Skylar's Birth

I want to go ahead and write my birth story before I forget details. I just want start by saying to everyone new to Hypnobabies to feel confident that Hypnobabies is a wonderful program and will greatly benefit your pregnancy and your birthing experience. I am so glad that I discovered this program and was able to use it with my first child. Also, I cannot highly recommend getting the best doula you can. As you'll see from my story, I was inches from induction and a mere breath away from a C-section at the end, and I credit our doula to getting us the birthing experience we had.

 

I was 'officially' due on 1/24/07. My doctor had been doing internal exams once a week since 37 weeks to check for dilating. At my 40 week appointment I had not experienced any changed. At 41 weeks I still was not showing any signs of progression. In my area, all doctors induce at 41 weeks. While this is my doctor's standard practice, he was not thrilled to induce since my bishop's score was so low. I had been reading up as much as possible concerning going past 40 weeks and knew that he could monitor me closely (effective management) by doing biophysical profiles twice a week to make sure that the baby and I were both safe. He agreed to this and I went to the hospital last Wednesday and Friday afternoon to have the tests run. The tests simply monitored the baby's heart rate and movement. We also had an ultrasound done to check on the fluid levels. I was getting a stressed and worried as I passed 41 weeks. The ultrasound showed the baby to probably be "large" and I am a very petite woman. I cannot express how helpful the Hypnobabies program was to keep me as calm and worry free as possible. The CD's always helped me to relax and believe the very best about the pregnancy and upcoming delivery experience. The 'birthing affirmations' were a huge help in getting me through the end of week 40 to when labor started in the early hours of Saturday morning, 2/3/07. (41 weeks, 3 days.)

 

Saturday morning  around 12 AM I woke up with consistent birthing waves. The waves were more intense than the "practice waves" I had experienced the previous 2 weeks before and they were coming regularly. They were strong enough that I could not sleep. I put on my Hypnobabies CD's and rested as much as I could. I got up around 6AM and waited to see if this would continue. At 8AM I called my doula to give her a heads up that it looked like it was going to be my birthing day. (Just a quick note, my doula is a certified midwife who has been practicing for over 20 years doing home births. She also acts as a doula for clients who prefer to deliver in a hospital with an OB.) I continued at come through the ways until around 12PM. At this time they were around 5-6 minutes a part and a minute long. I was convinced that  this was going to be a very quick birthing. The waves were very manageable.  My doula arrived shortly and did an internal exam to check for progress to see if we should go to the hospital. I was only 2CM, but still very glad to know it was my birthing time. My doula left and I continued on comfortably at home with my husband.

 

My waves began to gain intensity and around 4PM I knew I wanted my doula back. She arrived and checked me again, only to find I was at 3CM.  She was so awesome at keeping me positive and encouraged and we got ourselves ready for a long night. I know many other hypno-moms are able to completely rest and relax through waves, but this was not the case with me. I was most comfortable walking and changing positions frequently. I would walk through waves, sit on the birthing ball, rock in a recliner, straddle a birthing chair, and have my husband or doula support my body and let me 'hang' through waves...ect. I didn't always have a Hypnobabies track on, but I used my MP3 player to listen to the first stage birthing guide or birth affirmations while I was doing all this moving around and sometimes I'd have it on the CD player. Much of the time I just wanted quiet. My doula was frequently monitoring the babies heart rate and checking my blood pressure. By the early hours of Sunday morning I still had not dilated any further. I was getting very tired and scared of what was ahead. My doula keep us positive and let my husband and I know that sometimes birth times were longer than expected and that the baby and I were safe. Convinced that I'd be birthing my baby my Sunday afternoon we continued on.

 

By Sunday afternoon I was at 4 CM. We called the hospital to give them and our Dr. a 'heads up' that I was in active labor and that I would be laboring at home for a while longer and then coming in. We had discussed this plan with our Dr. and he realized we did not plan to come in until 7-8CM and hopefully deliver quickly. At home I was alternating from bursts of energy to being very tired and concerned about having the physical and mental strength to continue. When I needed to rest, I would get in my bathtub with candles an try to relax in between waves. I'd listen to my Hypnobabies CDs, or put in some praise and worship music to help me pray and focus on GOD for strength. Around 6 PM Sunday my doula checked me again  and I was almost 6CM and my waves were actually getting further apart, 7-8 minutes. Looking back, I think my body knew I needed rest.  I was able to rest (somewhat sleep) in between waves while I listed to the Hypnobabies tracks, however, I would jolt up with each waves.  I was getting upset at how slow things were progress. At this time we decided we would go ahead and go to the hospital and get settled to see if things would start to progress more quickly. If not, we would discuss the option of breaking the water since the baby was so high. I was getting more concerned about having the strength to finish this long job!

 

We labored at this hospital in a nice large birthing suite and had a very supportive nurse who had 4 vaginal births, 3 of which were completely natural. My doctor signed off on my birthing plan with allowed me to eat/drink at will, and only have intermittent monitoring (15 minutes every hour) with a heplock in case of emergency. This allowed me to continue to move around. I mostly labored on the birthing chair my doula brought, or would hang from my husband's arms through waves. I started to experience back labor and would need counter pressure on my lower back through the waves.  Around 1AM Monday we had the nurse call our Dr. to see if he would come break the bag of waters.  He told the nurse he wanted us to continue on and we would be there around 7 AM. We soon realized that the baby was probably posterior and needed to turn. I worked through contractions on my hands and knees for quite a while. During an internal exam that revealed I was around 8CM, my water broke. I literally flooded the room with water. Everyone was shocked at how much fluid there was and how long it took to be completely released. It just kept coming out in huge gushes of waves.  There was meconium (baby's first bowel movement) in the water so we then knew that the baby would need to be closely examined at birth for inhalation. Encouraged that things would progress quickly I got a burst of energy and we continued on.

 

I was around 9 CM dilated, the baby was still very high. We continued to labor and try to work the baby down and hopefully get it to turn anterior. The waves were very strong in my lower back and my husband was working very hard to keep constant pressure on my back. My Dad came in to help and he and my husband worked together to support me through each wave by applying constant pressure. My doula continued to coach me through each wave and helped me make low moaning sounds through the waves. She and my husband would also use the Hypnobabies cues to help me relax when I would get worked up and nervous and it did help to always calm me back down, which was needed during transition.

 

When the doctor arrived at 7AM,  I was finally at 10 CM and we new the pushing phase would begin soon. However, my doctor basically told us we had 2 hours to push the baby out or I would be C-sectioned. He was concerned about the supposed large size of the baby and how long I had been in labor. He left me with our new nurse (shift change had just taken place) and left the room to check on other patients. I was so discouraged and my husband was very angry at what the doctor had said. Inside, I felt like giving up at this time, but our doula rallied everyone and said I could push this baby out, no problem. We got busy and focused at our task of pushing the baby out. the baby was still posterior and I knew this was going to take everything I had to finish the birthing. My pushing was effective, but the baby was in a bad position and was large.

At 9AM the doctor spoke with the nurse in the hallway and told her to have our C-section room prepped. She stood up for us and said I was so close to delivering and convinced him to give us more time. He came in and saw how close I was to crowning and said he'd give us more time. Feeling more motivated, we continued on. I was very worried that I wouldn't be able to get the baby out, but my doula kept telling me my body could do this. My husband was behind me helping me squat and get into positions that helped use gravity to push the baby out.  By the time the Dr. came back, I was crowning. He and a team of nurses got into position and with my husband behind me helping me hold my legs and push with every wave, we pushed the baby out on Monday, 2/5/07, 10:12AM.  We truly pushed out our baby together and I would not have had the strength or mental ability to birth the baby without him wrapped around me, help me push each time. I was so amazed when the head came out and then the body quickly followed.  It was finally over and I had vaginally and completely naturally birthed my baby after approximately 2 and a half days of labor. I was in shock. They placed the baby in my arms for just a few seconds and we discovered we had birthed a GIRL! (We had not known the sex of the baby before hand.) They then quickly began monitoring her. She was not breathing well and was rushed to the NICU. 

 

I immediately birthed the placenta with no difficulty and there was minimal bleeding. My doctor stitched up the natural tear that occurred and everyone worked to quickly clean up and get me settled in bed. I couldn't thank my doula or the wonderful nurse who worked so hard to help us achieve our birthing. I was on an adrenaline high after the birth. We were tired and worn out after 2 and a half days of no sleep and lots work.  I took about a 2 hour nap but didn't sleep again to that evening. No one could believe I had just had a baby.

 

My mom, husband and Dad were there during the birthing time and were able to be apart of the experience. I can't begin to express my appreciation for my doula's intense dedication and support throughout the process. Had it just been my husband and I alone, I'm sure I would have been at the hospital on Saturday getting pitocin for "failure to progress." Having her expertise and support and allowing me to spend the majority of my birthing time at home is the major reason I avoided medical intervention.

 

Skylar Paige was 7 pounds, 15 ounces at birth, 20 inches long. (Remember the OB being worried about her being "possibly big")  She is very health and strong, other than the meconium inhalation. We get to bring her home from the hospital Monday morning. I am rooming in by the NICU tomorrow so we can work on breastfeeding for a full 24 hours in the hospital now that she is off the oxygen. I feel wonderful and everyone is shocked to see how great I phsyically feel. My body is sore from the the intense physical activity of such a long birthing, but it basially feels like I had a really hard work out and found muscles I didn't know I had.

 

While my birth was not the typical "quick, easy Hypnobabies" birthing, Hypnobabies was essential to my success. I know every woman is different and our birthing experiences will often be different. The important thing is, our bodies were made to birth babies, we capable of doing so if we can remain positive and calm. I would not have had the confidence and positive outlook on birth, or the ability to relax as well without Hypnobabies. There were many times during the long labor that I was concerned I didn't have the strength or ability to finish, but with the support of my doula, my husband, Hypnobabies, and most of all my GOD, I was able to birth my beautiful baby girl.

 

-Penny