Melissa & James took HypnoBirthing classes for their first baby a few years ago. She had a wonderful birth experience. When she was pregnant with her second child, she contacted me to set up some private refresher sessions. We did a private individual session midway through her pregnancy and then met with both Melissa & James' in a private session to review techniques and do a fear release/birth rehearsal imagery hypnosis session a few weeks before their due date.
Here is their story:
Thank you Carol! I have brought both Guthrie and Corrina into this world naturally and just how it is supposed to be.
Corrina Anne Peterson was born 11/15/2012. She was 7lbs 8oz and 21 inches long. First off, I need to mention that I had done a private session with Carol Yeh-Garner around 20 weeks pregnant to do some fear release and to help me work through some anxieties I was having about pregnancy and our decision to have a home birth. I left her office feeling emotionally lighter and ready to move forward confidently. My husband and I read the hypnobirthing book, and I listened to the cd during acupuncture appointments, but not as often as I had with Guthrie’s pregnancy. We did a refresher course with Carol at 39 weeks. We went through how I wanted the labor to go and any fears or anxieties I had. MY LABOR WENT ALMOST EXACTLY AS I HAD HOPED FOR AND HOW ARE GUIDED MEDITATION WENT WITH CAROL. We used Jamin and La Shel, San Diego Midwife, for her homebirth.
I woke up about 12am on 6/15 with mild surges, lasting about 30 seconds about 5-7 minutes apart. I wasn’t convinced this was going to last, and I lied in bed watching the clock till about 1. I texted my midwives somewhere in there to give them the heads up it might be happening, I still wasn’t convinced. James was in and out of sleep and I was sort of anxious, not having the clear ‘yes your water broke this is happening now’ sign. (But I didn’t want my water to break, and had hoped and visualized it wouldn’t till end) So I wasn’t sleeping. I kept having the urge to pee and I was passing clots. About 2:30 I called midwife, Jamin, and at that point the contractions were between 3-5 minutes apart but still lasting less than 1 minute. She offered to come then, but I felt as if the contractions weren’t doing too much and felt pretty comfortable during the surge and I said I would contact her when it became more intense.
I woke up James and told him to start prepping the house. In between contractions, I was very able to help set up. I was very alert and functional. He finished setting up the house and I went and took a long hot shower for about 30 minutes while he finished prepping. The water felt amazing. I had candles lit and the lights off and I really got into the mode. I held the shower head on my low back and did some squats. James came in to check on me and to let me know everything was ready, except the pool needed to be filled when that time came. I got out of the shower and I hadn’t felt any contractions for what seemed to be a long time, so James and I lied down to hopefully sleep. I think the moment I lied down, I felt a sharp stab across my rib cage and it was on. I was incredibly nauseous, and became sick from both ends. I sat on toilet, swaying and moaning with each surge and the compression in my lower spine was intense. James called the midwives. They came about 4:30 am. I was only 5 cm with a bulging bag. I honestly thought the midwives might not stay because I wasn’t far enough along. I went back to toilet while they filled the pool. I did say to James at this point that this was so much worse than Guthrie’s and that I was questioning how long I could do this for. I did not think I was only 2 hours away from meeting her.
I wanted to go into water soon. Midwives suggested I start walking and do some high knee type walking, so that is what I did-I have no idea on how long, maybe 1 minute, maybe 20. Just before I got into pool, LaShel checked me said I was 8+ and my amniotic bag was crazy bulging. My water broke right after. I got into the water at 6 am. I had James call our friends to watch Guthrie thinking he would be up around 7 am and there would be no way for James to juggle his needs and my needs. I probably had one surge and she started to come after that. I wanted to put my legs together, to straighten them out...that was my immediate reaction but with James and midwives assistance, I held my legs back. I honestly had no idea what the midwives were doing...they were doing nothing - nothing had to be done. But I kept saying help me, help me because I had thought there would be the whole "massage the baby out, help kind of tug her out". But no, the water softens the skin so there is no need for assistance. I wanted to push, but they just kept telling me to breath out and let her stretch it out and come. She was born 6:30 am. It felt just so natural to have her. It went the way it was supposed to. Guthrie awoke around 8 am or 8:30 am, after they had already left. I was in bed that day but we all were together. I had a great first birth in the hospital, but to be home with my family that afternoon to eat as a family, to nap as a family and for Guthrie’s life to not be interrupted, was perfectly natural. And I am a fan of the water. I had no tearing, no burns, and the healing was quick.
I am a massage therapist at Indigo Dragon Center and I work with a fair amount of pregnant women, and I get asked about my natural births and how hypnobirthing helped. For Guthrie’s birth, it provided me so much knowledge of how the process worked and what to expect, the biggest fear. I used hypnobirthing to empower me to do what I know is already a very natural process and as for Corrina’s birth, it was a reminder of what I already have done and a guided meditation. I was pleasantly surprised that my ‘plan’ was how it went, down to my 3 year olds time he woke up!
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Congratulations Melissa, James & Guthrie! I'm thrilled that your birth happened almost to how you envisioned it and that our private sessions helped prepare you for Corrina's birth! Thank you so much for sharing your story!
If you're in the San Diego area & are interested in HypnoBirthing, please visit Carol's website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. If you are outside of the San Diego area, please visit www.hypnobirthing.com to find a practitioner near you.
If you are interested in hiring the midwives Melissa & James used, please visit www.sandiegomidwife.com.
If you are interested in getting a great massage by Melissa, please schedule one with her at www.indigodragoncenter.com or 760-652-1116.
