Tuesday night 12/4 Robert and I were out to dinner for our anniversary and I went to the bathroom to discover I had my “bloody show.” I had not had a single pressure wave at this point so I decided that it could still be a while before the baby arrived.
Wednesday morning around 3:30 AM I woke up with my first pressure wave. Unsure if the waves were going to be consistent I got up and moved to the couch and began listening to Special Safe Place. My waves were consistently between 7-10 minutes apart as soon as they began. All lasting between 45-90 seconds.
Wednesday morning around 3:30 AM I woke up with my first pressure wave. Unsure if the waves were going to be consistent I got up and moved to the couch and began listening to Special Safe Place. My waves were consistently between 7-10 minutes apart as soon as they began. All lasting between 45-90 seconds.
I woke up my mom and called my midwife around 6 AM because I had been bleeding all morning and I was unsure if that was normal. Turns out it is. AND, fun fact, according to the midwife, redheads bleed a lot more?!!? Who knew?
I continued with my morning, listening to Special Safe Place (this was a favorite of the day), Your Birthing Time Begins, and Birthing Day Affirmations. By 10 AM the waves were getting stronger and I got into the bath. All the while listening to different hypnosis prompts. Robert was amazing, helping me stay very comfortable.
By 11 AM my waves were every 4-5 minutes, always lasting more than one minute. I decided it was a good time to eat something and think about going into the hospital. Robert started packing up the car. Like our Hypnobabies Instructor Anne had said, it took us a while to get into the car.
By the time we got to the hospital, a walk sounded good to me, so Robert and I parked together and walked in. In the lobby I had to take breaks to have a wave or two before heading up to the birthing wing. I used wireless headphones with the Deepening Hypnosis track.
Once we made it to the birthing center, (I had a couple of waves at the check in desk), they put us in triage. I did not like triage! I felt like we were waiting forever and didn’t have any of the things I needed (tub, heating pad, birthing ball) in order to be comfortable through my waves. At some point I requested that they bring a birthing ball into the triage room, which they did. The nurse checked my cervix. I requested to not know any numbers, but she let Robert know my numbers without me hearing, and she wanted to check with the midwife about admitting me. I felt like this whole process took forever! While she was checking with the midwife I had another wave while squatting on the floor. When I stood up, Robert noticed a small amount of fluid on the floor. Thinking that it could be amniotic fluid, he asked me first if I had peed, which I didn’t think so! The nurse came back in and tested to see if I was leaking amniotic fluid. I was, and they admitted us right away. FINALLY. The time all blurred together and we were trying not to pay attention to the clock so I am not sure what time we were given a room. I think around 2:00??
In the room, I got right into the bath, and began listening to Easy First Stage. I really enjoyed being in the bath and Robert would pour warm water on my back, which felt great! I wanted to move around a lot. I moved from the ball to sitting backwards on the toilet, to squatting on the bed. I hardly ever wanted to be laying in the bed. I was impressed with the care we received and how often the midwife was in our room to check my progress. Around 5 PM the midwife came in to check my cervix and progress again. After her checking, even without me knowing numbers, I could tell that I had progressed and that things were moving. The nurse immediately set up the room for baby and they assured me I was going to have a baby by the end of the night. I think the adrenaline and excitement at this point did not help my progress. I had it in my head that I was minutes or maybe an hour away from meeting the baby and I still had quite a bit of time to go…
The pressure waves started getting much much closer together and more intense. At some point, Robert, refusing to leave the side of my bed with massages and whatever else I needed through the pressure waves, realized that I was looking at a clock that was on the wall behind him and he turned around, reached up and took it off the wall (thank goodness). This helped a lot. I wish we would have remembered to put up the peace sign or take it down even earlier!! I had very few breaks in between and had a lot of intense pressure in my back. Robert and the nurses were great about helping with heat pads and massage. I think this was my transformation stage. I asked for nitrous oxide during these waves and I think that helped a little bit with getting me to focus on breathing.
Around 8:30 PM I started feeling pushy and was making the low guttural noises we learned about in class. I was NOT a quiet birther!! The midwife came in and noticed my sounds and checked to see if I was complete. I pushed for about an hour and a half all while listening to Pushing Baby Out. I felt like the whole nursing team, Robert, and midwife were so encouraging and it was very mother directed. I switched positions a couple of times, and a highlight moment was when the midwife told us our baby had hair. Anfin was born at 10:35 PM. Robert caught him and placed him on my chest. I didn’t want to know the sex right away so I had some time just holding him before Robert told me that he was a boy (: It was pretty magical!!!
I’m so glad we used Hypnobabies. Although birthing was much more challenging than I expected, I feel like I had so many tools at my disposal and I felt very empowered entering the experience. I also could not have done it without Robert, he was so comforting, using a lot of the hypno-cues and helping with my comfort at all times. I think the class helped him know different ways to assist in the birthing time. I can’t wait to try Hypnobabies again!!!
12/05/18 (40 wks+6 days)
10:35PM
9 lbs 4oz
21.5 inches
I continued with my morning, listening to Special Safe Place (this was a favorite of the day), Your Birthing Time Begins, and Birthing Day Affirmations. By 10 AM the waves were getting stronger and I got into the bath. All the while listening to different hypnosis prompts. Robert was amazing, helping me stay very comfortable.
By 11 AM my waves were every 4-5 minutes, always lasting more than one minute. I decided it was a good time to eat something and think about going into the hospital. Robert started packing up the car. Like our Hypnobabies Instructor Anne had said, it took us a while to get into the car.
By the time we got to the hospital, a walk sounded good to me, so Robert and I parked together and walked in. In the lobby I had to take breaks to have a wave or two before heading up to the birthing wing. I used wireless headphones with the Deepening Hypnosis track.
Once we made it to the birthing center, (I had a couple of waves at the check in desk), they put us in triage. I did not like triage! I felt like we were waiting forever and didn’t have any of the things I needed (tub, heating pad, birthing ball) in order to be comfortable through my waves. At some point I requested that they bring a birthing ball into the triage room, which they did. The nurse checked my cervix. I requested to not know any numbers, but she let Robert know my numbers without me hearing, and she wanted to check with the midwife about admitting me. I felt like this whole process took forever! While she was checking with the midwife I had another wave while squatting on the floor. When I stood up, Robert noticed a small amount of fluid on the floor. Thinking that it could be amniotic fluid, he asked me first if I had peed, which I didn’t think so! The nurse came back in and tested to see if I was leaking amniotic fluid. I was, and they admitted us right away. FINALLY. The time all blurred together and we were trying not to pay attention to the clock so I am not sure what time we were given a room. I think around 2:00??
In the room, I got right into the bath, and began listening to Easy First Stage. I really enjoyed being in the bath and Robert would pour warm water on my back, which felt great! I wanted to move around a lot. I moved from the ball to sitting backwards on the toilet, to squatting on the bed. I hardly ever wanted to be laying in the bed. I was impressed with the care we received and how often the midwife was in our room to check my progress. Around 5 PM the midwife came in to check my cervix and progress again. After her checking, even without me knowing numbers, I could tell that I had progressed and that things were moving. The nurse immediately set up the room for baby and they assured me I was going to have a baby by the end of the night. I think the adrenaline and excitement at this point did not help my progress. I had it in my head that I was minutes or maybe an hour away from meeting the baby and I still had quite a bit of time to go…
The pressure waves started getting much much closer together and more intense. At some point, Robert, refusing to leave the side of my bed with massages and whatever else I needed through the pressure waves, realized that I was looking at a clock that was on the wall behind him and he turned around, reached up and took it off the wall (thank goodness). This helped a lot. I wish we would have remembered to put up the peace sign or take it down even earlier!! I had very few breaks in between and had a lot of intense pressure in my back. Robert and the nurses were great about helping with heat pads and massage. I think this was my transformation stage. I asked for nitrous oxide during these waves and I think that helped a little bit with getting me to focus on breathing.
Around 8:30 PM I started feeling pushy and was making the low guttural noises we learned about in class. I was NOT a quiet birther!! The midwife came in and noticed my sounds and checked to see if I was complete. I pushed for about an hour and a half all while listening to Pushing Baby Out. I felt like the whole nursing team, Robert, and midwife were so encouraging and it was very mother directed. I switched positions a couple of times, and a highlight moment was when the midwife told us our baby had hair. Anfin was born at 10:35 PM. Robert caught him and placed him on my chest. I didn’t want to know the sex right away so I had some time just holding him before Robert told me that he was a boy (: It was pretty magical!!!
I’m so glad we used Hypnobabies. Although birthing was much more challenging than I expected, I feel like I had so many tools at my disposal and I felt very empowered entering the experience. I also could not have done it without Robert, he was so comforting, using a lot of the hypno-cues and helping with my comfort at all times. I think the class helped him know different ways to assist in the birthing time. I can’t wait to try Hypnobabies again!!!
12/05/18 (40 wks+6 days)
10:35PM
9 lbs 4oz
21.5 inches
The "I did it!" moment....
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