Birth Story of Andrew and William – Twins Hypnobabies Birth

Their birth story began on September 20 when I was 33 weeks pregnant
with the twins. At 2am I woke with pressure waves (PWs) that were
strong and intense and 10 minutes apart. Within 30 minutes, they were
5 minutes apart so we headed to the hospital. When we got there, they
checked my dilation and I was 4 cm and 75% effaced. Since it was so
early, they immediately started me on Terbutaline, antibiotics, and
steroid shots. The Terbutaline didn’t have any real effect on the
PWs, so they next started me on Magnesium Sulfate. At that point,
delivery seemed imminent. The local hospital doesn’t have the
facilities for babies prior to 35 weeks, so I was transferred by
ambulance to a hospital about 60 miles away.

I stayed on Magnesium Sulfate for 3 days and then they turned it off
to see if the labor would restart. I had PWs the whole time but they
weren’t “productive”. I stayed in the hospital 24 hours longer and
when I didn’t dilate any further, I went home. It took 2 weeks to
recuperate from the Mag-Sulfate so my mom stayed with me and cooked
for me.

On October 14, labor started again. This time I was 36 weeks. After 4
hours of PWs that were 5 minutes apart, we headed back to the
hospital. I dilated from 4 cm to 6 cm in the triage area within the
first 20 minutes. The standard procedure for delivering twins is in
the operating room (which I was okay with) so we headed straight
there. After 30 minutes or so I felt the intensity of the PWs die way
down. After spending 3 hours in the OR, I finally told the MW that I
didn’t think the PW were productive anymore. We headed to a regular
room to rest and see if the PWs picked up again. The next morning,
they were completely gone. We spent that day in the hospital, walking
the halls and seeing if we could get things going again. No luck.

At this point the OB was very reluctant to see me go home since I was
so dilated. We agreed to stay one more night and check again for
dilation in the morning. I was so tired from little sleep, walking
all day and the stress from being in the hospital again. My
confidence in my body was severely shaken with the starts and stops.
The OB on call that night came in to talk to us about doing an amnio
to check if the babies’ lungs were developed enough to induce labor.
I was so frazzled that I almost agreed. My DH was much steadier of
mind and reminded me that the babies should choose their own
birthday. There was no sign of distress in the babies and I was fine –
why induce at 36 weeks?

So the next morning, our favorite midwife (she also attended the
birth of our daughter) checked me and since there was no change,
discharged us.

We spent the next week getting stuff ready around the house. We are
also house-hunting since we are currently in a 2-bedroom condo with
soon-to-be 4 kids so we looked through some houses.

On the afternoon of October 21, while looking through the house that
we ultimately decided to buy, labor started again. We monitored the
PWs for a while, but then had the bloody show and very intense PWs.
So we headed in to the hospital – again. This time I was at 8 cm at
check-in (no triage this time). In about an hour I was at 9 cm and we
headed to the OR again. All this time I had been using my hypnosis
tools very effectively.

One thing was very different from my DD’s birth. This time, the OBs
really pushed the epidural. The anesthesiologist came in to talk to
me and try to convince me that epidurals are completely safe and that
I should get one “just in case”. I refused, stating that I was
consenting to deliver in the OR “just in case”. He was sure to let me
know that he would be right there in the OR if I changed my mind.

It’s odd, but the operating room is icy-cold! DH and our MW (the same
one again), made sure I had warm blankets and tried to warm me up.
Slowly I noticed that the PWs were getting less intense and spacing
further out. After an hour or so I didn’t need to focus to get
through the PWs. I asked the MW to start some pitocin at a low level,
just get things moving again. Every 30 minutes or so, they turned up
the pitocin. I would get a couple of good PWs each time it got turned
up, then they would taper all the way down again. I was getting
discouraged – I thought pitocin was a sure thing; it never occurred
to me that it would not give me hard, intense PWs!

I will never forget sitting on the operating table at midnight in a
freezing cold operating room, singing great 70’s and 80’s rock songs
with the MW and nurses, dilated to 9 cm, maxed out on pitocin, and
feeling nothing. We were playing “name that song/artist” and chatting
about life in general.

Finally, at around 12:30, I asked the MW to break Andrew’s bag of
water. Thing got really intense after that. The PWs were definitely
uncomfortable at that point, but I went back to using my hypnosis
tools and stayed very much in control. I felt every sensation as
Andrew made his way out. There was pressure outward on my hips as
Andrew pushed past William. Once Andrew was out, William began to
settle into place, staying head down. William was still floating in
his bag of water, and the bag didn’t break until I was pushing him
out. It almost felt like he got “washed” out when the water
released!

Andrew arrived at 1:00 am, October 22 and William followed at 1:28
am. It was a wild ride from the water breaking to William’s arrival.
The intense cold of the room made it very difficult to relax the way
I wanted. I birthed them both laying on my left side, but the nurse
had to pry my right leg up to allow the boys to come out because I
had my legs clamped together. There were only two things that I
remember hurting – moving that leg and having the heart monitor
touching my belly. Otherwise, it was a very satisfying experience. I
felt like I was on a high for a while after the birth, even though
our babies ended up in the NICU before I could hold them. They both
had 1 minute apgars of 8, but then had breathing problems at 4
minutes. They were both in my room with me within 12 hours, doing
great! Both immediately nursed, having nice big mouths and perfect
latches.

Both the MW and the nurses thanked me several times after the birth.
Apparently it is so rare that twins are birthed naturally and even
more so that the MW gets to catch both. I’m pretty convinced that I
would have had a c-section if I had gotten the epidural. With that
and the pitocin, I would have had failure to progress and the boys
heart rates may have suffered. I am so thankful to my supportive DH
and Hypnobabies. None of it would have been possible without them.
Three weeks later, I am tired but still feeling so powerful – amazing!

Andrew – 6lbs 11oz, 19 inches long
William – 6lbs 6 oz, 19 inches long

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Twin Hypnobabies Hospital Birth

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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Wonderful Twin Hypnobabies Birth Story – With Picture

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

So here is a little background…

 

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

 

 

The Preparation

 

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

 

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

 

The Big Day

 

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

 

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

 

 

Transformation

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

Mag

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Easy Vaginal Birth of Twin Girls.

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

So here is a little background…

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

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

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

Well that day (still the 22nd) I was having pressure waves that I could feel were making things move, I knew I was getting close. So around 6:00 pm my DH and I decided to head to the hospital and I got admitted right away to a L&D room, I was 5 cm at that point. They decided to just let my body do his work until the morning because Doc B was not on call that evening, which is exactly what I wanted anyway(I had visualized the birth coming on its own when the babies decided, and that’s what happened). BOP We had to deal with the anesthesiologist who really wanted me to have an epidural because Twin B (Sophia) was transverse/breech at that point(end BOP). My DH was really my advocate and while I was in my BOP he was the one making clear that this was not an option, we were so confident that Sophia would turn the right way when she would have the room… My DH kept telling the docs the babies will be born one after the other, you’ll see!

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

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

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

Well, I lost my concentration at that point because I knew I had to wait to be in the OR before pushing, so I breathed out and tried to not push, which is so hard… Finally we were in the room where I would welcome my babies, so I started to push and 2 min later Alexandra was there, breathing right away! They put the U/S probe on my belly to see how Sophia was and just as I visualized all those months she was vertex and ready to come! So I gave another push and there she was, breathing right away too! Just 3 minutes after her sister!

 

They both had an apgar score of 9/9, weighed 4# 4oz and measuring 16.5″. Tiny but super healthy and alert and so peaceful after the birth, you could really tell that they did not have much stress during the birth, all that thanks to Hypnobabies!! I cannot tell you the excitement in that room, everybody in there was amazed about this birth (and there were quite a few people in there!! About 10 all ready for an emergency that never came).

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

Doc A was sold, he said, “That’s it, I’m going to use hypnosis to lose weight” 🙂

 

I was the first vaginal twin birth for a lot of those folks in that OR room… and actually that day I was the only vaginal birth of the whole postpartum floor! Scary when you think of it!!

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

I just have to add that I chose to use Hypnobabies and make it work! Just like Kerry says in her article “why hypnosis works for some and not for others”. That is very important I think, choose to make it work and it will!
I tell everyone about how wonderful the birth of my girls was and my DH and I recommend Hypnobabies whenever we can, I love how my DH speaks about Hypnobabies, it’s just like if he had gone through it himself, adorable!! I’m so thankful to have such a great husband!!

Thank you again to all of you who supported me during these challenging times and thank you Kerry for making such a wonderful program! The only thing is that I loved it so much that I may want to use it again…

Mag

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Twins born by cesarean, mom still used Hypnobabies to help!

It’s been a month since my babies arrived. I have been a little sad about my hypno-journey being over, as I did not get to experience a natural birth, and that really disappoints me.  We do not plan to have more children.  It has been a little difficult for me to even look at the Hypnobabies yahoo group online. I get a little emotional seeing everyone having great birth experiences. I am happy for them, but feel left out. 😦

I definitely got to use my Hypnobabies training however. The anesthesiologist had a difficult time administering my spinal. After much time poking and prodding, I was beginning to feel the needle, so they had to give me another local and try some more. They did finally get it, but before they did I was mentally starting to freak out…but then I took control, put myself in hypnosis, (I kept saying “Release” to get me to go deeper.) I was able to relax until they got it. I guess the problem was my belly was so large, I couldn’t hunch over well enough for them.

For a while after c-section you’re obviously in discomfort. I used my peace cue countless times. One specific time was when my pain meds in the hospital were wearing off, and I was having some very intense gas pains. My stomach was moving so much it looked like there was still a baby in there! It was very weird to see, and no fun to feel. Much worse than the pressure waves w/ my first child. While the hypnosis didn’t make the pain go away, I was able to relax thru it until I could get my meds, and it made it bearable, as they were quite awful.

Even though I ended up with a scheduled c-section. I know Hypnobabies played a large part in me going to 38 weeks (I STILL was not dilated or effaced!!!) My diet was key, and the wonderful sleep I got was so invaluable! The course was worth every penny, even if I didn’t get to listen to those last tracks. My doctor suggested me to deliver at 37 weeks. My blood pressure was rising (not pre-e), and the fluid was virtually non-existent in the boy. I asked for another week, because of “wimpy white boy syndrome.” My husband and I really did not want our children going to the NICU if we could help it.  

My doctor agreed, but requested to see me twice the last week to do non-stress tests and BPPs. That week proved to be so important. Our boy ALMOST had to go to the NICU. My husband said while the nurse was working on him (pounding on his back, etc.) Someone asked, “Does he have to go?” The nurse responded, “I’m not sure yet.”

So had we delivered at 37 weeks, he probably would have gone, and that would have been devastating to me. Hypnobabies gave me the confidence to challenge respectfully w/ good reasons to back my decision up. And really, my OB had no problems w/ my decision.

The reason for my c/s was I had breech/breech twins, and there were no providers in our area willing to deliver a breech Baby A. I had the best possible c/s though. No arms tied down. No separation from babies. Babies had their bath in the recovery room. I held the babies as I was being wheeled back to recovery, and they breastfed as soon as we got there!

I so wish I had known about Hypnobabies for my first, because I KNOW I could have done it. I could have done it with the breech/breech twins given the opportunity, I have no doubt.  But, I will keep saying my life’s motto: Control what you can…let go what you can’t.

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