My birthing waves started early Thursday Morning March 1st at 1am and ended after 2 hours. This pattern of prodromal birthing continued Friday Night and Saturday proceeded from 3pm to 12am. I thought it was my birthing time so I began my Hypnobabies tracks. Birthing Waves would be less than 5 minutes apart for hours, but the intensity was just not where it needed to be, eventually they stopped around midnight and only occurred once every hour at the most.
With a snow storm coming on Sunday I hoped it might be the night. My waves started at 3 pm again as they did Saturday. I breathed through them until about 7 pm and I knew things were getting more intense. We quickly did bath and bedtime with my toddler to allow us to focus on the waves. I started listening to my Hypnobabies tracks again around 8 pm. At 9:30 pm the contractions were less than 5 minutes apart and gaining intensity. I called the midwife to give her a heads up that I thought we might be in our birthing time. We agreed to touch base in 2 hours for an update. I spoke with my Doula around 10 pm, I got into the shower then for an hour. The waves continued to gain pressure and frequency. At 11:30 pm I spoke with my midwife who suggested based on the sounds, frequency, and intensity we plan to head to the hospital in the next hour. We called my parents to come stay with our toddler and off to the hospital.
I listened to my Hypnobabies tracks in the backseat of the car, while my husband drove. I was able to maintain my hypnosis for the 25 minute car ride in the snow storm. When we arrived, I walked to the front desk, having to stop during each wave to focus on my breathing and hypnosis. We got to the triage at 12:30 am and cervical check determined I was 7-8 cm. A huge relief as I wasn’t sure I was far enough along to be admitted. Unfortunately my blood pressure was a bit higher than the hospital allowed for a water birth, so we would watch it to see if that would be an option.
We went up to our room and I worked through each birthing wave standing over the bed for 2.5 hours, then transitioned to the toilet sitting backwards for an hour and then laid in bed for another hour or so. Around 5 am we broke my water and the fluid was clear! Then things began to get very intense. I stayed on all fours over the back the bed. About 20 minutes after breaking my water, I began to feel the urge to push. I pushed for about 25 minutes on all fours and our baby girl arrived. The pressure during the pushing was like nothing I have ever experienced. I was fortunate to have no drugs, no medical interventions, never getting into stir-ups, and only a minor tear that did not require stitches. I walked to the bathroom after over one of hour skin to skin time and breast feeding. After my first birth which left me paralyzed in my left and right leg (more significantly) due to femoral neuropathy walking was the greatest feeling.
Overall the intensity and pressure was more than I could imagine, but Hypnobabies allowed me to stay calm and trust my body. The 12 hours endured was far better than going home in a wheel chair and 6 months of physical therapy.
I listened to my Hypnobabies tracks in the backseat of the car, while my husband drove. I was able to maintain my hypnosis for the 25 minute car ride in the snow storm. When we arrived, I walked to the front desk, having to stop during each wave to focus on my breathing and hypnosis. We got to the triage at 12:30 am and cervical check determined I was 7-8 cm. A huge relief as I wasn’t sure I was far enough along to be admitted. Unfortunately my blood pressure was a bit higher than the hospital allowed for a water birth, so we would watch it to see if that would be an option.
We went up to our room and I worked through each birthing wave standing over the bed for 2.5 hours, then transitioned to the toilet sitting backwards for an hour and then laid in bed for another hour or so. Around 5 am we broke my water and the fluid was clear! Then things began to get very intense. I stayed on all fours over the back the bed. About 20 minutes after breaking my water, I began to feel the urge to push. I pushed for about 25 minutes on all fours and our baby girl arrived. The pressure during the pushing was like nothing I have ever experienced. I was fortunate to have no drugs, no medical interventions, never getting into stir-ups, and only a minor tear that did not require stitches. I walked to the bathroom after over one of hour skin to skin time and breast feeding. After my first birth which left me paralyzed in my left and right leg (more significantly) due to femoral neuropathy walking was the greatest feeling.
Overall the intensity and pressure was more than I could imagine, but Hypnobabies allowed me to stay calm and trust my body. The 12 hours endured was far better than going home in a wheel chair and 6 months of physical therapy.
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