I love to Naked Clean

No, no...get your minds out of the gutter, please!

Naked Clean is a local cleaning company that is awesome! 

First off, if you know me, you know that I'm really into natural, alternative, organic stuff. I first learned about Naked Clean years ago when I first started teaching HypnoBirthing classes. I was putting together my resources page for my website & I came across Naked Clean. Of course, the name gets you at first, but what they do is really interesting!

Naked Clean uses PRO-BIOTIC cleaners! What does that mean? Here's what they say on their website: 
"Our Probiotics clean at the microscopic level because there is simply a larger quantity of the good guys preventing the bad guys from over-taking the environment. This is called “competitive exclusion”—microbes fighting it out for survival by attempting to crowd-out one another. Our Probiotics give you that competitive edge you need to keep a clean and healthy home.

And our patented Probiotic cleaners will keep on working up to 72 hours AFTER we clean your home." 

How cool is that?!?

Here's more info from the Naked Clean website: 

"Bio-film—the germs secret hiding place.

If you’re like most people, you’ve probably have never heard of bio-film. It’s like a microscopic city full of bad stuff. Bio-film is on almost all surfaces that are somewhat wet and warm, including on our teeth as plaque. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) believes that 65% of certain types of infections in hospitals are a result of diseases (e.g. H1N1, MRSA, Staph, E.coli), which live and hide in bio-film. But here’s the real kicker—bio-film cannot be removed with any cleaning products including acids. Not even the strongest disinfectant can penetrate its hard crust-like layers. It’s an armor-plated home for germs to live.

The picture you see here is bio-film magnified many times by an electron microscope. You can actually see the microorganisms under the bio-film.

When you eliminate the bio-film, germs and especially viruses have no place to live and reproduce, so they die. Viruses ‘outside’ a bio-film can only survive for a very short time, so removing bio-film is very helpful for a healthy home.

Our Probiotics are proven to significantly remove bio-film as this is also their food!"

Did you know about Bio-Film? I didn't before this!  GROSS!

So, full disclosure here...I got an offer from San Diego Bargain Mama's Stacey Ross who was doing some marketing for Naked Clean. They wanted to offer me a free cleaning (3 hours--which means one hour with three maids--three total hours, but since there were three maids, each maid had a one hour allotment of time). How could I refuse?

Well, it took me a long time to finally get my schedule to the point where I could actually get a housecleaning in. When I finally did call to schedule my cleaning, they were able to fit me into their schedule within a few days. My family did the usual pick-up beforehand so the Naked Clean maids wouldn't have all of our clutter to deal with.

The maids came and asked what areas I'd like them to focus on. I figured the kitchen and the master bathroom/bedroom would be good places and given the fact that I only had them for one hour, that'd give them enough time. They were courteous, polite & quiet while they worked. 

There was one maid that worked in the kitchen and two maids that worked in the master bathroom/bedroom. I'm not sure how they did it (must be that amazing probiotic cleaner), but our shower doors were completely clear--crystal clear! They got a lot done in an hour!

I decided to pay them for an extra hour so that they could dust the entire house. (We hate dusting!) They used cloths that had the probiotic cleaner on them, which apparently leaves the probiotic micro-organisms on the surface. Apparently, those probiotics love to eat dust mites, which is great because we all have allergies to dust mites!

I was impressed with the fact that they not only cleaned those two areas of my house to a cleaner level than I've ever gotten it to plus dusted the entire house in a very short time. I also loved the fact that they put things back generally in the same place they were so that we didn't have to search for where things disappeared to or have to deal with a lot of time spent putting everything back in place.

So, all in all, I was REALLY impressed! The prices are really reasonable too...so much so, that we are thinking of making a monthly cleaning a regular part of our budget! And I love that they're using a really natural, safe product!

I'd HIGHLY recommend their service. Please contact them for more information:

Naked Clean 760-720-3830 www.naked-clean.com

Vivian & Charlie's HypnoBirthing story

Vivian & Charlie took Carol Yeh-Garner's HypnoBirthing classes in preparation for their first birthing experience. They took classes at Seaside Women's Health in Encinitas, CA (North County San Diego). Here is their birth story:

Our sweet baby girl arrived on April 11th, her due date, which totally shocked me.  The week prior to her due date, I had started taking evening primrose oil supplements, taking long walks, got a massage, pedicure, etc.  I was really focused on staying away from going "over due" by the hospital standards because I wanted to avoid the induction conversation if at all possible.  The day before I was due, I decided I needed to relax and stop thinking so much about when our baby would come; that day I told myself that she probably wouldn't come for another week and that would be OK, whenever she was ready to come would be the right time. I went to the beach with some girlfriends and decided to enjoy myself until she was ready. My friend told me later that day with that attitude the baby would come that night, and she was right.   

The night my labor began I had gotten up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom a couple of times, but had gone in the dark like always.  At 3:30 am, I woke up again to go to the bathroom, but this time decided that I should turn on the lights.  When I did, I noticed a small bit of blood, I couldn't believe that it looked like things were getting started just when I convinced myself to be patient. I went in and woke up my husband and then went to the bathroom again. This time, my mucus plug came out and almost immediately after that I started to have stronger surges. I took a shower and let the bath fill up around me while I listened to the rainbow relaxation playlist. After that, I put on some cozy clothes and sat on my birthing ball while leaning over our bed.  I was constantly leaking fluids and my surges started to get stronger and were staying close together.  I saw Charlie's phone keeping track of the surges, but blocked it out of my mind as I didn't want to think about how long they were or how close together, I just wanted to focus on breathing through them. After an hour and a half of this, Charlie suggested that I get back into the bathtub. He drew a bath for me and he started reading one of the scripts to me. After barely 2 minutes of being in the tub, my water broke at 7:30 am.  I swear I heard a little pop and then felt a rush of fluid. I told Charlie that I thought it had broken and he confirmed that it looked like it had.  I stayed in the tub for a while longer, but as the surges started to get stronger, I wanted to get back to my yoga ball.  I asked Charlie to call our Doula, Valerie Peterson, over to our house.  In the 15 minutes it took for her to arrive I told Charlie that I thought we should go to the hospital, but I wanted to wait for her to arrive and tell me what her thoughts were.  As our Doula arrived, I was out of the shower and on my hands and knees in the bathroom.  Like Carol's births, I also started shaking towards the end of a few surges at this point and I began getting hot and cold flashes.  I told our doula that I wanted to head to the hospital and she agreed. 

We drove down to Scripps La Jolla, which took about 20 minutes.  I kept my eyes closed so that I wouldn't be paying attention to the exits as we crossed them and listened to the RR playlist again. In the car, it was tough to find a comfortable position to focus on relaxing through my surges, but I breathed deep and slow during them until we made it. Once we arrived at the hospital it was 9:15 am.  The nurses wanted to check me in a small room to see how far along I was before admitting me into L&D, but they saw me have a surge and moved me into a L&D room for monitoring right away.  I wasn't loud, but my body shook during the surge.  

When we got to our L&D room, Charlie asked the nurse if she was familiar with hypnobirthing and told her we wanted to have a natural birth.  She said that she was familiar and he gave her our birth plan to go over. They allowed me to say no to the IV, but insisted on putting a heplock in my hand in case I bled too much after birth which I "cancel, cancelled." The nurse hooked me up for monitoring and was concerned about my blood pressure being high, but thankfully it didn't become an issue. At 9:30 am, the nurse checked my cervix to see where I was at and I was 7 cm dilated.  This was such great news to hear, because on the drive down I was nervous that I wouldn't be far enough along and since the surges were so strong I was worried I wouldn't be able to hang on.  The nurses couldn't believe that I was a first time mom coming in at 7 cm.  All of this really encouraged me and I knew that I could continue on with our birth plan staying relaxed. Once they were done monitoring me, I got back in the shower, but didn't end up staying in for long because I couldn't find a comfortable position.  I got out of the shower and back on my birthing ball. This ended up being the most comfortable position for me through out labor. 

After a while, I started shaking again during some of the surges so the nurses checked me again to see where I was at and this time I was at 10 cm. This was at 11:30 am.  The nurse told me not to start pushing yet, but my body started sort of convulsing at the end of the surges and pushing for me. Our doula told me that I should start pushing since my body obviously wanted to.  So I began bearing down while side lying.  For me this technique was difficult, but it felt good to finally be doing something against the surges.  I pushed for an hour and 45 minutes, phew.  After about an hour of "pushing", my doula started giving me tips on how to hold the bearing down while using my J breathing and it worked. The nurse from Scripps was staying in the background and only giving her advice every now and again, but once I started taking my doula's advice she noted that it looked like our baby had dark hair like my husband.  Again, I felt encouraged and kept going with my focus on bearing down.  After another 15 min or so they called in the doctor.  He wasn't my regular OB, but was really awesome.  He asked me if the position I was in was where I wanted to stay for the birth which I thought was so wonderful instead of them telling me I needed to be in a certain position.  In the early part of pushing, I was side lying, but by the time I was ready to breathe the baby all the way out I was lying on my back at an incline. They removed the lower part of the bed so my legs could rest low and let gravity help. As I continued to bear down, the nurse told me that she could see the head crowning and told me to reach down to feel the baby's head, which I did.  As soon as I felt her right there, I started to get teary eyed because I knew how close we were to meeting our girl.  I really focused on bringing her out, after a couple strong surges with bearing down her head came out and with the next push the rest of her body came out and they immediately put her on me.  

Our daughter was born at 1:15 pm, 15 minutes shy of 10 hours from the beginning of my labor. It was the most beautiful relief that I have ever felt to have her put on my chest and to hear her cry. It gives me the butterflies now just thinking about what a beautiful experience it all was.  My placenta came out on its own after a few more minutes and I only tore a little requiring two stitches. (We did perineal massage every night for at least 3 weeks until I went into labor and it really helped!)

I have to say that our hynobirthing class along with having our doula absolutely helped me obtain the birth that we did.  After the dust had settled, I told Charlie that I wasn't as relaxed as the women in the videos that we watched, but my husband and our doula assured me that I did better than I was remembering. At some points during my labor, I would tell myself to relax and open up, sometimes I would talk in between surges, but mostly I laid back with my eyes closed. Our doula took some video in the final stages of our birth and I was surprised when we watched it to see that I really was able to do it quietly with only a few sounds of effort here and there. The next morning in the hospital, my regular OB came to our room and told us that our delivering nurse had told her that our birth was one of the most beautiful she had ever witnessed. I was nervous about how things would go with being at the hospital, but our nurses and doctor were so respectful of our birth plan and let us be. It was an amazing experience. 

Like our doula said "Every birth is special no matter how the day goes!" and the important thing is to be happy with your birth, because the outcome is a beautiful little baby that will steal your heart. The love you feel is absolutely life changing. We are all so blessed and I am thankful for your teaching Carol--thank you so very much!

Wishing the moms who haven't delivered yet a safe and healthy birth. 

Our sweet Adeline Rose was born on April 11th at 1:15 pm - 7 lbs 11 oz 19 in.

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Congratulations Vivian & Charlie! I'm so happy that the classes and your doula helped you have such a positive birthing experience! Yes, most people say that they end up not quite looking like the women in the videos we watch in class, but those are really just to get your mind wrapped around the idea that birth CAN look and be calm, peaceful and comfortable rather than the images we've been so programmed with. And like you said, it often seems like we are louder than we really are.

Thank you for sharing your birth experience! I hope you are enjoying your babymoon!

If you're interested in taking HypnoBirthing classes with Carol, please visit her website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net for more information about how to sign up. 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 Vivian & Charlie's doula, Valerie Peterson, you can contact her through her website at www.birthdaywithval.com.

Laura & Will's HypnoBirthing story

Laura & Will took my HypnoBirthing classes at Seaside Women's Health in Encinitas, CA (North County San Diego). Here is the birth story of their first baby:

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.

Jocelyn's VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section) HypnoBirthing Story

Jocelyn came to my HypnoBirthing classes very late in her pregnancy. So late, that she started with class 5 of a series that was ending, just to ensure she got all of the classes in before her impending birth. She actually didn't make it to class 5 of her own class series!

She had a c-section for her first baby...things didn't progress, she tightened up when she had contractions and reported that she just didn't know what to do during her first birth.

Here's her VBAC birth story:

I just wanted to write to tell you we had our baby last night!  Thanks for your strategies, encouragement, and positive thinking.  I had a successful VBAC against some pretty serious odds.  (Water broke first, Group B strep positive, posterior baby through labor, not dropping/engaging for hours,...and cord wrapped around his neck twice in the end) It wasn't easy or pretty and I didn't look like the ladies on the video the whole time...but I used the music, relaxation strategies, scripts, and position strategies...and they really made all the difference. I ended up getting an epidural 8 hours into labor. It was a wonderful part of the process for me but I was glad that it wasn't my only option as I needed every part of the natural birthing techniques to get me to the point where my labor wouldn't stall out as opposed to if I had gotten it right away.  I know I would have had a repeat c-section had I not taken your class.  I am very grateful. 

Our baby's name is Douglas, 8 lb 12 ounces.  21 inches. Born at 39 weeks, 2 days. 

Good luck to all you amazing moms!

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Congratulations on your successful VBAC! I'm thrilled to hear that you did it and that you were able to use the HypnoBirthing techniques with success. Like I always say in class, the videos are the complete opposite of what we're conditioned to think birth looks like, but sometimes our births end up looking or sounding different, and that's okay! You had several special circumstances that could have prevented you from having a successful VBAC, but I'm glad that the education you received in my classes, helped you achieve your goal.

Enjoy your babymoon!

If you are interested in taking Carol's HypnoBirthing classes, you can learn more about her class schedule at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. If you are out of the San Diego area, you can go to www.hypnobirthing.com to find a Practitioner near you.

Kristin & Brian's HypnoBirthing story

Kristin & Brian took Carol's HypnoBirthing classes on Thursday nights in January 2013 in Encinitas, CA (North County San Diego) to prepare for their first baby's arrival. Here is their birth story:

The arrival of our little man began on Monday March 11th at 10am when my mucous plug along with a small amount of fluid spilled out on my kitchen floor. I went straight to the internet and researched if this was a indication of early labor and read that it only means that labor could be over the next week and a small amount of discharge is normal in the last few weeks. After reading this, I continued with my day of grocery shopping (where I bumped into Carol at Trader Joe's), laundry and cleaning the house. I started having minor cramping but just brushed it off as Braxton Hicks.

At seven o'clock that evening, Brian (my husband) came home and said to call the doctor just in case and as soon as I talked to the doctor on call at Scripps La Jolla, he insisted I immediately come to the hospital to get checked to see if the watery discharge was amniotic fluid. To my dismay, I packed my bag and headed for the hospital still only having minor cramping but feeling great overall. After the nurse confirmed that it was indeed amniotic fluid and my water had broken, the 24 hour hospital clock started and they were going to let me go until morning before inducing me if labor hadn't begun.

At around ten o'clock, the cramping started feeling like surges and progressively got stronger and stronger... since my water had broken, I refused to be checked for risk of infection so I never knew how far my labor was progressing. At 3:30ish, I hit a wall and was contemplating the epidural but all of a sudden felt the urge to push. Melissa (my mid-wife) checked me and sure enough I was ten centimeters and it was time to push! After about forty-five minutes of intense pushing, Hudson Patrick entered this world at 4:32am weighing 7 lbs 3oz and measuring 19 inches. 

I'm so grateful to have taken your class and proud to say I was able to give birth at Scripps La Jolla with no hep lock/IV or epidural and was treated with the utmost respect and kindness even though my doctor was on vacation and the mid-wife, whom I never met, delivered our baby. It went better then I could have ever imagined and we were able to leave the hospital the next day with the most handsome little man. Recovery has been great and I can't thank you enough Carol for all you do!!!

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Congratulations on your awesome birth experience! I'm so glad that the classes helped you have a wonderful birth experience! Thank you so much for sharing your story! Enjoy your babymoon!

If you are in San Diego and would like to take HypnoBirthing classes with Carol, please visit her website to sign up. If you are outside the San Diego area, please visit www.hypnobirthing.com and go to the Find a Practitioner section. The HypnoBirthing Institute recommends taking classes sometime between your fifth and seventh month of pregnancy. Carol's late September classes are filling up, so sign up now! 

Kristie's HypnoBirthing story of her 3rd baby

Kristie contacted me very late in her 3rd pregnancy. It was too late for her to take the entire class series so we met privately and did an intensive overview and then had her attend the last 2 classes of an ongoing series. She had two previous births that were medicated and okay experiences (not Hypnobirths), but she knew she wanted a different experience this time around. Here is her story:

Well, I ended up being almost a week late. Alana Margaret was born on Thursday, February 21. It was seriously THE BEST experience. While it wasn't pain free (which I wasn't expecting anyway), it was such a calm, pleasant atmosphere. My sister and husband were in the room. The only other people in there were the nurse, and then Dr. Capetanakis when it was close to birth time. I was able to use visualizations and breathing techniques to get me through the worst surges. Honestly, I couldn't have planned a better birth. Dr. Capetanakis broke my water at 8:30 am (I pretty much knew I wouldn't go into labor on my own as I never did with my boys either) and I was already at 6 cm with no surges (that I could feel). Around 10:15 am, things started getting serious. By 11:30 am, I was feeling the intensity and almost lost it a couple times, but I was able to completely keep myself calm. I only let out a couple little squeals at the end during the birth. She came flying out with one push at 11:50 am. 8 lbs. 14 oz...my little peanut! My boys were almost 11 pounds, so she was so tiny!!!!

I just wanted to say that I SO appreciate all of your last minute help to get me through. It was so wonderful to have your support and encouragement. My sister actually made a video of the birth (don't worry, no inappropriate shots:) so you can check it out if you like. You can fast forward to the labor part just to see how it went. Click HERE to watch the video.

It really was a fantastic experience. And I LOVED giving birth at Scripps Encinitas. They were great there and so supportive of the natural birth.

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Congratulations! I'm thrilled that you had such a positive birthing experience this time around and that we were able to fit the classes in before you had your baby! Thanks so much for sharing her story & the video. I love that you were playing cards while in labor! And while you said labor was "hard", you really did make it look easy! 

If you live in the San Diego area and would like to take HypnoBirthing classes with Carol, please visit her website at www.awelllivedlife.net or call her at 858-837-1259. If you are outside of the San Diego area, please go to www.hypnobirthing.com to Find a Practitioner near you.

If you'd like to have Dr. Capetanakis deliver your baby, please visit his website at www.drcapetanakis.com.

Danielle & Max's HypnoBirthing story for their 2nd baby

Danielle took my classes in the fall of 2012 in Encinitas, CA (North County San Diego) to prepare for her second birth. She came by herself for most of the class series because of her husband's work schedule and so he could stay home with their little one.

Hi Carol. My son was born six weeks ago on January 11. Here's my birth story.  My doula,  Rosie Peterson, said I was the most textbook-perfect case of hypnobirthing she'd ever seen. I think you deserve to share in the credit for that. :)

Danielle

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I took Carol's Hypnobirthing class because I wasn't totally pleased with the experience I'd had with my first son. It wasn't necessarily a bad experience, but I didn't like the epidural. I was also disappointed with some parts of my situation at the hospital. With my first son, I pushed for three hours and was told by the doctor that if he wasn't born within three hours of pushing, she would have to take him by c-section. My water had also broken before I went into labor, so I was under time constraints because of that too. I didn't like spending my entire labor at the hospital.

So in search of a different experience the second time, I asked my doula for recommendations for natural birth classes and she recommended Carol's class. I was a bit nervous to attend class because I thought I would be surrounded by hard-core natural birth types. But I was relieved that most other people at the class started out like me--more curious than convinced. And I appreciated that Carol's style was very even-handed and not abrupt or abrasive in any way. By the end of the first or second class, I was sure that natural was the way I wanted to go and that I could do it.

I had been having contractions for a couple of weeks before my due date, which had at times been fairly intense. But I suspected I was in true labor when I woke up at 3:30 the morning after my due date with uncomfortable contractions. I timed them for about an hour, and they were consistently seven minutes apart. I was able to go back to sleep for another hour and a half before I got up to shower and get ready. I told my husband that the baby was coming, and we got our two-year-old ready to head to the park with his grandma (who had luckily flown in the day before).

I called my doula at 9:30 and asked her to come over at 11:00. I was doing ok on my own, but it was definitely nice to have my doula's calming reassurance and to have two people available to fetch me things and be there for me to lean on (literally).

By 1:00 the contractions were about 90 seconds long and were coming back to back. At 1:30 I figured it was time to head to the hospital (Scripps Memorial in La Jolla). When we got checked into the hospital around 2:00, the nurse checked me and said I was fully dilated. So I'd accomplished the first part of my plan, but the second part of my plan--which was to show up at the hospital ready to push out a baby--was not so easy. The nurse said the baby's head was still at -3 station, so I still had a way to go. I guess that's pretty rare for a mom to be fully dilated with the baby not yet descended. 

My doula had me lunging and marching to try to get the baby to come down. I was also occasionally having the urge to push. Because I didn't want to spend all day there waiting for the baby to come down, I was pushing on and off pretty much since we got settled in at the hospital. Throughout the whole process, the nurses were all very deferential and mostly left us alone to do our own thing. I was very glad that we got nurses that were happy to oblige us in our birthing wishes. One of the nurses confided in me that she was bending some of the rules for us and was glad she was able to stay until our baby was born so that we didn't get another nurse who wouldn't have been as accommodating. And just as I've heard other people say, all the nurses on the floor wanted to come in and get a peek at the girl who was quietly laboring without any medication. They all seemed pretty impressed.

Probably about three and a half hours after we got settled in at the hospital, I could feel the baby getting closer. I called out that he was coming, and there was a flurry of activity as the nurses called the doctor in and got all the tools and supplies ready. And shortly after, my son Bradley was born. He ended up being quite a big boy, weighing in at 9 lbs 3 oz. The nurses and my doula were all marveling at how big he was, but to me he just looked like a sweet tiny little baby.

All in all, I'm very happy with how things went. At the time, I was not mentally prepared to have to get through four more hours of contractions and pushing after arriving at the hospital, but I know I was only able to handle it because of the hypnobirthing training. I have to admit that the "ring of fire" was way more intense than I anticipated, and I do not look forward to experiencing that again in the future... In the moment, I told my husband that, even though I knew I was about to say something that was typical labor room talk, I never wanted to go through that again. As I expected, I've since reconciled with it and know it was completely worth it. My recovery was much smoother and faster than with my first baby. And my doula mentioned something I hadn't thought of. She said it's likely that if I'd been on an epidural that I would've ended up with a c-section because I wouldn't have been able to get up and move around to get the baby to descend. The doctor might have just said that since I wasn't progressing the baby would need to be taken by c-section. Who knows how things would have turned out, but thank goodness I was able to have the smooth natural birth that I wanted! Thanks so much for your class!

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Thank you so much, Danielle, for sharing your story! A lot of moms who have not the greatest, but not the worst 1st birth experiences end up taking HypnoBirthing classes so they can have the birth experience they knew they could have. I'm so glad that you were able to have such a positive experience and that the classes helped you with that.

If you are in the San Diego area and would like to take HypnoBirthing classes for your 1st, 2nd, 3rd or even 4th baby, please come join us! Carol's class info can be found at her website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net or she can be reached at 858-837-1259. If you are outside the San Diego area, you can find a HypnoBirthing class near you by going to www.hypnobirthing.com to the Find a Practitioner section.

If you are interested in hiring Danielle & Max's doula, Rosie Peterson, you can contact her at www.rosiedoula.blogspot.com.