Molly’s Blissful Hypnobabies Hospital Birth
“I can’t believe she came at 39 weeks. I had envisioned birthing around this time and also envisioned arriving to the hospital about to push, and it worked!”
Hypnobabies Childbirth Hypnosis really does help you enjoy a much easier and more comfortable birthing! Use code hypno1528 for 10% off our Hypnobabies Home Study Courses.
I’m SO excited to share this, I’ve been waiting to have a positive experience to share! Sorry if there’s typos, baby in arms.
It started on Sunday, February 13th. I woke up feeling good but having lots of left hip pain which was typical for me. I went to get acupuncture from my amazing sister, Caroline. She treated not only my hip, but also did some induction points that are to help things along if my body is ready. It was so relaxing, and while I was laying down resting with the needles in, I was able to listen to my Hypnobabies track (Visualize Your Birth) that guides me through visualizing my birthing time. It was one of my favorites to listen to. After the appointment I felt great! My hip pain was gone, I felt no stress, I felt rested, and went on to enjoy the day with my hubby and son watching the Super Bowl.
Monday came around and I came home from coaching at our gym, CrossFit Instinct, and I told my hubby Tim that this was the first time I actually didn’t feel good coaching. I really had a hard time walking around, baby felt so low and so heavy. I also felt mentally foggy, which is not normal for me. He decided maybe it was that time in pregnancy for me to start resting more, so he took my early shift for Tuesday so I could rest a bit more.
Tuesday, later morning, I had to coach, then had a much-needed chiropractic appointment after. My hip was hurting again, but I also wanted to make sure I was in great alignment to help baby settle into a good position over the next couple weeks. I scheduled one for the following week to be sure. Early afternoon I had a routine appointment for non-stress test, fluid level check and checkup with my midwife. I was grateful for this appointment because baby girl seemed a little quieter than normal, so it helped put my mind at ease that everything was okay, she was just in a great position.
I went to bed that evening and woke around 12:20am Wednesday to a dream that I had a birthing wave (Hypnobabies term for contraction). I got up to use the restroom and went back to bed, only to lay down and feel a wave come on! It was pretty strong, I had to do some breathing through it. After a few more over about a 30-minute span, I decided to put on my Birthing Day Affirmations in case things were starting. If they weren’t, at least I’d have some positive words flowing through my mind. They continued about every 10 minutes until about 5am, when they slowed down then stopped completely.
Tim ended up coaching for me that day so that I could stay home and rest as much as possible, we knew things would ramp up eventually and I wanted to be sure I was well rested. Nothing else happened that day. I went to bed and woke at 11pm to birthing waves again, and they were once again about every 10 minutes for about 5 hours, but never got closer together or increased intensity. I was able to stay in bed, listen to my hypnosis tracks and stay calm through all of them.
When I got up for the day, I sat up out of bed and felt a squish, it was my mucus plug and bloody show! How exciting! I knew it still could be a while, but that was proof those waves were in fact effacing and dilating my cervix. Yay!
I was communicating with my doula, Hope, throughout both days. I told her if I had another night of waves then nothing the following day, I might start to need some pep talks. She suggested I try the Miles Circuit, which is a series of three positions/movements that you stay in for 30 minutes each to help baby get into optimal birthing position. If my body was ready, and baby was ready, this could help things move along.
I did the Miles Circuit l, felt crampy right after, and about two hours later at 4pm I started to feel some light waves coming on. I could easily talk and move through them, so I wondered if they’d stop, maybe the circuit just aggravated my cervix. They continued to come, a little stronger each one, when eventually by about 5:30 I had to go to the bedroom to lay down and focus with my tracks playing. Things were getting more intense, and I knew I needed to start getting in my groove.
By 6:30pm my waves were coming about every 5-7 minutes, and I was having to make low toned moans to get through them. I reached out to Hope to come over and my sister, Caroline, who was going to watch our son and house-sit while we had our baby in the hospital. I told them to communicate with Tim from here on out as I wasn’t able to focus on anything by my waves at this point.
My midwife told me to call her when waves were 5-7 minutes apart, increasing in intensity and lasting an hour. At 8pm we made the decision to call her as we fit her criteria. I talked with her, had a wave in the phone with her and she decided since I was GBS positive we should go ahead and head in within the next hour so I could get both doses I needed of antibiotics (the second dose is given 4 hours after the first). From how I sounded during the wave and the spacing of the waves, we assumed I had just entered active birthing time (Hypnobabies term for labor), and maybe baby would be here early morning Friday.
As soon as I hung up the phone, I had 2-3 back-to-back waves, that were very intense. I felt I couldn’t keep my face relaxed through these, which I think was because I wasn’t listening to my hypnosis tracks during the phone call, so I wasn’t as focused. Once I could speak again, I decided I should head in as soon as possible- I didn’t want to be having back-to-back waves in the car.
Another wave came on very quickly, and Tim started loading the car while Hope grabbed my coat and boots. Once I had a break, I headed out of the bedroom to the living room and knew a wave was about to come so I stopped on the couch. I had 2-3 back-to-back waves, more intense than any I’d had yet. I knew we needed to leave NOW. I tried to stand up with the help of Tim and Hope when I got a short break, but I couldn’t stand up all the way. My belly was so tight, my pelvic floor felt so heavy, and another wave started right away. I worked through that one and told Hope I think I may be in transformation (Hypnobabies term or transition), but that I probably wasn’t because that’d be too good to be true! Hope laughed and said “well, if you are, maybe when you arrive to the hospital, you’ll be pushing baby girl out!”
As soon as that quick chat was done, I had another 2 waves back-to-back, and while this was happening, I KNEW pushing was coming soon. I didn’t get scared, but I did think to myself, at least I have my doula, my husband and my sister all here to help me. We’ve got this!
Thankfully after those waves I had a couple minutes break, so we got into the car safely. I had a few less intense waves in the car and was able to talk to my hubby in between. I was still listening to my tracks and staying as calm as I could.
Once we were about two blocks away from the hospital entrance, I had the most intense wave yet. I felt like I was being uncontrollably loud, but Tim swears I wasn’t. We pulled up at 8:40pm and a worker came out with a wheelchair, they opened the door, but I waved them away because I was still having the wave. Once it calmed down, I got into the wheelchair and another one started. This once lasted until I was wheeled in, on the elevator and to the Labor and Delivery ward. I had a short break, signed some papers, answered a couple questions, then it started back up. They wheeled me into my room at 8:45pm, still having a wave. Another came on right away. They nurses wanted to put an IV in to get the antibiotics going, and I told them there was no time, it was pointless. They said even if we can get one dose it’ll be beneficial. I said there’s no point! I don’t think they thought I was as far along as I was. I agreed to let them put the IV in because at that point I didn’t care. I didn’t even feel it anyways!
I finished up a wave and they said I should move out of the wheelchair. I agreed and tried to stand, only got my booty barely off the seat, and had another wave. I wasn’t pushing yet, but I could tell it was coming. I told them, “I’m going to push!” I could feel the energy in the room shift and they started getting things ready. They said my midwife would be there soon.
As soon as that wave finished, I moved to the bed and another wave started when I was only halfway into the bed, I had to grab my doulas arm for support. After that was over, I was able to sit into the bed and immediately started a pushing wave. I felt out of control, my body was taking over, and I my moaning was screaming at this point. I had two more pushing waves back-to-back, and felt I’d lost my centered-ness. It also felt like the pushing wasn’t moving baby girl at all, I was worried it wasn’t productive.
Right then my midwife arrived, and at the same time I finally started to have breaks between waves. I was able to slow my breathing down and get more control. Hope was giving me sips of water, Tim kept his hand on my shoulder and was telling me I was doing great. The next push my midwife told me she was seeing about 8cm of baby’s head! This was SO encouraging. She told me to reach down and feel her, so I did. After about 4-5 more waves and some brave pushing, out came baby girl in one push. What a relief! She arrived at 9:14pm, only about 30 minutes after arriving!
I looked down and she was so little and cute, crying immediately, Thank God. The cord was around her neck and her belly, I reached down to grab her as soon as I could. I was so happy to grab her and hold her, she was here! I can’t believe she came at 39 weeks. I had envisioned birthing around this time and also envisioned arriving to the hospital about to push, and it worked! Looking back, I only felt I “lost control” for a total of maybe 15 minutes, where with my previous (non Hypnobabies) birth I felt out of control for 6 HOURS. The difference was night and day!
Once the placenta was born, I did need a few stitches, barely a first degree tear. With my first birth I had almost a 3rd degree tear. Once everyone cleared out, we had wonderful quiet time alone, just the three of us. This was what I had been looking forward to my whole pregnancy. It was bliss!
