I LOVE Hypnobabies. Comfortable, Fast and Easy Birth

Cadeon’s Birth

I LOVE Hypnobabies!  I wrote one birth story and this is it…it
doesn’t use the hypno lingo specifically, but it is a very positive
story.  Comfortable, fast and easy.  It couldn’t have been more
perfect.

Saturday night, October 28th I was awoken by a few pressure
waves/contractions during the night.  I wondered if we would make it
to church the next morning or if this was the start of labor.  They
were most intense in the early hours of the morning, but I was able
to sleep in between…never more than half hour apart.

Sunday morning I woke up with no sign of labor, so off to church we
went.  To be honest I was easily distracted during service and
uncomfortable.  After church we went to eat at our favorite Mexican
food place so that the owner, Maria, could see me one more time
before I had the baby.  We were pretty sure it would be soon so we
had better go while we could before the baby came.  Lunch was great
and it was nice to see Maria again.  After lunch we went grocery
shopping to stock up.  Contractions started up again (though they
were not intense) with all the walking and I became tired really
fast and just wanted to get the heck out of the store.

Sunday night the contractions became closer together and were
uncomfortable to lay down through even with my Hypnobabies disks.  I
finally got up and took shower.  Contractions were about 10-15
minutes apart but never progressed any closer together.  Finallly
the sun came up (Monday morning) and they slowed down.  After the
kids got up I went back to sleep.

Monday was a long day and I wondered how many nights I would go on
this way.  We went to sleep that night and I listened to my
Hypnobabies disk like I had been every night for the past month or
so.  But tonight I ended up getting out of bed even earlier than the
previous night.  Contractions were about 15 minutes apart again, but
much more intense.  I didn’t get excited right away because I
thought that I would labor all night and then sleep the next day as
my contractions seemed shy of daylight.  However, by the early
morning hours I needed hubby to help me with my relaxation, using
the techniques we practiced together.  By 4 in the morning the
intensity had grown to such that I could only relax if Rob very
firmly grasped my shoulders and repeated the relax, release and
peace cues.  Without his help my body felt panicky or tense just at
the start of the contraction.  They were about 5 minutes apart when
I woke Rob up to time them…  I tried to use my hypno cd for
birthing time to relax, but I felt that I needed the specific cues
from hubby with each contraction for the techniques to be
effective.  The birth ball was the most comfortable place for me to
sit during this time and I was definitely not comfortable laying
down (which was the position that I thought I would spend most of my
time laboring).

We called the midwife  at 4 and she said to give it another hour and
see how I felt… to give her a call if things progressed more
quickly.  Well, by 5 the contractions had spaced out to 10-15
minutes again and I was able to sit in the recliner and sleep
between them, though they were still intense enough that I needed
Rob’s help at the start of each one.  I was so tired that I would
fall immediately asleep as soon as the peak was over, before the
contractions ended!

It is now Tuesday, October 31.  They faded farther apart and the
intensity settled down enough that I was able to relax completely
through them on my own again, so I told Rob he should go get some
sleep.  I stayed in the recliner and slept as much as I could.  The
kids had some cereal and watched cartoons and I just tried to relax
and get ready for long and tired day.  I woke up a little before 9
and got up to get a few things done, however, the contractions came
back and seemed back to back.  I didn’t believe how close they
seemed so I kept about some light chores.  When the intensity
brought me to my knees on the stairs I decided that I’d better wake
Rob up.  I needed some relaxation help again to stay comfortable.  I
couldn’t believe when he told me they were about 2-3 minutes apart!
They all had double peaks and I thought we needed to start getting
things ready to go to the birth center.  As I sat on the birth ball
and relaxed through the contractions my “wispered peace cues” became
a bit louder and I didn’t want Rob to leave me to load the car up.
We were waiting for a friend to arrive to stay with the kids when I
felt a distinct change.  I felt the baby move down and the
contraction felt a bit pushy.  I said, “we have to leave NOW” so
Chyna watched Ky for a few minutes until Robin got there and we
headed out of the drive way as quickly as we could.

I was able to relax really well using my Hypnobabies cd in the car,
despite having VERY intense and slightly pushy feeling
contractions.  I swear I could actually feel myself dilating and the
baby inching down.  The ride seemed really short- but then again, we
made the trip in about 25 minutes and it’s normally at least a 45
minute drive!  We went in and I was sure that the midwife would
check me and say that I was dilated to 2 or 3 centimeters.  I was
ecstatic when she said “oh, we have a nice bulging bag of water, the
head is right here and your at 6″.   I said “Thank you Lord!”  And I
remembered that once I made it to 6 cm when I was birthing Ky,
transition went very quickly.  We went right into the birthing suite
and they started filling up the tub right away.  Rob prayed over me
and I was ready to go!  It took about 20 minutes to fill up, but it
didn’t seem that long at all.  I sat on the birth ball and Rob
squeezed my shoulders and continued the relaxation cues.  I moved
into the warm water and it felt so good!  It was nice to be able to
be comfortable and mobile…and the warmth made it easier to relax
even though the contractions continued to become more powerful and
intense and quickly I felt my body start to push a little with each
one.

Alethia (doula/birth assistant) noticed that I was getting pushy and
called in Ruth (midwife).  She checked me and I was completely
dilated with just a bit of a lip left on my cervix!  It went by SO
quickly.  And in between each contraction I was completely relaxed
and very comfortable, carrying on fun conversation and talking about
how much I was enjoying this birth.  I pushed a bit with each
contraction that felt like pushing (which at this point quickly
became all of them).  I could feel baby decending and the pressure
was crazy- not painful, but I felt very compelled to get him out the
rest of the way :~)  When I was preparing for birth, I hadn’t
planned on pushing much at all… but at this point I was ready to
meet my baby and rest.  Ruth was very encouraging for me to push
with the contractions but when they were over to immediately stop
pushing at all and rest.  To go with my body and allow myself to
properly stretch so I wouldn’t tear.

I don’t remember how long I was pushing, but Rob says it was about 6
contractions in all.  The rests in between pushing were wonderful
little breaks and fun conversation continued.  A few times Ruth and
Alethia comented on how much I was making jokes and laughing or
smiling… at one point Ruth laughed and asked what drugs I was on
to be having so much fun while she could see the head!  (That was
one of my favorite parts of this birthing!  I proudly
said “Hypnobabies”!)

I hadn’t previously expected to birth in the tub, but everything
went so quickly and it was so easy for me to keep my body comfy that
I never considered getting back out.  On the last couple
contractions I was asking how much longer (I was pretty anxious to
see this little guy).  Finally I decided heck with not pushing hard,
I was ready to get this kid out!  I pushed with everything I had for
a few contractions and out he came.  He was absolutely perfect and
very clean having been born under water.  He was immediately handed
to me, and he was so peaceful.  He looked around a little and made a
few little sounds.  They suctioned him out a bit and helped me move
to the bed to dry off and keep baby warm (and to do the ultra fun
task of delivering the placenta… I had forgotten about that
part :~)

It was so nice to just lay down and relax with my new perfect little
guy.  And the bed at the birth center is a real bed, I think queen
size, so there was plenty of room for Rob to get close too.

Caden was born just less than 2 hours after arriving at the
birth center.  His apgar scores were great and his head is nice and
round, having not spent much time in the birth canal.  Even though
the labor process was very powerful and intense (and I’ll admit I
did have a few minutes of “panicky” feeling around transition) it
was beautiful and peaceful and much quicker than I had expected.

After having a previous hospital birth and this lovely, peaceful
birth center birth I can’t believe how much impact the difference
has had on our lives.  Here at the birth center I was quietly
monitored and encouraged to keep drinking water, but Rob and I were
left alone for much of the time with Ruth and Alethia listening and
waiting in the next room.  We were encouraged to relax and be
comfortable and to do what we felt like doing.  I was really allowed
to birth in the way that I felt was right and we did not
feel “managed” at all.  This was a HUGE blessing in contrast to the
managed care we forcefully received at the hospital.  Rob and I are
complete advocates for personalized birth center care, water
birthing and Hypnobabies!  This was absolutely the birth of our
dreams and there was nothing that we’d have changed.  Not one
thing.

A few notes about some of the things that I did during pregnancy
that I believe affected the outcome of our birth~

• Hypnobabies!  We did the homstudy course… I got the program around
  30 weeks and listened pretty much every night to the c.d.s and most
  days I listened to the affirmations disk.  I did all of the reading
  with the book, it was very comprehensive, but since I was not a
  first time mom, most of it was a refresher and info that I already
  knew.  Hubby and I did the practice sessions a few times the week
  before I went into labor.  I really prayed a lot during my c.d.
  listening and I know that God used this program to alleviate many of
  the concerns that I had from my previous delivery.  He used this
  program to help me to have confidence in the way He created my body
  to birth and I have no doubt that this affected the short length of
  time that I was actually in labor, as well as eliminated pain.  I
  can honestly say that I experienced no pain during labor or delivery
  (even pushing) just VERY strong power and pressure.
• Red Raspberry Leaf Tea!  I drank this throughout my pregnancy to
  help tone my uterus.  I took a break from the tea for a few weeks
  towards the end of my pregnancy and then started again around 38
  weeks.  I drank one glass of strong tea each day.  I also prepared a strong brew of it to drink when I went into labor, but things progressed so quickly I forgot about it.  Looking back at the length of my labor, I’m glad I didn’t drink that last glass!  :~0  We could have ended up with a car birth instead of the wonderful birth we had.
• Evening Primrose oil.  I took this a few days orally and a few days “the other way”, lol.  One of my concerns from my last pregnancy was the need to be induced.  I took this to help my cervix along.  I would say it worked. Blessings to everyone still waiting on their Hypnobabies!

Jenni