Brie Evelyn's Birth
This was my fourth pregnancy and my first real attempt to have a natural birth.
Seven years ago with my first baby I thought I would go "as long as possible" without an epidural. This of course set me up to fail. I had no idea what I was going to do or what to expect. This first pregnancy ended with my water breaking spontaneously and contractions starting immediately with an intensity that really surprised me and that I wanted to stop. I got to the Women's Center and was told that I had pre-eclampsia, was given a narcotic to get me through the ambulance ride to the larger hospital in the area and was then given Magnesium sulfate and then Pitocin and an epidural. I remember very little of that birth. 12 hours of labor and about 15 minutes pushing.
My second birth was induced the day after Christmas at the added urging of my husband to be able to have the tax deduction and had an epidural just after my water broke. It was very relaxed and there were no complications. 10 hours of labor and 10 minutes of pushing.
My third birth was also induced after reaching a point of tiredness and exhaustion and just wanting to be done. I was placed on Pitocin and had an epidural timed for when my water broke. This labor was 8 hours and about 5-10 minutes of pushing. It probably would have been faster but I was told to try and wait for the doctor to show up and catch. She barely made it.
My fourth pregnancy was a surprise. My husband and I thought we were finished having children and had to change our mindset back to a newborn and all that comes with them. It was very weird for me because it became very important to me to have this baby naturally. This was not because of horror stories of previous births. My last two were very pleasant births but I knew that I wanted something different. A friend of mine had recently done HypnoBirthing for her birth and it sounded right to me. I did more research and came across Hypnobabies. It talked of everything that seemed right to me. I wanted to have a peaceful pregnancy and birth for me and my new baby.
I took the Hypnobabies course from a local instructor and really enjoyed the classes. I ended up in maintenance for about two and half months. My estimated due date was set as August 28th. At 30 weeks I was diagnosed with insulin dependent gestational diabetes. I had just recently switched from an OB to a midwife in another city and was looking at having to be transferred to their OB in the clinic. I met with him for 5 minutes and have never had a more violent reaction to someone. I knew that he would not be allowed to touch me or my baby when my birthing time came. I talked with the midwife and she knew how I felt about the OB and luckily enough they had just had a second OB join the group and he was someone who could listen to my concerns. He agreed that if an OB became necessary that he would be on call for me regardless of their rotations.
Then I was diagnosed as Group B strep positive and this changed my plans of laboring at home as long as possible. Starting at 36 weeks I was having non-stress tests twice a week and ultrasounds every other week. During my visit the day before my 39
th week the baby was measuring at 4000 grams on the ultrasound and the OB talked about the old recommendations would call for a C-section at this point for insulin dependent gestational diabetes but with the new recommendations being set at 4500 grams that would could wait longer.
I had declined internal exams up to this point knowing that it would either get my hopes up or completely dash them. But because of the "estimated" size and the hopes of doing this without the OB I agreed to have the midwife check me and I was a solid 4 cm and she could stretch me to a 5. She stripped my membranes hoping to get things started and sent me home.
I cramped all the way home and told my husband to pack everything up for us and our children just in case.
Nothing seemed to materialize that evening. I went to bed at 9 and woke up at 11:30 when my husband came to bed and couldn't get to sleep because I was cramping pretty regularly. I probably went to the bathroom every 5-6 minutes. At 1 I finally woke my husband up and told him that we should probably consider this as it and get ourselves together. The contractions were consistent but would stop for about 10 minutes every time I got up to go anywhere. They would always start up again and so we called family to let them know that we were going to the hospital and we got the kids up and took them to my sister's house. We got to the hospital at about 2:30. We were put in the exam room and waited. The nurse said that I was at a 4-5 cm and she called the midwife. Since I hadn't changed since the office visit the day before the midwife wanted us to walk for two hours (from 3 to 5 am) and then get checked again.
We were in a very small hospital that has absolutely no room to walk and did our best. By the time 5 o'clock rolled around I was very mad and upset and wanted to just get our stuff out of the exam room and just go home and have my baby without them. My poor husband tried to make me laugh but almost got put in the hospital for his efforts.
Back in the exam room I measured no differently and they called the midwife. She offered to either have us go home (this really made me mad…hello, I was in labor that wasn't going to change) or to start the antibiotics for the GBS+ now (5 o'clock) and she would come in and rupture my membranes at 7. Since she was the one I wanted delivering my baby and was only on call officially until 8, I decided to go for the antibiotics and having my water broken.
We were transferred to a labor and delivery room. We were settled in and then the nurse had to leave to help with another delivery and did not get the antibiotics started until 6:30. Up to this point the contractions have only been felt as cramps and were constant but completely bearable. My midwife and the midwife in training arrived to break my water. They checked me and while I was still a 4-5 cm the midwife said that my cervix was much more malleable and ready to go. They broke may water at 7:50. We had been in contact with my doula throughout the night and called her now to have her come up to the hospital. She lives about 3 minutes away and is the also the instructor from my Hypnobabies class.
Once my water was broken the contractions became much stronger and I had to turn my switch off for each one. They finally finished my course of antibiotics and unhooked me from the heplock and I started to move around the room. The midwives stayed in the room with me for quite a bit and talked to me between contractions. This was okay until my doula came and they watched as she and my wonderful husband helped me get through each contraction. The mood in the room changed to one of quiet and peace. My doula started talking me through each contraction while I was in the off position.
My husband would keep his hand on my shoulder helping me with the relax cue and his other hand was in mine. The doula instructed me to count down from 10 to 1 during each contraction and while I definitely felt p**n with my contractions they were manageable. I spent most of my time laboring in the glider this gave me the most support and allowed me to relax with the least amount of intensity. Periodically the midwife would have me move to the bed to monitor the baby during a contraction. She always used the Doppler to get the baby's heart beat and every time my baby was fine. The second or third time that they had me in the bed to check the heartbeat during a contraction the midwife leaned over the bed and whispered (everyone was whispering at this point) that she needed me to tell her when I started a contraction because she could not tell. The doula then prompted me that the next time I started a contraction to signal with my finger using the fingerdrop to show the midwife when it starts.
Whenever I was in the bed the contractions became much more intense and I always wanted out as fast as possible. I only wanted to be in the rocker but had to go into the bathroom twice and while this was manageable the first time the contractions had become so intense that I had to be in the off position to handle them and I couldn't do this on the toilet. I got back to the rocking chair as fast as I could. I started to feel nauseous and made a point after the next contraction to say this out loud for my doula and my midwife to know what was going on. My doula said that the only way she could know that a contraction had started was my eyelids would flutter a bit. I thought it was very obvious due to my breathing and going limp but I guess I was much more aware of these things than they were. The doula asked if I felt pressure in my bum and while there was some it didn't feel any different than what I had been experiencing and didn't want to focus too much on this since it distracted me from my hypnosis. They were really intense and I was starting to feel a little frantic about how I was going to get through them for much longer. I finally told my doula after she asked a third time about the pressure that "I don't know, maybe." The midwife at this point wanted me to get on the bed again to check the baby's heart rate and my cervix and while I got up without complaining to do this inside I was really worried because I felt that I had a slim grip on my control at this point and I knew that it would get worse when I got on the bed. I had been in transition for a while. I thought I might be due to the nausea and how the contractions had changed and I was starting to question whether I keep my control.
I got on the bed and immediately felt that everything hit me at once and had intense and a different type of p**n and I wasn't sure what to do. Well it turns out my baby was crowning and my change in position had refocused everything to my perineum. I struggled for a second to figure out where I wanted to be. I tried all fours briefly and that didn't feel right and finally just dropped to my side and lifted my right leg up in the hope that would alleviate the intensity. Everyone jumped at this point because this is the first they realized that my baby was coming and they had to scramble to get on gloves and to make sure the nurse was back in the room. My husband was wonderful throughout this whole ordeal and he was at my side holding my leg up for me and unfortunately didn't get to see much of the birth because of my leg in his face. I didn't have much control like I did during the contractions. I was more vocal and I remember asking for someone to help me and that she felt like she was tearing me. The midwives were able to put pressure on me and helped me to know how much pressure to use to get her to move out of the canal. The concern for insulin dependent gestational diabetes babies is that the baby's trunk can be bigger than the head. So once her head was born we still needed to get her chest and abdomen out. They helped me slowly move both her shoulders out and then her body slipped out. This was so wonderful to feel the pressure ease and to turn onto my back and to see my baby girl for the first time. I was able to reach down to feel her head while she was crowning but for some reason I couldn't open my eyes because of the intensity and so the first thing I saw after getting on the bed was her purple blue wet body being put on my belly. The cord wasn't long enough to get to my chest. I was able to tell them to not cut the cord until it stopped pulsing and to let my husband cut the cord (which I have a beautiful picture of). I was also able to tell them to let the placenta detach and to not pull and they were wonderful throughout everything to do as I asked and I was able to not worry about them and to just enjoy my new baby that was squalling on my chest and to look at her beautiful full head of black hair, chubby checks and squished up nose. The midwives checked me and could not find any signs of tearing. As one of them said, “not even a skid!”
Brie Evelyn weighed in at 8 pounds 10 ounces. (The ultrasound the day before estimated her at 9 pounds.) She was 21 inches long. Her head circumference was 14 inches and her chest was 14.2 inches.
My water was broken at 7:50 am and she was born at 10:18 am after 3 minutes of pushing. So just about two and a half hours later. In fact she was born just 20 minutes shy of the full four hours required for the treatment of Group B Strep which requires a 48 hour stay for monitoring. We declined this and went home the following day.
This was an amazing birth for me. It was not p**n-free. But it was perfect for me. I didn't expect to not feel the cramping and the p**n. So it could be that this was my own fault for not creating a completely pain-free expectation but it was perfect for me as I was able to handle the feelings that I did have and I was able to rely on my own strength and that of my husband and the direction of my doula to get through the labor to get to the joy of my baby's birth.
After the birth I had the nurse say to me that she was honored to be able to attend me during my birth. That Brie's birth was what a natural birth should be like. The midwives both were very impressed with the birth and the control that I had. This amazes me because I am a wimp when it comes to pain. I later had to have a shot of Pitocin due to my hemorrhaging and I hated this more than the labor (see, wimp). This birth gave me an understanding of myself and my ability.
I recently talked to my doula to find out her point of view about the birth and according to her my birth looked exactly like the textbook Hypnobabies labor. I was relaxed and looked like I was asleep the whole time. She reminded me that the midwives that attended the birth had a combined catch record of a couple thousand births and they could not tell when I was having a contraction. She also said that it was the most wonderful birth that she had ever seen. I have to say that I am quite proud of that and of myself. I learned a lot about what I can handle and that I do not give up. Doing Hypnobabies involves a lot of commitment and time even before the birth and this is something that I know gave my baby the best possible beginning.
Things I would change:
I would try to prepare more for the pushing. I felt out of control during this time and it felt like forever even though it was only 3 minutes. Perhaps if I had more time I could have refocused myself but it went so fast I didn't really try. I don't even remember having any more contractions per se once I began pushing.
I would have my husband in a better position to watch the birth and I would have had my eyes open to watch her come out and to maybe have helped catch her.
Things I would never change:
The midwives were wonderful as was the hospital I chose for my birth. They were on board completely for whatever I needed to do. One of the benefits of living in a small rural area I guess.
I would definitely have my doula by my side. She helped me focus and was able to direct me through the contractions with scripts that she tailored for the moment. This allowed me to know what to do mentally while I relied on my husband for his strength and love to get me through. She in no way took away from my husband's role but she did enhance my role as the laboring Hypnomom. Even my husband has said that he was grateful she was there to do the vocal direction while he was my rock and reason for continuing.
Jeannette
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When I was pregnant I knew I wanted to have a natural birthing. When we lived in Oregon I still had Kaiser Permanente insurance and the first doctor I saw said that they don't really do natural births anymore! I saw someone else the next time and she also tried to discourage me. So when we moved to Rexburg, I chose to see a midwife and told her that I am having a natural birth and she said that was great. I knew I had found the right clinic to help me with my birth. She suggested I look in to hypnobabies.
From the first time I looked at the flyer I knew I wanted to do it. I was a little nervous to tell David about it, but he was actually very supportive from the get-go. I called the instructor, whose name is Kelly. She told me about the program and I signed up for the class. On the first night we started the hypnotic exercise, and it worked! I was really able to let go of the feeling in my body, and I could focus all my mental energy on being somewhere wonderful with my baby.
I practiced most days (6 days a week or so) and always listened to the Affirmations CD. It became easier as I practiced and learned more. It became more comfortable, and I was excited to birth my baby. I knew I could do it.
At Thanksgiving we drove to Provo, UT and then back the next day. I started to have some side/back pain, and a week later it was getting worse. The night I started having pressure waves we went to the hospital. They had to give me an IV, which before would always freak me out, but I was able to turn my light switch off and I was fine. They also checked my cervix, which was quite uncomfortable, but after the first time I was able to focus, turn my switch off, and I was fine. At this point I knew without a doubt that the hypnobabies techniques were worth my time, money, and would work for me for my birthing. It turned out I had a urinary tract infection, so they gave me medication to stop the pressure waves, and we went home.
After being on mild bed rest for a week, I went back to work. Yuck! After working for two days I started to have pressure waves again. I left work and went to the midwife (I was 37 weeks along). She said that the baby looked fine and that they would not stop the pressure waves, but that I should take it easy. So I took my maternity leave from work. I had a hard time being at home all day with David at school, and working. I would sleep a lot which was good for me, but I would dream so vividly of my birthing time and of holding my baby. My arms literally ached to hold her. I was still practicing my hypnobabies exercises everyday, which helped me focus on letting my baby be born at the right time for her. I was having pressure waves every other day for a few hours at a time, and I just needed to accept that my body needed to do this in order to get ready to give birth. While they were not fun, I was able to use my light switch technique and sleep though it, for the most part.
On Dec 28 (Thursday) David went with me to an appointment with the midwife. We wanted to see if it was feasible to drive to Provo, UT for a wedding reception for David’s little sister. The midwife checked my cervix and found I was three centimeters dilated, and 50% effaced. She said that I would probably have the baby within the week.
On New Years Eve David had to work an 11-hour shift at work, but his shift ended around 9 pm. We were going to go down to Shelley, about a 45-minute drive, to celebrate the New Year with my brother John and his wife, Heather. John and Heather were in town visiting her family for the holidays. I had felt nauseas and dizzy since 8 pm, but I felt better after about an hour of taking it easy, so we went to the party. We arrived about 10pm. We played a card game called Killer Bunnies, and during the game I started to have some mild pressure waves, but didn’t think much of it because I had been having pressure waves on and off for a week. I had a hard time concentrating on the game and soon after it ended the clock was going to hit midnight. When we were standing and counting down the time for the new year’s shouting and kiss, I though to myself, “I am going to have this baby today.” We stayed at the party for a little while longer, and then drove home.
We arrived home around 2 am. I was still having pressure waves, but encouraged my husband to get some sleep. I decided to listen to my Deepening CD and try to get sleep myself. I slept for about an hour, but then woke up with the pressure waves being much more intense. I switch the CD track to the Birthing Day Affirmations, and sat on my birth ball with my head resting on the side of the bed. At this point I said a prayer to ask if this was really it, and to know that this was indeed my birthing time, or if it was not yet time for the baby to be born. I received a wonderful warm feeling that this was my birthing time and my baby would soon be born.
I tried to get more comfortable because I wanted to stay at home for as long as possible. But I had to wake David up at about 5:30 am for some help concentrating. Now I did feel the pressure, and it wasnot fun, but it was doable and it almost felt good to know that my body was able to do such an amazing thing. At about 7:30 am we decided to go to the hospital. They checked my cervix and it was 4-5 centimeters dilated and 90% effaced, so they checked me in. At this point I had to lie on my back for about an hour, being monitored and getting a hep-lock. At this point my pressure waves began to slow down to the point where they had almost stopped. To start the pressure waves again, I got up from the bed and we walked the hospital for about 30 minutes at a time. They needed to monitor me when we stopped every 30 minutes. I wasn't really progressing, so I opted to have my midwife break my water. In all honesty, it hurt. I wasn't focusing when she did it, so it took me by surprise but it was only 30 seconds. Then a tidal wave came rushing forth. After I put on some hospital panties and a huge pad we started to walk the hospital again.
As soon as I left the room the first pressure wave hit, and it was way more intense then they had been before. I had to sit on the floor to wait it out and then refocus, on my special place, turn my switch to off and tell David exactly what I needed him to do. It really helped to squat holding on to the railing and have him right behind me during the pressure waves.
At about 1:15 they checked my cervix again, and it was 6 centimeters dilated, and they said I could get in the tub if I wanted to. I did want to, and am so glad I did. I was in the tub for about 45 minutes when I got the urge to push. Rachel my midwife checked my cervix, and it was fully dilated and ready to go. The warm water helped to keep me relaxed and my midwife brought me some flavored ice to munch on, which also helped. We walked back to the room and I started to push lying on my side. After about 30 minutes I switched to sitting on a birthing chair, which was much better for me. My pressure waves were strong, but too short (about 30 seconds each) so I opted to get a pitocin drip. I was so glad that I already had the hep-lock in place, and they could just screw the line into it. Then I got back on the bed on my side and they put a big mirror out so I could see. I could really see my baby's head. At this point I could feel a slight burning sensation when I pushed down, but it was really helpful because it helped me focus where to push. Before I knew it, I had pushed a big push and Rachel was telling me to stop and to give little pushes. Then the next moment she was born and placed right up on my belly. The discomfort and pressure was all gone. It was weird to feel the umbilical cord still attached inside for a few minutes. When it was done pulsating David cut the cord and I could really hold my baby girl. It was all worth it at that point. I know I must have delivered the placenta, and I did get 2 stitches but I don't really remember because I was holding Arora and David and I were singing her the song we wrote for her.
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Annie's Birth
I am the proud mother of a 8 lb. 21 inch long baby boy. My gut feeling was right. I knew he was a boy! He was born Monday, May 14, 2007, at 1:46 pm. I had a beautiful birthing.
My mom arrived on Sunday night around midnight. Then Monday morning I had a primary presidency meeting at 9:00am. During the meeting, I was having fairly regualr squeezes with a dull backache. I thought it could possibly be the beginning, but I dared not say it for fear it would be false. The meeting ended at 11:00am.
Mom and I were getting ready to go to town. By 11:30am, I told her I thought I might be in my birthing time. By noon, I knew that I was, so I called Lincoln, my husband, home from work. He came 20 minutes later, and I had him fill the birth tub. At 11:00am, I had called my midwife Michelle to give her a heads up. After Lincoln got home, he called her back and told her to come.
I knew I better get going with my Hypnobabies CDs and get totally relaxed. My mom took the kids and went to town to get groceries. I stayed in my bed with the CD playing for about 20 minutes. Then I moved to the birth ball. I had my lightswitch in the center or off. The intensity picked up rapidly although the pressure waves were not that close together. I knew by the p**n that I was progressing quickly. I was ready to get in the tub, but my midwife wasn't here yet. I knew I would progress very quickly once I was in the water, so I was nervous to get in before my midwife arrived. Lincoln was so kind and very attentive. I had Lincoln call them again to see where they were. She didn't answer her phone, but she and her assistant walked in about 5 minutes later. What a relief. They immediately began to get things prepared and I got in the tub.
I put in the Pushing Baby Out CD. The water felt so good! I was beginning to shake because of the intensity of the birthing waves. After a few minutes, I wanted Lincoln in the tub so he could catch the baby. I then asked Michelle if she wanted to check me to be sure that I was really ready to push. I felt a tingling, but not the urge to push. She looked at me and said, "No, you've done this before and you know what to do. You're ready!" So I had Lincoln sit behind me and do the belly lift. He did it twice through and I told Michelle that I was ready to have her get the baby. I wanted Lincoln to stay where he was - putting pressure on my belly. I LOVED the Pushing Baby Out script. This whole time I was visualizing a soft, gold ring and the baby "sliding" right out easily. The pressure was very familiar, and I knew I would dawdle and be there forever half-hearted pushing, or I could get serious and birth my baby. So, I pushed and didn't let me body rest. I pushed and there was a burst in the water. I was clear fluid and it took a minute for me to realize my water broke. Then I breathed deeply and said, "Aaaahhhhhhh". Michelled urged me to slow down, but I wanted it to end, so I pushed. I felt the head squeeze through, and she told me to slow down for the shoulders. Again, I did not listen and I gave it my all! I wanted to feel that feeling of overwhelming relief more than I cared about tearing. I felt his little body come out . Michelle brought him immediately to my chest and I cried. I did it!! My baby was here and he was perfect!! He was beautiful! He was very calm in my arms. We didn't clamp the cord until it stopped pulsating. Then Lincoln cut the cord. There we sat Mom, Dad and new baby. We all cried and marvelled. I nursed my precious baby in the warm tub. I was overcome with joy and relief.
As far as the Hypnobabies goes, I am very glad I did it! I know it was a huge part of why I went so fast. I had somewhere to put my mind and I had something for it to do. Mentally, I was always thinking "open, open, open", " soft gold ring" and things are progressing quickly and correctly. I had complete confidence in my body's ability to birth my baby. I was in complete control 100% of the time. The p**n was there, but it was manageable and very productive from beginning to end. The whole experience was very beautiful!!