Cienna’s Beautiful Hypnobabies Hospital Birth

First I want to say I started the Hypnobabies homestudy late (about 34 weeks) and that I had a really hard time not falling asleep in them. Toward the end I would fall asleep to them at night and then listen to them again in the morning before I got out of bed. I tried to practice my on/off and center switch but wasn’t very good at it. After going and going all week, I finally told DH that I didn’t have anything planned for the rest of the time I was pregnant. “Good, let’s keep it that way” is how he responds. He doesn’t like being overscheduled. So Friday night we finally had a relaxing night. We watched a movie. I kept putting DH hand on my belly so he could feel how the baby was pushing or exercising. We joked that it liked to be up at night when I wanted to be sleeping. So we went to bed at 11 ish I think. If this was part of my birthing time, I was pretty clueless. I didn’t think anything of it.

I woke up at 1:50 am because I thought I peed my pants. But I had to pee a lot more. And more. DH asked what was up and I said I thought my water broke. He said “just go back to bed.” So I tried. But I couldn’t. I didn’t want to just lay there and think about it. So I went to the computer and worked on it. I put on my birthing day affirmations CD to help me be in a positive mindset. I used a computer website (thanks to whoever put that great resource up!) to time my pressure waves. They were about 5 minutes apart and 45 second long from the time I started timing them. I decided that maybe I should try to relax during the pressure waves. So I would breathe and use a “peace” cue. I was kind of disappointed because they were starting to hurt a little. But I felt like I could relax a little better doing the peace cue. So I did that until maybe 4:30 am and I thought it was time I focused and lay down to relax better and listen to my easy first stage birthing CD.

I called the midwife and woke up DH. I was trying to let everyone sleep as long as possible. I thought that I would probably give birth about 8 or 9 am because that is how long my other births were. A neighbor came to stay with my other girls so they could sleep. DH and I got in the car. I was listening to the Easy First stage Birthing CD the whole time and I think that helped me try to relax. I tried the On/Off lightswitch but never got the hang of it so I just used the  Peace” cue. DH didn’t run any red lights because he said I looked
like I was doing well. He used his “relax” cue and put his hand on my shoulder while I had pressure waves. I was breathing and I felt my hands get tingly and I thought, “I think I am hyperventilating” And with every contraction I started to feel tingly in my hips.

I walked into the hospital and then got in a wheelchair so I could relax more. The ladies at the triage were so kind. They pulled out all the consent form but after they looked at me they said “you better get her back here and check her out. The midwife was there. That last contraction was the one that I thought “I don’t know if I can do this anymore.” I held onto DH as he comforted me. I got onto the bed and DH pulled off my pants and shoes. The midwife checked me and asked if I felt pushy. I thought “pushy, I don’t know” but my body took that as a cue that it was okay to push.

The midwife, Darlene, said “she is fully dilated and at station +2. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t have time to think though because my body wanted to push and all inhibition were gone. I asked that they put the bed up so I could be semi reclining. DH said that her head came out so quickly and then the next contraction her body came out. It was 6:06 am and DH said “it’s a girl.”

The best thing was that it didn’t hurt. I didn’t scream or yell like I did with my first. I was so fearful that I would tear because I had gone so quickly to pushing. I tried to do it slow. The only thing I wish is that I could have had a mirror to watch her being born. So they put the baby on my shirt. (I didn’t have time to put the gown on.) They midwife checked for tears and there were none! I was ecstatic. It was over already, just when it was getting intense. DH keeps saying I looked so much more relaxed and comfortable than I did with the others.

We think all that Hypnobabies CDs helped. Even though I slept through a lot of them. They got us to a room in about 15 minutes and I went in to take a shower while DH and the nurses took care of Cienna. I still couldn’t believe it was all over so quickly. I was so happy to be free of contractions. And my other girls were still home sleeping! Good thing I didn’t wait until everyone had woke up on their own to get to the hospital. I can’t believe how close I was to having that baby in the car. I can’t believe I didn’t know how close I was to having her. I am so grateful that Cienna has no problems and that I didn’t have any either. With the other two there was always something we had to check up on (heart murmur, hearing, tongue tie, jaundice) and I was glad that I didn’t have any stitches or any excessive bleeding like I had had in the past. I attribute that to the pregnancy tea!

All I can say is “wow,” our bodies really do know how to have babies if we let them. I am so thankful for this remarkable experience and a new little daughter. We just need to figure out how to take care of her now!

Thanks for all your support and help!
Cindy

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Hypnobabies helps even before birth!

As I am nearing the end of my pregnancy, I wanted to say how much I have enjoyed my time with my HBs CDs.  Even if it doesn’t do a darned thing for my birthing (although I know it will!) it has been a pleasure to relax with the CDs as frequently as possible.
 
Along the way, I have had a few funny HB moments I wanted to share, and hope others of you will share similar incidents.
 
I teach fitness classes.  I have found that from time to time, what I call a “Kerry-ism” will come out of my mouth when I am teaching.  So, for example, when I am delivering an alignment cue, I might find myself saying, “And, of course you’re never going to let your knees go farther than your shoelaces.”  Or, I have said, “very good” in a much deeper, throatier way than I would have before.  LOL!
 
I suppose it is a good sign that HB has invaded my subconscious, right? 
 
Anyone else?

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How does Hypnosis work?

I just saw a wonderful explination of this on the Discovery Channel show Human Body Pushing the Limits – Sensations Episode.  It showed an incredible example of a dentist using hypnosis on a man getting a filling.  He gets his tooth drilled and filled and feels no pain.  It explained how hypnosis can do this!  It was really cool to see. 

Here is another interesting article about hypnosis. The Truth and the Hype of Hypnosis.

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Jessica Alba has a Zen Birth Experience

I read on Crunchy Domestic Goddess about Jessica Alba’s wonderful birth.  She used hypnosis for childbirth, which is such a wonderful tool for moms!  I wish more moms would look into it. 

The benefits that pregnant moms get from using hypnosis range from sleeping better, to feeling more confident about their upcoming births.  With Hypnobabies moms learn about their choices they have when giving birth, from choosing care providers to the pros and cons of different interventions they may be offered.  By making informed choices they will be able to create the best birth possible. 

Moms who use Hypnobabies often have very comfortable, enjoyable births with no medication!  It is so cool to read the birth stories of the moms from the Hypnobabies Yahoo Group.  I have gathered over 150 birth stories from moms who used hypnosis at Pregnancy Birth and Babies. 

 

I am glad that Jessica had a great birth and more women will now be aware of the idea of hypnosis for childbirth!

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Juliana’s Birth Center Wonderful Hypnobabies Birth

On May 5th, we welcomed our beautiful baby girl, Juliana, into our family. The birth was absolutely wonderful (and it was so different
from my first birth that lasted 28 hours and was very, very difficult!). I woke up at 1:30 with what I thought were just braxton hicks. I couldn’t fall back to sleep though so decided to go downstairs, get a drink, change the laundry around that we’d forgotten before bed, and then thought I’d try to time a few of the pressure waves.

They were lasting 45 seconds and coming 3 minutes apart. I still didn’t believe this was it, even though they were so close because they really weren’t any worse than my braxton hicks had been for the past week or more and they just weren’t lasting very long. I decided to wake my husband up at 2:30 and he called our doulas and midwives. They said to take a shower to relax and then come in. So we left for the birth center at 3:15 and arrived at 4:20.

I listened to my birthing day affirmations for part of the drive and then switched to Easy First Stage. The ride was long and during the windy country roads, there were some pressure waves that were harder because I wasn’t able to stay in off because I had to keep myself
from sliding out of the seat (my husband was eager to get us there and the road is really curvy!) We finally arrived at the birth center and I got settled in and then at 4:40 they checked me and I was 6 centimeters. I was so excited! I got in the hot tub about 5 minutes later and was just so relaxed and on cloud nine that I was already 6 centimeters.

My doulas were laughing at me saying they couldn’t believe I was just sitting there joking and laughing. I was in center during this whole time and even during a pressure wave, I’d just rest my head on the edge of the tub and just relax. At about 4:50, the pressure waves started feeling really low and I felt like I had to be much more serious and really focus on them. My husband and doula were all massaging my back and pouring warm water over my back which helped so much. Then a little before 5:00, I felt like I had to pee so I told them I needed to pee and then about 2 seconds later was like, “I have to poop!” and just tried to get up so I didn’t poop in the tub (sorry if tmi!). The urge was just so strong that I just flipped over onto all fours and was just pushing. The doulas called the midwife in and they said the baby was coming out. I had no idea I was actually pushing the baby out – I really just thought I’d pooped in the water!

Pushing was very intense and really the only time I didn’t feel fully in control. I don’t remember having any pressure waves or anything – I was just trying to stay relaxed and say “ahhhh…..” and then all of a sudden I’d just push. I never really felt like I had to push, it just sort of happened. Then at 5:01, she was born! It went so fast – I still can’t believe I went from 6 centimeters to a baby in 20 minutes!

So, it was a wonderful, calm birth. I did tear a bit because she came out with her hand by her head and then used her elbows to push out. But they stitched me while I listened to deepening. It was truly a wonderful birth and I have Hypnobabies to thank!

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Isla’s Hypnobabies Birth – Ended in Cesarean

Mom was getting induced for pre-eclampsia.  Things went well and Hypnobabies helped her stay calm and comfortable.  At some point her blood pressure really shot up and they decided to do a cesarean.  Hypnobabies really helped her stay calm during the surgery and with recovery after. 

I went in on the 15th of March to be induced. Something I fought SO
HARD not to happen. I was so upset, but my blood pressure sky
rocketed and it was the right thing to do. I am glad I didn’t do it
sooner when they wanted me too just b/c she was big. Instead of
pitocin I opted for a cervical ripening balloon.

I was a bit upset going in b/c my DH had to go into the ER b/c he got
food poisoning the night before. So I spent my first 4 hours by
myself praying he’d make it before our DD did!

The insertion of the balloon was a bit uncomfortable but I used my
hypnobabies and it made it so much easier. Once in place and blown
up, I began to have pressure waves immediately … only I didn’t even
know it b/c I was so far in hypnosis. The hospital honored all my
wishes on my birth plan so I only realized about a half hour later
when they hooked me up to the monitor. The nurse was shocked to see
how strong they were. I didn’t like laying down (it just didn’t feel
right) so I spent most of my labor in center switch, walking or on my
birth ball (if you don’t have one I recommend getting one). I did go
into off while on the birth ball by laying my head on the bed.

Thankfully DH came on up a few hours in and felt much better and was
very helpful. He put counter pressure on my back and it was heavenly.
A few times a PW snuck up on me and I couldn’t go to off. So I stayed
in center, used my peace cue, and rolled my hips in circles while on
the ball (it helped, I don’t know why). There was nothing I couldn’t
handle as long as I BREATHED.

That evening I started to get really tired, since we were up most of
the night before w/ DH’s food poisoning. I laid down to get some
sleep. After I fell asleep my PWs stalled out and completely stopped.
I spent most of the morning trying to get it started up again. My
doctor came in, took the balloon out, and we discussed other options.
I still didn’t want pitocin yet so he was on his way back over to
break my water. I don’t know if that’s what did it or not but the
next thing I know my blood pressure was through the roof.

So I had to have a c section. I was pretty upset at first. I felt
like I worked really hard for nothing. My DH was really helpful and
told me that the end result is worth it no matter how you get there.
That my blood pressure would have been much worse if I didn’t have
hypnobabies to keep me calm. I could still use my hypnobabies to get
through this.

So we all got prepped and went to the OR (very quickly). I did tear
up right before the spinal block b/c I got a bit scared. Mostly b/c
they made DH stay out in the hallway for that part. My doctor, who
was not supposed to be on then, actually stayed to assist the doctor
on call. He held my hand and calmed me down. Once the block was done
DH came in. They got the baby out really quickly. The first thing
they said was, “Look at all that hair!”

She didn’t cry right away and no one had explained to me that c
section babies don’t. Something about when they are born vaginally it
squeezes out a lot of the fluids in their chests. So c section babies
need a little more suctioning out. When she did cry only 30 seconds
(felt like a half hour) later I cried. DH went over to cut her cord
and guard her from them giving her the shots we said we didn’t want
(we’re doing delayed and selective vaccs). He did come back around
the curtain at one point to tell me he saw my insides. My husband is
special like that.

They brought her around a minute later. She was all wrapped up and
had a hat on. So all I saw were these chubby fat cheeks. She didn’t
cry after that first cry. She’s very calm. I cried again. They took
some pictures. Then they sent her down to the nursery, as they do
with all c sect babies. I sent DH with her. I was a bit emotional to
see them go so I opted to go into off and into my special place, even
though I was numbed and felt no p***.

I was luckier then most b/c they brought her back early when I was in
recovery b/c she was hungry. It wasn’t until then I really got to see
her and find out all her stats. Isla (pronounced eye-la) was 9lbs
5oz, 20 inches, and had a head diameter of 14.5 cms. So she’s a good
sized little girl. She latched right on and nursed like a champ. I
had a nurse try to tell me that I wouldn’t have been able to birth
her vaginally. I did set her straight. I fully believe if it wasn’t
for the blood pressure I would have had her just fine on my own.

As for my hypnobabies training I thought I didn’t and wouldn’t get to
fully use … boy was I wrong! Recovery from c sections is rough,
especially for nursing moms. Hypnobabies was a huge part of
recovering comfortably for me. I don’t know how I would have gotten
through it with out it. Not only did I get through it but I got
through with minimal amounts of pain meds. I didn’t like how the meds
made me feel and how tired they made me. The nurses were very
impressed with how calm I was and how quickly I was up and walking
around. I don’t regret going through the program at all.

So even if your birth doesn’t go as planned, like mine, hypnobabies
is totally worth it. I’m not disappointed anymore with how my birth
went. It went how it was meant to. I was only disappointed for a few
minutes anyway. Although, I’m not sorry I planned for a perfect birth
either. Could you imagine how my blood pressure would have been if I
had worried about everything going wrong? Any birth where you and
baby come out healthy and happy is a success.

As for Isla, she is calm and sweet as is true hypnobaby form. I’m so
happy to have her and am completely in love with my DD! Her
pediatrician can’t get over how alert, strong, and healthy she is.

Good luck to all the rest of you hypnomoms! It’s so worth it.

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Jacob’s Hypnobabies Hospital Birth

What an awesome birth – yes, thanks to Hypnobabies! I have had 4 other natural childbirth experiences and I have to say that this one was THE BEST!
 
 I had been having some issues with my blood pressure going up. I went to my appointment with my midwife on Tuesday April 8 at 9:30 a.m. and my blood pressure was 156/94 – still creeping up. My guess date was Thursday April 10, and I was really trying to avoid an induction. We discussed our options and decided to strip my membranes (something I was also wanting to avoid) and decided that we would talk about inducing on Monday morning if I hadn’t had the baby by then. Note that we didn’t actually schedule the induction, my midwife was really trying to help me have the birth I wanted! I agreed to go on bed rest as well until Monday to see if that would bring my BP back down.
 
 After my membranes were stripped, I had a lot of pressure which didn’t really bother me too much. DH and I stopped at a couple of stores on the way home, and I walked around without too much trouble at all. When we got home around noon, I soaked in a nice warm bath and relaxed with the Deepening CD.
 
 Around 3 pm I started having sporadic pressure waves, anywhere from 10 – 15 minutes apart and lasting abut a minute. They were very manageable with the Birth Guide CD, and I relaxed on our sofa. After about an hour and a half, the PWs started getting stronger, and I was leaning over the back of the sofa on my knees to alleviate pressure. It worked GREAT! I found I wanted to stay in CENTER, even though when I practiced, I always liked OFF better.
 
 For just about 10 minutes, my confidence slipped (even though this was natural birth #5 for me!). I told DH that I was worried that I couldn’t do it. I actually cried at this point – NOT from p**n, as I still wasn’t having what I would call p**n, but from uncertainty and a lack of confidence in myself. DH was great and reassured me that I COULD do it, and *if* I couldn’t, he would still be there. That was all it took to reinstate my BOP and my confidence. I was ready to do this!
 
 Pretty soon, I found I was needing help from DH to stay focused. I called my birth support team to let them know that we would probably be leaving for the hospital within the next hour. Then I spent about another hour at home so I wouldn’t get to the hospital too soon. I found that when I verbalized (or had DH say) that the waves were “just pressure” it really kept me focused. So there I was, leaning over the back of the sofa on my knees with DH’s hand on my forehead, chanting “just pressure” and “peace” and “relax”. DH kept saying “You are numb from the waist down, you are relaxed, you are only feeling pressure” and it really helped me SO much!!
 
 We left for the hospital at about 6 pm, after I vomited. Yep, I have never thrown up in labor, but I did with this one. 😦 It was not traumatic for me, though, I think my body was just trying to empty my stomach. For just a minute or two, I was worried that I had waited too long to leave, but I immediately put the thought out of my mind, as I didn’t want any stress.
 
 It takes about an hour to get to the hospital where I would have the baby. When we got in the car, my PW’s picked up to about 4 – 5 minutes apart. DH was alternating putting his hand on my shoulder, and on my forehead while driving and talking me through each wave.
 
 When we got to the hospital, they had NO ROOMS AVAILABLE! What a surprise! I was in a wheelchair in the hallway with my birth support team having all the usual signs of being in transformation – a bit of nausea, and I was shaking some. I was also hot, and then cold. I am sure we were a sight to see in the hallway, and I really do not think that the staff realized how close I was to birth. I finally got admitted at 9:05 pm after my midwife came in and told them to get me in a room within 5 minutes (in a very firm voice!). There was a room that had just been vacated, it just hadn’t been cleaned. Also, we had a little difficulty out of our nurses about the number of people in my support team. I had 2 of my sisters, my husband, and a doula. Fortunately, I had already cleared all this with the hospital administration ahead of time, and he had given me his pager number. After a quick page to him, we got an apology from the charge nurse and were left alone!
 
 I got into a gown and let my midwife monitor the heartbeat for about 10 minutes. No IV, no nurses bothering me! My midwife did a quick exam and said I was 8 cm, and that the baby was at about a zero station. Then she said I could get up. (I had requested that they not break my water.) I got right on my birthing ball – having waves and sipping ice water and stayed there until I began to feel the urge to push.
 
 I have to say here that I really HATE pushing. I have never enjoyed it with any of my other births either! Some women find that it feels good, or empowering, or feels like a type of release, but I really don’t enjoy the feelings associated with it. So I asked my midwife to just let me push when I felt like it, and she agreed. She says she doesn’t like pushing either! 🙂
 
 I stayed on the ball until I felt the bag of waters bulging out on my perineum a bit. It was harder to remain focused at this point, although everyone I talked to later said it looked like I really had it together. Then I decided to move to the bed, with the back all the way up so that I was in a sitting position. This was pretty comfortable for me. At that point, I was making low pitched groaning noises (unfortunately, I had to have a BM at the same time I was pushing and I hadn’t had one all day – yuck!). I pushed rather hard about a half dozen times, and his head was out! I said, “Get him out! Get HIM OUT!”, and that was the first time I felt like I really lost control for just a minute. I really pushed too hard, and got a small tear, but I was really wanting to get it over with, since I do hate pushing! The membranes were still around him and hadn’t ruptured, and all the water was behind him. It also had meconium in it, so they quickly got the membranes off him, handed d him to me for a quick minute, cut the cord, and then handed him to the nurses. Respiratory services had to use a tube to clear his passages, but they did all that right in the room and then gave him back to me. He was born at 10:07 pm, just about t 1 hour after I got a room!
 
 He nursed like a champ! He weighed 7 lb 9 oz and was 19.5 inches long. His head was a whopping 14 inches around, and I ended up with 3 small stitches – my first stitches ever. They aren’t bad at all, and I am not in any p**n now either.
 
 We got lots of nice compliments from our midwife and a few of the nicer nurses about how peaceful and calm our birth was.
 
 I had already told the hospital staff that I didn’t want my baby going to the nursery at all, so he stayed with me the whole time and got his first bath from his mommy! I wouldn’t have even bathed him at all until we got home, but he did have meconium on him everywhere! We were discharged at 14 hours after birth, and the hospital staff had me sign waivers for the procedures that we declined (including vit. k shot, eye goop, etc) with NO arguments. THAT was nice for me not to have to argue!
 
 A few things I highly recommend:
 For hospital births, contact hospital administration to discuss your desires and get a plan in place to be sure those are met. This saved us SO much stress!
 Stand firm with your desires – you are paying them!
 Get a birthing ball – wow, what a difference it makes!
 Make sure your support team is in place – mine was invaluable for keeping me focused
 Don’t get the membranes ruptured artificially unless you really have to – they really do help cushion you! I had it done with all the others, and this one was definitely a gentler birth.
 Do all your CDs regularly – it really does help!
 I am on a post baby high right now – feel free to email if you have questions!! I feel like a Hypnobabies PRO!!
 
 Clydia

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Reese’s Hypnobabies Hospital Birth

Last Wednesday the 26th of March, I woke up in the morning thinking
that I had just had the worst night of sleep of my life! Nothing
exciting happened, just couldn’t get any good sleep for the life of
me. I had been in to see the nurse practitioner the day before for my
38 week, really 37 week 5 day appointment and everything seemed good.
She gave me “a prescription” to eat ice cream every day because my
weight gain was on the lower end of the spectrum, 22 pounds and I am
average weight to begin with. She didn’t do an internal because I
told her it didn’t really give us an indication of anything, she
agreed but made a comment that most women like to know where they are
at. I said not me, this baby will decide when it is done baking!

Back to Wednesday, about 8:15 am I was playing with my 22 month old
son on his climber toy with slide wearing my bath robe, when I bent
over to catch him come down the slide and “gush” my water broke and a
puddle was forming at my feet. Funny side note, we are in the midst
of potty training and my son has accidents on the floor here and
there. When my water broke, he looked at me, looked down at the floor
and looked back at me and said, “Mommy peeing!”

I hadn’t been having any pressure waves yet, same thing that happened
with my son, so I was kind of in denial that my water had just broke.
My husband was getting ready to head out the door for track practice,
he is a high school teacher that was on spring break and coaches track
as well. I go upstairs and tell him either I just peed on the floor
or my water just broke. He looks at me stunned and doesn’t really
know what to do. I tell him to go ahead and go to practice, since
there were 50 kids there and he was supposed to be the only coach
there that day. He seemed worried and I tell him I’ll call my mom to
come over with me while he is gone, just in case.

I call my mom and she is shocked since I am not even 38 weeks yet.
She says she’ll head right over. I return to my normal morning
activities of getting breakfast for my son, doing some laundry and
other stuff around the house. My mom shows up and comments on how
calm our house is for being in labor. Then the phone starts to ring,
everyone knows that we are having a baby soon, my husband apparently
called everyone known to us to let them know. Pressure waves finally
start at about 9:30 am but nothing strong at all. I actually think I
had been having waves before this, but didn’t recognize them because I
was so relaxed.

My husband gets home and remembers that he has an appointment with a
man at our house at 11 am. I tell him to go ahead and I’ll get ready
to go to the hospital. I hop in the shower and call the hospital, the
nurse I speak to is upset with me because it is now about 11:30 am and
my water broke a whopping 3 hours earlier and I “need to get to the
hospital soon”. I tell her that we will get there as soon as we can.
We get everything squared away at home and head out to the hospital
around 12:30 or so.

On the way to the hospital I start to listen to easy first stage. I
listen for about 10 minutes and decide that I don’t need this yet, I
can be completely comfortable without going into hypnosis. I’m going
to save this for when I think I really need it. We get to the
hospital and I give the nurse my birth wishes. She takes them with
her and comes back to ask the general admittance questions. She is
great about my requests to not use certain words or ask me to rate my
p***. She doesn’t do an internal check because I ask to limit
internals to as few as possible. She hooks me up to the monitor for
15 minutes and baby and mom are looking great, so she lets me off. At
this point I am having pressure waves every 3-5 minutes lasting about
1 minute each. The doctors and nurses pretty much leave me alone,
except to put me on the monitor every hour or so to make sure
everything is going okay.

At about 7:20 pm, I still am having waves about every 2-3 minutes, the
nurses and doctor comment on how well I am handling them. The doctor
comes in and says that she would like to check me, since we are
approaching the “12 hour mark” since my water had broken. I say no
problem and get the results that I am 4 cm dialated and 50% effaced,
not as far along as I had hoped, but I am still happy that I am almost
halfway there. At this point, the doctor gives me 2 options, start
Pitocin right away or wait 2 hours, recheck and re-evaluate. I say
give me 2 hours and she does. I continue to have pressure waves, most
of which are registering off the chart when I am hooked up to the
monitor every 2 minutes or so. I spend most of these 2 hours up
walking and on a birthing ball trying to have gravity help my body
progress so that I can avoid any interventions.

9:30 pm rolls around and the doctor rechecks me, 4 cm and still 50%
effaced. I feel a little disappointment because my pressure waves
were getting pretty intense, but I hadn’t made any progress. The
doctor asks if we can start Pitocin, I say that is fine, thinking
hopefully this will help me get closer to meeting my baby quicker.
The nurse goes to get the supplies for the Pitocin, they have to start
an IV because they haven’t done one yet and get me hooked up to
fluids. All this is done by 9:45 pm and she hooks me up to Pitocin then.

My husband decides to go for a walk and leave me alone with my mom for
a little break for himself. I say no big deal, we’ve still got a
while to go.

After a whole 2 minutes of Pitocin, I tell the nurse I’d like to go to
the bathroom and that I’m feeling “a little pushy”. I get unhooked
from the monitor and get to the bathroom. I start feeling to most
intense sensations I’ve ever felt in my body, no p*** just extremely
intense pressure waves that aren’t giving me a break in between. My
mom comes into the bathroom, looks at me and realizes that this baby
is coming soon. She goes into the waiting room and tells my dad to
get a hold of my husband now! She comes back in and sits in the
bathroom with me realizing that I am in transition. The nurse comes
in and says she needs to check me now, she says to my Mom I think she
is ready to go. I tell her to give me a second to get more
comfortable and a couple of minutes go by. My husband shows up, eyes
bigger than I have ever seen them and helps support me while I get
checked. It is now 9:55 pm and I am 10 cm dialated and ready to go.
6 cm in 25 minutes, all I can say is wow, the most intense 25 minutes
in my entire life! The nurse asks me not to have the baby on the
toilet, I tell her that there are no guarantees. I get a break from
my pressure waves and make a quick dash for the bed, the nurse and my
husband trailing closely behind with my IV bags in tow.

I am now on the bed kneeling backwards over the raised back and the
nurse says, wow that was quick, it wasn’t the Pitocin, it was all you.
She calls the doctor and begins to support my perineum and makes a
comment that she may be delivering this baby. I turn over to my side
and start exhale pushing, no one counting or coaching me. I am now
thinking wow this feels great, I’m going to see my baby soon. Doctor
shows up and baby is already crowning, no “ring of fire”, I am not
even uncomfortable at this point. I push baby out in 3 pushes, no
tearing or p*** at all. We realize we just had a baby girl and are so
excited. I look at my husband who has a stunned look on his face and
say, “That didn’t even hurt! I just had a baby with no p***!” Reese
came 2 weeks early weighing 6 lbs. 1 oz. and 19″ long.

I didn’t really use all of my Hypnobabies tools like I had been
planning on using them during this birth, but didn’t need to because I
was completely comfortable the entire time, except those intense 25
minutes from 4 to 10 cm. I have to say that all of the practice I did
for the weeks before this birth helped me immensely. I was completely
calm and relaxed during the entire 14 hour labor. I read all of these
stories on this group about p***less birth and thought that must be
nice, I am just hoping to be able to develop some tools to help me
cope. I ended up with a p*** free amazing hospital birth, more than I
could have ever asked for. It is a store I have been sharing with
anyone who will listen. Your mind and Hypnobabies are amazing tools!

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Evin’s Birth

After a long and tedious pregnancy, where I was on some form of bed rest for half of it, we have a beautiful baby boy born on Monday, March 31!

I’d been having Braxton Hicks for most of the pregnancy. I started my home study course sometime around week 25, and had been in maintenance for about 2 weeks. I practiced finger drops every day, and recently started really focusing on center after reading what some of you ladies experienced. My husband did the relax script a few times, and I was very clear with him that I needed him to help me with that during our birthing time.
 

Lately I’d been feeling like my body was really working. This past Saturday (I’d posted about this), I started having stronger BH and dealt with them all weekend. Despite being 37 weeks, I felt like our child (didn’t know the sex at the time, but nicknamed Baby Simba by our DS) would be coming sooner, rather than later. I did the things that needed to be done at home. My DH and I finally bought the car seat on Saturday night. We finalized our birth plan on Sunday night. Really for no good reason, as we still had three weeks. Something just prompted me to get going on it. I woke Monday morning at 5 AM with my water leaking and some good bleeding with clots. I’d had irritating cramps throughout the night, but nothing worth turning off for. Just irritating. I saw the water/blood, but did not believe I was really in labor. I honestly thought the doc would want to induce me when we went in for our 9:00 appointment. I was disappointed, but prepared.
 

I tried to settle down for a while, then finally got in the shower at 6:30. When I was getting dressed, shortly after 7, I realized that these cramps were coming regularly. They weren’t painful at all, just irritating. And NOTHING like the BH, or what I remembered labor feeling like from our DS four years ago. So, it’s shortly after 7:00, and I realize if these are birthing waves, I’ve had four in just over a half hour. I wake my DH again and tell him to get our son up. I realized I needed to start timing them, this could be it!
 

By 7:30, I’d timed them at 5 minutes apart. The car isn’t packed, the boys aren’t ready (DH and DS), and we still need to get him to my sister’s and get to the hospital 45 minutes away. My intuition was telling me we needed to HURRY.
 

I listened to easy first stage in the car on the laptop. I made sure my DH knew that he may end up catching the baby in the car…I could feel things progressing that quickly. My DH called the doctors’ office to let them know that we would be missing our 9:00 appt and we would be heading to the hospital. They ‘encouraged’ him to go to the local hospital (doc works out of two towns and was in the closer one on Monday). DH gets great extra points for informing them we would be going to the hospital of our choice, whether the doc could make it or not.
 

We arrived at the hospital and true to form for Hypnobabies moms, the triage nurse did not believe I was in labor. 4 minutes apart and 37 weeks? She was seriously doubting us. I would politely excuse myself from the conversation when a PW began, and come back when it was over. During one of them, my DH explained that we were doing a hypnobirth. The nurse asked if we had information the nurses could read to be prepared to help us best. I was so impressed! He gave her the home study materials and our birth plan.
 

The nurse finally hooked me up, and when I had my next wave, she whispered (shocked) to my DH “that was a strong one!” DH just smiled sweetly. She then checked and I was 5 cm. We were quickly shown to a room! It was about 10:00 now.
 

From there things moved very quickly. I thought I’d want to be in the shower and on the birth ball a lot, but bed was just most comfortable to me. I was listening to early first stage on repeat through the laptop with ear buds. Pretty soon, I could feel double peaked waves (nurse told me at one point they were lasting 110 seconds, and occurring 3 minutes apart). I was happy and laughing in between, signing papers, etc. I knew the nurse felt things were moving very quickly because they kept moving in the baby equipment and gowning up. Every time I felt a wave coming, I would tell my husband or sister and they would come whisper to me (relax, deeper, etc). I was completely pain free and in awe of my body and Hypnobabies.
 

I finally felt my body starting the involuntary pushing (very early) and asked to be checked. I was at 9, but knew that would not be for long. Around here I took out the ear bud and listened to the CD out loud in the room.
 

*** BOP Here***
At this point, I stupidly thought about my DS’s birth. I hated pushing. It was awful. So, as I realized my body was starting to push, I lost control. I gripped the side rails and fought pushing for 40 minutes. My husband knew what was happening, and tried so valiantly to help me release and go deeper. The nurses knew by what was happening that I was ready to push, but honored our birth plan and didn’t prompt me. One nurse kneeled down so she was right in my line of sight. When I would look at her, she would say “listen to the woman on the CD. She’s exactly right. You can do this.” Otherwise, the nurses left me alone to labor my way. This was truly the only pain I experienced with our child’s birth. Once I realized I was fighting it, and the fear was what was causing my pain, I released the pain and fear and focused on the present birth.
 

** BOP ends here ***
I pulled my leg up on my side and started pushing in between PWs. It worked wonderful. I could feel our child moving down and my body getting ready. The doctor (who caused me so much stress about the delivery) walked in and then left! I was so grateful. Guess he could see he wasn’t needed yet.
 

At one point, right before our son came past the pubic bone, I received a blessed reprieve of 2 minutes without any waves. I’d read about this, but never thought I’d experience it! My body just took a break. I was able to utter a prayer of thanks, push a bit gently, and rest. I gathered my strength, then called to our baby “Baby Simba, it’s time to be born. You can come out now!” and began pushing in earnest. The doc came in here.

After a few controlled pushes that felt WONDERFUL, our beautiful son was born. He was put right on my belly, we helped him nurse, my DH clamped, and the doc took care of the placenta that quickly was delivered. We were able to bond for over an hour, then wash him at our leisure. I felt AWESOME after he was born. Sore, yes, but awesome. With our first, I felt like I’d been run over by a truck. This time I just felt beautiful and fulfilled.
 

The nurses all asked about the CD I had playing and were so impressed. I was so grateful we chose Hypnobabies to have this baby. And I was thoroughly happy that the nurses honored our every wish on our birth plan. It was the single best hospital birthing I could have ever imagined. And other than fighting my body, the birth was remarkably pain free. The reminders to choose to use your tools are exactly right!
 

So, we happily came home the next day with Evin Mackenzie who weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz, was 20.75″ long, and had a 14″ head when born at 12:24 p.m. on Monday, March 31. His apgars were 8 and 8, but nothing wrong overall. We are both happy, though my breasts will be happier when he nurses more! LOL
 

Thank you, Hypnobabies and hypnomoms for all your wisdom and support. This is truly an amazing program that every woman should at least explore.
 

Andrea

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Birth as a mental challenge rather than a physical one.

 We recently had an interesting discussion on the Hypnobabies Yahoo Group about Birth being more of a mental challenge than a physical one. 

Here are a few quotes.  Please add your comments

“Now, after studying Hypnobabies and reading up on birth, I see birth so much more as a mental challenge rather than a physical one.

Anyone experience the same?

I mean, I now approach my birthing time with one aim: to relax so that I allow my body to do its job. I have chosen to use my hypnosis, I trust that my tools will help me. And  chosing and using is all in my head.

Last time when I gave birth, I was thinking of birth as a physical challenge. I had read up on positions, and I wanted to try to see if I could manage doing it naturally. I guess I thought that either my body could or couldn’t do it – I would just have to give it a try.

Now I know I can!”

Elin

“After my second birth (first Hypnobabies birth), I had a brief moment of thinking, “That’s IT?!?  All that fuss and months of preparation for that?!  I could do that everyday and twice on Sundays!”  It was then that I realized that rather than “muscling through” my birth, as most women do (especially NCB mamas) I had actually spread the effort involved over several months by preparing so thoroughly.  That put my accomplishment in perspective, and made me even more thrilled with how it had gone!”

-Susan

“Mental vs. physical challenge is something I’ve considered when training for a marathon.  There is an enormous amount of power we carry in our thoughts alone. At any moment I could have told myself to stop running, it’s not worth it, why am I running? But instead I had positive messages from every angle (it will be worth it, my husband will be proud, only 2 more miles and I’ve done 2 miles many times, and so on).

Albeit this new  adventure is unknown and there are the inevitable fears that arise from the unknown, but my baby alone make it worth the mental challenge.”

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