Heather’s Christmas Eve Hypnobabies Birth – Just like She Envisioned

Heather’s Christmas Eve Hypnobabies Birth – Just like She Envisioned

“The Hypnobabies affirmations that felt especially true during my birthing time was the one about feeling “so relaxed and happy after each pressure wave.” After the waves, I would feel so relaxed, almost in a dream like trance. It was a very peaceful time. The other affirmation that felt true was the one about time passing quickly. The entire day went by so quickly.”

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In my visualization of the birth, I visualized childbirth beginning on the 23rd and ending on the 24th, and that is just how it happened.

On the night of the 23rd, I had bloody show around 10:00 PM. After that, I had some pressure waves. By about 3 AM they were coming every 20 minutes. I wasn’t sure if this was actually the beginning of my birthing time, or if it was just practice waves that could go on for weeks. I went to sleep from 3 AM to 10 AM, after listening to fear clearing and deepening. I remember in my dreams I was having pressure waves while interacting with people, and I was using my Hypnobabies tools (mostly my light switch) in my dreams to manage the pressure waves!

When the waves first started on the night of the 23rd, I did feel afraid. I was afraid they would become much more intense and that my body would feel out of control. But I worked hard to use my Hypnobabies tools and my mental light switch and remembering my affirmations.

During the day of the 24th, the waves came about 1-3x an hour. I wasn’t sure if it was my birthing time, but the bloody show kept coming, so I knew I was at least getting closer to my birthing time. During the day I walked around the house, sat on the birthing ball listening to affirmations, and talked with my family who was visiting.

Around 4 PM, I laid down in my bedroom and listened to Birthing Day Affirmations and Deepening. During this time, I felt waves about every 10 minutes. I focused on the words that Kerry was saying, and that helped. Then, when I stood up at 5:00, the waves became much closer together and more intense. I did find that walking and moving during the waves made them feel more manageable, even though they were more frequent and intense. Throughout the next 45 minutes, I noticed I couldn’t talk during waves, and would have to lean over for support during the waves. I kept listening to Birthing Day Affirmations. I also began to feel more pressure in the front of my pelvis.

Around 6:00 I told my husband we needed to leave in a little bit for the hospital. He took a shower and we packed a few last minute things. We left around 7 to get to the hospital. On the way, I had a pressure wave and turned my light switch to off. After that wave, I remember feeling so calm and relaxed. I really enjoyed the rest of the ride to the hospital, riding in the dark car, in the quiet (listening to my affirmations) with my light switch completely off. When we got to the hospital, the waves were coming so close together, I couldn’t walk into the hospital without my husband’s support.

We arrived at the hospital somewhere between 7 and 7:30. Our midwife met us at the hospital (wearing an elf dress, no less!). I had several pressure waves while checking in and walking to triage. In triage, they took several tries to take my blood. But I was so focused on the pressure waves and listening to Birthing Day Affirmations that I didn’t even really notice or care. I also threw up in triage, which is normal for me during my birthing time (despite the Zofran my midwife had prescribed me). My midwife checked me and didn’t tell me how dilated I was. (I later found out that I was at an 8). Then we walked to the hospital room, stopping several times for pressure waves. I remember each wave that came, I would imagine my birth canal as a long hallway with a series of doors. I would say, in my mind, “open, open, open” and imagine door after door opening to let my baby through. The feeling was very intense, and threatened to be overwhelming. But I would remind myself that what my body wanted to label as pain was actually my muscles stretching and opening to allow my baby through.

I also noticed that one time, in triage, I went to the bathroom and didn’t have my headphones in. I had a pressure wave and it was MUCH harder to manage. It was amazing how important listening to the Hypnobabies tracks was to managing the intensity.

I made it to the birthing room, and had several more pressure waves. I found that standing next to the bed, with my head and arms resting on a pile of pillows on top of the bed, was the best position for me. My midwife would apply counter pressure to my back, and my husband applied a cold rag to my head/ neck. He was very encouraging and just his presence helped to keep me calm. I had a lot of pressure in my back and also the front of my thighs. My midwife would also rock my pelvis side to side at the end of the pressure waves, and this felt amazing. The waves were intense, but I truly felt very relaxed in between them. I also kept reminding myself that the sensation I was feeling was my body opening up.

After a little while, I told my midwife that I felt like I needed to pee. She said that it was the baby putting pressure on my pelvis, but also suggested I go to the bathroom to pee. So I did, and I told her I felt the urge to push. She said to go ahead and push, and when I did, my water broke. It literally felt and sounded like a giant water balloon bursting. I had one more push on the toilet, and then returned to the room, standing next to the bed. I felt the need to push and did so a few more times standing next to the bed. My midwife and husband then suggested that I get in bed. So I got in bed on all fours. I pushed a few more times (my husband said I pushed for a total of about 5 minutes), and my daughter was born. During the pushing, I was VERY loud. It wasn’t because of pain (though I did feel discomfort) but more because of the power with which I was pushing. My body just needed to be very loud. My daughter was born at 8:38 PM. We had been at the hospital for such a short time, that they had not finished the admission paperwork by the time she was born. After her birth, I still had a number of (now irrelevant) admission questions to answer.

I listened to Birthing Day Affirmations during the entire birthing process, from about 6 PM after. By the time things were moving along, I was so focused on managing the waves, it didn’t occur to me to change any of the tracks. And the pushing phase was so short that I didn’t really have time to change the tracks if I had thought about it. When I began to feel overwhelmed, I just focused on hearing Kerry’s voice. I also imagined my cervix melting open, and said the words “open, open, open” in my mind. Another thing that helped was making sure my throat was open and that I was breathing in low “growly” breaths, with a relaxed throat during the waves. I’d start to breathe short shallow breaths, and would feel more out of control. And then I’d remember to breathe slow, deep breaths, and relax my throat, and this helped a lot. The Hypnobabies affirmations that felt especially true during my birthing time was the one about feeling “so relaxed and happy after each pressure wave.” After the waves, I would feel so relaxed, almost in a dream like trance. It was a very peaceful time. The other affirmation that felt true was the one about time passing quickly. The entire day went by so quickly.

This is my second Hypnobabies birth. They were both very positive experiences. I feel like focusing on my Hypnobabies tools helped me to not give in to feelings of fear and helped me to work with my pressure waves, so that my birthing process went very quickly. Hypnobabies has been SUCH a wonderful experience throughout my pregnancy. I recommend it to everyone!

A - Kimberly Gross
I became passionate about the field of childbirth after the birth of my son and wanted to help families have the best birth experience possible.