Our cleaning lady didn’t show on Thursday – not sure why. So, my
house was a bit of a mess. I was feeling kind of crampy and tired on
Friday, so I stayed home from work. Nesting kicked in full force – I
cleaned the kitchen. Including the revolving spice rack and the
cabinet doors.
Later that evening, pressure waves started and were 10-12 minutes
apart. They weren’t coming any closer together, so I went to bed and
tried to get some sleep, which didn’t really happen.
At 7am on Saturday, I got up. Timed pressure waves again and they
were 5-7 minutes apart. I ate breakfast, made Morgan some french
toast and called my doula. Brian called his mom to come take
Morgan. I was initially feeling like the Hypnobabies program wasn’t
working, until I talked to Jean (my doula) and she remarked how calm
I sounded.
She showed up about an hour after I called her (9:30am or so). We
labored at home until waves were 2-3 minutes apart – 11:30am. They
never increased in intensity – I felt them as pressure/tightening
sensations.
When we got to the hospital, the receptionist took her time getting
us to a triage room. And the nurse took her time getting to us as
well. I felt slightly nauseous at this point, but it quickly
passed. The nurse checked me and I was at 8cm.
They hooked me up to the fetal monitoring and moved me to a real
room. Since I was a VBAC and already over 5cm, they wouldn’t let me
off the monitors, which was a bummer. I could still move around
some, but the cords got in the way and they were a bit uncomfortable.
I labored for probably another hour or so and then felt “pushy”. I
had a forebag of waters that still hadn’t broke, so they manually
ruptured that and let me start figuring out pushing. This stage was
the only time I would describe as “painful” for me. It tooke me a
while to figure out, but once I did, it happened quickly!
I pushed for probably 2 hours and was just getting soooo tired. My
doula & Brian were awesome during this whole time. Jean had me try
leaning over the squatting bar on the bed and then things really
started moving. Jake was crowning and it was just the three of us in
the room. The nurse walked in and said I was going to have to change
postions (yeah right!!). She walked out to get everyone else since
he was so close to coming. Well, my body took over and Jake’s head
was out by the time she walked back in – Jean was supporting that.
One of the nurses actually caught him. By the time my OB walked in,
he was out.
He was a compound presentation – hand up by his face. So, I did end
up with a 2nd degree tear (ouch!), but it all went very well. The
nurses were all amazed at how round his head was – no cone head at
all. And they were all pretty amazed that I did it all with no
meds. I have had some ibuprofin since delivery.
Recovery has been 110% easier this time around. I feel sooo great
compared to how it was with Morgan. Nursing has gone well also.
I will admit I was a bit of a slacker during my practice of
Hypnobabies as well. I listened to my scripts at night and did good
at that part, but didn’t practice my fingerdrops nearly as much as
recommended. When the time came, I didn’t even consciously put
myself into hypnosis. But, it worked for me! We’re pretty sure our
family is complete now, but if we were to have another baby, I’d
totally use Hypnobabies again!
Kelly
Hypnobabies® Childbirth Hypnosis 