep through this early part of birth.

I alternated between the birth ball and sleeping in bed. Hal feverishly worked on his paper. Around 10 or 11 p.m. I decided we should call Ellen. I was afraid of having the baby too fast and my waves were becoming much more intense. I made Hal go to bed in case I needed him later in the night, I did not want him up all night working on his paper and without energy to support me. When Ellen arrived at 12:45 a.m. she offered to check me, but I declined. I had not lost much mucous plus and was worried that meant I was not dilating. She assured me that many women have babies without ever seeing their plug, which made me feel better. I decided to go back to sleep after a snack and a tour of our house. She offered me something to help me sleep, but I did not want to be groggy if the baby was born in the middle of the night. Ellen slept on our couch and I alternated between sleep, birth ball and eating chicken soup on the toilet. All the while, I was listening to my Hypnobabies CDs and using my finger drop to stay totally comfortable through each pressure wave.

At 6:45 a.m. I asked Ellen to check me, as my pressure waves were still not lasting over a minute consistently and we knew we needed them to grow in intensity to bring the baby. At first, she thought I was not dilated at all, but quickly realized that what she thought was the other side of my closed cervix was really my extremely bulgy bag of water hanging out of a very stretchy 5 cm dilated cervix.

The girls got up as usual at 8:30 a.m. and were very excited to know that the baby was probably coming today. Hal made us all breakfast and I ended up sleeping until 9 a.m. Love that Hypnobabies!

Ellen thought that we should take a walk, so Hal and I went around a nearby street with a nice big uphill. We walked and talked. It was such a lovely day. Whenever I had a wave, I would lean on Hal and he would tell me to “relax” and “let go”. I started feeling double-peaking waves and I think I may have entered transformation at this point. But it did not matter. I trusted totally in Hal’s support and with each wave, I would imagine myself floating on a wave, in my special place. The water was my anesthesia and as the wave peaked in my uterus, I would envision the wave peaking and carrying me to shore. This visualization along with Hal’s voice giving me cues was so powerful that the sensations literally faded away and became exquisitely intense rather than uncomfortable.

We came home and I napped again, listening to Hypnobabies CDs. The waves were feeling much more intense and it was harder to find comfortable positions to rest in. I was really just listening, deeply relaxed and getting up to use the toilet in between nearly every one. I was still worried that I was not losing much mucous plug and concerned that the baby was still in the left occiput transverse and was getting stuck on my pelvis. I was feeling each pressure wave, first in my abdomen, then again radiating through my pelvis into my birth canal. It was more intense than I remember feeling during either of my previous births.

At 11 a.m. we decided to go for another walk, even though my waves were extremely intense. They were nearly constant, only 30-60 seconds rest and lasting well over a minute and a half. It took us at least an hour and a half, maybe longer to walk around the same street that it usually took us 10 minutes to go around. People stopped us occasionally to ask if our baby was coming. I would take a few small steps (all I could manage at this time) and I would have another wave while leaning on my husband and having him give me verbal cues for anesthesia.

We got home and I decided that after that walk, I deserved to finally get into the birth pool. It felt heavenly. I leaned into the side, listening to Easy First Stage and holding on to the handles. The girls brought me a posy of wildflowers and I looked at it. They poured warm water on my low back, which helped me focus. I talked to you, our baby, telling you that I was ready for you to be born.

After an hour, I got out to use the toilet and asked Ellen to check me again. I was 8-9 cm, but the baby was still high because of my incredibly resiliant, bulgy bag of water. She declined to rupture it, due to the risk of cord prolapse, but encouraged me to do it myself. But I just was not able to get the power I needed with each wave to push yet. And I was starting to feel a little grumpy and impatient.

Ellen asked me to get out of the tub and do squats or walk our stairs. The squats did not feel like they did much. But the stairs... oh my... walking the stairs was perhaps the single most intense experience so far. I did it once and began to cry for Hal, my rock who kept me in hypnosis and helped me focus on maintaining my anesthesia. He did two more rounds with me as I cried and swore like a sailor. Ellen took the girls into their bedrooms to explain what I was doing and that I was okay. They are so sensitive to my feelings and I did not want them to feel scared. After the third time, I refused to go further and decided to sit on the toilet.

I began to have a pressure wave and in that moment, I decided that I was going to push the heck out of it, whether I felt like it or not... I did not care. I let out the loudest sound Hal has ever heard me make. A roar, while I pushed as hard as I could and broke my bag of water. There was so much fluid that it splashed out of the toilet and all over the bathroom.

Upon the bag breaking, I immediately felt you move through my cervix into my birth canal. Ellen came running with Chux pads, intending me to birth in the bathroom. Hal knew I would be sad if I did not make it to the pool. He looked me in the eyes as asked, “Are you ready? We are going to walk to the pool. It isn’t far.” I did not think I would make it, but I did. It was the hardest thing I had ever done. Later, Hal told me that he had planned to carry me down the hall to the pool, if I had refused to walk.

Once in the pool, I freaked out because the urge to push was so intense, but Ellen simply reminded me to reach down and feel your head to center myself. I did that and instantly, instinctively, I remembered to push between waves and said “Peace” to myself as I eased your head out. I called out for help as I felt your shoulders emerge, one at a time and then your body as I knelt in the pool. I sat back, brought you up to my belly. You were blue at first, as waterborn babies are, but your heart rate was strong and you were quietly alert, looking at me, your dad and your sisters, who were present for the whole thing.

I reached down to check and found you were a girl! Madeline was crying in joy and I started crying, mostly because I was happy to finally be finished.

We got out of the tub and snuggled together on the bed. It was so amazing to go from having a baby to resting in my own bed at home. It felt so right and wonderful. You recovered from birth quickly, pinking up with the help of a little oxygen and massage and you started nursing immediately. Your sisters will never forget watching their baby sister enter the world. I feel so lucky that we all were able to have this experience together as a family. Your dad’s support created a level of trust between us that will never go away.

Initially, I felt like I had really let go of my hypnosis towards the end. That I should have worked harder to stay comfortable... then I realized that there was no way that I could have spent over three hours (or more, who knows!) at 8-9 cm with a bulgy bag of fluid in transformation if I had not been using my hypnosis. The intensity that I experienced was only matched by the power of my mind to stay in control and working towards the goal of giving birth. I also initially felt caught off guard by the length of time I was birthing because it was so much longer than Autumn’s birth. However, when doing the “Visualize Your Birth” script, I always imagined my birth starting at night, going through the morning and you being born in the late afternoon. This was exactly what happened! I just had not imagined the intensity of the experience. Having gone through it, with only my husband’s support, I feel stronger as a person, wife and mother.

Photo credit: Danielle of Tiny Toes Portraits

Enjoy more amazing birth stories and information here on the Hypnobabies blog:

http://www.Hypnobabiesblog.org

Tags: birth, birth stories, birth stories on demand, natural birth stories, home birth stories, home birth, water birth, water birth stories, birth stories with pictures, hypnobabies, Positive birth stories, 

Mary's Birth of Molly

Mary's Birth of Molly

This is a Hypnobabies birth story! 

http://www.Hypnobabiesblog.org

Molly's Birth story

Molly Jane was born at 2:58 am on April 21, 10 days after her guess date, and after a short, ENJOYABLE birthing time. Here's the story of Molly's birth (long version).

After three weeks of maternity leave and several weeks of preparing our home and TRYING (as best is possible) to prepare our two year old for his new sister, I was starting to get just the slightest bit impatient (though I tried hard not to be!) I had had lots of "toning" contractions in the last weeks of my pregnancy, and I knew when it happened that it would be a quick one! Hypnobabies helped remind me that she would come when she was ready, and that our birth would be a wonderful experience.

A little stress heading into my birthing time: both my midwife and my mom were going to be out of town for the weekend (we were just over a week past the guess date at this point). This was a bit stressful for me since we'd planned that my mom would watch our two year old during the birth, and of course I wanted my regular midwife to attend my birth! But no point in allowing too much stress in. We had my dad who could come watch my son if needed and of course the midwife had a back up in place.  I think my Hypnobabies training really helped me let go of any stress this situation may have caused, and I felt very sure that things would happen in the exact way they should. And, of course, Molly decided she was ready to be born the very night both my midwife and mom were out of town!

Friday afternoon I got my fluid levels checked (41 weeks, 2 days), and all looked good. My husband took the afternoon off, we had lunch and walked a bit. I had been feeling tons of Braxton Hicks that afternoon, but that was normal for me in the last couple weeks, and I didn't really think it meant anything. I was hoping she would at least wait until the next day when my midwife would be back.

We got our son from school, went home and had tons of fun playing in the sprinkler with him. We had our usual "Pizza Friday" dinner and put our son to bed. All along, I had a few Braxton-Hicks here and there, but nothing more than any other evening, so I didn't think anything of them.

I went to bed early, as usual, around 8:30.  Read a little, listened to a Hypnobabies track. I woke up to go to the bathroom around 10:45, and felt a pressure wave that felt a little more "real" to me. A little while later I felt another one. At 11:00 I texted my husband (out in the front room watching tv still), "hey, can you come back here, I think my labor is starting." Of course he ran back, and we discussed our options, waited through a few more waves.  Pretty quickly I had the "this is it" feeling, so we called my dad to come over and tried to call the on-call number for the Birth Center. Turns out they were already there for a birth, so they said come on in to be checked, especially since I had a fast birth for my first birth.

The car ride was quick and easy, I listened to my Birth Day Affirmations and felt really positive and relaxed. We got to the Birth Center around 12:15 or so, and got to meet the on-call midwife who would be attending our birth. She was really great and warm and funny, which immediately took away any residual stress about our usual midwife being out of town! She checked me, and I was 4cm, around 80%, and -2, which is pretty much where I had been at my appointment on Tuesday. I was told that I could go home and labor some more, or I could stay if I felt like I needed to (incidentally, for my first birth the dr at the hospital told me to go back home when we checked in at 1:30am; I listened to my gut, we stayed, and our son was born 4 hours later!). We chose to stay, walk around a bit, and see where we were in an hour or so.

My husband and I went out into the cul-de-sac to walk. We walked and chatted, and I listened to more affirmations. I had more waves as we walked, nothing to regular, and I could still walk and talk through them. But I was still sure our birthing time was close.

We went back in around 1:30. I sat on the birth ball, listened to Easy First Stage, and ate some dried apricots and hydrated myself. I had several more waves while sitting on the ball, and my husband used the "release" cue with his hand on my shoulder to help me relax and breathe through each one. Felt amazing. At this point, they asked about filling the tub, and I wasn't sure because it still felt so comfortable and I didn't want to get in too early and slow things down. We decided just to fill it and I'm glad we did.

Around 2, my pressure waves picked up, and I began kneeling over the top of the ball while my husband squeezed my hips during each wave, using the "release" and "relax" cues.  He was amazing, reading my signals and giving me just what I needed. I also kept repeating "open, open, open"during each wave, which helped me focus on what my body was doing.  All through this, the midwife, nurse, and doula were coming in and out to set up and to check on us, but they were really hands off and just let us do our thing, which was just what I needed.

Soon I was feeling like it was time to get into the tub. The midwife wanted to check me first, and I was a little discouraged to hear I was "only" at 6 (this was just after 2:30).  A few waves later I was in the tub, and it felt amazing! I tried a few different positions to see what felt best, and finished listening to Easy First Stage. My husband wondered what to put on next, and suddenly I felt like he needed to put the Pushing Baby Out track. He put it on but I don't think I heard a word of it, I was in my "zone" at that point!

I was really focused, but heard the midwife say to let her know if I felt any burning or stinging. Next wave that came I said, "OK, I feel stinging!" I flipped onto all fours, which felt the best to me, and about two waves later I felt that urge to push. That was intense, but I knew our baby would be here soon and tried to focus on letting that happen!  My husband was right by my head as I leaned over the tub, letting me squeeze his hand (and even bite it through the last intense wave as I pushed her head out!!) I think I pushed through two or three waves, and maybe a few minutes, and then I was holding our little girl!!

She had a short cord, and it actually tore as they handed her up to me, so we had to clamp it and get out of the tub right away. Everyone seemed calm about it, so I didn't stress, just climbed onto the bed and snuggled my baby as they massaged my belly and delivered the placenta. She cuddled a bit skin-to-skin, then she latched right on and nursed really well!

I felt amazing, despite missing most of the night's sleep. We stayed for about 3 and a half hours, and both of us were doing great. We got to go home around 6:30, stopped for breakfast, and were home just about 30 minutes after our 2 year old got up for the day. This was a relief to me, since I really wanted to make the transition as easy for him as we could. We got to introduce our son to his baby sister, which was such a precious moment, and just spend a nice relaxing day at home with our new little family! And this recovery has been SO nice and easy too!

I loved our birth, and even feel a little sad it's over! I can't say enough great things about Hypnobabies, which helped me stay positive and relaxed and prepared me for a quick and easy birthing time. I also wish more women could have access to the birth center model of care, because it was just fantastic and such a nice way for our baby to be born!!

Enjoy more amazing birth stories and information here on the Hypnobabies blog:

http://www.Hypnobabiesblog.org

 Tags: Hypnobabies, birth, birth stories, birth stories on demand, water birth, birth center, natural birth, positive birth stories, birth stories with pictures, birthing pictures 

Erin's Birth of Julius

This is a Hypnobabies birth story! 

http://www.Hypnobabiesblog.org

Julius’s due date was Friday April 6^th. We were all hoping and wishing for a Wednesday night/Thursday/early Friday baby because that was the longest stretch that my husband Mike had off work before he had to resume 30 hour runs for another week. A small window of opportunity for him to be guaranteed at home for the birth of Julius, but we just tried to stay positive.

On Wednesday morning I had my 40 week OB appointment and my doc told me that I was “definitely four, some would say five” centimeters dilated and 70% effaced already. I knew, and my OB was warning me, that when I started to have pressure waves that were regular and timeable, I shouldn’t wait too long to go in to the hospital. I was having waves very sporadically and they were causing me minimal discomfort, but I wasn’t sure if that was because my Hypnobabies training was “working” or that was just how my body was doing things.

Starting on Wednesday afternoon I started listening to tracks that would hopefully help my body get things moving – “Birthing Day Affirmations,” “Easy First Stage,” and “Come Out Baby.” Harder to do this when you already have kid(s) to take care of but I squeezed them in while my 2 year old son Miles napped and after he went to bed. Mike got home from work on Wednesday evening.

On Thursday morning I was having quite a few pressure waves, so we went to the zoo so that I could do some walking around. After lunch Mike got Miles down for a late nap and I again listened to “Come Out Baby.” Later, before dinner, we took another walk together. My pressure waves seemed to space out a little when I was walking and move closer together when I was resting. But most of the day the waves were coming about 20 minutes apart and were still feeling very mild.

After dinner I sent Dusti, our doula, a message letting her know what was going on. She suggested I try doing belly lifts – lift and hold my belly through each pressure wave. I started doing this at 7pm and right away the waves moved up to 6-8 minutes apart! They still were not at all uncomfortable, and then around 9pm they began to fizzle once more. I decided that tonight was not the night and I would just go to bed early. I was a little discouraged as our window of opportunity was closing, but Mike said to me, “it’ll happen when it’s time,” and I knew he was right.

I went to bed and listened to “Early Birthing Time” as I fell asleep. I had my phone in bed with me and was still timing pressure waves. The log shows 48 minutes of nothing happening so that’s probably about how much I slept, and then I woke up around quarter past 11 having MUCH more intense pressure waves… and they were coming in at under 4 minutes apart! Yikes! I got out of bed and used the bathroom. Waves jumped up to 2 minutes apart. And they were REALLY intense. I suddenly knew that we didn’t have a lot of time before this baby arrived. There it was: my much longed for “it’s time!” moment!

At 11:50 I woke up Mike – he was actually already awake and wondering if I was about to come get him, because he could hear me walking around. He had his “it’s time!” moment too and I think a bit of a shock since I was telling him my contractions were already 2 minutes apart. We had everything ready to go in the car, so I quickly called Dusti to tell her to meet us at the hospital, and Mike got dressed, called his brother, and loaded Miles into the car.

As we drove to the hospital, my pressure waves kept coming at every 2 minutes or slightly under, and were very strong. I know some Hypnobabies students have no pain and only pressure, but I will say that my pressure waves hurt at this point. However, I was focusing really hard on relaxing and listening to my “Easy First Stage” hypnosis track on an ipod with one earbud in. It reminded me of doing yoga, in that it was physically challenging but I was working hard to keep focusing on relaxing my mind and body. I was completely silent during each pressure wave, shutting my eyes and trying to think about relaxing each of the body parts where I was holding tension. In between waves I kept looking back at Miles, who was smiling around his binky like this was the coolest adventure ever.

We pulled up to the ER at 12:30 am and Mike dropped off Miles and me in the front lobby. We sat down in chairs and I said, “I’m having contractions two minutes apart,” then shut my eyes and focused through another wave. They told me Dusti was already there and brought me a wheelchair. Dusti and Mike joined us and they brought us up to Labor & Delivery. As we went, they were asking me questions like whether I wanted an epidural (!!) and a room with a jacuzzi tub. I knew that they had no idea how far along I was because I was being so quiet and calm, but I also knew that Dusti probably had a good idea, and she just answered for me. She was also using Hypnobabies cues with me, reciting short bits of script and touching my shoulder to help me relax, which I liked a lot better than listening to the ipod, so I pulled it out of my ear.

In the L&D room I had to pee first, and changed into a hospital gown, and then climbed into bed and laid on my side. I never had gotten around to pre-registering, so as I was getting through my pressure waves, a nurse was asking me all sorts of questions that struck me as absurd in the moment. I remember when she asked me how tall I was, I actually chuckled. WHO CARES LADY I’M HAVING THIS BABY! I thought, but then said, “Five two.”

Meanwhile Mike was talking to his brother, who had arrived to collect Miles, and Dusti was still going through Hypnobabies cues with me. She seemed so tuned in to what I was feeling even though I was still not really showing obvious outward signs that I was having pressure waves. Inside I was a little overwhelmed, especially when I had a few double-backed waves, but I also knew that my feeling of uncertainty was part of the process. Dusti’s warm hand and soft voice really helped me to stay focused on relaxing. The other thing I kept thinking of to encourage myself, was imagining Baby Julius doing his hard work on the inside, and in my head I kept saying to him, “You’re doing good, baby!” In fact I almost felt like it was my job to just stay out of his way and let him be born.

When I finally felt ready to handle a cervical check, it was 12:50 and I was 9 cm. At 1 am my water broke in a big gush, and at 1:05 they said I was complete and okay to push. At  some point I asked Dusti to tell Mike to please let Miles stay and not leave with his uncle yet. It was all going so quickly that I wanted to be able to hug him once the baby was born, before he had to leave. Mike was kind of in and out of the room, going between me and his brother who was standing in the hall. Miles didn’t want to go with his uncle so Mike was holding him. Dusti was by my side.

My OB had been called but it didn’t look like she was going to make it, unless I wanted to try to hold off. But the one thing I knew I wanted with this birth was to let my body decide when to push, since that was the one thing that hadn’t gone so well when I had Miles, and I was now feeling very pushy. I really really did not care whether my doctor was there to catch the baby or not (sorry doc!). I just felt like my body knew what it was doing and I didn’t need help. There was no time or need to put the “Push Baby Out” track on (in fact we hadn’t brought the ipod player anyway) but Dusti told the hospital staff that I wanted to do mother-directed pushing. The on-call doc came in at 1:10 and I started pushing.

I stayed lying on my side to push, gripping the bed rails for leverage, and while I was pushing I did finally start to make noise. This finally was the thing that scared Miles, unfortunately… so between pressure waves I kept telling him that Mommy was okay. I felt bad that he was getting worried, but we were just all being swept along in this, and Mike didn’t want to put him down or miss the birth, so this is how it played out! My pressure waves and urge to push stayed nice and strong and close together, which I liked, because I did not want it to take forever.

The doctor and nurses kept suggesting that I needed to make more room for the baby, and then finally the doctor told me, “if you roll just a little onto your back I think you can have this baby right now.” NOW, that was the magic word, and I rolled back, and sure enough that did the trick. Amazingly, I could feel every little thing – his head as he descended and then emerged, his shoulders as I gave another push to get them out. That was just the coolest part since I hadn’t had much sensation in pushing out Miles.

And there he was! Miles started crying (awww) and everyone told me, “Look down! Look down!” I think the first thing I said when I saw him was, “He’s so cute!!” They put him on my chest and he pooped on me just like Miles did when he was born. Julius was born at 1:21 am and was 7 lbs 14 oz, 19.5″ long. He made just the littlest cry, like a newborn puppy, and then was so quiet. They let the cord pulse for a few minutes, not something I had specifically requested, but appreciated. My OB arrived just then – the next day she told me she was still a little groggy when she arrived at L&D and went to the wrong room at first; as she headed toward the correct one she heard my baby crying! She delivered the placenta and stitched my small first degree tear.

Miles was still crying and I think just having a meltdown as being up at 1 in the morning caught up with him – finally we sent him off with his uncle to go stay at their house for the night. They later told us he chilled out as soon as he got in the car, and slept great at their house.

And finally all was quiet. I held Julius, and Dusti and Mike sat by me and the three of us chatted for a while about the whole crazy whirlwind of a birth. There was no amazing post-birthing meal for me as I wasn’t really hungry and just had some crackers and juice to settle my stomach. But Julius did have a good post-birthing meal – I tried nursing him and to my surprise he nursed like a pro, like he’d done it before! I was having some weird double vision and sort of shimmery eye floaters, which freaked me out a bit, but my blood pressure was okay and they did a blood panel just to check, which also came back okay – guess I was just tired. Dusti went home and Mike, Julius and I were left alone in the delivery room for a  while longer – my hospital lets mothers rest for two hours before moving to the maternity floor, but we were eager to just get in bed and settle in.

It was nice to have one night and morning with just the three of us, which will probably never happen again, but I was missing Miles terribly. Mike got him the next morning and I had to stay in the hospital until Sunday, but they visited me twice every day and we ate dinner together in my room each evening. I was a bit bored in the hospital but in retrospect probably should have appreciated the downtime a little more! Don’t hate me, but my recovery has been amazingly easy. I guess an under-two-hours birth isn’t so hard on the body!

I suppose it’s hard to say objectively how much of this easy, wonderful birth experience I owe to Hypnobabies, but I would absolutely recommend it without hesitation. I do think that listening to the positive messages every day for two months put me in a good frame of mind and trained my subconscious to expect an easy birth. Who knows, maybe that’s why I progressed to 5 cm without even noticing? In the heat of the moment having Dusti there as my trained Hypno-doula was invaluable, so to anyone trying Hypnobabies I would definitely suggest hiring a Hypno-doula or at least having your birth partner learn and practice with you.

Honestly I wasn’t a huge fan of being pregnant the second (well, third, technically) time around, but giving birth is just the coolest. If I could skip the nine months of nausea and fatigue maybe I’d do it again… nah!

Enjoy more amazing birth stories and information here on the Hypnobabies blog:

http://www.Hypnobabiesblog.org

Tags: Birth, birth stories on demand, birth stories, birth stories with pictures, birthing stories, positive birth stories, hypnobabies, hypnobabies birth stories, pain free birth stories

Kali's Birth of Emma

This is a Hypnobabies birth story! 

http://www.Hypnobabiesblog.org

Kali's Birth of Emma

Emma’s birth story
 
My first pressure wave was Monday, March 26, 2012 at 6:20 pm.  I was giving estimates for our business and had to pull over because it was pretty intense.  I had another about 5 minutes later and I thought to myself, “This might be it!” I stopped doing estimates and went to the grocery store to pick up some last minute “labor snacks” and walk around.  I was consistently having pressure waves every 5-10 minutes, so I put my Eric (my husband), mom, and sister on alert.  
 
I got home and the pressure waves kept coming.  My mom and dad came over to help get Parker (my 2-year-old son in bed) and make sure everything was set to go incase it was the real deal.  The pressure waves slowed down at about 10 pm to every 10-20 minutes.  I decided I had better go to bed incase they came back.
 
I had an appointment with my midwife on March 27th, and my sister drove me because I was still having pressure waves every 10-20 minutes.  Before my appointment we went to Babies-R-Us because I forgot to get a memory book and then to Kohl’s to get a lightweight robe to labor in. 
 
At my appointment I decided to have my cervix checked to see if things were progressing from the pressure waves, and to my relief, they were!  I was at 4 cm but easily stretched to 5.  My midwife said baby’s head was engaged and probably wouldn’t float back up.  She said once things picked up, I better head back to the birth center right away (but also reminded me this could go on for awhile).
 
My sister brought me home and I did work for the business (answering phone calls, giving estimates, replying to emails).   I also got to take a nap with Parker. My pressure waves didn’t become consistent.  Sometimes they would be 7-10 minutes for an hour but then they would slow down to 10-15 minutes. I would have streaks of intense pressure waves that I had to moan and sway through, and Parker would get concerned and say “Mom, what doing? Mom, what doing??”  It made me laugh and that made the pressure wave more intense, but it was so cute.  During the intense pressure waves I would sing/hum “10,000 Reasons” by Matt Redman. It was very grounding.
 
My Eric got done working at about 5:30 and we decided to run out and give a few estimates incase tonight was the night.  We also went to Dariy Queen to get some ice cream, which I didn’t have any problem eating. Then a quick trip to Target for flip flops, wipes & a potty break to see if the pressure waves would slow down.  Things started getting even more intense giving estimates, but I still didn’t realize I was in “real” labor.  I thought it was just early labor.
 
After about an hour of consistent pressure waves I got ready to call the midwife and suddenly they slowed to 10-15 minutes again!  I decided to call her anyway to let her know what was going on.  She said once they were consistently every 7-10 minutes to plan on heading in.  In the meantime, she wanted me to take a shower and use the breast pump to see if that would do anything.  
 
We got home and I showered while my Eric looked for the pump.  Well, we had a hard time finding all the parts.  We recently moved and it seemed that everything needed was in a different place.  The midwife called at about 8:30 and asked how things were going and I told her that pressure waves were every 7-10 minutes for about a half hour, but they had just slowed again to 10-15.  I told her I hadn’t pumped yet because we were looking for all the parts. She suggested I not pump and take a Benadryl and try to get some sleep and to let her know if anything changes. I texted my at 8:41 and told her the plan.
 
Eric started putting Parker to bed and I just had to try the pump to see if anything would happen. We could only find one of the pumps, so I just used that one.  Immediately pressure waves started coming on top of each other.  I pumped 4 minutes before I couldn’t take anymore.  I called (OK, yelled) for Eric to come to our room.  He and Parker (who jumped on the bed and made things worse) ran in and stayed for one pressure wave before returning to Parker to his room.
 
I yelled that he needed to call my mom and tell her and my sister to come now because things were picking up.  This is when things went crazy.  I went to the bathroom and texted my doula “going to bc” at 9:08.  I went to the closet to look for some socks when the “I need to take a crap” feelings started.  I screamed at Eric to call the midwife and tell her (I am a doula, so I knew this was not a good feeling to have while still at home).  She said we needed to get in the car immediately and get to the birth center.  We were still waiting on my mom, sister and dad to arrive (he was going to stay with Parker), so I kept looking for socks and a pair of pants to put on. I was on my hands and knees in our closet moaning and crying.  Parker stood in front of my screaming and crying.  He couldn’t understand what was happening.  I tried to reassure him that everything was OK and give him a hug (while in transition), but he wouldn’t come near me.
 
The midwife called Eric back and started preparing him to deliver the baby at home, and he started yelling at me to get in the car NOW!  I made it to the kitchen and had another pressure wave as my mom walked in.  She started crying and telling me to breath, breath, breath.  Then I started looking for my shoes.  Eric told me to forget the shoes, forget the pants (I was wearing a robe), and forget the socks! He didn’t want to deliver the baby at home. 
 
It was 9:25 when we finally left.  We had a 30-35 minute trip to get to the birth center.  My sister pulled up as we were leaving and jumped in the car.  She sat behind me and was rubbing my shoulders. The “need to poop” feeling kept growing and growing with each pressure wave.  Since I’m a doula, I know all the “signs” that birth is coming soon – having the shakes, feeling nauseated, etc. - and I started getting reallt worried. When we got halfway there, I felt the baby drop into the birth canal. This is when I really didn’t thing we’d make it.  My sister and Eric were on the phone with the midwife the whole way there. He was driving 85, but she told him to drive faster and turn his flashers on.  I was yelling at him to honk at people.  I kept saying “we’re not going to make it, we’re not going to make it.”  When I felt baby drop into the birth canal, I remembered the “relax” cue. (I had done this the night before to relax through pressure waves and get back to sleep).  Every pressure wave I would relax me entire body and say “relax, relax, relax” and “peace.”  I think this is the ONLY reason I was able to keep from pushing.
 
We arrived at the birth center at 9:42.  The midwife and birth assistants were at the door waiting for me.  I got out of the car, walked into the building, and had a pressure wave in the lobby.  I couldn’t stop myself from pushing now.  I pushed 2 times in the lobby and my water broke (mine was the first water to break in the lobby of the birth center; go me!  And later I found out they had JUST had the carpets cleaned.)  I could feel baby in the birth canal, but I had to walk to the birthing suite.  I planned on having a water birth, so they had the tub full for me.  Once I was right in front of the tub I had another pressure wave.  They told me to get in the tub but I couldn’t. I pushed one time; Eric was behind me so I leaned back into him.  I pushed again and the midwife said “here is the head.” I was trying to ask “like, the head is about to come out or it is out?”  But before I could verbalize it, I pushed again and she was saying, “Here are the shoulders, bend down and grab your baby!”  Emma Rose was born ay 9:46 pm on March 27th, 2012; 4 minutes after arriving at the birth center.  She was 7 lbs 9 oz and 21.25 inches long.
 
We didn’t know if we were having a boy or a girl, so that is the first thing I tried to see.  I was so overjoyed I couldn’t do anything, so Eric looked and said “It’s a girl!  But check that to make sure.”  She was (and still is) a girl!  I had some complications with Parker’s birth, that I was very worried about happening again.  My pubic symphysis separated which left me unable to walk for 2 weeks and I had to use a walker for another 2 weeks. After I found out she was a girl I screamed “I can stand! I can walk!”  It was such a great moment.  I immediately got in the tub and floated with my baby girl.  It was pure bliss!
 
I never realized that those early labor pressure waves were actually “real” pressure waves that were changing my cervix.  I never used the finger drop because I wanted to save that until “real” labor began.   I did use the relax cue to help relax my body through the more intense pressure waves.  I absolutely 100% attribute my body’s ability to use those inconsistent pressure waves to dilate my cervix to my ability to relax during the pressure waves because of the hypnobabies training. (And, I never stayed awake for one session!!)  My first labor was an 18 hour induction with nubain (no hypnobabies).  My second labor was an hour of really active labor and no drugs.  There is absolutely no comparison!

Enjoy more amazing birth stories and information here on the Hypnobabies blog:

http://www.Hypnobabiesblog.org

Tags: birth, birth stories, birth stories on demand, pressure waves, midwife, birth center, natural birth, positive birth stories, near car birth, birth stories with pictures, hypnobabies

Theresa's Birth of Morgan

Theresa's Birth of Morgan

This is a Hypnobabies birth story! 

http://www.Hypnobabiesblog.org

I submitted the amazing story of a natural Hypnobabies natural birth
of my son Jameson, but have neglected to submit my story about my
amazing Hypnobabies c-section birth of my daughter Morgan.

I got pregnant with my daughter two months after having a miscarriage
(7 weeks). It was very healing to get pregnant again so quickly and I
was thrilled to be expecting again. Along the way I decided to pursue
a Hypnobabies birth and started the home study course around 28 weeks.
I was very excited to have a beautiful, natural birth.

My OB was my childhood next door neighbor (yeah, might sound odd, but
I knew I could trust him and he has a wife and eight kids so I knew he
knew what he was doing!)

December 31, 2007. I was two weeks from my due date, and went to the
chiropractor for an adjustment. Afterward I came home and took a nap.
Upon waking, I felt like something was different, but didn't know
what. Later that afternoon I visited my mother and told her, "I just
have this feeling I'm going to go into labor tonight."

That evening my husband and I were going to a New Year's Eve party at
a friend's house. Their house was four blocks from the hospital, which
is why we were going out at all - it seemed like the safest place to
be in case my intuition was correct.

We went to one of those Mongolian build-your-own stir fry places and I
piled my plate high with pineapple, just to see if I could help things
along. During the meal I started having Braxton-Hicks contractions
(which my husband at one point had struggled to remember the name of
and could only come up with "Jack Russels" so we called them Jack
Russel contractions :D).

We got to the party at about 7pm and had a good time hanging out and
playing cards until about 9:30, when I had to go to the bathroom. I
returned from the bathroom, sat down, then immediately leapt back up
and went straight back to the bathroom - my water had broken! And I
was sure it was my water breaking because I lost my mucous plug at the
same time.

I knew I had the option of laboring at my friend's house, but I
decided to go in to the hospital anyway just so I would be there and
checked in and not have to worry about moving later.

So, we drove the four blocks to the hospital, checked in, and
immediately discovered...

...the baby was breech.

My vision of my birth took an immediate nose-dive.

The OB on call that night was the ONLY OB in the entire practice I
didn't trust (she had recommended I get an IUD before I'd ever had
kids, and my body rejected it in a horrible, painful way), and because
the hospital had just switched from paper to digital files, they
didn't have the note in my file that said I could call my primary OB
no matter who was actually on-call. He really wanted to be there to
delivery my baby, but they would NOT call him because it was New
Year's Eve (um.. he's Morman.. I don't think he was drinking that
night...).

The OB actually walked into the room with a casual, "Well, looks like
you just bought yourself a c-section." I asked questions to make sure
I had no choice, and since I was in a small city with only one
hospital, with the next reliable hospital at least fifty miles way, I
knew I had to trust that I had limited options. She said she couldn't
turn the baby would would NOT deliver a breech baby vaginally.

So, I called my mom and dad and asked if they could come to the
hospital. And then I started my Hypnobabies relaxation techniques
anyway, because I needed to release a LOT of fear and anxiety.

It apparently worked wonders because when they rolled me into the OR
they said I was the most relaxed c-section patient they'd ever seen.
And it wasn't a great environment, trust me! I got in there at 11:30
on New Year's Eve and the staff was punchy! I have a shell-fish
allergy that was in my file, on my notes, on my wrist band, and the
anesthesiologist who came in to do my epidural STILL used iodine on
me. I heard one of the nurses say, "Hey, man, didn't you see she has a
shell fish allergy??" and the anesthesiologist replied, "Oops! Well, I
guess we'll see if she reacts..."

And thanks to Hypnobabies, I didn't kill him.

Seriously.

I relaxed through the entire procedure, joking with the staff and
keeping myself calm. I shut myself off to being sad about it. There
was only the now, no regrets, no fears. My husband got to be there,
and he was allowed to kiss me (through his mask) at the stroke of
midnight. He was amazing.

Ten minutes later, they pulled what my husband described as a "tiny
gray sausage" out of my belly. My husband got to announce "It's a
girl!" and they whisked her over to clean her up and wrap her up. They
passed her under my nose, let me kiss her, then sent her and my
husband away. It seemed like it took forever for them to close up.
Later I found out they had told my husband that it would be about 20
minutes, and when an hour had passed he started considering how to
raise the baby alone, assuming something horrible had happened to me.
His demeanor never once betrayed that to me. Sometimes I think we give
our men less credit then they deserve. I would have been a mess if our
roles had been reversed!

Finally I was rolled in to be with my husband and my new girl. I held
her, kissed her, cuddled her. I had a song picked out to play for my
child on their birthday - True Colors by Cyndi Lauper. I played it and
sang it to her, and cried tears of pure joy (I think the song must
have made a real impact - now, at four years of age, she insists on
being called Rainbow Light! haha!).

I amazed the nurses with the speed of my recovery, which I also
accredit to my Hypnobabies study. I had actually refused morphine
before the surgery, having had a HORRIBLE reaction to it when I was
hospitalized over the rejected IUD I mentioned earlier. Anyway, after
the surgery I didn't always take my percocet dose when they came to
give it to me, because I didn't need it. The nurses on each rotation
would tell me they hadn't ever seen anyone recover so quickly from a
c-section.

And, of course, Morgan was the first baby born in 2008! We got a gift
basket and a photo and column in the paper. That taught me to never,
ever, ever, ever leave home without my makeup case. Sigh.

Later on I went through the mourning and resolution of not having had
a natural labor. The birth of my son was the most healing. Now the
only regret I have is the broken link in the chain of births that lead
from my daughter backward through countless generations of mothers.

Morgan is now four years old, and she is amazing. She knows that she
was born a "special" way because she was breech (we think it was a
fluke flip due to my nap right after my chiro visit, I'd seen my OB
the day before and she was pointed the right direction then). She
knows her baby brother came out the normal way. I hope some day if and
when she has babies of her own, she will go into the process informed
and empowered and able to make choices about her own care. My regular
OB (the neighbor) said he would have done a c-section as well. So in
spite of the weird circumstances, I believe she was born as safely as
possible.

I wanted to make sure to share this story so women can see how
empowering and what an amazing tool Hypnobabies can be. And because my
daughter's birth was beautiful, touching, and amazing, even if she did
come out butt-first! :D

Enjoy more amazing birth stories and information here on the Hypnobabies blog:

http://www.Hypnobabiesblog.org

Tags: birth, birth stories, birth stories on demand, positive birth stories, c-section, cesarean, positive cesarean birth stories, positive c-section stories, hypnobabies, hypnobabies birth stories