Amanda’s Hypnobabies Home Waterbirth with Baby Born En Caul
“At some point, I said they were starting to feel pushy and my midwife just said, “that’s okay, let it build and do what you have to do!” I am so used to other experiences of being told “yup you’re good” that I was initially like hmmm but then I knew it was all up to me!”
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After weeks of prodromal waves (Hypnobabies word for contractions)- I was beginning to worry that I wouldn’t know when my birthing time (Hypnobabies word for labor) was actually real. There were multiple times I had texted my midwife thinking things might be heading that direction, only for them to fizzle out and things were so different from the prodromal stuff I had with my second.
I woke up that morning and felt like I had been having some waves that were more real but that wasn’t anything different from what I had been experiencing for weeks. I took the kids to daycare and had a chiropractor appointment. I noticed that things were happening fairly consistently at 20 min but I was also driving which set off my waves every time. I got home and started working, having some waves here and there- enough to notice and I labeled them as “real” but wasn’t sure they’d lead anywhere (again).
I noticed they were maybe 15min apart but would come frequently if I used the restroom or did any walking. SOO I decided to go for a walk- which I immediately decided was a bad idea to do alone because waves would come probably every 2 min as I was walking around the neighborhood. I let my midwife know that I thought things were shifting since they were consistently 10 min apart … she told me to eat lunch and relax. I did half that- I ate lunch and dialed into a work Monthly Operating Review.
As the meeting went on, I realized things were getting closer and closer. That I was hoping it wouldn’t be “my turn” while I was having a wave because I wouldn’t be able to talk! That’s when I decided it was probably the real deal. I texted my photographer and my friend who was planning to attend so that they had enough heads up to travel to me. My midwife knew I was going to lay down and relax and let her know when things picked up more.
At that point- things were 7 min apart, I knew my photographer was on the way, my friend was, my kids were taken care of AND I surprise bonus that my other best friend happened to already be heading to town so she was going to come to! I came upstairs and things were quickly 5 min apart and I was worried they would escalate quicker than I expected so I told my midwife to head over. This was about 2:45/3:00…this is when I “count” my birthing time as starting since all the stuff leading up to that I experienced for weeks!
I first laid in bed and listened to Easy First Stage (Hypnobabies main birthing time hypnosis track) for a bit- had a lot of emotions, lots of crying as I thought about how it was the last day I dropped the kids off as 2- the last time my “baby” was my baby! All that stuff…not sure exactly when my midwife got here, probably 3:30ish and then I really felt safe enough to start moving! She helped strip the bed down- and then I told her I only really wanted to be on the toilet or tub. She said I could do either, sometimes the tub can slow things down so she suggested doing the toilet until it wasn’t comfortable anymore.
I sat backward on it with a pillow, continuing to listen to my Easy First Stage hypnosis track while my husband offered some counter pressure during waves. It helped SO much. Eventually, my legs started falling asleep sitting there and he had already drawn the bath for me, so I just decided to get in there. My friend arrived shortly after so it must have been about 4:30 at that point. I was very much internalized by then, so I don’t remember when the others arrived but I do remember someone asking how far apart waves were and my midwife saying, “they’re close”.
It was about the same time I started doubting myself, but I knew that meant I was heading to transformation (Hypnobabies word for transition) so I pushed those thoughts aside best I could! My wonderful husband sat behind me in the tub continuing the counter pressure! At some point, I said they were starting to feel pushy and my midwife just said, “that’s okay, let it build and do what you have to do!” I am so used to other experiences of being told “yup you’re good” that I was initially like hmmm but then I knew it was all up to me!
Maybe a few more waves came and I NEEDED to push. I leaned back against my husband using his legs to support me and We switched my Hypnobabies track over to the Pushing Baby Out hypnosis track (Hypnobabies special track for more comfortable pushing) and I tried to focus on that. Wouldn’t you guess that someone CALLED me in the middle of this! A telemarketer- which I only know because they left a 2 second VM 😑😑. Anyways- once we got past that distraction I continued with what I was doing. I definitely was resisting for a bit- like I knew I needed to be pushing differently but was hoping baby might move down more on their own.
Something the hypnosis track said must have clicked for me and eventually I just remembered what I needed to do and how to do it and gave it all I had! I feel like I was a lot more vocal this time than I have been in the past- but my midwife says I wasn’t 😂. She actually said that I was so quiet she had to come to sit next to me so she knew when to take heart tones because normally she listens and comes when moms wave ends but she couldn’t tell by listening when I was experiencing them!
I thought I was pushing forever but apparently, it was only for 21 min lol Though I am confident to say I was not effectively doing anything for a good bit of that-I think maybe three or four pressure waves where I was ACTUALLY pushing and feeling it happen the right way! But my midwife did say she sees that happen a lot with bigger babies too, where it takes a little before you get it exactly right!
Baby was born EN CAUL and head and body all came at the same time! 5:39!! There was some meconium but they weren’t concerned. My 3rd baby, second hypno-baby was born 9lb3oz and 20.5inches long! The most incredible and powerful experience!
