Rights of a Pregnant Woman and Her Baby

We loved this blog post about newborn procedures.

One of the more infuriating aspects of Woman as Patient are the events that tend to unfold  during and immediately following the birth.  Just as during labor, the power dynamic is established early on, so too, is the establishment of “possession” of and entitlement to the newborn immediately following the birth.

I’ve explored in some detail in a prior post the power struggle that takes place during the birth.  Here, I’ll focus on the events immediately following the birth, and how they serve to maintain woman as patient, thereby diminishing her confidence in her own intuition as a mother.

http://www.spiritofilithyia.com/blog/woman-patient-birth-newborn-care/

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Birth of Grant Part 3 – The Grand Finale

Thanks to Leigh Anne from Confessions of a Misplaced Alaskan for allowing us to share her birth story from her blog onto the Hypnobabies Blog. 

So here is the part of the birth that I know you’ve all been anxiously awaiting. My previous births have been pretty quick, especially Nick’s. I teach Hypnobabies, so I always enjoy telling the parents the different things they can do during their birthing time, walking, sitting on the birth ball, resting, etc. However, I have not really gotten to experience those intimate moments in birth because once things got going, it seemed like the birth was all out and fast. This time I got to enjoy a few of the things, I felt I’ve missed out on in previous births.

My husband was great, he asked what i wanted for breakfast. At this point, I was hungry, but not sure what I really wanted to eat. I think I told him to make me some eggs. I laid down in the bedroom and played around on my iPad in between waves. I sent a message to my friends on thebabywearer.com website that I had just two words….prodromal and posterior. I figured that I may be in my birthing time for a while. I knew the baby was posterior because I could still feel hands moving in the front part of my lower belly, over my pubic bone. Like I had said before, I didn’t do much during the night to try to rotate the baby because I knew I needed to rest. So, my plan for the morning was to get on all fours as much as possible and try to get the baby to turn around.

I sat on the birth ball in the kitchen while my husband cooked and my mom sat at the kitchen table. Whenever I had a pressure wave, Damon would come over and do a hip squeeze. I had to remind him how to do his hands. My mom even came over and did a hip squeeze, learning how I wanted her to put her hands. I had some pretty good pressure waves during this time. I resent my text to my boss from the day before while sitting on the ball, saying that I would not be in the office today.

After eating some eggs with salsa, I asked my husband to go for a walk with me. I took a photo of my mom with the boys right before I went for a walk. I sent a text message to Debi, to let her know how the evening had went and that I was still having pressure waves and had more show. She said she was nearby if I needed her.

We didn’t walk far in the neighborhood. It was before nine o’clock so it wasn’t miserably hot yet. We walked down a hill and then back up. I figure in our twenty-minute walk, back and forth in front of our house I had at least seven pressure waves. The part that was so cool about this was, I had always wanted to do the clutch and sway hold with my husband during a pressure wave. Since we are the same height, it was kind of funny to figure out how I could comfortably be supported by him. It was great to snuggle my face into his neck on this beautiful morning. We chatted about my mom’s dream she had in the night. She told me upon waking up that she dreamt we had went into her room and told her that Grant had been born. We did not have a name for the baby yet if it was a boy. Damon told me he had actually thought about that name last week. I said that he had vetoed that name with me in the past. I wasn’t ready to commit to any name at this point, especially because we still didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl. I loved our walk and found it was most comfortable to hold his waist during a wave. We even tried one abdominal lift while on the walk. I had not gotten to do that during birth before either.

I’m sure we were a sight to see, we even had one of our not so nice neighbors stop and check on us to see if they could do anything for us. It was during one of the waves where I was holding on to Damon’s waist. I started laughing during the wave because of how funny I know we looked. Another neighbor saw us and you could see the big smiles on their faces. I thought we might be having a baby soon but Damon told them that we would probably have a baby within the week. I loved that he was trying to protect my space for me.

We went back inside and I wanted to try doing some rebozo sifting. I had Damon pull up the Spinning Babies website so that I could show him what I wanted him to do with the wrap. I then got down on all fours in the living room and had him do some gentle sifting. It felt really good.

I then decided that I was tired and wanted to lay down again. I spread out a towel on our bed and laid down on my side. Damon came back there with me and would put counter pressure on my hips when he heard me start to moan or take a deep breath. I know I fell asleep between some of these waves because I would be feel a wave coming on, look around for Damon thinking that he was probably far away and I would need to yell for him and he was always right behind me, ready to support me and do whatever he needed. I laid there until about 9:30-9:45 am. At this point, I decided to get up and use the restroom again.

I believe around this point, Damon called Debi to let her know that things were picking up. She said that she would be here soon. I went downstairs and started to get the last-minute things I wanted ready in the birth room. I made sure that the video camera was set up properly, making sure that it would record. I asked Damon to call Amy around this time too, but he thought I had meant to just call Debi. I reminded him to call Amy and he did. Around 10 am, Debi and her daughter Rachel (her assistant) arrived. They were really great when they got there.

They brought in their supplies as we began filling up the birth pool. While I had laid down, Damon had somehow managed to get water boiling on the stove to provide extra heat if we needed it in the birth tub and had also duct taped a white sheet to the inside of the watering trough/birth pool. I was sitting on the birth ball next to the pool, waiting for the water to get higher and the right temp. I used the restroom a handful more times. Whenever I sat on it, I thought of it like a birth stool. I would almost always have a pressure wave while sitting on it.

Debi then asked to do some monitoring on the baby. I reminded her that I did not want any vaginal exams and she had no issues with that. She set up her external fetal monitor and I stood next to the birth tub while she held the monitor to my belly. She said she would monitor for six minutes and then would do so again in an hour for her intermittent monitoring. I was able to move as I needed to while she held the doppler. Once she was done monitoring, I got into the tub. The water felt wonderful.

I laughed as I saw water bubbles underneath the white sheet. I played with the water bubbles in between waves. My husband was cracking up at my simple entertainment. He took a couple of photos of me during this time.

Amy arrived shortly after I got into the pool and she took a few photos of me. Amy knew I really wanted photos during this birth since I had not gotten the opportunity with Nick’s birth and I had said no during Liam’s. The midwives and Amy were all fantastic about massaging my lower back/sacrum area during a pressure wave. Women that have had babies know exactly where to put their hands during a birth. Amy was fantastic at putting her hand on my shoulder and saying the release cue right when I needed it. I remember at one point she was sitting to my left and I was saying the words, “open, open, open” out loud during a wave. Afterward she asked me, “do you really believe those words when you say them?” I replied, “most definitely. I said those very words in that room right there,” gesturing towards the boys bedroom that I could see close by. ”I said those words when Nick was coming out of me in that room, I know they work.” She smiled.

I was joking and laughing between waves, telling the midwives stories about my recent hemorrhoids. I even was midway through a story, a wave came on, I groaned through the wave, saying “opening up, come on baby,” then as soon as the wave was over, I continued on with my story. Later on, I told Amy that we were going to be life long friends because she had rubbed my butt and I had it on video for proof. I was cracking up at myself.

I remember looking up at this board…

I had written the words, Relax, Release and Peace on it, just about thirty minutes before. I hoped that it would remind everyone in the room the cue words that I would need. Liam also had a picture that he had drawn specifically for when I had the baby put up on the board. I remember looking at the magnet board and I really thought it was about to fall. I asked someone to go catch it. My husband went over to it and asked what was behind the board. My response, which wasn’t so nice, but I started really cracking up, “Ohh, it’s just your stupid golf balls! Bwhahahahahahaha.” I have no idea why I thought that was so funny but in the moment when I was nearing transition, I thought I was hilarious.

I think around this time, I asked for some crackers and I drank some water between almost every wave. After a wave, I made sure to smile because I remember in the hypnosis scripts, it says to smile after a wave. It made me feel better to do so.

The waves were coming quicker and quicker. Debi went to monitor the baby while I was in the water. As her hand held the doppler to my belly, I said, “Wow, did you just feel the baby rotate?” She did. I have never actually felt my babies movements during birth. Another very special thing about this particular birth.

Once the baby rotated, I started to feel like I could push. Remember, I had no vaginal exams. I loved that no one said, let me check you. They could hear the sounds changing from loud moans, to lion sounds. I asked for Liam to come downstairs. I wanted to see him. He came and looked in the tub asking if the baby was coming soon. I kissed him and then he left the room as another wave sent a roar through me, roaring the words “Open.” I laughed as the wave ended because I could hear him say, “It sounds like a lion!”

A few waves later, I asked Nick to come downstairs. I kissed him and was so happy he was there too. Then he too went back upstairs.

I was getting louder and louder, the grunting roars where coming closer together. I would put my head into the towel on the edge of the tub, thinking to myself that it was the perfect replacement for a hand on the forehead (just like one of Hypnobabies physical cues for relaxation). Someone had their hand on my shoulder and during a wave someone would put their hand on my sacrum. It was starting to get uncomfortable with a hand on my lower back. I remember Rachel, the assistant midwife asking where I felt the most pressure. I took both hands and placed them into the sides of my glutes, right where the IT Band connects. I still had my head on the side of the tub. I felt like I was pointing at a big sign when I did that.

I started to push during the waves. The Hypnobabies Easy First Stage track ended and Amy asked if I wanted the pushing track on. I said I wasn’t sure, but yeah, go ahead. I had told Damon to turn off the Pushing baby out track off during Nick’s birth and then I felt pushy. Amy knew I would like to listen to it during this birth.

I remember repeating after the hypnosis track really loudly the words, “Yes, just pressure,” and kind of laughing after it. I started to push in earnest. I put my hand down on my perineum to see if the baby’s head was there yet. It wasn’t. A few more pressure waves and I put my hand down there again. I felt the sac for an instant. I said, “I feel the head.”

I was still having space between the waves, where I would just lean my head into the edge of the tub. Then during the next wave, I placed my hands in a circle around my perineum as the pushing urge became so strong. I was going to do my own perineum support.

During the waves, I really wasn’t sure if I could stand to have anyone’s hands on my back and said so. I was so confused on what I needed, the sensations were overwhelming my body. My hands were firmly placed against my perineum. Some people wonder how it is possible to support your own perineum around a belly, but I had my legs far, far apart at this point, with my legs starting to go numb in the water. The water was supporting my weight, with my head on the side. I could feel the baby moving down. The sac was right there during the next wave, I pushed back on my perineum while I pushed with all my might, the sounds in my voice being the loudest roar. I felt some of the sac bubble out in front of the babies head, like a small water bubble getting pinched, the sensations were overwhelmingly strong, I tried to stand up to get away from them. In that moment a piercing scream came from my mouth as I was so confused on how to get the head out….and then, the head slipped out.

I paused for a moment, taking a second to breathe to try to ease the baby out and then the whole body slipped into the water, the babies back to me covered in vernix. I lifted him up and saw his wonderful little testicles and shouted, “It’s a boy!” I had my baby boy. I had done it with people cheering me on around me the entire time telling me what a great job I was doing.

Liam and Nick were born with almost no vernix, but this baby was so sticky with it. He was wonderful, perfect and held to my chest.

Chunks of vernix floated in the water. Debi came over and rubbed him with a towel. Liam and Nick came down with my Mom to meet their little brother. I stayed in the tub for a little while and then noticed a lot of blood in the water. I asked Debi if it was a normal amount and it was. It was just the placenta separating from the uterus. The assistant felt the cord and said it had stopped pulsing. I was surprised at that, as it had only been about a minute. We realized later, that the cord was actually still pulsing. It was cool, even after it came out, it continued to pulse and didn’t stop for a while.The cord stayed in tact though. I soon got out of the tub after a handful of photos.

They asked if I felt the urge to push the placenta out. I tried a little push but it did not come. So I stood up with the baby in my arms. I think the midwives were surprised that I was able to stand so easily and heft my leg over the edge of the large watering trough. Just as I brought my left leg over, the placenta fell out and I grabbed the cord and lifted the placenta up to Debi. I hobbled to the nearby bedroom to lay down with my baby boy.

I couldn’t be happier with the way this birth turned out. All my wishes were respected. Not knowing Debi, I wasn’t sure if she would follow my wishes, try to do a bunch of vaginal exams, or even try to get me out of the water. All she did was monitor me as she needed to and keep the tub water warm enough. My doula, Amy was amazing in remembering to take the photos that I wanted and to use her hypno-doula tools perfectly. Rachel the assistant had great touch on my lower back and all of them said encouraging words during the birth. My husband was always where he needed to be. Keeping the water boiling to keep the tub the right temperature; being next to me as I needed him and just being all around wonderful. I was so thankful that my Mom was finally there for one of my children’s births. It wasn’t her fault that she wasn’t there for the others, but this time she along with my doula’s daughter Miriam kept my children entertained as necessary.

I got to catch my own baby again and I was so excited when Debi said that my tear was minimal and I would not need stitches. I’ve had second degree tearing with the previous two births and I was proud of myself for supporting my own perineum to get the baby out. The baby was born at 12:14 pm on Friday, June 29th, 2012. The cool thing about the number 29, is I’m born on October 29th, Liam was born on October 29th as well, my wedding anniversary is May 29th and Nick’s birthday is on April 19th. I think I like the number nine.

Grant was named after the midwives had left and we had done our herb bath and newborn checkup.

Debi asked right before he was weighed how much I thought he weighed. I said, he looks similar to my other two when they were born, probably 8 lbs at least. I was surprised with him being born at 37 weeks. Sure enough, I was close. He was 8 lbs 5 oz, 21 inches long with a head circumference of 14 inches. He did show signs of being early. His muscle tone is a little low, the cartilage on his ears is very soft and he was covered in the most vernix I’ve ever seen on a baby. He is perfect though and nursing wonderfully now.

Thanks for taking the time to read this very long birth story, but I want to keep all of these things in my memory forever. I haven’t watched the birth footage yet, but I’m so excited to have it. I know it will be interesting to hear the sounds that came out of my mouth there at the end. Afterwards, I found out my husband knows those sounds well enough that he told both my mom and that assistant that when he heard a certain sound, the baby would be out in thirty minutes. He was right.

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The Birth of Grant – Part 2 – Is today the day?

Thanks to Leigh Anne from Confessions of a Misplaced Alaskan for allowing us to share her birth story from her blog onto the Hypnobabies Blog. 

When I woke up from my nap, I felt very rested, like I had actually slept all night. I don’t remember if I had any pressure waves during this time. I went to the restroom and heard our garage door opening. My husband was returning home with the boys from a grocery shopping trip. He left the boys in the car and I helped put the groceries away. He surprised me with some very yummy treats, like summer sausage, cheese and crackers. After giving me a hug, he left again with the boys, leaving me time to just chill on my own. I really love that man.

I took some photos of all of the baby goodies I had made or received…you may have seen that blog post. I lanolized my wool items and laid them outside. Then made myself a snack of cheese, sausage and crackers. It was delicious. I spoke on the phone with my midwife Carolyn and her apprentice. I could hear that they were both disappointed that things were happening so early and that they may miss the birth. Carolyn and I spoke a few times, during the afternoon. At one point, she called me to tell me that Debi Church was across town and would be on her way over to check me. I quickly informed my midwife that I did not want any vaginal checks. She told me that she would call Debi back and let her know. I didn’t want a vaginal check because a number of centimeters mean nothing to me. I don’t like vaginal checks and only have had them during Liam’s birth. They give no indication when a baby might be here…in my opinion, and figured that someone having a number would just be random information.

I called my mom to let her know that I thought I might be in labor. She told me that she was free if I needed her to come. I called her back around 5 pm to ask her to travel down after she got off work. She has missed Liam and Nick’s birth. I wasn’t sure if things were going to kick into gear, but I knew we could use her help in the night if the boys woke up and I was having more pressure waves.
I decided to curl my hair because I figured I would not be pregnant on July 8th, when my maternity photos were scheduled. I had fun pampering myself, getting my hair looking nice, putting some makeup on and had fun taking some head shot photos. I knew I would have Damon take some photos of me that night, Thursday. I wasn’t sure if I would go to the river gorge where I originally wanted or if we would drive to the end of our neighborhood, to the river. It was extremely hot outside. We are having a having temps around 107 degrees fahrenheit. I posted a blog post of me having fun with my glamorous hair and was pleased to see how kind everyone was about the photos. I then sewed the binding on the babies mustache quilt, hoping that if I had the desire later, I could do the remaining hand sewing on the binding.

I was having pressure waves throughout this time, but nothing my Hypnobabies mental light switch couldn’t handle. When the boys got home, I got to hear about their enjoyable afternoon going to the mall playground. I told Damon that I wanted to take maternity photos that night, but we to get dinner ready first. I started to brown the ground beef for burritos, but the waves were picking up and I was getting nervous that I wouldn’t get to take my maternity photos. Damon finished cooking dinner while I dressed for the photos. It was around six pm at this time. I decided I did not want to go to the gorge, we would have to hike a bit for the photos and I figured being near the river was close to what I wanted.

We piled into the car and drove the short distance. Damon had asked if I wanted to walk, but the heat was too much. We took some fun photos by the river, even capturing the very close nuclear plant in the background. I bet most of you don’t have maternity photos with cooling towers in the background!

We ate dinner and then I told Damon that I thought I should go lay down for awhile. Around 9 pm, I asked him to get the boys dressed for bed. Nick wanted to nurse to sleep but I didn’t want the nipple stimulation. He was adorable and I was able to rub his back to sleep. My boys were all asleep and snoring within thirty minutes. I was needing to get up, not wanting to labor in the bedroom with all of them, possibly disturbing them. I figured at this point that the waves were coming every 5-6 minutes sometimes, then spacing out. I didn’t officially time them, it was just my guess. I decided to call my friend Amy while sitting on the couch. I told her my update and let her decide if she wanted to come over or not. I tried to call Debi Church with the phone number that Michelle had given me earlier in the day….of course, there was no answer. I sent a message via Facebook to Michelle, saying I couldn’t get in contact with Debi. She gave me her cell number and that it would be okay to call, she would be expecting my call. I did get to speak to her for the first time that evening. We had a nice long talk, me telling her how I was feeling, how close the waves were, how my previous births had went, and how I was worried about how far away she lived, if things picked up quickly. She reassured me by telling me that she would come stay in a nearby town that night. I was able to discuss my wishes for no vaginal checks, that I was wanting a water birth, that I understood she would need to monitor the babies heartbeat and that I wanted to support my own perineum when birthing and catch my own baby. Not knowing her, I wasn’t sure if I would get these things, but it made feel more comfortable letting her know what was in my birth plan.

My mom arrived around eleven pm and Amy arrived shortly thereafter with her ten year old daughter, Miriam. I had previously told Amy that I would be okay with Miriam being there, possibly helping with Liam and Nick. I told everyone that they could go to bed, I was just going to be on the couch. So my doula and her daughter went downstairs and my mom followed after we chatted for a bit. I believe I put on another Hypnobabies track when she decided to go downstairs. I had all the lights off in the living room. I knew I needed to sleep if I was to have energy to birth a baby. The night involved me alternating from left side to right side throughout the night. Having pressure waves that ranged from five minutes apart to about ten minutes a part. The only thing that would have been nice during the night would have been a pair of hands on my back, but laying on the couch, it would have been hard to get hands in the right spot. I also didn’t want my doula friend to be exhausted and I was able to handle most of it with my light switch and the peace cue. I was up every hour to pee or poop, drinking water frequently and at one point having a granola bar snack. I was starving. How anyone does a longer birth with not eating is amazing! Food is awesome during birth. I was able to get some sleep and was surprised at one point in the night to be sweating a ton and having been sure that I was talking in my sleep during waves.

Around 5:30am I decided to turn Netflix back on and watch a mindless sitcom. I felt like I had gotten enough sleep and I was tired of focusing on getting through the waves. My mom joined me in the living room around 6 am. Amy came upstairs around 6:30 am to check on me. I found out then that she had come up during the night to check on me, but I was in the dark and I guess I was asleep. I don’t remember her being there. She told me that she was going to go home and take her other daughter to a camp. I told her that was fine. I wasn’t sure if this was prodromal labor or not. I knew this could go on for days like this. She told me to call her whenever I needed her back.

To be continued…again. I know, the suspense. No worries. I’ll type up the actual birth tomorrow

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The Birth of Grant – Part 1 – When is he coming?

Thanks to Leigh Anne from Confessions of a Misplaced Alaskan for allowing us to share her birth story from her blog onto the Hypnobabies Blog. 

As many of you noticed, I did not share my due date with most people because I hate the, “you haven’t had that baby?” comment. However, now that the baby has arrived, I’m happy to tell you my guess date. It was July 20, 2012, but I expected to go late like I did with my other two children. I hoped that the baby would be born on my husband’s birthday, July 30th. This baby had other plans though.

I’ve had multiple hemorrhoid flare ups this pregnancy. For me hemorrhoids have happened about two weeks before I have a baby in previous pregnancy, but with the every two week frequency of hemorrhoids in the past month, I was thoroughly confused. I kept figuring this would be a big baby because of how much pressure I had down low and for the frequency of the hemorrhoids. I even sometimes wondered if I was having twins even though we had only ever heard one heart beat.

My husband has been working out of town at least three days a week, in Nashville, since before the baby was conceived. He planned to be home next week for the fourth of July holiday. I had no worries about him being out of town as I approached thirty-seven weeks because I expected to go until at least forty weeks. He even was in Oklahoma all last week for work.

I had been doing little things to prepare for the baby this week. I had done some crazy nesting, getting down and scrubbing the kitchen cabinet doors, making sure the kitchen was clean, laundry was washed and put away, etc. My hemorrhoids were still there, but no longer painful, so I was feeling pretty good this week. On Wednesday, I had talked to one of my bosses about my work plans. I had the need to tell him that day…for some reason.

We all went to bed normally on Wednesday night. I listened to three Hypnobabies hypnosis tracks, deepening, creating anesthesia and fear clearing. Around 2 am, Thursday morning, I woke up needing to use the restroom, feeling a little off. I laid down on the couch in the living room, watched a little television and tried to distract myself. Around three, I went back into the bedroom and laid down next to my four year old and two year old but couldn’t get the idea out of my head that I needed to call my husband. I kept saying to myself, my female intuition was telling me that I really needed to call him and I would be kicking myself if I did not. I grabbed my cell phone and thought about texting him, but decided instead to just call him. Good thing I did. His phone went right to voicemail. I went and sat on the toilet, peed, then wiped. Bright red spotting. I dialed my husband again, even though I knew it was pointless. I was only 37 weeks, that day. I couldn’t be spotting. I panicked. I called my Dad, hoping that he was staying in the duplex in Nashville with Damon, my husband. He picked up after about three rings. I said in a very urgent voice, “Dad, it’s Leigh Anne, go get Damon please.” He asked what was wrong. I said in a stern voice, “go get my husband, now.”

My dad, went and woke Damon up. He told me that Damon would call me back. I found out later, that my Dad had walked into Damon’s room. Damon was splayed out on his bed, with the lights on, completely out. Damon called me back a few minutes later, which seemed like so much time as I kept wiping bright red blood from myself. He called me and with a panicked voice, I said, ” I’m bleeding, please come home.” Damon, tried to ask a few questions, but I was a little too freaked. He called me back a little while later, once he was on the road and I told him that it wasn’t a ton of blood, it looked like bloody show, but I’m only thirty-seven weeks. He remained calm, and drove home. It was about 3:30 am. He told me that the reason why his phone was off was that he had purchased a new phone from Verizon and he thought he had plugged it in to charge, but it appears that it powered off instead.

I called my friend, Amy Poarch, a local doula, and asked if she could come over. I didn’t want to be by myself. Nick’s birth had went so quickly, I was nervous that this one might go fast too. I also needed her help setting up the hose attachment to possibly fill the birth tub. I had tried to use the tools to attach, but my nerves was so shot, I was afraid I would bust the water faucet.

The other, very important thing in my brain was, my midwife was across the country on vacation until July 1st, her apprentice was in Kentucky for a wedding. I called my midwife friend Michelle because I thought she was my backup midwife. I was mistaken or misinformed. Michelle helped calm me and gave me Debi Church’s phone number, she was to be my backup midwife. I had only ever met Debi once at the recent birth fair. I had heard good things about her, but it was unnerving for me to be prepared to use a midwife that I did not know.

My Dad called me to see how I was doing. He knew I was scared because of the tone when I had first talked with him. He made me laugh when he said he had googled, “bloody show.” I just couldn’t imagine what he was finding, but he knew that meant the baby would be coming soon. He asked me to please go to a doctor if I felt the need. I reassured him that at 37 weeks, I was good to have a home birth. He said he understood, but as my Dad, he was still concerned for me. He asked if he could do anything, but I told him no, I would be okay.

Amy came over and helped me get the hose attached. I was all over the house, gathering supplies and trying to keep my adrenaline up, invoking the fight or flight response so that this baby would not come quickly. I was so thankful that Amy came over. She helped keep me calm. I was having pressure waves, but nothing I could not handle. She asked if i wanted to listen to fear clearing, but I said no, not until Damon got home. I laid on the couch watching Netflix, Amy sat nearby reading. Nick woke up and asked me to go lay down with him. I did but didn’t want to stay in there. He ended up coming into the living room with us for a little while. I finally did get him back down. He would not go to Amy. I went and took a shower, figuring it might be awhile until I could. Damon arrived home around 6:30 am. I was so thankful he was home. I continued to lay on the couch, using my finger drop technique any time a wave came. Damon went and laid down with the boys.I sent a message to the babysitter that the boys would be staying home. I texted my boss saying I wouldn’t be in to work that day. I was not going to repeat Nick’s birth and have to drive home in labor. I decided to try and sleep, as it was 7 am or so. I told Amy she could go home if she wanted, nothing was really happening. I put on the deepening track, put my wet towel over my face and tried to relax. When the hypnosis track was over, I took the towel off my head and saw Amy had left me a card saying to call whenever I needed her.

Nick woke up and was banging on the bedroom door, wanting out. I hoped Damon would get up and let him out but he was asleep. I made pancakes for Nick and I to eat. I was starving. Then I called Michelle to thank her for talking to me in the middle of the night. We had a really nice chat. Around 10 am, Damon took over caring for the boys and I laid down to rest, finally listening to fear clearing again, for the second time in about thirteen hours. I slept until 12:30 pm.

To be continued…..

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Sweet Slideshow of a Hypnobabies Birth

Kizoa slideshow: Isaiah Birth – Slideshow

I haven’t figured out how to embed this video, but it is worth clicking over to watch it!

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Great Birth Story from Dad’s Point of View

After a somewhat challenging first birth Laura and her Husband used Hypnobabies to prepare for their second baby.  They birthed in the Netherlands.

We ordered the Hypnobabies home-study course (in some places you can receive instructor taught courses) and got started.  Each week both Laura and I were responsible for reading and studying reading assignments that taught us the fundamentals of self-hypnosis, positive affirmation, natural childbirth and other related subjects.  In addition to this, Laura needed to listen to a series of hypnosis audio tracks each day that helped her go into a state of self-hypnosis.  The majority of the work was on her shoulders since she would need to be the one to put herself into hypnosis, though I was responsible for helping the process along with certain cues and keywords.  Laura was more than diligent, and after 5-6 weeks we had completed the course.

Even after completing the course, though, I was uncertain of what to expect – how would things really happen, and would I be able to help Laura?  I think that’s what I feared the most after the first birth – not knowing if I could help her during the delivery, being a passive observer as she “walked through the valley of the shadow of death”.  Gratefully, Hypnobabies empowered me, despite my doubts and fears, to be an active participant in the birth gave me responsibility, which was exactly what I personally needed.

The birth went really well and I loved reading Dad’s perspective on the whole thing.

When we first arrived, Laura’s contractions and the baby’s heart rate were monitored.  To our dismay, the midwife on shift said that Laura seemed too relaxed to be in true labour, but that she would check the cervix before drawing a conclusion about whether we should go home.  I nearly laughed out loud when her eyebrows raised as she announced that Laura was 7 cm dilated, and there would be no going home!  This was a huge morale booster, and a testimony builder of the effectiveness of Hypnobabies to that point.

Click on over to read the rest and see the pictures.

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A Mom Answers Questions about Hypnobabies.

I love reading on other blogs how moms decide to use Hypnobabies and then follow along through their pregnancy.

I recently found a blog where a mom goes into a really in depth explanation of why she is doing Hypnobabies.  She also answers some questions she has gotten about the program.

Here is one of the questions she answers.

Does Learning Hypnobabies take a lot of time & energy?

Time: yes. Energy: no. And my guess is that for many of you the time factor would be the biggest downside. I’d say it is for me.  The total amount of time it takes every day is about 60 minutes, not including listening to the Joyful Pregnancy Affirmations (which I don’t count because I listen as I fall asleep and doing so doesn’t take up more time for me, in fact, it often helps me relax and fall asleep more quickly!)

And truthfully, I started the course very early (about week 18) so that I could give myself more time, if need be. It is a 5-week course but you can make it a 10-week course (taking 2 weeks for each class instead of one) if you want to. I think I actually should have done this. You’re supposed to listen to a track each and every day. I work to do so 5 days a week. Since I know that I’ll still have at least 15 weeks to continue to learn and review, I figure I’m perfectly fine. You also need time to practice and time to read from the course book.

The course has a maintenance program that is key to continue doing even after the official course is finished. Practice makes perfect and that is especially true with this. Once you start the course, you need to to take time each day until baby is born to practice.

Regarding taking energy: heck no! In fact, taking time to relax and practice each day will actually give you MORE energy. Even on days when I wish I had time to nap, my half-hour of listening to my track allows me to relax and recharge.

 

Click on over and read her whole post!

Here are just a few of the other questions she answers.

• Doesn’t hypnosis mean you can’t move? I wouldn’t want to have to stay in one place during my birthing time…
• Doesn’t using hypnosis mean I won’t be aware of what’s going on around me? I don’t want to miss this wonderful experience.
• So, I listen to a track and practice a couple times a day? Is that all Hypnobabies does?

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Coopers Hypnobabies Birth Story

I loved reading reading these posts as both Mom and Dad talk about their birth of Cooper.

Part 1 – How Hypnobabies Helped me Prepare

Part 2 – Birthing Time at Home

Part 3 – Video Clips

Part 4 – Get to the Hospital at 9 cm and have a baby!

 

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“It, [my Hypnobabies birth] was an experience I loved enjoyed and will always cherish”

In November of 2011 I found out I was 2 month pregnant and Due June 12th 2012 with the experience I had before was determined for a natural childbirth but wanted something to help me relax a little more, So this time I did a little more research and I fell upon a Hypnobabies childbirth story and decided that was something that I felt could work for me I did lots of research read lots of stories and asked the local instructor millions of questions and bought the home study packet in February and was ecstatic to start it the day it arrived and we did.

I want to add my personality is sort of high temp I don’t calm easily at all so that’s also why I picked hypnosis, and I had a very supportive Husband and my mother who were the greatest support team I also picked a hospital birth because A. cost B. because of medical problems that did arise in my last birth.

On May 31th 10am ish I lost my mucus plug and a few hours later the pressure waves started I was in the Hypnobabies mode so ready to do this but I knew it would be awhile so I decided to still go to work that night a 3-11pm shift. I was listening to my affirmations this whole time because it was very early stage labor well around 8ish they were getting strong enough I couldn’t concentrate and talk to guest ( I work at a hotel) through pressure waves so clocked out, my boss had let me borrow the Jacuzzi suite for free to labor in till the hospital. That night they kept getting longer and stronger and I was staying so very relaxed around midnight I was exhausted though so I decided to lie down even though pressure waves were uncomfortable I could sleep in-between well I fell asleep. I Woke up the next morning around 8am and jumped out of bed and realized they had gone away!! well it only took 20 min and they were back about 20 min apart but very very strong that lasted all day but instead of trying to get them going I decided to distract myself and keep life as it would be If they stuck they stuck if they leave baby just isn’t ready yet and that was okay, I was a little discouraged but I felt it was important baby come when he is ready. That night I went to sleep again but I would wake up for pressure waves and go on all fours and for about a minute and half but I was able to sleep very well. I woke up the next morning and they were about 10 min apart I hopped in the shower and all of a sudden they jumped to much much stronger I felt a wave of emotion go all over me and I knew this was it, I got out of the shower and my mom must have noticed my change in mood because she also said that this baby was coming today!

I had my head phones around 2ish I needed to concentrate a little more so what felt good was actually an assisted squatting position lying against my hubby so I could completely relax during pressure waves I personal liked to stay in center the majority of the timed because that’s just what felt most comfortable to me, I felt very relaxed and loved how I was so in tune to my body during pressure waves I honestly loved the experience of going inward and feeling my baby come to me understanding the tightening it was actually very beautiful

Around 5 I believe my pressure waved changed completely towards the end it would go longer but change to where it felt good to move from all 4s to squatting and I knew it was preparing me for transformation I could feel Aabel moving into position for this transformation stage and I knew he would be with me soon about 6pm transformation was in full swing and swaying on all 4s and aaahhing felt amazing but it was time to go to the hospital my mom felt it would be very soon and I did not have time to take a shower so I said a prayer and changed to the fear releasing track because I did a get a little anxiety but soon cleared ( my mom served as a doula of sorts and a wonderful mommy) going outside it was bright and it felt good to have a cool hand over my eyes and the cool wind on my face I would ahhh and umm during pressure waves and it was beautiful. We got in the car and it felt best to still have someone’s hand either on my cheek or over my eyes I sat in the front seat in an assisted squat with my feet on the dash felt best. Pressure waves were very very strong and close at this point I felt very relaxed in control.

Some of the pressure waves would be a lot stronger and intense then other and I would hum and sing amazing grace and the low tones helped keep me relaxed and the vibration eased my waved I would pray and thank god for giving me the strength and giving and such a wonderful blessing and holding my hand through this amazing experience.

We got to the hospital and after many stops and many hums and prayers we got to the elevator an extremely intense wave hit and this amazing nurse pops out and hold my hips together and says your here for a natural birth right and we said yes and she helped us to our rooms and was completely excited and supportive out our birth plans (later we found out my midwife had taught her techniques to help with waves).

we got to the room and she gave me time to find a comfortable position to monitor and we did she was so patient with me and gentle it was amazing after monitoring my midwife came and said how well relaxed I was and started the bath because I did want a waterbirth also.

First before the bath I had to use the potty, my water broke and at the same instance I was pushing, I said umm I’m pushing, midwife then said I’m not delivering this baby on the toilet can you try to get off well I tried to move and then I was pushing again and could not move so they moved me off the toilet and into a standing position which didn’t feel right ( the tub was not even close to half I went too fast for that.) so then I moved to all fours and that instantly didn’t feel good so then we moved to the bed and like all 4s side lying felt very wrong so then my midwife said to try an assisted squat because of how the baby was position she felt the baby would be out fast and most comfortable we found out that was right I had my mom and a nurse help hold my legs while my midwife did perineal massage and I held onto the top bars of the bed while I pushed and baby and in 3 pushed my beautiful He was born screaming breathing healthy boy 6lbs 6oz @ 8:25 pm 19.5 inches most amazing feeling in this world so beautiful so much love and it was an experience. I loved enjoyed and will always cherish it was my own

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