Brenna Corrine's birth story
I practiced Hypnobabies every day, although I admit I usually fell asleep during the scripts and I was so-so on practicing my finger drops. I did the birthing day visualization faithfully starting at 38 weeks, sometimes 2-3 times a day. I visualized a 10 hour birth, about 30 minutes of pushing, and being comfortable. That's not exactly how it went, but Hypnobabies definitely helped me be successful when all was not as I had "planned".
I woke up Sunday, 20 May, at 3:30 with pressure waves that were clearly
different from the Braxton-Hicks I'd been having. By 4:30 I was pretty sure
this was the day, and sure enough, started losing my mucous plug when I went
to the bathroom. I listened to the visualization script again, and got
comfortable. I let my husband know when I woke up, and he set himself up to
do whatever I needed. He brought me RRL tea ice cubes I'd made to suck on,
brought me juice, water, soup, put cool cloths on my head, etc. I had found
some accupuncture techniques for dealing with discomfort during labor, and
as the pressure waves got more intense, he jumped right in and started
applying those, which really helped. I walked, rested, changed position (by
late afternoon, hands and knees was the best position for me), and sat on my
birth ball.
By 6:30 pm, the waves had been coming at 5 minutes apart, lasting a minute
for a couple of hours, so we went in. I was only 50% effaced and 1 cm.
Hypnobabies definitely helped me get through all of this, but I cannot say I
was able to direct anesthesia or that I was comfortable, however, I was
satisfied that my preparation was allowing me to get through this. While we
were at the hospital, I had a couple of waves that were uncomfortable enough
they made me throw up. We went home, stopping to get something to drink,
which I threw up before we made it home.
For the next 4-5 hours, I continued to use Hypnobabies and my husband
continued to apply accupressure to get me through the waves and the
vomiting. By 12:30 am, I felt I needed to be reassessed, and at least get
an IV to replenish the fluids I could not keep down. We went back in, and I
was still 50% effaced and 1 cm. They kept us for a little while, and
decided to admit us because they felt there may have been dips in the baby's
heartrate. Since these generally occurred when I was handling a contraction
on my hands and knees, my husband and I were unconcerned but grateful they
were admitting us. By 7:30 am, the male midwife I have been seeing came on
duty and checked me and I was 7 cm and 100% effaced. Progress at last.
My husband was still heroically seeing to my every need, with cold cloths,
accupressure, and reminders to "Relax" and "Breathe". I was still using
every card in the Hypnobabies deck to remain unmedicated. By about
11:30-12:00 (noon) I was 8.5-9 cm, and they started pitocin at some point to
help intensify the waves. I was still throwing up occasionally, and the
waves were coming pretty hard, although they weren't consistently getting
closer together. By 3:30 I was still 8.5-9 cm, and the discomfort was
wearing me out. I felt I might be able to get to 10 cm if I could have a
break, and so asked for an epidural.
I got the epidural at 5:17, and the next time they checked me, I was
complete. Started pushing, and although the midwife said the baby had
plenty of room in the pelvis, she was just not coming down very fast.
Progress was slow. After 2.5 hours of pushing, the OB on duty came to let
me know I had 1/2 hour to get her out or we'd be talking about surgical
options--forceps, vacuum, or C-section. I was by this time running a slight
fever, and the baby's heart rate was elevated. (I feel the fever was just
due to the epidural and all the hard work)
My husband and I discussed it, and decided since I felt fine now that the
discomfort had been turned off, and her heart rate wasn't dipping at all
during contractions, we were going to refuse surgical interventions. So,
the midwife supported my decision and we kept on pushing for another
2.5 hours, and she was born at 11:29 pm on her guess date, 7lbs, 14 oz, 19.5
inches long, with a beautiful head of dark hair.
It took another while to deliver the placenta, the midwife ended up having
to "go in after it", for some reason everything about this birth took
forever. I don't know if it was because I'm 36 and have never been pregnant
before or what, I'm in good shape, so it surprised me, but this experience
taught me that even if seemingly everything goes against your "plan", you
can still have a great birth experience.
I didn't want to get an epidural, but after so many hours of dealing with
discomfort on a fairly high level, I knew it was the right thing to do, and
it did produce the results I wanted. It was a great epidural, too, I was
able to get up on my hands and knees, I was able to feel her moving down, I
felt everything, just without the intense discomfort I would have otherwise
felt. I'm not sure why I couldn't direct anesthesia on my own, but I have
no feelings of sadness or remorse.
I think it was a great birth, considering how long it was, and Hypnobabies
helped me get all the way to 37 or 38 hours into the birth and 8.5-9 cm
before I felt I needed relief to help me finish dilating. The birth of my
daughter was incredibly empowering, she latched right on after birth and had
her first meal, and she and I are both very healthy. Hypnobabies definitely
helped me have a wonderful, positive birth experience.
Valerie