VIDEO ~ First-time Hypnobabies mom arrives at hospital…surprised she’s 9cm!

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3rd-time mom uses Hypnobabies for the first time, and finally has the natural birth she’s wanted!

Lizzie was born on January 28 at 6:34 a.m.  This is her birth story: I was having pws for a long time before I actually gave birth. I did things a little bit different this pregnancy because I really wanted to go natural. So I really focused on increasing my protein (which is really hard for me) to strengthen the placenta I also rubbed basil (DoTerra Essential oil) on my right ankle every night to help strengthen the placenta. Both of my previous pregnancies have ended with me being induced because of placenta problems. About 3 weeks before my due date (so when I was 37 weeks) I started listening to birthing day affirmations. I also had a massage where my massage therapist focused on pressure points that encourage labor and she used clary sage, which is a labor inducing oil. About that time I would get pws, but they weren’t anything big.  At 38 1/2 weeks I started drinking raspberry tea and started rubbing clary sage on my ankles (both sides) and my little toes. I also started listening to my “Come out Baby” track.

On the 26 (Thursday night) I was having pretty strong pws and I thought this might be it, but nothing. On Friday (27) I went for my weekly checkup with my midwife and I had her strip my membranes. That was about 11 that morning and I was dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced. I came home and was feeling pretty good, I was having pws, but nothing major. My doula texted me and told me that I needed to get into hypnosis early and that she was going to Las Vegas for her daughter’s gymnastics meet, so if she didn’t make it to the birth, then that was how it was meant to be. After lunch I listened to my deepening track and started having some really good pws. My husband put the girls down for nap/quiet time and I told him we needed to start getting things ready and that I thought the girls should go over to a neighbor’s house when they got up. I started walking up and down the stairs, listening to my birthing day affirmations and my pws stopped. So we didn’t end up taking the girls to a neighbor’s house. We played a game and then the girls got up. We made dinner and while we were making dinner my pws started up again, so this time I listened to my fear clearing session while dinner was in the oven. I had several pws during dinner and we started timing them, I think they were 5-7 minutes apart.
After dinner I listened to another track (I think it was come out baby). My husband started putting the girls to bed and my pws stopped again. I called my mom and gave her an update and then checked the news and then took a shower. While I was in the shower I was doing belly lifts to encourage the pws and help the baby turn if she was posterior. After my shower I decided we should probably go to bed, so we went to bed about 9:30 (normally we don’t go to bed until around 11). Both of us had a hard time falling asleep, but I think my husband finally fell asleep around 10:30. Usually listening to my tracks helps me fall asleep, and I was drifting in and out, but the pws started up again and they were getting more intense, so around midnight I asked for my husband’s help and I went out to our living room, he got the Easy First stage cd out and put that on and I was leaning against the ball and rolling it around etc. I think this was also helpful in getting Lizzie into the right position. They seemed to stop again, so we went back to bed. For the next hour I was having really intense pws, but they were only like 15 minutes apart. At the end of the hour I had 4 in about 24 minutes so about 6 minutes apart. So I woke up my husband and I told him, “these pws are as intense as right before I got the epidural with Jenna.” During her labor I was at about a 6 or 7 when they gave me the epidural (and I only got it because they were telling me I would need pitocin, and I didn’t think I could handle the contractions with pitocin, however, she was born 1/2 hour after they gave me the epidural!). So my husband decides that we should go in and calls our neighbor down the street and my midwife. I hop into the shower and continue to do belly lifts. I get out of the shower and talk to my midwife who tells me she has had another long night (she was inducing a patient that night and had been up the night before delivering a baby) and so she is going to lie down to rest and wait until I am all checked in to come.
Our neighbor gets there and my husband has all the stuff in the car, so we go out to the car. We drove to the hospital. I had a couple of pws on the way in. They decide to put me in a triage room (first time that’s ever happened:) and check me. They knew that my midwife liked to check her own patients, but I told them that she was sleeping and not to bother her, so they checked me. I was at a 4 1/2 and that really discouraged me. They told me that I could walk around for an hour and they would recheck and if I had progressed they would definitely keep me. So my husband and I walked around, I was walking using wide hips and was listening to easy, first stage. I also put some clary sage on my belly and ankles and made plenty of trips to the bathroom. Right before they checked me again I told my husband that I didn’t think that I could go home at this point. When they checked me I was at a 6, so they got me all checked in and into a room.
My midwife comes along and checks to see how I am doing. She left for a little bit and I started to feel pushy. When she came back I told her this and so she checked me. I was at an 8 1/2 and my bag of waters was in front of the head. She told me that my waters would probably break soon and I would feel a big pop. At this point I was definitely “ahing” during my contractions. I had to go to the bathroom and she told me if I felt the baby coming we would have to go back to the bed, however I made it back to bed before anything happened. However my “ahing” changed to a much deeper gutteral sound. At this point my midwife is telling the nurses, she’s having this baby. My nurse was actually helping with another delivery and so I guess the nurses weren’t really around, my midwife said this was great because then she didn’t have to check me etc. She was constantly telling me to listen to my body and if I felt like pushing to push (even when she checked me and I was only an 8 1/2)! She was also rubbing my shoulders and neck and my head. My husband was putting counter pressure on my back. I was leaning against the bed on my knees with my hands over it — kind of like a chair. However, I switched to my hands and knees as I started pushing. At one point I was kind of kneeling down so that the baby wouldn’t be able to come out, and my midwife said that I would have to open up more so they could get the baby. I know I had the pushing baby out track playing, but I wasn’t listening to it. Interestingly enough, my pws still weren’t regular. I remember having like a 5 minute pause between one and then the next one was like 90 seconds. My midwife asked if I wanted her to break my waters so the baby would just come out, and I agreed, so she broke my water. At this point I just felt a constant need to push. I know I took breaks, but I just felt like I had to keep pushing to get her out. It seemed like it took a really long time, but I’m sure that it didn’t. She finally came out and my husband announced, “it’s a girl” and I got to hold her.  I definitely feel like this birth left me so empowered and I am so glad that I finally got my all natural birth!!!:)

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Hypnobabies mom says, “I hugged my doula and continued repeating, Awesome! Fabulous! Wonderful! Awesome!”

Thanks to Annie from the Hypnobabies Yahoo Group for sharing her birth story with us.

Yes! It was Awesome! Wonderful! So peaceful, so relaxed, so beautiful! Absolutely worth all the training I did every day for half a year! Thank you Hypnobabies, I got exactly what I wanted and it was SO GOOD..!

I felt sure and confident all the time. I felt happy, good, peaceful, joyous. I knew I would know exactly what to do at any moment, I knew I wouldn’t have to ask anyone anything, I would just listen to my body and do as I intuitively knew I should do. I felt no worries about anything. I knew I would know if there was anything special I should pay attention to, and there wasn’t.

I was totally in my own world, I heard Kerry’s voice and the same time I didn’t hear it, I was there and able to say anything I needed to anyone and the same time I was completely elsewhere, calm, peaceful, in my own beautiful world.

I was on all fours all the time during the waves, and it was good. I only used the bed as a soft place to be on all fours. I leaned forward on a mountain of pillows and relaxed totally and took the hugs of waves, and it was so good. Intense, yes, but there was nothing wrong with that, intense was good. I felt so secure and sure.

At some point I kept shaking my butt, which felt great, at a later point I kept still, just relaxed and enjoyed the wonderful massage and pressure my doula applied on my back. And all the time I was in my own world, completely happy, calm and secure.

I didn’t feel transformation, I didn’t feel crowning, I didn’t feel the small tears I got. I only felt intensity, which was a good thing just as I had taught myself, pressure, wonderful need to push and the great great feeling when I went along that need and pushed. I felt my baby move, it was wonderful, a feeling full of joy! I knew when my baby was coming out, no one interrupted, no one tried to guide me in any way, I knew what to do. With a great, most powerful feeling I had ever felt I pushed, the head was out, I immediately touched it. It felt warm, wet, wonderful, I said “there’s the head”. Then I felt a great urge to say something gentle and encouraging to the baby, so that she would know that mom is waiting and it’s safe to come out to the world. The words came out of my mouth “Come darling, come out dear”. Then with a powerful, happy, so joyous feeling, the last push, my body moving along with hers so she could slide easily out – and she was born! I felt the most wonderful joy I had ever felt in my life!!! I was so happy, I felt so powerful, so full of energy, so proud!!! I kept repeating Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!!! I hugged my doula and continued repeating Awesome! Fabulous! Wonderful! Awesome!! The two members of the staff who were there witnessing the birth, the midwife and the nurse (who had only arrived at the last moment, as instructed), were both totally amazed and convinced, their eyes were wide open of amazement, they smiled and laughed and congratulated me and said wow you must be proud, wish we had had this on video, people won’t believe this, wow..!

I’m so happy and content about this birthing, and it feels especially good as my previous birth was a standard hospital version with all possible meds and a very poor, traumatic experience that took a long, long time to get over. This time it was all different and this birthing truly did become a very healing experience for me!

By the way, I had visualized a birthing that would begin with first some small signs, so I would know that now I can start to put myself in the right mood, “this might be it”. I wanted to have a bit of time to “adjust” myself to the right mood. Then I had visualized that it would be nice if it started in the morning, maybe 3…4 am, so we would all get some rest before it starts. Then we’d be home for a couple of hours, arrive at the hospital early enough to get settled nicely, then a few hours at the hospital, so that the whole thing would take say about 6 hours. Well, I got my sign, the mucous plug came three days prior, along with a few small signs during the days. So I could indeed get myself adjusted in time. I was really happy I got those days, I loved to settle myself to the right mood and start waiting for things to start. Then the actual process started at 3am, we were home for 3 hours, arrived at the hospital nicely and got settled, and after 6 hours, quite exactly, the baby was born. Wow! I’m really happy I did the visualization!!! =)

I also want to share the most important things, in addition to Hypnobabies, that I used to make the experience the best possible, just in case someone wants to know. And feel free to ask me anything you want to know.

* A good and understanding doula – absolutely indispensable!!! She was crucial for the success of this birthing, as she took care of all discussion with the staff so I could stay in my peaceful own world and concentrate. And she was there to massage my back exactly as I wanted and that felt like heaven!!!
(I wanted no one else to be there than just my doula, and, only when needed, a midwife. That way I could best concentrate and stay in my own world, and it worked exactly as I had hoped!)
* Epi-No! Yes, it works wonderfully! It helped both physically and mentally, as I learned in advance about the intense feelings and I even learned to enjoy the intensity! Thanks for the tip, I got it from this group!!!
* Spinningbabies.com – just as instructed in Hypnobabies! A very good resource! I had an “optimal position lifestyle” -attitude for half a year!
* Orgasmic Birth – the book (not the video). This is the resource that lead me to Hypnobabies. Beautiful, positive, powerful and confident attitude, reading this was like balm to my soul.
* Keeping my own clothes, using my own cd’s that had sounds of flowing water with binaural beats, candle light, scarf & cap to protect my eyes from bright lights and my face from anyone watching, using the power of sound as I sang through the beautiful, wonderful second phase, happily, joyously, calmly… oh it was just so beautiful!!!!!!! =)
* …And so on 🙂

So, now I’m a very happy Hypno-Mom of a 3-week old baby girl, cherishing the memory of the birthing for the rest of my life!!! Thank you Hypnobabies, thank you Kerry and the team, thank you, you wonderful moms in this group, this group gives so much support!
Yes, Hypno-Moms Rule!!! =)

Your happy Hypno-Mom
Annie

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The Calmest Hypnobabies Birth Video Ever!

23 minutes of UNCUT footage of a Hypnobabies mom easing her own baby out into the world; her 2 boys running around, hubby taking photos, so calm, so confident, so relaxed, so easy and SO Comfortable.

 

No editing, no removal of any sound; just a peaceful, beautiful birth. She was in hypnosis the entire time and easily able to talk, move and communicate in all ways – lucid, in-the-moment, very present for her precious baby’s birth. : )

 

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“Bored at 8-9cm” Hypnobabies mom’s water birth video!

You can read Tiffany’s Birth Story here.    Here is her lovely birth video.

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Hypnobabies mom, “bored with her Braxton-Hicks pressure waves”, finds out she’s 8-9cm!

Special thanks to Tiffany for sharing her birth story with us!  Her Birth Video to come in next post.

June 2011: Five months after my daughter, Yalana was born my husband and I found out we were expecting again. After getting past the initial shock of being pregnant again so soon we became excited. We decided to plan a home birth because Yalana was born unexpectedly at home only 22 minutes after I woke up in the morning from a great night sleep. I had used the Hypnobabies program to prepare for her birth and I of course used it again for this pregnancy!:)

 

Monday, March 12th: I was 3 days past my guess date. It was a beautiful day. I cleaned the house, took a nice long walk and listened to my Hypnobabies “Come OUT Baby” track. I was having a lot of toning contractions (my term for Braxton Hicks cxt), which was really exciting for me. I LOVED my toning pressure waves and with every one of them I would imagine my cervix opening and effacing. I had them fairly consistently throughout the day which made me think that I may start my birthing time late that evening or early morning. I made my husband, Lucas come to bed early just in case. Unfortunately, the toning pws subsided when I went to bed and I was frustrated to wake up in the morning,

Tuesday, March 13th, NOT in my birthing time. Lucas jokingly said in the morning, “I thought you promised me a baby.” I had an apt with one of my midwives, Audra, that afternoon. I decided to have her check me in hopes that it would alleviate some of my frustration and to see if my Hypnobabies visualizations were working. Finding out I was 4-5 cm dilated definitely made me feel less frustrated. I decided to have her sweep my membranes. Audra told me if it didn’t work that I could come back in tomorrow to repeat the sweep;) My toning pws came back and I was so excited once again. My friend I had not seen in over a year came over to visit then I called my mom and updated her on my apt. She said she wanted to come spend the night just in case I went into labor over night. I played with the kids, cleaned the house and took a walk. The left side of my back was aching so I put a warm rice sock on it, which made it feel so much better. My mom, Lucas and I watched a show and then off we all went to bed. I tried listening to my Hypnobabies to go to bed but it made me too excited to sleep so after a while I just set it aside. That brings us to

Wednesday, March 14th Analiese’s Birth Day. Rise and Shine! At 3 am I was wide-awake and NOT in my birthing time! My backache was completely gone and so were the toning pws. Seriously, I thought seriously. I was hungry so I went downstairs and accidentally woke up my mom. I told her that nothing was happening and that she should go in to work today. I got a fiber bar and made some raspberry leaf tea. I sat on my computer and decided to do my own “fear clearing” session. I typed out all the things that I felt might be holding me back from going into my birthing time. After my mom left for work around 6:30am, I went back to bed. When I woke up at 9am, Lucas had already left to take the kids to daycare and go to class. I got up ate breakfast, cleaned and called the birth center to let them know I would be coming in to repeat the sweep. Then I laid down to listen to my Hypnobabies “Deepening” track. Just when I was so relaxed my mom called. She told me she was going to take a half-day so she could take me to my apt. I was very glad.

My mom got to my house around 11ish. We decided going out to eat prior to my apt would be nice. Before we left my backache came back so I warmed up a rice sock to take with me. We went to Noodles & Co. and while eating my backache became increasingly more uncomfortable. I told my mom and she wondered if I was having back labor. I told her I didn’t think so but I would be more comfortable at the birth center than sitting in a booth. My mom packed up our lunches and we headed to the birth center, which was only 2 minutes away. Luckily, when we got there Shelie, one of my midwives was between apts. I told her about my back and she wondered if I might be in labor. I told her I didn’t think so cause was only having a few toning pws besides the backache. So she checked me and said something like, “Oh my gosh Tiffany you are dilated to 6 and I can stretch you to 8. And she is +2”. Now she really thought I was in labor even though I still wasn’t convinced. She thought I should stick around the birth center so I don’t deliver in the car if I tried to go home. She prepared one of the birthing rooms for me and got me the TENS unit for my back. The TENS unit was like heaven! I was thankful to have it because I didn’t have my iPOD on me that holds all my Hypnobabies tracks. I called my husband and told him not to go to his next class but to go home and get a bunch of stuff then pick up our four-year-old son, Austin from daycare.

I did start to feel pressure waves (PW’s) but they didn’t feel much stronger then toning pws so I ate the rest of my lunch while rocking in the rocking chair waiting for Lucas and Austin to arrive. The PW’s did pick up a bit till they were 4 min apart and I started to use my Hypnobabies techniques to relax through them. Lucas and Austin arrived around 2pm. My son was so excited he didn’t want to leave my side. We had to convince him to watch a movie and we would not let him miss it. I rocked on the birth ball, took a walk outside, sat on the toilet… threw up all my Noodles on the toilet (spicy noodles were not the best choice but I felt great after they came out:) Shared some laughs with my mom and hubby especially when my mom was giving Lucas the analogy that a cat is like a wave. So after my next PW Lucas asked me it I held my breath through the wave cause that’s what he would do. I laughed so hard.

I began to feel bored because my PW’s spaced and started to just feel like toning cxt again. So I decided to take a nap for a little bit and listen to my Hypnobabies, “Birth Day Affirmations”.  Around 4 pm I started feeling like I just wanted to go home. I told Audra and decided to have her check me. I was 7-8cm. She told me of course she cant recommend that I make the trip home but she agreed my labor would probably pick back up if I were home. So I decided that I would wait till my dad brought Yalana to the birth center from daycare.  Around 5:30 pm my dad arrived. It was so nice to see my daughter because I hadn’t seen her all day. After my dad left I decided that I really wanted to be at home so I could be more comfortable and so that the kids could be at home.

We arrived home around 6pm. I felt relieve to be in my own space. I went right up to my room and started arranging things. My mom helped with the kids and Lucas came up and hooked up the hose to fill the birth tub. My mom then came up to time some of my PW’s and light the candles on my dresser. I am glad I listened to my body and came home. It’s just what it needed. My PW’s started to pick up and get stronger. I put on some music. Interestingly, I learned I really didn’t enjoy the calm waterfall music. Instead I listened to the play list I made when I was studying for my step I board exam that included some of the following songs: Somewhere Over the Rainbow, My Own Two Hands, Don’t Stop Believin’, What a Wonderful World, She’s Some Kind of Wonderful among a few others. I call my friend Margo and updated her and told her to head over when she could and to let our other friend Rachel know. Then my mom told me my PW’s were about 3-4 min apart so I call the birth center message line to page my midwives. Clarice called right back and I let her know it was time to come. It was around 7:15pm. Lucas bathed Yalana and put her to bed just before everyone arrived around 7:45ish. Then he took care of Austin. My mom took pictures and Margo and Rachel took turns massaging my back during PW’s. I would not describe the PW’s as painful at all. They were strong but not painful. I used my Hypnobabies peace cue, special place technique and ‘ah’ vocalization to relax my body during each PW. With every PW I would push the button on the TENS unit which greatly enhanced my Hypnobabies techniques to relax. The stronger the PW’s got the more excited I would get and coming out of each PW I would smile knowing that soon I would be holding my baby girl. At 8:45pm I decided to have Clarice check me. I was 10 cm. At that point my husband and son had come upstairs which happened to be perfect timing. Clarice suggested that I sit on the toilet for a while. Sitting on the toilet was just what I needed. After two pressure waves my water broke. As soon as it did I felt increasingly pushy. I told everyone to get me to the birthing tub. I knew with the next PW I would be pushing her out. The transition to the tub was the most challenging part. A wave of nausea hit me and walking was not the most comfortable position with all the pressure but with help I made it to the birthing tub. I put one leg in and then up came the cookie and toast I decided to eat when I got home (it sounded good to eat at the time). Thankfully, Clarice had the trash right there for me. I felt so much better after that. I got into the tub and the water felt too warm for me especially since it was 77 degrees in the house because of the crazy March weather and our air-conditioning happen to not be working. So they added some cold water. When it felt right I got down on my knees in the water… Ahhh the water and being on my knees felt amazing. I had a little break before my next PW. Clarice checked the baby’s heart tones and my husband gave me a kiss. Then I reminded Austin that I might make some grunty noises like what dad does when he lifts heavy weights. He understood and I could see the excitement in his eyes. He had been waiting for this moment for wks asking me everyday if I was going to have the baby yet. As I started to feel the next PW I closed my eyes and put my head down on the pillow in front of me. I used my peace cue as I started to bare down with the PW. I felt lots of pressure and a slight burning sensation but that was it. I knew it would only last a second and I pushed a bit more as I kept me hand on the top of her head and out it came. I checked for a cord and so did Kendra my other midwife. With the next PW I bared down again and out she came right (9:10 pm) into my own two hands. I picked her up out of the water and held her close to my chest. We did it baby girl! I was filled with joy and excitement. I sat back in the birthing tub and enjoyed looking at her and soaking in the miracle of life. I also got to feel her pulsing cord and watch it self-clamp. After the placenta came out my mom cut the cord. Analiese was handed off to her daddy and I was helped back into bed. After some pictures Kendra did the Analiese’s newborn exam right on our bed.  The most surprising part was how much she weighed. We all guessed a weight and we were all wrong. She was 9 lbs 4 oz! We took more pictures then my mom helped Austin to bed. Lucas made me eggs and toast and Rachel helped feed me while I nursed Analiese. Kendra fixed my small tear. Clarice did the placenta prints and Margo and Rachel helped clean up. It was perfect timing for her to come just before bedtime.

In the morning we woke up to a beautiful spring morning with the sun shinning in my windows and the birds chirping. It was very peaceful.  Lana woke up and got to meet her baby sister. All she wanted to do was pat her. It was so cute.

One very awesome thing about my birth time was that I got to see all my midwives! Big thanks to them for their amazing compassionate, competent, patient centered and evidence based care. They truly provide superior care to any other providers in the area.

And thanks to Hypnobabies I was able to enjoy a completely natural pain free birth with out drugs. My birthing time was filled with lots of smiles and laughter. The relaxation techniques I learned with Hypnobabies allowed me to listen to my body; from knowing I needed to be home to give birth to when to push. Amazing that no one has to tell you when or how to push!! I only experience discomfort with 2 brief bouts of nausea and slight intense sensation when my daughter was crowning. Overall it was a very empowering and blissful experience.

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Funny Video about Crunchy Moms

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I really was worried Hypnobabies wouldn’t work. But you know what?? It did.

Thanks to Brenda from the Hypnobabies Yahoo Group for sharing her birth story with us.

Here is the full birth story for Eric. I included some things that happened leading up to when my labor started. I am not sure if I needed to or not, but since they played into the birth story – I included them.

Last Monday, I ended up getting a stomach bug that completely wiped me out. I was in bed from Sunday night, until Tuesday morning. I felt better when I woke up Tuesday morning and spent the day eating small meals and resting and trying to get back my energy level back up. Wednesday morning, I decided we were all going to follow the schedule and get some work done! The week before I thought I was in labor, and so we hadn’t really done any homeschool, thinking that I was having the baby ‘any day’ now. Anyways, I got the kids all up and working on thier school. As the morning progressed I noticed I was having some pressure waves. Just for fun, like I always do, we started writing them down on the white board in the kitchen. I would let the kids know, and they would write them down for me. They were averaging about an hour apart, and were very mild.

As the day wore on, they got a little closer together, but still mild. My husband took the older kids to their Church Activities on Wed night, but left his cell phone at home by accident, so he kept calling me to check on me. (I think he had a ‘feeling’). By the time he called around 830, I told him that he didnt need to rush home, but that he should delay any errands on the way home, just in case – as he didnt have his cell phone with him. They were averaging about 20 minutes at that point, but still mild. (I keep pointing out that the waves were ‘averaging’ a certain time, as I would have one, then another one would be ten, then another one would be a half hour, then a few would actually be 20. This is how it went all day, I would have a few spaced evenly mixed in with some half the time and some double the time – which led to the perpetual question “is this it?”)

My husband got home around 9:30, and we stayed up and chatted for awhile, eventually going to sleep around 1130. I fell asleep, but think I was worried about waking up so far into labor that we would have another ‘almost parking lot” baby, so I woke up around 1:30 am. It took about 15 minutes to have one wave, but then they were averaging about 9 minutes apart. I chatted online with a doula friend of mine, and as we chatted they dropped down to about 6 minutes. They were getting a little stronger, so as we chatted we decided that it would be good to call my midwife and let her know that something might be up. I still wasnt sure that it was it, but I called. The week before I had been sick, I had had about an hours worth of 5 minutes apart, called my hubby home from work, and then they stopped – so I was nervous about another false alarm. I talked with the midwife, and let her know that we might be coming in. She said to call her back when we decided to head in, and she would meet us there. After I hung up the phone, they increased in intensity, and I needed to stop and focus. At this point, I decided it really was time, and called the midwife back less than twenty minutes later, and said we were heading in.

As we got ready to leave, they were getting stronger so I grabbed my ipod and turned on the tracks. I am not sure if this is how you are supposed to do it or not, but I would pop the ear buds in my ear during the contraction to help me focus, and then when it was over, I would pull them out, and resume getting ready to leave. We woke up the older kids to let them know we were leaving. We headed out to the hospital which was about a 12 minute drive. I had a few on the way, but they were completely manageable. It was a much more relaxing ride than last time. Not wanting the walk into the hospital to get things going faster like last time, my hubby parked right outside the ER ( where you check in) and brought me right in. A nurse met us and said the midwife had called ahead, and due to my last delivery being so fast when I got there, I was not allowed to walk anywhere, that they had strict instructions to put me in a wheelchair and bring me right up to maternity!! LOL!!! 🙂

So they brought me up, while my hubby parked the car, and got me a room. I got hooked up to the monitors for about 15 minutes while they did all thier questions. The waves were getting more intense, so I would answer in between, but then, as I had at home, I would pop the ear bud in, and listen to the Birthing affirmations while I was in the middle of the waves, and then when they ended, I would go back to answering questions. It didn’t bother me to switch back and forth, or I could have had hubby answer them for me. At that point I think I was at about 4 to 5 minutes apart. The midwife came in, and took the monitors off, and then checked me. I was curious, as I am familiar with how I usually progress so I wanted to know, about where I was. I was dilated to about a 6. (I usually go from 7 to 10 in one fell 5 minute swoop, so a 6 meant it would not be long!!!!

The tub had been filled for me, and was waiting. It was a tad bit on the warm side, but it was SO relaxing. I turned the jets on, and angled myself so that they hit right where I needed them too. As I sat in the tub, I put on the easy first stage, and at that point kept it on. I no longer took them out, but fully turned myself over to it. I would grab my hubbys hand when I had a wave, but other than that, there was no sign that I was even in labor! I just laid in the tub, listening and focusing on the words in the track. As the easy first stage track ended, I felt prompted to put on the Creating Anesthesia track. This helped immensely!! As the waves progressed, I was starting to feel more pressure, than I was comfortable with, but after putting the Creating Anesthesia on, I was able to handle it no problem. I noticed while listening to the track that my waves were now a couple of minutes apart, lasting a minute and a half or so. Toward the end of the track, I started getting  to the point, that although I was handiling it, I was getting nervous if I would be able to continue to handle it. I switched over to the Pushing Track  (or whatever the name is of the one that comes after First Stage). and started listening to that. It helped, but I was still feeling slightly edgy, and I did not want that negativity to enter into what so far was an amazing experience, so I diffused it by talking back to the track. I know this is probably not the ideal thing to do, but it helped me, and the humor it created as my hubby laughed at me talking back to the track, was enough to help me refocus. At this point, my husband recommended me getting out of the tub so I could get to the bed. (At the hospital we go to, the tubs are only for labor, not for birthing), I told him okay, and that I would get out, I just needed to get through one more wave.

All of a sudden, in the middle of that contraction, my water exploded. Not just broke, exploded. I was in the tub, and this forceful wave of water shot out!! The next thing I knew, I had sat all the way up, and turned around, and was on my knees. My hubby pulled the red cord that they have in case you need them, and the midwife and like 5 nurses all came running in, The midwife tried to tell me to breath through it, and we would get to the bed, but the head had already started coming out. Realizing this, she said, “You are not breathing through it!!” Then I pushed again, and he was born!!! Since I was on my knees, he was kind of born behind me, so they had to spin me around, and hold him while I walked to the bed, where he was laid on top of me. Then we were left alone for the next hour, before they even asked if we wanted to weigh him and measure him. My hospital stay was great, as they changed everything to in room, rather than half in the room, and half in the nursery. They also would come back if the baby, or I were sleeping, so they didnt bother us. This is all ‘policy’ too, so I didnt have to argue for any of this!!!!

I also want to add, that I bought this course to try to get through the last few minutes of labor without ‘losing it’ like I usually do – yelling I cant do this anymore, etc.  I really was worried it wouldn’t work. But you know what?? It did.

With the Hypnobabies, I was able to relax enough and to tell the difference between pain and pressure. In past births, I would get the two confused, so I had no idea where in labor I was. I would get near the end, and not knowing it was, I would get freaked out and think there was no way I could make it much longer. This time though, there was no pain. I knew what the pressure was. I knew it was the baby moving down. I knew that labor was near the end, and that when the pressure got to a certain point, I would be pushing. I welcomed it, and I imagined opening like it said. The water jets helped soften up the area, along with the water being really warm. I think I needed the Creating Anesthesia track since I hadn’t practiced enough, but just listening to it, reminded me enough that it worked for me!!!  When my water broke, and the pressure following was really intense, my body instinctively took over and knew it was time to push – I did not need to be told!!!

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