I first want to say that there has never been a more significant
moment in my life than when I finally held my brand new baby girl
before they had even cut the cord. I know I will never forget that.
It would have been worth anything I might have experienced- good or
bad.
Next I want to say that my birth experience was a very positive one,
and that it seemed to me to be about half as long as it actually was-
16 hours. I was able to maintain focus throughout nearly all of the
experience and have to say that I am a true believer in the
effectiveness of the Hypnobabies program.
On June 28, at about 9:30 in the evening, my membranes released as I
was exiting the vehicle upon arriving home. My husband and I had
gone to see a movie and run a few errands earlier. I had just
finished eating out at a restaurant. My husband said he noticed that
I was choosing some odd combinations of food and eating more
carbohydrate and protein than was normal. He says he didn’t say
anything at the time, but wondered if I was stocking up for the
birthing time.
I followed the doctor recommendations and called the hospital to let
then know. They told me that I didn’t sound like my membranes had
released and they didn’t really believe me. I told them I was sure.
They said to wait about 2 hours and then come in. So I baked
brownies and my husband installed the car seat. I packed up a few
last minute items that I really wouldn’t need and then we started the
trip to the hospital. I walked in through the ER and up to the
birthing ward by myself…no wheelchair needed. The nurses again
didn’t believe that my membranes had released. They had me give a
urine sample, get undressed, and then wanted to check me. When they
went to check me, I gushed amniotic fluid, so they had to believe
me. They said that I was dilated 1 cm. I wasn’t worried, but asked
that they not announce that anymore. My husband reminded them that
the information on the Hypnobabies program was in my file and asked
that they respect our decision to use it. The first shift nurses
were overwhelmingly positive about it, and cooperated perfectly. I
listened to the CD’s, used my cues, and was progressing slowly.
The midwife later asked that they place an internal heart monitor on my
baby’s head so that she could keep track of the baby. I didn’t want
this and asked that they not do it just then. Later, the midwife
determined that I was progressing too slowly and that since my
membranes had released, there was a chance of infection. She wanted
to begin IV pitocin, and that required constant monitoring. So, they
put on the internal monitor and began the low dose of pitocin.
My husband did not have time to do the change of plans script and I lost
focus here a little bit. Additionally, the shift of nurses changed
and the new nurses were not cooperative with the program at all. My
husband ran interference for me, but they wouldn’t make any changes
in their procedures or terminology for me. This made me lose focus
even more and I began to be uncomfortable. I asked for something to
increase my comfort level and they gave me a mild medication in my
IV.
My husband was trying to help me regain focus, but it took a
little while (and the nurses becoming more involved with two other
women who had come in to have their babies) before I was able to do
so. I think at this point that they mostly wrote me off and spent
more time with the other women. (This was fine with me.) I continued
to progress and listened to my husband and used my cues during
pressure waves instead of listening to a CD. I asked for another
dose of medication about 4 hours later and they gave it to me. Then
once again they disappeared and left my husband and I alone.
It seemed like only a short while later that I felt my body take over
and begin to push at the end of each pressure wave. No one was in
the room and I was afraid they would be mad at me for pushing, so I
tried to relax so much that it wouldn’t happen- thinking I was doing
it. That just made the pushing more intense. I was not experiencing
any discomfort at all at this point. I would grunt involuntarily and
kept looking at my husband like “Is this ok?”. He was getting upset
because he thought they should be there if I was pushing. We didn’t
know that the other two women were pushing too and there weren’t
enough nurses to go around. By the time they got there and checked
me, the baby’s head was nearly crowning. I pushed her head out
between pressure waves and experienced no damage to my perineum at
all. My husband says that the time I grunted till she was born was
maybe 15 minutes.
She was born perfect at 1:29 in the afternoon on the 29th of June.
She weighed 8lbs 10oz and was 19 inches long. Her head was 14 inches
around. I would recommend Hypnobabies to anyone. I believe that it
made all the difference in my birthing time- even with the less than
perfect conditions that I experienced at the hospital.
Thank you all for your kind words and help these last few weeks.
I’ll keep in touch, but probably not as often. I’m busy loving on my
beautiful baby girl.
Ellie
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