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.
Around 3:30 pm I spoke with both my midwife and my doula and they both recommended walking because at this point waves had been consistent, but not progressing and I hadn’t had any bloody show. I finally got up the gumption to walk around the house (as a test, before walking outside) and "curb-walked” on my steps. Bam! About 5-10 house laps later, we had a bloody show. I never made it outside.
Around 5:40 pm, my midwife was going to come over to see how things were progressing. She arrived around 7 pm. Isaac had already started filling up the tub. At this point, apparently I had shifted into my active birthing time, based on the sounds she heard once I arrived. I pretty much stayed on the toilet at this point. I found out later, she wasn’t really worried and didn’t really think that I was going to actually go into my birthing time soon, and almost didn’t bring her stuff. Thankfully, she did.
Okay, so 7 pm, midwife is at the house, tub is getting filled up, and apparently I’m in my active birthing time. The midwife then prompts us to contact our doula. At that point, maybe 7:15-7:30 pm, I finally get to get in the tub (yay! it felt SO GOOD). Shortly after, around 7:30-7:45 pm, our doula arrived.
From what I recall our doula telling us, when she walked in the door, I was already close to pushing, started pushing shortly thereafter, and Chloe was born at 8:17 pm. Reportedly, I did somewhere between 20-40 minutes of pushing.
[Bubble of Peace Reminder] I will say, it was not like the lovely, uber peaceful videos we watched in class, but to be fair, I’ve never experienced this before. Having a HypnoDoula was really helpful, she really kept me calm using the Relax cue (as did my partner). Being honest, I don’t know how well the hypnosis worked. It may have worked gang busters, it may have been of minimal use. I don’t know, I’ve never experienced birth before. Regardless, I would return to Hypnobabies for future births because of my overall experience. What I will say is that I was able to have the birth I wanted - a healthy baby was born, safely in my home. I was able to follow my body, and I got to be present for the experience. I was able to remember to keep my voice low. I was able to breathe, catch my breath, and stay calm between waves. I allowed my body to do the pushing. I was even able to take a breather as Chloe crowned. I felt present without being distracted.
Around 5:40 pm, my midwife was going to come over to see how things were progressing. She arrived around 7 pm. Isaac had already started filling up the tub. At this point, apparently I had shifted into my active birthing time, based on the sounds she heard once I arrived. I pretty much stayed on the toilet at this point. I found out later, she wasn’t really worried and didn’t really think that I was going to actually go into my birthing time soon, and almost didn’t bring her stuff. Thankfully, she did.
Okay, so 7 pm, midwife is at the house, tub is getting filled up, and apparently I’m in my active birthing time. The midwife then prompts us to contact our doula. At that point, maybe 7:15-7:30 pm, I finally get to get in the tub (yay! it felt SO GOOD). Shortly after, around 7:30-7:45 pm, our doula arrived.
From what I recall our doula telling us, when she walked in the door, I was already close to pushing, started pushing shortly thereafter, and Chloe was born at 8:17 pm. Reportedly, I did somewhere between 20-40 minutes of pushing.
[Bubble of Peace Reminder] I will say, it was not like the lovely, uber peaceful videos we watched in class, but to be fair, I’ve never experienced this before. Having a HypnoDoula was really helpful, she really kept me calm using the Relax cue (as did my partner). Being honest, I don’t know how well the hypnosis worked. It may have worked gang busters, it may have been of minimal use. I don’t know, I’ve never experienced birth before. Regardless, I would return to Hypnobabies for future births because of my overall experience. What I will say is that I was able to have the birth I wanted - a healthy baby was born, safely in my home. I was able to follow my body, and I got to be present for the experience. I was able to remember to keep my voice low. I was able to breathe, catch my breath, and stay calm between waves. I allowed my body to do the pushing. I was even able to take a breather as Chloe crowned. I felt present without being distracted.
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