First Time Mom Rebekah’s Hypnobabies Home Birth
“They put her straight on my chest and then pulled the amniotic sac off her face and she cried. It was the best sound. I cried and said, “We have a baby! I have a baby! She is breathing! She is perfect! I love you so much!”.”
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I have loved reading everyone’s birth stories! So here is mine! This is our first biological baby. Connor, my husband, and I adopted our 2 year, Leah. We originally planned on having a hospital birth, but halfway into the Hypnobabies course ~24 weeks we decided to switch to a homebirth with 2 Certified Nurse Midwives.
I worked Thursday and Friday. I work 12 hour shifts as a NICU RN. Friday I was 41 weeks. Friday night after work we went to Connor’s parents’ house to celebrate my birthday. We ate pizza and strawberry shortcake for dinner. I had been craving pizza all week but wouldn’t let myself get any because it gives me heartburn and I didn’t want to go into my birthing time (Hypnobabies term for labor) with heartburn, so we had been eating healthy all week. Friday, March 19 at 8:30 pm I lost my mucus plug and started having pre birthing waves (Hypnobabies term for contractions) every 5 minutes. We got home by 9 pm and went straight to bed because we knew we needed rest for the marathon ahead. I played my Hypnobabies tracks in the background and slept between 5-minute waves all night.
In the morning, we got up and I texted my mom to see if she could get Leah our 2-year-old that morning since I was tired from working and the night of light birthing waves. We made sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits for breakfast and ate as a family of 3 for the last time. My mom came and picked up Leah around 9 am. I was so sad to see her go, knowing everything was about to change in our world. During the day through my every 5-minute waves Connor and I watched TV, ate lunch, slept in between waves, went to sonic to get a lime aide, walked, and made homemade bread. I updated my midwifes and doula that I was still in my prebirthing time.
My doula suggested the miles circuit to help with babies positioning. We did the miles circuit. While I curb walked, Connor played disc golf and gave me sips of water in our backyard. Then we ate dinner and went to bed Saturday night at 9 pm, sleeping between the waves. We played our Hypnobabies tracks the whole time we slept but around 2 am Sunday morning I woke up completely to more intense waves every 2 minutes and the Hypnobabies tracks were not playing. At this moment, I freaked out and let my mind race. Connor helped me get back into focus and got our Hypnobabies tracks playing again making me instantly calm again.
We texted our doula that we were ready for her to come. I got in the shower and Connor texted the midwives to let them know my waves were every 2 minutes lasting 1 minute. Connor would stop texting and help me through each wave using our Hypnobabies cues. I got out of the shower put my hair up in a bun and put on my birthing gown. I went to the living room and worked through waves on my knees leaning over the couch. My doula got to the house at 3:30 am and she provided wonderful counter pressure which made my waves more manageable. My doula and Connor gave me sips of water and crackers between waves.
Connor drank his morning coffee outside because I was nauseous and couldn’t handle the smell. Connor used our Hypnobabies cues, and our doula provided counter pressure as I rode each wave. We had Easy First Stage (Hypnobabies main birthing time track) constantly playing out loud. Every time it turned off, I asked for it to be started again right away. Birthing Day Affirmations, Deepening Your Hypnosis (Hypnobabies track to deepen the level of hypnosis), and Easy First Stage is what we listened to most. We used multiple positions hands and knees, sitting on the birthing ball, standing leaning over our table, and side lying in bed. Our doula was in contact with our midwife and let her know when she thought she should arrive.
Our first Midwife Kara arrived at 7 am. I cried a couple tears when I saw her because she was here which gave me so much relief. I asked her to check me because I had to know if I was only 2 cm. She said are you sure? Your body is doing the work it needs to do. I told her yes, I needed to know. I also didn’t want to get into the birthing tub until closer to transformation (Hypnobabies term for transition). She checked me and I was 5 cm, 100% effaced, and 0 station. She checked on baby’s heart tones throughout the birth and baby was always doing great. My doula and Midwife suggested to work with gravity and stand during waves while the tub finished filling. During that time, I told my doula it felt like my bladder was going to explode. She suggested I go experience some waves in the bathroom to let everything open.
The second Midwife Julie got to the house at 8:15. During those waves in the bathroom I had a lot more bloody show. After that, the tub was ready, and I got in at 9:30 am. It felt amazing! At 9:50 am I told my birthing team “I can’t do this forever”, “she may never come out”, and I started to lose positivity and said, “I hate this!” during a wave. They reminded me to stay positive, to let go of any fears, and if I wanted to push I could. I told myself be thankful for this experience and to be grateful for every wave and that it was okay.
They told me I could feel her if I wanted and when I felt her, I told them it felt squishy, and I couldn’t feel sutures and were they sure I could push because maybe I had cervix left. They said there is no cervix you can push whenever you feel like it. (We found out later that the squishy was the bag of waters which never broke.)
Then I decided okay you just have to get past this intense pressure and push. Connor put on Pushing Baby Out track (Hypnobabies track just for pushing). I started pushing whenever and however I felt like. My team encouraged me and told me how good I was doing, and it wouldn’t be long. Then her head came out (still in her bag of water, en caul), I waited for the next wave and her body came out. On Sunday, March 21, 2021 at 10:27 am she was here! They put her straight on my chest and then pulled the amniotic sac off her face and she cried. It was the best sound. I cried and said, “We have a baby! I have a baby! She is breathing! She is perfect! I love you so much!”. And I kissed her and snuggled her close. Connor shed some tears as well.
We moved to the bed to birth the placenta. We enjoyed being in God’s Presence as we listened to worship music. Little miss Selah wanted to nurse right away. So, Selah nursed while we waited for the placenta to birth. The placenta released and was delivered which relieved a lot of pressure. I continued to nurse and cramp a lot. Then the midwife pressed on my belly and a large clot came out, but my uterus was nice and firm after it came out. They checked me for tears. I had a right small labial tear and vaginal tear. They said they would only need to repair it if it kept bleeding. It kept bleeding so they repaired both. I just nursed and used my Hypnobabies cues. The repair was way easier than getting a Brazilian wax!
After the repair, about an hour and a half later, Connor cut the umbilical cord and weighed her. The midwives did her assessment and vitals. Then they had me nurse her again while she got her Vitamin K shot. Then Connor held her skin to skin. They tried to get me up to shower because that’s what I wanted to do, but once I stood up, I felt so lightheaded and blood drain from my face, so I needed to lay back down and get up later. They checked my blood pressure and bleeding, and both were good. They said to drink fluids and eat and try again in a couple hours. They finished cleaning up and started laundry. The birthing team left at 12:30 pm. Then Connor, Selah, and I just got to snuggle and rest in God’s peace and presence. It was the best experience of my life! God answered all my prayers. He is a good Father, and He is faithful.
Hypnobabies provided me with the tools I needed to have birth of my dreams! We listened to the tracks at night. I would also listen during nap time. We did perineal massage and listened to Pushing Practice track in the evening before bed.
Here is another great home birth story!
