Amberle’s Hypnobabies Birth in the Hospital with Midwives
Amberle was born at 6:25ish on Tuesday, May 6. I woke up Monday morning around 4 with cramping thinking to myself, if I don’t get back to sleep I’m not going to have a very good time! I plugged in my easy first stage track on my iPod and didn’t wake back up until about 6:30. Between 6:30 and 7 though, I had about 5 contraction/cramps and started wondering just how fast this birth was going to be!
As I went about my day I made sure I got some of my last minute things done such as grabbing some receiving blankets from the store, and picking up my Medic Alert bracelet from being repaired. Monday went along pretty normally save the every 20-60 min cramps.
Although by Monday evening I was pretty sure this baby was coming out, off to bed I went at my normal time after a nice long hot bath. I managed to sleep from about 22:00 to 0:30, so I got recharged a bit. By 1:30 I decided I’d better wake up my husband, and get him to write down the wave times so that I could focus on my training. With my first birth, I used meditation to take my mind off of the waves, and found hypnosis to be more effective, but similar enough that it was an easy journey.
We called our midwife at 3:30 and with my contractions actively 3- 5min apart, my husband was starting to think we should skip that stage and head to the hospital. My midwife kept talking to me on the phone trying to “hear” a wave, but with my hypnosis training, and comfort level there wasn’t much to hear. She asked if I’d like her to come over to check on me and I did.
She got to our house around 4:30, watched me for half an hour and checked me at 5. Then she believed me, not that she had doubted me, but I was working through the waves so well that she wasn’t sure this was “it.” Once she found I was 6-7cm dialated though, she was ready to be guided by me. A few washroom breaks later, the last of which I had two waves going up the stairs, another at the top, and two in the washroom while trying to get back to them, we all decided that it was time to get to the hospital. Rush hour would be starting relatively soon, and it’s better to have a baby when you’re not in a car!
We arrived at the hospital (she had gone ahead) at 6, and as my husband, son, and I were walking in, things changed. I went from great focus to the mantra of “almost there” or “almost done” as I knew from my son’s birth that if there was this much pressure and need to push and sensation with the waves, then it was time.We were in the birthing room at 6, my water broke while pushing in a squating position at 6:15, and Amberle was born at 6:25ish. The only catch was when our midwife couldn’t find Amberle’s heart beat (because she was engaged and too low) and I had to get on the birthing bed. That’s when I felt tearing start, and did end up with 2nd degree tearing. I’m convinced that if I’d been able to stay squatting, I wouldn’t have torn, but we will never know for sure.
Amberle was 7lbs, 7oz and 20 1/2″ long. She had a smaller head than her brother, and looks a lot like him, just daintier. Her birth went much more smoothly than her brothers, and I fully give the credit for
that to our midwife. She let me do what I had to do. I paced between waves, danced through them with my husband, and up until she told me I had to get on the bed I was free to work through things on my own. This was a great experience!
