Sara & Dan took my HypnoBirthing classes in March 2011 on Tuesday nights at Babies by the Sea Boutique in Cardiff by the Sea, North County San Diego. Here is their birth story at the UCSD Birth Center in Hillcrest:
Sara and Dan’s Birth Story
2 days before my due date I was up most of the night with an upset stomach. Thinking I had eaten something the day before that was causing it, I called my midwife at about 6 am to let her know how I was feeling. She told me to drink plenty of fluids and to call back that evening if I wasn’t feeling better. Almost as soon as I got off the phone I started to realize that the cramping was starting to have a pattern and so I started to time them realizing that this might be “it”. At that point the surges were about 8 minutes apart and very mild. I was excited but wanted to try to rest and let Dan sleep (I had gone into our other bedroom that night so I wouldn’t keep him up with my tossing and turning) to prepare for the day ahead. A couple hours later they were getting more intense and so I woke Dan up and we called the midwife again and our doula Julie. We decided to stay at home as long as possible, but by 10am the surges were 4 minutes apart and I felt like we should head in to the birth center since it seemed like things were progressing quickly.
When we arrived I was surprised to find that I was only 1 cm dilated and my surges had slowed to 6 minutes apart. Luckily our midwife had room in the birth center (they usually send you home unless you are 4 cm) so she let us get settled in. Soon after we arrived I started throwing up and shaking, which I knew were signs of transition, yet I still was only a couple of centimeters dilated. We played the rainbow relaxation CD on repeat in our room and we read several scripts and did a lot of breathing to help relax. I spent a lot of time in the shower and then several hours in the tub but things continued to move very slowly. We did several side lunges to help reposition her head because the midwife felt like she might be face up. By 10 pm I was still only about 4cm and was very tired from not sleeping much the night before and having very painful back labor. I was starting to ask about an epidural but my midwife suggested trying a mild drug first that would allow me to sleep between surges so that I could get some rest and not have to transfer to labor and delivery. We decided to go that route first and so the next 4 or 5 hours I would fall deeply asleep between surges, then wake up and breathe through them as my husband, doula, mom and sister took turns coaching me.
Early the next morning I was still at 4 cm and the sleep medication had worn off, my back labor was becoming more intense and I was very discouraged to not be progressing at all. We made the decision to head up to labor and delivery for an epidural. I insisted on walking up hoping that gravity and walking would help and I swear that walk seemed to take a week! I would stop every few minutes and hold onto Dan or Julie and breathe through my surges. The new midwife (we were now on our 3rd shift!) wanted to break my water when I got the epidural but I insisted on waiting as I didn’t want to start the 24 hour clock for a C-section. Several more hours went by then the doctor came in to see me and said that they were starting to think that a C-section might be necessary so I agreed to have them break my water as a last effort to avoid a cesarean. I then progressed to 2 min apart and 7 cm over the next several hours but she was still not dropping past -1 station. Though her heart rate was strong, it had now been 33 hours and the midwife and doctors were concerned that there was something happening that they couldn’t see that was causing her to be stuck. We agreed it was time to get her out and they wheeled me in for a cesarean. Julie read a script that helped me feel a little better; I was initially very upset that my desire for a beautiful natural birth had slipped away. But then a few minutes later my husband and I heard our daughter Autumn cry for the first time in the operating room and I knew that none of what I had gone through mattered anymore, we finally had our little girl in our arms and she was healthy and beautiful! It turned out that she was face up and her head was stuck in the right side of my pelvis, so it was the right decision to have the cesarean. The doctor did not think she would have ever been able to come out naturally.
The value of our hypnobirthing training was priceless, it not only kept me from feeling anxious during my pregnancy but it helped me to cope with a difficult labor and later to come to terms with not having the natural delivery I had wanted. It greatly helped my husband to support me and to stay calm and focused during our experience as well. Thanks again for the great class! It helped us in more ways than I ever expected :)
Thank you Carol!
Sara & Dan
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Congratulations Sara & Dan! I hope you're enjoying being parents! I'm glad that even though you didn't have a natural birth, you were able to utilize the HypnoBirthing techniques to the best of your ability. My goal of the class is to teach you information to trust your body & the birthing process as well as empower couples to know what to do so the choices you make for your birth are ones that you KNOW are necessary. It sounds like you did everything possible to get the birth you had planned for & that you were able to decide to get the epidural & later, the c-section, knowing that was what you needed to do in order to have the best outcome you possibly could. Thank you for sharing your story!
If you're interested in taking HypnoBirthing classes in San Diego, please visit Carol's website to learn about classes being offered in the North County area of San Diego. There are also other HypnoBirthing instructors in San Diego that teach in other areas of town, so please visit the www.hypnobirthing.com website to Find a Practitioner near you.
If you're interested in hiring Sara & Dan's doula, Julie Mitchell, please contact her at www.blissfulbellys.com.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Rabu, 28 Desember 2011
Kamis, 08 Desember 2011
A HypnoBirthing story--Diwata & Bryan
Diwata & Bryan took my HypnoBirthing classes on Tuesday nights in August 2011 at Babies by the Sea Boutique. They went into labor early & only made it to class 1-3. Here is their birth story:
Hi Carol,
After class on Tuesday night, while I was laying in bed preparing to sleep, my water broke and sent me into early labor. Bryan and I immediately went to Scripps Encinitas to learn that my membrane did indeed rupture and my doctor did not recommend postponing the birth due to the vast amount of amniotic fluid that was lost (it gushed out just like the movies).
We were admitted at 12:45am but I didn't feel any surges until around 5:00am. Although we only had the benefit of 3 hypnobirthing classes, Bryan and I were committed to the process and stayed focused on bringing Dylan into the planet drug and stress free. I steadily used the breathing, visualization, and relaxation techniques to manage the surges and embrace what was to come.
By 9:00 am I was at 5 centimeters dilated and this was the point I started to wonder about pain management options. Thank god for Bryan's steadfast commitment and the incredible staff at Scripps Encinitas. With just a little "stay the course" reminder, I got my second wind and remembered to allow my body and my baby to do what we were meant to do.
With just a little more breathing, Baby Dylan was born with three simple pushes at 1:28 in the afternoon - with his hand at the side of his head no less! Our premie was born at 34 weeks and 4 days weighing in at 5 lbs, 10 oz and 19 inches long. I was heartbroken not to have the immediate skin to skin experience with Dylan as a result of his critical lung condition. He was rushed to the NICU after assessing that he was working too hard to breathe. He was later transferred to Rady Children's at Scripps La Jolla where he has been steadily progressing for the last couple of days. We expect him to have a full recovery and hope to have him home in a week or two. He is so precious.
Overall, the hypnobirthing experience was incredible and I felt so proud of our accomplishment as a team. Bryan was such a strong support coach, cheerleader, and doula. We are so much closer as a result of this life-changing experience and we could never have done it without you and your class. Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
Needless to say, we won't be attending the remaining 2 classes. We would also be happy for you to share our story as encouragement for your classes. It was an amazing experience & I want to shout from the rooftops about it! Thank you so much!
With gratitude,
Diwata and Bryan
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Congratulations! Thank you for sharing your birth story and I am so glad that Baby Dylan is doing well! Continue to enjoy your babymoon!
If you're interested in using HypnoBirthing for your birth, you can learn more at Carol's website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. Carol Yeh-Garner & Kelly Pappas teach HypnoBirthing classes in North County Coastal San Diego. There are many practitioners in San Diego County & you can find a listing of them on www.hypnobirthing.com in the Find a Practitioner section.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Hi Carol,
After class on Tuesday night, while I was laying in bed preparing to sleep, my water broke and sent me into early labor. Bryan and I immediately went to Scripps Encinitas to learn that my membrane did indeed rupture and my doctor did not recommend postponing the birth due to the vast amount of amniotic fluid that was lost (it gushed out just like the movies).
We were admitted at 12:45am but I didn't feel any surges until around 5:00am. Although we only had the benefit of 3 hypnobirthing classes, Bryan and I were committed to the process and stayed focused on bringing Dylan into the planet drug and stress free. I steadily used the breathing, visualization, and relaxation techniques to manage the surges and embrace what was to come.
By 9:00 am I was at 5 centimeters dilated and this was the point I started to wonder about pain management options. Thank god for Bryan's steadfast commitment and the incredible staff at Scripps Encinitas. With just a little "stay the course" reminder, I got my second wind and remembered to allow my body and my baby to do what we were meant to do.
With just a little more breathing, Baby Dylan was born with three simple pushes at 1:28 in the afternoon - with his hand at the side of his head no less! Our premie was born at 34 weeks and 4 days weighing in at 5 lbs, 10 oz and 19 inches long. I was heartbroken not to have the immediate skin to skin experience with Dylan as a result of his critical lung condition. He was rushed to the NICU after assessing that he was working too hard to breathe. He was later transferred to Rady Children's at Scripps La Jolla where he has been steadily progressing for the last couple of days. We expect him to have a full recovery and hope to have him home in a week or two. He is so precious.
Overall, the hypnobirthing experience was incredible and I felt so proud of our accomplishment as a team. Bryan was such a strong support coach, cheerleader, and doula. We are so much closer as a result of this life-changing experience and we could never have done it without you and your class. Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
Needless to say, we won't be attending the remaining 2 classes. We would also be happy for you to share our story as encouragement for your classes. It was an amazing experience & I want to shout from the rooftops about it! Thank you so much!
With gratitude,
Diwata and Bryan
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations! Thank you for sharing your birth story and I am so glad that Baby Dylan is doing well! Continue to enjoy your babymoon!
If you're interested in using HypnoBirthing for your birth, you can learn more at Carol's website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. Carol Yeh-Garner & Kelly Pappas teach HypnoBirthing classes in North County Coastal San Diego. There are many practitioners in San Diego County & you can find a listing of them on www.hypnobirthing.com in the Find a Practitioner section.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Kamis, 01 Desember 2011
A HypnoFertility success story
Here is Sarah's HypnoFertility testimonial:
After delivering our first child nine weeks prematurely, followed by a miscarriage and then difficulty in conceiving again, my doctor recommended that I see Carol Yeh-Garner. She helped me see past my anxiety about having another premature baby, my grief over the miscarriage and my doubts about being able to conceive again. My sessions with Carol gave me an optimism and sense of well-being that I just didn't have before. I believe Carol played a big role in my getting pregnant with our second child by addressing and clearing away all of my negative subconscious worries.
Thanks, Sarah, for sharing your experience!
If you are trying to conceive and having difficulty, HypnoFertility can help you release the stress, tension & anxiety that comes along with infertility so that your body and your mind are working in harmony. HypnoFertility will help you get pregnant faster and more easily.
Please visit Carol's website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net for more information or call Carol at 858-837-1259 to schedule your FREE 1/2 hour introductory session now!
After delivering our first child nine weeks prematurely, followed by a miscarriage and then difficulty in conceiving again, my doctor recommended that I see Carol Yeh-Garner. She helped me see past my anxiety about having another premature baby, my grief over the miscarriage and my doubts about being able to conceive again. My sessions with Carol gave me an optimism and sense of well-being that I just didn't have before. I believe Carol played a big role in my getting pregnant with our second child by addressing and clearing away all of my negative subconscious worries.
Thanks, Sarah, for sharing your experience!
If you are trying to conceive and having difficulty, HypnoFertility can help you release the stress, tension & anxiety that comes along with infertility so that your body and your mind are working in harmony. HypnoFertility will help you get pregnant faster and more easily.
Please visit Carol's website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net for more information or call Carol at 858-837-1259 to schedule your FREE 1/2 hour introductory session now!
Jumat, 18 November 2011
A HypnoBirthing story-Erika and Ben
Erika & Ben took my HypnoBirthing classes on Tuesday nights at Babies by the Sea Boutique in Cardiff by the Sea, CA (North County County San Diego) in April 2011. Here is their birth story:
Ayla Maeve's Birth Story
Ayla Maeve was born at 9:17pm on Saturday, July 9 2011 at Pomerado Hospital. Her labor was officially a total of 38 hours from water breaking (or more like leaking) to delivery, but to me it felt like a total of only 2 intense hours!
The morning of Friday, July 8th I awoke to a possible slow amniotic fluid leak, so we called the OBGYN, Dr. Cobb to see if we should come in earlier to our appointment that we had scheduled for later that day. We arrived at 8:30 to Dr. Cobb’s office, he tested the fluid and believed that it could be amniotic fluid, so he asked us to go home, get our bags, and get tested at Pomerado Hospital with a more accurate test. We arrived at noon to the Hospital, where they confirmed that the discharge was in fact amniotic fluid, and I was admitted. Dr. Cobb called that afternoon and said that the plans had changed for me and I would need to labor at the Hospital instead of at home. I received a heplock in my left arm and every 4 hours received antibiotics since the water had somewhat broken. Our Doula, Val Peterson, arrived but there was not much going on and contractions were 6-7 minutes apart and not painful. We spent most of the day hanging out, watching a movie, walking around the hospital and outside, and enjoying a full dinner in the cafeteria before calling it a night.
On Saturday, July 9th Dr. Cobb arrived around 9am to the hospital to discuss my options since 24 hours had passed since my water had broken. He suggested that I be given a small dose of Pitocin to get the contractions moving, but left us the option of continuing to wait or to proceed with the Pitocin. We asked if we could have an hour to think about it and go for a walk, which included a trip to the cafeteria for a big breakfast. After we enjoyed a big meal, we headed to the parking garage where I tried to speed up the contractions by walking up and down the staircase. This seemed to work, as contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes while walking around, but when we went back to the room for monitoring, it went back to every 6-7 minutes. I was then hooked up to an IV for Pitocin, along with a continuous fetal monitor around my stomach, and a blood pressure cuff on the other arm. I was truly confined now to a limited area since the monitoring fell off easily when I tried to sit on the birthing ball we brought with us. I found it most comfortable to sit hooked up to the machines in a rocking chair with my feet on the birthing ball, while we watched another movie. Around 3pm, the contractions started to get a stronger and more regular so I put on the hypnobirthing CD with noise-cancelling headphones and put an eyemask on my face so I could tune everything out.
I fell in and out of the relaxed state and would rock myself in the chair when the contractions were a bit intense. Apparently I would drift off to sleep between some of the contractions. I did not realize that the nurse was monitoring me during this time and increasing the Pitocin while I was in the rocking chair. In the end, she upped me to an 8 on the Pitocin drip, which I thought may have been high on a scale of 10, but I found out the next day that it goes up to around 42, so it was a low dose of Pitocin. My husband, Ben, Doula Val, and the nurse were apparently discussing how great I was doing, and how calm and quiet I was at this time, however, I couldn’t hear or see them while I was focused.
When I finally felt like I needed to use the restroom, the nurse said that I would need to be checked first. She offered to check or have Dr. Cobb called. I asked for Dr. Cobb to be called and after he checked, I was informed us that I was dilated to 7cm. This was the first cervical check in about 30 hours to minimize the possibility of infection with the broken waters. The nurse who had been upping the Pitocin was shocked that I was 7cm as I apparently didn’t show any signs of intense pain. We were so excited that things had progressed so fast…about 6-7 hours from Pitocin to 7cm with discomfort but minimal pain.
The pressure was a bit intense from this point forward, so I moved to a chair where I was able to sit down. Doula Val was crucial at this point in labor and tried to alleviate the tension by putting a washcloth on my head, having me chew on a hard candy, and massaging my temples. At one point I was chewing on the washcloth to get through a contraction. I felt like the pressure was too much and asked Doula Val if I should get the epidural but she told me I was doing great, was so close, and didn’t need it. I thought that only 20 minutes of time had gone by, but in reality about 1.5 hours had passed by. I asked Dr. Cobb if I could get the epidural but he suggested that I get checked again instead. He checked my cervix, and said “are you ready to push this baby out?”
From the Hypnobirthing videos I had seen, I thought that the baby would arrive with 3quick breaths, so after 3 pushes I felt confused. Dr. Cobb and the nurse thought this was a bit amusing, after I asked for the vacuum to be used after my first attempt with pushing! I continued forward and pushed for about 40 minutes until Ayla arrived! Time again went by so quickly that I felt like I had been pushing for about 10 minutes. Doula Val took amazing photos of the arrival of Ayla and us during the hour of chest-to-chest contact afterwards! The umbilical cord was left to pulsate after the birth and then Ben was able to cut the cord. Ayla weighed 8 pounds and 6 ounces and was 22 inches.
I feel that without my supportive team, I probably would have given in and asked for the epidural at 8-9cm. I also feel that with most other doctors, considering my water had broken, I would not have been given 38 hours to allow things to progress, and would have most likely been encouraged to deliver within 24 hours, whether naturally or medically. Friends consistently ask me if I would have another baby again “naturally”. My response is always Yes! It is really about being prepared…with the hypnobirthing classes, ability to eat during labor, supportive doctor, Doula, and my husband, I had an amazing labor and delivery.
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Congratulations Erika & Ben! Thank you so much for sharing your story! It just goes to show that if you have the education necessary to trust your body & the birthing process, that you can have the kind of birth experience everyone should have--empowering & beautiful! Even with pitocin! One thing that is important to know is that you searched for the right OB/GYN & changed OBs during your pregnancy, which was stressful, but it ensured that you were confident that you had the kind of medical care provider that you trusted & you knew trusted the normalcy of birth. Thanks again for sharing your story & continue enjoying your babymoon!
If you are interested in taking HypnoBirthing classes with Carol, please visit her website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net for more information. If you are unable to take her classes, there are several other HypnoBirthing practitioners in town. You can find them via the Find a Practitioner section on www.HypnoBirthing.com. If you are out of San Diego County, you can find a practitioner near you the same way.
If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Cobb, you can contact Seaside Women's Health at 760-642-0800.
If you are interested in learning more about Erika & Ben's doula, Val Peterson, please visit her website at www.birthdaywithval.com.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Ayla Maeve's Birth Story
Ayla Maeve was born at 9:17pm on Saturday, July 9 2011 at Pomerado Hospital. Her labor was officially a total of 38 hours from water breaking (or more like leaking) to delivery, but to me it felt like a total of only 2 intense hours!
The morning of Friday, July 8th I awoke to a possible slow amniotic fluid leak, so we called the OBGYN, Dr. Cobb to see if we should come in earlier to our appointment that we had scheduled for later that day. We arrived at 8:30 to Dr. Cobb’s office, he tested the fluid and believed that it could be amniotic fluid, so he asked us to go home, get our bags, and get tested at Pomerado Hospital with a more accurate test. We arrived at noon to the Hospital, where they confirmed that the discharge was in fact amniotic fluid, and I was admitted. Dr. Cobb called that afternoon and said that the plans had changed for me and I would need to labor at the Hospital instead of at home. I received a heplock in my left arm and every 4 hours received antibiotics since the water had somewhat broken. Our Doula, Val Peterson, arrived but there was not much going on and contractions were 6-7 minutes apart and not painful. We spent most of the day hanging out, watching a movie, walking around the hospital and outside, and enjoying a full dinner in the cafeteria before calling it a night.
On Saturday, July 9th Dr. Cobb arrived around 9am to the hospital to discuss my options since 24 hours had passed since my water had broken. He suggested that I be given a small dose of Pitocin to get the contractions moving, but left us the option of continuing to wait or to proceed with the Pitocin. We asked if we could have an hour to think about it and go for a walk, which included a trip to the cafeteria for a big breakfast. After we enjoyed a big meal, we headed to the parking garage where I tried to speed up the contractions by walking up and down the staircase. This seemed to work, as contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes while walking around, but when we went back to the room for monitoring, it went back to every 6-7 minutes. I was then hooked up to an IV for Pitocin, along with a continuous fetal monitor around my stomach, and a blood pressure cuff on the other arm. I was truly confined now to a limited area since the monitoring fell off easily when I tried to sit on the birthing ball we brought with us. I found it most comfortable to sit hooked up to the machines in a rocking chair with my feet on the birthing ball, while we watched another movie. Around 3pm, the contractions started to get a stronger and more regular so I put on the hypnobirthing CD with noise-cancelling headphones and put an eyemask on my face so I could tune everything out.
I fell in and out of the relaxed state and would rock myself in the chair when the contractions were a bit intense. Apparently I would drift off to sleep between some of the contractions. I did not realize that the nurse was monitoring me during this time and increasing the Pitocin while I was in the rocking chair. In the end, she upped me to an 8 on the Pitocin drip, which I thought may have been high on a scale of 10, but I found out the next day that it goes up to around 42, so it was a low dose of Pitocin. My husband, Ben, Doula Val, and the nurse were apparently discussing how great I was doing, and how calm and quiet I was at this time, however, I couldn’t hear or see them while I was focused.
When I finally felt like I needed to use the restroom, the nurse said that I would need to be checked first. She offered to check or have Dr. Cobb called. I asked for Dr. Cobb to be called and after he checked, I was informed us that I was dilated to 7cm. This was the first cervical check in about 30 hours to minimize the possibility of infection with the broken waters. The nurse who had been upping the Pitocin was shocked that I was 7cm as I apparently didn’t show any signs of intense pain. We were so excited that things had progressed so fast…about 6-7 hours from Pitocin to 7cm with discomfort but minimal pain.
The pressure was a bit intense from this point forward, so I moved to a chair where I was able to sit down. Doula Val was crucial at this point in labor and tried to alleviate the tension by putting a washcloth on my head, having me chew on a hard candy, and massaging my temples. At one point I was chewing on the washcloth to get through a contraction. I felt like the pressure was too much and asked Doula Val if I should get the epidural but she told me I was doing great, was so close, and didn’t need it. I thought that only 20 minutes of time had gone by, but in reality about 1.5 hours had passed by. I asked Dr. Cobb if I could get the epidural but he suggested that I get checked again instead. He checked my cervix, and said “are you ready to push this baby out?”
From the Hypnobirthing videos I had seen, I thought that the baby would arrive with 3quick breaths, so after 3 pushes I felt confused. Dr. Cobb and the nurse thought this was a bit amusing, after I asked for the vacuum to be used after my first attempt with pushing! I continued forward and pushed for about 40 minutes until Ayla arrived! Time again went by so quickly that I felt like I had been pushing for about 10 minutes. Doula Val took amazing photos of the arrival of Ayla and us during the hour of chest-to-chest contact afterwards! The umbilical cord was left to pulsate after the birth and then Ben was able to cut the cord. Ayla weighed 8 pounds and 6 ounces and was 22 inches.
I feel that without my supportive team, I probably would have given in and asked for the epidural at 8-9cm. I also feel that with most other doctors, considering my water had broken, I would not have been given 38 hours to allow things to progress, and would have most likely been encouraged to deliver within 24 hours, whether naturally or medically. Friends consistently ask me if I would have another baby again “naturally”. My response is always Yes! It is really about being prepared…with the hypnobirthing classes, ability to eat during labor, supportive doctor, Doula, and my husband, I had an amazing labor and delivery.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations Erika & Ben! Thank you so much for sharing your story! It just goes to show that if you have the education necessary to trust your body & the birthing process, that you can have the kind of birth experience everyone should have--empowering & beautiful! Even with pitocin! One thing that is important to know is that you searched for the right OB/GYN & changed OBs during your pregnancy, which was stressful, but it ensured that you were confident that you had the kind of medical care provider that you trusted & you knew trusted the normalcy of birth. Thanks again for sharing your story & continue enjoying your babymoon!
If you are interested in taking HypnoBirthing classes with Carol, please visit her website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net for more information. If you are unable to take her classes, there are several other HypnoBirthing practitioners in town. You can find them via the Find a Practitioner section on www.HypnoBirthing.com. If you are out of San Diego County, you can find a practitioner near you the same way.
If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Cobb, you can contact Seaside Women's Health at 760-642-0800.
If you are interested in learning more about Erika & Ben's doula, Val Peterson, please visit her website at www.birthdaywithval.com.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Kamis, 10 November 2011
Senin, 31 Oktober 2011
Kristina & Petro's HypnoBirthing story
Kristina & Petro took my HypnoBirthing classes at Seaside Women's Health in Encinitas, CA on Thursday nights in April-May 2011. Here is their birth story:
I wanted to let you know that baby Isabella came early! She was born on May 21 at 2:39am, 6 pounds 8 oz and 17in long!!! The whole labor was amazing and I really wanted to thank you so much for the hypnobirth classes. My water broke at 4:20am on Friday and since I was strep b positive we went to the hospital. The whole time I was calm and relaxed and was listening to the relaxation cd in one ear like you suggested. Dr. Capetanakis met us there and I was only 2cm. So Petro and I were walking around the hospital and outside to get things going. When Dr. Capetanakis came back to check on me a couple hours later I was only 3cm. So we knew this was going to be a slow process. We still kept walking and thinking positive vibes and I kept listening to the affirmations and relaxation cd. When Dr. Capetanakis came back around 6pm I was only 4cm so at this point he wanted me to do pitocin because I was strep b positive and things were not moving as quickly as we hoped. I was fine with it because I wanted to make sure that the baby was ok and if this was the best thing for her then bring on the pitocin. I started feeling more of the contractions and really worked through them. They were intense at times but nothing that I couldn't breathe through. By time 10:30 pm came around I was exhausted. I told Petro I can't do this anymore. Physically my body was super tired and shutting down since I have been up for 17 hours at this point. Around 10:30 pm I decided to get the epidural and instantly felt better. I didn't sleep but my body relaxed and got the energy it needed. By 12:40 am I called the nurse because I started to feel the contractions so she helped me turn to the left side and she told me to press the button for more epidural to come out so I did and then I also mentioned to her that I felt like I had to pee but I had a catheter in. She checked me and said that's why, it's time to push! I was like what?!!? I went from 4 cm-10 cm in two hours! I guess my body just needed a little help. Overall, my birthing experience was amazing and I really owe it all to hypnobirth. I stayed calm throughout the whole process and even now Isabella is such a calm baby. Everyone is amazed that she sleeps, doesn't fuss or cry and I swear it's from hypnobirth!!
Thank you Carol for such an amazing experience!!!! :)
Kristina, Petro, and Isabella
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Congratulations Kristina & Petro! Thank you so much for sharing your HypnoBirthing story! I'm so glad that you were able to have such an amazing birth experience! That's the goal of my teaching...is to give women & their partners the information & confidence so that they can have the most comfortable, calm, empowering birth experience possible! Enjoy your babymoon!
All my best--Carol
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Sabtu, 22 Oktober 2011
Bridgette & Kenneth's HypnoBirthing story
Bridgette & Kenneth took my HypnoBirthing classes on Thursday nights at Seaside Women's Health in Encinitas, CA in March 2011.
Here is their birth story:
I just wanted you to know that I had my daughter on 5.10.11 at 3:12 am. Her name is Alaya Myra and she was 7 lbs 6 oz and 20 inches. I went to the hospital on 5.9.11 at 2 something in the morning and I was having contractions that were every 5 minutes apart but I was only dilated 2 cm. They were going send me home because my water didn't break but right when they were getting the release papers ready, my water broke, so I had to stay in the hospital. I had to get pitocin because when I was 6 cm dilated my contractions started to space out to 5 to 6 minutes and they wouldn't stay constant. They had to use pitocin to make the contractions close again (wow were those contractions a lot of pain!) but I still had a natural vaginal delivery. I had her at Pomerado Hospital in Poway, CA. Those HypnoBirthing techniques worked until the contractions from the pitocin came. Those contractions were the most painful thing, even more painful than pushing. The pushing was pretty easy, it didn't really bother me. Dr. Cobb was the one who delivered my baby. Thank you for everything you taught me and Kenneth at your HypnoBirthing class!
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Congratulations Bridgette & Kenneth! I'm so glad that the techniques helped you have a more comfortable birth experience even with Pitocin! I hope you're having a great time being parents! Thanks so much for sharing your birth story!
All my best--Carol
If you're interested in taking HypnoBirthing classes in San Diego, CA, please visit Carol's website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. If you need to find another practitioner, please visit www.HypnoBirthing.com & click on "Find a Practitioner".
If you're interested in having Dr. Damon Cobb, D.O. as your OB/GYN, please call Seaside Women's Health at 760-642-0800.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Rabu, 05 Oktober 2011
Brina & Gus' VBAC HypnoBirthing story
Brina & Gus took my HypnoBirthing class in August 2011 on Thursday nights at Seaside Women's Health. They were expecting baby #2 and had a c-section for baby #1. They wanted to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section) & researched their options. They chose an OB that was extremely supportive of VBACs, but late in their pregnancy, they decided to have a homebirth with the midwives of San Diego Midwife because Brina really didn't want to go into a hospital at all.
Here's their birth story...it's a wonderful story of how even when birth goes completely off-track, knowing your options & being in control of your choices is so important to help you have the kind of birth experience you want.
October 2, 2011
Day 2
Wow. Wow, wow, wow. That’s all I can say about the last few days, my darling Willow Bee. As I write this, you are cuddling on your daddy’s lap (and crying a little bit) and I just can’t believe I am at the end of this journey and the beginning of a new one. Writing your birth story might have be done in chapters because it went on so long and honestly, I am already starting to forget the details – as is Mother Nature’s little trick on moms.
So, here’s what I can remember, with the help of your dad, Omi, Mimi, Papa and Grandpa who helped fill in some of my memory gaps as we all reminisced about it today – so we would never forget!
Real labor officially began at 2:00am on Friday morning, September 30, 3011. As I wrote before, surges had been growing in regularity since Tuesday but it wasn’t until 2:00am on Friday that things seemed to be getting more serious. I ate for pretty much the last time – not much, just a banana and some lemon cake – and went upstairs to wake up my birth companion and tell him to get the heck out of bed! He started timing the contractions and they were around 2-4 minutes apart for an hour. We called the midwives around 4am and your grandparents.
Everyone arrived before dawn. They stayed downstairs and waited for Ryder to wake up. When Jamin, our midwife arrived, I was 6 cm dilated and officially in active labor. What a relief! This wasn’t so bad! I still had a sense of humor and now that I knew that I was really in labor and making progress, I felt great. This was manageable.
I’m not sure when that all changed but everything you have heard about natural childbirth is true. Transition, the period of time that your
cervix completely dilates to 10 cm is like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. All of my hypnobirthing tools were futile. There was nowhere to go. I had to keep doing this and the only thing that was keeping me going was my midwives, LaShel had joined up at around 8am, telling me that I could do it and this was normal and we were going to have a baby soon.
I made it to 9 cm in the birthing tub and while time was standing still for me, I apparently spent an hour in there, looking for relief from the unrelentless surges. No position was comfortable. Your head was lodged deep in my pelvis and it was causing me amazing back pain during surges – one hip was on fire.
We were almost ready to push at 11:30am or so. LaShel checked my cervix again and I was 9 cm but there was a bit of lip left to go. Disappointed, I went back to work, using the contractions to breath you down and stomping my legs to jiggle your head lower to get rid of the last lip. I alternated using panting breaths to the count of 37 – surges peaked at 22 and subsided at 37 consistently – and screaming my head off to the point that the neighbors on our street will see the large “It’s a Girl!” stork placed on our lawn tomorrow and go, “OH! That’s what that was!” Luckily, our house is such that you couldn’t hear the rebel yells from downstairs, just the stomping apparently, which everyone downstairs started doing in solidarity.
After a half hour of that, LaShel checks me again and now the entire cervix has swelled and I am back to 5 cm dilation during surges. Not good news. My body is feeling the urge to push and apparently, the pressure of not being complete and involuntary pushes have swollen the cervix.
So, at 12pm, I am given a choice – try to relax for an hour and see if the swelling went down or head to the hospital, have an epidural and try to sleep to allow my swollen cervix to fully dilate.
Willow, my biggest fear and anxiety about your birth, besides it ending in a dreaded second c-section, was the car ride to the hospital and here I was, facing this probability at 9 cm dilated with an insatiable urge to push, and having to fight that with everything I had to avoid more swelling. My hip was killing me, the surges were 1 minute apart and 37 counts worth of the most unexplainable torture one could never hope to describe. Your head was stuck and swelling behind my pelvic bone. There was no single body position that provided any relief.
I knew that it was 11.2 miles to the nearest hospital and at least a 15-20 minute drive. I also knew that I would have to be registered, admitted and then wait for the anesthesiologist. It was not an emergency situation – your heart beat was strong. I decided to go to the hospital. I wanted to be put out of my misery. Every moment that passed was another minute I would have to wait.
We took Papa and Mimi’s motorhome. The trip to the hospital was an exercise in self control. Every other minute, a painful contraction would begin along with the uncontrollable urge to push. I closed my eyes and counted while steadily breathing slowly. I concentrated on relaxing my entire body. I went to another world. When the contractions would subside, I returned to my body. The motorhome was quite and no one said a word. Just reassuring smiles from Daddy and Mimi. We arrived in record time and they were waiting for us.
I was admitted in and the labor and delivery room by 12:55pm. I told the nurse I needed help. I pleaded with everyone there to please help me quickly. I put on the gown, I got an IV, I got an oxygen mask. I had blood taken. I signed forms. All between contractions. I had no idea when the anesthesiologist would arrive – he was in surgery. We needed the lab results back first. I was in for a long ride.
The first epidural came at 3:15. It was partially successful. I still felt the surges (I’ll call them surges from now on because that is how they
felt at this point) and I still felt hot pain in my hips and lower back. I hadn’t had any food at all and my sides were cramping with hunger. Food wasn’t an option and I cursed myself for not eating before we left but I just wasn’t thinking straight. There would be no food until you were delivered. Another reason to have you vaginally – I could eat straight away.
The second epidural came at around 6 and it was successful. I finally felt the warm, numbness in my hips, uterus and back. I could finally relax. My legs were totally dead to me – like they belonged to another body. I was happy. I was ready.
Lots of other stuff happened at the same time, of course. But when you are under that much pain and pressure, you don’t really notice. For instance, I had a new doctor to contend with. He was extremely anti-natural birth movement, as they all are it seems, and admitted that he was appalled at the fact that we were attempting a home VBAC. Of course, on the other hand, our new night nurse Tracy had gone and jacked up my pitocin to 8mg and was going to go up to 20mg if needed and the doctor had to chew her out and put me back to 4mg tops. So, with all the talk of how dangerous having you at home was, they were meanwhile increasing the odds of rupture with the pitocin. Pretty ironic I think.
The doctor that delivered you, and despite having an amazing ability to remember all names, was called Dr. Brum-something. He was huge – like 6’6” and when he checked for dilation, which is done so with the checker’s index and middle fingers, he said for him I was at 7cm but
for most, we’ll consider me complete. He would allow me to finally push at around 8pm. It was surreal. I finally got the change to push you out! Of course, I can’t feel anything at all at this point so I am worried that I won’t be able to move any muscles. I am reassured that I will be able to and I am ready. Omi on one side and Mimi on the other side to lift my 500lb legs and Daddy behind me to help hold my head with my chin to my chest, we worked first in cycles of 3 with the surges, pushing and holding my breath for 10 counts and then, we added a 4th as my pitocin induced surges were long and strong. At one point, when sensation began to return, I got up to 6 cycles.
All the while, the Hypnobirthing method of “birth breathing” was in the back of my mind. We aren’t supposed to push you out our bodies, we are supposed to let our bodies do the work and birth breathe you safely down the birth path. When nurse Tracy turned her back, I birth breathed you down. You were coming in at a funny angle. Tracy thought you were sunny side up – that is, instead of facing my spine, facing up to my belly button. But I knew you weren’t. I could feel your spine against the front of my tummy and your body was perfectly straight down. Your swollen little head was somehow stuck under my pelvic bone. There was a heck of a lot of pressure on my hips and back and I was able to get a little more epidural every 10 minutes by pushing a button.
After 2 hours of this, Tracy gave up on me. She told me you would need to be delivered by C-section because your head was developing pressure and it was creating a blister. It was now or never. She walked away from my bed. I turned to one side and visualized you coming down while breathing with my contractions. When Dr. Huge and Imposing returned, he barked, “You can’t sleep through labor, Girl!” Or something equally condescending. To which I replied, “trust me, I am not sleeping; I am working.” And guess what, Willow? In 15 minutes, your mommy had willed you down far enough into the world that even mean-y Doctor had decided that you were ready to come out with just a little help from a vacuum. He gave me 2 choices – I cut him off by the 3rd – c-section if I was too tired to go on (I wasn’t. I would have fought for you forever), deliver you right now with the use of a vacuum – “Stop! We’ll take it!”
So, in comes the Calvary. The nursery nurse, the supporting nurse staff, the tools, the baby bed gets prepared. I can hardly believe that anyone else thinks there is going to be a baby there in a minute or two. He tells me I have to push like I have never pushed before and I am ready. Get your face mask on, Doc, she’s getting shot out of here!
3 big pushes for your head. I feel it coming down. It feels like the biggest relief in history. POP! It’s out!!! One more little push for one shoulder, and another one for the other shoulder. One small push for the rest of you and WAH!!!!!!! You were here, laying all buttery smooth on my chest looking at me questioningly. I introduced myself to you formally and kissed you, calmed you. You knew me and I knew you in a
familiar way that I can’t describe.
Everyone is cheering and before I can stop them, the normal hospital dance begins with the cord cut, you being whisked away to be weighed and tested. Your scores are great. You weigh 8lb 8.3oz and are 21 inches long. You are bigger that your big brother was at birth – and he was born 13 days gestationally longer than you were. You were in the baby warmer with your grandparents protecting you on every side from the assault. I laid on the table watching and being stitched up from a gnarly tear.
Eventually, everything calms down and everyone leaves. I don’t know where they went but it was just you and me in the room. I nursed you. I kissed you. I sang to you. I thanked the universe for you. My own little baby daughter to love, teach, and instill within a strength to stand up for what she believes in and fight the system. No regrets, baby Willow.
The story, of course, just begins there. And there is already so much to tell. Like how you recognized your Daddy when he picked you up for the first time and gently introduced himself. And how your brother sat still on my lap for 20 minutes after a nap and told me he missed me a couple of days after we got home with you. He is going to be such a good big brother to you! He says, “Ryder likes baby Willow!” I came downstairs once without you and he asked if I had put Baby Willow back in my belly button. I explained that there was no going back, you
were here for good. He’s ok with that.
I love you my little darling,
Mama
Carol,
3 Cheers for Hypnobirthing and Class 4 (Birth Preferences Plan) especially. We were able to hit the hospital and know what to ask and what to refuse. I can't thank you enough!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations to you & Gus! You did an amazing job using your HypnoBirthing techniques to the best of your ability! The knowledge you acquired from class and the support of the amazing midwives gave you the courage to stand up for what you wanted & do what you needed to do in order to have the VBAC you wanted. Even though it wasn't as comfortable & calm as you had hoped, my goal of having you informed & educated was successful. You were able to make the right choices for you & your baby in order to have a safe, successful VBAC birth. You trusted your body, the birthing process & you willed your body to do what it needed to do! I hope you continue enjoying your babymoon! I'm sure you're feeling over the moon!
For more information about San Diego Midwife, please call 760-809-9396 or visit their
website at www.sandiegomidwife.com.
For more information about Carol Yeh-Garner's HypnoBirthing classes in San Diego, CA, please visit her website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. For other practitioners in your area, please visit www.HypnoBirthing.com to locate a class near you.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Here's their birth story...it's a wonderful story of how even when birth goes completely off-track, knowing your options & being in control of your choices is so important to help you have the kind of birth experience you want.
October 2, 2011
Day 2
Wow. Wow, wow, wow. That’s all I can say about the last few days, my darling Willow Bee. As I write this, you are cuddling on your daddy’s lap (and crying a little bit) and I just can’t believe I am at the end of this journey and the beginning of a new one. Writing your birth story might have be done in chapters because it went on so long and honestly, I am already starting to forget the details – as is Mother Nature’s little trick on moms.
So, here’s what I can remember, with the help of your dad, Omi, Mimi, Papa and Grandpa who helped fill in some of my memory gaps as we all reminisced about it today – so we would never forget!
Real labor officially began at 2:00am on Friday morning, September 30, 3011. As I wrote before, surges had been growing in regularity since Tuesday but it wasn’t until 2:00am on Friday that things seemed to be getting more serious. I ate for pretty much the last time – not much, just a banana and some lemon cake – and went upstairs to wake up my birth companion and tell him to get the heck out of bed! He started timing the contractions and they were around 2-4 minutes apart for an hour. We called the midwives around 4am and your grandparents.
Everyone arrived before dawn. They stayed downstairs and waited for Ryder to wake up. When Jamin, our midwife arrived, I was 6 cm dilated and officially in active labor. What a relief! This wasn’t so bad! I still had a sense of humor and now that I knew that I was really in labor and making progress, I felt great. This was manageable.
I’m not sure when that all changed but everything you have heard about natural childbirth is true. Transition, the period of time that your
cervix completely dilates to 10 cm is like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. All of my hypnobirthing tools were futile. There was nowhere to go. I had to keep doing this and the only thing that was keeping me going was my midwives, LaShel had joined up at around 8am, telling me that I could do it and this was normal and we were going to have a baby soon.
I made it to 9 cm in the birthing tub and while time was standing still for me, I apparently spent an hour in there, looking for relief from the unrelentless surges. No position was comfortable. Your head was lodged deep in my pelvis and it was causing me amazing back pain during surges – one hip was on fire.
We were almost ready to push at 11:30am or so. LaShel checked my cervix again and I was 9 cm but there was a bit of lip left to go. Disappointed, I went back to work, using the contractions to breath you down and stomping my legs to jiggle your head lower to get rid of the last lip. I alternated using panting breaths to the count of 37 – surges peaked at 22 and subsided at 37 consistently – and screaming my head off to the point that the neighbors on our street will see the large “It’s a Girl!” stork placed on our lawn tomorrow and go, “OH! That’s what that was!” Luckily, our house is such that you couldn’t hear the rebel yells from downstairs, just the stomping apparently, which everyone downstairs started doing in solidarity.
After a half hour of that, LaShel checks me again and now the entire cervix has swelled and I am back to 5 cm dilation during surges. Not good news. My body is feeling the urge to push and apparently, the pressure of not being complete and involuntary pushes have swollen the cervix.
So, at 12pm, I am given a choice – try to relax for an hour and see if the swelling went down or head to the hospital, have an epidural and try to sleep to allow my swollen cervix to fully dilate.
Willow, my biggest fear and anxiety about your birth, besides it ending in a dreaded second c-section, was the car ride to the hospital and here I was, facing this probability at 9 cm dilated with an insatiable urge to push, and having to fight that with everything I had to avoid more swelling. My hip was killing me, the surges were 1 minute apart and 37 counts worth of the most unexplainable torture one could never hope to describe. Your head was stuck and swelling behind my pelvic bone. There was no single body position that provided any relief.
I knew that it was 11.2 miles to the nearest hospital and at least a 15-20 minute drive. I also knew that I would have to be registered, admitted and then wait for the anesthesiologist. It was not an emergency situation – your heart beat was strong. I decided to go to the hospital. I wanted to be put out of my misery. Every moment that passed was another minute I would have to wait.
We took Papa and Mimi’s motorhome. The trip to the hospital was an exercise in self control. Every other minute, a painful contraction would begin along with the uncontrollable urge to push. I closed my eyes and counted while steadily breathing slowly. I concentrated on relaxing my entire body. I went to another world. When the contractions would subside, I returned to my body. The motorhome was quite and no one said a word. Just reassuring smiles from Daddy and Mimi. We arrived in record time and they were waiting for us.
I was admitted in and the labor and delivery room by 12:55pm. I told the nurse I needed help. I pleaded with everyone there to please help me quickly. I put on the gown, I got an IV, I got an oxygen mask. I had blood taken. I signed forms. All between contractions. I had no idea when the anesthesiologist would arrive – he was in surgery. We needed the lab results back first. I was in for a long ride.
The first epidural came at 3:15. It was partially successful. I still felt the surges (I’ll call them surges from now on because that is how they
felt at this point) and I still felt hot pain in my hips and lower back. I hadn’t had any food at all and my sides were cramping with hunger. Food wasn’t an option and I cursed myself for not eating before we left but I just wasn’t thinking straight. There would be no food until you were delivered. Another reason to have you vaginally – I could eat straight away.
The second epidural came at around 6 and it was successful. I finally felt the warm, numbness in my hips, uterus and back. I could finally relax. My legs were totally dead to me – like they belonged to another body. I was happy. I was ready.
Lots of other stuff happened at the same time, of course. But when you are under that much pain and pressure, you don’t really notice. For instance, I had a new doctor to contend with. He was extremely anti-natural birth movement, as they all are it seems, and admitted that he was appalled at the fact that we were attempting a home VBAC. Of course, on the other hand, our new night nurse Tracy had gone and jacked up my pitocin to 8mg and was going to go up to 20mg if needed and the doctor had to chew her out and put me back to 4mg tops. So, with all the talk of how dangerous having you at home was, they were meanwhile increasing the odds of rupture with the pitocin. Pretty ironic I think.
The doctor that delivered you, and despite having an amazing ability to remember all names, was called Dr. Brum-something. He was huge – like 6’6” and when he checked for dilation, which is done so with the checker’s index and middle fingers, he said for him I was at 7cm but
for most, we’ll consider me complete. He would allow me to finally push at around 8pm. It was surreal. I finally got the change to push you out! Of course, I can’t feel anything at all at this point so I am worried that I won’t be able to move any muscles. I am reassured that I will be able to and I am ready. Omi on one side and Mimi on the other side to lift my 500lb legs and Daddy behind me to help hold my head with my chin to my chest, we worked first in cycles of 3 with the surges, pushing and holding my breath for 10 counts and then, we added a 4th as my pitocin induced surges were long and strong. At one point, when sensation began to return, I got up to 6 cycles.
All the while, the Hypnobirthing method of “birth breathing” was in the back of my mind. We aren’t supposed to push you out our bodies, we are supposed to let our bodies do the work and birth breathe you safely down the birth path. When nurse Tracy turned her back, I birth breathed you down. You were coming in at a funny angle. Tracy thought you were sunny side up – that is, instead of facing my spine, facing up to my belly button. But I knew you weren’t. I could feel your spine against the front of my tummy and your body was perfectly straight down. Your swollen little head was somehow stuck under my pelvic bone. There was a heck of a lot of pressure on my hips and back and I was able to get a little more epidural every 10 minutes by pushing a button.
After 2 hours of this, Tracy gave up on me. She told me you would need to be delivered by C-section because your head was developing pressure and it was creating a blister. It was now or never. She walked away from my bed. I turned to one side and visualized you coming down while breathing with my contractions. When Dr. Huge and Imposing returned, he barked, “You can’t sleep through labor, Girl!” Or something equally condescending. To which I replied, “trust me, I am not sleeping; I am working.” And guess what, Willow? In 15 minutes, your mommy had willed you down far enough into the world that even mean-y Doctor had decided that you were ready to come out with just a little help from a vacuum. He gave me 2 choices – I cut him off by the 3rd – c-section if I was too tired to go on (I wasn’t. I would have fought for you forever), deliver you right now with the use of a vacuum – “Stop! We’ll take it!”
So, in comes the Calvary. The nursery nurse, the supporting nurse staff, the tools, the baby bed gets prepared. I can hardly believe that anyone else thinks there is going to be a baby there in a minute or two. He tells me I have to push like I have never pushed before and I am ready. Get your face mask on, Doc, she’s getting shot out of here!
3 big pushes for your head. I feel it coming down. It feels like the biggest relief in history. POP! It’s out!!! One more little push for one shoulder, and another one for the other shoulder. One small push for the rest of you and WAH!!!!!!! You were here, laying all buttery smooth on my chest looking at me questioningly. I introduced myself to you formally and kissed you, calmed you. You knew me and I knew you in a
familiar way that I can’t describe.
Everyone is cheering and before I can stop them, the normal hospital dance begins with the cord cut, you being whisked away to be weighed and tested. Your scores are great. You weigh 8lb 8.3oz and are 21 inches long. You are bigger that your big brother was at birth – and he was born 13 days gestationally longer than you were. You were in the baby warmer with your grandparents protecting you on every side from the assault. I laid on the table watching and being stitched up from a gnarly tear.
Eventually, everything calms down and everyone leaves. I don’t know where they went but it was just you and me in the room. I nursed you. I kissed you. I sang to you. I thanked the universe for you. My own little baby daughter to love, teach, and instill within a strength to stand up for what she believes in and fight the system. No regrets, baby Willow.
The story, of course, just begins there. And there is already so much to tell. Like how you recognized your Daddy when he picked you up for the first time and gently introduced himself. And how your brother sat still on my lap for 20 minutes after a nap and told me he missed me a couple of days after we got home with you. He is going to be such a good big brother to you! He says, “Ryder likes baby Willow!” I came downstairs once without you and he asked if I had put Baby Willow back in my belly button. I explained that there was no going back, you
were here for good. He’s ok with that.
I love you my little darling,
Mama
Carol,
3 Cheers for Hypnobirthing and Class 4 (Birth Preferences Plan) especially. We were able to hit the hospital and know what to ask and what to refuse. I can't thank you enough!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations to you & Gus! You did an amazing job using your HypnoBirthing techniques to the best of your ability! The knowledge you acquired from class and the support of the amazing midwives gave you the courage to stand up for what you wanted & do what you needed to do in order to have the VBAC you wanted. Even though it wasn't as comfortable & calm as you had hoped, my goal of having you informed & educated was successful. You were able to make the right choices for you & your baby in order to have a safe, successful VBAC birth. You trusted your body, the birthing process & you willed your body to do what it needed to do! I hope you continue enjoying your babymoon! I'm sure you're feeling over the moon!
For more information about San Diego Midwife, please call 760-809-9396 or visit their
website at www.sandiegomidwife.com.
For more information about Carol Yeh-Garner's HypnoBirthing classes in San Diego, CA, please visit her website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. For other practitioners in your area, please visit www.HypnoBirthing.com to locate a class near you.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Sabtu, 01 Oktober 2011
Two Months
My Beanie Bu is two months old today! I can't believe two months has gone by since she made her grand entrance into this world. And, Ladies, I can't believe that T-O-D-A-Y a certain person made her return. Yes Aunt Flo has started her visits again! Isn't that too soon? I mean I BF on demand and everything... I thought I still had a few months before I had to start dealing with all that... no such luck!!
Anywizays....what I wanted to share with you was some photos and film of my Beanie Bu:
She's quite the smiler now!
She's got good head control already.
And is getting quite chubby!
Rabu, 28 September 2011
Two New Mamas
It's been over a month since I last posted but I know you understand. I have had my hands rather full of baby and everything that baby produces.... I also wanted to fully immerse myself in her - just totally give my time and my focus so I could get to know her and just enjoy these all too fleeting newborn moments. But I missed posting. And I kept thinking up ideas for new posts that I promised myself I would eventually get round to. That's when I realized a lot of what I wanted to write about I already had, with another new mama.
My Gorgeous Friend had an adorable baby girl about a month after Beanie Bu was born. Our communication started off just as congratulations for our new arrivals and then just like that we were emailing back and forth about our baby experiences, how we were feeling and how we were adapting. I've been in contact with a lot of friends who are experienced mamas but there was something about talking with someone who is living what you are at the same time as you are. There's an immediate connection and understanding. So I thought sharing some excerpts of our emails would be an interesting way of showing you what life's been like for two new mamas.
It starts with Gorgeous Friend emailing first:
Born today after 36 hours of labour, weighing 8.9lbs. She is pretty magical and currently sleeping in Daddy’s arms.
I love her name! Can't wait to see pics... you did it mama. And boy did you do it! Respect xxx
Despite the pain I think it was undoubtedly the best experience of my life, totally rocked my whole world...
Found it really moving that you said it was the best experience of your life - not sure I felt the same, I think I felt total shock! If you have some time I wrote my birth story but be warned it is no holds barred, so probably best not to read it while you're eating ;)
I look forward to hearing all about yours - I would really recommend you write it down, very cathartic and good to look back on in the years to come.
Just read your birth story - incredible, so moving. I ended up being really high risk as blood press shot up super high for the whole labour and the waters had meconium in them. Had an epidural after 30 hours but managed to get her out without intervention which made me so so happy. The epi only worked on half of one side so I could feel the contractions there and knew when to push, which was important in the end. Had a witches coven of incredible midwives, one of whom had delivered 1000 babies herself. At one point a doctor came in with the ventouse and they just started shouting "come on, push! We won't let him near you!" wonderful. She came out in a rush 2 minutes before they were going to intervene (I only had a limited time because of the BP.) Anyway, horribly painful and exhilarating all at once. Yours sounded pretty extraordinary and I think you're so brave.
Wow good on you and your midwives for beating the ventouse! Sounds really incredible and that you had an amazing group of midwives around you. I love the feeling of all the women coming together as support and encouragement - im sure it's a rare thing in today's modern birthing environment.
Beanie Bu has just gotten over a bad spell of colic - it lasted three days, the infa.col didn't seem to be working but now has started to and we had our first day yesterday with no colic pains and she is back to her happy self. So heart breaking when she was crying..
You're probably living on another planet right now... life without normal routine and other daily markers is a very strange experience indeed.
After two days of bliss (her sleeping for three hours in the day and five at night and feeding like a dream) things have gone a bit awry with her now wanting to "cluster feed" (as I learned it was called today) every hour or so and she just vomited her entire last feed which really scared me. Did Bu ever do that? She's sleeping now, poor girl.
Glad that the colic episode has cleared up and that it wasn't too long. Gosh, can't wait to pick your brain about stuff! The whole loss of routine thing is totally, totally bizarre. Actually, I think I might find it the hardest part. I keep thinking "I must be doing... something normal - like working or shopping or having lunch out, seeing people..." and then I realised (having dipped for the first time into my baby book) that these are such precious and I guess relatively short-lived moments, when it's all about feeding, just the two of you. And so I've resolved to just sink myself deeply into it, let go of everything else and do whatever makes her happy.
Anyway, better go as she's going to want eating soon - I can hear her smacking her lips!
Ah the joys of cluster feeding! So exhausting :s Thankfully Bu has only done it twice so far... and after a while when I can't go on anymore, Mr. T takes her for a walk in the sling to distract her for a bit and I crash until they come back - this happened on our 8 year anniversary of when we met and I told him the hour sleep he gave me was the best anniversary present I ever had!!
She usually cluster feeds in the evening now just before bedtime, I figure this is her way of getting a full tummy before her night sleep. And yes she has spit up or rather exorcist style puked up entire feeds… i found that keeping her torso elevated after feeds rather than lying down flat kept more down. Though she still manages to spit up a lot....
Nice to cocoon yourself after the birth - it feels like you should do stuff because you get bursts of energy, but the most helpful thing I read was that this energy is meant to be saved not spent. And there is plenty of time after to meet people etc.. and soon enough a loose routine emerges, though it's nothing like the life we knew before!! I know every baby and every family is different but for Bu and I, our routine worked out around the 3rd week and it's been evolving and solidifying since. Our really important times are the afternoon nap between 12-3 (though she has lots of cat naps before and after) but this is the time I sleep too, and then the long night sleep between 10-3am and then 4-6/7am. Our mornings are the busiest with lots of feeds, poops and play time all happening interspersed with cat naps before our long afternoon nap which I really need by then!
Wow, sounds like you're in an amazing routine already. 10-3 and 4-6 is fantastic! I hope we can get there soon. Had small meltdown yesterday when she just wouldn't settle and I ended up feeding her pretty much for two hours, which then made me worry that I'm not producing enough milk, which is why she's not settling and feeding for so long. It's so hard to tell and I'm probably making it worse by eating not as much as I should perhaps because of tiredness and worry.
Glad that the projectile vomiting is normal and thank you for tip about keeping her upright, will do that.
I'm sure you're producing plenty of milk - if your boobs drip or leak at times, then you definitely are. She's probably just preparing for a growth spurt so she's placing her order with your brain for increased milk supply in the days ahead. I have had quite a few meltdowns - it just gets to a point when you are too frazzled to go on... that's when i find a sling comes in handy! She protests for a few mins then soon falls asleep, as babies less than 1 month (usually!) cannot keep awake with motion. Though it's best if Mr. T does it as if she is still close to my chest, the lure of the milk makes it harder to settle.
Sleeping and eating are so difficult when you don't get a moment to yourself, and yet it's so important... grrr... i have kept up with my prenatal vitamins, as they help with the quality of the milk too. And when people come to visit us I always ask them to bring food!! Ha ha ha! It's the best gift they could offer at this point! Though with the sling and her getting into more of a routine I have managed to tentatively do some cooking - even a chocolate cake which I was most proud of and *sheepishly* ate most of.... though i didn't lift a finger for the first two weeks, just totally impossible.
Thanks for the reassurance on the whole boob thing. I am definitely leaking, so I guess that's a good sign. I'm actually going to start expressing one bottle a day so that Daddy can feed her and she gets used to being bottle fed early on so no traumas later. Trying to figure out how / when to do that now... It's so much more complicated than you imagine it to be, but she more than makes up for it. I am totally totally smitten by her - more than I expected to be so early on - and Daddy is just as in love, more so even!
Hope the passport application is done quickly for you. How was the photo drama? I could not get Bu to stop lifting her hands up into the picture and then she fell fast asleep... but we managed to get one photo of her eyes half open but looking to the side and we got one full face looking forward but with eyes closed. We showed them both to the Brit Embassy and they took the eyes half open picture - where she looks drugged!
I'm very proud as we have just done our first spot of mummy baby yoga! She only managed 5 mins before she fell asleep though :) So I continued on my own... wow my body feels totally unfamiliar! Everything feels out of place and like it needs to be realigned, so glad I can finally get back into it as normal yoga is out of bounds for first 6 weeks after birth apparently, so I just started back today with gentle postnatal yoga. I feel like there's a long road ahead....
Anyway I also plan to start pumping a few bottles of milk so Mr. T can connect with Bu this way.. he has been out of it a bit and so as a result doesn't feel so confident with her. We've decided to introduce Daddy mornings/afternoons next week, and he is a little apprehensive about it, I can tell. I was told to hold off on the bottle until at least 6 weeks so that BF is really well established and there is no nipple confusion... don't know if that's important info for you, but I decided to wait until then before giving her the bottle. And then with her colic episode I've decided to wait a bit longer. So at 8 weeks, Mr. T is going to get his first full on morning with her - it really is her best time and i feel bad for him as he always misses out on these magic moments I have with her. I plan on making myself scarce so he doesn't feel like I am watching how he is with her and he can be free to explore things that work for him. And hopefully we can move up into a whole Daddy day once a week... then i can do all the things I am desperate to do - straighten hair, pedicure, leg wax... ahh bliss!
P.S Bu had a crying fit of 20 mins last night, not sure if it was colic or because I accidentally scratched her with my fingernail (how evil did I feel?), but she produced real tears for the first time! Which I have to say made it worse!! Seeing those little wet cheeks... i think a little piece of my heart actually broke off. Sigh.
Gosh, the passport thing! I was really nervous because she hates being woken up from a sleep and after a feed she's pretty much out like a light but we managed to wheel her very fast to the photo place and she was all swaddled up so just stared angelically at the camera (I think she's a bit of a diva) and that was that! Not what I expected.
Well done you for starting with the whole yoga and baby yoga thing - you're like a super mum! Haven't started thinking about exercise yet - not sure where to find the time. I feel like my days go by in a blur of eating and nappies and burping and then trying to catch an hour or two of sleep and then it starts all over again.
We just had a maternity nurse over for the day, who was amazing - she's helped loads of friends and also my sister. She's given us a whole routine, which seems perhaps a bit much after only 10 days, but I think maybe worth giving it a go as I'm really keen for her to be a good sleeper. Where did you get your routine from? Was it Jane or did Bu naturally fall into it?
So, we've already started on the bottles. In hospital I had to top her up with formula because of the light treatment for her jaundice (they have to eat and eat and eat when having it) and she cup fed for that, which she was amazingly good at. Now we do one bottle of formula a night, which Daddy gives her. Sometimes she hates it and just wants boob, sometimes (usually when it's the middle of the night) she happily guzzles 3oz and passes out. I was in a real dilemma about a) using a bottle from so early and b) using formula, but I know lots of people who've split it and it seems to be good to help with the whole transition to formula and bottle once you stop breastfeeding. I will start expressing (when my bloody pump arrives) though and we'll probably use more breastmilk from the bottle than formula then (unless I'm running low at the end of the day and she needs a top up). All seems very confusing, but just trying to muddle through and keep her as peaceful and happy as possible.
P.S from your photos it looks like Bu sleeps ALL the time! Is that the case??
No definitely not! It only takes a second to take a photo... and that's when i have time or someone else does to snap a pic!!
Basically Bu catnaps a lot. She has her main sleeps at night and then one 3 hour nap in the middle of the day and either side of that she catches naps that can last 5 mins to 45 mins... there's no pattern to it and I would rather let her go with the flow... if she needs to sleep then I let her sleep. Unless we are getting close to nap time then i try to keep her awake until then. However this won't always be the case as little by little I try to introduce a bit more structure, so eventually there should be more of a routine to this. But I don't want to start too young and I basically let her lead how the routine will go. So if I see there's a certain time she usually likes to feed or sleep or is awake and wants to be entertained then I try and remember it and copy that every day to reinforce it. But don't worry as I had absolutely no routine at all until the 3rd week and then it was more trial and error, I kept a notebook and tried to write down any patterns I saw. Sometimes this was hilarious as I would write 10.30am Asleep, 10.35am Awake, Fed, Changed, 11.00am Asleep, 11.15am Awake and on and on!! But there were some useful patterns, ones that I thought worked for both her and me and so I tried to repeat those. I also only focused on certain sections of the day and night at the beginning - so night time came first, then the mid day cat nap and now I am working on a morning routine. Lots of observation and patience! And I also have to remember to be fluid the routine will change as she does.
The one thing that has really helped me into the whole observation thing is something called Elimination Communication. Basically it's a natural toilet training alternative.. you can check it out online.. but because I have been observing Bu's times and cues for when she wants to poo, it has helped me to naturally observe her other patterns too. Now I know always when she is going to poo and so we have been catching them in a potty outside of her nappy (or on the changing mat if I can't get to the potty fast enough!! Btw our potty is just a tupperware container - small enough for her little bottom!) A lot of people don't start EC until later - but I loved the idea of observing my baby and developing this kind of communication early on, and over time it became so clear that she would poo at certain times (always during a feed for her!) I also got a book called Diaper-Free baby which is all about EC and they gave some really good clues about when newborns usually do a poo. So I built her routine around this.
I would love to know more about the maternity nurse - im sure she was a treasure of information! So do please share any tips you thought were really useful. Which breast pump did you get? I started to use mine without reading the instructions first - Doh! - not the best idea!! Nipple went into a very weird shape :s
Finding time for exercise is extremely difficult. But dont worry as they dont advise you doing anything until 6 weeks anyway, except for simple pelvic floor squeezes which I did while feeding (when I remembered!). And now I only get 15 or 20 mins of exercise anyway, which is enough for the moment... it's so hard to find a time when she is going to stay a sleep and I don't need to do something else or have just eaten and so have a full belly. But patience, patience... i'll figure it out somehow!
so, breast pump... I have to say, just expressing for two bottles'worth a day (which is what I'm doing) I would find exhausting and way too time consuming doing it manually. The electric pump takes 15-20 mins to do 5oz and you can just sit there and do emails or watch TV while it's happening. It's so much more efficient. I know it's a lot of money but if you're planning on expressing regularly for a long period of time, I think it's worth it. God, I sound like a cheap saleswoman, don't I? Anyway, absolutely no rush in deciding and if you're happy with the manual, stick with it!
Thanks for thinking of us for the breast pump - I may be interested... I have been pumping milk this week with my Medela manual and we are going to start with the bottle tomorrow as part of 'Daddy mornings' if all goes well and she has no problem with the bottle then I might want to get an electrical one. So.. can you give me a couple of days to let you know?
Really looking forward to seeing you three again, will be nice to hang out with people who are going thru what we are too!
P.S I went for my 6 week check up and Dr. B asked, so in 6 months you will be trying again? I was like WTF?? No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 years maybe!!!
Forgot to say good luck with the daddy morning! Daddy N and Baby Girl absolutely adore their feeding time together - so magical to see and so special for them. Daddy N is also an absolute genius with burping! Can't believe Dr. B was talking about more babies!! Daddy N brought it up yesterday - "so, in 9 months' time shall we try again?" I nearly smacked him.
Well Daddy morning wasn't a complete success... Bu did not like the bottle experience! We tried a number of things... different positions, different teats but when I saw it becoming too distressing we stopped. I tried later on when she was in the car seat and she did suck a couple of times but still did not look impressed and soon pushed it out of her mouth.
I have since come up with a new plan! I'm going to leave the room, so she can't see or smell me, and let my mum try feeding her with a bottle when she's not very hungry, like it's a treat, and see how she feels... I think it's best if my mum does it first as Mr T gets disheartened quickly and well my mum's done it all before... so we'll see how it goes. So for the time being I'm going to stick with the manual as I am only expressing 50ml a day which takes just a few mins... but thanks for thinking of me! I may regret the decision later on... if she does start drinking from the bottle well but I just can't imagine it at the moment.
I'm sorry that Daddy morning didn't work out - yet. It will, I'm sure, you just need to persevere and I think really good idea to have your mum do it and also not be there.
It's really hard (and upsetting) when they don't like the bottle and I had a real panic today with Daddy N gone as it was the first time I gave her the bottle since the first time I tried and she had a complete meltdown. It is massively confusing for them, it seems, but she thankfully did take it from me (I wore several layers and didn't look her in the eye!) so if she'll do that then Bu will definitely take it from Mr. T eventually. Tell him not to be disheartened - I know how he feels, but it's so worth it and so worth keeping trying.
We have finally booked out flights back. Am so, so excited. Cannot wait to be home and to see you guys and everyone else, who we've missed so much!
Daddy N is there now - in a whirlwind of cot buying and tumble dryer buying and nappies and everything that we don't have. All we have is a steriliser so the house is totally unprepared for Baby Girl, but we're getting there. I am a sucker for having her in bed with us (and always take her in in the afternoons for serious snuggle time) but I do want her to learn to sleep by herself and I also find it really hard sleeping with her snuffly noises, which either break my heart or make me worry...
Conversations to be continued....
Rabu, 31 Agustus 2011
A HypnoBirthing story--Kirstin & Joe
Kirstin & Joe took my HypnoBirthing classes in February 2011 on Thursday nights at Dr. Biter & Dr. Cobb's OB/GYN office, Seaside Women's Health in Encinitas, CA. Here is their birth story.
Kirstin, Joe & Declan’s Hypnobirth Story
My husband, Joe and I did the Balloon Trip Fear Release HypnoBirthing script the evening of April 27th, as we were 2 days away from my estimated date and we were anxious for our little guy to arrive. My water broke that night at 1:30am- my surges were mild and about 10 minutes apart at this time. I called Dr. Biter and our doula at 5am, and we decided that I’d just eat some breakfast and try to rest until the surges got more intense (they were 7 minutes apart). Our doula suggested that I take a walk around 9 am, since the surges had decreased as I was resting. You can’t avoid walking hills at my house, so by the end of my 30 minute jaunt, labor was in full progress.
I got back to the house and needed Joe for each surge at this point. We had really wanted to labor at home as long as we could, so we headed to the bathroom and spent the next 3 hours between the bathtub and sitting on the toilet. We kept the Rainbow Relaxation and Affirmations CD on repeat in the background, which really helped set the tone. Joe also read some prompts that Carol included on our “cheat sheet.” I often started to draw my shoulders up with each surge and tense up my back- Joe kept repeating to count to 20 with each surge, keep my body relaxed and breathe with just my abdomen. The Opening Rose visualization during surges, and Instant Relaxation exercise in between surges were especially helpful during this time. We’d decided that our doula should come to our house and help us decide when to head to the hospital. She arrived within an hour, but by that time I’d already gone through transition (vomiting and sweats), and we made the decision shortly after her arrival. My surges were very intense and 3-4 minutes apart, and I knew we needed to get to the hospital.
We had the Rainbow Relaxation on during the 25-min. ride to Pomerado, which really helped me go into a deeper state of relaxation. My surges were VERY intense, and I wasn’t sure if we would make it, but I knew I had to relax into the labor at this point. By the time Joe pulled up to the hospital entrance, I had started feeling the urge to push. They got me up to my room in L& D, examined me and found out I was fully dilated. Dr. Cobb was on his way, and I really wanted to push, but we had to try to wait for him to get there. In the meantime, the Electric Fetal Monitor showed our baby’s heart rate was low, so I needed to have an oxygen mask. The nurse, however, kept repeating how urgent it was for the doctor to arrive because of the baby’s heartrate, which of course was alarming. Joe kept reminding me of my breathing and counting, which helped me to stay calm. Dr. Cobb then arrived and we were ready to push.
Dr. Cobb had to ask me to push not only with my surges, but also in between them, because he wanted to get the baby out as fast as possible due to the heart rate. Since I’d been diligent about perineal massage, I wasn’t scared at this point. After 35 minutes of our arrival to the hospital, which includes 11 minutes of pushing, our baby boy Declan arrived. I had a small tear which required two stitches, just because the doctor was working to help get Declan’s head out. He was, however, calm and alert upon his arrival.
After 13 hours, 6 of those being intense active labor, we experienced the labor and birth that we had envisioned and hoped for. No pain medications, no interventions, and laboring at home as long as possible (although we probably should have left a little earlier and give the doctor more time to get there!). While I do have a great maternal history of fast, unmedicated births, I feel we would not have achieved this end result without the use of Hypnobirthing. We’d made the commitment to the practice and it really paid off. With Joe’s support and use of hypnobirthing tools, I was able to go with labor rather than resist it, and will forever remember this incredible experience. Thank you to Carol, her great instruction, and the confidence she instilled in us!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations Kirstin & Joe on the birth of Declan! Thank you so much for sharing your birth story & I hope you're enjoying parenthood!
For more information about HypnoBirthing classes in San Diego, CA, please visit Carol's website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. For information about other practitioners in your area, please visit www.HypnoBirthing.com & go to the Find a Practitioner page.
For more information about Dr. Cobb & Dr. Biter's services, please call 760-642-0800.
For more information about Kirstin & Joe's doula, Jenna Anderson, please visit www.birthofadoula.blogspot.com.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Kirstin, Joe & Declan’s Hypnobirth Story
My husband, Joe and I did the Balloon Trip Fear Release HypnoBirthing script the evening of April 27th, as we were 2 days away from my estimated date and we were anxious for our little guy to arrive. My water broke that night at 1:30am- my surges were mild and about 10 minutes apart at this time. I called Dr. Biter and our doula at 5am, and we decided that I’d just eat some breakfast and try to rest until the surges got more intense (they were 7 minutes apart). Our doula suggested that I take a walk around 9 am, since the surges had decreased as I was resting. You can’t avoid walking hills at my house, so by the end of my 30 minute jaunt, labor was in full progress.
I got back to the house and needed Joe for each surge at this point. We had really wanted to labor at home as long as we could, so we headed to the bathroom and spent the next 3 hours between the bathtub and sitting on the toilet. We kept the Rainbow Relaxation and Affirmations CD on repeat in the background, which really helped set the tone. Joe also read some prompts that Carol included on our “cheat sheet.” I often started to draw my shoulders up with each surge and tense up my back- Joe kept repeating to count to 20 with each surge, keep my body relaxed and breathe with just my abdomen. The Opening Rose visualization during surges, and Instant Relaxation exercise in between surges were especially helpful during this time. We’d decided that our doula should come to our house and help us decide when to head to the hospital. She arrived within an hour, but by that time I’d already gone through transition (vomiting and sweats), and we made the decision shortly after her arrival. My surges were very intense and 3-4 minutes apart, and I knew we needed to get to the hospital.
We had the Rainbow Relaxation on during the 25-min. ride to Pomerado, which really helped me go into a deeper state of relaxation. My surges were VERY intense, and I wasn’t sure if we would make it, but I knew I had to relax into the labor at this point. By the time Joe pulled up to the hospital entrance, I had started feeling the urge to push. They got me up to my room in L& D, examined me and found out I was fully dilated. Dr. Cobb was on his way, and I really wanted to push, but we had to try to wait for him to get there. In the meantime, the Electric Fetal Monitor showed our baby’s heart rate was low, so I needed to have an oxygen mask. The nurse, however, kept repeating how urgent it was for the doctor to arrive because of the baby’s heartrate, which of course was alarming. Joe kept reminding me of my breathing and counting, which helped me to stay calm. Dr. Cobb then arrived and we were ready to push.
Dr. Cobb had to ask me to push not only with my surges, but also in between them, because he wanted to get the baby out as fast as possible due to the heart rate. Since I’d been diligent about perineal massage, I wasn’t scared at this point. After 35 minutes of our arrival to the hospital, which includes 11 minutes of pushing, our baby boy Declan arrived. I had a small tear which required two stitches, just because the doctor was working to help get Declan’s head out. He was, however, calm and alert upon his arrival.
After 13 hours, 6 of those being intense active labor, we experienced the labor and birth that we had envisioned and hoped for. No pain medications, no interventions, and laboring at home as long as possible (although we probably should have left a little earlier and give the doctor more time to get there!). While I do have a great maternal history of fast, unmedicated births, I feel we would not have achieved this end result without the use of Hypnobirthing. We’d made the commitment to the practice and it really paid off. With Joe’s support and use of hypnobirthing tools, I was able to go with labor rather than resist it, and will forever remember this incredible experience. Thank you to Carol, her great instruction, and the confidence she instilled in us!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations Kirstin & Joe on the birth of Declan! Thank you so much for sharing your birth story & I hope you're enjoying parenthood!
For more information about HypnoBirthing classes in San Diego, CA, please visit Carol's website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. For information about other practitioners in your area, please visit www.HypnoBirthing.com & go to the Find a Practitioner page.
For more information about Dr. Cobb & Dr. Biter's services, please call 760-642-0800.
For more information about Kirstin & Joe's doula, Jenna Anderson, please visit www.birthofadoula.blogspot.com.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
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