I have not posted here since my first pregnancy when my 1st daughter was born in 2009 and I was using Hypnobabies but wanted to share the birth story of my second daughter because I found the power of Hypnobabies so helpful both times and especially with this birth. And hope that it encourages all of you mamas in waiting to stick with the Hypnobabies program.
I was due on February 26th but towards the end of my pregnancy I was feeling like this baby might be coming sooner than that- I was having regular contractions during the night most nights from 37 weeks on- nothing painful or even very uncomfortable but definately noticeable.
This inspired me to focus on my Hypnobabies scripts even more. I started listening to at least two per day and also listening to all the affirmations. I even listened to the “Easy First Stage” and “Birthing Day Affirmations” from 38 weeks on so that I had those ideas in my head. I might say that I became a little obsessed with having a easy, fast and comfortable birthing. I am thinking that this is my last pregnancy and birth and while the first hypnobirth with my older daughter was a really wonderful, fairly comfortable and natural, I knew I could be even MORE comfortable, relaxed etc.
One thing about my first birth was that when I had pressure waves I HAD TO be on my hands and knees. My body just wanted to be in that position. This was fine and I think it helped me dilate faster but I couldn’t be limp and loose as the scripts recommend so I had a harder time fully relaxing at the beginning of my birthing time. Therefore this time I really focused on telling myself that when I felt pressure sensations I would turn my light switch off and go limp. This ended up being a HUGE help.
On the night on Feb. 21st my husband had a cold and I suggested he take some nighttime cold medicine to help him sleep. He wasn’t sure if he should because he didn’t want to be out of it if I went into labor. I told him it was fine- I wasn’t really feeling anything and I had been swimming and walking that day in hopes of encouraging baby to make an appearance but really wasn’t feeling anything. So he made the medicine, drank it and as soon as the last drop went down I felt my first pressure wave. NOT painful or intense at all but just enough to let me know that this might be real- oops.
It was about 9 pm so I thought he should just go right to sleep and I would try to as well. We both laid down and I started listening to the Hypnotic Childbirth Script #1 and #2, then I put on the “Easy First Stage” My pressure waves were at least ten minutes apart but they were definately real. I focused on Kerry’s suggestion that each wave was like a big warm hug and I pictured my 18 month old daughter hugging my belly tight with each one and I was actually smiling through these because it did feel loving and exciting.
Sometime around midnight I fell asleep- truly a testament to how relaxed I felt while listening to the scripts. I woke up sometime around 4 am and had to go to the bathroom several times in between pressure waves that was a strange feeling because I thought about pushing later. By now I knew this was real but I kept listening to the “Easy First Satge” and waiting to wake up my husband because I figured we still had a long time. I wasn’t timing the pressure waves but thought they were fairly short despite being intense. Eventually the pressure waves were only very low in my abdomen and started feeling strong in my lower back as well- but I still thought they were short- maybe too short for me to far along but I decided to use an online contraction calculator. I was surprised to see that it was already after 6am at this point and after timing four pressure waves in a row I realized that they were lasting 1 minutes and 30 seconds at least and were consistently three minutes apart.
I woke up my husband to say that we needed to go the hospital. He immediately started getting everything ready. Including calling our friend to babysit our daughter and calling the doctors answering service to say we were on the way. I made him call back and tell them to page my doctor specifically because the baby was coming soon- I suddenly felt- and we wouldn’t have time for them to page her once we got there. By the time we got everything together and our friend showed up I was getting a little worried about actually getting down the stairs and into the car- the pressure waves were very low in my pelvis and back and I thought that I might be in transition already.
We made it into the car with me stopping four times along the way to lay on the floor on the pillow I brought from my bed. The ride to the hospital was about ten minutes and by the time we got there I was already feeling like I wanted to push. We got into labor and delivery- I was already 7cm and they started setting up the table for delivery. My doctor got there and I told her how much I wanted to push. She suggested that they break my water bag, so I agreed. She did and within a minute or so I was complete.
4 contractions/pushes later I was holding my baby girl!!! Less than an hour after arriving at the hospital. Two days later I feel great- I haven’t been very sore at all and I still can’t believe how wonderfully that went. The last hour was intense but to think I slept through half of my labor is amazing!
Thank you Hypnobabies and best of luck to all you mamas.
Thanks to Meghan from the Hypnobabies Yahoo Group for sharing her birth story with us.
