Baby Boy

first birth

Here is a little background information to go with this story.  My husband and I had been trying to conceive for over a year and a half when we finally became pregnant with our first child.  A few years before I had seen a story on Dateline on Hypnobirth and knew that this was what I wanted to do.  I started looking around and found a home study course.  This and the yoga that I teach 3-4 times a week were our birth preparation.  The pregnancy was great, no complications at all.

Well I had my 38 week appt and was 2cm Doc made me an appointment for the next week. That evening I was oven at my girlfriend’s house till 10pm was feeling nothing.  At 3am that night I woke up, my water was leaking with surges. I timed them for an hour and some were less than 5 min apart. During the surges I wandered around the house.  During a surge I would rest my torso on a chair and let me hips sway.  I was already using the relaxation tips to help relax further.  I woke up my husband an hour later to time the surges.  He told me to go get the stop watch!  After timing a few he asked me to take a shower while he called my friends who were on the birth team.  During the shower the surges continued but my mind was floating and very relaxed. 

We set off for the hospital, contractions 2-3 min apart. In the car I was shaking but could breathe and relax during each surge. I remember coming out of the relaxed state to tell the driver to go slow over the railroad tracks we had to cross.  We parked the car so I could walk and help the progression of the birth.  There was a bus I had to walk past, so gross the smell of diesel made me throw up.

We got to triage around 6:30am, they measured me at 5 and sent me to L&D I walked down the hall, got hooked up to monitors and answered a few (too many) questions. They measured me at 7. By 7:30 new nurses came in and I got a great one. She let me and the birth team focus on relaxation. When I was 10, a resting phase happened, pushes were not moving the baby down the canal, the nurse suggested I go to the
bathroom.

Well the first surge while I was standing made a big difference. I leaned on two of my teammates and moved the baby. The doctor walked in to deliver and saw me standing, legs spread. The look on her face was priceless she said "I can't deliver like that". My husband suggested I sit. Ha the baby was crowning! He picked me up and put me on the bed. Well our little man was born at 8:49am. So 6 hours start to finish, no drugs, and the most pain I
remember was the needle the doc stuck me with to sew the small tearing I had.

It was an amazing birth. The hypnobabies course I studied and the support of dear friends made it possible. I tell everyone I can about this amazing experience.  When you are getting ready for the birth of your baby, practice the relaxation tapes regularly.  Picture your birth the way you want it to happen.