I learned about Hypnobabies from a friend, and heard of other friends who used it successfully. I received the news that with this pregnancy I was GBS negative, I was ecstatic! It meant that I didn’t have to have an IV or get to the hospital 4-6 hours before the baby went through the birth canal. This meant that I could stay at home as long as I wanted and listen to the Hypnobabies scripts. It also meant that, if possible, I wouldn’t even be given the option of an epidural.
The Appointment:
As the weeks progressed so did my body. At 40 wks +5 days the doctor told me that we had to do something, and suggested that we schedule an induction for the next day (she would be on call). One of her main concerns was that I was “all baby”. She felt the baby and she said, “He is 9 pounds.” I didn’t believe her. I looked at my husband and I didn’t want to have any medical interventions, so stripping the membranes seemed an ok suggestion. During the procedure, I tried to use my Hypnobabies’ techniques to just relax. The doctor asked if I was ok, and I said, “Yes.” She said, “You have a high pain tolerance.”
Before we left the doctor’s office, my doctor suggested we meet the mid-wife that was on-call for the night. She came in and talked with us and I told her that I wanted to labor at home as long as possible, use my Hypnobabies and then come in when I was ready. She mentioned that one time she had almost been hypnotized herself after listening to scripts during a nighttime birth. Awesome!
The Waiting:
After the appointment I went to the store to buy some last minute groceries and to fill my car with gas. Once home I worked on the computer and talked with a friend via facebook, asking her for some “natural interventions”. My four year old and I also walked down to the bus stop to pick up our six year old. Back at home, I let the girls just play together while I worked on the computer.
Around 4:50 pm the pressure waves were in the back and I decided to start timing them. They were every 5 minutes so I called my husband and told him. Then I called my neighbor and I told her that it would be soon. My husband made it home by 5:45 pm and I turned over responsibility for the kids to him. I finished up a few odd tasks.
While my husband fed the kids, I listened to the “Deepening” track. During the half hour of the track, I had about five pressure waves. During one of them I truly blocked the pressure wave’s sensation. This gave me great confidence! I reported to my husband that it worked! The Hypnobabies had worked!
The Exodus:
At 7:00 pm, I stopped timing the pressure waves (they had been 5 minutes, lasting one minute and had gone for at least 2 hours). At one point I called for my husband during a pressure wave, because I couldn’t move and I needed him in his support role. He called back and I called even louder, he came and gave me the “relax cue”. (The relax cue is when the support person puts his/her hand on the forehead and says “relax”. I’m so glad that I taught him that one thing about Hypnobabies. That would become vital later on.)
We piled all the stuff into the car. We drove to a friend’s house. My husband told the girls to pile out, and then my husband just pretty much threw the stuff at our friend. I remembered at this point (7:43 pm) that I better call the doctor’s office.
The Drive:
(BOP): As we drove out of the neighborhood, I turned to my husband and told him that I didn’t think that I could do it and that I needed to have an epidural. We had talked about this beforehand what he should say or do. He just put his hand on my hair and told me to “relax”. I kept my eyes closed and listened to a script. (end BOP)
At 7:53 pm the mid-wife called and opened my eyes long enough to tell her that we were in the car on the way to the hospital and the contractions were definitely 5 minutes apart, maybe even 3.
The Hospital Entrance:
I did have pressure waves on the way to the hospital. I tried to breathe through them and listen to a Hypnobabies’ track. When we rounded the bend at the hospital and pulled up to the Mother-Baby entrance, I saw how quiet everything was and one lone woman inside. I hoped that she would hurry and bring a wheelchair out. She did, and I was on my way, however, I didn’t feel like she was moving very fast and the wheelchair really was not the most comfortable of chairs. I didn’t say anything to the woman and she didn’t say anything to me.
The Check-in:
At the Mother-Baby desk on the third floor, I immediately stood up. (It was about 8:07 pm at this point.) The two young women standing there looked like they had all the time in the world. They asked me to fill out a form with some important information, name, date and all that stuff. Wasn’t that in the computer? I had to get away from them and focus again. So I asked where the bathroom was. They responded, and I made a beeline for the bathroom. On the way over I saw my husband out of the corner of my eye. He was fast! (He had to park the car.) Once inside I waited for him to come and finally yelled his name, maybe two times. He finally came in and I felt three rapid downward pressure movements.
The labor and delivery supervisor came over and told us that we had to get me moved out of the bathroom. (I guess she came back from where she had gone initially. When she asked the two front desk clerks where the patient had gone, they replied, “Into the restroom.” This put her into high gear. Apparently when a patient asked to see the bathroom that means the birth is not that far away.)
Outside the restroom they offered the wheelchair to me. I decided to walk and we headed to room 1. I walked fast until a pressure wave hit and my body was stalled even though my heart wanted to move. I had my IPOD in my ear. Mentally I was thinking secondarily about the questions that the nurse was asking me.
Inside the room:
BOP: Once inside the room, I asked for an epidural. A nurse said she was going to check me. There was no way that I was going to lie down so I stayed on all fours. At about that same moment a big pop happened, and my water broke. After a check, the nurse said, “You are complete.” I thought, “Complete, what does that mean?” I think I asked again about the epidural and the nurse said something like, “No, you’re not going to have an epidural, you’re going to have a baby.” (end BOP)
The Delivery:
After getting turned around on the bed so the doctor could actually deliver the baby, there was a point when my earbud for my IPOD fell out. I scrambled to get it back in and discovered that it was the “breathing my baby out” Hypnobabies’ track. I do not know how that happened but I do know that God must have made it work out such that it was there.
During the pushing my husband put counter pressure on my hips. I kept asking the nurse questions about whether they could see the head. Apparently there were about 5 or 6 pressure waves total until Kameron came out. Between the pressure waves I asked for drinks of water and was able to refocus myself. The first couple pushes I was vocal but then the last few I didn’t need to make any sound.
The Grand Entrance:
Kameron was born at 8:31 pm. When I turned to see him for the first time, I was surprised to see this large baby. He had a lot of vernix, his face was large, and he had lots of rolls of chubbiness. They took Kameron over to the weigh machine. The first report was in grams…the nurses sighed, then the result in pounds: 10 pounds 2 ounces.
The doctor did not say much but the nurses told us later how cool it was to be a part of that birth. They told me that I was so calm and controlled and they had not seen that in their many years of delivering. I told them that I had used Hypnobabies (hypnosis) and they said that it worked.
We are in love…all four of us! We feel so blessed!