Josephine's Birth

Birth story is below!  A very sucessful Hypnobaby!!!  I did not use all of the things we were taught throughout the class.  However, my DH is convinved that I was doing everything without even telling myself to do it.  For example I never turned my lightswitch to off.  I never even thought about the switch!  I had just been telling myself for so long that there would only be pressure and that is almost all I felt!  I am SOSO happy I found Hypnobabies!!  I was a total slacker and didn't practice the lightswitch or listen to the cd's like I was suppose to, but even with all that it worked!

On the 10th of April I had used 2 EPO overnight.  After I got home from work on the 11th me and dh DTD...
American Idol had just got done and I was sitting on my birthing ball when I felt a pop/rip type of noise.  Then I felt a gush of fluid.  I immediately get shaky with excitement as I go to the bathroom to check it out.  I determine it definitely was my water breaking and go into the spare bedroom to tell DH. 
So he says ok he’d start getting some of his things together and packed in the car.  I walk back into the bedroom to put some different clothes on and have a contraction.  I immediately think to myself, wow that was different than the other ones.  MUCH more intense, not painful or anything though, just pressure.  DH comes back into the room to see me having the contraction and realizes these are WAY different than last time and starts moving MUCH quicker.  He helps me to get dressed and I go out to the living room for a few more contractions.  With every contraction I have he gets more and more hurried and flustered trying to make sure we have everything in the car.
We finally get out to the car and I put on my Birth Guide Hypnobabies CD and we set off for the 30 minute drive to the hospital.  (I had been learning Hypnobirthing).  The car ride went well… The cd was working great for my except I purposely told myself NOT to listen when it said to picture yourself dilating more and quickly, cause I didn’t want to have the baby in the car (since i was already at 4 cent!)!
We get to the hospital at 10:00 pm, get checked in and put into a room.  They take my blood and try to put a Heparin Lock in my, but it came out and it was hurting me so they just let it go and didn't try to put in another one.  I’m hooked up to the monitors for about 20-30 minutes to make sure the baby’s heart rate is good.  They check me and I’m still at a 4!  The same thing I have been at for 3 weeks now, so I think to myself this is going to take FOREVER!  The midwife was on call and would come in when they called when things started to progress.
DH was doing great throughout the contractions.  I was doing good, when I told myself and allowed myself to relax.  DH would put a hand on my shoulder, say relax and I would let myself go limp and I would only feel pressure with the contraction then.  As things progressed it was getting harder and harder to relax though.   
I noticed things were picking up and when DH tried t put his hand on my shoulder I would throw it off of me and tell him to shut up.  He would stay calm and ask if I wanted to be read a script…I would say NO, SHUT UP!  Through some of these contractions I would just say the word relax over and over again out loud.  After a few of those I looked at DH and said I think I want something.  (It was intense pressure and my thought was after 1 hour I was still at 4 cent, about 1 hour and 45 minutes had passed and I was thinking if I’m only at a 6 I’ll never be able to get to 10 at this rate).  He said no, you don’t want anything, your doing great.  I told him a few more time I wanted something and he’d just say, no you don’t.  He also noticed that my moans had changed to a different type now. The nurses said the midwife was on the way in.
Maybe 5 minutes passed and the midwife showed up.  She checked me and said well you are fully there, feel the urge to push?  I looked at her like she was nuts cause I couldn’t believe I was really at 10 already.  I just said ok, sure.  She reminded me to push like I had been taught through the class.  I did one AHHH push and she said…yup I need to go change (she was still in street clothes).  She starts to walk out to change and I yell at her to stay.  I pushed again and felt a sting and knew it meant I was tearing.  She did tell me I was tearing a little bit.  She was telling me to push, but I kept thinking if I push it’s going to hurt and I’ll tear more.  So I was not cooperating.  She noticed that and started to get a little more insistent that I had to push.  She had a few nurses hold my legs up and angle me so that it opened my pelvis more.  They were trying to take the heart rate of the baby with a manual monitor and noticed it going down.  Then the midwife really was insistent I push.  So I finally told myself if I’m going to tear oh well but I had to get the baby out then!  So I gave maybe 3 good pushes and out she came. 
All I remember is then putting her on my stomach and me saying ouch ouch ouch ouch over and over again because of the tear hurting. (Mind you her or her head never hurt me, just the tear).  Later DH said that I am I very literal person and I taught myself to only feel pressure with the other part of the birth, but when I started to tear I didn't prepare myself for that so it hurt.  I also remember shaking a lot which the midwife said is completely normal (but I was not expecting that).  Midwife happily announced that there was only one little “skid mark” that did not even require any stitches! 
My baby girl (Josephine Rae) was born at 11:58 pm (not even 3 hours after my water broke!) I maybe pushed 6 times and had her out in 10 minutes or less.  She is 20” long, 6lbs, 13.8 oz, dark brown hair, pretty big blue eyes!
They got me and her cleaned up and I asked what I could take because the skid mark hurt.  They gave me 2 Tylenol 3’s. (That is the only pain medicine I’ve had). 
I would say Hypnobabies was VERY helpful and I wouldn’t mind giving birth like that many more times!
The one nurse told DH a little after the birth that I made a liar out of all the nurses.  She said they were just all talking at the nurses stand that babies don’t just fall out of women…but after me they’ll never say that again!

Melissa