Maeve’s Hypnobabies VBAC Birth
“I pushed only with my body’s cues and ended up pushing the whole head out and waiting several more minutes for another wave, before pushing his body out. My midwife was calm and collected the entire time and reassured the nurse that she felt the shoulder and that baby was in no way stuck. She told the nurse we were just waiting for another wave and for me to be ready to push again.”
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Just coming to share my birth story from my 2nd VBAC birth and 2nd Hypno-baby I tended to be most uncomfortable at night during this pregnancy, so I always visualized a daytime birth. The day before my guess date (Hypnobabies term for due date) I woke up around 6:30am and felt gentle waves (Hypnobabies term for contractions). My previous Hypno-baby came in only about 4.5 hours so I expected things would get more intense quickly. I got into hypnosis right away and took a shower while listening to the relaxation music. I then got back in bed and put my headphones in and listened to my Birthing Day Affirmations.
I was able to be in center this whole time and say bye to my daughters before my husband took them to school. It meant so much to me to be able to calmly tell them it was baby’s birthday and get hugs and encouragement from them. I then put on Easy First Stage (Hypnobabies main birthing day track) and focused on getting deeper into hypnosis, now that our house was kid free and quiet!
When my husband got back home, I decided to get into the bath where my waves really intensified. My husband had been talking to our midwife and asked me to start visualizing getting in the car and leaving for the hospital soon. He knew things would get very intense for me soon and I agreed with him that we should leave shortly. I got out of the bath around 9:30 and made it downstairs and into our car by around 10. My waves were very strong and close together then and I can’t say I enjoyed the (fortunately brief!) drive to the hospital!
When we arrived, a lovely valet parking person pushed me in a wheelchair all the way to L+D, so my husband could carry our bags. I rode backwards and kept my headphones in with Easy First Stage playing. When we got upstairs, our phenomenal midwife had already prepped the room (dimmed lights, closed blinds, etc.) and prepped the nurse that I was doing a Hypnobabies VBAC birth, so everyone was *very* quiet and calm.
I spent about the next hour in different positions and always in center (Hypnobabies tool for eyes-open hypnosis) (and with my headphones in). Around 11am I was in transformation (Hypnobabies term for transition) and briefly lost focus with my hypnosis and began to express doubt over whether I could do this. Both my midwife and husband were amazingly calm and reassuring and just told me I already was doing it. My midwife then asked if she could check me and told me I was fully dilated/effaced. I was SO happy to hear this and immediately focused again and knew I would meet my baby soon.
My husband put on Pushing Baby Out (Hypnobabies track just for pushing) and I just kept my headphones in because it was really working for me to play tracks like that! My waves slowed down, and I rested/drank water in between pushing waves.
I hadn’t gotten to listen to the pushing track with my previous Hypnobabies VBAC birth because she was born with only 2-3 pushes, on the floor of the hospital, five minutes after we arrived! With this baby I pushed for about an hour and needed to be really focused, in deep hypnosis the whole time. There were moments my confidence wavered, because my last pushing experience was so fast. But anytime I had doubts, I just focused back in on the track and listened to all the beautiful suggestions about pushing and how it can be a slow process. It was so reassuring and absolutely the reason I could keep going without any frustration or anxiety.
I had also done a lot of fear clearing regarding continual external monitoring at the hospital, but it ended up being very confidence boosting to have the nurse keep moving the straps for the wireless monitor down my belly: I knew I was moving my baby down!
Soon I felt the halo of hypno-anesthesia around my baby’s head, and I knew I was so close to meeting my baby. I pushed only with my body’s cues and ended up pushing the whole head out and waiting several more minutes for another wave, before pushing his body out. My midwife was calm and collected the entire time and reassured the nurse that she felt the shoulder and that baby was in no way stuck. She told the nurse we were just waiting for another wave and for me to be ready to push again. I loved her for that patience and lack of interference! Finally, I had another wave and pushed the baby’s body out! At 12:12pm, my baby joined the world! I had been on all fours on the bed and my midwife passed the baby through my legs up to me. For some reason, I stood up off the bed and just stood there holding my baby, while I laughed, cried, and smiled. I felt incredible!
We then got into bed together, they checked Apgar’s, and several minutes passed before my husband I realized we hadn’t looked at the baby’s sex yet! We looked together and were *shocked* and overjoyed to see we had a boy! Our two wonderful daughters got the brother they had been wishing for my whole pregnancy! The next shock came when they weighed him: he was 9lb 14oz! I truly thought the scale was broken!! But no: I calmly and confidently pushed out an almost 10lb baby (w zero tearing/damage!!) thanks to Hypnobabies empowering me to trust my body. This was our last baby, but my Hypnobabies VBAC births will stay with me forever. Words cannot express how grateful I am to have found program and how thankful I am that I trusted the process.
Having a VBAC and want more Hypnobabies VBAC stories? Here is a great one!
