Mason's Birth

I debated for a long time about whether to post my birth story here,
as I don't feel like I really got to have the Hypnobabies birth I
dreamed of, but I know that the Hypnobabies played a huge part in
the whole process, and it was a beautiful birth nonetheless because
it brought me my perfect little boy.  Everyone who has seen him or
pictures of him has said that he is the cutest baby they've ever
seen!

After passing my EDD of Tuesday, May 15, I finally started having
contractions on Thursday afternoon, May 17 (after weeding the
garden, cleaning house, and scrubbing kitchen and bathroom
floors!).  Contractions continued in an irregular way for three
days.  I was able to do pretty well with it all, listening to my
scripts constantly, but could not sleep through them.  My doc had me
come in on Saturday morning to check me, and I was only 1 cm
dilated!  I could have cried.  I was just so tired.  I'd had only a
few hours sleep in the past two days.  My Hypnobabies was helping me
so much, I loved it, but the fatigue was pretty tough.  We talked
induction, but I continued to labor on my own and finally got to a
regular pattern of 3-5 minutes apart on Saturday night.

We went to the hospital and my doula met us there.  She was AMAZING
at helping me to really use my hypnosis and stay grounded when the
contractions started getting more and more intense (they were
monitoring the baby and the contractions, and they were very very
strong, and double-peaking, which made them long).  She said all the
nurses couldn't believe that I was a first time mother, as I was
handling the contractions so beautifully.  That made me feel so
good; my hypnosis was incredible at keeping me calm, centered, and
peaceful through such an intense process.  I did experience a few
moments of disappointment that I did not feel comfortable during the
pressure waves, but I reminded myself to choose to continue to use
the hypnosis and to believe in it, and it did help me a lot.

I was making excellent progress by then, but I got really clear that the
fatigue was the thing that was too much for me to handle for the
rest of the way to the birth.  I decided to get an epidural.
Everyone knows how much I wanted a natural birth, so this change in
plans was unfortunate in some ways, but there was no question it was
the right thing to do.  Also, there was no question in my mind that
I would have been able to have that natural birth if I hadn't been
already laboring for almost 60 hours by that point.  Knowing that I
could have done it if I hadn't been so tired was some consolation.
I've just decided to not let myself be disappointed in myself about
this.

Anyway, the epidural went fine, no problem.  I just hated that my
legs were numb.  I was able to sleep a bit, and that helped so so
much.  I continued to make excellent progress, thank goodness, and
they were monitoring our little one the whole time.  The
contractions were strong and were affecting the baby's heartrate,
and my doctor grew concerned.  

He actually had the operating room delay a c-section that was scheduled that morning, just in case we needed it last minute.  That was really scary and emotional, I just
wanted the baby to be safe.  They prepped me while continuing to
monitor, and I used my hypnosis to breathe the oxygen deeply, calm
myself and the baby, and his heartrate recovered.  Then, all of the
sudden, I was completely dialated, and the room filled up with
nurses and activity, and I realized I was about to push my baby out
into my arms!  It was totally surreal.  

They got him out fast with the vacuum due to the heartrate concern; it turns out the cord was
around his neck and had been getting pinched somewhere.  Dann
announced "it's a boy!" just as I looked down and saw them flip him
over and I saw his little boy parts for myself!  I immediately burst
into tears as they placed him on my belly, and I will never forget
the smooth, wet, warm feel of his skin when I touched him for the
first time.  It was indescribably beautiful.

We went home from the hospital the next afternoon, and I've been on
an incredible high since the birth.  So has Dann.  We're absolutely
on cloud 9, completely blissed out and amazed at our little
miracle.  I've never been happier in my life, and words just cannot
describe the way I feel so profoundly changed, and in awe at the
wonder and preciousness of life.

Although my son's birth did not go as planned, and I ended up with
several interventions I had hoped to avoid, I am choosing to focus
on all the things that DID go right.  (Thank you, Hypnobabies!)  My
doctor and our nurse were wonderful, as was our doula and my dh;
everyone worked together beautifully and I felt very supported all
throughout the process.  My doctor did NOT do an episiotomy even
though it would have made the vacuum extraction easier, I'm sure.  I
only had a small first degree tear, which made me very happy.  My
doctor was actually very apologetic that I did not get the birth I
had wanted, but he promised me the next one I would because it would
go much faster!  I think it actually all happened just the way it
was supposed to, and I'm so very grateful to have had Hypnobabies to
make the pregnancy and birth so positive in every way.

Thanks for reading our story, and I hope it can be helpful to
someone...

Jennifer and Mason, 14 days old!