Sleeping through CDs can still result in a wonderful birth!

Great story for moms who sleep through the CDs and whose birth partner isn’t totally supportive of Hypnobabies.

Welcoming Alexander on December 5th.  8lbs 6oz 20 inches  1st PW to baby in less than 5 hours!

Ok, so I ordered the Hypnobabies home study program for the birth of my second child because our hospital was 45 minutes away in perfect conditions.  I was truly a skeptic, but felt I needed SOME tools and techniques to get through that ride in the car…at least to get to the hospital and have the option of an epidural if I needed one.  I was not great about doing my CDs, though I tried to do 1 most nights (and slept thru most of them!)  I did very little practice as life with a toddler was busy enough, and I think I only did the affirmations once.

I did not have my Dh’s support…he just knew I was using a “relaxation” program on my own to help me.  Despite all this, let’s just say, I am now a believer!

Here’s my story…

On Saturday, December 5th, around 1:30 am, I was lying in bed awake, as usual, with a “to-do” list in my head.   After 5 weeks of “prodromal labor” with PWs 3-5 minutes apart, but not progressing…(and after 20 hour of birthing time with my DD 2 years ago) I didn’t think much of it when they started up again at 2am.  But soon, I could tell things were different.  I started timing them…and they quickly went from 10 minutes to 7 minutes, to 5 minutes apart.  At 3am, I was ordering Christmas presents on the computer to distract myself, at 4am, a shower and shave and things were getting intense, got Dh up and had something to eat, fully expecting to be starved all day at the hospital as my birthing time progressed.

By 5am, we were in the car and on our way to the hospital.  I called my doc and told him we were on our way, and hung up on him basically as a PW started.  I then put on my “Easy First Stage” track on my IPOD in the car and that’s when the magic began!!!

I quickly closed my eyes, entered hypnosis and let go.  I couldn’t believe it…the 45 minute ride felt like to took about 15 minutes!! Before I knew it we were at the hospital.  The best “suggestions” I kept repeating to myself were that “I was safe and baby was safe…” and that I was feeling only intense pressure and tightening and stretching…that alone took any pain out of the picture.  It was wonderfully intense!

We got to the hospital and I walked into the ER entrance (the only entrance open at that time) and breathed thru PWs as they got my “escort” to Triage/L&D…I refused a wheelchair and preferred to walk, stopping every few minutes against the wall with my pillow.  Between PWs, I smiled, chatted a bit, but was totally relaxed.  I don’t remember ever actually using my lightswitch, but simply “went inside” during each PW.

Made it to Triage, and as they checked me, and I just prayed they wouldn’t send me home!  Well, I was 8cm dilated!  They almost had me RUN to my L&D room, haha!  They didn’t believe it as I was calm and quiet, smiling at staff between PWs and joking with my husband.  The rest was a whirlwind…my doctor arrived after they called him repeatedly, they got me on the monitor, an IV started, I was at 9 1/2…he ran to put scrubs and when he returned, I was complete.

They didn’t even have time to get an ID bracelet on me and I was signing consent forms during and after the fact!! (including the epidural consent if I needed one, though they all looked at me funny and I realized it was too late).  I put on the “pushing track” and I began to push…a combination of what my body told me and a bit of coaching from my nurse and doctor.

I’ve never felt anything so intense!  I wouldn’t say it was comfortable at all…and yes, it did hurt (but my main complaint was  ”cramping spasms” in the back of my legs since my legs were held up!) but it was totally manageable, and I NEVER felt like I couldn’t do it.  I knew I could and I was confident and felt great!

According to my husband, I never yelled or vocalized except for some mild moaning/humming and mentioning that my legs were cramping.  5 pushes, and our 8lb 6oz little man arrived.  I felt every sensation, of his head and his body sliding out…before they put him on my chest…so alert and perfect in my eyes!  I had no tearing/no episiotomy.  I was up and to the bathroom in no time at all…and felt amazing.

Here we are one week later, and I feel great!  I’d recommend Hypnobabies to anyone who is interested and would like to reassure those who haven’t been “perfect students” that it really can work for you!  I have no doubt it helped me enjoy that amazing day to the fullest!

Fast, easy and comfortable birth for Jen!

I’ve been trying to think of how to explain my experience, but there really aren’t logical words to describe it all. This was my 5th child-birth and was BY FAR the best one.

I was well trained in un-medicated child-birth through two other methods and had 3 un-medicated births before Hypnobabies.

The whole Hypnobabies class helped my mental state and prepared me for my birthing time. I faithfully listened to my cd’s and I really embraced the affirmations for pregnancy and birthingtime.

When my birthing time started, I put in my birthing day affirmations cd and then my other cd for birthing time. The pressure waves were so managable that I wondered if I would know when to go to the hospital. I had to time them and was surprised when they were 5 minutes apart.

When we got to the hospital, I had my affirmation cd on and when the nurse checked my dialation, she had to get another nurse to confirm what she found. I was between an 8 and 9 centimeters dialated when I arrived and was completely relaxed during each pressure wave. I felt a lot of pressure, but NO PAIN.

I had been concerned about the pushing time because even though I’d had 3 un-medicated births before, I had always struggled to push my babies out. There was always a lot of coaching from the Dr. and nurses and it always had felt so frantic and long before. I listened to the cd’s that said that birthing my baby was easy and that I deserved a quick, easy birthing time.

Soon after I got to the hospital, it was time to push. The doctor decided not to break the bed down because pushing usually took me awhile. She told me to get started and she turned to leave for a minute. I gave one good push and my baby started coming right out. She was born in about 5 minutes or less. She actually just slid out onto the bed! The doctor was scrambling for gloves!

It was AMAZING! I know that it was the Hypnobabies. Everything was so much easier than it had ever been before. Even with my 4th baby, I had struggled to push him out.

I can only say to faithfully follow the home-play and listen to your cd’s and I’m convinced that it will be way easier than it would have been without it. My nurses acted like I was their hero after that. I told them it was just the Hypnobabies!

Jen

Gisele Bundchen uses hypnosis for birth?!!

In the article,  Gisele, her baby and a bathtub you read about her wonderful birth and she mentions using hypnosis!  Which of course, I think is wonderful!

Who would complain because someone has a wonderful, comfortable birth?  Well apparantly it is so hard for some people to wrap their heads around the fact that

Birth CAN be Comfortable!

On the people article Gisele Says Giving Birth Wasn’t Painful and the Celebrity Baby Blog the comments range from total disbelief to congratulations!

I loved that a lot of Hypnobabies Moms chimed in.  Here were some of their comments.

55.      Stella Bella Says:
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Sounds like she did Hypnobabies. I did that and it was the best $150 I ever spent IN MY LIFE. It really changed how I approach life in the best way and I’m pretty sure it saved me from having to have a c-section (not the worst fate on earth, but something that I wanted to avoid for my first delivery).
I wish celebrities would explain HOW they had such a marvelous birth experience instead of just acting like they are Mother Earth naturally…

62.  enjoybirth Says:
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:58 pm

I used Hypnobabies with my last birth and it was comfortable.

Some dentists use hypnosis so people getting dental surgery done don’t need anesthesia, so of course it would work for birth!

The mind is a powerful thing.

126.     Bronwyn Says:
February 3rd, 2010 at 1:05 pm

I am so happy to hear Gisele is sharing the secret of waterbirth and hypnosis for childbirth. My experiece with waterbirth was very similar. The combination of waterbirth and hypnosis gave our family an amazing painfree experience as well. Thanks for sharing the truth about what birth can be with the right tools and skills.

132.     Sarah Says:
February 3rd, 2010 at 3:09 pm

Whether I like Gisele or not doesn’t matter….
With my first, I had Pitocin, and at 4cm, I thought I was dying and got an epidural.
With my second, I did Hynobabies, had my baby at home in a birth tub, with NO PAIN whatsoever. Yes, childbirth CAN be painful, but it doesn’t HAVE to be painful.

Deal with it!

155.     Sarah Says:
February 3rd, 2010 at 9:37 pm

Birth really wasn’t “painful” for me. There was a lot of pressure, but no pushing at all. After 1.5 of labor helped by Hypnobabies, my little one arrived. I did my research and knew how to handle all that labor was about.

I’m so thankful that Gisele had a water birth at home and is now sharing her story. Perhaps others will do their research and learn how wonderful and pleasant birth can be!

156.     Tamara Says:
February 4th, 2010 at 1:40 am

Bravo for Gisele and such a beautiful birth of her baby boy – what a precious gift!

I had homebirth/waterbirth with the help of Hypnobabies and it was amazing!

Before the actual birth day, I really tried to imagine my perfect birth to the smallest detail.
Also, I did a lot of research about hypnosis for surgeries and dental procedures (for people who are allergic to anesthesia) and I remember reading about Queen Fabiola (of Sweden) and surgery of thyriod gland that she had under hypnosis only!!! I was amazed, read a lot more and finally found Hypnobabies – I practiced daily and I can honestly say that my birth was pain-free! My midwife was amazed, she did not believe I was giving birth that night (and I was already 6 centimeteres open), since I was so calm and “in the zone”.

I am not trying to persuade anyone (and I would not gain anything from making up stories) but my experience might be valuable to a woman out there, trying to have her perfect birth.

Charlotte’s Peaceful Hypnobabies Home Birth

My guess date was January 22, 2009. I was 42 weeks pregnant the day Charlotte was born. On Thursday, February 5 at 2:30 am I woke up with some cramp like feelings – thinking could this be it! I went back to bed, well tried to. When I woke up that morning at 5:30 I had cramping like feelings on and off, I read through some papers to see if I was in the first stage, my husband was up excited and already videotaping.

I went back to bed one more time thinking this isn’t it don’t get too excited. When I woke up I decided to call my midwife and let her know and she told me to keep her posted if anything changed. That day I walked and had lunch with my girlfriends not really knowing I was in early labor.

That night around 7:30 the pressure waves got really strong, they were 4 to 6 minutes apart and lasting around 45 to 60 seconds. I called my midwife and she asked if we wanted her to come out and I said not yet, she told my husband to check and see how dilated I was. That was funny, we could never figure out how to check. I wanted to be alone so I kicked my husband out of the bedroom.

That whole night I was walking, swaying, taking baths, trying to sleep, listing to Hypnobabies, getting on facebook, I couldn’t wait for the sun to come up it was the longest night I ever had. The pressure waves felt like really strong cramps, like I needed to go to the bathroom really bad and couldn’t – the toilet was my favorite place to hangout. I kept telling myself that I was strong and that women do this everyday, to surrender to the process, that I would see my baby soon.

Around 7:00 in the morning I went and woke my husband up and asked him to come lay with me in bed, I was so tired two nights without sleep! He just held me and helped me relax through each pressure wave. It was intense, then it hit me, oh my god I have to shit right now! I ran to the bathroom, well waddled to the bathroom and just as I got to the toilet, WHOOSH, my water broke! I yelled to my husband, “call the midwife my water just broke everywhere!”

This all happened at 8:20 in the morning, the pressure waves continued to come and were just as intense, all I wanted to do was push, at this point the weirdest noise was coming from me, I had no idea I could sound like that! My midwife got on the phone with me and she asked how I was feeling, I said all I want to do is push and she said go ahead. I called my friend and let her know that my water broke and birthing time had begun and she could go ahead and let everyone know to light a candle. I am truly blessed with the women in my life today; I was very supported through my pregnancy. My midwife showed up and let me be, I realized at that point I was somewhere else, I was present but within.

She asked if she could check me and I was fully dilated, this was around 10:20, she let me know that I would be having my baby today and soon. I sat on the toilet and my husband sat on the floor supporting me, he was wonderful. At this point my midwife’s assistant and apprentice had shown up, they were getting everything together. I am not too sure how long I birthed in the bathroom, on the birthing stool, on all fours. I went back and forth lots. At one point they were checking the babies heart rate and it was low and they moved me but it was still low so I had some oxygen and it started to be normal. At no point was I concerned or scared; I knew everything was going good. I started getting tired and made the mistake of looking at the clock, it was sometime after 12:00. Oh my god, when is this baby going to come!!

I drank some water and ate some cantaloupe, during my whole birthing time my pressure waves stayed strong and consistent, they never slowed down. Each time I pushed I felt like I was getting no where, I was told I had a cervical lip and I think the baby may of been posterior. Finally I got back on the birthing stool and my husband could see the head, I reached my hand down and felt the top, it was the most amazing feeling ever! Here comes my baby!

I felt what I had always heard of, the ring of fire! I slowed down and stopped pushing, I allowed myself to stretch, and it is amazing how much control we have over our bodies! When it stopped burning I continued to push, my baby was crowning, I can’t explain the power, joy, calmness, serenity, and excitement that happens in that moment. I am a woman! My baby’s head was out and I paused knowing any minute I was going to meet this wonderful person that I have grown to love in the last 9 months! My husband was ready and he caught her and handed her straight to me, my baby in my arms finally!

It was worth the wait. My baby was beautiful! We had to warm her up and get me off the birthing stool. My husband and I sat on the floor of our bedroom leaning against the bed looking at our little one, that was when I looked and confirmed it was a girl. Our little girl, she was born at 2:55 pm, after 4 ½ hours of pushing.

It didn’t seem that long to me and it never seemed hard, I enjoyed every minute of the birthing process.

My midwife asked me to try and push a little to see if the placenta was ready to come, so I gave a little push and GUSH all over my midwife and her assistant was blood! I never had heavy periods so this was a lot of blood! She let me know that it was fine and to try and push again and that is when the placenta came, it was huge. We sat and laughed, they cleaned everything up while my husband and I enjoyed our daughter. Soon after that Glenn cut the cord and they examined the placenta. Her daddy took her so I could clean all the blood off of me and get in bed. My midwife checked me to see if I needed stitches, no tearing! My baby girl nursed right away she was a champ, I was the one making it hard, it was kind of awkward at first.

My husband, baby and I laid in bed. She was beautiful, weighing in at 9.1 lbs, 20 ¾ inches long (we think, she didn’t want to get measured), 14-inch head and shoulders! I would have to say this was the most amazing experience in my life, I am truly grateful for all the support I had. My midwives were amazing, the power of women during a birth, I can’t explain. They knew how to touch and when to touch, what to say and when to say it, the strength. I am grateful to be a woman and the power we have, I now know my purpose in life.

We decided a few days later to name her Charlotte Lillian, everyday I have with her is a blessing, and she reminds me everyday what is important in life… Love

Mina’s Wonderful Hypnobabies Birth

I want to thank you Hypnobabies and everybody here for all the valuable information and support. I had an awesome, very comfortable pregnancy. It was one of the best times of my life. Everybody complimented how relaxed and confident I was all the time and Hypnobabies was a big reason for my state of being. I did the program for 12 weeks and here is my angel’s birth story.

On August 26 (Wednesday), my husband and I had our 39 week appointment with our OB/GYN group. I was really dreading this appointment because previous Friday, we had our final ultrasound and the technician estimated the birth weight of our baby to be around 9 pounds. I was concerned that our doctors will force me into an early delivery and not let me go on labor on my own due to potential weight of our baby.

Since our appointments always have been pretty quick with minimal wait time, around 3.00 p.m., I left the office leaving my computer on with a bunch of stuff that I have to do before the end of the day by thinking that I will be back to office in an hour or so. To our surprise, that day we have waited for 2 hours to see the rotating doctor just to learn that our own doctor will come and talk to us about the ultrasound. At this point, I got a little bit upset and told my husband that they will play the big baby b.s. with us… When our doctor came, we talked about the size of the baby but he was supportive of my natural childbirth wishes and we decided to have a NST at our 40 week appointment. He offered to schedule an induction (I was a loose 1 cm with a favorable cervix at this point) but I refused it and told him that I want to have the NST results first and he was totally fine with that.

When we left the doctor’s office, it was already 6.30 p.m. so we decided to go home instead of going back to our offices. We had dinner, hanged out a little bit and went to bed around 10 p.m. From 10 p.m. to midnight, I had a pretty uncomfortable, loose sleep due some tightening around my abdomen area. Since I am a first time mom with no practice contraction history during my pregnancy, I was having trouble to identify what I was feeling. I thought I was reacting to doctor’s internal examination since I had some bleeding afterwards. I decided to lay down on the couch in the living room instead of disturbing my husband’s sleep by constantly getting up and going to bathroom.

On the couch, with wishful thinking, I put my ipod on and start listening Birth Day Affirmations. I noticed that the tightening feeling was not going anywhere but I was able to drift into sleep in between waves and then noticing that I have drifted when a wave came. I was very comfortable and in disbelief that what I was feeling was my birthing time. Around 2.30 a.m., my husband woke up just to see what I was doing. I told him that I was having some  sensations but I didn’t think it was anything serious since the sensations were on my abdomen area and not on my back (silly thinking). He was concerned but I ensured him that everything was okay, he should go get some rest and we evaluate the “situation” in the morning. He did set up my laptop in front of me so I can listen my tracks on the computer and charge my ipod at the same time.

Shortly after he went back to bed, I decided that it might be the time to start listening Easy First Stage track because affirmations were not comforting me anymore. I was still drifting into sleep in between sensations because I was tired and all I wanted was to get some rest. Around 5.00 a.m., I noticed that laying down was not easing what I was feeling. Since I read many wonders of being in warm water, I started to fill the tub to see if the water would help me a little bit. I was still pretty comfortable, moving around and stuff but starting to believe more and more that I was in my birthing time with a long day in front of me. Water immediately helped to ease my feelings and actually I thought things were slowing down because I was pretty comfortable. I had Easy First Stage track playing loud in the bathroom so I was able to listen and focus in between waves and then focus on my breathing when waves were coming. I was chanting ‘open, open, open’. I spent two hours in the tub before decided that it was time to wake my husband up and ask for his help since I felt some pressure on my perineum with last couple of waves and was getting a little bit loud.

So around 7 a.m., I woke him up and asked him to start timing the waves. He apologized for sleeping when I was in labor and started timing them. We realized that they were 50 seconds to a minute long coming every 3 to 4 minutes. I knew that it was time to go to hospital as per textbook but I was still thinking that I could handle the waves and if we go to hospital I would find out that I was still in early stage. This thought quickly changed around 8 a.m. since with every wave I was getting louder and louder and not able to focus on my Hypnobabies scripts and cues… I told my husband that put all our bags and stuff to the car so we could head to the hospital. So we rushed out the door, jumped in the car and head to hospital. In five minutes ride, I had 3 waves and for the first time I believed that I was pretty close.

We gave the car to the valet since no way I would make to walk from parking garage to the hospital entrance. At this time, I started crying not because of what I was feeling but just got emotional about being in my birthing time and I was going to meet my baby. We came to L&D at 8.10 a.m. and as soon as they saw me, they just took us to a room and started the procedures. At this point, despite my all my long careful birth plan planning of what I want and don’t want, I didn’t care what they were doing and was focusing on myself and feelings.

The nurse checked me and told me that I was already 9 cm and they were going to doctor for him to come ASAP. I was just trying to answer some of the nurses questions and handling my waves. Laying down in the bed was just not comfortable. Doctor came, checked on me and he told me that he was going to change into his scrubs and be back. So around 9 a.m. I was complete and ready to push. With the first urge of push, I felt out of control for the first time and started screaming because I didn’t know how to handle what I was feeling which was intense pressure on my perineum. Doctor and nurse were just wonderful, they were encouraging me and telling me I was doing great and try to show me how to push. I was feeling embarrassed of being very loud and in between waves I was apologizing for being loud but at each try I was trying to do better and be more effective. They never told me when to push because my body was doing its own thing and they went with the flow.

After 20 minutes of pushing, Mina came out at 9.23 am, looking wonderful and beautiful. She weighed 8 pounds 11 ounces and measured 21 inches long. She is the best thing I have ever done in my life.

So everything went incredibly well. Unfortunately at the late stages of transformation, I lost my hypnosis focus and never got a chance to listen the Pushing Baby Out script. Also, I wish I practiced on how to push prior to birth because my body took over my mind and I felt like I lost my control.

Thank you everybody and good luck with your babies!!!

Love,

Pinar and Mina

Cody’s wonderful Hypnobabies Hospital Birth

Cody Bear’s guess date was 1/22/10, and the week before, I had started to slow down on my walks, felt Braxton Hicks more often, and slept a lot more. He felt really low and big inside me. On Wednesday the 20th I woke up feeling mild menstrual type cramps off and on from 3am to 6am. I had a doctor appointment that day at 11am so I told her how I had been feeling and she said it was possible signs of labor but she wasn’t sure. I had an internal exam and she said I was 1cm dilated and that his head was very low. From everything I’ve read and heard, a baby can stay like this for days, even weeks, so I wasn’t convinced he would show up any time soon.

I went and got my hair done, and came home around 4:30 pm to walk my dogs. That evening Aaron asked me what I wanted for dinner and I was dying for the biggest, spiciest burrito so that’s what he brought me. I ate the whole thing in about 2 minutes! At about 9pm I asked him to read me “Visualize Your Birth”, which was a good one to start with since it’s so long. With him reading it slower than it is on the CD, it took almost 50 minutes, and the next thing I knew it was 10pm. We went to bed but I was having trouble sleeping.

I decided to go into the living room and listen to “Fear Clearing” because I had a feeling that the time was getting close. I had to pee constantly and the menstrual feelings were getting stronger. I had no idea these were pressure waves, as they didn’t hurt at all! I did feel some intensity but never thought that’s all it would be. By midnight I felt nauseous and threw up that amazing burrito, which made me sad.

I noticed some tightness in my back so I decided to text our doula, Kim. She suggested taking a shower, which was amazing! I stood in “downward dog” with my hands on the bench in our shower for 45 minutes and that felt great. When I got out, I felt my teeth chattering a little and a little shaky, so I decided to wake Aaron up. At that point I got out the birth ball and he continued to read from his “Birth Partner’s Guide”. We tried to time the pressure waves but I really couldn’t tell when they were ending, as they faded out so slowly and I was trying to stay in hypnosis.

During my birthing time, I never felt like I was in a deep state of hypnosis like when we practiced. During a pressure wave I found it more comfortable to get on my knees and lean on the couch or birth ball but I never felt completely limp, I wanted to rock a little or move around. I was concerned that I wasn’t focusing enough, but then I realized that I was doing fine and didn’t need to worry, I could just trust that it was working, even if it was different than I had expected it to be.

By 3:45am I noticed my mucus plug when I went to the bathroom, it was clear but then a little blood came out. I sent a text to our doula again and she said she’d start heading our way. By 4:30am, my water broke! It surprised me, but I still felt pretty calm because I had read that it could still be a while before anything happens. However, when my next pressure wave came, I felt a really strong urge to push. It really overwhelmed me because I didn’t realize I was that close! We tried to get organized as fast as possible, but it still took a while to get everything in the car, dogs fed, etc. and it was pouring rain. Kim said she’d meet us at the hospital at that point.

We got to Hoag at about 5:30am and I found it easy to walk in and get to the 5th floor. I kept my headphones on and listened to the “Affirmations” track, which was really helpful. When we got to the front desk, the girl saw me and said “Oh she’s doing Hypnobabies!”. I was so happy to hear that they were familiar with this. As we walked to our room I noticed another Hypnobabies sign on a birthing room door. Once in our room, there were 5 or 6 nurses fussing over me, which didn’t bother me the way I had once thought it might. They were all so nice and working quickly. I did allow them to give me a heparin lock, as my OB had asked me to allow it when we went over my birth plan a few weeks prior. Once nurse checked me and even though our birth plan had said “Please don’t inform me of my progress”, she announced “You’re at 8cm!”. I was happy to hear this.

At that point Aaron and Kim put on the Affirmations for me to hear out loud but I found it pretty distracting. They changed it to Relaxation Music and that was better for me. I was informed that my OB would not be able to make it in time and that another doctor would be available shortly. They checked me again and I was at 10cm already, so they had me start pushing to see how close he was. I didn’t feel any pain at all, just lots of intense pressure that I wanted to push out. They did give me oxygen because I was getting a little out of breath, I think because I was on my back with my feet up. But the position didn’t bother me at all, it felt fine at that point, but I wouldn’t have liked it if I hadn’t been ready to push.

The next pressure wave that came on found me pushing and I couldn’t control it. I felt amazed that my body just kind of took over and knew what to do! It was an incredible feeling. The nurse however, tried to push my knees together and she said, “You have to wait for the doctor!” I felt Kim rush to my side and push my knees back open. She told me if I had to it was ok. I think my eyes must have bugged out of my head because the nurse ran to the door and called for someone to get the doctor. He finally came in to the room, took a seat, and in a few big pushes I felt the baby arrive! It was 7:14am.

I did have a small tear and had to get a few stitches, but other than that, it was very easy, and dare I say it…even fun! It was intense but what an amazing experience! I found myself laughing a few times with the nurses. When they told me he weighed 8lbs, 9oz and was 22 inches long, I was amazed! My OB had thought he was about 7 ½ lbs.

The staff was so great about letting us have our time with Cody. We waited for the cord to stop pulsing and they gave us 3 hours before they gave him eye ointment and his vitamin K shot. I did allow them to give me pitocin after the placenta came out, as the doctor thought it would help the uterus contract and our doula said it was common and if I wanted to it would be fine. I looked at my deflated stomach and said “OK give it to me”.

I am definitely not any kind of super woman when it comes to pain. I stubbed my toe badly a few years ago and that was SO painful for days. Giving birth was NOT painful! It’s not something I would compare to being hurt, like I often hear so many people do. I knew in my heart that the love and connection between me and my baby was so deep and there was no reason either of us would harm the other in this process. And I was right!

We are so grateful for the Hypnobabies program! It was wonderful to have such a relaxed and happy birthing time, and I never once would have considered any of it to be painful or require medication. I am glad I felt so prepared for all the details of the birth as well.

Does a Hypnobabies birth have to be totally comfortable to be wonderful?

No!   Each birth is a different experience and Moms can use their Hypnobabies tools while preparing for birth and during and after.  Here is a great birth story of a mom who used and loved Hypnobabies.  She did have discomfort AND a wonderful birth!

Mine is not a typical “inspirational” hypnobabies story, but the thing is, I LOVED Hypnobabies, and I love to remember my birth, even if it did not go 100% as expected. The thing is, I would like to encourage any mums out there to believe in what Hypnobabies can do for them.

The main message I tried to pass on to other mums out there, is “if you can’t get hold of one tool, don’t abandon the rest”. If you think this message is clearly understandable in my birhting story, you are welcome to add it to the blog. As I firmly believe that Hypnobabies gave me my wonderful birthing experience, and pain was just a small and unsignificant part of it.

here is my birth story for those of you who want to read it.
********BOP WARNING************
my birth had discomfort
but still a GREAT experience
*******************************

This was my second pregnancy. My first birhting was VERY long, and I was not prepared for it in any way – I thought birth was a natural process and will just happen. Little did I know… After birthing my first daughter for 28 hours, and having LOADS of interventions (many of which I did not even want and some was really forced into), I ended up having a C-section (which I still firmly believe was totaly avoidable).

So this time around I was going to be more prepared. My friend told me about Hypnobabies, and I was very sceptical about it at first. However, I am very grateful that she made me to listen to some scripts. The minute I listened to CD1, I fell in love with the idea. The more I got involved with hypnobabies, the more I loved it. I started quite late, at about 32 weeks, but the rest of my pregnancy was wonderful and relaxed. I got rid of my fears (being forced into decicions by hospital staff, mainly  ) and was really trully confident that this time around I will have my perfect birhting time.

Both of my daughters were what doctors consider to be “late”. First one was born at 42 weeks and 3 days. I had no signs of birthing at all (not dilated or effaced at all, until it all started). The birthing started spontaneously, pressure waves were coming every 4-5 minutes and lasted at least a minute from the first one. However, they were unefective, and lasted for what felt like forever .

This time around, my pressure waves started at some time on Saturday night, but were only lasting about 10 seconds. They were painful, but I could easily go back to sleep after they ended. They lasted like that (2 or 3 every hour, lasting about 10-20 seconds) for most of the day. I went to the park with my elder daughter, made lunch etc. In the afternoon they picked up in intensity a bit, but not in lenght. I have tried my best to relax, to create anestesia, listened to birhting day affirmations, deepening, hypnotic childbirth, etc. etc trying to feel them as pressure only, and not pain. I have made a very concios effort to breath deeply through them, basically, have done EVERYTHING I could think of.

Nope, as pain they felt, and at some point I just accepted that this is what they are going to feel like. (I was soooo deep in hypnosis listening to my scripts, that I lost the feel of time etc, but would be “woken up” suddenly by a pressure wave). So every time I had a pressure wave, I just accepted it they way it was, and was telling myself stuff like relax, deep breath now, peace, and open open open. Saying open open open during a few pressure waves, I could actually FEEL my cervix openning, and that was an amazing and brilliant experience, that gave me strenght to carry on.

So from about 3pm till about 8pm my waves were short and spaced out. At about 8pm I still thought I have HOURS left till the real birthing time started, but asked my husband to time the waves anyway, more from curiosity than anything. They were about 50 seconds long, and came every 5-7 minutes. OK, another script, and I did not know it then, but I was entering transition. Some waves were really difficult to breath through, and it was a hard job to keep reminding myself to relax. I did my best however, and suddenly, at 10pm, it hit me that we had to go to the hospital NOW. My husband asked if we should call the hospital (which we should have, we live in UK and they expect us to), but I could not imagine talking on the phone, as I was aaaaaaaaggggghhhh breathing through the waves, which were on top of one another, so I just said NO, let’s go!!!

I have to admit, I lost it couple of times in the car. Forget the relaxation, I shouted through a few of them (I think a couple, but could have been more?). I then started to say PEACE (I thought so, my hubby said I actualy shouted peace as if I was very angry at someone…), but that helped me a lot to get hold of myself and to start relaxing through pressure waves. So one wave at a time, we went to the 3rd floor, and were given a room. I think I had 2 pressure waves there, and during the second one, my waters exploded . This was the point that I realised that I was pushing! So we called the midwife, and she confirmed that I was fully dilated and could go ahead and push! I was SOOO happy, as birthing in hospital was one of my biggest fears (or the thing I wanted to avoid most of all!!!!!!!).

I have tried the relaxed aaaggghhhh pushing, but it was not working. As my pressure waves were so painful, it was increasingly more difficult to just relax through them, so I made a decision to do the purple pushing. My little one was back to back and she got stuck at some point, pour thing… So after about one and a half hours of pushing, loads of staff came into our room and started making a fuss about the heartrate of Olivija going down. So they told me that she needs to come out NOW one way or the other and started preparing me for a C-section… I refused to believe that this is how it’s going to end for a second… So I just ignored all of them and continued pushing as hard as I could. And then the midwife said “I can see the head” – and that was music to our ears. The doctor said she needed to come out quickly, so I pushed as if there was no tomorrow.
And in three pressure waves, she was out!!! I finally held my little angel in my arms

LOOKING BACK – I loved Hypnobabies during my pregnancy and my birhting time. And although I did not have a pain free birth (which I firmly believed I would all the time), the rest of it was just perfect! And I still truly believe that I possibly missed something whilst learning about creating anaesthesia and if I am going to have any more children, Hypnobabies is the way to go!!! So thanks Kerry for putting all the program together, Sheridan for creating this group, Susan for your wonderful posts and all you mums for sharing your thoughs and experience.
Kindest regards, and good luck to you all,

Inga

Congratulations on your VBAC!  It sounds like you did a GREAT job and really worked with your body.  I think it was brilliant that even though you felt p***, (Which my guess may have been caused by her positioning)  after trying different tools, you decided to

at some point I just accepted that this is what they are going to feel like.

I think that was so great.  Instead of fighting it, you went with it and still used your tools to stay relaxed as possible and let your body do what it needed to do.  Good job!

You did all you needed to do to have your VBAC!  I am so very happy for you.

Sheridan

Mina’s Cesarean Birth due to being a surprise breech!

Our Beautiful Birth Story

The arrival of our precious little girl finally came about!  Mina was born on Wednesday evening, June 25th at 9:23 at Bethesda North Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio. “Mina” is pronounced [Mee-nah).  Mina weighed 8 pounds and 10 ounces.  She came in at 22 inches long!  She came straight out with an impressive big cry out to the universe and to her very happy and relieved parents.  ”I’m here!”  We were so happy to see her little toes and her little fingers and her impressive head of hair, beautiful little face.  It was the most precious moment of our entire lives.

Mina went all the way up to being two weeks past her estimated due date. I spent the final two weeks getting acupuncture, massage, private hypnosis, reiki and chiropractic care to get the labor started.  I bought a Baby Come Out CD from Hypnbabies and started listening to it.  I played my Hypnobabies tracks all night long on my i-pod. I was very dedicated to waiting for spontaneous labor.  At our 42 week appointment we had an ultrasound to confirm that we were ok to continue to wait for spontaneous labor.  The ultrasound indicated that our baby was still healthy and doing well but that she was in breech position.  We were very shocked as it had seemed Mina was in an ideal position for birth  up to this point.  After we found out that Mina was breech and that my water had already broken with the days of mild labor, we left the doctor’s office and went straight to the hospital where our wonderful doctor performed our medical miracle c-section.

Our birth story is still a beautiful one.  It is a different story than we had imagined it would be but it turned out just the way it was supposed to.  My husband and I had taken Sharon’s Hypnobirthing classes, Bradley Method Classes and the homestudy Hypno-Birthing course.  We were planning a beautiful unmedicated birth with self hypnosis.  What we got was a medical miracle in the form of a c-section.  We still had our self hypnosis techniques in place and we still had our Doula and our wonderful doctor we had chosen because he is the best doc around for natural birth in this area. These were all things we STILL had even though there was a major change in the way things played out.

While we were disappointed that we didn’t get to have the natural birth story we had so desired we were very excited to see our little girl.  We are now just so happy that Mina is safe and sound and that she is in our arms and we used self hypnosis to help with the c-section process. It was very helpful throughout the pregnancy, in the fearful hours before the c-section, during and after the c-section. It really helped with the spinal and with the anxiety before and during the procedure.  Having a c-section was actually one of my worst fears and I had worked in the private hypnosis session to help deal with this fear.  This was very helpful.  It is also helping me cope with my recovery now and with breast feeding which was a bit of a struggle after the c-section but which is going really well now!

We are so happy that we had the knowledge and skills from our birth education experience. We are planning a future vbac.  Our C-section was done in such a way by our request to make this possible.  I will use self hypnosis and all that I learned in my wonderful classes for our next birth.  I feel like I grew as a person and that this experience was made more beautiful by the fact that I had more knowledge and tools to use for an event that came up that I had never expected.

We are so very blessed and happy and in love with our little girl and happy to share with you her beautiful birth story because it was so beautiful and such a blessed event that has changed our lives forever.

Blessings and Best Wishes to all you Hypno-Moms and Dads and to your Hypno-Babies and remember the hypnosis is not to be used JUST for the ideal birth scenario.  When a change of plans comes it is just as important to use your skills and to remain positive.  All beautiful birth stories are not the same.  That’s why we love to read them! They are all different and all beautiful just like our little babies!

Bridget, Eric and Mina Shen

Ariel’s Hypnobabies Birth

Great story showing how Hypnobabies is beneficial for all moms, even those who end up choosing an epidural.  This Mom was induced after her water breaks and birthing time didn’t start on its own after 8 hours.  Mom chose to get an epidural after 10 hours on pitocin and not much progress.  This allowed her to rest and have a vaginal birth.

On Monday 12/28 at 1:30 am my water broke and we were excited, knowing our overdue boy (guess date 12/19) was coming soon and would not have to be induced (we had been trying everything to get labor started for the past week). I listened to my hypnobabies and got ready for the hospital. Unfortunately, pressure waves did not start over the next 8 hours. Although at first we thought about giving it another 12 hours or so, our OB was VERY anxious about infection, especially since I am GBS positive, so at 1 pm we went to the hospital where I started antibiotics and where the on call doc said I was basically a C section waiting to happen if I did not induce NOW, birth had to be done within 24 hours of ruptured membranes (we fudged on when the water actually broke to give us more time), etc, etc,  and she had just finished two sections on women who had gotten fevers, etc. Although I measured only fingertip dilated and 40  percent effaced, we were really torn but eventually made the call to start on pitocin, hoping it would do the trick (my last appt showed my cervix still long and closed). Whether this was the right call we’ll never know, but here’s what happened next. I labored on pitocin for 10 hours, and with the help of Hypnobabies got through some pretty intense pressure waves. The last 3 hours were, I admit, challenging, but with my hypnosis, husband and our doula, made it through and stayed calm and focused; by the end of nearly ten hours my contractions were 1-2 minutes apart and I showed signs of being far along (vomiting, shaking, etc), so we were all hoping for good signs of progress.

BOP warning:  The doc on call (new one, much better bedside manner) measured me and to our dismay, I had dilated only to 1 cm. As you can imagine, this was pretty devastating after so much work, and at that point he suggested (of course) that a C section wouldn’t be a bad idea, and that it looked like I simply wasn’t progressing. We discussed this and our doula suggested that since both baby and I were doing fine (baby’s HR was fantastic throughout and I had no fever) that we should wait, and that maybe getting an epidural would help my body relax and allow the intense contractions to do their work. Feeling I had nothing to lose at that point, and feeling like I couldn’t get through another 10 hours of pitocin contractions knowing the last 10 hadn’t done much, I agreed and although the doc wasn’t sure it would help, he was fine with letting us try it as long as we both showed continued signs of being healthy.  The next hour, before the epidural was truly challenging–mostly because I had lost confidence in myself and in my body. This was the point where I stopped using hypnobabies and got a bit off track. I got the epidural and within a short time, was able to focus again on the task at hand.–END BOP

Although we had always hoped not to use pain relief, this was a good call in this situation, and I spent the next 6 hours using hypnobabies to relax and to focus on my cervix opening and allowing baby to move down. Throughout our baby was a trooper–his HR was steady during a total of 16 hours of pitocin-induced labor (which can often cause distress) and luckily I did not have any negative reactions from the epidural. I could still feel the contractions (esp as the epidural started to wear off and I didn’t want to ‘top it off’) and at 6 am the doc came back to measure me–we were all praying for some progress, and to our delight and his complete surprise, it turns out I had reached 10 cm and was ready to push!

That was the best part–although the doc warned me that first time moms can take up to 3 hours, I felt totally in control (the epi was quite light by that point, which helped) and after my first push the doula said that I’d probably be done quickly, since I was being effective. (I admit I did not use the breathing down baby technique, I tried once or twice and couldn’t figure it out, so just went with what felt effective).  45 minutes later, and with our own OB who came in for the birth, Ariel Alexander was born, weighing in at a surprising 8 lbs 15 oz (and for all those “too big baby’ warnings–I am a small gal, 5′2″ and 110 pre-pregnancy, and both my husband and I were under 7lbs at birth!–I pushed him out in under an hour with a tiny tear needing only 1 stitch).  I am very happy that we were ultimately able to have a good birth, even if it was not the “perfect” one we visualized and delighted with our healthy adorable newborn.

I believe that Hypnobabies allowed me to feel confident throughout pregnancy, get through an intense labor, and regain focus after disappointing news and relax in order to have a good, uncomplicated vaginal birth in the end and that we avoided a C section, which was my primary goal in preparing for this birth and in using Hypnobabies.

Cadence’s Amazing Birth after Mom Changes Care Providers at 40 weeks!

The Birth Story of Cadence.  When we found out we were expecting our first child I began to think about what type of experience I wanted for the birth of our little one.  I found Hypnobabies through a relative and began the Hypnobabies Home Study course at 28 weeks.  I was excited to find a program that I thought would give me the type of birthing experience I desired.

A little note on my pre-birth experiences: During this pregnancy I changed Doctor’s three times and was concerned about the Hospital I would be birthing in. (Posted earlier “confident to change Dr’s and Hospitals 48 hours prior to due date”, as well as  ”Hospital Tour” Posted on December 1st.)Thanks to the positive affirmations and thought programing of Hypnobabies and my supportive family I had the courage to continue the pursuit of the birth experience I desired for me and our baby.

I found a midwife who took me on as a patient 2 days prior to my due date.  She encouraged my desire to go all natural but said that it would be a hard labor since it was my first.  I just told her I deserved an easy and comfortable birth and told her I’d been practicing and preparing for months with the Hypnobabies home study.

On Friday the 18th (5 days post due date and the 2nd appointment with her) she stripped my  membranes and we discovered the baby had turned posterior.  Nothing to worry about but she said it would be a more difficult labor.  I told her that the baby would be turned by arrival time.  I kept positive, spent a lot of time on all 4’s and visualized the baby turning not only anterior but left anterior.  She turned and was in perfect position for the birth.

On Saturday the 19th, while Christmas Shopping at Cabelas and Sam Ash Music I began to have consistent waves of pressure.  I did not feel them as many people had described but they came as just a tightening in my tummy. At the music store I went to the bathroom 5 times and found myself relaxing over shelves of music every few minutes.  I went and told my husband that we needed to go home now.

We arrived at home around 6:00pm.  My Mom and Husband helped me into our jacuzzi bath at home and I relaxed and ate a piece of pizza between birthing waves.  I turned on the “Easy First Stage” and then proceeded through other favorite Hypnobabies CD’s trying to remain relaxed and calm as the pressure waves proceeded to get more intense and closer together.  My husband and mom were very helpful and kept in touch with our midwife on the status of the birthing waves.  I stayed consistent with each birthing wave lasting about 1:15-1:30 and coming between 2-3 minutes apart from about 6:30-9:00pm.  I was able to take a 2 hour nap between 7-9pm while listening to the “Deepening” Cd over and over again.  It was so relaxing and when I awoke at 9pm I couldn’t believe that I had been asleep for 2 hours! The birthing waves had progressed in intensity and were now about 1:45-2:00 minutes apart. My Husband and Mom packed the car and we were on our way. My Mom kept her hand on  my shoulder or forehead saying the words “Peace and Relax” through each birthing wave.  We live a good 30 minutes from the hospital and while the ride had some bumps, hypnobabies helped me to relax and we were there before I knew it.

It was now 10:30pm.  We had to enter through the ER at the hospital and the staff didn’t seem to move very fast as they saw how calm I was with my ear buds in my ears and almost sleeping in the wheelchair while I waited to be taken to triage.  My birthing team (husband and mom) were growing a bit impatient with the slowness of the staff and knowing that I am probably further along than everyone thought. I was finally moved to Triage at 11:00pm. I asked to remain in my own clothes for comfort and relaxed in the room with my Mother while my husband and stepdaughters waited in the waiting room. The nurse told  me Ellen (our midwife) was just a few minutes away and that they would wait until she arrived to have her check me.  Ellen worked at this hospital for many years as a nurse prior to becoming a midwife so all of the nurses knew her and left her patients alone.  They monitored me and baby’s heart rates. The baby’s heart rate was a bit fast but was still within the safe zone.  Ellen arrived around 11:10pm.  When she arrived I asked her to give me a minute to relax  (turned off my light switch) and then she proceeded to check me.  I was relaxed with my ear buds in but my mom said that Ellen’s eyes lit up with a smile on her face and she said “She’s doing really good! She’s at 5cm!” I of course was oblivious to this but mom gave me a 5 on her hand and everyone was smiling so I figured that was good.

We then walked from the triage room to the L&D room where my husband, stepdaughters and nurse joined us. I had to stop and rest on the wall several times but nothing was unbearable.  Ellen told me that we could break my water (which would increase the intensity of pressure waves and make them come quicker) or we could wait and see what happens.  For the first time I asked “just for reference how far along into birthing time could I get an Epidural if I decide it is to much” . She said I could get it anytime I wanted all the way through 10 cm dilated but if I made it this far I could make it all the way. Once we got to the room they checked my vitals and Ellen went right to running a bath for me in the jacuzzi tub. Vitals were normal but I was a little dehydrated so she told me if I wanted to avoid an IV I needed to drink more fluids.  So I said bring me the water and juices..and I drank and drank and drank.  No IV Needed!

I stayed in the tub for about an hour relaxing with each birthing wave.  I was listening to the “Easy First Stage” and it said something about the “bag of membranes releasing easily” and right then..I felt a pop and my bag of membranes broke!  Hooray! No need to break the membrane bag! I began to feel intense pressure in my thighs-hips.  My husband put counter pressure on my hips and legs and my mom kept her hand on my shoulder or forehead.  It was a full time job for  both of them and they were both pretty sore in the following few days!

My nurse Elizabeth was wonderful as well and was so helpful in replenishing my fluids and bottles of juice and water.  I then moved back to the bed to check our vitals and all was still good! I began to think…I can do this..this is totally manageable.  At times I would repeat the Hypnobaby phrases out loud..and used the cues of “Peace, Ahh and Relax” to cue everyone in that another birthing wave was beginning and I needed counter pressure now!

At about 1:00am I needed to go to the bathroom so on we went to the toilet.  I went to the restroom and after sitting there for about 15 minutes I felt my uterus push.  I said “It’s pushing!” I’m not sure how loud I was as I had my ear buds in at full blast and was oblivious to everyone else.  The nurse said “don’t push” and I responded “I’m not..It’s pushing itself!”  She then said well don’t encourage it or bear down until we check you.  Elizabeth rushed in and checked me while I was sitting on the toilet and I was 8 ½ -9 cm! Ellen said I could stay there on the toilet if I wanted or change positions.  I sat there imagining birthing my baby on the toilet ..and thought yes..I need to change positions. They had set up a rocking chair to help with the decent of the baby so the plan was to move me there between waves.

At the next break we moved me to the rocking chair but as I tried to sit I knew that wasn’t going to work.  The baby was coming quick.  I turned around and leaned over the front of the rocking chair with my arms resting on the arms of the chair and began to rock back and forth while standing.  They quickly put a bunch of pillows on the chair for me to rest my head and my husband and mom rubbed my back while Ellen and Elizabeth were preparing for the birth. Ellen commented that “it was a position she had never seen before but whatever worked!”

It was 1:40am. From this point on, everything got very intense. My uterus was pushing with every birthing wave and they were coming very close together.  My body responded with an animal-tiger like growl in a very low gutteral tone.  It was amazing to feel the power of my body and the uterus moving the baby down and out. There was never a point where I thought “I could not do this” . It was very intense and I could feel a lot of pressure but nothing I would call pain.  After about 20 minutes I could feel a cramp coming up the back of my leg..and said “I’ve got to move..I’m going to get a leg cramp!” It’s funny to think about leg cramps when I am getting ready give birth to a baby!  We moved to the bed and got situated on the bed.

I didn’t realize how far along I was but next then I knew..Ellen said “Ok you can push whenever you want!”  I remember thinking..this is it.. “Relax”..and I kept saying ” We can do this baby, work with me” out loud.  I had my husband on my right and my mom on my left each holding a hand.  I had my husband turn on the “Pushing Baby Out Track” and I literally repeated everything she said out loud since no one else could hear what I was hearing (we left the CD player in the car). I felt Ellen pour warm liquid (mineral oil) all over my perineum area and start to massage and stretch me out.  My uterus continued to push baby out and I began to breathe baby down with nice deep controlled breaths.  I remember opening my eyes and looking up at my husband between pressure waves. I felt a little stinging and thought…oh this must be the “Ring of Fire” that I’ve heard about.  It’s not that bad! I continued to relax and let my body do what it needed to do.  I heard someone say she has a full head of black hair.  Ellen grabbed my hand and helped me to feel her head crowning!  My husband told me after the birth he almost passed out at this point.  He couldn’t believe how relaxed I was with the baby half way out!  I heard someone say her head was out and then next thing I knew with a deep breath and another uterus push out she came! Total pushing time in the bed was only 12 minutes! I only had a first degree tear and am healing up nicely.

Ellen put her directly on my chest and mom let them know that we wanted to wait to cut the cord. She was beautiful and so peaceful.  She had a full head of black hair and her eyes were wide open.  My husband cut the cord after it stopped pulsing.  It was an amazing experience and Hypnobabies gave me so many tools to use during the birthing process.   I had a very positive outlook on pregnancy and birth and it could not have gone any better.  My husband, mom,  midwife and nurse were all amazed at how well I did.  My husband said he respected me prior to the birth but after the birth it has been raised to a whole new level! I told everyone “thank you” and I just feel very blessed to be able to have an amazing birthing experience for me and my daughter.

Thank you Hypnobabies!

Angela and Cadence
Phoenix AZ