Morgan’s Confident Hypnobabies Hospital Induction
The birth of Hazel
“As soon as her head was out I didn’t want to stop pushing and even though the wave was ending I did one more push and the next thing I knew my husband was handing my beautiful baby girl to me at 3:55 am!”
I had been going to a birthing center for all of my care and had a midwife who I absolutely loved and trusted completely. At my 37-week appointment my blood pressure was a little elevated and because my hands were slightly itchy, she decided to have some tests run just to make sure everything was looking ok. With my first daughter I had high blood pressure that ended with Preeclampsia but because my only symptom was high BP I wasn’t horribly concerned. A day later though my BP spiked, and I had a headache that wouldn’t go away. I called my midwife and she wanted me to go to L&D at the local hospital to get checked out to be on the safe side. I went and they checked for pre e and found that I was still doing alright and sent me home. They wanted to schedule a BP check and I agreed to come in later that week.
June 10th rolls around and I head into the hospital to have my BP rechecked. As soon as I get back into the room the nurse says, “I’m assuming they told you about your test results and your options, right?” I sat there like a deer in the headlights and had no idea what she was talking about. I told her the only results I was made aware of were that I did not have pre-eclampsia when they tested a few days prior. The nurse then informed me that I had Cholestasis and my liver function was really bad, so they were going to recommend induction that day. She said she would go check with the doctor and would be right back. As soon as she left the room I began researching. I texted my mom (who is a nurse), my best friend (who is a Hypnobabies doula, Hypnobabies instructor and student midwife) and called my own midwife. My midwife agreed with the doctor that induction would be safest for me and baby and recommended I go ahead with it. I started to sob as I mourned not having my “ideal” birth for my last birth. I kept texting my husband (who was home with our 4 year old because she couldn’t come into the hospital at all) and he was amazingly supportive and let me cry and get it all out and gently reminded me to listen to Hypnobabies.
My amazing mom was able to get on the last flight to Portland to come and watch my older daughter! My BP was really high, so they had me go straight to L&D to be admitted instead of going home. The nurses at the hospital were so kind and understanding when I voiced my concerns about how my plans changed and how I still wanted some of my birth plan to work. A midwife came in and I was able to discuss different induction methods and requested a cervical check to help determine my Bishops score and to help make an educated decision about what induction method would be best. Much to my surprise I was a “stretchy and soft 2” and 80% effaced already. She asked if she could do a membrane sweep and after using my Peace cue (Hypnobabies cue for instant physical comfort) I gave her the go ahead. During the sweep I felt very slight pressure but no discomfort at all! Shortly after I had some cramp type waves (Hypnobabies term for contractions) that would come and go but nothing consistent. We decided to hold off on any other induction forms until closer to when my husband could be there with me.
At the 7:00 shift change I met the nurse who would be there for my entire birth and we instantly clicked. I told her my plans and she was excited to help support me through all of it. At 8:45 pm I had them start me on the lowest dose of Pitocin to see if we could start getting more consistent birthing waves (contractions) and to get me in a good pattern knowing it can take time and it was getting close to when my husband would be there. After picking my mom up at the airport my husband got to the hospital at 11:30 pm. I had been by myself up until this point listening to Hypnobabies and trying to remain calm as I made decisions and having him there felt like such a relief. Because I was able to finally relax my waves became more regular and closer together. I was still able to laugh and talk between them as I went from off (Hypnobabies tool for entering hypnosis) to center (Hypnobabies tool for being in hypnosis with eyes open) with each one.
A little while later I could tell things were progressing just a little but knew I was still in my early birthing time (Hypnobabies term for labor). I spoke with the OB and midwife on staff and we decided it would be a good idea to break my waters to help things along. I agreed and said that I wanted to go get in the tub after so my nurse and husband went to start that while the OB broke my water. I was shocked at how much came out! It felt like a waterfall and I just kept laughing because I was positive, I must be peeing too if I had that much fluid. My nurse came to help me to the tub room and handed me a pair of lovely mesh underwear and one of those giant pads. I put it on and within seconds of standing up I had leaked through and was dripping everywhere. I tried to rush to the bathroom but as I was walking, I started to laugh and with every laugh more fluid came out. My nurse quickly grabbed a towel and followed me to the bathroom trying to mop it all up as both of us laughed.
I made it to the tub room and for one of the first times during my birth it was just me and my husband in a dimly lit room surrounded by complete calm as the Hypnobabies music played in the background. My husband and I had a long talk where I felt I was really able to process through everything I was feeling, and we were able to just be together. Shortly after that things started to pick up! I began doing more low moaning and I found that I needed to concentrate more to stay in hypnosis during each wave. At one point my nurse came in and heard me moan “oh my butt” and she decided it was time to head back to the room. We made it back to the room at 3 am where I asked for a cervical check to satisfy my curiosity and they said I was at a 5 almost 6 and 90% effaced. I tried to remind myself that we do not give birth by numbers and that everything was ok even though I was feeling disappointed and discouraged.
When I finally made it to the bed (I’m honestly not sure how I got back on the bed I was in my own little birthing world 😂) I could feel the intensity start up again. My husband (who I thought wasn’t paying attention at all to the things I was teaching him during our class) read Birth Prompts (small hypnosis cues and deepening techniques) to me and used all of the cue words at all the right moments. He reminded me to relax and between each wave told me how proud he was and that I was so strong and that I could bring our baby into the world. He left my side once to pee but other than that stayed right by me with each wave.
Around 3:40 I was beginning to feel pushing waves. The OB asked if she could check me one more time to see if I was fully dilated, I agreed to have one more and she found I was at an 8 and asked me to hold off pushing. I changed positions and tried everything in my power to not push at all but at the end of every wave my body was pushing. 3 waves later I told her there was no way this baby wasn’t coming out, so she went to check one more time and found that baby was in fact ready to come out and was making her way down. I flipped back to my back (which I originally didn’t want to push on my back but it just felt right). One wave later she told my husband he should probably wash his hands because baby was coming fast (I had in my birth plan that I wanted my husband to catch the baby and the amazing OB was completely fine with that as long as baby and I were both doing well).
My husband washed his hands and went to stand between my legs. The midwife came up by my head to continue to give me support and encouragement while the OB stayed with Austin. I had a brief break between waves, and I remember turning to the midwife and saying “the baby is really coming! This is my rest and be thankfully stage!” I took deep breaths and was able to center myself in hypnosis again and visualized bringing my baby down and into the world. As the next wave began, I started to push and felt her moving down the birth canal. The next wave I felt a little bit of discomfort with her crowning, but I looked up and Austin continued to encourage me and reassured me that the baby was right there, and she had hair! I was able to give another push during the wave and her head was out! As soon as her head was out I didn’t want to stop pushing and even though the wave was ending I did one more push and the next thing I knew my husband was handing my beautiful baby girl to me at 3:55 am! I ended up developing pre-eclampsia during my birthing time and had to have the mag drip again and other blood pressure meds after birth. But I didn’t tear at all!
Even though this was not the original birth I had planned I knew that I had made the right decision to be induced. I truly felt like Hypnobabies helped me feel confident in strong in my choices and in requesting what I needed from the hospital staff. I felt like a complete warrior for being able to change my plans and still have a beautiful and empowering birth. I was amazed at what my body was able to do and the strength I was able to find within myself to pull through even when it was hard both emotionally and physically. In the end I wouldn’t change a thing
