Around 3:00am I couldn’t fall back asleep. That’s when I realized that it was pressure waves that had been waking me up. I’d probably been having them all night and barely noticed! Since I wasn’t sure if they were the real deal or just practice waves I tried to sleep as much as possible. Then around 4:00am I woke Derek and told him I thought things might be happening. He started timing each wave. We kept everything very quiet while I started listening to the tracks. It was really nice, which is not something most people say about giving birth!
The night before our birthing time I didn’t feel very good. We were watching the football game and went to bed early because I just felt “off”. I was very restless and I woke up often to go to the bathroom. I couldn’t figure out what was keeping me up.
Around 3:00am I couldn’t fall back asleep. That’s when I realized that it was pressure waves that had been waking me up. I’d probably been having them all night and barely noticed! Since I wasn’t sure if they were the real deal or just practice waves I tried to sleep as much as possible. Then around 4:00am I woke Derek and told him I thought things might be happening. He started timing each wave. We kept everything very quiet while I started listening to the tracks. It was really nice, which is not something most people say about giving birth!
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During this pregnancy I was experiencing a lot of Braxton-Hicks and the closer and closer I got to my guess date I became more and more ready to just be “done”. My guess date was December 21st 2015. I was also having a lot of anxiety and stress related to my guess date and Christmas as well. I also had HELLP syndrome with my first and that was in the back of my mind as well because I didn’t want to have that happen again. (Read this mom's first birth story here. A fast induction!) At 39 weeks I asked my doula if there were any natural ways to induce my birthing time since I was ready to be “done”. She suggested acupuncture, specifically the kind to help have more consistent pressure waves and to get our birthing time going. I was very hesitant at first since I had never done acupuncture but my husband was on board so we went to have that done. We then went home and tried to get some sleep. About 3 hours after having the acupuncture, I woke up having pressure waves. I didn’t think anything of them only because I had been having them on and off through pregnancy. However, this time they were not stopping. My husband decided to time them and within an hour they were lasting about 30-40 seconds and were about 5 minutes apart. During this time I was using my hypnobabies techniques to turn my switch off and breathe through the pressure waves. We called our doula and she thought we should go in, especially since this was our second birth and we were about 45 minutes from the hospital.
Because of my preeclampsia diagnosis, I couldn't have a natural birth. On the day I was being induced, Lee and I buttered up the hospital staff with cookies from the bakery I work for. We attached the birth plans and hypnobabies info sheets to the box. That immediately started things off really well. Nurses and midwives were very receptive and curious about Hypnobabies.
At 37 weeks, I had to be dilated with a balloon catheter and then induced with pitocin. The Hypnobabies scripts helped me a lot to relax enough through the balloon dilation and then the first stages of pitocin labor. However, once the full pitocin took effect, I couldn't stay focused enough to be in a deep state of hypnosis. The discomfort became too great and I opted for an epidural. I was given a light epidural where I could still feel my legs and other sensations. Despite the change of plans, Hypnobabies still helped me to stay focused and relaxed enough through my birthing time. I was told by the midwives that I would still feel the pressure waves after the epidural, but I felt no sensations whatsoever. I think it was because Lee and I had primed me by reading scripts and listening to the Deepening Your Hypnosis on my iPhone prior to it. I even slept for several hours leading up to pushing. When it came time to push, I pushed her out with every wave in 20 minutes with minimal tearing and no discomfort. Once my baby came out, it became clear that she was much younger than we had estimated. Instead of being 37 weeks, she appeared more like 35-36 weeks. She was small, but healthy and strong and we were able to go home a week later. The hospital staff was really surprised how quickly I pushed her out, how very little tearing I had, and how I was already moving around literally within 3 hours of birthing her. Even after the epidural wore off, I felt no discomfort. I credit that to being relaxed with the hypnosis scripts beforehand. In the end, I don't see the inability to stay focused through the pitocin labor and getting an epidural as a failure with me or with Hypnobabies. In fact, it was because of Hypnobabies that my birthing time went as smoothly and quickly as it did. I think that having these tools helped me stay calm and brave. Even now, nearly 3 weeks later, I am almost completely healed. I use the scripts now to relax through breast pumping sessions and to stay at peace through late night feedings. Things didn't turn out the way I wanted at first, but the midwives and nurses really respected as much of my plan as possible and the Hypnobabies scripts helped me to stay calm and accepting of the changes. It all added up to a successful birth of my beautiful Mika! Enjoy this short and sweet birth story shared by one of the Hypno-Dads in Instructor Anne's recent class:
I (Luke) caught Matías in our bathroom while on the phone with 911 :) It was a very fast labor obviously. It was dramatic the difference in Cristal with the use of hypnobabies and tools. The biggest difference was that with our first, the 12 hours were filled with fear. This time however, was different. When the first wave "hit" at 5 pm we decided to rest. At 7:30 they were still one about every 20 minutes, and we were going to go for a family walk, but Asher developed a fever, so Cristal decided to listen to one of her tracks while cuddling with our boy in bed. Her waves didn't get regular until around 10:30 pm when the were one every five, and we contacted our doula and the HCMC midwives, the car was packed, but Cristal couldn't leave the bathroom. Once the waves started coming regularly, they wouldn't let up. With each failed attempt to usher her out of the bathroom into the car, she'd go running back to the toilet. Until at 11:15, after I had almost gotten her ready, she looked at me and said, "I'm sorry I can't go, we are going to have to do this here." Students of instructor Karla Boemer share their lovely birth story...
I wanted to let you know that we have a baby! Our daughter arrived on December 29th - 10 days after her guess date. I am so grateful to report that my experience giving birth was really positive. Prior to taking the Hypnobabies class I had a lot of fear about childbirth. It felt inevitable that it would be difficult/traumatic, that I would need an epidural, etc. When I found out I was pregnant in January 2014, I immediately began to spend a lot of time researching providers, hospitals, birthing centers and childbirth classes. I came upon Hypnobabies and quickly found that the philosophies and ideas behind it align with the hopes and goals I had for this birth. I have several important reasons why I chose to go with Hypnobabies, the main one being that I knew I'd need a solid game plan if this birth ended up going as fast as my first one did. My son's birth seven years earlier was very intense, fast and chaotic; four total hours from the first wave to the final push! The waves came so fast and I felt so much pain that I remember feeling like I couldn't catch my breath.
Enjoy this lovely birth story told by Mom and Dad (Dad's comments in italics and underlined.)
My dad was in town Wednesday, August 6th & was staying the night. Its like he was inadvertently hoping that the baby would arrive during his visit, having him around was not part of our birth plan however. I had noticed a change in the very recent days--I was feeling more ready to have the baby...I was having more early birthing waves--not painful & not too frequent. We were trying to have a normal low key night with some food outside and a trip to the RedBox for a movie. That night we watched the movie Divergent (the book is way, way, way better) & then went to bed at our usual early time, because everyone was tired. But...I didn’t sleep much at all. My first birth was wonderful and I will always be very grateful for it. But the more I reflected on it afterward, the more I felt I had missed out on something. My epidural was so strong and I felt like I didn’t really experience his birth. I decided that there must be other options—there had to be something in between an epidural birth and screaming, painful natural birth. So I did some research and discovered Hypnobabies. I knew immediately that this was what I was looking for. Trevor thought I had lost it a bit, but after watching some youtube videos he decided it was worth a shot. I think he just decided that it would make me happy and if it totally failed I would be the one in pain, not him! If I had to choose one word to describe the birth of my second child it would be amazing. It’s an experience that I never imagined or expected, yet was so incredible and humbling. This birth was the complete opposite of my first in every way. (Read her first birth story here.)
It was January 7th. I had been off of work for winter break since December 19th. I was supposed to go back to work on Monday, January 6th but school was cancelled on the 6th and 7th due to extreme cold temperatures. I was two days past my “guess date” which was making me eager, especially after having two weeks off of work and being stuck inside for two days straight, but Matt and I ended up having a productive, yet relaxing day. That morning I listened to my “Joyful Pregnancy Affirmations” while making breakfast and then did the “Hypnotic Childbirth #1” home-play. I then did my pelvic floor exercises (click here to learn about the Restorative Exercise ™ this mom did with local Hypnobabies instructor and Restorative Exercise ™ Specialist Lindsay McCoy) followed by a DVD pregnancy yoga session to relieve some lower-back discomfort I was having. While doing the yoga DVD, I started to feel a dull, constant ache/cramping. It felt like constant pressure on my pelvis. Matt asked me if it was anything that I could time, but I couldn’t since it was constant with no beginning or end. It lasted for about an hour or two and then went away. To fill our day, we decided to organize some childhood photos into photo books, play cards and make some soup.
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