Will and I got to meet our baby at 12:01 am on April 9, 2013. Our baby Taylor was born at 37 weeks and she was 8 pounds, 20 inches long. The nurses and doctors told me if I had her at 40 weeks, she would likely be 9.5 pounds. The whole process was incredible! I did have some intervention but my husband and I were both confident in our decisions and I am also happy to say that the hospital staff was very accommodating and understanding of my wishes.
My labor was not ideal but I am happy with the outcome. My water broke and woke me out of a dead sleep around 1:50am on April 8. I wasn't sure if I peed my pants or if it was my water. I was expecting a trickle like I had heard for some many people. That wasn't the case with me! :) Around 3 am, the surges came and were about 6 minutes apart. I started listening to the rainbow relaxation and center my head. We called Scripps around 4 am because things felt like they were progressing pretty quickly. We took our time, packed and got things in order. We arrived at Scripps Encinitas around 545 am. They did a few tests on me to check if my water broke but it kept coming back negative. I assured the OB that it was undeniable. After some time and movement, they were able to get a positive test. During this process, they were measuring my blood pressure and it was high for about 2 hours. They were worried I may have pre-eclampsia. Until they got those test results back, they had me lay in the bed and kept close tabs on baby. This was very upsetting for me because by 11 am my contractions had slowed to nearly nothing.
My midwife then came by and confirmed the test results were negative for pre-eclampsia and now their focus was getting labor going for me. We discussed the possible use of pitocin. I explained to her my wishes not to have intervention. They gave me 2 hours to get up, walk around and do what I need to do try to get things moving. Unfortunately, after walking quite a bit and using the techniques from class, my body would not take over active labor on its own. My contractions were maybe every 10 minutes. They started me with a pitocin drip. My nurse and midwife were very open and explained things well. Even with the pitocin, the surges moved up to an inconsistent 6-7 minutes. We gradually increased the pitocin for the next 5 hours and it wasn't until the drip was at 6 that the surges were 3-4 minutes apart and I was dilated to 6 or 7. This was at roughly 18 hours of labor and my whole body was exhausted. I had trouble keeping my focus and relaxing. The nurse and my husband were using counter pressure and massage to help.
I decided to get the epidural at this point. After, I laid in bed for another 2 hours and had dilated to 10 within an hour. My new nurse let me lay there and rest for another hour before starting to push. He told me to breath, relax and let my body move the baby down some on its own. Even with the medication there was still a lot of pressure. I continued to use counter pressure which helped a lot! I pushed for about two hours.
I am happy to say that I was able to contribute a lot with the medications and was amazed at actually feeling the advancement of my baby through the process. After birth, my baby was so calm and alert. She handled all 22 hours beautifully although we both had a bit of a fever at the end. We got an amazing 2 hours to bond skin to skin and she fed twice before they took her for a bath. I also tore some during labor but only required just a couple stitches. If it wasn't for hypnobirthing, I would not have made it as long as I did without pain medicine. My husband was also very impressed at the process.
Although things were not the picture perfect hypnobirth, we were able to take each obstacle step by step and make a decision on our terms and not necessarily the hospital's.
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Congratulations, Laura & Will! Even though your birth wasn't your ideal birth, I'm so glad that you had a positive birthing experience and that the classes helped you & Will confidently make the best decisions for the best outcome for you & your baby. That's really my ultimate goal for my classes---not a quiet, peaceful birth like all of the videos (which is definitely one of my main goals)--but a birth in which you & your partner are empowered, in control and make educated, informed decisions every step of the way so that no matter what happens, you can look back at your birthing experience and know you did everything the way that it needed to be. So, I'm pleased to hear that the classes helped you make the right decisions and feel as in control as possible during your birth experience.
Thank you for sharing your hypnobirthing story! Enjoy your babymoon!
If you'd like to take Carol's HypnoBirthing classes to prepare for your upcoming birth, you can learn more about her class schedule at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. If you are outside of the San Diego area, you can visit www.hypnobirthing.com to find a Practitioner near you.
