First Time Mom Jen’s Hypnobabies Hospital Birth
“My experience is a testament that even if you have a huge baby, even if your partner isn’t onboard, even if you fall asleep when you practice your hypnosis tracks, and even if you don’t know if you’re doing the hypno-anesthesia “right,” Hypnobabies works!”
Hypnobabies Childbirth Hypnosis really does help you enjoy a much easier and more comfortable birthing! Use code hypno1528 for 10% off our Hypnobabies Home Study Courses.
I used the Hypnobabies Home Study course because the classes didn’t fit into our family’s busy schedule, and I hired a fabulous hypno-doula, Laura Hanstad, who is a certified Hypnobabies instructor. She came to our home for one birth rehearsal when I was 36 weeks to review what I had been studying and practicing on my own. Then at the birth, Laura was able to take the things that I had learned and was hearing on my Hypnobabies hypnosis tracks, and apply them to my specific situation in the moment. My husband was not really interested in the Hypnobabies philosophy, so it was extremely helpful to have someone there who spoke the same Hypnobabies language that I did.
My doctor was planning to induce me about 3 days after my guess date (due date)because my baby was already measuring big, and his size was making my doctor and my husband nervous. I wasn’t worried about his size, though! I had read in my home study book about big babies and I felt confident that I could birth a baby of any size. Plus my doula kept telling me “fat squishes.”
At my appointment two-days before my guess date, I was already 4 cm dilated. Over the next 48 hours, I tried a variety of natural induction strategies: membrane sweeping, eating Indian food, listening to the “Come Out Baby” track (Hypnobabies hypnosis track to encourage baby to be born), even though I fell asleep, as per usual, taking Castor Oil, going for a walk, and nipple stimulation. I’m not sure which of those did the trick, but something worked because I started to experience pressure waves (Hypnobabies word for contraction) around 2 am the morning of my guess date.
I immediately got into my bathroom tub and started listening to Birthing Day Affirmations. Holy cow, I love that track. It put me into such a positive place mentally and emotionally. I listened to it at least three time as I kept refreshing the tub with hot water. All morning long, the waves were regular but not that intense.
Once we got to the hospital around 11 a.m., my birthing time (Hypnobabies word for labor) stopped almost completely. We decided to stay anyway to see what would happen, and around 6 pm, we decided to break my bag of waters. It was a difficult decision because I knew that if my birthing time didn’t restart after a certain amount of time, they might put me on Pitocin, but fortunately an hour after the procedure, things started to heat back up again. I immediately got into the giant tub in the bathroom attached to my birthing room, and listened to Easy First Stage (Hypnobabies powerful hypnosis track for birthing). I loved that one too! There were many moments when I wanted to respond back to the track with: “Yeah! That’s right! I got this! Exactly! Amen!”
Unlike in some of the Hypobabies birthing videos I watched, I was not immobile during the waves, and moved around in the tub. However between waves, I was so relaxed that I think I fell asleep. After three hours of active birthing, the doctor wanted to check me, and I was 9 cm dilated and 100% effaced. I didn’t even realize that I was going through transformation (Hypnobabies word for transition) at the point — except that I wasn’t getting a break between waves — and then I felt the urge to push.
That’s when my doula started playing the Pushing Baby Out track (Hypnobabies hypnosis track just for the pushing stage) for the whole room to hear. I was totally into it and felt so pumped and encouraged by everything I heard. My doula also kept reminding me to relax my butt into the bed and to keep my moans low and deep, as my husband cheered me on. I pushed with each wave, for a little less than an hour, and then at 12:10 AM, our little boy Walter James appeared with his right fist in the air. I felt so victorious, and apparently, so did he! He weighed 10 pounds, was 22 inches long and his head measured in the 96th percentile. I had some abrasions, but no tears.
For me the miracle of my Hypnobabies training was that I never felt scared, out of control, panicked or desperate during my birthing experience. I felt like I was going at a very sustainable pace and that I could have kept going even longer. The nurses were very complimentary and impressed, and they asked about my Hypnobabies training.
I told my doula afterwards that I wasn’t sure if my hypno-anesthesia had “worked” because I wasn’t immobile during my waves and I could feel some discomfort at points, including the ring of fire. She responded that apparently it had worked because any discomfort I felt was so manageable that it never caused panic or struggle. The most bothersome part of the whole experience was that I puked throughout the time that I was in active birthing, but it was worth it to try to keep some real food in me to stay energized.
My experience is a testament that even if you have a huge baby, even if your partner isn’t onboard, even if you fall asleep when you practice your tracks, and even if you don’t know if you’re doing the hypno-anesthesia “right,” Hypnobabies works! I’m so grateful that I had the positive, empowering, drug-free birth that I had been hoping for.
