Birth Stories from Real Hypno-Moms
Alicyn’s Beautiful Hypnobabies Hospital Birth
Our baby boy, Beckett, was born June 29 at 5:50 pm. Our journey of health and wellness and what that really means has been a long and tumultuous one. Our views of health changed back in 2012 with a holistic MD who helped my husband regain his life and direct us to specialists who were from both eastern and western spectrums. We had a miscarriage in 2011 and so this recent pregnancy was initially surrounded with fear from losing Primrose and prior infertility issues. So, we started out (against my better judgment) going with the standard OB who categorized me high risk due to my age. I started to feel like my concerns were not valued as they didn’t fit into their box of practice.
I envisioned having a beautiful and natural birth, but since I did not feel heard, I did not trust the provider. I went with my gut and switched providers around 6 months. It felt rushed and scary to consider switching so late. But we found an amazing support group through our doula Andrea Showers and our midwife Lydia Rhodes. Andrea introduced us to Hypnobabies and I did the training for about 8 weeks. I didn’t tell many people because I didn’t want the negativity or doubt creeping in. The work paid off!
I had mild pressure waves start around 1 am Friday. I thought they were Braxton Hicks. I went to work until 1:30pm. Came home and waves were about 3-5 min apart. I had to tell my husband when I was having one as he could not tell. We Arrived at the hospital at 4pm and he was born by 6 pm. My midwife, doula, husband and a nurse surrounded and supported me in the most amazing way. I felt it was a very spiritual experience for me. I had no interventions of any kind.
Keep doing the training. I encourage you. Even when you think it is not working. Even when you fall asleep to the track. Keep it up! It will pay off! And for those who are searching for affirmation tracks, I have used Deepak Chopra's prior for meditations. He has free ones available all the time on the app. My husband noticed how much calmer I have been with the Hypnobabies training. I am actively seeking out ways to continue Affirmations in my day to day life.
(See story with pictures at Hypnobabies.com)
First Time Mom Jen’s Hypnobabies Hospital Birth
I used the Hypnobabies Home Study course because the classes didn’t fit into our family’s busy schedule, and I hired a fabulous hypno-doula, Laura Hanstad, who is a certified Hypnobabies instructor. She came to our home for one birth rehearsal when I was 36 weeks to review what I had been studying and practicing on my own. Then at the birth, Laura was able to take the things that I had learned and was hearing on my tracks, and apply them to my specific situation in the moment. My husband was not really interested in the Hypnobabies philosophy, so it was extremely helpful to have someone there who spoke the same Hypnobabies language that I did.
My doctor was planning to induce me about 3 days after my guess date because my baby was already measuring big, and his size was making my doctor and my husband nervous. I wasn’t worried about his size, though! I had read in my home study book about big babies and I felt confident that I could birth a baby of any size. Plus my doula kept telling me “fat squishes.”
At my appointment two-days before my guess date, I was already 4 cm dilated. Over the next 48 hours, I tried a variety of natural induction strategies: membrane sweeping, eating Indian food, listening to the “Come Out Baby” track (even though I fell asleep, as per usual), taking Castor Oil, going for a walk, and nipple stimulation. I’m not sure which of those did the trick, but something worked because I started to experience pressure waves around 2 am the morning of my guess date.
I immediately got into my bathroom tub and started listening to Birthing Day Affirmations. Holy cow, I love that track. It put me into such a positive place mentally and emotionally. I listened to it at least three time as I kept refreshing the tub with hot water. All morning long, the waves were regular but not that intense.
Once we got to the hospital around 11 a.m., my birthing time stopped almost completely. We decided to stay anyway to see what would happen, and around 6 pm, we decided to break my bag of waters. It was a difficult decision because I knew that if my birthing time didn’t restart after a certain amount of time, they might put me on Pitocin, but fortunately an hour after the procedure, things started to heat back up again. I immediately got into the giant tub in the bathroom attached to my birthing room, and listened to Easy First Stage. I loved that one too! There were many moments when I wanted to respond back to the track with: “Yeah! That’s right! I got this! Exactly! Amen!”
Unlike in some of the Hypobabies birthing videos I watched, I was not immobile during the waves, and moved around in the tub. However between waves, I was so relaxed that I think I fell asleep. After three hours of active birthing, the doctor wanted to check me, and I was 9 cm dilated and 100% effaced. I didn’t even realize that I was going through transformation at the point — except that I wasn’t getting a break between waves — and then I felt the urge to push.
That’s when my doula started playing the Pushing Baby Out track for the whole room to hear. I was totally into it and felt so pumped and encouraged by everything I heard. My doula also kept reminding me to relax my butt into the bed and to keep my moans low and deep, as my husband cheered me on. I pushed with each wave, for a little less than an hour, and then at 12:10 AM, our little boy Walter James appeared with his right fist in the air. I felt so victorious, and apparently, so did he! He weighed 10 pounds, was 22 inches long and his head measured in the 96th percentile. I had some abrasions, but no tears.
For me the miracle of my Hypnobabies training was that I never felt scared, out of control, panicked or desperate during my birthing experience. I felt like I was going at a very sustainable pace and that I could have kept going even longer. The nurses were very complimentary and impressed, and they asked about my Hypnobabies training.
I told my doula afterwards that I wasn’t sure if my hypno-anesthesia had “worked” because I wasn’t immobile during my waves and I could feel some discomfort at points, including the ring of fire. She responded that apparently it had worked because any discomfort I felt was so manageable that it never caused panic or struggle. The most bothersome part of the whole experience was that I puked throughout the time that I was in active birthing, but it was worth it to try to keep some real food in me to stay energized.
My experience is a testament that even if you have a huge baby, even if your partner isn’t on-board, even if you fall asleep when you practice your tracks, and even if you don’t know if you’re doing the hypno-anesthesia “right,” Hypnobabies works! I’m so grateful that I had the positive, empowering, drug-free birth that I had been hoping for.
(See story with pictures at Hypnobabies.com)
My doctor was planning to induce me about 3 days after my guess date because my baby was already measuring big, and his size was making my doctor and my husband nervous. I wasn’t worried about his size, though! I had read in my home study book about big babies and I felt confident that I could birth a baby of any size. Plus my doula kept telling me “fat squishes.”
At my appointment two-days before my guess date, I was already 4 cm dilated. Over the next 48 hours, I tried a variety of natural induction strategies: membrane sweeping, eating Indian food, listening to the “Come Out Baby” track (even though I fell asleep, as per usual), taking Castor Oil, going for a walk, and nipple stimulation. I’m not sure which of those did the trick, but something worked because I started to experience pressure waves around 2 am the morning of my guess date.
I immediately got into my bathroom tub and started listening to Birthing Day Affirmations. Holy cow, I love that track. It put me into such a positive place mentally and emotionally. I listened to it at least three time as I kept refreshing the tub with hot water. All morning long, the waves were regular but not that intense.
Once we got to the hospital around 11 a.m., my birthing time stopped almost completely. We decided to stay anyway to see what would happen, and around 6 pm, we decided to break my bag of waters. It was a difficult decision because I knew that if my birthing time didn’t restart after a certain amount of time, they might put me on Pitocin, but fortunately an hour after the procedure, things started to heat back up again. I immediately got into the giant tub in the bathroom attached to my birthing room, and listened to Easy First Stage. I loved that one too! There were many moments when I wanted to respond back to the track with: “Yeah! That’s right! I got this! Exactly! Amen!”
Unlike in some of the Hypobabies birthing videos I watched, I was not immobile during the waves, and moved around in the tub. However between waves, I was so relaxed that I think I fell asleep. After three hours of active birthing, the doctor wanted to check me, and I was 9 cm dilated and 100% effaced. I didn’t even realize that I was going through transformation at the point — except that I wasn’t getting a break between waves — and then I felt the urge to push.
That’s when my doula started playing the Pushing Baby Out track for the whole room to hear. I was totally into it and felt so pumped and encouraged by everything I heard. My doula also kept reminding me to relax my butt into the bed and to keep my moans low and deep, as my husband cheered me on. I pushed with each wave, for a little less than an hour, and then at 12:10 AM, our little boy Walter James appeared with his right fist in the air. I felt so victorious, and apparently, so did he! He weighed 10 pounds, was 22 inches long and his head measured in the 96th percentile. I had some abrasions, but no tears.
For me the miracle of my Hypnobabies training was that I never felt scared, out of control, panicked or desperate during my birthing experience. I felt like I was going at a very sustainable pace and that I could have kept going even longer. The nurses were very complimentary and impressed, and they asked about my Hypnobabies training.
I told my doula afterwards that I wasn’t sure if my hypno-anesthesia had “worked” because I wasn’t immobile during my waves and I could feel some discomfort at points, including the ring of fire. She responded that apparently it had worked because any discomfort I felt was so manageable that it never caused panic or struggle. The most bothersome part of the whole experience was that I puked throughout the time that I was in active birthing, but it was worth it to try to keep some real food in me to stay energized.
My experience is a testament that even if you have a huge baby, even if your partner isn’t on-board, even if you fall asleep when you practice your tracks, and even if you don’t know if you’re doing the hypno-anesthesia “right,” Hypnobabies works! I’m so grateful that I had the positive, empowering, drug-free birth that I had been hoping for.
(See story with pictures at Hypnobabies.com)
Loneka’s Change of Plans Hypnobabies C-Section
I have dealt with social anxiety over the years and stressful situations tend to push me over the edge. My past struggles with anxiety and a desire to have a natural birth led me to Hypnobabies. Without going into too much detail, my planned natural birth turned into an unplanned C-section. My baby was in distress, and after watching his heart rate plummet with each pressure wave, I just wanted him to be here safely. I share this because there were multiple times along the way where I could have lost it completely, but my Hypnobabies training kicked in and got me through the process. First, I was able to handle every procedure and pressure wave with ease. Second, as stated in the daily affirmation, I felt completely in control of every decision that was made. Third, the affirmation that states that I am open to whatever path the birthing time takes was very effective. I was completely calm throughout, so much so that most of the medical professionals commented on it. I share this because even though this was not the birth I visualized, the Hypnobabies training was an important part of this process. I am thankful for the time invested in the program and would recommend it highly.
(See story and pictures at Hypnobabies.com)
(See story and pictures at Hypnobabies.com)
Elizabeth’s Change of Plans Birth
“I listened to my hypnosis tracks, both the Birthing Day Affirmations and Easy First Stage. The words about my birthing time being just perfect for me really stood out. I was able to feel peace about my choices as things went on.”
I started seeing my new OB when we arrived in our new town a couple months away from my guess date. She was very cheerful, upbeat, and open to conversation about any aspect of pregnancy. I didn’t feel the need to bring up my use of hypnosis during our appointments at first, because I have found that in my last pregnancies it was rarely my assigned OB who attended the birth. When I turned 37 weeks, I started getting high blood pressure readings at my appointments. My OB briefly mentioned the risk of needing to be induced if I continued to have high BP or if my lab work started to show warning signs, and I told her that was not something I was interested in doing if it was not necessary. Thankfully all lab work was fine. However, over the weekend, I started getting headaches and experiencing more swelling than I had previously. With the high blood pressure readings looming in the back of my head, my anxiety started getting pretty high. I desperately wanted to avoid being induced. I knew if I kept worrying about it, my blood pressure would only get higher, so I focused on doing more fear clearing sessions with Hypnobabies and reaffirming that pregnancy was natural, normal, healthy and safe. I did not want to ignore any warning signs my body was sending if indeed I was at risk, but I also wanted to remain calm and make logical choices that fit with my beliefs about child birth. I ended up calling to get an appointment that Monday so I could have peace of mind that everything was really okay.
At that appointment, my blood pressure was still reading high so they did more labs and sent me up to triage to monitor the baby’s movement. From that point forward they asked me to come in twice a week for monitoring. Thankfully the labs came back normal and in fact had better readings than the week before. My blood pressure was fine on the monitor and the baby was moving well. By this time, I had heard the mention of being induced several times. My OB had gone over the risks and tell me standard procedure for elevated BP after 37 weeks is to induce. The OB in Triage would ask me each time why I hadn’t been scheduled for an induction and then “Do you want to be induced today?” The first time I was asked this question, I was caught off guard. After planning for natural child births for all my babies the last 8 years, I had no intention of choosing that route nor had I ever been straight up asked that question- it seemed so taboo to me! I told her that we had been monitoring everything and if my labs were fine, baby was fine, and I had no further symptoms I wanted to wait. One of my favorite parts of each of my children’s birth is seeing how God created the perfect timing for their births. Despite all the unknown details, I believe that babies are born at the perfect time and they truly do know just how and when to be born. I mention all of this because I believe this repeated questioning of my decision eventually contributed to the way my birthing time came to be. It was hard to remain strong in my choices when doctors continually mentioned the idea of being induced. I felt anxiety about if I was really making the right choices. It planted the seed of “lots of moms get induced and have beautiful healthy babies, why shouldn’t I?”
I went in for my 39 week appointment and was feeling calm, but very ready for it to be my birthing time. My husband and I had talked a lot over the last two weeks about what it would be like if I had to be induced, since at several points while waiting for lab results, it seemed like I may need to be. Also, I was having many pressure waves the last few weeks and excitedly wondering if these waves were going to begin my birthing time. I was getting emotionally drained with all the uncertainty, and just wanted this feeling to be over. I again had a high blood pressure reading, and confessed to my doctor that I was feeling so tired and emotional the past few weeks. After talking a bit and finally explaining to her about Hypnobabies and my desire to have an unmedicated birth, of which she was supportive, I asked her to sweep my membranes. She said I was 2-3cm dilated but not yet effaced. I left with the plan to go in for an induction the next morning if my birthing time did not begin on its own after the sweep. I was just so tired.
That night, I began having consistent birthing waves. Beginning around 10pm, they came every 5-10 minutes and lasted about a minute. This continued for several hours. At midnight, I woke up my husband and told him what was going on in case we needed to arrange child care for our other boys. I have a history of 4-6 hour births so didn’t want to wait too long. The waves continued, but never grew stronger and by 3:30am, we decided to just sleep… sure enough they never returned.
I called the hospital around 7am to check to make sure they had availability for the induction. They were too full and told me to call back later that morning. The same thing happened 2 more times that day, and finally they told us we could come at 2pm. By the time we got back to a room, it was about 3:30pm. I was still planning on sticking with my plan of an unmedicated birth and even gave a short brief to the nurses about my preferences. My OB came in and we decided that she would check me and break my water. I was still dilated 2-3cm and was now 50% effaced. Baby was still very high and she had a hard time breaking my water. She decided to wait a little bit and see if my water would break on its own after her attempt. I was feeling pretty good and put on my Birthing Day Affirmations.
A part of me, however, was growing nervous about how things would progress, worried if one intervention would lead to another and leave me feeling unprepared. I was tired from being up all night and knew the kind of mental effort it took to be relaxed and use my Hypnobabies tools during my birthing time. A part of me was feeling guilty that I was even at the hospital being induced. Obviously, my baby wasn’t ready to be born. I confessed to my OB that I was nervous, and she said kindly that everything was fine, and I didn’t have to continue if I was uncomfortable with anything. God bless that woman. At this point I could still go back home and wait. I really considered that. I talked with my husband about why we came in to begin with, what it might look like either way, and decided to continue with things at the hospital.
About 6:30pm my doctor came back in the room. I told her we were committed to having this baby today. I had very little emotional strength left. I was so afraid of the amount of effort that the next few hours would bring. As easy as hypnosis makes child birth, I knew with the way my emotions were at the time that it would be an intense time of concentration, and I wanted to cry thinking about it. I could not believe the words coming out of my mouth, but I heard myself asking about what it would look like to get an epidural and use Pitocin. I had been so dedicated to natural childbirth, that I had not ever researched what epidurals require as far as the actual procedure of placing it, etcetera. She was very understanding of my feelings and put no pressure on me, yet answered my questions and explained the benefits and risks of the procedure.
I told my husband I thought I wanted to do the epidural, but asked him if he thought I would regret it knowing how passionate I am about natural birth. He and my OB were both affirming about my past natural births, assuring me that no matter what choice I made, we would still be moving towards meeting our baby. After speaking with the anesthesiologist, I decided to get an epidural and start the Pitocin. I knew I wanted the epidural first because I remembered what Pitocin felt like just during the afterbirth of my previous births and did not want to be getting an epidural between those intense waves. Giving myself permission to make that choice was very freeing; I was happy to have a birth plan, even though it was different than I planned, and felt cheerful again. By the time the epidural was in place, it was after 8pm that they began Pitocin.
After the decision to get an epidural and begin Pitocin, I felt like a Hypnobabies failure. I was enjoying the progression of my pressure waves with the Pitocin, and I’m not going to lie, I was enjoying the ease of the epidural. Yet, I felt like choosing these interventions disqualified me from using my Hypnobabies tools. In fact my husband and I completely stopped using Hypnobabies language such as pressure waves and birthing time, and even used the *p* word in describing the intensity I was feeling. It’s funny that it felt so against the rules.
However, with the interventions I experienced side effects such as uncontrollable shivering and dips in my blood pressure. I was also feeling much more sensation in the left side of my body than I was in my right. With these side effects, I could only get relief when my husband or nurse was applying pressure to my shoulder or forehead, which is a Hypnobabies tool my subconscious mind had been training with. I asked my husband to start using the Relax cue and the Peace cue to help me settle. It then clicked that even though things were not as planned I could indeed still use my hypnosis tools. We decided to try to rest waiting for my birthing time to progress, and I listened to my hypnosis tracks, both the Birthing Day Affirmations and Easy First Stage. The words about my birthing time being just perfect for me really stood out. I was able to feel peace about my choices as things went on.
About 10:40, I called my nurse because I was starting to feel a different kind of pressure than before. Then, my water broke. She checked me and I was 6cm dilated. A pressure wave went by and I started feeling even more intense pressure. It is here that I must apologize to any prejudice I have ever shown to a woman who had an epidural. There is still an intense amount of pressure with an epidural! It was very similar to the pressure I felt with my Hypnobabies births, which made me happy. At this point in my birthing time, I had to start moaning to get through the waves. My husband knew from my past births that both being 6 cm and hearing me moan to get through the waves were huge signs that I was beginning transformation. My nurses simply did not believe us, no matter my husband insisting things were about to get going and they needed to call the midwife who was to catch the baby to come now.
I actually saw the nurse roll her eyes which made me so frustrated. But then another pressure wave came and I told her I was feeling pushy. She checked and I was 8cm, just 2 minutes after she checked me last at 6cm. She rushed to get the midwife and by the time she arrived and checked a minute later I was 9cm. She asked if I wanted to push and see how it felt. I’m glad she did because it was a totally different feeling pushing with an epidural. It was more difficult to direct my effort, and they tried to make me hold my breath and push that way. I did not like that advice, so just ignored them and did what I remembered from my unmedicated births. Within 2 pushes, our baby’s head was born. I enjoyed the break in intensity, then took a breath before the next wave and the baby’s body was born.
I want to never forget the feeling of euphoria when I held my baby for the first time, though now, writing this 3 weeks later, it is already fading. This was such an emotional pregnancy and birth for me. It was such a relief to have that baby on my chest. To know that this baby is a boy and to be able to finally call him by name after waiting to know his gender until birth. I was just so grateful, happy, and savoring every feeling of having a squishy, warm, newly born baby on my skin. Will I ever have this feeling again? Only God knows. Waiting for his cord to stop pulsing, my husband and I enjoyed looking at him together. I wanted to know everything about this baby and discover every detail. He was so alert, eyes wide open looking around at whatever he could raise his head to look at. Then he began using his legs to crawl his way to my chest, latched on unassisted, and began nursing. He was so content and nursed for an hour at least before we checked his weight and length.
In comparing unmedicated and medicated births, I will say this. The positive to the medicated birth is that I was able to feel more tolerant of the internal exams during my birthing time and not as overwhelmed during transformation. In my opinion, transformation was just as intense of a feeling each way. The drawbacks to the medicated birth were the uncontrollable shivers, the inability to move to different positions (not a huge deal this time), and blood pressure drops. I almost passed out three times due to the epidural. In fact, they had to give me the epidural twice because the first time, blood got into the valve and they could not push the medication through.
Also, the baby’s heart rate dropped a few times during my birthing time and I had to use an oxygen mask which was quite annoying during the pushing stage. In terms of recovery, my back was very sore after the epidural for three days. My belly was very sore for 2 weeks which I had not experienced in my previous births, and I wonder if it was due to the intensity caused by Pitocin. I also experienced uncomfortable swelling after birth due to the IV fluids they gave me with the epidural. The afterpains were worse this time during recovery, but I think that is due multiple pregnancies- they have gotten more intense with each birth.
My biggest take away from this pregnancy and birth is to have grace and focus on truth. When my ideas of how my birthing time would go were threatened, it set off a pattern of anxiety that was hard to draw back in. I felt threatened and therefore I sought control. There were many moments of peace during it all, and for that I thank God. It was a battle to draw my strength from the Lord during this struggle with anxiety, yet he did not abandon me. Those moments of peace were a gift from him. When I struggled with the decisions regarding my birthing time, I kept feeling like if I could just surrender the control, the Lord would have a blessing bigger than my own understanding. He always does in situations of surrender! However in his mercy, he did not withhold all blessings. He still showed us grace and blessed us with a beautiful, healthy child… and with gratitude I bless you, Nathan Jeremy Glosson, to walk in the light, to grow in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man, that the Lord may bless you and keep you and shine his glorious face upon you. Amen.
(See story and pictures at Hypnobabies.com)
I started seeing my new OB when we arrived in our new town a couple months away from my guess date. She was very cheerful, upbeat, and open to conversation about any aspect of pregnancy. I didn’t feel the need to bring up my use of hypnosis during our appointments at first, because I have found that in my last pregnancies it was rarely my assigned OB who attended the birth. When I turned 37 weeks, I started getting high blood pressure readings at my appointments. My OB briefly mentioned the risk of needing to be induced if I continued to have high BP or if my lab work started to show warning signs, and I told her that was not something I was interested in doing if it was not necessary. Thankfully all lab work was fine. However, over the weekend, I started getting headaches and experiencing more swelling than I had previously. With the high blood pressure readings looming in the back of my head, my anxiety started getting pretty high. I desperately wanted to avoid being induced. I knew if I kept worrying about it, my blood pressure would only get higher, so I focused on doing more fear clearing sessions with Hypnobabies and reaffirming that pregnancy was natural, normal, healthy and safe. I did not want to ignore any warning signs my body was sending if indeed I was at risk, but I also wanted to remain calm and make logical choices that fit with my beliefs about child birth. I ended up calling to get an appointment that Monday so I could have peace of mind that everything was really okay.
At that appointment, my blood pressure was still reading high so they did more labs and sent me up to triage to monitor the baby’s movement. From that point forward they asked me to come in twice a week for monitoring. Thankfully the labs came back normal and in fact had better readings than the week before. My blood pressure was fine on the monitor and the baby was moving well. By this time, I had heard the mention of being induced several times. My OB had gone over the risks and tell me standard procedure for elevated BP after 37 weeks is to induce. The OB in Triage would ask me each time why I hadn’t been scheduled for an induction and then “Do you want to be induced today?” The first time I was asked this question, I was caught off guard. After planning for natural child births for all my babies the last 8 years, I had no intention of choosing that route nor had I ever been straight up asked that question- it seemed so taboo to me! I told her that we had been monitoring everything and if my labs were fine, baby was fine, and I had no further symptoms I wanted to wait. One of my favorite parts of each of my children’s birth is seeing how God created the perfect timing for their births. Despite all the unknown details, I believe that babies are born at the perfect time and they truly do know just how and when to be born. I mention all of this because I believe this repeated questioning of my decision eventually contributed to the way my birthing time came to be. It was hard to remain strong in my choices when doctors continually mentioned the idea of being induced. I felt anxiety about if I was really making the right choices. It planted the seed of “lots of moms get induced and have beautiful healthy babies, why shouldn’t I?”
I went in for my 39 week appointment and was feeling calm, but very ready for it to be my birthing time. My husband and I had talked a lot over the last two weeks about what it would be like if I had to be induced, since at several points while waiting for lab results, it seemed like I may need to be. Also, I was having many pressure waves the last few weeks and excitedly wondering if these waves were going to begin my birthing time. I was getting emotionally drained with all the uncertainty, and just wanted this feeling to be over. I again had a high blood pressure reading, and confessed to my doctor that I was feeling so tired and emotional the past few weeks. After talking a bit and finally explaining to her about Hypnobabies and my desire to have an unmedicated birth, of which she was supportive, I asked her to sweep my membranes. She said I was 2-3cm dilated but not yet effaced. I left with the plan to go in for an induction the next morning if my birthing time did not begin on its own after the sweep. I was just so tired.
That night, I began having consistent birthing waves. Beginning around 10pm, they came every 5-10 minutes and lasted about a minute. This continued for several hours. At midnight, I woke up my husband and told him what was going on in case we needed to arrange child care for our other boys. I have a history of 4-6 hour births so didn’t want to wait too long. The waves continued, but never grew stronger and by 3:30am, we decided to just sleep… sure enough they never returned.
I called the hospital around 7am to check to make sure they had availability for the induction. They were too full and told me to call back later that morning. The same thing happened 2 more times that day, and finally they told us we could come at 2pm. By the time we got back to a room, it was about 3:30pm. I was still planning on sticking with my plan of an unmedicated birth and even gave a short brief to the nurses about my preferences. My OB came in and we decided that she would check me and break my water. I was still dilated 2-3cm and was now 50% effaced. Baby was still very high and she had a hard time breaking my water. She decided to wait a little bit and see if my water would break on its own after her attempt. I was feeling pretty good and put on my Birthing Day Affirmations.
A part of me, however, was growing nervous about how things would progress, worried if one intervention would lead to another and leave me feeling unprepared. I was tired from being up all night and knew the kind of mental effort it took to be relaxed and use my Hypnobabies tools during my birthing time. A part of me was feeling guilty that I was even at the hospital being induced. Obviously, my baby wasn’t ready to be born. I confessed to my OB that I was nervous, and she said kindly that everything was fine, and I didn’t have to continue if I was uncomfortable with anything. God bless that woman. At this point I could still go back home and wait. I really considered that. I talked with my husband about why we came in to begin with, what it might look like either way, and decided to continue with things at the hospital.
About 6:30pm my doctor came back in the room. I told her we were committed to having this baby today. I had very little emotional strength left. I was so afraid of the amount of effort that the next few hours would bring. As easy as hypnosis makes child birth, I knew with the way my emotions were at the time that it would be an intense time of concentration, and I wanted to cry thinking about it. I could not believe the words coming out of my mouth, but I heard myself asking about what it would look like to get an epidural and use Pitocin. I had been so dedicated to natural childbirth, that I had not ever researched what epidurals require as far as the actual procedure of placing it, etcetera. She was very understanding of my feelings and put no pressure on me, yet answered my questions and explained the benefits and risks of the procedure.
I told my husband I thought I wanted to do the epidural, but asked him if he thought I would regret it knowing how passionate I am about natural birth. He and my OB were both affirming about my past natural births, assuring me that no matter what choice I made, we would still be moving towards meeting our baby. After speaking with the anesthesiologist, I decided to get an epidural and start the Pitocin. I knew I wanted the epidural first because I remembered what Pitocin felt like just during the afterbirth of my previous births and did not want to be getting an epidural between those intense waves. Giving myself permission to make that choice was very freeing; I was happy to have a birth plan, even though it was different than I planned, and felt cheerful again. By the time the epidural was in place, it was after 8pm that they began Pitocin.
After the decision to get an epidural and begin Pitocin, I felt like a Hypnobabies failure. I was enjoying the progression of my pressure waves with the Pitocin, and I’m not going to lie, I was enjoying the ease of the epidural. Yet, I felt like choosing these interventions disqualified me from using my Hypnobabies tools. In fact my husband and I completely stopped using Hypnobabies language such as pressure waves and birthing time, and even used the *p* word in describing the intensity I was feeling. It’s funny that it felt so against the rules.
However, with the interventions I experienced side effects such as uncontrollable shivering and dips in my blood pressure. I was also feeling much more sensation in the left side of my body than I was in my right. With these side effects, I could only get relief when my husband or nurse was applying pressure to my shoulder or forehead, which is a Hypnobabies tool my subconscious mind had been training with. I asked my husband to start using the Relax cue and the Peace cue to help me settle. It then clicked that even though things were not as planned I could indeed still use my hypnosis tools. We decided to try to rest waiting for my birthing time to progress, and I listened to my hypnosis tracks, both the Birthing Day Affirmations and Easy First Stage. The words about my birthing time being just perfect for me really stood out. I was able to feel peace about my choices as things went on.
About 10:40, I called my nurse because I was starting to feel a different kind of pressure than before. Then, my water broke. She checked me and I was 6cm dilated. A pressure wave went by and I started feeling even more intense pressure. It is here that I must apologize to any prejudice I have ever shown to a woman who had an epidural. There is still an intense amount of pressure with an epidural! It was very similar to the pressure I felt with my Hypnobabies births, which made me happy. At this point in my birthing time, I had to start moaning to get through the waves. My husband knew from my past births that both being 6 cm and hearing me moan to get through the waves were huge signs that I was beginning transformation. My nurses simply did not believe us, no matter my husband insisting things were about to get going and they needed to call the midwife who was to catch the baby to come now.
I actually saw the nurse roll her eyes which made me so frustrated. But then another pressure wave came and I told her I was feeling pushy. She checked and I was 8cm, just 2 minutes after she checked me last at 6cm. She rushed to get the midwife and by the time she arrived and checked a minute later I was 9cm. She asked if I wanted to push and see how it felt. I’m glad she did because it was a totally different feeling pushing with an epidural. It was more difficult to direct my effort, and they tried to make me hold my breath and push that way. I did not like that advice, so just ignored them and did what I remembered from my unmedicated births. Within 2 pushes, our baby’s head was born. I enjoyed the break in intensity, then took a breath before the next wave and the baby’s body was born.
I want to never forget the feeling of euphoria when I held my baby for the first time, though now, writing this 3 weeks later, it is already fading. This was such an emotional pregnancy and birth for me. It was such a relief to have that baby on my chest. To know that this baby is a boy and to be able to finally call him by name after waiting to know his gender until birth. I was just so grateful, happy, and savoring every feeling of having a squishy, warm, newly born baby on my skin. Will I ever have this feeling again? Only God knows. Waiting for his cord to stop pulsing, my husband and I enjoyed looking at him together. I wanted to know everything about this baby and discover every detail. He was so alert, eyes wide open looking around at whatever he could raise his head to look at. Then he began using his legs to crawl his way to my chest, latched on unassisted, and began nursing. He was so content and nursed for an hour at least before we checked his weight and length.
In comparing unmedicated and medicated births, I will say this. The positive to the medicated birth is that I was able to feel more tolerant of the internal exams during my birthing time and not as overwhelmed during transformation. In my opinion, transformation was just as intense of a feeling each way. The drawbacks to the medicated birth were the uncontrollable shivers, the inability to move to different positions (not a huge deal this time), and blood pressure drops. I almost passed out three times due to the epidural. In fact, they had to give me the epidural twice because the first time, blood got into the valve and they could not push the medication through.
Also, the baby’s heart rate dropped a few times during my birthing time and I had to use an oxygen mask which was quite annoying during the pushing stage. In terms of recovery, my back was very sore after the epidural for three days. My belly was very sore for 2 weeks which I had not experienced in my previous births, and I wonder if it was due to the intensity caused by Pitocin. I also experienced uncomfortable swelling after birth due to the IV fluids they gave me with the epidural. The afterpains were worse this time during recovery, but I think that is due multiple pregnancies- they have gotten more intense with each birth.
My biggest take away from this pregnancy and birth is to have grace and focus on truth. When my ideas of how my birthing time would go were threatened, it set off a pattern of anxiety that was hard to draw back in. I felt threatened and therefore I sought control. There were many moments of peace during it all, and for that I thank God. It was a battle to draw my strength from the Lord during this struggle with anxiety, yet he did not abandon me. Those moments of peace were a gift from him. When I struggled with the decisions regarding my birthing time, I kept feeling like if I could just surrender the control, the Lord would have a blessing bigger than my own understanding. He always does in situations of surrender! However in his mercy, he did not withhold all blessings. He still showed us grace and blessed us with a beautiful, healthy child… and with gratitude I bless you, Nathan Jeremy Glosson, to walk in the light, to grow in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man, that the Lord may bless you and keep you and shine his glorious face upon you. Amen.
(See story and pictures at Hypnobabies.com)
Hypnobabies Footling Breech Hospital Birth with Stunning Photos!
Treanna is a wonderful doula in Fort Collins and was planning for another home birth for her second baby. We talked about her birth with excitement and anticipation. I think we all knew that her birth story would be a beautiful one. But little did we know how special her birth would end up being.
Instead of telling my version of the story, I’ll share the photographs I took of her birth and Treanna’s own words. I hope you find inspiration in her strength, beauty and determination. I know I did.
34 weeks into my second pregnancy, we had an appointment with our midwife. We were planning a home water birth using Hypnobabies, just like we had with our son. Our midwife, Carol, told us she thought baby was presenting with head near my fundus and butt closer to my cervix, with nothing presenting at my cervix. This was frustrating news, as she does not deliver breech babies. She requested I get an ultrasound to confirm what she knew. This was disappointing, because I had not wanted any ultrasounds during this pregnancy. So after requesting we put it off a week, and spending the week trying little tricks to flip baby, I went in for that ultrasound. Sure enough, baby was breech. For the next three weeks I spent every moment I could either upside down, going to acupuncture or chiropractic appointments or lying semi-prone. We tried every rebozo trick multiple times and our little angel would treat us to a transverse moment here and there, only to settle back in happily breech.
38 weeks rolled around and Carol helped us find a doctor in Denver who would deliver breech vaginally. We met with Dr. Johnson and just loved his warm, encouraging demeanor! A vaginal breech delivery was looking like Plan A. We were advised that breech labors can be unpredictable and fast, and with my history (3.5 hour labor with my son), we decided to stay in Denver come 39 weeks.
Thankfully, an old family friend, Bonnie, caught wind of our story and offered her spare bedroom, only ten blocks from the hospital, such a blessing!
Driving to Denver at 39 weeks, we met with Dr. Johnson again who said we should start doing what we could to get labor going. He emphasized to us the power of prayer as well. So, with every intention set of our baby’s arrival, we went out for spicy Thai food, walked around a lot and prayed. Sure enough, that evening labor began. Pressure waves were 10-15 minutes apart and a couple minutes long. This felt like it could be the day, so we went back to Bonnie’s and I hopped in the bath to try and relax so I could get some sleep. Soon, everything stopped. Needless to say, this happened five more times over the course of two weeks. We had another appointment at 40.5 weeks and we were told we only had until 41 and 2 days before baby would be coming into the world via cesarean.
That week we had two acupuncture inductions, and my personal mantra became, “keep faith.” We were surrounded by prayer warriors throughout our church, family, and friends; and come 41 weeks and a day we decided to pull out all the stops. I put clary sage in the diffuser, ate a big breakfast, and drank 4 ounces of castor oil mixed with orange juice/baking soda over a 2-hour time span. We called Monet, birth photographer, and she drove up from Colorado Springs. All attempts at getting my doula/back up doula to Denver failed and so Monet happily took on that role as well.
Lunchtime rolled around and we ate another big meal while doing hip circles on the birth ball and Monet was rubbing my acupressure induction points. Pressure waves were now starting to become noticeable again! Just a few later and I was ready to start playing my Hypnobabies hypnosis CDs. It wasn’t long before they were 2-3 minutes apart and 45 seconds long and intense enough I was using hypnosis constantly. We waited for them to lengthen to a minute, but by 3:30pm they had not changed at all. So, before Dr. Johnson was going to go home for the day, we decided to head into the office to check my progress.
We were informed that baby was not presenting well and back was mostly posterior, causing a band to form across my uterus during each pressure wave, resulting in “unproductive labor.” We were told to call in for a cesarean whenever we were ready.
Meanwhile, I had the idea that if we could get baby out of posterior, even if just for a few pressure waves, maybe things would become productive. We got back to Bonnie’s by 4:30, and immediately Monet tried rebozo sifting with me on all fours. Monet’s first rebozo experience was well received, because after only three times, my pressure waves intensified and I immediately puked. This felt like transition! But that was not possible, because just 20 minutes ago when I had been checked I measured at 2-3 centimeters with a very high cervix. So, did I just create a very irritated uterus? My husband, Jeffry, drew me a bath, we decided to see if the bath would help calm things down. Well, the bath felt great, especially with my little Levi (21 month old son) rubbing my back, but things stayed intense. 6:30 came and I decided that if this was not a means to an end, it had to be.
Tears of defeat and failure came harshly as I asked Jeff to call in for that cesarean. I was countered by a fountain of encouragement from both him and Monet, and then I remembered my mantra, “keep faith.” I picked myself up, got dressed, and headed for the hospital, knowing I was in God’s hands and accepting this child has a plan and it is out of my control. Thankful for a short drive (as those 3 contractions were by far the toughest) we arrived at the ER, I had another pressure wave in the entryway as I hung over Jeffry swaying and moaning. I left Jeff to fill out the intake paperwork and I went to the bathroom. Monet parked the car fast and waited for me outside the restroom. One more pressure wave on the toilet and then the next one came with the urge to push!
Sitting on the toilet, God revealed this child’s plan to me. Monet heard that tell-tale grunt, and I announced, “I’m pushy!” I thought I was announcing everything going on in my head, “I did not need that cesarean anymore, baby was on their way!” Well the entourage of 20 people and the gurney escort racing down the hallway as I am being yelled at to not push, reminded me that I had come in for a cesarean and that was still everyone else’s plan for this baby.
treanna pushing on way to orNeedless to say, I did not listen to the orders being screamed in my ear and I kept pushing. By the time they had me on the OR table, I could tell baby was presenting. The nurse asked me to lie on my side for the anesthesia and I said “Dr. Johnson said I could try this naturally!” Her response, a defiant proclamation, “Well Dr. Johnson is not here!” My response… I beared down and pushed with all I had. Apparently this convinced someone to check baby’s station. Lifting my dress, a different nurse yells, “Baby’s here! Feet first!” I said “Oh crap!,” as I knew a footling breech was dangerous, turns out that’s only true if one foot presents without the other. (My little ballet dancer knew to send both feet out together.) Then they spent a couple contractions trying to convince me to get on my back. (Everything I had read about breach birth had said it is best on all fours) I fought them on this until baby’s feet were out and this is when Monet and Jeffry finally made it into the OR, still expecting a cesarean themselves. They had been stuck outside the door waiting for scrubs and getting help putting them on.
With my husband by my side and a baby on their way out I rolled (mostly) onto my back, grabbed my legs and pushed baby’s body out. “It’s a girl, She’s a girl!” shouts one of the 30 observers and it brings me to tears. “Did someone just say SHE?!” I shout! So happy to get the news! And then I am being yelled at to push the head out, so I take a deep breath, and without a contraction to help, bear down and push her head out with an arm above her head.
The obstetrician on call, Dr. Kelley Jensen, caught her and set her below me as Dr. Johnson walked into the room all scrubbed in and ready to operate. Everyone was in shock and still acting in “emergency mode,” except the one nurse who thought of me, and grabbed my daughter and put her to my chest. Dr. Johnson showed his astonishment and I starred at my daughter. During that perfect moment of realizing what had just happened and seeing my daughter for the first time they had my placenta delivered without my assistance and as I looked up they cut her cord almost immediately without offering the privilege to Jeffry. She still had not let out a good cry and was a little blue, so they whisked her away to the warmer with Jeffry following. Six people with towels rubbed her down and Jeffry tried to save some vernix by blocking the action when he could. Jeffry kindly declined newborn procedures, and they returned a bundled up package to me on the OR table. I had Jeffry undress us both and we finally got our skin-to-skin. Phew! With the “emergency” over, she breastfed within ten minutes and has shown her determined, poised spirit ever since.
My darling girl went unnamed for 24 hours, until her name stuck when I realized how similar to her namesake she really is. My sweet Opal Anastasia Wade is just as determined and poised as her great, great grandmother Opal Roderick was.
Born at 7:23pm, 41 weeks and a day, 7 pounds 10 ounces, 19 inches, 14 inch head circumference. Total labor: 8 hours +/- 2 weeks ;)
P.S. Momma did not tear at all and Opal’s hips, lungs and shoulders are all in perfect condition.
(See story and pictures at Hypnobabies.com)
Roxanne’s Calm Hypnobabies VBAC Waterbirth at home
On my drive to work I would listen to “Joyful Pregnancy Affirmations”. Any time I received less than pleasant news from the hospital, or I felt like anything had slipped past my BOP I would listen to “Fear Clearing”. I used “Your Special Safe Place” and “VBAC Birth Visualization” very often during the maintenance weeks.
For the maintenance week I actually placed all the tracks for maintenance week on a playlist, and would start my list with the weekly one listed, but then let them all play in a loop. If I woke up in the middle of the night I would just restart whatever track it was on, and drift back to sleep.
When the birth stalled I listened to “Come Out Baby” while I took my nap. During the birthing I listened to “Deepening Your Hypnosis”. Then at the end I turned on the “Pushing Baby Out” track. I gotta say that one was very empowering.
I used the Relax and Peace cues a lot. I had a hard time remembering to flip my switch, but really I think I did it subconsciously because during the peaks of waves I felt so much different than I did between them.
My first child was a planned homebirth with a midwife. We were planning on doing the Hypnobabies home course later into the pregnancy. We were both first time parents, but we knew birthing in a hospital with doctors wasn’t for us. Unfortunately, our daughter had other plans, and was born premature via emergency c-section at 27 weeks to what doctors suspect was incompetent cervix, although they could never confirm it. I was hesitant to try for another baby after having a 73 day NICU experience with my first. When I finally felt mentally ready to have another child we went through extensive testing to insure that my body could not only conceive again, but carry to term. We never did find definitive proof of incompetent cervix.
Because of having my first child early, this pregnancy, I was considered high risk. I was able to work with the midwife group at the hospital because I wanted to have a VBAC, and also needed to work with a Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor to follow the pregnancy. They started me on Makena progesterone injections, and biweekly ultrasounds/cervical length checks. Everything looked good, and as we neared 24 weeks I was panicking. The doctors were adamant that weekly injections were enough, they would not continue cervical length checks, and had no plans of doing any further interventions. At one point the MFM doctor said, “I’m really only concerned with getting you to 35 weeks.” That’s not really something you want to hear after experiencing the NICU the first time around. I still was able to see the midwives so I felt slightly ok.
Fast forward to 32 weeks and talks of birhing plans started. I was told my water would be broken, and because of my weight an internal fetal monitor would be placed. I was staunchly against both of these things. That day I found a midwife outside of the hospital and explained my situation. She told me to continue following with the hospital midwives, and that later into the pregnancy she would take over my care, and I could birth at home.
35 weeks came and went, and baby stayed in! By now I was on week 5 of the Hypnobabies course, and I had switched care to the out of hospital midwife. At 37 weeks she came to my home to do my prenatal visit and noted that there was some protein in my urine. This was bothersome as up to this point this had been a “perfect” pregnancy with low weight gain, no GD, and no preeclampsia. That night I skipped the normal maintenance track. I went into my special safe place and had a heart to heart talk with the baby. I explained to him that if the protein got too high I would have to be transferred back to the hospital for birth. I explained that I wanted him birthed at home surrounded by loving people in our inviting environment. I told him we had put the Christmas tree up, and that if he was ready I was ready for him. I told him that Sunday (two days from then) was my birthday, and I’d love for him to be here for it.
The next morning at 5 am I awoke to pressure waves that were 5-6 minutes apart lasting for 1-2 minutes. I was so excited that he was ready to make his entrance. I sent a text to my doula, midwife, and photographer letting them know I might be asking them to come over soon. I put on my birthing time tracks and settled into the chair to progress in peace. Around 7 am our daughter woke up, so I asked my husband to have his parents come get her. They arrived around 8 am, and I had my husband set the pool up. By now the pressure waves hadn’t increased, but with the frequency I was certain things were getting ready.
My doula came over around 11 am, and that’s when everything stalled. I was so discouraged, but my doula was very determined and positive. She used the rebozo to try and maintain baby’s positioning, walked around the block with me several times, and encouraged me to dance and do squats in the living room. Nothing worked! I finally told her I was going to put on my Hypnobabies tracks and take a nap just in case. I slept for about 2 hours, and nothing happened! Around 6:30 pm I asked if she wanted to go to Walgreens to grab some snacks since she had been there all day I felt she deserved a treat. We walked around Walgreens for about 20 minutes. I told her I was going to the restroom and would be back. While washing my hands out of nowhere my water broke! I wasn’t quite sure, but my doula (who has 7 kids of her own) informed me it was definitely my water, and now the countdown to baby would begin. On the drive back home I started getting some intense pressure waves.
At home my doula encouraged me to listen to my tracks, but for some reason I really didn’t want to! I could hear the track’s scripts playing in my head as I walked around the house, got in the shower, squatted through pressure waves, and tried to nap on the bed. My husband kept encouraging me to listen to the tracks as well, and I was being so stubborn! I wanted silence! I got in the birth tub around midnight after my doula and husband wished me a happy birthday. While in there the pressure waves, were getting intense, but still tolerable. My doula began timing them, and they stayed consistent. I started to feel like baby was head down but trying to turn. I asked my doula to call the midwife, and then asked my husband to call the photographer. This was around 2 am.
They both arrived around the same time. At this time my pressure waves were coming about every 2-3 minutes. I asked my midwife to check me because I needed reassurance the baby was still head down. I knew I could do this if he just remained head down! She informed me that yes, my water had broken as she could feel his hair, I was 3-4 cm dilated, and 80% effaced. She said, “Don’t let that discourage you. Let’s go sit on the toilet for a few.” By this time, I couldn’t really talk through the waves, but I wanted to tell her thank-you for the reassurance. While sitting upright my doula again suggested the tracks. This time I said yes. I knew I needed that additional push. My husband went and got my iPad and earbuds and handed them to me. He knows I’m a hands-off person in moments of stress, so he stood by me, and just got in complete sync with my needs. The most amazing thing happened when the tracks started to play. As soon as the opening notes of the music started I felt a wave of relaxation pass over me. I immediately felt like I had fallen asleep. I could hear the words, but they weren’t registering. I talked to the baby. I told him I was ready for him. I thanked him for staying in position and helping me make his transition earth side a bearable one. I told him I had milk out here for him when he was ready.
They brought me a pillow to rest my head between waves. As a wave hit my husband would grab the pillow, and I would rock through them. Once the wave had passed he would put the pillow back. It felt like surfing a wave at the beach. You could almost see the peak of the wave, and then just ride it back down. I don’t know how long I sat like that (later I learned it was about an hour). Suddenly something said, “You need to get in the water.” I asked my husband to help me to the tub. A wave hit on the way, and I was able to stand and ride it until it passed. My husband put the Hypnobabies tracks on the tv and let them play out loud. Other than the soft sounds of the Birthing Day tracks in the background it was silent, calm, and peaceful. While in the tub I had a few more waves. I kept my eyes closed, and just focused on relaxing. I was softly pushing and visualizing him coming down past my pelvic bone. Again something said, “It’s time to go. Put on your Pushing Baby Out track.” I asked my husband to change to the track. It’s funny when you’re listening to something, but not really hearing the words. I don’t remember anything else about that track except, “Sometimes when women push they make sounds in their throats that sound animalistic and help the baby come down. This is ok.” I realized that I was closing my throat, and by doing so I was keeping him from coming down. I opened my mouth and forced sound to come out, any sound, I didn’t care what. What felt like 2 mins passed and I calmly said, “His head is out.” I remember wondering if I needed to do anything else, and then thought, “I’ll just give a small push and see what happens.” He popped out all the way, and I pulled him out of the water. He was so little, hairy, and covered in vernix, but he was perfect, whole, and mine. I pushed him out in 15 minutes, and no tears just like I had visualized. He was born at 4:04 am, 38 weeks to the day, 5lbs 3oz, and 18.5 inches. We did it! All of us worked in sync like clockwork. This was an amazing experience. Getting to not only birth on my terms, but in the comfort of my own home surrounded by loving people was amazing. I wouldn’t change anything!
If you ever doubt these tracks work, don’t. I only listened to my tracks before bedtime. I would put the daily track on repeat and listen to it all night while asleep. It’s hard to get 30-40 minutes of quiet time with a busy 3-year-old at home. Could I have shortened this process by listening to the tracks the entire time? Possibly, but they were perfection when I needed them most. I still use my hypnosis cues during the uterine waves from breastfeeding. I told my therapist about the program, and she has since recommended it to her other pregnant clients.
(See story and pictures at Hypnobabies.com)
For the maintenance week I actually placed all the tracks for maintenance week on a playlist, and would start my list with the weekly one listed, but then let them all play in a loop. If I woke up in the middle of the night I would just restart whatever track it was on, and drift back to sleep.
When the birth stalled I listened to “Come Out Baby” while I took my nap. During the birthing I listened to “Deepening Your Hypnosis”. Then at the end I turned on the “Pushing Baby Out” track. I gotta say that one was very empowering.
I used the Relax and Peace cues a lot. I had a hard time remembering to flip my switch, but really I think I did it subconsciously because during the peaks of waves I felt so much different than I did between them.
My first child was a planned homebirth with a midwife. We were planning on doing the Hypnobabies home course later into the pregnancy. We were both first time parents, but we knew birthing in a hospital with doctors wasn’t for us. Unfortunately, our daughter had other plans, and was born premature via emergency c-section at 27 weeks to what doctors suspect was incompetent cervix, although they could never confirm it. I was hesitant to try for another baby after having a 73 day NICU experience with my first. When I finally felt mentally ready to have another child we went through extensive testing to insure that my body could not only conceive again, but carry to term. We never did find definitive proof of incompetent cervix.
Because of having my first child early, this pregnancy, I was considered high risk. I was able to work with the midwife group at the hospital because I wanted to have a VBAC, and also needed to work with a Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor to follow the pregnancy. They started me on Makena progesterone injections, and biweekly ultrasounds/cervical length checks. Everything looked good, and as we neared 24 weeks I was panicking. The doctors were adamant that weekly injections were enough, they would not continue cervical length checks, and had no plans of doing any further interventions. At one point the MFM doctor said, “I’m really only concerned with getting you to 35 weeks.” That’s not really something you want to hear after experiencing the NICU the first time around. I still was able to see the midwives so I felt slightly ok.
Fast forward to 32 weeks and talks of birhing plans started. I was told my water would be broken, and because of my weight an internal fetal monitor would be placed. I was staunchly against both of these things. That day I found a midwife outside of the hospital and explained my situation. She told me to continue following with the hospital midwives, and that later into the pregnancy she would take over my care, and I could birth at home.
35 weeks came and went, and baby stayed in! By now I was on week 5 of the Hypnobabies course, and I had switched care to the out of hospital midwife. At 37 weeks she came to my home to do my prenatal visit and noted that there was some protein in my urine. This was bothersome as up to this point this had been a “perfect” pregnancy with low weight gain, no GD, and no preeclampsia. That night I skipped the normal maintenance track. I went into my special safe place and had a heart to heart talk with the baby. I explained to him that if the protein got too high I would have to be transferred back to the hospital for birth. I explained that I wanted him birthed at home surrounded by loving people in our inviting environment. I told him we had put the Christmas tree up, and that if he was ready I was ready for him. I told him that Sunday (two days from then) was my birthday, and I’d love for him to be here for it.
The next morning at 5 am I awoke to pressure waves that were 5-6 minutes apart lasting for 1-2 minutes. I was so excited that he was ready to make his entrance. I sent a text to my doula, midwife, and photographer letting them know I might be asking them to come over soon. I put on my birthing time tracks and settled into the chair to progress in peace. Around 7 am our daughter woke up, so I asked my husband to have his parents come get her. They arrived around 8 am, and I had my husband set the pool up. By now the pressure waves hadn’t increased, but with the frequency I was certain things were getting ready.
My doula came over around 11 am, and that’s when everything stalled. I was so discouraged, but my doula was very determined and positive. She used the rebozo to try and maintain baby’s positioning, walked around the block with me several times, and encouraged me to dance and do squats in the living room. Nothing worked! I finally told her I was going to put on my Hypnobabies tracks and take a nap just in case. I slept for about 2 hours, and nothing happened! Around 6:30 pm I asked if she wanted to go to Walgreens to grab some snacks since she had been there all day I felt she deserved a treat. We walked around Walgreens for about 20 minutes. I told her I was going to the restroom and would be back. While washing my hands out of nowhere my water broke! I wasn’t quite sure, but my doula (who has 7 kids of her own) informed me it was definitely my water, and now the countdown to baby would begin. On the drive back home I started getting some intense pressure waves.
At home my doula encouraged me to listen to my tracks, but for some reason I really didn’t want to! I could hear the track’s scripts playing in my head as I walked around the house, got in the shower, squatted through pressure waves, and tried to nap on the bed. My husband kept encouraging me to listen to the tracks as well, and I was being so stubborn! I wanted silence! I got in the birth tub around midnight after my doula and husband wished me a happy birthday. While in there the pressure waves, were getting intense, but still tolerable. My doula began timing them, and they stayed consistent. I started to feel like baby was head down but trying to turn. I asked my doula to call the midwife, and then asked my husband to call the photographer. This was around 2 am.
They both arrived around the same time. At this time my pressure waves were coming about every 2-3 minutes. I asked my midwife to check me because I needed reassurance the baby was still head down. I knew I could do this if he just remained head down! She informed me that yes, my water had broken as she could feel his hair, I was 3-4 cm dilated, and 80% effaced. She said, “Don’t let that discourage you. Let’s go sit on the toilet for a few.” By this time, I couldn’t really talk through the waves, but I wanted to tell her thank-you for the reassurance. While sitting upright my doula again suggested the tracks. This time I said yes. I knew I needed that additional push. My husband went and got my iPad and earbuds and handed them to me. He knows I’m a hands-off person in moments of stress, so he stood by me, and just got in complete sync with my needs. The most amazing thing happened when the tracks started to play. As soon as the opening notes of the music started I felt a wave of relaxation pass over me. I immediately felt like I had fallen asleep. I could hear the words, but they weren’t registering. I talked to the baby. I told him I was ready for him. I thanked him for staying in position and helping me make his transition earth side a bearable one. I told him I had milk out here for him when he was ready.
They brought me a pillow to rest my head between waves. As a wave hit my husband would grab the pillow, and I would rock through them. Once the wave had passed he would put the pillow back. It felt like surfing a wave at the beach. You could almost see the peak of the wave, and then just ride it back down. I don’t know how long I sat like that (later I learned it was about an hour). Suddenly something said, “You need to get in the water.” I asked my husband to help me to the tub. A wave hit on the way, and I was able to stand and ride it until it passed. My husband put the Hypnobabies tracks on the tv and let them play out loud. Other than the soft sounds of the Birthing Day tracks in the background it was silent, calm, and peaceful. While in the tub I had a few more waves. I kept my eyes closed, and just focused on relaxing. I was softly pushing and visualizing him coming down past my pelvic bone. Again something said, “It’s time to go. Put on your Pushing Baby Out track.” I asked my husband to change to the track. It’s funny when you’re listening to something, but not really hearing the words. I don’t remember anything else about that track except, “Sometimes when women push they make sounds in their throats that sound animalistic and help the baby come down. This is ok.” I realized that I was closing my throat, and by doing so I was keeping him from coming down. I opened my mouth and forced sound to come out, any sound, I didn’t care what. What felt like 2 mins passed and I calmly said, “His head is out.” I remember wondering if I needed to do anything else, and then thought, “I’ll just give a small push and see what happens.” He popped out all the way, and I pulled him out of the water. He was so little, hairy, and covered in vernix, but he was perfect, whole, and mine. I pushed him out in 15 minutes, and no tears just like I had visualized. He was born at 4:04 am, 38 weeks to the day, 5lbs 3oz, and 18.5 inches. We did it! All of us worked in sync like clockwork. This was an amazing experience. Getting to not only birth on my terms, but in the comfort of my own home surrounded by loving people was amazing. I wouldn’t change anything!
If you ever doubt these tracks work, don’t. I only listened to my tracks before bedtime. I would put the daily track on repeat and listen to it all night while asleep. It’s hard to get 30-40 minutes of quiet time with a busy 3-year-old at home. Could I have shortened this process by listening to the tracks the entire time? Possibly, but they were perfection when I needed them most. I still use my hypnosis cues during the uterine waves from breastfeeding. I told my therapist about the program, and she has since recommended it to her other pregnant clients.
(See story and pictures at Hypnobabies.com)
My Perfect Hypnobabies Natural Twin Birth
I chose to use the Hypnobabies method to be able to birth my twins naturally. I didn’t always want a natural birth, ESPECIALLY once I found out I would have to push two babies out…
But I am a huge fan of doing things naturally and holistic stuff, and I kept having the thought come to my mind, “why would Heavenly Father make our bodies perfectly but then require it to do something that everyone thinks is impossible to bear?” So, I decided not to give up quite yet and educate myself on birth.
Through my dear friend Rachel and some spiritual promptings, I stumbled upon a Hypnobabies class taught by Talya Matheson. Hypnobabies teaches self-hypnosis to re-wire the way we view birthing to a very positive thing and it teaches deep relaxation and how to use hyono-anesthesia. It also teaches very detailed and accurate information on the birth process and what our bodies can do! I soaked up every ounce of information like a sponge…it was exactly what I wanted to hear, and it felt good! By the end of the course, I was craving a natural birth and had so much confidence in myself and my body! Thank you Talya!
I finished the classes and had about a month to practice my techniques and get my birth team together. I hired Talya as my Doula and Jordan stayed by my side with all of my decisions. I was so excited to see what my birth story would be like! So without further ado..
Thursday started off as a normal day… Sleepy, uncomfortable, and excited that I was one day further. I was 35 weeks and a few days. I had a doctor’s appointment to go to that I went to with my mom. The doctor said that the babies looked really good! Both head down and cooperating completely. He even made the comment, “they could be born tomorrow and probably be just fine!” Heh heh…
We went to lunch right after and while we were eating I noticed I felt a little crampy. I had had these feelings before and they didn’t hurt at all and they didn’t seem to be coming and going… Just kind of a general feeling. I usually felt that way when the babies were growing, and my uterus was stretching so I just figured they were getting bigger.
That night I had a huge dinner packed with protein and carbs and I had the thought, “this would be a good meal to eat right before I went into my birthing time” heh heh…
After dinner I was supposed to go to a wedding reception with Jordan, but I felt a huge desire to sleep and a prompting to listen to my body, so I fell asleep and Jordan went to the reception. I slept for about 3 hours, woke up at 9:00 pm, and waddled myself to the bathroom. While on the toilet I felt a big shuffle come from the babies followed by a slow and somewhat constant trickle. I thought, “um? That was not pee… Wait…” Yyyyyep my water broke, and I knew it! I sat there wondering why I hadn’t felt any pressure waves and if they would start. In the mean time I just sat there and texted Jordan. I knew that would result in some sort of hyper-reactive tornado that is Jordan, but I needed him home because I was a little bit in shock. I also texted Talya, my doula, to let her know things were starting. Then i called my mom for some comfort before Jordan got home.
I was still just sitting there when Jordan got home. Sure enough I was bombarded with excited questions… “Are you sure?” “Why is so much coming out?” “Are you ok?” “What do I do?” “CALL THE DOULA” haha… I reminded him what we learned in class and that this is normal and calmed him down a little. I called Talya anyways and she suggested to lay down and get some rest before things started picking up and to send Jordan to get some pads, so I didn’t soak the bed. Haha…Jordan knew what pads were from being a husband, but I had to explain that I needed the big absorbent kind this time. He ran out the door and came back with the biggest pads I had ever seen!! They were just short of being a diaper…I laughed and told him thank you…But they ended up being just what I needed.
We hadn’t packed our hospital bags yet and I hadn’t felt any pressure waves, so I figured I should get that ready before I got some rest. I was very calm but Jordan waaaaas not. He went into what he calls “survival mode” and ran around the house packing anything and everything he saw that might come in handy later. This included tuna fish cans and a can opener… (an obvious necessity for birth). It was while I was packing that I felt my first real pressure wave! I kind of excitedly just stood there and felt it. I had been wondering for 35 weeks what this would feel like! It felt like a really big fast cramp…ish. I was glad things were moving!
I kept packing and they kept coming until I finally realized the pressure waves were coming faster than they should if I was in my early birthing time. I started tracking them and they were already about 6 minutes apart and lasting 30 seconds to a minute. At 10:40 I texted my doula and let her know that things wet picking up and I didn’t think I could sleep through the waves. She encouraged me to listen to my body and get into hypnosis. I tried laying down to listen to my cd but man my body did not want to lay down! I decided to sit on my birthing ball and listen to my deepening track (a cd that talks you into deep hypnosis). Ten minutes later I realized the waves were pretty intense and I couldn’t talk through them.
I wasn’t completely able to tap into my hypnosis tools because things were moving so fast so I was getting anxious for Talya to come over, but I figured I still had like 15 hours left of my birthing time, so I didn’t ask her to come yet. Ten minutes later though I texted her that I was having a hard time relaxing on my own and she called me and talked me through a few pressure waves. Her voice was so calming, and she said everything I needed to hear to remember my hypnosis tools I had been practicing. I was able to be very relaxed after listening to her prompts. Where was Jordan during all of this? On a packing rant… He even came in to ask me if he could run to Walmart to buy a head mount for his GoPro and some canned soup… I gave him an exasperated and curious look and said, “no I need you here” and he kicked in and sat with me till Talya got there.
Talya got to our place at about 11:30 or 11:45. I heard Jordan greet her at the door and directed her right upstairs to where I was. I could tell he was really relieved she was there and so was I!
I spent the next little while awkwardly waddling around trying to find a position that my body would agree with while Talya made me feel very calm and relaxed. At about midnight I threw up and boy did that feel good! When I was throwing up, I remember thinking, “don’t people usually throw up when they are in transformation?” I still really didn’t think I was that far yet…. Talya soon pointed out that my pressure waves were every two minutes now and asked if I would like to go to the hospital yet.
I agreed, and we made our way to the cars. I went with Talya so she could continue to help me and Jordan followed behind us. We ran lots of red lights and I realized Talya thought I was pretty close to having the babies! But as we got closer to the hospital I experienced some pressure waves that were different from the rest… I don’t know how to describe them except for very productive feeling…And then I finally knew that I was definitely close!
We pulled up to the ER entrance and a nurse rushed out with a wheelchair to greet us. I didn’t hear her, but Talya told me later that she told the nurse I was ready to push! She rushed us up to the Labor and Delivery unit and turned us over to those nurses. The L&D nurses must not have thought I was that close because they were not acting rushed at all. They asked us a few questions and then sent me to triage and they told me to put on my gown and then get in the bed where they will check to see how dilated I was. I just did as I was told, but as soon as I went to change into my gown I felt a huge overwhelming need to push my baby out!
I told Jordan and he proceeded to run back and forth between the bathroom where I was to the nurses desk outside yelling, “CAN I GET SOME HELP?” Finally, the nurses felt some urgency and walked me over to one of the delivery rooms. Somehow, I got changed into the gown and in the bed and the doctor who was on call checked my dilation and announced I was complete….no duh… I got rely excited when he said that though because the only pelvic exam I had was the last one 🙂 and I was so so excited to meet my babies!
I was pushing during all of this with each pressure wave and the doctor told me not to push until we got to the operating room…. Uuummmm FYI it is impossible not to push… But he is a man and could not possibly understand, so I forgive him for making the comment. (We had to go to the operating room because of hospital policy that every mom with multiples has to deliver in there) Pushing felt so good! I loved actively working with my body rather than trying to relax and let it do its thing.
We finally made it in there and I chose to push on my knees. Talya was not allowed on the OR so it was just me and Jordan working together. This is something I will cherish for the rest of forever 🙂 he held me and said little prayers with me and told me how amazing I was doing.
I was pushing for 40 minutes. Those were arguably the best 40 minutes of my life. It was a little weird because there were so many nurses in the OR watching me… I looked around at one point and saw a small crowd of nurse faces watching me from a window… I didn’t know what to do so I just smiled at them. They didn’t know what to do either and awkwardly smiled back. I was in the zone for most of it though and wasn’t aware of my surroundings at all. Jordan said lots of nurses in the room were talking to each other about how well I was handling everything.
I felt no pain but felt every sensation from from both babies coming down and crowning to both babies slipping into this life. I pushed my baby boy out first 🙂 it. Was. Amazing! I did it!! I was so happy and proud of myself and feeling him come out was surreal! I was facing backwards so I had to turn around and sit normally to hold him 🙂 he was softly crying and so beautiful! The doctor let his cord pulse a little bit before he had to clamp it and get things ready for baby girl to come out. I handed him to Jordan and then assumed the normal “pushing” position so the doctor could see what baby girl was doing. She was a little angel and was still head down. The doctor suggested we break her sac so she would continue to come down quickly. I was against the idea for a second but I felt very at peace with it and agreed. I didn’t have time to get back on my knees because she was coming! After 9 minutes and two pushes she was here! I could see her and she was blue but she quickly took a breath and pinked right up. She was very quiet and just enjoyed me telling her how much I loved her. A piece of my placenta wouldn’t come out so there was a bit of craziness while they got that out… But eventually I got both babies in my arms, kisses from Jordan, and the happiest feeling I can’t even describe.
I still can’t believe I did it 🙂 we finally left the cold operating room and went back to the regular room where I got both of my babies to latch and nurse at the same time! Our family was finally together and everything was perfect.
I owe a lot of this to my Hypnobabies training. I spent months re-training my brain and practicing hypnosis. Also Talya was amazing to have! I don’t think I will have a baby without her… And Jordan… I might cry.. You were so supportive and helped me be so strong! I love you! 🙂
(See story and pictures at Hypnobabies.com)
But I am a huge fan of doing things naturally and holistic stuff, and I kept having the thought come to my mind, “why would Heavenly Father make our bodies perfectly but then require it to do something that everyone thinks is impossible to bear?” So, I decided not to give up quite yet and educate myself on birth.
Through my dear friend Rachel and some spiritual promptings, I stumbled upon a Hypnobabies class taught by Talya Matheson. Hypnobabies teaches self-hypnosis to re-wire the way we view birthing to a very positive thing and it teaches deep relaxation and how to use hyono-anesthesia. It also teaches very detailed and accurate information on the birth process and what our bodies can do! I soaked up every ounce of information like a sponge…it was exactly what I wanted to hear, and it felt good! By the end of the course, I was craving a natural birth and had so much confidence in myself and my body! Thank you Talya!
I finished the classes and had about a month to practice my techniques and get my birth team together. I hired Talya as my Doula and Jordan stayed by my side with all of my decisions. I was so excited to see what my birth story would be like! So without further ado..
Thursday started off as a normal day… Sleepy, uncomfortable, and excited that I was one day further. I was 35 weeks and a few days. I had a doctor’s appointment to go to that I went to with my mom. The doctor said that the babies looked really good! Both head down and cooperating completely. He even made the comment, “they could be born tomorrow and probably be just fine!” Heh heh…
We went to lunch right after and while we were eating I noticed I felt a little crampy. I had had these feelings before and they didn’t hurt at all and they didn’t seem to be coming and going… Just kind of a general feeling. I usually felt that way when the babies were growing, and my uterus was stretching so I just figured they were getting bigger.
That night I had a huge dinner packed with protein and carbs and I had the thought, “this would be a good meal to eat right before I went into my birthing time” heh heh…
After dinner I was supposed to go to a wedding reception with Jordan, but I felt a huge desire to sleep and a prompting to listen to my body, so I fell asleep and Jordan went to the reception. I slept for about 3 hours, woke up at 9:00 pm, and waddled myself to the bathroom. While on the toilet I felt a big shuffle come from the babies followed by a slow and somewhat constant trickle. I thought, “um? That was not pee… Wait…” Yyyyyep my water broke, and I knew it! I sat there wondering why I hadn’t felt any pressure waves and if they would start. In the mean time I just sat there and texted Jordan. I knew that would result in some sort of hyper-reactive tornado that is Jordan, but I needed him home because I was a little bit in shock. I also texted Talya, my doula, to let her know things were starting. Then i called my mom for some comfort before Jordan got home.
I was still just sitting there when Jordan got home. Sure enough I was bombarded with excited questions… “Are you sure?” “Why is so much coming out?” “Are you ok?” “What do I do?” “CALL THE DOULA” haha… I reminded him what we learned in class and that this is normal and calmed him down a little. I called Talya anyways and she suggested to lay down and get some rest before things started picking up and to send Jordan to get some pads, so I didn’t soak the bed. Haha…Jordan knew what pads were from being a husband, but I had to explain that I needed the big absorbent kind this time. He ran out the door and came back with the biggest pads I had ever seen!! They were just short of being a diaper…I laughed and told him thank you…But they ended up being just what I needed.
We hadn’t packed our hospital bags yet and I hadn’t felt any pressure waves, so I figured I should get that ready before I got some rest. I was very calm but Jordan waaaaas not. He went into what he calls “survival mode” and ran around the house packing anything and everything he saw that might come in handy later. This included tuna fish cans and a can opener… (an obvious necessity for birth). It was while I was packing that I felt my first real pressure wave! I kind of excitedly just stood there and felt it. I had been wondering for 35 weeks what this would feel like! It felt like a really big fast cramp…ish. I was glad things were moving!
I kept packing and they kept coming until I finally realized the pressure waves were coming faster than they should if I was in my early birthing time. I started tracking them and they were already about 6 minutes apart and lasting 30 seconds to a minute. At 10:40 I texted my doula and let her know that things wet picking up and I didn’t think I could sleep through the waves. She encouraged me to listen to my body and get into hypnosis. I tried laying down to listen to my cd but man my body did not want to lay down! I decided to sit on my birthing ball and listen to my deepening track (a cd that talks you into deep hypnosis). Ten minutes later I realized the waves were pretty intense and I couldn’t talk through them.
I wasn’t completely able to tap into my hypnosis tools because things were moving so fast so I was getting anxious for Talya to come over, but I figured I still had like 15 hours left of my birthing time, so I didn’t ask her to come yet. Ten minutes later though I texted her that I was having a hard time relaxing on my own and she called me and talked me through a few pressure waves. Her voice was so calming, and she said everything I needed to hear to remember my hypnosis tools I had been practicing. I was able to be very relaxed after listening to her prompts. Where was Jordan during all of this? On a packing rant… He even came in to ask me if he could run to Walmart to buy a head mount for his GoPro and some canned soup… I gave him an exasperated and curious look and said, “no I need you here” and he kicked in and sat with me till Talya got there.
Talya got to our place at about 11:30 or 11:45. I heard Jordan greet her at the door and directed her right upstairs to where I was. I could tell he was really relieved she was there and so was I!
I spent the next little while awkwardly waddling around trying to find a position that my body would agree with while Talya made me feel very calm and relaxed. At about midnight I threw up and boy did that feel good! When I was throwing up, I remember thinking, “don’t people usually throw up when they are in transformation?” I still really didn’t think I was that far yet…. Talya soon pointed out that my pressure waves were every two minutes now and asked if I would like to go to the hospital yet.
I agreed, and we made our way to the cars. I went with Talya so she could continue to help me and Jordan followed behind us. We ran lots of red lights and I realized Talya thought I was pretty close to having the babies! But as we got closer to the hospital I experienced some pressure waves that were different from the rest… I don’t know how to describe them except for very productive feeling…And then I finally knew that I was definitely close!
We pulled up to the ER entrance and a nurse rushed out with a wheelchair to greet us. I didn’t hear her, but Talya told me later that she told the nurse I was ready to push! She rushed us up to the Labor and Delivery unit and turned us over to those nurses. The L&D nurses must not have thought I was that close because they were not acting rushed at all. They asked us a few questions and then sent me to triage and they told me to put on my gown and then get in the bed where they will check to see how dilated I was. I just did as I was told, but as soon as I went to change into my gown I felt a huge overwhelming need to push my baby out!
I told Jordan and he proceeded to run back and forth between the bathroom where I was to the nurses desk outside yelling, “CAN I GET SOME HELP?” Finally, the nurses felt some urgency and walked me over to one of the delivery rooms. Somehow, I got changed into the gown and in the bed and the doctor who was on call checked my dilation and announced I was complete….no duh… I got rely excited when he said that though because the only pelvic exam I had was the last one 🙂 and I was so so excited to meet my babies!
I was pushing during all of this with each pressure wave and the doctor told me not to push until we got to the operating room…. Uuummmm FYI it is impossible not to push… But he is a man and could not possibly understand, so I forgive him for making the comment. (We had to go to the operating room because of hospital policy that every mom with multiples has to deliver in there) Pushing felt so good! I loved actively working with my body rather than trying to relax and let it do its thing.
We finally made it in there and I chose to push on my knees. Talya was not allowed on the OR so it was just me and Jordan working together. This is something I will cherish for the rest of forever 🙂 he held me and said little prayers with me and told me how amazing I was doing.
I was pushing for 40 minutes. Those were arguably the best 40 minutes of my life. It was a little weird because there were so many nurses in the OR watching me… I looked around at one point and saw a small crowd of nurse faces watching me from a window… I didn’t know what to do so I just smiled at them. They didn’t know what to do either and awkwardly smiled back. I was in the zone for most of it though and wasn’t aware of my surroundings at all. Jordan said lots of nurses in the room were talking to each other about how well I was handling everything.
I felt no pain but felt every sensation from from both babies coming down and crowning to both babies slipping into this life. I pushed my baby boy out first 🙂 it. Was. Amazing! I did it!! I was so happy and proud of myself and feeling him come out was surreal! I was facing backwards so I had to turn around and sit normally to hold him 🙂 he was softly crying and so beautiful! The doctor let his cord pulse a little bit before he had to clamp it and get things ready for baby girl to come out. I handed him to Jordan and then assumed the normal “pushing” position so the doctor could see what baby girl was doing. She was a little angel and was still head down. The doctor suggested we break her sac so she would continue to come down quickly. I was against the idea for a second but I felt very at peace with it and agreed. I didn’t have time to get back on my knees because she was coming! After 9 minutes and two pushes she was here! I could see her and she was blue but she quickly took a breath and pinked right up. She was very quiet and just enjoyed me telling her how much I loved her. A piece of my placenta wouldn’t come out so there was a bit of craziness while they got that out… But eventually I got both babies in my arms, kisses from Jordan, and the happiest feeling I can’t even describe.
I still can’t believe I did it 🙂 we finally left the cold operating room and went back to the regular room where I got both of my babies to latch and nurse at the same time! Our family was finally together and everything was perfect.
I owe a lot of this to my Hypnobabies training. I spent months re-training my brain and practicing hypnosis. Also Talya was amazing to have! I don’t think I will have a baby without her… And Jordan… I might cry.. You were so supportive and helped me be so strong! I love you! 🙂
(See story and pictures at Hypnobabies.com)
