It was around 3 am on 6/29/2020, and it was thundering & raining that night. The power went off a couple of times, so both of our sleep was disturbed. Leslie got up to go to the bathroom and that's when she had bloody show. She came back to bed and had her first pressure wave. I woke up to her breathing through it, and I asked if that was what I thought it was! We remembered that we needed to get our sleep, so we tried falling back asleep but it was especially difficult for Leslie as she kept having the waves.
A Hypno-Dad shares his version of the birth story of their first baby: a Hypnobabies home birth7/27/2020
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BOP (discomfort, intense pushing phase, almost a necessary episiotomy)
We did an in-person Hypnobabies class, and as first time parents, we are so grateful for that. We were able to complete most of the class before Covid hit. I was pretty good about getting my tracks in every day, and I was a sleeper. I feel asleep (and stayed asleep) for about 90% of all Hypnobabies tracks. They relaxed me instantly, and I just always conked out! In hindsight, I wish I would have had some more conscious experiences in hypnosis (I could have attempted some more upright positions during my tracks, which might have helped me stay awake) prior to birthing, but I know that Hypnobabies was still incredibly helpful during our birthing time. BOP (GBS+, causing minor interventions)
On Tuesday, May 29th, we had our 39 (+4) week appointment with our midwives. As we were close to 40 weeks, we had the option for a cervical check and while I know we don’t give birth by numbers, I was excited to see if there was any progress as baby was feeling really low. In addition, the midwife mentioned that a check now could lessen the need during admittance should my membranes rupture within a few days (a big positive being GBS+)! When she checked, I was 1 cm dilated, 50% effaced and Oliver was in station 0. I had some pressure waves at 1:30 in the AM on Sunday, but was able to sleep through them for about 3 hours until I realized they weren’t going away. They still felt more menstrual crampy, but they were wave-like. Then I got very excited and started to get the house ready from 3:30 am-4:30 am. I went back to bed to try and rest and listened to some different tracks (don’t remember exactly which at this point, but I used the cheat sheet and the guide to pick which ones). I was able to go back to sleep for a few more hours. I reached out to my birth team in the morning to give them a heads up. For the next few hours, we just got the house ready. I tried to rest, eat, drink water, pee, etc. I listened to tracks and worked on getting my hypnosis going.
My entire life I imagined my birthing time would be at a hospital using an epidural or receiving a C-section. If you would have told me that I pulled a 180 I would not have believed you. I first heard of Hypnobabies from my older sister who birthed two healthy boys using her hypnosis. For her first, I thought she was on drugs. Who in their right mind would willingly birth naturally and at a birth center nonetheless! That's not how they show it on the movies so it can't be right. For her second, I was more open to the idea of birthing naturally and was intrigued by this whole hypnosis idea. She encouraged us to look at all the options and to educate ourselves.
 I suppose Priscilla’s birth story begins at my 36-week appointment, which was July 24th. I chose to receive my care at Roots Community Birth Center in North Minneapolis. Throughout my entire pregnancy I was so impressed with the quality, love, and expertise of the staff. I had an opportunity to get to know each midwife well and felt excited as my last weeks of pregnancy drew near. At my appointment Rebecca did a brief check just to see if I had any scar tissue left from a procedure I had done earlier in the winter. To my surprise I learned that I was already 2-3cm dilated and that babe’s head was very low. I left feeling excited, but also resting in the knowledge that I could be dilated at that number for a long time, and that numbers don’t generally mean all that much so early on. Throughout the week prior I had experienced a few light waves but nothing too exciting.
My water broke at 3:30 am May 2nd. At first I wasn't sure if it was "actually happening" but after a huge gush I knew my baby was getting ready to meet us. After waiting a couple hours to see what would happen I called into the Birth Center and alerted our Doula. The Birth Center asked us to come in at 2 pm for a check up since my pressure waves were very inconsistent. I listened to Easy First Stage and Birth Affirmations on the way to the appointment which helped me get into the mindset that we may meet our baby soon. Baby looked good at the check up and they didn't want to admit us yet since my waves were still inconsistent so we decided to do some movements with our Doula. I felt a surge of energy after that so we decided to grab dinner and take a walk.
Home birth and Hypnobabies went hand in hand for me, I could not have done one without the other. Early on in my first pregnancy my chiropractor and friend mentioned a home birth midwife and everything about birthing at home seemed right. As I began to show, and people knew that I was indeed pregnant, the question began to arise “So, where are you giving birth?”, especially since I work in a hospital! The surprised reactions and horror stories, began to stir around in my mind, “should I really be doing this?”, “am I brave enough”, “should births really be in the hospital?”, “can I really do this?!” Enter in Hypnobabies...
My birthing time started when my water broke spontaneously. The first pressure waves started within an hour, and I started listening to Your Birthing Time Begins and followed up with the Fear Clearing track. My husband was working from home that day and asked if I could just give him two hours to finish up a project. I didn't mind at first, because I had plenty of tracks to choose from, but the pressure waves became fairly intense faster than I'd imagined. Soon enough we were working together through a Miles Circuit and various other positions, and after about four hours, I got in our bathtub and listened along to the Deepening track. That track, along with the warm water, really helped calm me down and focus my attention on the hypnosis. (possible Bubble of Peace) After getting out of the tub, however, I became really nauseous and started vomiting. The pressure waves were down to three minutes apart, and at that point, we called the hospital and my midwife told me to come in immediately.
Dear Mateo,
This is the story of our very first adventure together and how you entered this world. I’m writing this to remind you how fiercely I loved you right from the start. Not to mention, it’ll also serve as a nice little reminder of why your mama deserves a little respect when you’re an angsty teenager. So let’s start at the beginning. Towards the end of December 2015, I had a gut feeling that I was pregnant. I took three tests and they all came back negative. I knew it to be true so I took another test early January and there was a VERY faint line, meaning it was positive but it was so faint I couldn’t be sure. I of course spent hours googling what it could mean but I still couldn’t be sure. I took two more tests a few days later just to confirm. After the sixth test and a very dark “positive” line, I finally knew for sure! We felt surprised, overwhelmed, and full of joy all at the same time. |
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