Floridel’s Empowered Hypnobabies Hospital Induction
“I felt the strongest pressure wave EVER and said aloud “I NEED TO PUSH!” I pushed what felt like a big gush like a waterfall and I said, “I think I just pooped” and then my nurse goes “no, that’s a HEAD.”
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At my 38-week appointment, my OB recommended I get induced due to being “high risk” because of high blood pressure. I wanted to wait as long as possible to have baby come out on her own and after a second opinion, my OB compromised that they would give me a few more days after I was 39 weeks and induce me 4 days before my guess date (Hypnobabies term for due date) so as not to go full-term.
In the days leading up to our induction, I listened to my “Fear Clearing” (Hypnobabies track to release fear) track daily in addition to my other Maintenance tracks as I was feeling very disappointed in myself because I would have to have medical interventions with the induction.
My husband and I went in at 6 am to start the Cytotec because my cervix was “too high” and I was 0% effaced at my last checkup. They put in the saline lock because at some point, they would need to give me Penicillin because I was Group Strep B positive and I was already disappointed because that was one of the main things I didn’t want after my first birth with my son. I also had to be hooked up to a fetal monitor for intermittent NST monitoring. All things considered, it ended up being a lovely day of waiting and bonding with my husband, as we spent the entire day in the hospital room (because of COVID, there were no in or outs once we were admitted) watching movies and eating together (I was so excited I got 3 full meals before baby arrived!) taking a few naps, listening to my Hypnobabies Birthing Day tracks to mentally prepare myself. My midwife had also been very supportive of Hypnobabies practice, and she continued to advocate for my wishes despite the circumstances.
After 15 hours, I finally starting to have consistent birthing waves (Hypnobabies term for contractions) and was dilated at 6 cm with 90% effacement. Before I knew it, I started very slowly leaking fluid and my water had broken – from there, everything happened so quickly!
During all this, I was listening to my “Easy First Stage” track (Hypnobabies main birthing day track) and repeatedly used my “Peace” cue (Hypnobabies cue for instant physical comfort) when the pressure waves became stronger- my Hypno-anesthesia really helped me feel like I was “melting” away any discomfort. The pressure became stronger and I started to let out very loud, almost ‘roaring’ sounds and sweating. My Labor & Delivery nurse began asking me if I wanted the epidural. Because I was starting to feel like I was out of control, I said “yes” to the epidural. A few minutes after that, I felt the strongest pressure wave EVER and said aloud “I NEED TO PUSH!” I pushed what felt like a big gush like a waterfall and I said, “I think I just pooped” and then my nurse goes “no, that’s a HEAD.”
I didn’t even make it to my “Pushing Baby Out” track (Hypnobabies track just for pushing) as I continued with the loud, guttural noises (it felt like a dramatic birth scene out of a movie), and my Bluetooth headband slipped off so I could barely hear my Hypnobabies tracks. I gave another big push on my side as I didn’t want to be on my back and not possibly tear, but the staff helped roll me over and with one big push, the doctor told me to look down and I saw my baby girl being born! I was crying and shaking after all of that, in complete shock that I did it – I gave birth to my baby in 3 hours of active birthing time (Hypnobabies term for labor), with 3 big pushes – and without tearing!
The rest of our 2-day stay there the whole staff was calling me “a Rockstar.” Our L&D nurse was so proud of me, she couldn’t believe how calm I remained during the whole thing. When my midwife came back, she asked “did you Hypno-baby the whole thing? Because that was fast!” and congratulated me on having the birthing that I wanted. The whole department couldn’t stop talking about how quickly and smoothly it all went for me, and how I did it without the epidural.
It was not exactly the birthing I imagined, but Hypnobabies gave me everything I wanted from the experience. Although I didn’t feel like I was in control in the moment, I was able to make my wishes known ahead of time and was respected and supported by my medical team the whole way. My husband was way more involved during birthing time, was able to provide me the physical and emotional support I wanted during that time, and he could not stop talking about how proud he was of me afterwards and how brave I am. I was able to remain calm and breathe better this time around (even with a mask on!), which were big factors from my first birthing experience that I wanted to change. And, one of the unexpected perks of my natural birthing is how quickly my recovery has been afterwards – I didn’t require additional pain relief/medication after (my nurse was super impressed by that!), I was able to walk around on my own within a few hours, and there were no complications with baby girl and she is thriving and healthy. This was truly an empowering experience and I am so grateful for the Hypnobabies program!
