2nd Time Hypnobabies Mom Brittney’s Home Birth
“I bounced on my birth ball and did heavy breathing through each wave which also was a nice cue for everyone to know I was having a wave. I knew it was intense, but I doubted it was intense enough to be getting close to pushing baby out. Once the tub was filled it sounded pretty good to get in and I had a very slight urge to push on my previous wave so I thought it would be good idea.”
My second hypno-baby was born Sunday at home (I had my first hypno-baby in the hospital almost had an emergency c section but was able to birth with an episiotomy. This time I opted for a midwife at home and I’m so thankful!)
I started having practice waves (Hypnobabies term for contractions) on New Year’s Eve, at 38 weeks. I definitely had some anxiety due to my midwife being out for COVID-19 complications and having a backup midwife I didn’t know taking over. These practice waves continued religiously for a few hours starting around 4:30 pm each night. I would listen to my tracks and try to stay calm. I also seemed to have some type of stomach bug during this week so my system was all out of whack and the diarrhea and nausea made me feel like it could be birthing time! I have a toddler too, so this pregnancy was just physically more challenging and uncomfortable than my first. My tracks definitely were helpful to stay as calm as possible during these weeks.
Finally, on Sunday morning around 9 am I was feeling a bit nauseous which wasn’t unusual. We went for a walk and I felt some practice like waves coming on until finally one stopped me in my tracks, and I told my husband I needed to breathe for a second. Nothing else was too significant after that, I came home, did laundry, bounced on my birth ball outside in the sun while my daughter played. Then around 12 pm I thought I would start tracking them but didn’t want to get my hopes up. I did have some pink discharge which also happened the morning I gave birth to my daughter so that was making me think it could be my birthing day. Oh, and at 11 am my student midwife let me know my regular midwife would be available for my birth if it did end up happening today…so I teased saying I’d let him know it’s safe to come out now!
Waves continued to come and by 1:30 pm they were consistently 6-8 min apart for about 45 seconds. I started to get cold feet (literally haha) so drew a warm bath and soaked my feet in Epson salt. My husband was with my daughter and I had my sister come over for support. My midwife wasn’t going to come until the waves were closer together. I was listening to Easy First Stage track (Hypnobabies main birthing day track) this whole time.
After warming my feet, I got in bed to rest and my sister rubbed my back. We let my husband know to call the midwife since things weren’t slowing down. The midwives arrived and got my vitals which went smoothly. I didn’t want to have a cervical check. They got the birth tub ready. I bounced on my birth ball and did heavy breathing through each wave which also was a nice cue for everyone to know I was having a wave. I knew it was intense, but I doubted it was intense enough to be getting close to pushing baby out. Once the tub was filled it sounded pretty good to get in and I had a very slight urge to push on my previous wave so I thought it would be good idea.
My midwife was able to check in occasionally with a doppler to check baby’s heart rate and thankfully it was always good. I leaned over the tub on my knees and my husband rubbed my back. I had Easy First Stage still playing but now it was out loud in the room. I almost had someone change it to Pushing Baby Out (Hypnobabies track just for pushing) but I was in the zone and the hypnosis was still helpful. The midwifes encouraging words also helped. They trusted me and let me do whatever I needed to do.
I started pushing during these waves and my waters burst, I let them know since they weren’t able to tell in the water since I guess it was clear. Then two waves later his head popped out! I started to panic a little because I assumed, he would plop out in one fell swoop like my first. I tried to power through the next wave, but it wasn’t strong enough, my body needed a rest. I did end up raising out of the water enough for his head to not be submerged anymore so my midwives had me get out of the tub and onto the bed so they could pull him out. Later, they let me know since he wasn’t breathing out of the water and he didn’t come out during my transition to the bed they had to intervene and pull him out to be safe.
I can’t believe I was able to do that!
It happened so fast and was very intense! But I am so proud we did it!
The midwives arrived around 4:30 pm and I had him at 5:43 pm!
My active birthing time was about 5-6 hours.
I am yet again, so thankful for Hypnobabies which helped me stay calm and have a more comfortable birth.
The ‘Peace’ cue (Hypnobabies cue for instant physical comfort) also helped while I got stitched up, I did end up with a second degree tear.
It’s also helping with the initial latch discomfort.
I didn’t get nearly as much practice with the tracks as I did with my first, but it was still great! I probably listened 3-4x a week the last month of pregnancy and that’s it. So hopefully that can be encouraging for second+ hypnomamas! It’s hard with a toddler!
Read another great home birth story HERE
