Midwife Naomi’s Beautiful Hypnobabies Home Birth
“I put on my Zen band, rested my head on my birthing ball in hands and knees and listened to Easy First Stage (Hypnobabies main birthing time track). I was so relaxed, and I was aware the waves felt powerful.”
As a nurse and a midwife, I have been around birth for most of my adult life. I am 39 years old so I get the lovely label of ”geriatric pregnancy” but I chose out of hospital birth and Midwifery care both times; where advanced maternal age is the term and it is not considered high-risk as a standalone factor.
Our first son was born at home 2 years ago. I didn’t use Hypnobabies then, but my midwife told me many times to get out of my head and be a mama not a midwife throughout my 22 hour birthing time (Hypnobabies term for labor).
This time I thought I would invest in Hypnobabies to see if it could help me specifically turn off my midwife brain since I certainly didn’t know how to “not be a midwife”! My first son was born at 36 weeks and 4 days without complications, but we moved states and I needed to reach 37 weeks this time to have a homebirth.
Learning the language of Hypnobabies was a little challenging after so many years of the same words but I purposed to use it consistently from the time I started Hypnobabies when I was 33 weeks pregnant.
At 35 weeks I had regular birthing waves (Hypnobabies term for contractions) for a few hours so I used the “Baby Stay In” Track (Hypnobabies track to help with preterm birthing waves) and everything stopped and I never needed to use it again. I found listening to the tracks every night helped me fall sleep quicker. I was concerned if I was getting enough practice time because I did fall asleep when listening at night and in the day my 2yo is a whirlwind. I played Joyful Pregnancy Affirmations when I was folding laundry or doing things and I listened to tracks after I put my little guy to bed and evidently it was enough!
At 39 weeks I was more pregnant than I had ever been and feeling the huge difference in those last couple weeks. My first son was exactly 8lbs at 36/4 and I told my husband I felt like I was carrying at least 10lbs of baby already. I had not considered going overdue this time since I was early the last time and I hypothesized that my uterus had an eject button and would only let a baby grow so big
My brother‘s 30th birthday was also my baby’s guess date (Hypnobabies term for due date), Sep 21, he planned a weekend hunting trip and gave me instructions to give birth before they arrived or on his birthday. Of course, we talked about it because everyone knows babies come when they come.
As my guess date approached, I realized that all of my family was actually coming which is very rare because we live all over the world, but everyone wanted to meet the baby boy! Covid times made schedules a lot more open and people a lot less far away. I decided to listen to the “Come OUT Baby Track” (Hypnobabies track for encouraging baby to be born) Wednesday evening as I was falling asleep. I wasn’t thinking it would be magical (too many years as a midwife knowing babies come when they come) and I was feeling like the chances of him being born while my family was here were slim. I think I fell asleep about halfway through it. Thursday evening, I decided to take a bath while listening to the “Come OUT Baby” track. I enjoyed listening to whole thing, it made me feel empowered and excited.
Friday morning the 18th I woke up at 6:50 AM when my two-year-old was screaming bloody murder which he never does. He usually sleeps till eight or nine! Of course, my husband was out hunting since it was day 1 of the birthday hunt, but it’s on our land so he wasn’t far away. So, I brought my toddler into our bed it was so strange that he was so upset but we watched some cartoons. I realized my back was hurting but I thought it was because I got out of bed too quick when he was screaming. I went to the bathroom at like 730 and there was blood when I wiped. I was thrilled since I hadn’t had any signs and I thought maybe maybe he would be born within the next couple days.
I went downstairs to get breakfast for my little guy, and I was having mild cramps no waves yet but then more bloody show. At 8ish I told my husband the baby was going to come this weekend and our 2 yo was in a terrible foul mood and I needed him to be home. I texted my sister who I knew was flying in for birthday happenings and asked her about her arrival time. I told her it looked like he might actually come this weekend which would be great she wouldn’t have to come back the next weekend. She had given me strict instructions for the baby to come on a weekend for her work schedule I have 4 sisters and 4 sister-in-law’s and most of them have attended births with me as a Midwife and we have a family culture of loving birth. I have attended most of my niece and nephews’ births. Two of my sisters made it to where I was, from far away states, for my first son’s birth they started their travel when I started my birthing time (Hypnobabies term for labor) and they made it. I told them this time I was not planning on having a 22-hour birthing time though!
So back to Friday the 18th, my husband said he would come home, I was feeling very different and I had one mild wave so I thought why not listen to “Birthing Time Begins” (reminder of all the tools and cues for birthing) while washing dishes in the kitchen. It was around 8:30 and then I had a couple of moderate waves by 9. My Midwife lives 2 1/2 hours away so I thought I should just give her the heads up that something was happening. She said to give her a call or text her when they were regular and lasting a minute.
My husband got home around 9:30 and I went upstairs to just listen to my tracks.
I put on my Zen band, rested my head on my birthing ball in hands and knees and listened to Easy First Stage (Hypnobabies main birthing time track). I was so relaxed, and I was aware the waves felt powerful, so I sent a text to my midwife I thought she should go ahead and start driving my way because things are definitely happening. I went in center (Hypnobabies tool for eyes open hypnosis) to communicate and used my cues when waves started to relax. I think my husband took over communicating with people because I was so in the zone. Pretty much everything is a time warp here on out it’s hard to give details! I had absolutely no concept of who was where or what time it was, nothing felt anything like last time.
The discomfort with my previous birth had been so intense, I never felt like I got a break at all and my back was just absolutely excruciating. I even had my chiropractor come out and adjust me that time and it helped. This time I wasn’t aware of discomfort so much as the pressure and intensity. My husband would try to do counter pressure like he did previously, and I didn’t like that feeling this time it felt like it was disrupting me. So strange! I used my yoga swing some and liked hands and knees. I was in the tub briefly but feeling an urge to poop. I knew it was still early and I felt it wasn’t the baby’s head yet but actual bowel movement, so I got out of the tub and went to the toilet. I did have a bowel movement, but my waters also released! Everything was nice and clear, and the student Midwife had arrived, but my Midwife was still on the way. Once my waters released the waves felt crazy strong and it got to where I was a little bit bothered by the prompt on the track that each wave was like a blood pressure cuff because it did not feel that way anymore it felt much much stronger than a blood pressure cuff.
I moved from the toilet to hands and knees on my bed, my midwife arrived. I was feeling so much pressure I asked her to check me. She said I was 7 cm. When I was only 2 cm with my first son I was vomiting and in absolute agony, so I was really glad to be 7 cm. But within maybe 10 minutes of her exam I felt a strong urge to push. In my first birthing time I pushed for nearly 4 hours. I kept thinking I wasn’t pushing effectively, and I constantly evaluated myself, whether or not my cervix had a lip etc. I just could not get out of my head. I was thinking that the Pushing Baby Out track (Hypnobabies track just for pushing) would help me not do that this time but I never got to play it!
I felt FER (Fetal Ejection Reflex), I told my midwife my body is taking over, she said “okay go with it” and then my sisters started exclaiming that they saw the head! I felt at peace and thankfulness for every wave. I wasn’t listening to any tracks at this point, but I was using my cues. His shoulders got a little stuck and I had to switch positions three times between his head and his body but it all times I felt completely calm. When he was born, he needed a few breaths with the Ambu bag but no resuscitation his heart was fine he just didn’t cry or breathe at first, he was stunned. My sisters were all panicked, and everyone remarked how calm I was. I felt calm genuinely, I knew he was okay. I talked to him and let my midwife give him what he needed. It was just seconds, but it felt like a long time of course. when I watched the video, I was surprised at how much I had absolutely no clue about.
So, my entire birthing time was 3 1/2 hours! Which was actually shorter than how long I pushed last time! I know second babies are usually shorter, but I do believe that Hypnobabies helped me to relax and God used it as a beautiful tool to bring my son safely into this world!
He weighed 10 lbs. 10 oz. 22” long.
One of my sisters didn’t make it in time but she got there within a few hours of his birth and everyone got to meet baby Zeke!
My nearly 91-year-old grandmother was in the room when he was born, and it was her first time being present for a birth! I’m not really sure when she arrived either because I was so in the zone, but I am so thankful that she came! 2020 has been such an isolating year, especially for the elderly and we have been so careful with exposing her to anyone. I was surprised she decided to be present. I had sisters come from far away, but everyone wore masks (not me!) and she was fine.
