Amanda & Wayne's 2nd HypnoBirth

Amanda & Wayne took my HypnoBirthing classes as a refresher class in preparation for the birth of their 2nd baby. They took my Thursday classes at Seaside Women's Health in Encinitas, CA in January of 2011. They had an amazing HypnoBirthing experience with their 1st birth and wanted to make sure they had all of the tools that helped them with their 1st birth.



Here is their story:

This is something that I dreamed of and imagined since the minute I saw the positive pregnancy test, something that I was so excited to do all over again. Not only because I enjoyed Anella's labor and delivery so much but also because after 40 weeks of pregnancy the anticipation of meeting the miracle growing inside of me and finding out if it was a boy or girl is the most life changing experience.

I was approaching my "guess date," and everyday felt fleeting moments of "today could be the day" and then the next moment thinking "I'm never going to have this baby!" Around the 10th of April, I started having daily cramping and contractions, usually in the middle of the night sometimes enough that it would wake me up. Every time I'd wake up with cramping or contractions all I could think of is "Is today the day??!?!?!?!" and the excitement and anticipation would keep me awake for a little while. I'd eventually fall back asleep, wake up in the morning and think, "well today is not the day." For some reason I just knew that for me labor would happen in the middle of the night. Night after night as I climbed in bed I'd wonder if tonight was the night.

The night of April 21, I went to bed thinking that maybe this baby was going to be "late," my due date was April 23, I laughed to myself thinking that I'd make my "40 week" OB appointment after all seeing that it was the afternoon of April 22nd. Little did I know.

After Wayne got home from work I took a bath, as I did almost every night in the last trimester. Got out, put on my pj's and headed downstairs for dinner. As I sat down for dinner I just felt "off," I can't explain it really I just felt like things were happening. I got really hot and just felt different, I mentioned it to Wayne in passing but didn't really put too much thought into it. Wayne made dinner and as we sat down to eat I just didn't feel like eating it, a little nauseated but more than anything just "off." I mentioned to Wayne that maybe we should go to bed earlier than normal. Around 9:30pm we went to bed. I actually slept the best I had in months, I wasn't up every hour on the hour to pee like I had been. Actually I only woke up once, at 1am I rolled over to get up to pee and felt a gush of water. I laid there a second wondering if I had peed myself only to have it happen again. I knew immediately what was going on it was the exact same thing that happened with Anella. I got up and went to the bathroom to pee, checking my pants to make sure that there was no odor and that it was clear. I peed and knew that labor was around the corner. I walked out of the bathroom and woke up Wayne. Now I was quite surprised when he asked "Are you sure?" I actually laughed and said "Yes, I'm sure." I immediately called my parents as they were coming over to watch Anella for us and asked Wayne to call Dr. Biter. After I got off with my parents Wayne still hadn't called, he was still in a sleepy haze. So I called Dr Biter's office.

I decided to take a shower and just enjoy the warm water. We headed downstairs to wait for my parents and I sat on my birthing ball. I was starting to get stronger contractions, nothing regular but I could tell they were doing what they were supposed to be doing. All I could think about was how Thursday April 21st, was my last day of just the three of us, my last day with just Anella and I asked Wayne to go get her so I could give her a kiss before we left. My parents showed up at 1:30am which was perfect timing, they were surprised to see Anella awake and I of course started crying. I just knew that our life would never be the same, her life would never be the same and although I was so excited to meet my miracle at the same time I was just overwhelmed by all that was going on. I told Anella that "mommy was having the baby," and asked for a kiss she gave me a kiss and then gave baby a kiss which she had done a million times during the pregnancy, then she gave Wayne a kiss and we handed her to Grandpa, he took her to bed.

We had a 25 minute drive to Pomerado hospital and knowing how fast my labor with Anella had gone we wanted to get there ASAP. We left at 1:35am. I was so glad that it wasn't rush hour seeing that rush hour could have potentially added an additional 45-60 minutes to our drive. As we got on the freeway I was very surprised to see that it was stopped, the three left hand lanes had been closed down and the freeway was narrowed down to one lane. The traffic was SLOW, I laughed and said to Wayne "who would have thought that we'd get stuck in traffic at 2am!" We decided to take the side streets to avoid getting stuck in the traffic. As we drove, I was able to get myself into a very relaxed state during each contraction and I was noticing by the time we got there I was having them about every 4 minutes.

We checked in, got in our room, I changed into my gown and waited for the nurse. She came in and immediately wanted to hook me up to the monitor, this is something that I remember with disdain from Anella's delivery. This time around, I took it with stride. I laid down and she hooked me up, I was counting down the 20 required minutes. During each contraction, I would go within and be completely relaxed (I would repeat some of the birthing affirmations from Hypnobirthing in my head over and over), after it ended I would be with Wayne and the nurse. We gave her our birth plan which she read and immediately changed some of her wording (not using any reference to pain) and she was really excited to find out that we didn't know the sex of the baby. She said that she only has one or two deliveries a year that they don't know the sex. After the 20 required minutes, the nurse mentioned that she didn't get a "reactive" strip from the baby so she wanted to keep me on the monitor. I agreed to stay on the monitor, she then wanted to do an internal exam. Since I hadn't gotten a cervical check during the last few weeks of pregnancy, I had no idea what I'd been, when she checked me I was 5cm. She then got me some ice water hoping to get the reactive strip that she was looking for, I drank it fast. Still with each contraction I would go to my relaxed state and then chat with the nurse and Wayne after. It took much longer to get the reactive strip than I planned, but I had gotten so comfortable on the bed that when she told me I could get up I realized I didn't want to. I kept telling Wayne how nice it was to have these "breaks" between contractions I never had them with Anella and I was thankful to have them this time.

I spent almost my entire labor in the bed hooked on the monitor, this is NEVER in a million years how I pictured my birth. At one point the nurse came in to check me, I'd had the monitor off and she wanted to check the baby's heart rate before, during and after a contraction. She put the monitor on the heartbeat and waited, after a few minutes she said "Can you tell me when you're having a contraction because I can't tell by looking at you!" This made my day! Wayne had kept telling me how amazing I'd been doing but to have a stranger reiterate it was invigorating. She did another cervical check and I was a 7 cm. She told me she'd go call my Dr and let him know to come in. I had drank a ton of water and gotten up a ton of times to pee and would continue to lay back in the bed and go into my relaxed state during each contraction. I remember thinking to myself, I wish we were taping this for Hypnobirthing class (we do have a short video of me at around 5am, 8cm and just watching it it still amazes me that I was in labor). Dr Cobb showed up a little after 5am, at that point he checked me and I was 8cm, my water was still intact and so Dr Cobb asked if I wanted him to break it. I had always thought if I was in this situation I'd say no but I really wanted to get to the pushing phase so I asked him to go ahead and break my water. I continued going deep within with each contraction. We would talk and with each contraction I would close my eyes and get quiet. Dr Cobb would put his hand on my leg and Wayne would do light touch massage. I got up to pee for what felt like the 100th time, as I was sitting on the toilet I heard Dr Biter walk in. I had two more contractions while sitting on the toilet then came out of the bathroom and gave Dr Biter a hug and said "let's have a baby."

I got back in the bed and went into my relaxed state with each contraction, I started to feel a lot of pressure and asked Dr Cobb to check me again. At this point I was 9cm, I was disappointed because with all the pressure I had really thought that I was fully dilated. I started to lose my focus and it was suggested I get up out of bed to help move things along. As I went to get up things intensified even more. I slow danced with Wayne and all of a sudden got so hot, I couldn't cool myself down. Dr Biter brought me ice cold wash cloths which helped but I was still so hot I had to pull off my gown. The intensity was starting to overwhelm me. Dr Biter took a sheet and wrapped it under my belly with each contraction he'd pull back on it to help lift baby. I got to a point where I could barely stand and I wasn't getting a break between contractions. I mentioned that I had even more pressure so Dr Biter suggested I let Dr Cobb check me again. Just the thought was overwhelming so I had to lay back down on the bed. I got back in bed and lost all control I'd had, with each contraction I was taken over by the sensations and pressure from the baby. When Dr Cobb checked, I was fully dilated but I had a small cervical lip on the right, so they asked me to lay on my right side. I rolled over and tried to gain control again. With each contraction I would moan, I remember hearing myself thinking "is that coming from me?" I got to a point where I had no control and my body started pushing for me. I said "I have to push". Dr Cobb & Dr Biter said to let my body do what it needs. We had a mirror set up so I could see the pushing phase (something I had regretted not having with Anella). I started the pushing phase which with Anella had given me a feeling of relief, I was so looking forward to this phase. Well, as each labor is different, I did not get the relief feeling this time around. I remember looking in the mirror with each push thinking that the baby was never going to come. I finally found the right "push" Dr Cobb & Biter told me when I hit the perfect push and I was able to continue to recreate it knowing that it would bring me my baby. I looked in the mirror and saw the baby's head and that was all the motivation I needed. I pushed with everything I had and the head was out. Dr Cobb had to remove a cord wrap from around the baby's neck and then I was able to push again. The shoulders came out and Dr Biter told me to reach down and grab my baby, I grabbed under the arms (thinking to myself WOW this baby is slippery) and brought my baby to my chest. Dr Biter asked Wayne if it was a boy or girl and I looked in the mirror and saw testicles. It didn't matter though I KNEW the entire pregnancy our baby was a BOY! I laid there in complete awe of the last 40 weeks and the miracle laying on my chest. I immediately started breastfeeding. Orion latched within the first 10 minutes after birth.



Orion was born at 7:13am, born 6 hours after my water broke at home. Almost an identical story to Anella's birth. Both born the day before their due date, both having some of my water break at home which sent me into labor, Anella's water broke at Midnight and was born at 6:01 am, Orion's water broke at 1am, born at 7:13am. The similarities are crazy.

The nurse asked me if she could administer Pitocin for the placenta. Dr Cobb, said "no she doesn't need it." The nurse said "Let me ask the patient." She asked me and I said "No, I'd rather not." The placenta came out shortly thereafter, which we asked to have kept as I planned to encapsulate it. I had a small tear so Dr Cobb sewed me up. We waited for the cord to stop pulsating before Wayne cut it.

I laid there with Orion on my chest skin to skin (he was never even cleaned off or rubbed down) for over an hour. He would nurse and then take a break and I would just relish in him on my chest. We asked the nurse to come in so we could weigh him, I was so excited to see how much he weighed. She put him on the scale, it came up with grams which means nothing to me she changes it to pounds and I see 8lbs 14oz! HOLY MOLY!!!! The nurse told me that when she saw me pushing and she saw his head she didn't think I'd be able to do it. I thought to myself "How else was he going to come out at that point?"

The transition from one to two babies has been so easy, both Wayne and I feel like Orion has always been here.



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Congratulations to Amanda & Wayne! Thanks so much for sharing your birth story! I hope you're enjoying being a family of four!

If you'd like more information about Carol Yeh-Garner's HypnoBirthing classes in North County San Diego, CA, please visit her website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. If you are outside of San Diego, CA, please visit www.hypnobirthing.com to find a practitioner near you.

If you'd like more information about Dr. Biter & Dr. Cobb's OB/GYN practice, Seaside Women's Health, in Encinitas (North County San Diego), CA, please call 760-642-0800.

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

A HypnoBirthing story-Mercedes & Corey

Mercedes & Corey took my HypnoBirthing classes at Indigo Dragon Health & Wellness Center in Encinitas (North County San Diego) in 2009. I just got her birth story & she gave me permission to share it.

My Birth Story
Parents: Corey and Mercedes
Son: Gabriel

Sunday Dec 27th, 2009

8am: Another beautiful day in San Diego is upon us as the sun peeks through our blinds, rousing us from sleep. Little did I know I had just woken up from my last slumber as a pregnant woman! We woke up with a lot on our agenda. But first breakfast needed to be made. Corey made some green chile egg sandwiches, and we got dressed to go to meditation class downtown.

10am: We made it to meditation class at the Buddhist center in San Diego. Gabriel was very calm throughout, probably plotting his exit. After the class we headed home and ate leftovers from Christmas.

1pm: I went for a prenatal massage. When I returned, I noticed Corey’s nesting instinct had kicked in, as he was immersed in a deep cleaning of the kitchen.

2:30pm: We went to look at a house in Poway. Nice place with a big kitchen and an amazing backyard for Gabriel to explore. As we were leaving, another couple about our age was waiting to look at the house as well, carrying with them a brand new little baby. On our way home we stopped by the Farmer’s market. Gabriel was hungry again, so we fed him bratwurst from the sausage stand, with lots of spicy relish and a little bit of sauerkraut.

4pm: Headed back home. Corey was adamant about making his homemade leftover turkey soup. In between cooking, he continued to clean the kitchen. He did not want me to do anything, so he made me a warm bubble bath with rose petals for me to relax with my HypnoBirthing music in the background and candles lit. Aahhhhhhhh……

6-7pm: We were talking on the phone with Corey’s parents and then with my mom and sister. In the middle of a conversation with my Tia Anita, I started feeling these “menstrual-like” tightness in my abdomen every 10 minutes or so. Not very painful or frequent, so we wondered…… is this labor? Practice labor? The sauerkraut? ....And why is our dog, Winston, acting so strange, does he know something we don’t?

9pm: Definitely not the sauerkraut. Tightness episodes becoming more frequent, but no pattern is emergent. I thought there was supposed to be a pattern?! The googling of many labor-related keywords starts, followed finally by a call to our doula, Connie, who reassured us that everything that was happening was normal, that those tightness episodes were definitely surges, and that this baby was definitely coming soon! She told us to call when we were heading to the hospital, but we still had no idea when exactly we were supposed to do that. The next few hours are a blur. The surges come and go with no emerging pattern. Sometimes they last 10 seconds and sometimes they last almost a minute, and there is anywhere from 4 to 10 minutes between. This is not how Google told me it was supposed to be. Nonetheless, we start to get focused. We listen to the HypnoBirthing CD, Corey reads scripts, and I take a few hot showers, which really help ease the pain. We try to nap between surges, but to no avail. Long night ahead of us.

Monday Dec 28th, 2009

12am: I think I’m getting the hang of this labor business. When the surges come, Corey coaches me through my breathing techniques while gently doing light-touch massage. We crank up the volume on the HypnoBirthing CD and I do my best to get through the surges, one at a time. At one point, I have an uncontrollable urge to barf. Corey sprints to the bathroom and grabs a trash can just in time for 99% containment – it could’ve been a lot worse. Back into the shower to clean off and ride through a few more surges. Damn does that shower make it feel better.

3am: I thought my water broke in the shower, but I wasn’t sure. To be on the safe side we head to the hospital. We grab our hospital bag, a big pillow, and our birthing ball. Winston wants to come, but unfortunately he has to stay behind. Luckily, we had previously given our awesome dog sitter and friend Sherry a spare key to the house, and told her to be on the lookout for a text along the lines of “OMG baby on way!!! Pls get W”

3:30am: We arrive at the hospital, and it’s after-hours so we have to check in at the ER. The triage nurse asks me to come with him but Corey refuses to leave my side, so he comes to the triage station with me, holding a 4-foot diameter ball in one hand and a body pillow in the other. I’m having surges while the nurse is asking me asinine questions, so I just point to Corey and he answers for me, while nurses and doctors try to squeeze past him. Finally, we are admitted and another nurse comes with a wheelchair to escort me to the labor and delivery room. She takes her sweet time, pointing out locations of interest such as the gift shop and the cafeteria. In the L&D room, they asked me to pee in a cup and change. I brought my own birthing clothes so I changed into those, and when I tried to pee my water broke. Wow, this is really happening. My water just broke. I am definitely in labor! As I returned to the bed, they placed me on fetal monitor, which was only supposed to last for 20 min but somehow every 20 minutes the nurses had a compelling reason why it had to stay on for another 20 minutes. When they checked my dilation, I was 9.5 cm!!!!! They finally let me go off the fetal monitor, so I moved into a more comfortable position—on all fours leaning against the head of the bed. With Corey and my Doula at my bedside, I breathed through the pushing, chanting “Welcome Baby” with my helpers and making the occasional grunt. Corey later said I sounded like a weightlifter.

5:36am: After 1-2 big pushes, Gabriel plopped out of me into the nurse’s arms….I felt his arms and legs easily exiting…and we welcomed our happy baby into the world.
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Congratulations Mercedes & Corey on a wonderful HypnoBirthing experience! They are getting ready for HypnoBirthing baby #2 in the fall, so they will be coming to do a refresher class soon. Thank you so much for sharing your story!

To learn more about HypnoBirthing classes in San Diego, please visit Carol's website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. To learn more about HypnoBirthing outside of San Diego, please visit www.Hypnobirthing.com to find a practitioner near you.

You will find contact information for Connie Merritt, Mercedes & Corey's doula (labor support person) on my website's resources page under "Doula". Connie is a midwifery apprentice, a lactation consultant & infant massage trainer as well!

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

A HypnoBirthing story--Julia & Cory

Julia & Cory took my HypnoBirthing classes on Monday nights in February/March at Seaside Women's Health in Encinitas, CA. Here is their birth story:

My labor went exactly as I hoped it would, up until the very end.... It began with surges/contractions instead of my water breaking, in fact, my water never broke naturally, but we'll get into that later. I progressed very quickly and through the help of HypnoBirthing, remained calm and relaxed. Eventually, we were hurried to the operating room for a last minute C-section to ensure the health of our baby. Our nurse was supportive of our birth plan, and the doctor gave us a chance, so all in all we considered it a successful HypnoBirth.

Labor began on Wednesday, April 27th; I was 40 weeks and 2 days. The night before I had felt some mild surges while going to sleep, and they continued into the morning on Wednesday, but they were pretty spread out so I wasn't too concerned. Cory went to work as normal since I told him I didn't think anything was happening anytime soon. Around noon or 1pm, they had evened out to about 4 minutes apart. I called our doula/monitrice to let her know what was going on, but I still felt fine without her support, so she told me to call her back when they increased in intensity or frequency. I managed the surges with breathing, rocking back and forth, and using the TENS unit that our doula had loaned to me. I listened to the Rainbow Relaxation CD a bit, but I seemed to do better when I could hear my own breathing, so I only listened for a little while. In between surges I did hands and knees to help with the pressure I was feeling in my lower back. Around 5 or 6pm, Cory got home from work, and the surges were increasing in intensity, and were getting closer to 3 minutes apart. Our doula/monitrice came over around 7pm. She checked me quickly and determined I was 5 centimeters. My husband Cory, who is a veterinarian, was interested in learning how to determine effacement and dilation. With my okay, our doula/monitrice gave him a quick lesson and he got a chance to check me as well and got to feel the baby's head for himself...it was neat seeing his expression as he did this.

With the intensity and frequency of the surges increasing quickly, our doula/monitrice decided around 9pm that it was time to head to the hospital. The drive there was so surreal...I couldn't believe that after months of waiting, we were finally meeting our baby soon! I only had a few surges during the car ride, and we seemed to get to the hospital pretty quickly. It was quiet and empty when we checked in at Scripps La Jolla, and we met our nurse Erin, who took us to our room. She was very nice, and looked over our birth plan quickly, saying mostly everything looked good and that she was supportive of our plans. I was hooked up to the monitor with the plan of only staying there as long as needed, then I would walk around and get monitored intermittently. Erin checked me and I was already dilated to 7 centimeters upon arrival to the hospital. Cory said the nurse had a look of shock when she realized how far along I was, and that I was acting like it was no big deal. While the surges were intense at this point, I was still using my breathing and staying calm and relaxed. Cory was doing a great job whispering to me through the surges, telling me I was doing amazing and that we would meet our baby soon. While doing the initial monitoring however, the baby's heart rate began to decelerate from the 120s to the 70-80s after each surge. The doctor on call came in and said I would now be staying on continuous monitoring, which made sense, and our doula/monitrice agreed. The decrease in heart rate was because my surges were so close together that my baby never had time to recover and reoxygenate between surges. Soon they had me wearing an oxygen mask to increase my blood oxygen hoping the baby could recover better. They gave the baby and me a chance to continue with a natural birth by turning me to different sides after each surge, trying to get the baby's heart rate to improve. Erin, our nurse, warned us that this could lead to a c-section if it continued, so I did my best to focus on getting oxygen to the baby, and to remain calm. She was definitely rooting for us. I began feeling pressure with my surges, and when Erin checked me again, I was at 9.5 centimeters within an hour. I had no concept of time...it felt like I had been in our room for only 20 minutes! (Thanks Carol for the time distortion technique!) With the decelerations in heart rate staying steady, the midwife on call asked if she could break my water to help things proceed. Cory and I agreed that since things with the heart rate weren't improving and in fact, getting worse (dropping into the high 60s) we would allow the manual rupture of the membranes. The hope being that would help me get to the last stage of labor and allow me to start pushing. With the thought of preventing a c-section in the back of my mind, and the fact that the baby was still in a -2 position, we should give it a shot. As it released, they found meconium in the water indicating that our baby was already experiencing a stressful labor.

At this point with the heart rate continuing to drop even more, the doctor rushed back in and said a c-section would be advised. If we continued with our plan, we could end up pushing for up to another hour putting our baby at risk for brain damage due to the lack of oxygen. I remember looking over at Cory and our doula/monitrice, feeling so disappointed that I had made it so far with HypnoBirthing and without any drugs, only to have a c-section at the last minute. But our nurse and even our doula/monitrice agreed that this point a c-section really was necessary. So into the OR we went, and very shortly thereafter, our son was born at 11:16pm! We didn't know the sex, so it was so amazing to hear Cory say "It's a boy!". Gavin was born on 4/27, 7lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long.
After the blur of events, Cory told me that our nurses were so impressed and stunned that I remained so calm and content all the way up to 9.5 centimeters! They were all rooting for us and I think their hearts dropped with ours when the doctor finally made the call to head to surgery. We were so close to having the natural birth, but we couldn't be more pleased with the outcome and the expertise of the staff.

Carol, thank you so much for everything you taught us in class. Cory and I felt very empowered and knowledgeable going into our labor, and even though it ended in a way we didn't envision, I still felt very much in control. I'm proud of the fact that I made it so far un-medicated and using our HypnoBirth techniques, and I'm excited to share our experience with HypnoBirth with my pregnant friends. Now that Gavin is here, while we are definitely sleep deprived, it's hard to remember life without him. Thank you!

Julia, Cory and Gavin
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Congratulations to you, Julia & Cory! Thank you so much for sharing your story! I remember getting the phone call from Cory that you'd been in labor for quite awhile & that you both just needed to touch base with me to see if I had any last minute recommendations. It sounds like you did everything possible to have the birth you want. I'm sorry that you didn't get the natural birth you had planned for. I'm glad, though, that the HypnoBirthing classes helped you both feel empowered & educated so that you could make the best decisions for yourselves, your birth & your baby. Sometimes things don't go the way we planned and I'm glad that you were still able to feel a sense of control & have peace of mind with all of your decisions. Continue to enjoy your babymoon!

If you're interested in learning more about Julia & Cory's doula/monitrice, please contact Donna Hayes via her listing on San Diego Birth Network's Doula list at www.sandiegobirthnetwork.com. A monitrice is a doula that has medical training so they are able to do vaginal exams & check the baby's vitals whereas a doula cannot do those specific things.

If you're interested in learning more about HypnoBirthing classes in San Diego, please visit Carol Yeh-Garner's website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. She has ongoing group classes in North County San Diego and is also available for private HypnoFertility sessions for those dealing with infertility.

A HypnoFertility success story

Jennifer's HypnoFertility success story:

I was finally ready to start trying to have baby #2... and we tried and tried and tried for 9 months, charting my cycles, testing my fluids, reading too many fertility articles and books, and using way too many ovulation strips. Nothing was happening. I was having no luck and was getting more and more frustrated, especially as everyone around me was getting pregnant and having babies. I wanted to be pregnant again, too! The frustrations I was having were also putting stress on my husband and our relationship.

As the 1-year mark of "trying" was looming, I decided I better try something else before I had to go on Clomid or experiment with other more invasive fertility treatments. I really did not want to have to go on medication or have IVF. I remembered that Carol (whom I had taken HypnoBirthing from for my first baby) was now a HypnoFertility Therapist. HypnoBirthing had worked so well for me when I gave birth that I figured HF would probably work, too. So, I set up some sessions with Carol.

After our initial session, my husband, upon my arrival home from the session, remarked that I was so much more cheerful than I had been. I felt more like myself. I was happy and hopeful and a lot less stressed. During the few weeks that I was having my HypnoFertility sessions, my thoughts about conceiving were much more positive than they had been. I was in better spirits in general, and I was able to feel happier for other people as well.

I only had 5 sessions with Carol because the HypnoFertility worked immediately. I conceived during my next cycle. Carol was a miracle worker! I feel so strongly about the positive effects that HypnoFertility had on me. I honestly feel like I went through the trial of infertility so that I could know about HypnoFertility and share it with others. I know that there are so many people out there who could benefit from it, but don't even know that it exists. I want everyone who is battling infertility to know that there is another way!
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Thanks so much for sharing your story, Jennifer! I'm thrilled that you are pregnant & that HypnoFertility was so helpful to you in so many ways. I've heard the same thing from all of my clients--that their overall mood improves & that their stress level about trying to get pregnant and life in general is decreased significantly.

If you are in San Diego and are struggling with infertility and want to get pregnant faster, please visit www.AWellLivedLife.Net for more information about Carol Yeh-Garner's HypnoFertility services. She is also available for phone and Skype sessions.

If you are out of San Diego and want to find a HypnoFertility practitioner, please visit www.hypnofertilityfoundation.org.

A HypnoBirthing story--Tracy & Adam

Tracy and Adam took an accelerated HypnoBirthing class in February/March 2011 at Seaside Women's Health Center in Encinitas. Here is their story:

Hi Carol! So first of all.... I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a mommy. It's so cool :-)

Little Avery Rose Walton is amazing. And her birth was really quite amazing as well, especially the more I think back to it. It wasn't exactly the experience I was expecting. I was soooo certain and confident in my relaxation abilities, I was convinced that I would feel NO pain. Seriously, I still don't know why it needed to be so painful. I am pretty sure that the reason for most of it was because she came out face up. Most of the sensation was in my hips and back, definitely not what I was expecting.... but that it’s really a minor detail anyway, let me tell you the whole story :-) At about midnight my surges were about 10 minutes apart. I took a shower and tried my best to relax/sleep in between each surge.
During the surge I would concentrate on staying limp and relaxed as possible, but by about 3:00 am I was telling myself and Adam that I needed some drugs. But first before "giving in" so quickly, I went into the jacuzzi, thinking that it might help a little.... but what I found out was that it helped A LOT. I dunked myself in that water and in an instant I knew I wasn't going to get out, no way. It felt soooo nice. Bless my mother too, because she stayed in the jacuzzi with me. Adam went back to bed, ha! So there I was, under the starlight resting in-between surges on a pool floaty, thinking of all the positive affirmations Marie whispered in my ear over the past three months. I kept reciting in my head things like "Your body is meant to give birth. I hand my birthing over to my baby". By 4:00 am my surges were two minutes apart and my mom called the midwives. They showed up, woke up Adam and got everything ready. Baby and I in the meantime, labored. I imagined in my mind my baby sliding down the birth path, coming out happy and healthy. Really, all I did was my best to breathe through surges and visualize a calm, relaxed birth. I was definitely in a zone, as in zoned everything out and just stayed "in my body" during surges. Each surge was 45 seconds or so of deep concentration and loud breathing. "Oooooooooooooooooh" was the long breathe out during each surge, deep voice and with my chin down.

Every once and a while I would lift my head up and take a look around. Adam, midwife Andrea and her assistant/apprentice Debra were bundled up sitting on the edge of the jacuzzi, just watching me. At one point I remember looking up and seeing the sunrise. The birds were chirping and singing. My mother in law, Susie, had come over around 4:00 am as well and got into the tub with me, bless her. She put on some music for me too. It was really nice, very similar to the music we had listened to in yoga class. I sipped apple juice and water from a straw from time to time, I think I even ate a strawberry or two. From time to time the midwife would hand the Doppler to one of my moms and have a listen to the baby's heartbeat. I am not sure what time it was, but the sun was out and my water still hadn't broken. I had visions of the baby coming out with an intact membrane. Andrea checked me and there was one little part of the cervix still in the way. She broke my water and I freaked out. I mean, I was in panic mode. Very NOT hypnobirthing method. I was tense, I was screaming and I didn't want anyone to touch me. I remember thinking too, this is probably not helping myself any, but I went with my emotions. My midwife firmly got my attention and calmed me down. I am so glad that I trusted her and never had any doubt in her ability to help me deliver my baby because otherwise, I may not have been able to calm down again from such a panic. Now, my water had broken and I was happy to feel like progress was being made.

Then, it was time to start pushing. I was more awake and alert and the surges were not coming quite as often. I felt like it would be so easy, a couple of pushes and she would be out. Not so much. :-) At one point I said "ok, that's it, I'm done, I can't do this" and Andrea would remind me,” you are doing it” and that part of being a parent was having patience. She said it was important for the baby to adjust herself to my body so that she could come out and I remember you talking about this in the class. So I changed the visuals in my mind to baby making her way, in her time. I started talking to her, nicely asking her to come on out, we love you so much. Patience, thank goodness, is definitely a virtue that I have. I had difficulty finding the position I wanted to be in to push. I tried all kinds, on my hands and knees, squatting on my own, holding Adam's hands out of the water and standing. Nothing really did the trick. Then finally, I found it and the end was near. My mom was on one side of me and Susie on the other, the midwife behind me laying on her stomach reaching into the jacuzzi. I was squatting, holding my knees and man it felt so good to push. By this time I wanted to push all the time, regardless of the surge or not, but Andrea guided me. I pushed with the surges and could feel the baby moving down. Sometimes though, I couldn't feel when the surges ended. Andrea thought it might be because I was in the warm water. Well, we pushed, and at times it was purple pushing, but I was determined. I remember feeling her move down and then back up when the surges and I stopped. Then we saw her head (and so much hair she had). By the next surge she had crowned and two surges later at 9:13 am she came flying out (well, really it was swimming out and now my mom calls her the little mermaid, ha!).

It was pretty amazing to have felt her moving down the birth path. I had imagined the same little picture in my mind when you were talking about it in class of her wiggling her little feet to push her way down and her head slowing nudging itself out. Anyway... what an amazing feeling of RELIEF when she was out. My moms floated her, under water over to me and as soon as she was in reach of the midwife, she brought her out of the water; she took her first breather and then was placed in my arms on my chest. I was soooo happy to see her after all this time. She was vigorous, yet calm. I heard your voice in my head "calm babies come from calm births". She pinked up real quick (the midwives gave her a "10 at one minute", still not too clear on what that means exactly, except that Avery came out quite the healthy baby).


What a happy moment, meeting our baby for the first time. Adam had been taking pictures and he came over to the edge of the jacuzzi to meet her too. I was so proud of him for not fainting during the birth. We hugged and loved on her there in the jacuzzi. Andrea helped Avery to get out a good cry, but other than that she was wide eyed, alert, happy and calm. Then, another surge! And I thought “WHAT!?!” Oh yeah, the placenta. I delivered it, yeah, kinda proud of that one (Andrea gave me some guidance of course, but after a couple surges, that was that.) Now it was time to go back into the house. Baby and placenta (in bowl) went with grandma Susie and Adam, Debra and my mom helped me walk into the house. Baby was placed on my chest and the midwives took care of everything. I had some tearing and Andrea stitched me up while I held baby on my chest. Adam couldn't handle that kind of scene, so while that was going on, he drained the jacuzzi (it is his FAVORITE place after all. Actually it is a Walton favorite place. His whole family are jacuzzi fiends, so it is very appropriate that our little Walton was born in one).

Of course baby was naked and pooped EVERYWHERE about 2 or 3 times. Blessing angels they are, my moms cleaned us up after each unloading. Andrea helped us with our first breastfeeding. That was new and cool. Then after the house had been cleaned up a little more and things had calmed down, Adam came back and held the baby, bare-chested for that oh so good skin to skin contact. Avery loves his voice. She hung out with him until we were ready to weigh and measure her. So although she weighed in at 8lbs 14oz and 22 inches long, we decided to call her a 9lb baby at birth because of all that poop she had unleashed. We put on her first outfit and grandmas held her; we took pictures and reveled in the morning events. I cried from time to time just thinking about what had just happened and how GRATEFUL I was for life, my family and my new little love, Miss Avery Rose. Like I said, the more I think back to it, the more appreciative I am of the entire experience. It was really quite amazing and I wouldn't have done it any other way. What a blessing!

I am so thankful that I listened to my heart and birthed at home with midwives. Although I have never stepped foot in a maternity center of a hospital, I imagine that in comparison, my birth experience was able to be more aligned with the natural connection of life and family, in a BEAUTIFUL, comfortable setting, un-rushed, unscheduled and free of unnecessary stress or "convenient" medical intervention.

Thanks so much again to you and all the people who share the passion for helping moms and dads bring their babies into the world. Those little bundles of joy are such blessings and deserve the very best.

Sincerely,

Tracy Walton aka: Mommy
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Congratulations to you & Adam! Thank you so much for sharing your birth story! I'm thrilled that you had such an amazing experience! Continue to enjoy your babymoon!

To learn more about HypnoBirthing classes in San Diego, please visit Carol Yeh-Garner's website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. If you are outside the San Diego area, please visit www.HypnoBirthing.com.

If you are considering a homebirth and live in San Diego learn more about hiring Andrea Meyer to be your midwife by visiting www.andreasmidwiferysandiego.com.

A HypnoBirthing story--Jewel & Nathan

Jewel & Nathan took my HypnoBirthing classes at Indigo Dragon Health & Wellness Center on Thursday nights. Here is their birth story:

Everly's birth story:

My birthing experience wasn’t what I envisioned. It started out in all the wrong ways, or so I thought, but my daughter was born in a calm, peaceful environment without the use of pain medication and that’s what I wanted most in the end. It took me awhile to realize HypnoBirthing worked wonders for me.

Labor started on Monday January 17 a little after 1 in the afternoon when my membranes released. I was 39 weeks 3 days. I had a feeling the baby would be coming during the week because I wasn’t feeling like myself all day on Sunday. I felt a small gush of water and went to the bathroom not quite believing it was happening. Fluid continued to trickle so I knew it was definitely my water. I didn’t have any surges though.

Mild surges started about twenty minutes later. They were very short and just felt like a general tightening around my abdomen. I called Nathan and told him that my water broke and asked him to come home as soon as he could since he had an hour drive back home. I didn’t want things to go too quickly and have him still be a long way away. My surges were pretty irregular but I wrote them down and tried to remember to pay attention to how long they were. I finished some chores around the house, not really feeling any different. Once Nathan got home, nothing had really changed with my labor. I wasn’t even sure if it had even begun since I was so calm and relaxed. We took our dogs for a walk and relaxed around the house. We started to question when the right time to go to the hospital was. I remembered Carol saying 4-1-1 (surges that are 4 minutes from start to start, lasting one minute & consistently happening for 1 hour) and decided that would be when we would head down. It would take us 30 minutes to get to the hospital as I was delivering at Kaiser. We continued to go on a few walks to get things going but I never felt like I was progressing. However, I just kept thinking that I was so relaxed and well-prepared for the delivery of our baby that maybe my labor was progressing more than I was aware of (wishful thinking!)

The surges never seemed to get more intense but at 10:30 that night we decided to go to the hospital so we could get settled in our room. I wanted to be set-up in the room before things got too intense. I had been listening to the Rainbow Relaxation on my iPod and practicing my breathing up to this point.

When we got to the hospital we checked in and they put us in a small triage room just like Carol said they would. We ended up being stuck in that little room for almost 3 hours because it was such a busy night. The first doctor I met with wanted to check me but with my membranes not intact, I knew they shouldn’t be doing a lot of checks, but I also wanted to know where I was so I allowed it. I was still under the impression that I would be much farther along attributing my progression to my relaxed state. But when he said I was only 3 cm, it was somewhat crushing. I would’ve bet that I was at least 6 cm. But I hadn’t really had to breathe through anything, so that should’ve been my first clue I wasn’t that far along. The doctor mentioned pitocin which equated in my head to an epidural and c-section. I told him that would be a last resort and I wanted to try natural induction methods.

Once we got to our private room, we went over our birth plan with our nurse who was supportive in our wishes for a natural birth and about forgoing the pitocin. I sat on a birthing ball for a little bit and we walked the hallways. The time was going fast and my surges weren’t changing enough according to the nurses. Nathan read me the balloon fear release script and I tried to listen to the Rainbow Relaxation but I was getting frustrated and couldn’t find a position I was comfortable in. And on top of all this, pitocin was looming in the background. We were so exhausted. With each surge I wanted Nathan to do light touch massage on my arm, but the poor guy could barely keep his eyes open. But I’d nudge his arm when I needed him and it really helped.

Just before 7:00 am the nurse checked me again and I was only at 4cm so pitocin was brought up again. By this time I was so tired that all I could think of was the long road ahead and I was so far away. So Nathan and I agreed to the pitocin. I was so defeated and upset that I was going to have it. I knew it would make my surges much more intense than without it and I didn’t think I could do it without any pain medication to help me through. At this point I wasn’t listening to my Rainbow Relaxation. I was just trying to breathe through my surges.

The pitocin started. I asked for the minimal amount knowing I’d have a better chance than if they gave me a big dose all at once. So it started low and within a couple surges I was asking the nurse about an epidural. I wanted to know how long it would take to get once I determined if I wanted one. I was so tired and didn’t think I could go any farther. Nathan was in my ear telling me what a great job I was doing and that I could do one more surge. Finally, I relaxed into a reclined position and put in my earphones and listened to the Rainbow Relaxation. I bent my knees and pushed my hands against my knees whenever I had a surge. I remember thinking it was like a wave and if I could get past the first peak I would come down and work my way through to the end of it. Nathan kept telling me to breathe deeper when he could tell I was struggling with it. I kept my eyes shut most of the time, only peeking at my surroundings every once in awhile. Nathan continued to do light touch massage on my arm and he cooled me down with some ice. I wouldn’t say the surges were painful, but they were difficult and required work to get through.

Sometime in the 10:00 hour I felt a lot of pressure down below and asked if I could push. One of the nurses checked me and I was 9 ½ cm. They told me I could start pushing soon. I felt like I needed to push as the pressure was intensifying and also the fact that I was so surprised how close I was to holding my baby in my arms.

Nathan’s biggest regret is that he let me push so hard instead of doing my birth breathing to gently breathe the baby down. But my pushing even felt out of my hands. It was something my body was telling me to do. It wasn’t what I planned for, but so far nothing had gone according to plan except for the fact that I was relaxed and calm. In my relaxed state, I even heard one of the nurses exclaim that she wished all her patients could be like me and another one say that my focus and control was amazing.

About 4 hours after the pitocin started (almost 22 hours after my membranes released) I gave birth to our beautiful baby girl, Everly Grace. She was 6 lbs. 8 oz. She was calm and alert. The doctor placed her on my skin and I’ll never forget looking into her eyes for the first time. She wasn’t crying like they wanted her to (I attribute it to the fact that she’s a HypnoBaby) so they took her from my chest after a minute. She was just fine, crying within a few seconds of leaving me. Unfortunately due to my purple pushing, I did have some tearing which required stitches so meanwhile the doctor had proceeded to stitch me up. Only after they took Everly from me, did I notice the pain. Nathan says that at one point I said that it hurt and the doctor asked if I needed more epidural to which all the nurses in the room (there seemed to be about 20) responded that I didn’t have an epidural. I remember the look of shock on the doctor’s face because she had been stitching me up quite vigorously for a few minutes without any type of pain medication. You think a doctor would know if the patient was on any medication or not!

Anyway, my HypnoBirth was the topic of discussion between all the nurses that day. They were impressed with how calm and focused I was.

Nathan and I were on such a high after meeting our daughter and working through such an intense experience that we couldn’t stop talking about it with each other. I was so surprised that with all the obstacles we encountered, I was still able to achieve a somewhat-natural (minus the pitocin) un-medicated birth. The Rainbow Relaxation and breathing techniques helped me achieve the birth we wanted. It took me a little while to understand that HypnoBirthing worked because my birth story wasn’t as easy and quiet as some of the videos Carol showed in our classes. Also it wasn’t what I envisioned so I had to let go of the image of “the perfect birth” that I had in my head.

Nathan and I want to thank you, Carol, for educating us and helping us to prepare for one of the most important and rewarding days in our lives. We were able to have an amazing birth experience while welcoming our daughter into this world because of HypnoBirthing and your guidance. It was the most intimate experience for Nathan and me and I feel like it has bonded us to be better partners and parents for our little girl. We can’t thank you enough.

~Jewel, Nathan, and Everly
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Congratulations Jewel & Nathan! You did an amazing job dealing with the intensity of the surges & with the pitocin! It just goes to show that if you can keep your mind in the right place and stay focused, you can have a natural, vaginal birth even with pitocin!

Thank you so much for sharing your birth story! Enjoy your babymoon!
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If you would like more information about HypnoBirthing classes in San Diego, CA, please contact Carol Yeh-Garner via her website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. If you are outside San Diego, CA, you can visit www.hypnobirthing.com to find a practitioner near you.

A HypnoBirthing story--Lisa & Silver

Lisa & Silver took an accelerated HypnoBirthing class in February on Monday nights at Seaside Women's Health in Encinitas. Here is their birth story:

Hi Carol,
Thank you for everything. Silver and I are so happy we took your classes. The knowledge and confidence we gained was priceless.

Our daughter True Madera was born on Sunday March 20, 2011, the first day of Spring! She was 8 lbs 2 oz and 21 inches long.

I went into labor after midnight on Sunday, surges were almost immediately within a few minutes of each other, we arrived at Sharp Mary Birch around 5:30am, and True came into the world at 8:30 am. Dr. Cobb and the nurses in labor and delivery were awesome. Silver did an amazing job supporting us through the whole wonderful experience. We achieved our goal of a natural, unmedicated birth. The labor and delivery was fun and exciting. In retrospect, I did not really get into a relaxed, pain free state of mind- but we did use visualization techniques, and other techniques we learned from you.

True was not breathing when she was born. I was able to pull her up onto my chest and hold her for a few seconds, then Silver had to cut the cord sooner than we planned because they had to take her and help her out with breathing. Silver and and True went to the NICU. I didn't get to join them for a few hours. But Silver did a perfect job doing skin to skin bonding with her once they took out the breathing tubes. When I did get there, I was able to nurse her right away. I was happy to find out they didn't give her any supplemental feeding, baths, or pacifiers. We don't know why she didn't start breathing right away, her heart rate and vitals were all fine when she was born. She was perfectly healthy, just took some extra time to start breathing. Silver and I felt informed and involved in the whole emergency process as well. Although we encountered a challenge, we stayed positive and cherished every part of the experience.

Thank you for all that you shared with us. We are very grateful we were introduced to HypnoBirthing. I hope to use HypnoBirthing again in the future. I enjoy receiving all the great information from your Yahoo group. I feel fortunate to be part of the community.

All our Best,
Lisa, Silver and True
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Congratulations Lisa & Silver! I'm so glad that HypnoBirthing helped you feel in control of the entire situation even with the emergency situation with True's breathing! I'm so glad she is alright & am thrilled that you were able to have the natural birth you hoped for! Thanks for the feedback about my Yahoo group (only for my class members). I'm glad that you find my posts & links informative. Take care & continue to enjoy your babymoon!
All my best--Carol

To learn more about Dr. Damon Cobb, please contact him at Seaside Women's Health Center at 760-642-0800.

To learn more about HypnoBirthing in San Diego, please contact Carol Yeh-Garner at 858-837-1259 or visit her website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. If you live outside of the San Diego area, please visit www.HypnoBirthing.com to find a practitioner near you.