Om's Birth
(First baby, midwife assisted at a hospital. And really long early labor).
The first signs:
Tue, Feb 7th:I was listening to “visualize your birth” script. Manish was reading it to me. Towards the tail end of the script I felt a wave. The first thought that occurred to me was…yay I might see my baby soon. Plus I’ll get to practice my hypnosis with the real deal.
Wed, Feb 8th:I go for my weekly midwife visit & tell her about my wave. She asked me if I wanted to be checked. I said no thanks.
Thu, Feb 9th: Few surges at night and then nothing during the day. Very manageable at this point.
Early Labor:
Fri, Feb 10th: Now my waves were stronger. They were very sporadic nothing worth getting excited about. At night I tried to listen to deepening and fear release. But those didn’t help me relax. Then I put the relaxation music on and did fingerdrop with anesthesia. That seemed to do the trick. I somehow managed to get some sleep.
Sat, Feb 11th: All day I was having surges. I spent most of the day sitting on the birth ball listening to Birth Guide. We decide to page my backup midwife (my midwife was out of town). She checked on me few times & nothing much had changed. . The waves were getting stronger but neither longer nor closer. I also got in the tub and listened to special place. In the evening around 7ish I noticed something when I went to the toilet…probably my mucous plug. Manish took a picture of it. We called Lisa again and she thought it was funny. After that I had some spotting (bloody show??). Not much progress seemed to happen through the night. I tried to get some sleep but I couldn’t.
Sun, Feb 12th: Lisa called to check on me. I was having stronger waves lasting a little more longer now but not closer together. I listened to Birth guide and special place. Manish read me a script (hypnotic childbirth #1 – I think). Manish was also timing my waves they were about 7 minutes apart lasting 45-50 secs. We called Lisa & let her know. She was at the hospital at another birthing. She said we could come to the hospital whenever I felt like it. I decided to wait out the waves at home. I couldn’t sleep in bed anymore. I would get a “spiraling out of control” sensation. So I had to prop myself up on the chair on pillows. I always practiced my hypnosis sitting upright, may be I should have done some lying down as well. Manish camped beside me on the carpet & timed the waves. Now they were a little over a minute but not close together. I would hum during each one doing the fingerdrop. When I would stop Manish knew it had ended.
Mon Feb 13th 2:30 AM: We decided to head out to the hospital. Manish got the car all loaded up & we called Lisa on the way. I listened to Birth Guide on my CD player on the way. At the hospital I was wheeled in, while Manish unloaded the car. We had a ton of stuff. We should’ve packed a “during labor” & “post labor” bag. Instead of everything in one bag. Oh well!! I was hooked to the monitor & Lisa came to check me. We told her we could barely watch Desperate Housewives, She laughed & said “you didn’t barely watch it, you saw it”. Anyway, turned out that I was only 2 cms but I was almost fully effaced. She looked at my waves on chart & they didn’t seem closer together. She said, that she asked us come whenever we wanted so we didn’t feel like we were not being taken care of (how sweet). She left us alone for a little bit. An hour or so later she checked me again & no progress. She said my options were:
By the way, every time she’d check my cervix, I would feel only pressure. Not even discomfort!!
We rested at the hospital for a few hours & came home at about 11 AM.
We called Carole my hypnosis instructor. She suggested doing belly lifts. I got in the tub for an hour listened to deepening. I would lift my belly, do fingerdrop & hum during each wave. Manish started timing them they were now 5-6 mi. apart lasting over a minute. I got out of the tub & went to my chair. I tried to eat a little bit but I couldn’t.
Active Labor:
From 6 PM onwards Manish timed my surges, they were 3-4 mi. apart some lasting over 2 mi. We did this for an hour. Then he called Carole, she said it was time for us to go NOW. At about 7:30 we headed out. We called Lisa, she was at home & asked us to get checked by a nurse. I was still skeptical and thought my trip would end up in a no-show again. At the hospital the nurse checked me & said I was all the way!! Everyone was thrilled. They started getting the warmer & the bed ready. Lisa had to rush to the hospital. She didn’t even have the time to comb her hair. She asked me if I felt any pressure. I said I didn’t. Then she checked me I was only at 4 cms. But the baby was really low. So she suggested that I lie on my side and breathe through the waves. Now I panicked. Lying down was one thing I just couldn’t do. I lay on my side & held Manish’s hand real tight. Lisa was massaging my back. They were both giving me excellent relaxation cues. Manish suggested I listened to Birth Guide but I refused. I just felt like his voice would give me comfort like no other. He kept reminding me of my special place and how our baby would look. And Lisa kept saying, “let go” at the beginning of every wave. That’s what got me through. May be I should have listened to relaxation music since that helped me relax during early labor.
Feb 14th: At 12 AM BJ (my midwife) arrives from the airport. Lisa hands her the baton and takes off. I was now at 7 cms. At about 1:30 AM BJ checked me I was 9 cms. She decided to break my water and hold my cervix allowing the baby’s head to slide down till I hit 10 cms. I didn’t feel anything but pressure. At about 2 AM I was ready to push…yay!! BJ coached me on the pushing technique. I would just breathe in and then close my mouth and push. It didn’t involve any puffing and panting. At 3:14 AM Om was born. They put him on me for about an hour. He was cold and wiggly. I felt like I had known him forever. With another little push my placenta was delivered. In spite of doing perineal massages for 4 weeks I ended up with a tear. While Om was on me BJ stitched me up after some local anesthesia. It wasn’t nearly as bad as it sounded. Hypnosis helped Manish & me tremendously. Plus the fact that I switched care providers (from OB to midwife at 34 weeks!!). The surges were definitely not easy to deal with but had I not done fingerdrop with anesthesia my labor would have been way harder. Good Luck & hugs to all expectant Hypno moms. This stuff really works!!