L&D Nurse Haley’s Calm Hypnobabies Birth
“After I got changed and answered some questions, the triage OB came in to check me. When she did, she said “Oh wow! She’s six centimeters” to which the L&D nurse said “Wow! She’s the calmest six I’ve ever seen.” Speaking to that triage nurse after the fact, she told me that based on how I was acting she only expected me to be about 2cm. Thanks, Hypnobabies!”
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My birthing story is a long time coming but I’m finally getting around to writing it down.
In the wee hours of the morning on December 11th I did some Spinning Babies positions (Walcher’s and Miles circuit) and I felt my baby tuck her head and it felt like a lot of pressure was taken off of my pubic bone. A few hours later at my OB appointment I was finally dilated, and she was able to do a membrane sweep per my request. After my appointment, I went and had a foot massage at a reflexology place in a local mall. After going home and listening to “Come OUT, Baby!” (Hypnobabies track for encouraging birthing time to begin) I spent the day on my birthing ball, pumping, and my husband and I went for a walk. With the approval of my OB, I also took the Midwife’s brew that afternoon, but only kept it down for about an hour. In the evening I decided to take a break from bouncing on my ball and my husband and I settled down for a movie. In the middle of the movie, I started having my first gentle birthing waves (Hypnobabies term for contractions). I fell asleep before the movie was over, and I think my body was letting me try to get a little bit of rest before things really started to get going.
I kept having mild waves all night and at 4:30 a.m. decided to get up for the day since I couldn’t sleep through them anymore. After a couple of hours, I put on my Easy First Stage track (Hypnobabies main birthing time track) and had it on pretty much the rest of my birthing experience, save the very end. I kept having waves all day that varied between 4-10 minutes apart, and I spent the day cleaning up around the house and bouncing on my birthing ball. I listened to “Come OUT, Baby!” again also. My husband kept saying he thought I was in my birthing time (Hypnobabies term for labor), but I was nervous to get my hopes up and kept telling him that the waves weren’t strong enough to be the real thing yet. At about 10 or 11 p.m. I decided to lie down for the night and hopefully get some rest, but as soon as I went to bed it seemed like things really started to ramp up. I was breathing and moaning through the waves in bed until about midnight, at which point I got up. I got in the shower for a minute but quickly decided I would rather be in the bath. I moved to the tub where I stayed for another two hours, still listening to my Easy First Stage track and heavily relying on saying “Peace” (Hypnobabies cue for instant physical comfort). My waves were intense but manageable, and after some coaxing from my husband we decided to head to the hospital a little after 2 a.m.
I found the drive to the hospital very uncomfortable, but it was at least only about 15 minutes. I got checked in and wheeled up to triage while my husband had to wait in the car. After I got changed and answered some questions, the triage OB came in to check me. When she did, she said “Oh wow! She’s six centimeters” to which the L&D nurse said “Wow! She’s the calmest six I’ve ever seen.” Speaking to that triage nurse after the fact, she told me that based on how I was acting she only expected me to be about 2cm. Thanks, Hypnobabies!
So, at that point I was 6 cm, 100% effaced, and zero station. I used to be an L&D nurse at this hospital and was happy to see my nurse was one I recognized and knew would be supportive of me since she has also had an unmedicated birth. I walked over to my L&D room and my husband was able to join me very quickly. The whole admission process was done by around 3:15 a.m., and the next hour I spent just breathing through my waves. At 4 a.m. my nurse checked my progress upon my request, I was 8cm and my water broke while she was checking me. I decided to sit in a throne position afterward to try and let gravity help my body work baby down.
At 5 a.m. I had progressed to 9cm and entered my transformation (Hypnobabies term for transition) phase. It was at this point that my discomfort got pretty intense, and I feel like I let my hypnosis slip. My nurse mentioned I had a bit more cervix on one side, so I turned onto my left side for a few waves. I found this position very uncomfortable but after just a few waves I was fully dilated. My nurse gave me the option of letting my baby move down on their own with the waves or to start pushing. At this point my discomfort with the waves was very intense and so I started pushing. For twenty or thirty minutes I pushed until our baby was birthed at 6:04 a.m.! My husband got to announce the gender and we were so excited to welcome our daughter, Audrey Victoria, into the world!
Since my active birthing time was so short and she came down so quickly at the end, I had quite a bit of tearing that my OB repaired, and I also developed a hematoma. My bleeding was a bit excessive as well, but it resolved with a few doses of methergine after the birth. My daughter was able to nurse very soon after birth, and I am so, so happy with how everything went! My one regret is that it was so intense near the end that I completely forgot to have my husband put on the Pushing Baby Out track (Hypnobabies track just for pushing). I feel like having that on may have helped center me and helped me slow my pushing down a bit. I really enjoyed the process of doing Hypnobabies during my pregnancy and fully plan on using it again when we decide to have another!
In the picture of my husband and me, I am 8cm with my water ruptured! Very happy and calm
Check out Lindsey’s story Here
