Dad almost missed the chance to catch his baby, because he came out so fast. (with pictures)

Hi all, well my bubba was born on Monday morning (20 September) at 7.11am, weighing 9lb 7oz and 54cm long.  It was after a very intense 3 hours but an experience that I am appreciating more and more each day as I reflect upon and process my feelings.

Owain (pronounced ‘owen’) is our 3rd baby but first Hypnobabies birth.  I prepared for my second birth using hypnobirthing.  We now have 3 beautiful boys.

The birth:
I was past 41 weeks and beginning to worry that (for the first time) I would be faced with the decision of whether or not to accept an induction at 42 weeks.  Nothing seemed to be happening.  I tried to relax and trust that my baby knew exactly when to come.  On Sunday (after eating a VERY hot Indian meal for dinner on Saturday), we thought things had started in the morning when I felt a bit ‘off’ and the braxton hicks seemed a bit stronger than usual.  So we stayed home from church (which was great because I was not looking forward to all the comments about how ‘overdue’ baby was!) and waited.  And waited…and waited…nothing.  It completely fizzled out.  But I had hope that this was a signal that my body was preparing.  I went to bed hoping that I would have a baby the next morning after a decent night’s sleep.

At 3.30am I woke to go to the bathroom but soon realised that I would have some trouble going back to sleep.  I lay in bed timing the pressure waves to see if they had a pattern.  They were about 5 mins apart but did not seem very long at all.  I felt a little discomfort during the peak of each one but was able to stay completely relaxed.  By 4am though I didn’t want to be doing this on my own and I didn’t want to be lying down.  I woke up hubby and told him I think things had started.  He sleepily said “that’s nice dear” and almost went back to sleep!! lol

Anyway, I stayed on the birth ball for a little bit while my husband woke up properly then took the CD player into the bathroom to begin relaxing in the bath.  We messaged my sister (4.17am) to be ready to pick up our 2 boys soon.  At 4.37am we messaged my midwife that my birthing time had started and continued with my hypnosis and relaxation while listening to the birthing day CD.  I breathed through each pressure wave with my eyes closed in centre-switch and repeating the mantra “open, open, open”.  At first there didn’t seem to be much of a pattern with the pressure waves but timing was difficult because I was having trouble determining when a pressure wave started and finished.  There were definite peaks where I felt discomfort but I felt my tummy tightening a lot (without any discomfort) and wasn’t sure if that was part of the pressure wave or not.  The discomfort I felt in the peaks, I imagined was my cervix stretching open quickly and easily and welcomed the sensation.

At 5.37am my husband thought that we were about 2/2.5 mins apart and messaged my midwife to tell her.  She called back and I said I wanted to come in asap.  The pressure waves were definitely starting to become overwhelming and, for me, that is the sign that I needed her.  We began preparations to leave (I had a list of everything that needed to go in the car, e.g. hospital bag, towels in case my waters released in the car, apple to snack on etc.).  While my husband was attending to that, I called my sister into the bathroom to help me through the pressure waves and told her to tell me to “open”.  This visualisation/affirmation was very effective in my second birth (6 hours) and I was pretty determined to “open” quickly this time as well.  At some point before we got in the car, I did start feeling the need to vocalise a little during the pressure waves as they were feeling more intense but I tried to stay loose and limp by blowing raspberries (see “Sphincter Law” from Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth).  By 6am we were in the car and on our way.  The ride in the car didn’t seem too bad and I wondered if my body knew to slow down just for those 10 minutes.  I think I only had 1 or 2 pressure waves and I was able to stay relaxed, quiet and limp.

During the car trip I expressed to my husband that I was scared I wasn’t as far along as I thought.  I felt that it was important for me to express my fear as a way of releasing it.  I told him that I wanted him to keep reminding me that it would be over soon and we would meet our baby.  I said that he should tell me that even if we find out I am only 4cm, because it was still possible that I could fully dilate within an hour or less (I have attended a birth where this happened and have read of such instances in birth stories also).  We met the midwife in the car park and I was so glad to see her I nearly cried!  I hugged her and told her my fear as well.  Just at that moment a pressure wave came and I felt the urge to push!  My midwife gently laughed and said that she didn’t think my fear would be a problem.  My husband and midwife had to support me (under each arm) while walking to the birthing suite (it’s a long walk at the other side of the hospital!!) because I was really zoning out now with each pressure wave.  I was groaning and grunting/pushing too.  I was very focused and in my own little world.

Once in the birthing room things continued to intensify.  I was feeling very overwhelmed by the sensations and vocalised to release tension/energy but I was sure to keep my noises low to stay loose and limp.  My visualisation of a calm, quiet birth had gone out the window but I was still very focused and dealing with the sensations instinctually.  I felt inside myself hoping to feel a head.  I was pretty sure I could feel the head, but there was something else there that felt smooth and hard (the head has a squishy feeling).  I thought it might be a lip of cervix.  I asked my midwife to confirm that the head was definitely there.  She said it was the head and that there was a lip of cervix there too and that was what was slowing things down a little.  “I knew it” I thought.  Damn.  I went through a couple more pressure waves and then asked if she could do something about the lip (I had read birth stories where the midwife pulled it out of the way – it sounded uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as it was pushing against cervix!).  She said she could but I would need to move over to the mat (I was in the bathroom where hubby was showering my back to relieve the discomfort in my back).  I thought, “ok,…I can do that…” I started thinking about how I could crawl to the mat but soon realised that I did not want to move.  I focused on relaxing more during the next pressure wave and imagined the cervix melting away.  Then I reached inside, it had thinned some and I gently pulled at it and felt it slip away to the side.

Anyway, I had told myself (in my head) that once the lip was gone, this baby was going to come FAST (in fact, I had resolved in my mind that this baby was going to come out in one go even if the midwife had to pull it out!  The sensations were so intense that I was determined that the baby’s head and shoulders would be born in the same pressure wave).  So once the lip was gone I really focused on pushing. I matched the intensity of the sensations with my grunting/pushing and just followed my body.

[Following my body was not something I thought about though, I just did it.  It was very instinctual.  It was very primitive.  Rationale and reason did not exist.  Nothing existed in that moment except for the task of bringing my baby into the world.  At some point I did manage to say “camera!” to remind my midwife to take photos.  It was not a demand, nor was it a request, it just “was”.  Societal rules of “politeness” do not exist in this state.  In hindsight, it’s an incredible state of mind to be in.]

So I ended up on my hands and knees pushing and visualising my baby shooting out of my butt like a canon-ball (that’s where it felt like it was coming from)!!  I was so focused on birthing the head that I didn’t realise that no one was behind me to catch the baby!  Just as the head was emerging, I called out “head! head!!” and my midwife rushed around to the baby.  I continued to follow my body’s pushing urges and heard my midwife call to my husband (our birth plan was that he catch the baby).  I was just focused on pushing and then I felt that amazing release as the shoulders emerged and the baby shot out of me!  My husband got around to the back just in time to take over from the midwife and catch our son.  Instantly, I was turning around and my husband was handing our son to me.  It was a magical moment.

Owain let a short cry out just as he was being born and then he peacefully snuggled against my chest.  His cord was not clamped until it stopped pulsing.  I birthed the placenta around the same time and it was intact and healthy.  On inspection, we realised that Owain had lots of vernix on him and it was quite thick in some places.  So all that worry about him being overdue was unnecessary.  My ultrasound dates were probably about a week out.  He came when he indeed was ready.

Reflections:

At first, I felt that I had not implemented my Hypnobabies tools very well because I found the experience quite overwhelming and intense.  I was quite distracted during my pregnancy with study and did not really get into the hypnosis practice until the last couple of weeks.

However, I have realised that whilst I may not have been in a deep and calm/quiet hypnotic state I was still using my tools to help me in the way I needed for this birth. I was very focused throughout and used visualisation, my lightswitch (in the first half of the birth), breathing, affirmations (particularly ‘open’) and the cue words ‘release’ and ‘relax’.  All of those tools, I practiced with Hypnobabies.  So I guess it did help immensely.  I particularly think that Hypnobabies helped me to listen to my body, focus deeply, and face the challenges of my birth instinctually (i.e. the intensity of a fast birth and the lip of cervix).  I had intentionally visualised a fast birth (2-4 hours) without realising that this could mean an intensity that I had not before experienced.  Next time, I still would like a fast birth, but with more mental preparation to feel calm and positive during the birth.

Thank you Hypnobabies, I had a wonderfully empowering birth experience!

If you’ve made it to the end, I hope something I have shared will help and empower you on your hypno-journey!

Love Christa 🙂

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Lucy’s Lovely Hypnobabies Birth

This was my third baby, and my second natural birth, and my first hypnobaby and home birth.

Hypnobabies helped me to have a birth experience more wonderful than I hoped for.  I started at about 24 weeks and took two weeks for each section. There were a few days that I missed listening to a track, but I was pretty good at keeping on top of things. I didn’t listen to joyful pregnancy affirmations every day, and I, quite honestly, struggled with practicing my light switch. Even with my lackadaisical preparation, my birthing time was very relaxed and enjoyable.

Thursday, July 22, just after midnight
I wake up a little after midnight with pressure waves that are quite regular and strong. I listen to the “Early First Stage” track, and soon after that was done I decide that this is it! I woke up Mark and convinced him it was absolutely necessary to get up and clean the bathroom and the loft, do some laundry, etc. This is it! So exciting! And only a day past my due date! I get back into bed and turn on my ipod and try to get a little sleep.

Thursday, July 22, morning
My pressure waves are farther apart and not as strong, but still coming. I call my mom and ask her to start driving up here. (She has to drive up from Utah, and is taking 2 days to do so. I planned on having her arrive after I had the baby.) I would be having the baby today!

Thursday, July 22, afternoon
Faint, irregular pressure waves. Quite discouraged, but still hopeful. Mark has spent the whole day with me, instead of working. The girls have been with Grandma all day. I’m starting to feel quite silly.

Thursday, July 22, late evening
Pressure waves are picking up, hurrah!

Friday, July 23, morning
Call my mom, sobbing. The pressure waves have almost completely stopped. I will never have the baby, and my mom has already driven half-way up to my house. I cry and complain and whine. After I get off the phone with her, Mark gives me a no-nonsense pep talk and I decide that life must go on. I take the girls to town and stop by a few garage sales. I feel better when we get back.

Friday, July 23, evening
Nothing. But my mom arrives, which is a welcome distraction.

Saturday, July 24, morning and afternoon
Pressure waves throughout the day, becoming stronger. I ignore them. Sort of.

Saturday, July 24, evening
I’m exhausted, hot, and completely break down because the apple berry crisp I made is too runny. Mark is working late, putting in the hay. I try to ignore the pressure waves that are coming more often.

Saturday, July 24, 11pm
Mark gets home and we watch an episode of Jim Henson’s Storytellers on Netflix. I tell him, very hesitantly, that maybe my pressure waves just might be getting stronger. We head to bed. Mark is asleep in about 12 seconds, but it takes me a little longer.

Sunday, July 25, early, early morning
My pressure waves continue all night. They are 10-15 minutes apart, but growing stronger. I’m able to get quite a bit of rest/sleep by listening to my Hypnobabies tracks. I’m pretty sure I would not have slept otherwise, but my after months of falling asleep listening to these tracks I found it so easy to relax and let any worries or stress go.

Sunday, July 25, 5 am-ish
I wake Mark up. My pressure waves have suddenly jumped from about 10 minutes apart to about 6 minutes apart. They are strong. I feel a lot of tightening and squeezing and a dull ache during the pressure waves. Mark times them for a little while, then calls the midwife to tell her that I think I’m really approaching my birthing time…

Sunday, July 25, around 6 am
When I talked to the midwife on the phone, I didn’t have a contraction during the conversation. I told her I would call her back in about 20 minutes if I was ready for her to come.

After talking to the midwife, Mark filled our bathtub and I got in. There was one pressure wave when I was walking to the bathroom that I was unprepared for and it was probably the most uncomfortable one I had. I had been laying on my side in bed with my light switch off (meaning my body was completely limp and relaxed, no moving). I walked to the bathroom with my light switch on (not in hypnosis)(editors note: mom could have chosen to have her switch in center and that would have helped her feel more comfortable) and was caught off guard when the bathroom door was locked!

I started pounding on the door, panicked because I had planned on making it to the tub before the next contraction. Mark opened the door and I kind of collapsed onto him because the pressure wave had just hit. After it was over I got in the tub and it was so nice. So nice. I was able to lay on my side with my knees bent and a couple of towels as pillows. We timed some more contractions and decided it was time for the midwife to come. (She lives about 50 minutes away) They were 4 or 5 minutes apart and very strong.

I had Mark turn on the “Early First Stage” track on the computer, because I didn’t want to worry about my ipod with the water. By this time my mom and the girls were up, and I could hear all the happy morning noises in the other rooms. My pressure waves felt quite powerful, but not in a negative way. During each wave I would relax completely and picture my muscles working to make way for my baby.

Sunday, July 25, around 7 am
My midwife arrived at 7:15. I can’t remember exactly when we stopped timing waves, but they were about 3 or 4 minutes apart at this time. It felt like there was so much time between the waves, and I wished  they would come closer together because I felt like I was still so far from having the baby.

Before the midwife checked me she asked me how dilated I thought I was. I said “Oh a 3?” and secretly hoped for a 5 or 6. She laughed and said she thought I’d be farther along than that. She was right, I was almost an 8!

Almost an 8! I could hardly believe it. When I had Eden I was struggling at 6, but here I was, almost done! As I settled back into a comfortable position I tried to prepare mentally for “transformation.”

When the Early First Stage track ended I had Mark put on the Deepening track. Everyone left me alone for awhile. As the intensity increased, I started to vocalize during the waves, saying words like “relax” and “open” and I don’t remember what else. I know some people feel totally uninhibited when they are giving birth, but that’s not me. I actually felt quite silly and self-conscious but vocalizing helped me so much. It seemed to override any discomfort that I might have otherwise felt.

During transformation I felt totally in control. I never had that “I can’t take this for a moment longer” feeling. I still felt like I had plenty of time to rest between pressure waves. I did get a couple right on top of each other, but I was able to accept whatever came my way. If I felt discomfort at the beginning of a wave I would say “relax. relax. relax” and remind myself that it was just pressure and tightening and that’s what it became. Transition was intense, but totally manageable.

Sunday, July 25, around 8am
Mark sat next to the tub and held my hand during this time. The midwife was in the bathroom too, and told me to let her know when I felt like I needed to push. Soon I felt things change, and during a pressure wave I felt the baby’s head move down a bit, then slide back up after the wave ended. I told my midwife that I was ready to push. She knelt down next to the tub and with the next wave I started to push and felt the head move down, and then out it slid. I wasn’t about to stop pushing though! A second later the baby’s body slid right out and the baby was lifted up to my chest, all warm and pink and beautiful. It happened so fast I was shocked. One push and it was all done! Oh, and the feeling just after you have a baby. There are no words.

After a minute or two the midwife asked if we had seen what the baby was. Oh! I had totally forgotten. In those moments the whole boy or girl thing didn’t matter at all. This was my baby, and my baby is healthy and beautiful. That’s all that I thought. But of course, after she asked Mark checked and it was a girl! And no, we were not disappointed. Another girl is just perfect.

My mom had taken the girls outside to play, thinking it would be a while longer until I had the baby. She didn’t believe Mark when he came out and announced it was another girl! They all came into to see the new baby. That was one of the best moments, being together as a family for the first time.

Lucy was born at 8:07 am, less than an hour after the midwife arrived. Amazingly, I pushed the baby out in one push without tearing at all. This was the first time I didn’t have to worry about the dreaded stitches. After I got out of the tub and cleaned up we hopped into bed. Lucy was happy and calm and eager to eat. All I wanted to talk about that day was how amazing the experience was. Even my mom, who was terrified about me giving birth at home, is a bit of a convert.

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Blake’s Surprise Birth at Home Helps his Mom have Her Dream Birth

This is the story of how Blake chose to enter into the world on August 22nd at 12:50 pm. I begin at the beginning of my pregnancy so that others will see the journey my husband and I went on. How the choices we made and did not make affected us. I hope that other women will learn from my experience to listen to their inner self. I was blessed that I ended up with the birth that I desired (even though it was not planned this way) but for many others I know that this does not happen. They settle for something less than what they desire. I want other women to know that they are powerful, strong, and know how to follow the best choices for themselves no matter what others think or say.

Blake’s story begins in December 2009, when I found that we were pregnant. This after a few years of not preventing it. I soon found that there were many decisions about the care we wanted to receive and how we wanted Blake to enter into the world. I met with Julie Byers, a doula, to discuss options. Before meeting with Julie, I had joined the AnMed hospital practice in order to start receiving the prenatal care I needed. I met with Julie at a coffee shop and we began to discuss what I wanted, felt I needed for my care, and what I wanted in a birth. Speaking with Julie and having her listen to me “ramble on” allowed me to realized the kind of care I wanted and the type of birth I wanted. She suggested that I speak with her friend Carey Collins who is a midwife and learn more about homebirths.

I e-mailed Carey and left it at that. For many months I continued my care with AnMed but each time we went for a check-up, I felt rushed, not heard, and not pleased with my care. After going to AnMed to have blood drawn, Brandon and I stayed to tour the birthing unit of the hospital. We left the tour unimpressed and knowing that we were going to change practices. This was solidified in our minds when we asked the nurse if laboring mother’s could move around and her response was “No, you have to stay in the bed because the baby could just slip out if you were moving around”. All the way home I said “I will not be delivering there“.

We then started to look at birthing at Oconee hospital. That way we would be closer to home. We set up a tour of their birthing floor and was impressed with the attention, the one-on-one time the floor’s supervisor spent with us, and the answers we were given to the questions we had. We then asked for recommendations of doctors who delivered there. We were given names. I soon made an appointment and switched care providers.

Still unsure of what kind of birth I wanted I decided in April that I would meet with Carey, a midwife. By the time this meeting came to pass I had done much research on home births and discussed home birth with many different individuals. All with their own opinion of whether it was safe, appropriate, and all with their own opinion of what I should do. Brandon and I knew we wanted a home birth deep inside but we wanted to please those around us, so I discussed with Carey the possibility of her being our monitrice and laboring as much as possible at home and then going to the hospital to deliver. After meeting with Carey, and discussing the options, I decided that laboring at home and birthing at the hospital would make everyone happy. (Did I put much stock into how I felt about this? If you asked me then I would say yes. If you ask me today I would say I was the only person I did not listen to.) From this meeting with Carey, I loved the bond that quickly formed between the two of us and the knowledge she provided into understanding how I was feeling and the knowledge she had of birth itself. We decided that day to work with Carey, a decision I will never regret!

We soon went for our first visit with our new care provider and were impressed with the time she spent with us discussing our pregnancy. We were happy with our care until a visit in June when I went one time by myself and gave the doctor my birth plan. As I sat with her in the office the doctor began to write on my birth plan and marked out parts of my plan. Asking me questions that were formed in medical lingo that I didn’t understand. I left that day feeling bullied and beat up. At this point, I knew again deep inside that I really wanted a homebirth but I still didn’t listen to my inner self and continued care with this provider.

The visit in July was no better. From the urine specimen I gave when I first went in for that appointment they found protein. I was called into the doctors office and was told that I had to do a 24 hour catch and that they would probably have to take the baby early because I was showing one symptom of preclampsia. Even though I had no other symptoms they assumed this all this from one small dipstick. The doctor spent no time discussing with me what was going on and again I felt bullied and rushed. While in her office I asked her questions and questioned what she was doing. She would give no answers in terms that I could understand. I left completely panicked and immediately called Brandon and Carey. Carey was calm and reassuring that it was nothing and the doctors reacted that way to cover themselves. It turned out that it was nothing when the results came back from the lab. Again at this point I should have listened to myself when I KNEW I wanted to switch to midwife care but yet again I did not. I continued care with the providers and now had to go to appointments once a week.

Through the rest of the months I continued to meet with Carey and continued to wish for a home birth. But I kept telling myself at least with doula I could labor the way I wanted at home before having to give birth at the hospital. Brandon and I also began a Hypnobabies class with Julie. Each Thursday through the months of May and June we met with Julie and three other couples to share stories, excitement, and learned a way to control what our bodies felt during our child’s birthing day. We practiced everyday, listening to the scripts, doing prenatal exercises, eating healthy, and dreaming and talking about the birth we wanted. Through out the class, I often wondered to myself if this is really working, will I be able to do this when the time comes, and will I remember how to control my mind and body because Blake’s birthing day was so far way. Other important information we learned through this class was about birth and the process a women’s body, the baby, and the mind goes through during this special time and how our bodies were designed when we let them, to give birth in a natural way without help. Little did I know how important all the things we learned from this class would be!

Jump forward to the month of August. At the last visit to the doctor before Blake arrived, I was told that I would probably go full term and then some. This meant another two weeks. I was excited because it would give me a few weeks with my kids at school before Blake arrived. The first week of school when kids were back was a difficult week. There was a lot of stress and excitement all in one for me. I came home the Friday before Blake’s birth tired and worn out. My long term substitute backed out at the last minute and I was stressed. The next day was Saturday. That night I looked at my belly and told my son “Blake I am ready when you are, you come when you are ready, I love you”. Little did I know that this would began the process of Sunday becoming Blake’s birthing day. I believe that by giving Blake permission to come I honored him, my body, and what was to come.

Sunday I woke up with small cramps and a small, tiny, amount of discharge. Nothing that alarmed me or made me think Blake was coming anytime soon. I was busy planning on being at school the next day and seeing my kids for the second week of school. Brandon asked me around 8:45 if I was up to going grocery shopping because the cramps were a little stronger (Let me say here none of the cramps I experienced during my birthing time were anything close to what I have experienced during my period).

I told Brandon sure we must continue on with our day. Before we went to Bi-Lo I asked Brandon to take a picture of my belly. We had been meaning to for quite a while because I finally “looked” pregnant. I am so glad we did this. In the back of my mind I think I knew that Blake might be coming in the next few days. At 8:45 we left for Bi-Lo. As we shopped through Bi-Lo I had to stop every now and then because of the cramps and I would “look at the shelf” and made comments jokingly that if these cramps are pressure waves than this is nothing. I also looked at Brandon after one of them and said jokingly “I smile and feel happy after my pressure waves.” This came from one of the Hypnobabies scripts that I had ingrained into my brain. I really could recite many of the scripts by heart. After making these comments Brandon and I would bust out laughing at each other!!

 

We didn’t even consider that those really were pressure waves, I thought my body is just getting started and I had a few more days to prepare. On the way home, I mentioned to Brandon that I thought Blake had dropped because I had a huge gap between him and my ribs. Blake was always in my ribs during the pregnancy. I should have taken this as a clue but since I was not experiencing anything I thought of as “labor” I choose to continue to ignore what I was experiencing and dismissed it.

When we returned from the store, I started to have diarrhea on top of the cramps. I asked Brandon to call Carey just to ask if this was normal. This was around 10:00. Carey reassured both of us that all was normal. This was the normal way for the body to get ready for the birth that was to come and it could be another couple of days. She reminded us just to continue with our normal routine and ignore it.

 

After speaking with Carey, we decided to watch a movie that we had rented the night before. I tried laying down and watching but the cramps were uncomfortable and I kept having to go the bathroom. This continued for a while. I would lay down to watch the movie, watch about minute or two and then I would be up and going to the bathroom. I soon claimed the toilet as my throne. During my time on the throne, Brandon was busy gathering items for the hospital. Later I asked him if he knew it was going to happen and he said he thought he should be ready in case.

 

After being on my throne for a while, I found some comfort on the birthing ball by bouncing up and down and rolling my hips back and forth while sitting on it. I told Brandon just to turn the movie off because I couldn’t remember what was happening during each time I cam back from the bathroom. The comfort from sitting on the birthing ball only lasted a few minutes and it was back to my throne in the bathroom, where I felt most comfortable. Again I should have started putting the signs together because Julie told us in the class some women spend lots of time on the toilet during their pressure waves because it is most comfortable.

 

I still didn’t realize what was going on because I was waiting on the “labor pains” that many women speak of. I was only having pressure and they were not even like the Braxton Hicks I had experienced in the months and weeks before.

Wanting to get off my throne and try something else I remembered how much water was a comfort to me during pregnancy. I asked Brandon to run a bath for me. He soon joined me at the side of the tub as I took a bath. During the short time in the tub, Brandon poured cups of water over me and spoke words of encouragement and peace. He tried to comfort me through the cramps, pressure, and the many feelings I was experiencing. Quickly the bath became uncomfortable and I moved to the bed. I was there for no longer than 5 minutes. I had just enough time there to put my I-Pod on for only a few seconds and found a Hypnobabies script. The only words I heard on the script were the words “open, open, open”. I then threw off the I-Pod and ran to the master bath to claim my throne once again. At this point I still did not realize that I was experiencing pressure waves and dilation.

This time I called for Brandon to come to the bathroom because every time I tried to use the bathroom I now felt as if I was going to throw up as well. Brandon’s job became to hold the trashcan and allow me to lean over his arm that he held in front of me during the cramps and sensations of pressure. During these moments he spoke words of affirmation and words of comfort that he learned in our Hypnobabies class. He helped me to relax and remember that my body knew what it was doing and that my body was made for this. Soon I began to move back and forth between the floor and my throne.

 

I asked Brandon to call Carey around 12:26 and tell her to head this way because I no longer felt comfortable being without her. I needed her reassurance that everything was normal. At this point we still did not know that Blake would be entering the world in a few minutes.

Soon I asked Brandon to help me to move to the floor and that is when my water broke. It felt to me as if it was gushing everywhere and flooding the floor. I told Brandon I think my water broke and said he was not so sure because it really was not very much. Worrying it was going everywhere Brandon reassured me that it was ok and that the water was no problem to deal with. I soon asked Brandon to move me back up to my throne.

As I sat on my throne, I felt the need to use bathroom but nothing was happening each time I tried. I began to feel a greater amount of pressure down below and moved my hands to see if I could feel what was happening. I could not. Through each intense set of pressure waves, Brandon gently held me up and to told me to relax, breath deeply and slowly (which is hard to do), and to allow my body to be loose and limp. Again all these affirmations and prompts came from our Hypnobabies class. Looking back I was surprised at how quickly all the scripts came back to me and how my body was using them without me knowing.

After being on the throne for a few minutes I then felt the need to move back to the floor. This is where I felt the most comfort while I experienced the pressure waves from where Blake was at inside of me. I still didn’t realize at this point what was happening. I was waiting for the intense p**n of labor that I grew up hearing about. When Brandon got me to the floor I began to push as if I was using the bathroom. My body wanted me to push and so I did. It was the only comfort to the pressure I was feeling and as I pushed I thought that I felt something coming out.

 

Yet again I felt below and this time I thought I felt hair. Brandon at this point saw Blake’s head and hair. He said it would peek out and then go back in. I really thought I felt it too but Brandon told me it was “nothing, don’t worry about it” when I asked him what it was. Later we laughed about this and how he choose to tell me a little white lie. He said he told me it was nothing because he was doing his best to keep me from freaking out. My husband knows me well because we were all by ourselves and Blake was on his way and had I realized this I probably would have freaked out.

At this point I don’t remember much because of the way my mind and body were working together. Brandon said very quickly Blake’s head peeked back out and that he told me not to push. Then Blake’s head come all the way out and Brandon told me to give a little push. Brandon was able to see Blake turn as he slid all the way out at 12:50. This was something Brandon was expecting because during our hypno class we saw pictures of how the baby turns in order to leave the body.

 

When Blake came out, Brandon quickly laid him on my chest and covered him with a towel. I was in shock and kept asking Brandon if it was a dream and if Blake was really here. I then kept shouting at him what time is it, what time is it. I wanted to know the time of our precious baby’s birth.

Brandon called Carey back to tell her Blake had arrived (it had only been 24 minutes since our last call to Carey to head this way) and she to could not believe that Blake was already here. She was still 15-20 minutes away from the house. During this time on the phone Carey assured Brandon that everything was fine. However Brandon had a hard time hearing her because I was so consumed with excitement and joy (meaning I was loud). Brandon handed me the phone and said “Carey wants to talk to you”.

Carey quickly got me calmed down as I began to experience the euphoria of holding my son that my husband caught and gazing into my son’s eyes. I still had a hard time believing that this was not just a pregnancy dream. Brandon propped me up and continued to speak words of love and told me how impressed and in awe he was of what I had just done. I in turn told him how proud of him I was for catching our son! Did I mentioned that smoke detector went off and Blake christened me while we were cuddling on the floor all before Carey arrived?

Carey finally arrived to the house as I laid in the bathroom floor. She came in wheeling a suitcase full of midwife stuff and said to Brandon “boil a big pot of water” as she passed straight through the house to get to Blake and I. Brandon later said to my mom, “yes you really do boil a pot of water like in all the old movies.”

Carey came in the bathroom and checked Blake and I over and began to step into action. She helped me to birth the placenta and showed Brandon and I the ‘tree of life’ that is on it. I wish I had Brandon take a picture. She also helped me to nurse Blake for the first time on my chest while he was still attached to his umbilical chord. She checked over Blake and I before moving us to the bed.

 

While I was in the bed coming down from the adrenaline, Carey clamped and cut the chord and she had Brandon cook me some eggs and toast. Carey began to feed me and Brandon said I kept falling asleep between bites. While Carey was looking after me, Blake was being held by his father. After eating, Carey put Blake in the bed with me and helped me to nurse again. Then Brandon weighed and helped measure Blake. He was 7lbs 9oz and 21 inches long. Soon Brandon crawled into the bed and spent time with me and Blake while Carey cleaned up the bathroom and started a load of towels in the wash.

 

At this point no one but Carey, Brandon, and I knew Blake was here. It was wonderful to enjoy our son in the peace and quiet of our own home, in our own bed, in our own way. Carey respected us and our wishes in a way I will never forget.

That is the story of how Blake chose to enter into the world on August 22nd at 12:50 pm. Again let me remind you that I begin at the beginning of my pregnancy so that others will see the journey my husband and I went on. How the choices we made and did not make affected us and our child.

I truly believe that during this pregnancy and birth even though I did not listen to myself, that my son Blake, my body, my mind, and God knew that deep down I desired:

• – a birth that was not at a hospital
• -a birth where the mother’s body was the guide
• -a birth where only love and affirmations was given to the mother
• -a birth that was comfortable with no fear or p**n
• -a birth where the mother’s wishes were followed and space respected
• -a birth where Dad was active and allowed to experience all the joy and excitement of birth

I am blessed because in the end I did experience the birth of my son in the most intimate and perfect way.

Would I had experienced all that with the birth that I had planned at the hospital?

Being completely honest I would have to loudly say No I would not have.

To end Blake’s story I want to quote my mother law from her post on Facebook:

“Brandon and Jenni brought Blake into this world with only God present……what a special time and a special blessing! Praise God !!”

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Lindsay Blogs about her Beautiful Hypnobabies Birth

http://livesimplybloomwildly.blogspot.com/2009/07/birth-story-of-jasper-michael.html

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Twin Hypnobabies Hospital Birth

I am so happy to announce that I was able to have a successful, natural hospital birth for my twins, David and Isabella. For a little background: I was having trouble with one of the OBs at the practice, jumping right to the idea of a c-section because Baby B was “oblique” according to their definition (but definitely still head down). My next appointment with a different doc went better, and though no ultrasound that day to verify position, he agreed that a vaginal birth would be an option and not to worry about positioning because it could change the day I go into the hospital or during birthing. He made sure my next appointment would be with a doc who wasn’t going to immediately suggest a c-section, but also not get my hopes to high. So that brought me to my next appointment. I had a sono which showed both babes head down and quite cramped! The tech had a hard time getting measurements, but determined they were still both growing well and fluid levels were great.

I then went to my visit with the OB. I had seen this one a couple times and was pretty happy with everything he had to say. He did the swab for GBS and then checked for dilation. 2cm. I found that interesting, since 3 days before my first daughter’s birthing time I was 0cm. We then went to his office for a chit chat about birth options. He was completely open to vaginal delivery since they were both head down. He personally was experienced and willing to do a breech extraction if it were needed. He explained to me and my husband how things would work if it came to that and recommended (but would not “require”) an epidural just in case he needed to do that, since it would be very uncomfortable. I asked about just placing the catheter and not administering the medicine and he said that would be okay with him, though he thought I was crazy for wanting to do this natural. The last thing he mentioned was that the sono was showing the babies’ bellies being smaller than their heads, which apparently is not good. He said if I did not go into labor on my own by the time I reached 38 weeks (I was almost 37 at this appointment), and he thought I wouldn’t, that we would induce. We would make sure to schedule it for a day that he was on-call. I was okay with this, mostly because I thought my birthing time was going to start that weekend anyway (it was Friday). Anyway, I was very happy with how my appointment went, especially compared to the previous one.

That night, I went to bed happy and confident and READY. Good thing, because around 5am I felt this weird popping in my belly. I thought to myself, “I wonder if my water broke.” I did not feel anything. I thought I would just say there for a while and see how things went. But then I started thinking. **BOP** What if that popping was more than just the sac breaking? What if something is wrong? I didn’t feel that with my first when my water broke. I imagined going to the bathroom and finding blood. I decided I should get up and check. I stood up. No liquid pouring out. I got to the bathroom, sat on the toilet, and fluid came pouring out. There was so much, I didn’t know if I was peeing or if it was fluid or both. I saw a little pink in my panty liner, which didn’t alarm me. I got up, turned around, and as I had feared, the water in the toilet was red. I put in a new pantyliner and decided to go downstairs to call the on-call OB so I wouldn’t wake my husband. I got about 3 steps down the stairs and felt another huge gush of fluid. I wasn’t going to make it with just the panty liner in! I went back into the bathroom. Still a lot of blood in the fluid. This worried me, as with my first it was clear, and everything the docs tell you and everything you read says amniotic fluid should be clear. I woke up my husband; we got our things together and headed to the hospital. **End BOP** I called the OB on the way to let her know the situation and that we were on our way in. She did not seem concerned but we got there as quickly as possible.

When we got to the hospital shortly after 5:30am we were brought right into an L&D room. The nurse had me change into a gown. The OB came in, checked my dilation (3.5 to 4cm) and the fluid. She said the blood was probably just from the cervix dilating. Probably?! She did a sono and determined both babes were still head down and we could go ahead with the NCB plan. Everything looked good, so she restated her thought that the blood was just from the cervix, especially since it was in the fluid and not straight blood. What a relief to hear that nothing was wrong, but I had then wished I had stayed at home!

The nurse hooked me up to the monitors. Everything was looking good with the heartbeats. She then asked me if I was feeling the contractions. I said no. She was surprised because I was contracting every minute. I thought, wow this is going to be fast then! Then it was time to get the IV catheter in. Since they had only done the GBS swab the day before, there were no results available yet (which was why I had wanted to do it the appointment before, but oh well) and I was going to have to have the antibiotics just in case. I used my light switch and directing anesthesia for the three attempts to get the IV in. After this, I listened to my Birthing Day Affirmations and some music I had selected for my birthing time.
Two hours after we arrived, the shifts changed. We were assigned the most wonderful nurse anyone doing NCB could ask for. She mentioned many different things we could try if we wanted – birthing ball, bath tub/shower, she could even perform Reiki! I had my husband give her our birth plan and the goodie basket I had prepared (she was so shocked and appreciative).

 

She looked through our plan and papers and saw the Hypnobabies sign for the door and immediately asked if she could tape it up. She occasionally came in to fix the monitors, but otherwise tried to leave us alone. Even better news: the next doc to come on-call was the one we had seen in the office the day before. What luck! When he came in to check on me, he mentioned that as long as everything went well and stayed that way, I would be able to deliver in the room and not the OR. I was thrilled!

 

It wasn’t long before it was time to start the antibiotics. The nurse explained that she was also putting in fluids to help dilute the penicillin since it can have a burning feeling and that once it was done she would not continue it. I could tell she had actually read through our birth plan and she was trying to respect it and make sure we understood she was not ignoring it, that the fluids were just for comfort. Once the penicillin started, I was very appreciative of the dilution. During this time, I decided to stay in the bed. I had to angle my hand just right in order to keep the drip going, so it was easier to keep an eye on it sitting up in the bed. I listened to the Easy First Stage script.

 

Once the antibiotics were done I decided it was time to get out of the bed and get on the ball to get things rolling. With every pressure wave, I allowed it to take over and open, open, open. If I ever tightened up my muscles, I would notice it almost immediately because of how different the PW felt – much more uncomfortable – and I would just loosen up and imagine my cervix opening. I started feeling the pressure in my back so I had my husband massage it for me.

 

After having to adjust the monitors several times, the nurse was able to convince my OB to agree to take me off them for a while. After being on the ball a while longer, I decided to get up and walk around. I think the gravity helped, but it was much harder for me to concentrate on the PWs while standing.

 

Before I knew it, it was time for another dose of penicillin. Four hours had passed already. Around this time, the pressure waves started to become much stronger. My OB came in to check on how things were going. He was asking me about how much pain I was in, to try and get an idea of how things were progressing. He began talking about something and I found myself turning my light switch off. He stood there to watch, but I remember him talking to my husband joking about how some patients find it a good thing that he will let them do NCB. But the bad part is, he will let them do NCB. I wasn’t finding it very funny while I was trying to focus! He left, but it wasn’t long after that the PWs were getting much stronger. The nurse asked me if I was feeling any pressure.  Told her I could feel the pressure moving downward, but I was not feeling pushy yet. She called the OB to come check me quickly.

 

I had my headphones on, so I thought I heard him say I was 5cm. Later, my husband told me he said 5, 6, 7. Which was it? Doesn’t really matter. He suspected it wouldn’t be too much longer. He was about to go perform a c-section, would be done in 20 minutes, and then would be back.
**BOP** At this point, the PWs were really hard to focus through. I felt like I was losing control. The pain in my back was very strong and I was shaking throughout the waves. I kept telling my husband this because I wanted him to massage, apply pressure, do something! The nurse at this point was busy trying to get everything in the room set up since I would be delivering there. I think I only had about 4 or 5 of these PWs, and then I got this sudden feeling like I could rest for a minute. And then I felt like I was going to be sick. The nurse grabbed a bag and handed it to my husband and I vomited. He commented on how well the popsicles I ate kept their color. Another very un-funny moment.

 

I began to heave again but then started to push involuntarily. The nurse asked if I was pushing, since I was letting out a big grunt. She checked me and could feel the baby’s head. She sent another nurse to get the OB. He was not done with his procedure and I was going to have to breathe through the urges to push. Once he got in the room, he got my feet into stirrups. I thought “oh no, this isn’t how I want to push!” And I told my husband. He was never very supportive of Hypnobabies or anything that wasn’t procedural for the docs or hospital, so I knew I wouldn’t have him to help me on this one.

 

I eventually decided to just go with it so the doc could have a better chance of maneuvering the second baby into the pelvis. At least I was sitting reclined and not flat on my back. With that, I just let my body do what it felt was right. In between pushes, the OB’s cell rings. He answers it, I hear him telling a patient how long to wait before coming in, and then I start to push again and the nurse yells at him and he says something to the person on the phone and then hangs up. It must have been the same person calling back because very soon after his darn phone rings again. This time a nurse answers, tells the person that the doctor is busy and will call back ASAP. All this time, my first baby is on his way out.

 

Thankfully, there was no coaching or counting involved during pushing. I was so focused and it came so quickly, I never listened to the Pushing Baby Out script. I just listened to my body. I would bear down and let out a grunt several times during a PW. At one time I even let out a roar. But as many others have described it, it was not out of pain, but of exertion. As the baby was crowning, the OB started to try to guide me a little bit. “Another good push… give me a little push… good.” At this point it was actually helpful. And he told me when I needed to stop so he could unwrap the cord from around my first baby’s neck. And then it was okay to push again. **End BOP**

 

The next thing I knew, I had a little boy on my chest. He was quiet for several seconds, then let out a little wail. Then he was quiet. He just opened his eyes and looked at me, blinking. As this was happening, starting from the very moment he was plopped on my chest, I immediately felt the urge to push again.

 

The OB promptly had his hands in there trying to guide my little girl’s head down into my pelvis so she would not turn into a transverse or breech position. Once she was in proper position, they had my husband cut the cord of our first baby and he was taken over to a warmer while his sister made her entrance. The OB ruptured the sac and after a few short pushes and some more grunting, a little girl found her way onto my chest. The nurses commented, “Another big baby!” They were surprised to see twins of such healthy weight considering my small size and that they were born at 37 weeks. They were both in great health and no need for the NICU; they had Apgar scores of 8 and 9 (boy) and 9 and 9 (girl).
So here are the stats:
David Robert, born August 21, 1:50pm, 5lb 12oz
Isabella Caroline, born August 21, 1:54pm, 5lb 8oz
I am so happy I was able to have a wonderful, NATURAL hospital birthing experience with twins!!  And I know it was because of Hypnobabies. My first birth was not a Hypnobabies birth and it did not take long to give in to the offers for pain relief. Interestingly, both birth experiences, in terms of length, were very similar. First birth: began with water breaking at 5:05pm, daughter born at 2:07am. Just over 9 hours. Second/third births: began with water breaking approx 5am, babies born just before 2pm. Just under 9 hours. Even the times were similar, just a difference in am vs. pm. But the two experiences as a whole were entirely different. It was absolutely amazing to be so in tune with my body and to let it do what it was made to do without anything interfering. I am very excited to be able to start recommending the Hypnobabies program to other people I know. Thank you all for your support!

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22 Minute Hypnobabies Birth

Yalana’s Unexpected Home Birth in Less than 22 Minutes

Saturday Jan 29^th 2011, I was studying all day. I was having some contractions but I thought they were just toning contractions. They were nothing I couldn’t study through or do anything else for that matter. I felt great! My husband, Lucas and our son, Austin went to Impressions Five and then went bowling. I stopped studying at 6pm to clean the house because Lucas’ brother and sister and their spouses were coming over to drop off some food for us. They came and we all had some good laughs. After they left, Lucas told me he was planning on taking Austin out to play with his cousin Tahara the next day. I wasn’t happy about this because Lucas had been having a tendency to not answer his phone lately and my sister lives about 45 minutes away. I just felt like he needed to be close by. But he convinced me that he would keep his phone on him and he told me, “Your going to be in labor at least 2 hours right. So that is plenty of time to get home to you if you need me.” I agreed. We put Austin to bed and I called my sister Theresa to tell her that I had been having toning contractions all day but they weren’t much but maybe they would get stronger over night. She said ok and that she would keep her phone by her. Lucas and I watched Bones and then I listened to my Hypnobabies “Visualize Your Birth” tack on my iPod and fell asleep (I always fell asleep listening to my Hypnobabies tracks).

I slept great (I think listening to the Hypnobabies had something to do with it). I woke up at about 5:50am to go to the bathroom. I had a contraction and notice that I lost the rest of my mucus plug. I came back to bed and told Lucas that I thought I was really in labor now. I had another contraction and used deep breathing to relax through it. I could feel it in my back so I got on all fours to make myself more comfortable. Then I asked Lucas to heat up a rice sockie for me to put on my back. I also made him plug in my iPod to charge because I wanted to begin listening to my Hypnobabies “Birthing Day Affirmations” so that I could relax even more with each contraction (wasn’t quite time to do this thoughJ).  And I told him; maybe I should call the Greenhouse Birth Center and just let them know I am in labor. He agreed.

I called my little sister Theresa first though; this was at 5:57am (I was planning on having her at the birth plus she is one of the post partum doulas at the birth center). She asked if I wanted her to meet us at the birth center and I said I didn’t know because I might just labor at home for a while until the contractions get stronger. So I called the Greenhouse and left the message with the messaging center.

A minute later (6:05am) Shelly, one of my midwives (who was already at the birth center because another mom was in labor there), called me back. Just as I answered the phone, I started to have another contraction. I told Shelly to wait one second. I got on my bed and breathed to relax and just allow the contraction to happen. After it was done I told Shelly what was going on. She thought I should come in and not wait too long. So I told her I would take a shower and have Lucas get things around and we would come in. So Lucas began to shave his face and get the bags around. I felt like I had to go pee again so I sat on the toilet. Right then my water broke and I was having another contraction but this time it was different. I felt some pressure. So I reached down and I could feel her head. Lucas asked me if I wanted to just go right to the birth center.

I said, “No, she is coming now. Call Shelly back. And bring me some towels.” So he laid some towels down for me as he is trying to call Shelly back but the line to the birth center was busy (Shelly said she was calling Clarice, the other midwife for back up since there was already one mom at the birth center). So he called Theresa and told her to come to our house now or she was going to miss it. She thought he was kidding (since he pranked her earlier in the week that I was in labor when I wasn’t). Meanwhile, I can feel Lana’s head moving down. So I get down on my knees on the towels Lucas laid down for me. I didn’t have to push. My body was bearing down with the contraction. Lana slipped right out into my arms. I can’t even begin to describe how amazing it was! She was perfect! She did not have a cone head that’s for sure.

Just prior to this (6:10am), Lucas had gone down stairs for something while on the phone and finally got through to Shelly and told her we wouldn’t be coming in. By the time he came back up stairs he could hear Lana crying. He looked at me holding our little bundle and told Shelly, “Yup, she just had her.” Shelly said when she heard her cry over the phone it was 6:12am. Lucas went and got baby blankets.

Austin woke up and came into the bathroom. All smiles when he saw his baby sister. He said, “MOM you squeezed your baby out!” Then he came and sat by me. Lana started to nurse and we were as happy as could be. Theresa got there soon after and helped put some warm towels on me. Lucas made me breakfast… I was hungry! Shelly arrived and helped cut the cord and get me up and into bed. It was AMAZING! It was so calm and peaceful and everything I could have hoped for and more!

And what a 180 from Austin’s hospital birth! No drugs, no throwing up, no IV’s or epidural. No heart rate monitors… no lying on my back in the worst position to push for over an hour and NO episiotomy! I couldn’t have asked for more. God is wonderful and women really can have babies with out interventions! I could move around (the greatness of not having local anesthetic)! And my bottom wasn’t in pain from an episiotomy tear. What a difference not having those two interventions made! And I got to get right back in to the comfort of my own bed with my baby. No having to pack up into a vehicle or move from place to place. Lana was measure and weighed right in bed with me. She was 7bs 8oz and 20.5 inches long. The comfort of my own house was amazing. My wonderful sister helped me take an amazing herbal bath with Lana a few hours after she was born and I was able to take a shower and get dressed. And I feel great.

Maybe its coincidence but I really think the Hypnobabies childbirth program that I had been doing since 17 wks pregnant really had something to do with how calm and relaxed and fast Yalana came into this world. Hypnobabies taught me how to relax which I tended to have difficulty doing. It gives only positive suggestions about childbirth and how with each contraction you will smile and feel so happy that your baby will be in your arms soon. If you fight the contraction it just brings the fear-tension-pain mechanism into play and makes you feel pain. Hypnobabies teaches you how to deeply relax so that all you feel is pressure and no pain and gives positive affirmations about how quick and easy labor will be if you just relax. I wonder if this is why I was so comfortable studying through contractions the day before and only thought they were toning contractions. I wonder if listening to it while I feel asleep made it so I didn’t feel any contractions and slept so great. I only experienced discomfort with the contractions I had just prior to giving birth but it was manageable just with breathing (but this is why I wanted my iPod charged so I could listen to my Hypnobabies:). And the feeling of birthing Yalana right into my arms with out interventions was so very empowering and amazing. I cant find words to describe how absolutely amazing it was.

 

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Wonderful Twin Hypnobabies Birth Story – With Picture

I am so happy to announce the births of Alexandra and Sophia (identical twins). They were born on Nov. 23 at 10:00 am and 10:03 am using Hypnobabies of course!

So here is a little background…

 

In May 2010 we learned that we were pregnant, which was already a shock but looking at the U/S we saw TWO hearts beating, which was even more of a shock… So having had quite p**nful births in the past (my 3 other beautiful daughters :)) I decided to do some research on birth under hypnosis and that’s how I found Hypnobabies (SUCH A BLESSING!!).

 

 

The Preparation

 

So about 3 months prior to my guess date I decided to order the program and started it about 9 wks before my guess date. I was already listening to the “Twins tracks” and just needed to do the 5 week course. I had such a great time listening to my tracks every night!! (I miss that now!!), not sure if it would work as I always fell asleep listening to them… But I tried to listen to each track at least once while staying “awake”.

 

On Nov. 15 (34 wks pregnant) I went to my OB and I was already dilated to 2… On Nov. 22 I was 3 so one of my OB (Doc Skeptic) told me that we would just wait until the following week and see what would happen while the other (Doc “For It”) wanted to admit me the following day and start the induction because she felt better knowing that I would already be at the hospital would things really start moving (I have a history of fast labor and I’m “very high risk” plus this time it was twins) So we agreed to come the following day at 5:00 am. I have to specify here that Doc Skeptic was not on board with Hypnosis while Doc “For It” was totally for Hypnobabies! So I really wanted Doc “For It” to be there for the birth!!

 

The Big Day

 

Well, that day (still the 22nd) I was having pressure waves that I could feel were making things move, I knew I was getting close. So around 6:00 pm my wonderful husband and I decided to head to the hospital and I got admitted right away to an L&D room, I was 5 cm at that point. They decided to just let my body do its work until the morning because Doc “For It” was not on call that evening, which is exactly what I wanted anyway (I had visualized the birth coming on its own when the babies decided, and that’s what happened). BOP (bubble of peace) We had to deal with the anesthesiologist who really wanted me to have an epidural. We had a sign posted on our door as well as a specific request in our file asking not to have any anesthesia or push us for the epidural. But 3 anesthesiologists came in anyway really pushing hard to sell their drugs and risky procedures (end BOP). I was high risk and Twin B (Sophia) was transverse/breech at that point.  But we were very confident in the natural process and Hypno-anesthesia that we decided to make it plan A while we kept the c-section, plan B. My husband had to forcefully verbally show the anesthesiologists the door as they would not respect our request. He was really my advocate and while I was in my BOP he was the one making clear that the epidural was not an option, we were so confident that Sophia would turn the right way when she would have the room… My husband kept telling the docs the babies will be born one after the other, you’ll see! 🙂

 

So I spent a peaceful night with my pressure waves continuing to do what they were suppose to do but I was able to sleep through them! I just felt pressure really, no p**n!!

 

 

Transformation

 

Tuesday morning was there and at 9:15 I was a good 6 to 7 cm and that’s when they decided to break my bag of water, no pitocin (a first for me :)). I was so relieved to know that we would not use pitocin!! And my husband was helping me with his hand on my forehead, repeating all the wonderful things that are written on the script for the transformation phase. I felt the pressure but again NO P**N!! This is truly amazing to me because believe me with my other births, this phase was not pretty!! I spare you the details but I was not smiling! Doc Skeptic was in the room at that point and he could not believe that I was still smiling between my pressure waves, he said that he really liked being in the room with us because it was so peaceful compare to the hectic world outside our room 😉 that made me smile even more! We think Doc Skeptic was in the middle of a transformation as well J!

 

After probably 15 min of transformation, just when Doc Skeptic decided to leave the room (thinking it would still be a while), I told my husband: “GO get him, I’m ready!” (As Sophia may have stayed breech they wanted to move me to the OR…) So my husband told the doc: “Doc, it’s now or never, babies are coming!” So Doc Skeptic came and checked me and said: “Well, that’s what the perfect patient would tell you! She is complete and baby is at a station 2″ He did not believe how quickly and peacefully I went through transformation!

 

Well, I lost my concentration at that point because I knew I had to wait to be in the OR before pushing, so I breathed out and tried not to push, which is so hard… Finally we were in the room where I would welcome my babies, so I started to push and 2 min later Alexandra was there at 10:00 am, breathing right away! They put the U/S probe on my belly to see how Sophia was and just as I visualized all those months she was vertex and ready to come! So I gave another push and there she was, breathing right away too! Just 3 minutes after her sister! They both had an apgar score of 9/9, weighed 4# 4oz and measuring 16.5”. Tiny but super healthy and alert and so peaceful after the birth, you could really tell that they did not have much stress during the birth, all that thanks to Hypnobabies!! I cannot tell you the excitement in that room, everybody in there was amazed about this birth (and there were quite a few people in there!! About 10 all ready for an emergency that never came).

 

My placenta was delivered a few minutes afterwards and I did not have any tear 🙂 I know they were small but still 2 went through… Super fast recovery also J

 

Doc Skeptic was sold, he finished his transformation as well J he said, “That’s it, I’m going to use hypnosis to loose weight.” 🙂 I was the first vaginal twin birth for a lot of those folks in that OR room… and actually that day I was the only vaginal birth of the whole postpartum floor! Scary when you think of it!!

 

We had to stay one week in the NICU because they could not regulate their temperature but we are all home now and enjoying our little miracles, our 5 girls!

 

I just have to add that I chose to use HB and make it work! Just like Kerry says in her article “why hypnosis works for some and not for others”. What is very important, I think, is to choose to make it work and it will!

I tell everyone how wonderful the birth of my girls was and my husband and I recommend HB whenever we can, I love how my husband speaks about HB, it’s just like if he had gone through it himself, adorable!! I’m so thankful to have such a great husband!!

 

Thank you Kerry for making such a wonderful program! Hypnobabies made this birthing event one of the most beautiful days of our life! The only thing is that I loved it so much that I may want to use it again…

 

Mag

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Phoebe’s Beautiful Birth

I’m proud to say that our daughter Phoebe Marie came into the world on labor day at 9:07AM weighing 7lbs9oz. I had been feeling like the time was coming most of the day on Sunday. I had random PW’s all day but nothing consistent. I went to bed that evening and woke around 3AM with waves coming every 15 min or so. They weren’t very strong so I listened to my easy first stage and tried to sleep. Finally around 6AM they were stronger but not really a great deal closer, but I knew this was it. I called my parents to come stay with my boys because they are 45min away and our hospital was 45 min away also. They arrived around 7AM. I was able to say goodbye to my three boys who had just woken up and we were on our way. While waiting for them, things seemed to almost stop so I thought I  hope I am right about this.

I listened to my tracks on the way and got in a really focused position. The waves came every 5-10min but I was doing ok with them. When we got to the hospital the nurses were like “are you in labor” and I was like yes. When I got to the room in L and D I told them I wanted to be checked, but not admitted if I wasn’t far along. Well I was 5cm and 90% effaced so I was thrilled that I was doing so well and so far along. This was around 8AM. We decided to stay, but I had to be monitored for about 20min. This was probably the worst time especially towards the end because I couldn’t really move much. My doula arrived about 30min later and I was losing focus some. She helped me to get back and I was able to flip over on the bed and rest my arms up on the top of the bed. This seemed to help. I wanted to get in the tub so I was checked again and was 8cm! I was able to get in the tub (it is a small therapy type, not for birth) and was on my knees with my head on my arms on the side of the tub. This helped some, but things were starting to heat up. After about three more waves, I felt pushy, then the next wave I had to push so I had to get out of the tub.

I managed to walk to the bed where I leaned over for the next wave and said I’m going to have a bowel movement and they were like ok whatever. The next thing I knew my water broke in a huge gush. I climbed on the bed on all fours and pushed on the next wave and her head came out. I pushed once more and the rest of her was out. I didn’t have a tear or mark.

It was such a beautiful surreal experience. They handed me her through my legs and I rolled over and just looked at her and couldn’t believe I had done it. I was so happy and proud. My body knew just what to do.

Overall, Hypnobabies allowed me to stay in controlPh and focus pretty much to the end. There were some definite intense parts, but I think the Hypnobabies allowed it to go really quickly and for me to relax through it. It was well worth it and was such a wonderful experience.

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The Dreamy Hypnobabies Home Birth of Lars

Lars was born September 6th at 9.58 pm.

I studied Hypnobabies for this birth so I have used Hypnobabies terminology in this story and I refer to Hypnobabies sound tracks.

Sunday September 5th we awoke to a summery morning and decided to drive the hour into Stockholm to the aquarium, thinking “baby won’t come if we stay around the house”. We found parking and started the rather long but beautiful walk from the car to the aquarium. My birthing waves started immediately but did not inhibit my walking. I said to DH that both we and Helena (HB MW) have hour drives so it will time perfectly if this is it, but that I hoped we didn’t have to pay admission just to turn around again. The waves were mild but it felt good to sit in front of the big tank, relax and just watch the fish go by. We ate lunch at the aquarium’s cafe overlooking Stockholm, watching boats go by. I felt so happy and peaceful, the waves stopped all together and I enjoyed a great slice of Pecan Cheesecake. During the car ride home I listened to my Pregnancy Affirmations and had two waves that hour. They picked up once we were home and we started timing them at 6.20 pm. They were 2 to 20 minutes apart and 40 seconds to 2 minutes long. There was no pattern but this was a lot of action for me. DD went down to sleep and I sent a message to my midwives to say, “tonight is not impossible”.

As I got into the shower that evening I looked at my belly and thought, “this is it”. An immense sadness washed over me. The beginning of my pregnancy was difficult. The “why am I doing this?” kind of difficult, but these last three weeks –  feeling good, home from work, connecting to the baby in my belly, having time for me, energy for DD and DH (despite the mood swings) – it had been luxurious and it was coming to an end. The future was unknown. Another wave came and I thought about how saying “good-bye” to my belly meant saying “hello” to my baby. I quickly indulged in my right to be sad that something nice was ending, smiled toward the future and got happily in under the calming hot water.
At about 11 pm I went to bed. I listened to the Fear Release track and then to the Birthing Affirmations. I must have fallen asleep towards the end of the affirmations.

Monday September 6th
I woke up to a wave at 1.30 am after about an hours sleep. I went downstairs at 2 am and posted at our DDC.  Between 2.30 and 3 am my waves increased and after some good advice from the ladies at MDC (mothering dot com), I called Helena (my HB MW) just to let her know what was going on. She said it sounded like things were progressing. I said, yes, but that they were mild, I felt good, that I was eating some cereal and was going to try to rest. She thought this sounded good and I was to keep her posted. DH heard me on the phone and came down to check on me. We went back to bed, I listened to Deepening and fell asleep after that. I woke up to waves a few times between 6 and 8.30, DH called in to work and when DD woke up we went down for breakfast.

At 9.50 am I go to the bathroom and yell, “yeh!” when I spot some blood. We go for a walk at 11 am to a beautiful waterway near our house. My waves have been 15-20 minutes apart and I update my MWs. DH puts DD down for a nap around 12.30 pm, I warm some leftovers, and Helena (HB MW) calls to check on me. Between 1 and 2 pm I rest and listen to my Birthing Affirmations and between 2 and 3 pm my waves are 2 to 7 minutes apart and about 45 seconds long. DH makes a yummy Greek salad. I notice my Mucous Plug is loosening at 3 pm and it’s mixed with blood. Carina (PN MW) calls to check on me. My MIL picks up DD, who kisses my belly and says “see you later”. I’m not sure if she’s talking to me or the baby, but my heart warms.

 

I listen to my Birthing Affirmations while I shower. I feel calm and excited. At 5.50 pm my waves are 3 in 10 minutes. Helena, who lives an hour away is on full alert, but I don’t feel I need my MWs just yet. At 6.50 pm I call Carina (who lives 20 minutes away) to say “not yet but soon”. My sitz herbs are steeping, the house is prepped and ready. I’m feeling good and the waves seem very effective and I enjoy them from my birth ball listening to Billy Holiday. DH is preparing seaweed soup for later and pasta for now (he told me later, this was a great task to take his mind off being nervous). He comes by now and then to put a hand on my shoulder and give me the “Relax” cue, which really works to send a wave of relaxation through my body and brings a smile to my face.

I decide it’s time to listen to the Easy First Stage track. The track starts and she’s talking about the strong waves I’m feeling and I’m feeling nothing, except the baby hiccuping. I’m thinking, “Typical! They stopped.” Then I feel one coming and “Pop!”, gush. I hop off the newly prepared sofa bed and yell, “My water, time to call.”  DH admits later to looking at the stove three times to see what water I was talking about (there was after all, soup, pasta and an herbal bath going on there) before realizing, “Oh HER water”. DH calls the MW’s and I rush to update at our DDC (this made DH giggle and shake his head at me which in turn made me laugh).  I dry myself off and DH lights lanterns in the garden for MW’s. I wait out another wave leaning on my birthing ball, amazed at how much water continues to gush. I’m enjoying my tagliatelle when Carina comes in.

Carina listens to the baby. I ask her to use a doppler so I can hear too. Baby is calm. Mommy is too. I move to a softer chair and Carina does some acupuncture for my abdomen and legs. I move back to my ball to enjoy some more waves. DH moves the dogs to the basement and meets the HB MW, Helena, on his way back up. He helps her carry the scale and things. He tells me the night is starry and beautiful. The milky way is visible and the big dipper is right outside our door. Carina and Helena sit on the floor, we chat and laugh, I close my eyes and enjoy my waves saying “Peace” to release anesthesia into my body. I feel relaxed and happy. DH gives me the relax cue. Billy Holiday’s “Solitude” comes on and I inform everyone that it’s my favorite.

 

I need to pee and Helena wants to listen to baby. He or she is still calm. The waves get way stronger when I’m standing. DH whispers to me “open, open, open.” There’s no more water gushing now, the baby’s head must be wedged down the birth canal. I lean on the media center for support and Helena massages my back.  This feels so good, I just want to stay there but I feel it’s time to listen to Easy First Stage. I want to turn my switch off and then get it back to center. DH puts the track on the speakers and I sit in a chair and listen. I go way down and then quickly count up to 2 so I can be active and talk while still under hypnosis. My MW’s are new to Hypnobabies and very curious so I explain to them while DH massages my feet with lavender oil. I feel warm and cozy. The waves are really strong now. “Open, open, open,” I tell myself. The track reminds to be “limp and loose” and I remind myself that it’s just pressure and tightness, that it is I who chooses how to meet these waves.

 

I glance at my birthing bead bracelet and feel the power of all the mamas in our DDC, all the mamas through out time birthing our daughters and sons. I pull up whatever foot DH is not massaging to the other knee and kind of flap my leg up and down like a bird. This feels perfect and after each wave, which are very tight together now, I find myself looking at DH, smiling and my eyes are watering. I’m SO happy! Those moments there with DH are indelibly written in my mind.

I am so comfortable in the chair but I know and say out loud that it’s time to stand up. I love how in tune I am with my body. No one tells me what to do, I just know what needs to be done. Standing up launches things forward. I feel DH’s hand on my shoulder, “relax”. Carina sets a ring of acupuncture needles around my abdomen and back. The waves come hard. The pressure is incredibly powerful, it’s hard to stay on my feet. I fall into DH’s arms, breathing and focusing on the tightness which is moving my baby down and out.

 

“Peace”, I breath anesthesia into all the birthing muscles. DH whispers “open, open, open”. Helena grips and massages my feet, keeping me grounded. The Hypnobabies track ends and DH asks me what I want to hear. “Music, you chose”.   Johnny Cash, “Hurt” comes on. I love this song and I want to say that but the words can’t get out. Helena listens to baby again and smiles, saying nothing is stressing out this baby. I smile and  fall to all fours gripped by a wave. “Eisenhower Moon” by Jesse Sykes plays. I smile to myself. I feel the baby moving down and out. We are so close. I tell myself to breath.

 

“Rainbow Connection” covered by Willie Nelson. I want to explain that this is DD’s namegiving song but the time for small talk is far past. I’m just talking to myself, breathing anesthesia to my cervix, down my birth canal. There’s plenty of room for welcoming my baby to the world.

 

All of sudden words come to me. “My red raspberry leaf tea!!! I need it!”  I know I’m way past needing RRL tea but it’s the last desperate cry of a woman about to let herself lose control. I’m about to give myself over to something far more powerful. “2 cups of water! 30 minutes!”  “Oh that’s a lifetime right now,” I manage to say sarcasticly. Helena laughs, DH runs to the kitchen. DH admits later he put in 4 cups of water. I sense this because I insist between waves, “How much water did you put in?!”. He assures me from the kitchen that the tea is fine and I can insist no more.

 

“Put on the pushing track!” I yell. DH runs back, hits play, gets down in front of me and I hold on for dear life. I’m growling our baby out. I hear the track telling me there’s plenty of room. I growl again. I listen to track, go to “my special place” where I am always safe and can be with my baby. I let go of my baby’s hand, telling her/him I welcome her/him. It is time is for us to meet out in the world. This visualization is so beautiful and powerful to me. Carina and DH change positions. DH is going to catch our baby.

 

There’s no time to rest between waves. A sip of juice, growl, a sip of juice, growl. I know there is only one direction to go…towards my baby. I feel a small burning sensation and tell myself, “peace”, sending anesthesia out in front of the baby’s head. He’s crowning, the wave ends and he slides back up. “Come on!” I yell and prepare for the next wave. Growl! Out comes his head. “What does the baby look like?” I ask. “Like DD but with less hair” answers DH and I can hear he’s smiling. Helena tells me I’m going to push the baby out next time and I know it. I get up on my knees and hold Carina around the shoulders. GROWL! 9.58 pm, three hours after my water broke, out comes baby into DH’s arms. “It’s a boy”, he tells me.

 

I smile, fall forward, breathing heavily and try to glance backwards. Helena untangles him from his cord which was caught tightly around his neck but luckily is long. This is why she told me to push him out on that last contraction. It was time. He had really twisted himself up in it. Carina helps me turn and gets me propped up against DH. Lars comes to rest on my chest. He’s gorgeous and very content. Carina brings me a cup of RRL tea. Helena laughs and says that’s the first time she’s heard anyone give instructions for brewing tea during the second stage of birthing. It hasn’t brewed for quite the instructed 30 minutes, but it’s very tasty anyway.

Lars was 8 lbs 9 oz, 21 inches long. Carina and Helena hugged us and wished us a good night. We celebrated with non-alcoholic champagne and cheese sandwiches. DH lit a fire and the three of us cozied down to sleep. DD came home when Teddy was 12 hours old and it was love at first sight.

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Dense Fog makes Mom birth minutes after getting to hospital.

I was 39 weeks and 1 day on Christmas Eve and had been having Braxton Hicks contractions on and off for the past few weeks, but on Christmas Eve they started up in the morning and kept up inconsistently all day long. I was even timing the contractions while we were sitting in Christmas Eve church service. Then after church we went and walked around and looked at lights and the contractions kept coming.

 

David and I were contemplating whether we tell James that Santa is coming the next day or not as we were really wanting to be there with him when he came down and saw all his presents. We decided to just go for it and he went to bed all excited to see what Santa would bring him in the morning. We went to work and set up all his toys around the tree and then headed off to bed.

Right as we are getting ready for bed, the pressure waves (what Hypnobabies, the childbirth hypnosis program I used, calls contractions) started up stronger. Then they started becoming consistent so I started listening to my Hypnobabies Easy 1st stage track and using all the techniques I had learned. I was pleading with Kylie to stay in until James woke up!

I tried going to sleep but the pressure waves were too strong and I needed to focus on my Hypnobabies techniques and just ride the waves through. I had moments where I would start to panic and feel fear but then I would just use my light switch and turn it off and use my ‘peace’ and ‘relax’ cues and tell myself that I can do this and I’d make it through.

David was awesome and stayed up with me and helped me with the relax cue…putting his hand on my shoulder made a huge difference and helped me stay relaxed and calm. At around 1:30 am they were around 8-12 minutes apart and so we decided to call my doula…she had told me from the get go that she takes Xmas off so that was another concern – that I wouldn’t have her there at the birthing either! She had a back up but I didn’t know her. She told me to call her when I thought it was time and she’d contact the back up, so that’s what we did. She just said keep going and to call and give her updates throughout the night.

Long story short, at 4 am they were definitely strong and about 7 min apart but then we heard James start singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” in his bed and we were so happy that he was awake so we got him up and we went down and had our family Christmas – while I lay on the couch and used my cues and breathing to ride out each pressure wave.

They got to 6 min apart and we called our doula who said we could either go now or wait until they were 4 min apart…I wanted to have an all natural, intervention free birth so I didn’t want to go to the hospital too soon so we decided to wait a few minutes…then my mother in law got there to take over and watch my son and then I started feeling very cold and had the shakes and I realized I was in transition so David called the doula and she said to go now.

 

She said she was going to meet us there, that the back up doula wasn’t on until noon! I was very happy. So we get in the car and there’s a terrible fog and barely any visibility…luckily we live only 10 min from the hospital, just 2 exits up the freeway.

 

During this time I also started feeling lots of pressure in my bottom like I had to go to the bathroom…We got wheeled up to l&d, checked in at 6:04, went into triage, and were standing there maybe 2 min when I feel a pop and wetness and I realized my water broke, then I had HUGE pressure in my bottom and we yelled to the nurses that I needed to go NOW! So they took me to a room and I peeled off my clothes and got in the bed. We were very lucky to get a nurse who knew something of hypnobirthing and was very respectful and helpful with our wishes. We didn’t even have time to go over our birth plan at all, we just told them we’ll make our wishes known as we go along.

 

The nurse, Cammy, made sure the other nurses weren’t all coming in and turning on lights and she got me the squatting bar for the bed.  Cammy checked me and said I was complete – 10cm! The on-call doc came in and she told him I wanted to do ‘mother-directed pushing’ and not be coached and it may be a few minutes so to come back…at this time I am panicking a little and really wanting my doula there to help guide and direct me. As it turns out she was trying her hardest to get there, but she lived further and the fog was terrible!

 

I started allowing some fear in and I told David to get my phone with my Hypnobabies ‘pushing baby out’ track to try to help me to refocus. I couldn’t listen to it and listen to the nurses at the same time and was getting a little frustrated because I just didn’t really know what to do…I did know that I wanted to try to squat to birth to avoid a tear and to make it as easy as possible; then my body completely took over and I sat up and yelled “SHE’S COMING” and sure enough my body involuntarily pushed her head out in one push…The doctor ran in and the told me to lie back and to push out her body and I pushed so hard and out she came at 6:11am.

 

She was gorgeous and amazing and they put her right on me (their hospital policy is to allow skin to skin contact for at least an hour after birth) and we just savored the moment and enjoyed our precious Christmas miracle. My doula got there in time to help me relax through getting stitched up after a 2nd degree tear.  Soon after I tried breastfeeding and she did pretty well… Then they took her and weighed her and did all the normal newborn stuff. She weighed in at 8lbs 8oz and was 19 1/2 in long. Breastfeeding was tough the first few days… but it has gotten a lot better and we are getting the hang of it and now I’m really enjoying the bonding…I didn’t get to breastfeed my son so I’m really enjoying this experience.

She’s a sweet heart and I’m just loving being a mommy to 2!!

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