Here is a wonderful homebirth HypnoBirthing story from Ohio:

Greyson’s Birthing

I woke up on Friday morning at 3AM with some pretty regular surges. This had been happening pretty consistently for weeks now, so I wasn’t even sure that labor was coming that morning, but I had a pretty good feeling. I knew that I had been sleeping through some pretty strong surges through the night so I decided to see how close together they were coming. I timed for about a half hour and they were almost exactly five minutes apart, so I decided to wake David just to let him know. He was so sleepy, so I told him to go back to bed while I took a shower.
At 5AM I woke David and asked him if he would call his mom to come pick up Fletcher, our 4 year old. Although many people like to have their little ones with them when they birth, I was worried that Fletcher would be a major distraction.
When my mother-in-law arrived at 5:30 I was starting to go into my birthing body to relax through the surges and to me, this is when labor truly began. David called our midwife to tell her we were in labor and she asked to speak with me. She stayed on the phone with me through a surge and decided that because I was so calm and coping so well, we still had some time and she said she would call in an hour or so. I knew that she only lived 2-3 miles away, so this was okay with me.
I was lying on my side and I didn’t want to move at all, but I kept having to go to the bathroom so I had no choice but to get up. Every time I would go to the potty I would get so cold and shivery and start shaking. David had been moving around the house doing last minute things and filling the birth tub. I called on him and told him I needed him now and whatever he was doing needed to wait. So he stayed with me, turned on our Steven Halpern music (the background music to the Rainbow Relaxation) and read the birthing affirmations we had been practicing while I continued to breathe correctly to maximize each surge and rest between. I immediately calmed down and was able to go deep within myself to where Greyson was; it was amazing. The shivers passed and when I got up to go to the bathroom I realized that I wanted to stay upright, so I started pacing around the room.
When a surge would come I would get into different positions that just felt right (hands and knees, head resting on the bed, etc.) I was totally listening to my body and breathing. When my midwife called again David told her that I wasn’t up for talking and that she needed to come over now (he was a bit forceful – I apologized for him later).
At this point the birth tub was finally filled up enough to get into so I happily did. Within a few minutes our midwife arrived. I stayed on my hands and knees in the tub which felt really good, but really hot. David kept giving me a cool cloth for my face while reading affirmations as I would have surges, reminding me that Greyson was coming and to trust my body, he was perfect.
I was feeling sensations to push the baby down, but I could tell that I wasn’t quite ready yet and I was getting too hot so I decided that I had to get out of the tub.
When I got out of the tub I felt a surge so I squatted right where I was between the bed and birth tub in one of the smallest parts of our room and my water broke. There were already several towels there from the tub so I decided that this was as good a place as any to have my baby. Around this time our birthing assistant, another midwife, arrived. My midwife threw some chux pads down under me and I squatted for a few surges, then decided I was too tired for that position so I ended up in a sitting up position with my weight on David who was on his knees supporting me. I had my feet pressed against my midwife’s knees and felt totally ready to push, so I did. I was a bit louder than I expected to be, but it just felt right so I continued to go with the flow. I remember David telling me he was uncomfortable and that he wanted to move, I told him he was crazy. A few moments later Greyson’s head was out and my midwife asked that I do some small grunting, I did and when she said it was okay, I felt my body gently push Greyson into the world. It was amazing!
When Greyson was born he was purple and totally limp, apparently his cord had been wrapped pretty tightly around his neck, but after just a moment he coughed and breathed and started to “pink up”. He went immediately to my chest where he stayed. Although he had responded on his own the midwife assisting suggested that we wave a bit of oxygen in front of his nose, just to help him out a bit. He responded to that very well and I was thrilled. When the cord had stopped pulsating it was clamped and cut, I delivered the placenta and we moved to the bed.
Immediately David started saying how good I looked. After I had my first child in the hospital I looked and felt like I was hit by a train for a long time. With this birth I was able to recover so quickly. I am totally convinced that our experience was due to our hypnobirthing techniques and our dedication to practicing them.
The midwife who was there assisting said that it was an honor to have been at my birth and asked if she could borrow my hypnobirthing book to check it out, I was thrilled and gave her the book, CD’s and workbook I had created for myself. I told her she should consider becoming a practitioner, San Antonio really needs one. After this experience I feel invigorated and empowered. I was able to have the birth that I visualized, planned and prayed for because I believed in my baby and my body. Greyson was born after 3 hours labor. He weighed 8 lbs, 2 oz and was 20.5" long. This was what I believed birthing could be!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heidi Wilhelm
Owner, Labor of Love, LLC
Athens, OH
740-593-3618
MAKE YOUR BIRTH EASIER AND MORE PEACEFUL!
www.ohiobabies.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com