Sophie’s Beautiful Birth

I loved reading this birth story about Sophie’s birth.

Our class was very positive, informative, and especially empowering.  Hypnobabies equips mom and dad withtonnes of knowledge about pregnancy and birth so they can make good decisions and the cd’s and hypnosis toolshelped to calm me both leading up to and during the birth.

The amazing part of all this is that when I first met Jenn my fear was taking over.  As I look back on our birth experience I now realize that not once did I feel a single moment of fear.  It was intense and challenging, but never fear inducing.  And I can say that our experience was very positive despite a few changes in our plan.

Click here to read the whole story.

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Hypnobabies Mom uses hypnosis to lower her heart rate, during a stressful ‘change of birth plans’.

This mom had a great beginning of her birth.

We went up to the room and they hooked me up to the machines to monitor the contractions and the baby’s heart rate. I continued to relax through what were apparently pretty intense contractions. Evan said the nurse kept looking at me in amazement as the contractions spiked and I just sat there quietly, breathing. The doctor came in at 8:15 to check me and see if the contractions were productive. He popped his head up and said to me “Are you ready to have a baby today?? You’re 8 centimeters dilated!” and I think I seriously got the chills I was so surprised. IT WAS HAPPENING. I had heard and read so many stories of women going through this hardest part of labor, as you get closer to 10cm. Somehow I was there and was doing just fine. At this point I thought “Wow, I’m seriously going to do this!!!” and was so excited that Hypnobabies actually was working for me. Even without any sleep the night before, I felt full of energy and also really relaxed. The doctor said he would come back in an hour and check again.

Then a surprise breech baby at 10cm created a scenario where she had to have a cesarean.  It was a shock, but she was able to use her Hypnobabies to help stay calm.

Read her story and see her beautiful pictures here.

Congratulations on your sweet baby girl!

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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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Hypnobabies Mom sleeps through some pressure waves right up until baby is born!

Baby Annaleah Nancy was born Thursday May 10th, 2012 at 5:38am. She is
absolutely perfect, weighing 7lbs 10oz at birth, and  20in  long. Our
doctor even called her, “the perfect specimen”. She is a truly beautiful
baby, with dark brown hair and blue eyes, and was totally worth the 25
hours of birthing time it took for her to arrive.

My pressure waves started Wednesday May 9th at 4:30am. They started out
strong and fast, 2-3 minutes apart, at a minute long! They did slow down
after the first few, but stayed mostly at 2-5minutes apart the entire
time. I had very few that were a bit longer. So it was definitely
tiring.

The first 12 hours were amazing. I used the Hypnobabies techniques, and
they worked. I went into my doctor’s appointment at 11:30am Wednesday,
smiled and said, “I think baby is on the way.” She checked and I was 3cm
and 80% effaced. She suggested we go home, have lunch, and go to the
hospital. I’d wanted to wait to be further along, but with testing gbs
positive, also wanted to be sure I had enough time for antibiotics.

We got to the hospital at 2:30pm. So far, I still felt great. I was
talking and smiling through every pressure wave. The nurses kept looking
at the monitor, and asking, “Don’t you feel that?” They also told me
that when my doctor called to tell them we were coming in, she told
them, I’d probably seem like nothing was happening because I’m usually
pretty calm and quiet.

Shortly after we arrived, one of the nurses checked my progress. She
estimated me to be at 7cm already!  It felt amazing to hear I’d gone so
far, and had not even the slightest bit of discomfort. Unfortunately, my
doctor arrived shortly after, and a bit later, had to reluctantly tell
us I was not at 7cm, but at 4cm.

That set me back a bit. I’d been really calm and relaxed, and feeling
positive about everything. Suddenly I felt how slow things were going. I
started feeling more of the waves now too. I did manage to get
refocused, but it was hard after that to be as positive as I had been.

(editors note – this is a good example of why sometimes it is better not to find out how dilated you are.)

I was comfortable most of the night, though I had to spend way too much
time on the monitor, because baby girl kept moving. We walked the halls
some, slow danced, and I spent some time on the ball to try to get
things moving. Sometime in the night I started having some back
pressure. At that point I started using the shower. It actually helped a
lot. I wish our shower at home was that nice!  Mostly I tried to stay
relaxed and patient. I knew baby would come in her own time.

Around 3:30am Thursday, I lost my mucus plug. I was now at 7cm. Starting
at this point, my waves became very powerful and intense. I also started
having uncontrollable shaking, which lasted until after baby’s birth. I
kept repeating to myself that, “the stronger and more powerful my
pressure waves feel, the closer I am to holding our baby girl.” It
worked, as despite the intensity I managed to be able to sleep through
some waves right up until it was time for baby to be born.

About an hour later, maybe a bit less, my water broke. I was still at 7,
but progressed very quickly. I had a sudden intense urge to push in less
than half an hour. In fact, my body started trying to push on it’s own.
So they checked me again, and I was between 8 and 9 cm, but still had a
water bag.  My water had definitely broken, so this was strange. They
called for my doctor because regardless, things were going quick now!

A few minutes later, my doctor got to the room. She checked, and there
was a second bag of completely intact waters. She asked if I felt like I
could push with my next pressure wave. I told her, “I’ve been trying not
to push for the last half hour!” So on the next one, I pushed and my
second bag of waters broke with an explosive gush.

I felt baby’s head drop immediately, and was told to keep pushing.  I
used the ah breathing techniques in the Hypnobabies course to push. I
could hear one nurse telling me to hold my breath and push, but I just
stayed in my bubble of peace and kept doing what I knew was right for me
and baby. Our doctor never once gave me “how to” instructions. She
patiently sat on the edge of the bed, and stayed positive and
encouraging for us.  I did make some yelling sounds with pushing, which
surprised me. I’m usually very quiet, but it felt good to make a bit of
noise. After a few pushes, I tearfully declared I couldn’t do it because
I was too tired and wanted to sleep. My doctor knew just how to motivate
me though. She suggested I reach down and feel baby’s head, which was
crowning. So I did, and that was enough to give me that last bit of
energy needed. I said, “Come on out now baby girl”, then  I moved from
my side to a more upright, not quite a full squat position. I wanted to
be able to see her be born, and have gravity working for us as well. In
just a few pushes more her head was out. I moved one leg the slightest bit, and out slid our baby
girl.  She had a perfect shaped head, and wasn’t the least bit wrinkled.
Along with two bags of waters, she’d had a larger than normal placenta
to work with.

I will never forget what it was like to both feel and see her being
born, or how it felt to first hold her in my arms. The way she looked at
me and her Daddy so lovingly, is permanently etched in my mind. She
didn’t cry at all. She just looked around the room and smiled. Her Daddy
touched her hand, and she immediately grabbed onto his finger. It was
the most intense, most powerful, most beautiful experience of our lives.

I experienced so many powerful feelings and emotions during my birthing
time. I laughed, I cried, I sang, I even yelled a bit. Each one felt
good. By the end, I was exhausted. I’d had 25 hours of frequent, fairly
intense pressure waves. I am so thankful we decided to take the
Hypnobabies course. It really did help me to get through such a long
birthing time in an overall easy and comfortable way.

I remember telling Jeff, as I pushed her out, that this might be our
only baby. Truth is, I changed my mind about that the minute she was
born. I will never forget the way she looked at me, so happy, loving,
and peaceful. That alone made it all worth while. If we do have another,
we will be using Hypnobabies for that birth as well.

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Tabitha’s Birth

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

So, I have been a member of this group, albeit somewhat in the background, for some months now. I haven’t posted any questions, mainly because everything I ever needed to know (and more!) was covered through other questions. I have really enjoyed reading all the questions and responses though, and thought I would share my story.

Tabitha was born 2 weeks late, on 1st December – I was scheduled for an induction at 12 days over, but when I went along they said I could leave it a couple more days if I wanted to. I really didn’t want to be induced and Tabitha was very happy where she was, so I jumped at the chance. I was told that 14 days over was really as long as they would recommend me waiting though, so booked me in for an induction at 14 days over.

 

Tabitha obviously decided that she didn’t want to be induced either, as my waters broke the night before the induction. I was really excited, as I had planned to give birth in a birth centre rather than in hospital. I called the birth centre, and they advised me to take two paracetamol and go to bed, as the chance of anything happening that night was very slim. About ten minutes later, my contractions started – there was no gentle build up, they were full strength from the word go! I have to be honest, this did make it difficult for me to use the techniques I had learned through the Hypnobabies course. I will say though that if my breathing was slow and controlled, and I was focussed when a pressure wave hit, I could breathe through it. If I lost focus and wasn’t ready, it was a lot harder.

My waters had broken at around 10.30pm, and by 4am I told my partner to call the birth centre again. They were still dubious that I should go in, but left the decision up to me. I decided not to go in, as the idea of going in and being sent home was pretty awful! By 6am, they phoned back again and said that seeing as my induction was scheduled for 7.30am, I may as well go to the birth centre and be assessed, just in case I could give birth there. They warned me that chances were I would be sent off to the hospital for the induction as planned, but by this stage, I was pretty sure that I was in full-blown labour, so we got in the car and went to the birth centre.

 

They were pretty surprised and I was infinitely relieved when they examined me and found I was 6cm dilated! They took me to a room, gave me the gas and air and started filling the pool. It was changeover time, and the new mid-wife arrived about 7.15 am, and I told her that I was feeling like I needed to push, which worried me as I knew it was too early to be pushing. She examined me and said that I was fully dilated, so I got in the pool and the pushing part got underway.  I had learned so much from Hypnobabies and was concentrating hard on my body and on moving the baby. The line about not being afraid no matter how much power was moving through my body was something I focussed on – little things like this were so helpful too me, as otherwise I think the whole power of the experience could have been a little overwhelming. It was all very calm, although very intense! The experience of being in the pool with my partner was one that I wouldn’t have wanted to miss for the world – absolutely incredible.

Once the head was out came the most amazing part of the whole experience – that final push when the body came out and everything just stopped. They put her on my chest and it was the most incredible moment of my entire life. She was and is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

To sum it all up, I am very glad that I got the opportunity to have a natural birth, and that I chose the Hypnobabies home study course to prepare for it. The mid-wife told me that she was amazed that it was my first baby, as I seemed so in tune with my body and just seemed to know what to do. I put this down to my Hypnobabies training. The course also helped me to relax throughout my pregnancy – I hadn’t realised how stressed out I was until I started listening to the tracks and found it very hard to slow my breathing! But the main thing that I got from the course was being able to look forward to giving birth. I had been scared of it and seen it just as something that had to be endured, and the Hypnobabies training made me see it as an incredible experience – which it was. My partner and I now have this bond that we didn’t have before, and Tabitha was born calmly and peacefully. Even though I didn’t listen to the tracks whilst in labour, the course fully prepared me for the birth, and I believe that the visualisations in the tracks helped my body move quickly through the latent stage of labour.

All in all I am very happy with my birth experience and smitten with my gorgeous daughter.

Best wishes to you all

Melissa x

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I felt very proud and accomplished when Noloan came into this world.

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

During my 39th week of pregnancy, I began having rhythmic Braxton hicks. I started eating pineapple, spicy foods, walking, pregnancy tea (with red raspberry leaves), and taking evening primrose oil to induce labor. Since July, I’ve practiced Hypnobabies hypnosis to prepare for Nolan’s birthing day. At 12:20am on Saturday, October 22 (my edd) I began having mild, real pressure waves. I had about 2-3 per hour, but nothing rhythmic. At 11am I had my bloody show. I went about my daily chores, enjoyed time with my husband and went on a late night walk. I didn’t realize how soon my life would change as I kissed my husband goodnight shortly after midnight on the morning of the 23rd.

I woke up at 2am to pressure waves that I had to breathe my anesthesia to manage, but tried to go back to sleep. At 3:30am I started timing the pressure waves and they varied in length from 4 to 7 minutes apart. At this point I could no longer sleep, I could only focus on getting through each pressure wave. My husband awoke at 4am to my loud breathing. We laid in bed timing pressure waves wondering if this was it. At 5 am I moved from the bed to the couch. My husband made coffee; I ate a banana as I contemplated calling the midwife. At 5:30am I called the midwife, I told her my pressure waves were 4-7 minutes apart. My midwife was at the hospital assisting another woman push, she seemed distracted while on the phone with me. After listening to a pressure wave of mine, she thought I should get in the tub and relax until my pressure waves became more regular. My midwife thought I was in early, not active labor. My husband decided it was time to gather last minute odds and ends for the hospital bag.

Shortly after the call, my pressure waves came 1-2 minutes apart. I felt pressure waves come on top of one another not offering any relief.  I started loudly vocalizing during the pressure waves.  At 6am I had my husband call the midwife back and let her know how soon my pressure waves were apart. She decided it was time to head to the hospital. My husband finished packing and I decided to go the bathroom before the 45 minute ride to New Orleans. I had my second bloody show. I wondered if I was in transition and started feeling pushing sensations.

My husband attempted to put my shoes on my feet, but my pressure waves were so intense I couldn’t focus long enough to put them on, so I left the house with just my socks. I hopped into the car and I had a hard time getting comfortable. I could only lean on my left side, any pressure on my bottom was too intense to handle.

The trip to the hospital felt like it was out of a movie; my husband drove 95mph on the interstate. Once in the city, he ran several red lights to expedite the trip. My pressure waves eased up on during the ride, I thought my labor was stalling. We arrived at the hospital at 6:45am. My husband parked in the parking garage with his hazard lights on and assisted me to the labor ward. On the way to the unit, I had to stop several times in the hallway, lean up against a wall, and breathe through pressure waves. Hospital staff offered to get me a wheelchair, I tried to sit in the chair, but the pressure on my bottom was too great.

I got checked in and walked myself to the labor room. I changed into a gown and received my first cervical check. I was told I was fully dilated and ready to push! I couldn’t believe what the nurse said; I had her repeat herself thinking I was only 4cm or so. I wanted a water birth, I even had a birth tub rented, but I was so far along I didn’t have time to use the tub.

My midwife told me I could start pushing at any time. However, My husband had to park the car and my mom was not at the hospital yet, so I continued ignoring the push sensation. At 7:30am my husband finished parking the car and my mom arrived shortly after, I then felt ready to start pushing. The midwife told me she would break my water and realized it recently broke on its own. She noticed some meconium in the water and informed me that I’d have to have the cord cut right away. I began pushing and attempted first on my left side; the midwife offered to hold my leg up. I felt so much pressure all over my body I could not stand to be touched, anytime someone offered, I’d snap back at them, “No!”

I ended up pushing in a position with my back reclined and my knees bent. It took me a while to feel comfortable pushing. I ignored the feeling for so long, it took some time for my body to release into the sensation. My midwife offered me perineum support as the head was crowning.  At 9:48am, Nolan Blaze entered the world crying and flailing. Nolan was placed on my chest and his cord was cut by my husband immediately afterward. Whenever I visualized the birth I imagined I would cry when I first saw Nolan, however, I had a different response. I felt very proud and accomplished when he came into this world.

I was brought a roasted chicken lunch and slowly ate as my family held Nolan. In the middle of eating, I was moved to a recovery room where I finished my lunch and began breastfeeding. Nolan latched well and ate for 25 minutes during my first attempt. The rest of the day was spent holding and feeding Nolan.

The next morning my midwife who delivered Nolan called and asked how I was doing. She let me know she was really impressed with how I handled the situation and that I had the type of birth most of her clients desired and wanted to know my secret. I let her know that the hypnosis relaxation techniques helped me cope with the discomfort. She informed me that the other midwife would stop by and if I looked good, I could go home! The baby and I were checked out and we only had to spend one night in the hospital.

What worked most for me were the relaxation techniques, positive thoughts, and breathing my anesthesia to where I needed it most. I highly recommend the Hypnobabies program.

Nolan
October 23, 2011 at 9:48am
8lbs 3.5oz
20-1/4″ long

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Hypnobabies Mom Goes from Complete Skepticism to Total Advocate After Giving Birth!”

When I signed up for my Hypnobabies class I had fairly low expectations – I just wanted to get through the birth of my baby without having a panic attack. The pain-free birth experience presented in the Hypnobabies testimonials – an experience which I was supposed to enjoy instead of just survive – sounded too much like an infomercial pitch to be true.

But when she shows up at the Birth Center ready to push, she becomes a believer.

This is a must read birth story.  Click here to read Nicole’s birth which made her say, “Thank you, Hypnobabies, for giving me the skills to have such a wonderful and empowering birth experience. You have earned a set of life-long advocates in my husband and myself!”

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Her doctor told her “it was the best birth he had ever witnessed” ~ Hypnobabies birth story told by first-time hypno-doula

Jenna and Chris contacted me while they were still living in Boston. They were planning the move to Birmingham (for Chris’ residency at UAB) and were wanting to go ahead and interview a doula for their upcoming birth. Thankfully, they hired me and the waiting began. Jenna also decided that she wanted to do aHypnobabies birth. I went to their last class (taught by fellow doula, Kaleigh Naylor) so that I could learn how support them in that effort (since I was new to Hypnobabies). It all seemed pretty interesting and I was excited to see it in action. **there is a lot of “reframing” in Hypnobabies, so in honor of that, I will refer to contractions as pressure waves (pw’s) for this birth story** 😉

Click here to read the rest of the story.

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First-Time Mom says, it was a “Perfect Birthday for Our Sweet Liliana”

The Birth Story of Liliana

Well I should begin by saying that due to the fact that my mom had all of her (6) children at least one-two weeks overdue, I was assuming that this my first baby would be as overdue! Thus, despite being very close to my guess date I had no anxiety about wanting our little one to hurry up and be born, but instead was finding it quite easy to be “lovingly patient” as I had heard every day on the Hypnobabies tracks! My husband and I live in Australia, despite being from Canada/USA and thus were super excited to welcome my mom and little sister to Melbourne when I was 39 weeks 3 days. On the night of 39 weeks 5 days, we went to one of my husband’s basketball games which was very intense. I was experiencing super strong braxton hicks throughout the game, but attributed it to the intensity of the game! I had been having lots of braxton hicks anyhow since about 36 weeks, and so thought nothing of it.

I woke up at 5:00 am on the dot the next day with pressure waves that felt slightly different to the braxton hicks, as they wrapped around my back. Immediately upon awakening I knew that I wouldn’t be able to sleep through these ones, so I told my husband that I couldn’t sleep and was going to have a cup of tea (I didn’t want to raise a false alarm!). I got up and lay on my left side on the couch with my tea. I read through some birth stories and watched my favorite birth videos on YouTube. I also talked to our little girl and told her that if she wanted to be born today it was ok, that she was very safe and we were going to be a good team. I started to time the pressure waves and they were 5-8 minutes apart and lasting 30-45 seconds.  I practiced my finger drop, as well as listened to the deepening hypnosis CD and the hypnotic childbirth 1 and 2 CDs. This continued until about 8:30. During that time I also had a shower, and watched the most gorgeous sunrise reveal a beautiful clear blue sky. I knew it was a perfect day for a birthday!

I woke up my husband at 8:30, telling him that he probably wasn’t playing his final basketball game that day, because we might be meeting our baby. Then I told him to keep sleeping as I was doing fine J A few minutes later he emerged, commenting that it was a little hard to go back to sleep after something like that! We called my mom and told her that my husband would come get her and my little sister, but of course not to get their hopes up; it might not be the real thing! However, at this point I preferred to move through my pressure waves and was listening to the birthing day affirmations, switching with easy first stage, pressure waves were staying consistent and some were lasting up to 55 seconds.

At about 10:00 I started to make brownies to bring to our midwives but I never got to frosting them because I quickly lost all interest in my brownie project and really could care less! Also, around this time I lost part of my mucous plug. Things seemed more and more real!

Things continued like this until 3:00 pm. Pressure waves got longer and more intense. Never at any point did they feel unmanageable, and I felt totally peaceful and safe. My dearest husband was just THERE for anything. I was very active, moving from the fit ball, to all fours, to swaying in his arms, to standing and rocking.  I had placed myself in center very early in the day though. It seemed like no time at all until my pressure waves were consistently 3 minutes apart and lasting 1 minute, and I think it was at this point that I started sighing through them very lightly. We decided to call the birth center and give them a heads up that we may be in within the next hour or so, and they were shocked by how calm both my husband and I were considering how close together the pressure waves were!

Things started changing. I was feeling a lot of pressure in my bottom and I was also starting to feel tired. We decided I’d try lying on my side while my husband got together our last minute things. Lying down didn’t feel very good, and the pressure was continuing. So, we decided to go, it was close to 3:00 pm. I felt totally calm, and while intense the pressure waves felt totally manageable, and I think it was because I was so trusting of my body’s ability to do what it knew how to do. I felt no concern to evaluate what I was experiencing, or control it. Also, I found myself smiling after every wave, I felt so hopeful!

Even though we live a 5 minute drive from the hospital I had a pressure wave in the car and another in the parking lot! Amazingly, we were still calm entering the birth center and the midwives seemed surprised. They have a policy of not checking progress for a while, so I didn’t need to worry about that, and they just got us settled into a room. Things get a little fuzzy here. I was still totally active: standing, on the ball, or on all fours. I felt immense pressure in my bottom and kept trying to go the bathroom. You would have thought I’d figure out there was nothing there!  I remember feeling that this wasn’t really very fun anymore and that I was very tired. Later my mom told me that she knew things were getting serious, as pressure waves were about 2 minutes apart and 90 seconds long. I hadn’t stopped moving the entire birthing time, so my husband and mom strongly encouraged me to lie down. Laying there on my left side I went through what I now know was transformation. I was shaking almost uncontrollably; my husband was using the peace cue and stroking my head lightly while my mom was applying a gloriously warm rice pack to my back. I counted backwards from ten in my head over and over, as well as visualized myself in a boat with no oars riding the waves up and down. I was still only lightly sighing through the pressure waves and felt calm.

All of a sudden I had huge amounts of rest time in between the pressure waves. I just kept my eyes closed and enjoyed my husband stroking my head and my mom rubbing my back. A little while later there was this “oh my goodness” physical push that had nothing to do with my mind and everything to do with my body just doing its thing. That involuntarily pushing continued for 3 more pressure waves, and when the midwife finally arrived, my water burst with what felt like a tremendous force. She quickly scurried out of the room to get the warm things for the baby (EXCLAMATION POINTS WENT OFF IN MY HEAD WHEN I HEARD THAT!), and when she came back asked if I’d like to move to a different position. We moved me to a kneeling position, leaning over the back of the bed. I will admit, at this point I felt a little panicky…and I expressed verbally that I felt frightened. I think saying it out loud allowed me to address that I felt afraid and then perhaps move forward from the fear. I was consistently reminding myself that the more relaxed I remained the easier it would be for my body to work. I was amazed how easy it was to convince myself to relax.

Pushing was not hard for me at all, in the sense that it came very naturally to me and my body was working so powerfully. Also, I had so effectively breathed our baby down through the pressure waves that I really only started pushing involuntarily when her head was literally right there. I will never forget how happy I felt when someone said, “Your baby has hair!” At the same time, I totally underestimated how hard work it was! I was sooo sweaty hot, and I kept asking if I was doing anything. Everyone kept saying, “oh yes, you are doing something!” My husband was there, kissing my head, holding my hand, and just being someone to look at when I was feeling overwhelmed. He was an incredible rock.

The midwife (who was applying wonderful hot compresses!) said that in a few minutes she’d let me know to switch to short breath pushes. However, I got it in my mind that I was all in and bore down powerfully. Out SHOT her head. The moment her head popped out was probably the most vocal I got because I was so shocked! I gave a little yell. Then, before I knew it her shoulders were out and then her body…and all I had to do was breath. In that moment, I forgot everything and immediately just wanted to hold our baby. I don’t remember, but apparently I was saying, “Hi baby, I’m your mama, I’m your mama!” Those were the words I’d uttered to her so many times as I practiced Hypnobabies and met her in our special safe place. It was perfect, I cannot describe the relief. I was bloody, exposed, sweaty, flabby…and I didn’t care! I was in my husbands arms and my arms cradled our baby. Everything else was forgotten.

Three things:

Firstly, the last 3 or so weeks of my pregnancy I’d visualized my birth and in it I awoke with pressure waves early in the morning so that I could labor in the quiet and dark for a while, arrived at the birth center 7 or 8 centimeters dilated, and had our baby before 8 pm. In real life, I awoke at 5:00 am with pressure waves, labored at home for ten hours, arriving at the birth center only three hours before our baby was born. I never had a single internal exam because I progressed so steadily and our baby was right there when my body started pushing. I only pushed for 45 minutes. By 8 pm I had birthed our beautiful baby and was enjoying a glass of champagne! It was simply incredible.

Secondly: I took the posterior challenge very seriously and spent weeks ensuring that our little one was anterior. This meant hardly ever reclining and lots of hands and knees time but it was SO WORTH IT!

Thirdly,  the biggest thing Hypnobabies gave me was the mental conditioning to allow my body to do what it knew how to do and to be unafraid. Moreover, it taught me how to relax so effectively, and direct that relaxation through breathing, that I almost didn’t need to actively use the tools as it came naturally to me after so many months of practice. I fully believe that my body worked so efficiently because I knew how to take my mind out of the process and surrender control through relaxation.

I am looking forward to using Hypnobabies if we are so blessed to have more than one child! I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect birthday for our sweet Liliana.

~Emily

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My [First Baby’s] Birth Changed My Life. It Changed Me in a Way that I Never Imagined . . .

I’m so excited to share this part of my journey! My first birth was just the birth that I had wanted and envisioned. Completely natural, no medications, no I.V., not one intervention. I thank my amazing husband, our wonderful doula, and our kind, knowledgeable midwife for this amazing experience.

The night of our first Hypnobabies class, Travis and I headed out to Rexburg, in the sun of the evening. Classes were at Kelly’s house, and I’ll admit, I was a little nervous. This was a whole new experience for me! In meeting Kelly, all of my fears were washed away, she was kind, and knowledgeable, light-hearted and warm. There were 3 other families also taking the class. I quickly found that Hypnobabies was much more than self hypnosis for childbirth, it was actually a class! There was a wealth of information, and lots of homework! After receiving our work books, and going through the materials for the first lesson, we had our first hypnosis session. This was a session that Dads also did with us. On the way home, Travis told me this was the perfect fit for me, and that it was going to work so well! This was so encouraging! My husband was in full support, and truly, without him, it would have been a struggle.

I started listening to the tracks and doing my studies. I absolutely LOVED the pregnancy affirmations every day. I would listen each day as I was getting ready, what a great way to start my day. I also really loved my time in hypnosis, I was so calm and relaxed. It was a great time for Travis and I to bond, and really prepare for our baby. I, being my typical over-achiever self completely embraced the studies. We would all laugh in class, because I was the mom who brought her own little sticky tabs and highlighters. You should see my work book. I think I’m leaving those stickies in there as long as I can. It’s so funny.

Hypnobabies is also more than just hypnosis. It was an eye opener. It was a confidence builder.

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