When I got pregnant with #3 I knew I wanted my birthing experience to be different. I knew my body had the power to birth without interventions, but I lacked the knowledge and confidence to allow it to happen. My cousin introduced me to Hynobirthing. After researching and reading message boards I decided Hypnobabies was the program for me! I began my Hypnobabies CD’s at 18 weeks. I listened to each track religiously at bedtime and almost always feel asleep. I was reassured time and again that I just needed to keep listening and all would be fine. I was nearly over flowing with anticipation for my classes to begin! Once they did, I began practicing my light switch, but not as often as recommended. My husband, David, and I practiced the scripts and I enjoyed the bonding time with him. I really liked the 5-minute one-way conversations we had too. It was really important for me to have him be my “coach” and I was able to express that during this exercise. After the final class I felt prepared for my birthing day. Confident in my body and myself. When everyone around me was talking about inductions, c-sections, etc… I was content to let my body do everything in its own time. (Well, as you’ll read below I did a couple things to encourage my body…) J
The week before my guess date I started having practice waves. I had some mild tightening sensations, but no consistency and I eventually would fall asleep during them. I had an appointment with my OB on my guess date, 6/30/06. He had been gone the previous 2 weeks and I was able to avoid an internal exam from the back up doctor, but today I was very curious if I was dilated and anywhere near giving birth. I had a fear he would be somewhat rough during the exam, but he was gentle. I could tell as he was accessing me that he was stirring things up so to speak. I left 3 cm dilated and 60% effaced and had light spotting. That same evening my mother in law made our dinner. I requested she make an Eggplant Parmigiana recipe that a friend sent from a restaurant’s website. This restaurant had a collage of over 300 baby pictures of women who gave birth within 48 hours of eating this dinner! So I thought what the heck. I was surprised that the dish was actually VERY good. After dinner we decided to take the dogs for a walk. We walked for a little over a mile and then headed home.
I woke at about 4 am having birthing waves about 20 minutes apart. I put in my Birthing Day CD and laid in bed for a while. I was too worked up to lay there long so I had some breakfast and did some cleaning to distract myself. I took a shower and lost some of my mucus plug – it was bloody. It was exciting to see progress. I guess that Eggplant dinner really does work! Eventually my waves were coming 10 minutes apart and lasting 45-60 seconds. I decided to help David with yard work and we planted 3 plants along the side of the house. I just wanted to stay busy to encourage the birthing along. At one point I got a little irritated (can’t remember exactly why) – I think the phone calls so I had David tell his Mom to answer the phone and take messages. Meanwhile, he and I practiced a script together in our bedroom. I was able to relax again and get focused. The pressure waves were coming about every 5 minutes and 45 – 60 seconds long. This was probably around Noon. Me, David and my mother in law decided to pop in a movie until I was ready to go to the hospital. Just after 2 pm I called my Mom and told her to meet us at the hospital. Waves were still about 5 minutes apart, but I was feeling more pressure and had to really focus through each one. I was able to listen to my cd’s and continue to stay focused. Another thing that really helped me is I would signal David when a wave started and he would put his hand on my shoulder and say relax while applying pressure. That did wonders!!
We got to the hospital about 30 minutes later. My MIL baked brownies so David gave the nurses the brownies and a copy of my birthing plan and then got me settled in the triage room. In walks my nurse and after introducing herself she asked me on a scale from 1 to 10 how would you access your pain?! I asked her if she had read my birthing plan and she said no. I then proceeded to tell her that I didn’t want her using the word pain, ctx, etc… Not a good way to get started with her, but things did improve. She checked my cervix and I was 5 cm and completely thinned out. I was a little disappointed that I hadn’t progressed more at home as I was 3 cm just the day before when my doctor checked me.
We got settled in our birthing room and I almost immediately got into the bath. Talk about wonderful! The pressure almost immediately got more intense. I can’t remember the timing of the waves or duration at this point. I just kept listening to the Birthing Affirmations. My Mom came in and I was losing focus. She asked me what the cues were and I told her “peace, relax, release” and just saying those words out loud got me focused and relaxed again. About an hour later I told David that I was ready to get out of the tub. I was extremely hot and the pressure waves were getting VERY intense. At one point I told David that I wanted an epidural. The waves were just as intense as I remembered them with my previous pregnancies and I wanted it over! (TRANSITION) I got into the bed and the nurse said I was 8 cm. When the epi doc came he explained that it was too late and I’d be birthing my baby before long. I was also reminded that I went from 5 to 8 cm in about 1 ˝ hours in the tub!
I decided to stand during the waves as my mother in law massaged my lower back. That was wonderful. She would apply pressure through each wave while David talked to me about my Special Place and helped me to breath and relax. We stood in a slow dancing position. During each wave I would go limp and he would bare all of my weight. Thank goodness he’s a strong man as we did this for over an hour! At 9 cm my water broke all over the floor. David was wearing sandals so his feet got soaked! LOL What an amazing feeling though – I had a build up of pressure and when my membranes ruptured that pressure was released! The nurse asked me to lay down, but I refused. Well, I couldn’t. My waves were VERY intense and it was all I could do to get through each one. At one point I was calling everyone in the room liars as they proceeded to tell me what a good job I was doing. J All of the sudden my body bore down… with such POWER. I had read that your body knew how to push all by itself, but had never experienced that sensation before since I had epidurals with my previous births. What an AWESOME feeling. It’s hard to put into words, but that was AMAZING!
In between waves I managed to lay down and my nurse announced I was complete. It was pushing time! It seemed like I was pushing forever, but I only pushed for 20 minutes and Katie was born! They laid her immediately on my chest and rubbed her until she turned pink. My eyes about popped when they said she weighed 8 pounds 11 ounces!! She was 21” long and had lots of dark brown hair. She latched on with no problems.
Now Katie is 11 weeks old and I couldn’t have asked for a better baby. She is 24” long and weighs 11.6 pounds. She is sleeping really well at night, only waking up once to be fed. Her older brother and sister are so good with her. They are gentle and kind. I am truly blessed to have 3 happy and healthy children.
SUMMARY:
I would definitely recommend Hypnobabies to anyone! If I have any more children, I will practice and prepare again using Hypnobabies. I bonded with my husband that day. He was AMAZING. My Mom made the comment that any birthing woman would be lucky to have him as their coach. He stayed calm and said all the right things. He remembered everything taught to him at our classes. I highly recommend all birthing partners to take this course. It will empower them and help them stay focused!