A HypnoBirthing Birth Story

A HypnoBirthing Birth Story
by a beautiful mother I was honored to have in class

Wednesday morning I woke to some strong surges around 1:30am. I was still just waking up so I wasn't sure if it was a practice surge or the real thing. I knew I would be going into labor soon as the day before I started to have my birth show. So I laid awake for awhile to see what was going on. About 10 minutes later another came, really strong in my lower belly, would travel to my back and the tightening pressure in the belly usually felt with practice surges. So I practiced allowing myself to just drift away and let my body do what it was made for. The discomfort went away after my first breath but the tightening pressure remained, so I wasn't sure if it was still practice or actual labor surges. I practiced with a couple more still about 10 minutes apart. Then I made myself go to sleep so I could conserve my energy. 

Later, I woke around 6:00am for the day, but laid around to see what was going on, this time I used those contraction timers, just to see if things had progressed. So from 6-6:40 I was having surges roughly every 5 min for just under a minute each. But I also went 10 minutes between one and 3 minutes between another, so not consistent. I got up to start my day and continued to practice during each surge and I was good, so using my experience with my previous labor I thought I was still really early. 

My daughter had a doctor appointment at 8:45am and after that we went to Wal-Mart for a few last minute things before baby was to come. We were thinking that night or early Thursday. So between 7-11:30a I tried to have a normal day and planned to even come home and clean (haha).

When we got home I realized how tired those couple of activities made me so I decided to try and sleep again. I don't know if it was sleep or just deep relaxation, but I got through a few hours that only seemed to get interrupted 1-2 times an hour with a particularly strong surge, which after a few breaths I was relieved from discomfort but the tightening pressure remained. This made it difficult to decided if I was actually having real labor surges, because, well, I remember them to be painful with no relief until they ended. These were only a brief moment of discomfort relieved after a good breath, but tightening lingered.
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Around 1:30-2:00pm I got up and decided to time them again. I called my midwives office before 3:00p to get in and see how far I have come, if at all, to make the judgment on whether to go to the hospital or not. When I told them I had only been timing them for about an hour and the were pretty consistent at 5 min apart, they wanted me to just go to the hospital. But with my stubbornness and past history lingering in my mind, I insisted on being checked first. They made me an appointment for 4:00pm. We started loading up the truck with our bags just in case the hospital was in our near future and planned to take my daughter to my parents. She just got her shots that morning and a dental visit the day before. With her share of doctors, I knew she wouldn't like the hospital, so there's one thing that changed in my plan. My husband dropped me off at my appointment at 3:40 because we weren't going to make the appointment time of 4:00pm if we dropped my daughter off first so he took her and was to come back. I patiently waited to be taken back to be checked out and had about 5 surges during that time where I continued to practice my breathing, at this point though my exhales were loud and just trying to release as much discomfort at the peak of those surges. Still nothing terrible, but I could feel the end of those breaths using that little push we've talked about. Uh- Oh! They finally call me back, during a surge no less, so I take my time standing and what do you know, my water breaks! My husband returns and I got checked. I was at 7 cm! 7 cm, can you believe it?! I couldn't, except I felt my body wanting to bear down with those breaths! 

The midwife said ok let's go to the hospital, I said I'm not going to make it. Luckily they are just across the parking lot so she pushed me in a wheel chair surpassed the ER, they were asking if we registered, she responded we don't have time for that and I'm feeling like I have to take a poop now! We get to a room, nurses are asking what I want, if they need to give me an IV? So after a surge I told them I'm going natural and directed them to my birth plan in my purse. The attending midwife, after learning I was practicing HypnoBirthing and knowing how far I was, just stood off to the side and directed me to continue to listen to my body and ignore everything going on around me. (Putting the sensirs on my belly etc.) A few, not very graceful, surges later my son was born! I tried in those last moments to use the breathing we practiced but my body wanted more and there was some grunting and feeling like I had a really big bowel movement to pass, luckily it was only my little boy! 

My husband announced the sex with such excitement and we all shared a tear of happiness and relief on my end! 
Oh and my mom had made it in just as I could feel my baby's head about to crown! 
I knew this was possible and just as the author of the book knew that the birth of a baby was meant to be a beautiful thing, I have always wanted that and long before kids I knew I wanted a natural birth with no meds. I was very unprepared for the birth of my daughter but still knew it was possible. I am so thankful I found you and your class because it allowed me to have the birth I wanted and to trust and allow my body to do what it was perfectly made for.