Marjorie & Carl's HypnoBirthing story

Marjorie & Carl were referred to Carol's HypnoBirthing classes by their doula, Linda Goldsmith. They took classes in Encinitas (North County San Diego), CA.

Here is their birth story of their first daughter, Sienna:
I started feeling very irregular contractions Thurs and Fri night (May 24 & 25), but I knew they weren't the real thing. They only happened in the evening and stopped by the time i went to bed. I called my doula though on Thursday and told her that I had a feeling I would go into labor within a few days. She said to keep her posted. 

On May 26th, I woke up at 3:30 am to contractions. I started timing them and they were about 8-10 min apart. I decided to lay back down and listen to my Birth Affirmations/Rainbow Relaxation CD so I possibly could get some more rest. From everyone I had talked to (and read about) I figured my first birth would last HOURS so I knew I had nothing but time…I might as well try and get some sleep. Needless to say, I couldn't sleep (too excited…knowing this was probably "the" day!). So I woke my husband around 6:30 am and told him to finish packing everything for the hospital. I called my doula and told her not to rush, but this was it, so she needed to come to our house some time this morning.

My contractions were still about 8 min apart, but very regular. I decided to keep my mind busy to pass the time, so I sent some work emails, took a shower, braided my hair, and then made breakfast. I had to stop and breathe through the contractions, but again I thought I had hours of this yet to go through so I just kept busy. Around 7:30 am or 8 am, my contractions were now 5-6 min apart and getting to the point where it was difficult to talk through them. I still kept busy in between them, but I called my doula and said I needed her…now…thank goodness she was just pulling up in the driveway.

As soon as she arrived, I was transitioning…I started shaking a little and got the chills. My doula helped relieve some of my back pain with counter pressure and we decided it was time to leave for the hospital. On the way to the hospital, my contractions were coming on strong at about 3 min apart. The drive to the hospital was definitely the worst part of the entire experience! We arrived at the hospital around 9 am and my doula walked me in while my husband parked and grabbed our bags. I had 3 contractions before I made it up to the labor/delivery level, and when we arrived there my doula asked for a birthing room. The nurse politely smiled and said that I needed to go to an exam room first, and then the doctor would decide if I was ready for delivery. My doula tried to insist that I needed a delivery room, but they quickly refused and insisted I be examined first. I was asked a few questions and answered them quietly…and all I remember hearing was 2 of the nurses commenting on "can you believe how calm she is!". From the moment I arrived at the hospital I had my eyes closed and was deep breathing. I honestly don't think the nurses thought I was in actual active labor or as far along as I actually was. 

As soon as I got undressed and got myself up onto the bed in the exam room, my water broke. The doctor was there and quickly examined me and my husband said he was shocked when he announced I was already 10 cm. There was a little bit of panic…from the staff, not me or my husband. My doula leaned over to me and whispered "they're a little panicked because they didn't expect you to be this far along, but this is a good thing…it means you'll get to meet your daughter very soon. They will settle down soon." That was all I needed to hear! It helped keep me positive. They quickly moved me into a birthing room and before I knew it, they told me it was time to push. I don't have a sense of the time that lapsed, but my husband and doula said I pushed for about 20-30 minutes and then she was born! I remember reaching a point where I thought that I couldn't go on. I said that to my doula and I remember her asking me to give her 2 or 3 more pushes. I said to myself "2 or 3…I can do that!" The doctor made a comment about me not being on my back. "I've delivered over 3000 babies and for all of them, the mother was laying down in her back!"  Linda, our doula, was great! She responded with "Well, then, what an opportunity for you! This will be your first!".

My husband was by my side the entire time. Things progressed so quickly the staff didn't even have time to check my vitals or even think about asking me to get an IV. We arrived that morning around 9 a.m. and Sienna was born at 10:20 am…6 pounds 15 oz and 22 inches. It was exactly the dream birth I had imagined! I felt amazing afterwards and we were all chatting with the nurses in the room after the birth. The nurses even commented on how much they love seeing babies who are born to drug-free mothers. I felt so good, I even ate lunch when they brought it to my room around noon. 

The one thing I remember having doubts/fears about before I went into delivery was tearing…and that's the one negative thing that happened. I didn't have a bad tear at all, but I think that because I couldn't release that fear. It definitely was in the back of my mind during my birth. Sienna's little hand was up by her face, so I had a little first degree tear that required a couple stitches. 

I was so happy to have my husband and my doula there. They heard things and remembered a lot more details than I did since I was pretty focused on myself. I was also happy that my husband and I didn't call any family or friends when we were on our way to the hospital. Once Sienna was born that gave us some time to ourselves as a new family before we were bombarded with company…it was a very special moment.

I went home the next afternoon and have been on a Mommy-high ever since. It was such an amazing experience. Thank you again SO much for your help and for your support throughout the process.

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Congratulations Margorie & Carl! What an amazing birth story! I'm so glad that the hypnobirthing classes helped you have the birth of your dreams!

If you're interested in taking HypnoBirthing classes for your birth and are in the San Diego area, please visit Carol's website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. If you are out of the San Diego area, please visit www.hypnobirthing.com to find a practitioner near you.

If you'd like more information about Marjorie & Carl's doula, Linda Goldsmith, please visit www.lindadoula.vpweb.com.

Erin & Juan's HypnoBirthing Story

Erin & Juan took Carol's HypnoBirthing classes on Thursdays at Seaside Women's Health in Encinitas, CA. Here is their story:

My husband and I have been married 6 years. We started trying to get pregnant in 2009. It was a long struggle and very emotional. I heard good things about acupuncture so I gave it a try. They suggested I change my diet to exclude soy, dairy and gluten. About a year later we got pregnant naturally! I continued my diet and acupuncture through pregnancy.

I had a pretty easy pregnancy. First trimester was nauseous most of the time but as long as I kept eating cantaloupe and rice cereal I was good. :) Second trimester We discovered I was anemic. I was really exhausted and dizzy but once I started taking iron i felt better within a few days. I started gaining more weight and getting my appetite back. I started seeing a chiropractor which helped with my upper back. Throughout the pregnancy I did prenatal yoga at home which helped relieve tension and maintained my energy level.

Before anyone knew we were pregnant, a friend came to my husband knowing we had been trying for a while and gave him some info on Hypnofertilty. Apparently his neighbor gave birth using the hypnobirthing method using no pain medicine. I didn't need to do too much research beforehand, just knew this was the method I wanted to use for our birth. I looked around for trained professionals on the Internet and asked my acupunturist if he knew anyone and he recommended Carol Yeh-Garner at www.AWelllivedLife.com. We signed up for the 5 week classes. We received a hypnobirthing book, a cd, as well as handouts each week to practice at home. I read the book, took a ton of notes in class, listened to the cd every night at bedtime and fell asleep to it. I just let it repeat throughout the night. I could feel myself relax and slept great when I listened to it. We practiced the other scripts a few times. We did the perineum massages about 3-4 times a week starting at 7 weeks to delivery. The only thing we didn't do enough of was practice the scripts or relaxation with a lot of distractions. I really enjoyed the class and felt prepared and more at ease about delivery and was determined to have a natural birth.

11/5 at My 37 week appointment I lost 2 lbs and my fundal height had not grown and the baby dropped into position. The doctor wanted me to get an ultrasound to check the baby's size. The baby was measuring small, in the 3rd percentile. She thought my placenta was starting to get worn out and the baby wasn't getting enough nutrients. In order to ensure the baby was ok they wanted me to start non stress tests and ultrasounds 2 times a week. I also did another blood test to check my blood count. This new info caused me to stress and worry. I was in the final weeks of pregnancy and very hormonal and fearful. It was an emotional roller coaster.

That Friday 11/9 the dr called and wanted me to go to the hospital to get another blood test. they wanted to rule out a form of preclampsia called HELLP. Signs were small baby, low blood count and enzymes in the liver. I had 2 out of 3. Knowing how severe that is, I was anticipating being induced that weekend. Not something I was prepared for since it wasn't following my birth plan. I reached out to my hypnobirthing teacher, Carol, for advice. She suggested a fear release and gave me steps to follow for induction and reminded me I could still have a natural birth and to relax and allow my body to take over. Going to the hospital, I felt prepared and was ready to accept what came next. They monitored the baby: "the best looking baby they had seen all day." The liver test came back fine and I was released. What a relief! The doctor still wanted me to have the baby before my delivery date and to try and naturally induce.

Then that Thursday, 11/15, when I did another ultrasound, it showed the umbilical cord was slightly restricted. My doctor called and advised me to go to the hospital for induction. This time it was real and I was so scared and not prepared. Knowing the advice Carol gave me the week before, we did a few fear releases to help change my frame of mind and accepted the path my birthing would take. It was my first lesson in parenting. I no longer have control over everything and need to go with the flow. :) I started to get excited knowing I was going to meet my baby soon.

On the way to the hospita,l we listened to the birth affirmations. As we arrived, I started playing the rainbow relaxation CD and kept it on repeat. We arrived at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla around 3pm. We asked for a hypnobirthing nurse and handed out our birthing plan to review with them. They wanted to monitor me the whole time since the baby could be at risk. We met the doctor and midwife on call. We prepared the room for my comfort, covered the clock so I didn't know the time, dimmed the lights and kept the rainbow relaxation in one ear on repeat. They did a vaginal exam but I asked they not tell me how much I was dilated. The less I knew the better my mind would allow my body to take over. We talked about the plan to induce slowly and allow things to take its course without pressure to advance faster. We did another fear release and shortly after started having surges on a consistent basis. The doctor decided to let me go for a few hours before interfering with any induction.

After I stalled, the next step was to give me cervidil. An inducing drug that is inserted at to the cervix and can be pulled out at anytime. My surges started coming on strong and after about 2 hours, they pulled it out since I was advancing quite fast. The whole time I was listening to the rainbow relaxation and allowing myself to get into deep relaxation. I had no idea what was going on around me. Nurses came in and out without me realizing. My husband would make sure they didn't bother me during a surge and would tap my shoulder when they needed to talk to me after a surge. When a surge came on, I closed my eyes and focused on breathing up. I shifted positions often. The nurse brought in a labor bar across the bed and I leaned over it while my husband rubbed my back and did light massage. When he saw me tense up, he would place his hand on my shoulder and whisper "relax". I drank a ton of water and ate almonds as needed.

After the cervidil was out, things stalled a little so we did another fear release. The midwife came in to talk to me about some options and the plan. She saw in my medical history I had a colscopy and suggested we make sure there was no scar tissue and asked if she could try massaging the cervix to allow it to open. I remember Carol telling us that in class but forgot to mention it. I was glad the midwife knew what to do.

The midwife also gave me an option of a balloon/foley ball, but I didn't remember the pros and cons of it from class so I opted to wait and see how things progressed before we decided to go that route. Luckily things progressed.

I started showing all the signs of true labor, nausea (even threw up twice), bleeding and the urge to push. They did another vaginal exam and again didn't want to know how much I was dilated. But the midwife suggested to release my membranes.

We did another fear release. I got comfy and kept telling myself to bring on more surges cause it was bringing my baby closer to me. The more I said it, the better I felt. I had some back labor and the only thing that felt good was to lean back on my fist. Next time, I will bring a tennis ball to lean on instead.

After a while, I started to get really tired and surges were strong. Never did I think pain but more uncomfortable. I felt as if I were running a marathon and running up hill most of the time and kept telling myself the finish line was after the next hill.

Shortly after, I felt ready to push. The midwife came in the check my progress and she said "Erin, you are ready to have this baby. But you can't push just yet." Then they frantically started getting ready. My husband kept me in the zone and not focusing on what was happening around me. When I started pushing, I remembered to breath down like I was on the toilet. The midwife let me lay how I wanted and she would relax my legs when I tensed. I was not quiet at all, my brother in law could hear me outside but the noises were more from effort than pain. It felt so amazing on the last push and I felt the baby slide out. My husband announced it was a girl as they placed her on my stomach. The nurses did have to take her away shortly after to make sure she didn't have to go to NICU. Our Hanna Marie weighed 4lbs 9oz which was enough for her to stay with me and not go to the NICU. Everything at this point was a blur. There was so much going on and I was on cloud 9! I couldn't believe it was all over. She was very alert and started breastfeeding right away with some help from a nurse.

After the placenta came out, I was intrigued to see its condition. It was perfectly healthy and not worn out, no calcium deposits just smaller than "normal". Since the placenta was small, the baby was small but Hanna was healthy.

After everything calmed down, I asked my husband how the progression went since he knew how much I was dilated each time. From the beginning, I was at about 1 cm dilated, progressed to 2 after the cervidil and 2 after the massage of the cervix. When my membranes were ruptured, 2 hours later I was at 10cm, then I pushed for 35 min and Hanna was born at 5:51am Friday, November 16.

I'm so happy with the way things happened. Hypnobirthing really trained me to handle the whole process. We had all the tools and put them to work for us. My husband was such a great coach and very supportive. I was amazed at how he made me feel. I can't thank Carol Yeh- Garner enough for such a great class and support and advice. I would recommend hypnobirthing to anyone and looking forward to doing it again!

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Congratulations Erin & Juan! Thank you so much for sharing your birth story! I'm so glad that the classes helped both of you feel empowered & educated to make the best decisions for your birth & your baby. I hope you're enjoying your babymoon!

If you're interested in learning more about Carol's HypnoBirthing classes, please visit her website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. If her classes don't fit into your schedule, she would love to refer you to other practitioners in the area. If you are outside of San Diego, please visit www.hypnobirthing.com for a list of practitioners in your area. Thank you!