Marie (Mickey) Mongan, the founder of HypnoBirthing recently presented the following speech at the HypnoBirthing Conclave/Convention. It's worth sharing...
With HypnoBirthing NOTHING works!
We see it often - HypnoBirthing mothers accept that they have the ability to relax through the first phase of labor. But when it comes to talking about the baby’s descent and birthing, the question is, “What do I do then?” My answer is always the same - “NOTHING!! That’s what I want you to get out of this course. The understanding of doing “Nothing!!”
With HypnoBirthing NOTHING works. It’s Nature’s perfect design from the very onset.
Let’s look at a newborn baby girl - as she emerges, who teaches her to breathe? She does absolutely nothing to make it happen - but it happens.
If properly placed and encouraged, she crawls and bobbles her way to the breast for her first meal outside the womb. There is nothing that anyone gives her in the way of instruction - A natural GPS??
Within minutes of being born, she releases her anal sphincters, and out comes her first stool, or she pees. How does she do that without a chart of how to perform timely bodily functions?
Over time, as she grows and develops, with nothing to tell her how or when or how many times, she learns that she can sneeze to clear her nasal passages; she can signal that she is hungry or wants attention if it’s not readily there; she startles and becomes alert if she is frightened; and, if she feels secure, she can relax and fall asleep in loving arms. What did she do to learn to fall asleep? Nothing! Who taught her to awaken? How did she know she was hungry?
Fast forward to when she is a teenager. Her body changes with nothing but internal hormonal secretions to act as catalysts - she becomes a woman. The power of nothing is, and has been, alive in her human experience in so many ways, and she has mastered many functions with nothing but instinct to guide her.
Nothing has to teach her that she is experiencing her first love. She instinctively knows it and feels it. And when the time is right, there is nothing she has to study to learn how to express that love physically.
But enter the miracle of pregnancy, and all of a sudden, her previous trust, power, and confidence crumbles. She is now taught that her body is incapable of leading her through what should be a perfectly magical time. She must now be carefully taught how to nurture her pregnant body and her baby and ultimately how to give birth.
She is further taught that her trust and dependence is best placed outside of her own abilities and externally placed into the hands of others - strangers, trained and practiced experts, who know better than she. She needs them now to efficiently and conveniently manage her birth. They will teach and guide her along each step of the way. Instinct be damned!
She is now categorized onto charts - primagravida, and she’s put onto schedules, and regimens. She learns that she is inadequate and almost irrelevant to her own birthing experience.
For the woman who senses this as a disconnect, there are two options. She can go along with the prevailing model, or she can trust birthing, register for a HypnoBirthing class and learn to do nothing!!
We know that many of our moms hear a common question when they say they are preparing to birth their baby with HypnoBirthing. The question often is “Are you out of your mind.” In truth the response to that is “Yes.” To rely on her basic birthing instincts, a mother literally needs to be “out of her mind”. That’s where she turns her birthing over to her body and gets her mind and the regimens and techniques out of the way.
That’s exactly where we want our moms to be. When we teach them otherwise - how to do, and when to do, and how often to do - we confuse the inner consciousness, which controls instinct. Instinct no longer can function - we have stifled the natural function with the clutter of confused, panicked mind talk.
We strip it of the internal knowing, and then we turn to drugs as an external means of forcing the body to do what it used to know how to do. We know that drugs inhibit the bonding experience at birth, and mind talk also inhibits bodily function. Instead of achieving the objective, we confuse the body and it abdicates.
My question to all is: How dare we? How dare we presume to think that we can manipulate and redesign and introduce confusion into the experience with our own special outlines, instructions and techniques? How dare we mess with what is already perfectly created?
When we distribute charts and lists and lessons, filled with exercises and positions and advice,in effect,we are telling our parents that they need to do more and they need to do it this or that way at particular times. We need to bring about an awareness that what we teach in HypnoBirthing is not the cornerstone of HypnoBirthing, but rather suggestions to pass time.
Parents panic. They are afraid they will forget what we carefully instilled. They question are they doing it “right’? The only important thing is that they learn to do nothing - to just “allow” - to be the mammals that they are and return to their basic instincts.
Birthing has a rhythm and a flow, and every bit of “fixing” that we impose helps to disturb and shut down that very rhythm and flow. What they need to develop is a mastery to be “Out of their minds.” We need to stop humanizing birth. We have to put aside our own egos and our need to be a relevant factor in their birthing.
The time has come when we need to stop labeling these births as “exceptional” and “fantastic” and “out of this world.” They need to be seen as the norm and not out of the ordinary. When we no longer feel that we have to talk about how shocked and surprised the caregivers are, we will have begun to make progress. These will be the births that all mothers will expect when they are “out of their minds” and doing Nothing.
——Mickey Mongan, Director and Founder of the HypnoBirthing Institute
Tampilkan postingan dengan label pregnant. Tampilkan semua postingan
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Rabu, 29 Desember 2010
Senin, 13 Desember 2010
A HypnoBirthing announcement--Jill Ann & Ben
Hi-
Jill Ann & Ben took my HypnoBirthing classes at Babies by the Sea Boutique on Tuesdays in August 2010. There were 5 couples in that class series. All five couples had amazing births & they all become close friends. Jill Ann was the last of the five to give birth. She came to class wanting a different experience for her 2nd birth than she had with her 1st birth.
Ben and Jill Ann’s Birth Story
A little back story on my journey to a HypnoBirth:
When I found out we were pregnant with our son, I researched everything! I knew I was going to breastfeed and cloth diaper, and there was no BPA or parbens in my house but we spent very little time researching birthing options. I knew the notion of natural birth, especially since my mom had all three of us naturally, but I never even considered it. Everyone around me encouraged me to get the epidural so I just thought that was the way to go!
As my pregnancy came to an end, I was feeling miserable and huge (feelings I never had with my HypnoBirth) and as soon as I went up to my due date, I scheduled an induction for 41 weeks.
The morning of the day I was going to go in to get the cervix ripener my water broke.
It was 7:30 am and the only thing I could remember from the birth class DVD was to check the water to make sure it's clear and take a shower. It was in the shower that the fear took over. My contractions started immediately and were painful. I felt like I was going to die!
We went to the hospital right after my short shower and I was admitted right away. No joke- I had the epidural 15 minutes later and felt nothing!! It was sweet relief. I took a nap and patiently waited for them to tell me it was time to push. About 4 hours later it was time. I pushed and pushed and pushed some more!! After two hours of pushing, it was suggested that I had pushed for "the time" and now I should consider assistance or.... I was terrified of a C-section so I agreed to the vacuum and the episiotomy that came with it. My son was born 2 pushes later with the vacuum assist.
Again nothing went 'wrong' with my birth; it was a quick and easy delivery with no pain, but afterward I realized that I wanted something different for baby 2.
Before we even got pregnant, I was entertaining the idea of a natural birth in the back of my mind. When I would mention it to people they would look at me like I was crazy (kind of like when I share that I cloth diaper)! But one good friend shared her natural birth story and then I got encouragement from my midwife and then another friend shared her story. All of these women were passionate and positive about natural birth – my first exposure to something other than “get an epidural.”
I already knew I wanted Deborah Strauhal, my massage therapist, who is also a doula, at my birth and she suggested HypnoBirthing. I Googled and found lots of information including Carol's website (www.AWellLivedLife.Net)and blog. I also ordered the book off Amazon and read it before committing to class. It was Carol's blog that sold me. I already felt like part of the family before class even started.
This time around things were very different. I worked out to prepare my body, I felt great even at the very end at 41+ weeks pregnant... When my labor did start I was not afraid... In fact, I was opposite! I was excited! I was completely in control and ready for just about anything...
My recovery time was minimal and very, very easy! I was up and walking around that day and released from the hospital 32 hours after being admitted (pretty much the minimum allowed)
So here is my HypnoBirth story:
I was overdue and reluctantly scheduled for an induction on Friday (42+ weeks) and the baby was being monitored every 3 days and everything was looking great so I was not worried about the health of the baby and waiting until Friday.
I had been having practice surges for about 3 days and on Sunday (41 weeks 5 days) I experienced a sensation that was different than all of the other practice surges.
It was 2:00 in the afternoon and it was a rolling wave that took over my entire abdominal area and even brought tears to my eyes… not painful at all but it was like my body was reacting. I had another one 10 minutes later and then no more.
I was distracted after that because my 2 year old had woken from his nap. I was still experiencing surges but they didn’t seem consistent (or that I should be timing them).
Eventually, I took some time for myself and took a shower and listened to Rainbow Relaxation and Birthing Affirmations CD. I even tried to take a nap but I was too excited that I might actually be going into labor.
So, I decided to hydrate up with coconut water and Gatorade. I was trying to watch TV to keep my mind off of things but it was hard so I finally gave in and started using my ipod to time my surges.
Shortly after I felt a small gush and it was my mucous plug being released.
At this point I called my doula to give her a heads up and secured overnight care for my son “just in case” and then went about our nightly routine of eating dinner and getting my son ready for bed. I ate some apples, cheese, eggs, and toast, all washed down with lots of water!
At about 9:15 pm, I decided to go “relax” to see if I could get the surges to become more regular. At this point they were 5-6 minutes apart and lasting 30 seconds.
After 45 minutes of listening to the Rainbow Relaxation and Birthing Affirmations CD, I was feeling the surges coming on more frequent and stronger. At this point, we called our doula to come to the house. She arrived about 20 minutes later.
Once our doula arrived, things really took off. I moved onto the birth ball and laid my body over the bed. While still listening to the Rainbow Relaxation CD, my doula would massage my muscles in between surges. The massage was really helping my body truly and ultimately relax in between each surge and it was a little slice of heaven.
After about 45 minutes I felt the need to go to the hospital. I didn’t feel like I needed to push or anything, I just wanted to get there and be admitted so that I could get to my birthing room and get back into “the zone.” After calling the hospital, I took another shower and then we left. At this point my surges were 2-3 minutes apart and lasting 45-60 seconds.
When we arrived at the hospital I was 5 cm and “stretchy.” I had to be in the triage room to confirm that I was in real labor… again… I was relaxed and talking in between surges so there seemed to be a little reluctance that I was in active labor. During this time in triage I expressed that I did not want an IV, however, I ended up getting a hep lock, which was the compromise. I tried many times for no IV, but in all honesty, I didn't even care as the surges were close together and it was taking a lot of concentration just to breath and it really seemed to help the RN relax a little bit.
About 12:30 we went to our room, got a hep lock and more monitoring. I actually liked the monitoring because my 'team' could know when I was having surges. Before this, I had been holding up my finger to let them know and it was getting annoying to me… I just wanted to be still.
It felt like I was in my birthing room for minutes before I was feeling pressure (time distortion it was actually 45 minutes). I was checked and only 7cm. During this time I was laboring laying on the bed and the birth ball still listening to RR and still having light touch massage during a surge and more intense massage between surges.
Shortly after being checked at 7 cm, I was feeling claustrophobic and that I needed to escape!!!! I was breathing through my surges but I could feel that I was not relaxing and I started freaking out a bit. I was begging for someone to get me through it and MY TEAM did a good job of refocusing me and grounding me a bit (though I don't think I was actually listening to them).
Around 2:30 my body took over completely and I could feel the need to push. It was a rolling sensation in my body that I knew had to be it! As I was complaining that I had to push, the RN checked me again and of course I was 10!! At this point my membranes had still not ruptured and the baby was still -1 station but the RN gave me to go ahead to start pushing.
The RN then brought up breaking my membranes and asked if I would be interested and I was!!!! Since the midwife was delivering another baby at that exact time, my doctor was called to rupture my membranes (he was on-call). Meanwhile, I was birth breathing with every surge and ‘pop’ my membranes ruptured! Things progressed REALLY quickly after that! I literally felt the baby drop into the birth canal. At the time that my membranes ruptured it was clear that there was meconium in the fluid and her heart rate started dropping quickly!!!!
At this point I remained calm since I had faith that she was going to be okay but I also knew that I wanted to get her out as quickly as possible. I changed my position a bit (I had been lying on my side) and did the traditional 'pushing' to get her out ASAP. I pushed my body a little more that I wanted and she came out in one big woosh. I tore a bit (again didn't care) and she had to be tended by the nurses immediately, but Daddy was with her and I was still surging intensely. I delivered the placenta about 5 minutes later. Though she came out blue (the cord was wrapped around her) she pinked up immediately and she did not have any meconium in her lungs!
It was no time before I had her in my arms and she started nursing immediately!Though it got really intense at the end, I know that HypnoBirthing allowed me to remain calm and deliver my baby without any intervention.
I am so thankful that I had the support of my husband, mom, and doula and I had an awesome RN who stayed as close to our birth plan as she could.
Thank you Carol and my classmates: Brooke, Holly, Candace, and Kelly! Your support truly allowed us to have the birth that we wanted!
Audrey was born on Monday, November 29th at 2:52AM 20.5in and 9 lbs!
Thanks so much--Jill Ann
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations Jill Ann & Ben! Thanks so much for sharing your birth story! Continue to enjoy your babymoon!
For more information about Jill Ann's doula & massage therapist, please contact Deborah Strauhal via her website: www.kheya.net.
For more information about HypnoBirthing classes in San Diego, please contact Carol Yeh-Garner through her website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. For classes outside of the San Diego area, please go to www.hypnobirthing.com to find a practitioner near you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Jill Ann & Ben took my HypnoBirthing classes at Babies by the Sea Boutique on Tuesdays in August 2010. There were 5 couples in that class series. All five couples had amazing births & they all become close friends. Jill Ann was the last of the five to give birth. She came to class wanting a different experience for her 2nd birth than she had with her 1st birth.
Ben and Jill Ann’s Birth Story
A little back story on my journey to a HypnoBirth:
When I found out we were pregnant with our son, I researched everything! I knew I was going to breastfeed and cloth diaper, and there was no BPA or parbens in my house but we spent very little time researching birthing options. I knew the notion of natural birth, especially since my mom had all three of us naturally, but I never even considered it. Everyone around me encouraged me to get the epidural so I just thought that was the way to go!
As my pregnancy came to an end, I was feeling miserable and huge (feelings I never had with my HypnoBirth) and as soon as I went up to my due date, I scheduled an induction for 41 weeks.
The morning of the day I was going to go in to get the cervix ripener my water broke.
It was 7:30 am and the only thing I could remember from the birth class DVD was to check the water to make sure it's clear and take a shower. It was in the shower that the fear took over. My contractions started immediately and were painful. I felt like I was going to die!
We went to the hospital right after my short shower and I was admitted right away. No joke- I had the epidural 15 minutes later and felt nothing!! It was sweet relief. I took a nap and patiently waited for them to tell me it was time to push. About 4 hours later it was time. I pushed and pushed and pushed some more!! After two hours of pushing, it was suggested that I had pushed for "the time" and now I should consider assistance or.... I was terrified of a C-section so I agreed to the vacuum and the episiotomy that came with it. My son was born 2 pushes later with the vacuum assist.
Again nothing went 'wrong' with my birth; it was a quick and easy delivery with no pain, but afterward I realized that I wanted something different for baby 2.
Before we even got pregnant, I was entertaining the idea of a natural birth in the back of my mind. When I would mention it to people they would look at me like I was crazy (kind of like when I share that I cloth diaper)! But one good friend shared her natural birth story and then I got encouragement from my midwife and then another friend shared her story. All of these women were passionate and positive about natural birth – my first exposure to something other than “get an epidural.”
I already knew I wanted Deborah Strauhal, my massage therapist, who is also a doula, at my birth and she suggested HypnoBirthing. I Googled and found lots of information including Carol's website (www.AWellLivedLife.Net)and blog. I also ordered the book off Amazon and read it before committing to class. It was Carol's blog that sold me. I already felt like part of the family before class even started.
This time around things were very different. I worked out to prepare my body, I felt great even at the very end at 41+ weeks pregnant... When my labor did start I was not afraid... In fact, I was opposite! I was excited! I was completely in control and ready for just about anything...
My recovery time was minimal and very, very easy! I was up and walking around that day and released from the hospital 32 hours after being admitted (pretty much the minimum allowed)
So here is my HypnoBirth story:
I was overdue and reluctantly scheduled for an induction on Friday (42+ weeks) and the baby was being monitored every 3 days and everything was looking great so I was not worried about the health of the baby and waiting until Friday.
I had been having practice surges for about 3 days and on Sunday (41 weeks 5 days) I experienced a sensation that was different than all of the other practice surges.
It was 2:00 in the afternoon and it was a rolling wave that took over my entire abdominal area and even brought tears to my eyes… not painful at all but it was like my body was reacting. I had another one 10 minutes later and then no more.
I was distracted after that because my 2 year old had woken from his nap. I was still experiencing surges but they didn’t seem consistent (or that I should be timing them).
Eventually, I took some time for myself and took a shower and listened to Rainbow Relaxation and Birthing Affirmations CD. I even tried to take a nap but I was too excited that I might actually be going into labor.
So, I decided to hydrate up with coconut water and Gatorade. I was trying to watch TV to keep my mind off of things but it was hard so I finally gave in and started using my ipod to time my surges.
Shortly after I felt a small gush and it was my mucous plug being released.
At this point I called my doula to give her a heads up and secured overnight care for my son “just in case” and then went about our nightly routine of eating dinner and getting my son ready for bed. I ate some apples, cheese, eggs, and toast, all washed down with lots of water!
At about 9:15 pm, I decided to go “relax” to see if I could get the surges to become more regular. At this point they were 5-6 minutes apart and lasting 30 seconds.
After 45 minutes of listening to the Rainbow Relaxation and Birthing Affirmations CD, I was feeling the surges coming on more frequent and stronger. At this point, we called our doula to come to the house. She arrived about 20 minutes later.
Once our doula arrived, things really took off. I moved onto the birth ball and laid my body over the bed. While still listening to the Rainbow Relaxation CD, my doula would massage my muscles in between surges. The massage was really helping my body truly and ultimately relax in between each surge and it was a little slice of heaven.
After about 45 minutes I felt the need to go to the hospital. I didn’t feel like I needed to push or anything, I just wanted to get there and be admitted so that I could get to my birthing room and get back into “the zone.” After calling the hospital, I took another shower and then we left. At this point my surges were 2-3 minutes apart and lasting 45-60 seconds.
When we arrived at the hospital I was 5 cm and “stretchy.” I had to be in the triage room to confirm that I was in real labor… again… I was relaxed and talking in between surges so there seemed to be a little reluctance that I was in active labor. During this time in triage I expressed that I did not want an IV, however, I ended up getting a hep lock, which was the compromise. I tried many times for no IV, but in all honesty, I didn't even care as the surges were close together and it was taking a lot of concentration just to breath and it really seemed to help the RN relax a little bit.
About 12:30 we went to our room, got a hep lock and more monitoring. I actually liked the monitoring because my 'team' could know when I was having surges. Before this, I had been holding up my finger to let them know and it was getting annoying to me… I just wanted to be still.
It felt like I was in my birthing room for minutes before I was feeling pressure (time distortion it was actually 45 minutes). I was checked and only 7cm. During this time I was laboring laying on the bed and the birth ball still listening to RR and still having light touch massage during a surge and more intense massage between surges.
Shortly after being checked at 7 cm, I was feeling claustrophobic and that I needed to escape!!!! I was breathing through my surges but I could feel that I was not relaxing and I started freaking out a bit. I was begging for someone to get me through it and MY TEAM did a good job of refocusing me and grounding me a bit (though I don't think I was actually listening to them).
Around 2:30 my body took over completely and I could feel the need to push. It was a rolling sensation in my body that I knew had to be it! As I was complaining that I had to push, the RN checked me again and of course I was 10!! At this point my membranes had still not ruptured and the baby was still -1 station but the RN gave me to go ahead to start pushing.
The RN then brought up breaking my membranes and asked if I would be interested and I was!!!! Since the midwife was delivering another baby at that exact time, my doctor was called to rupture my membranes (he was on-call). Meanwhile, I was birth breathing with every surge and ‘pop’ my membranes ruptured! Things progressed REALLY quickly after that! I literally felt the baby drop into the birth canal. At the time that my membranes ruptured it was clear that there was meconium in the fluid and her heart rate started dropping quickly!!!!
At this point I remained calm since I had faith that she was going to be okay but I also knew that I wanted to get her out as quickly as possible. I changed my position a bit (I had been lying on my side) and did the traditional 'pushing' to get her out ASAP. I pushed my body a little more that I wanted and she came out in one big woosh. I tore a bit (again didn't care) and she had to be tended by the nurses immediately, but Daddy was with her and I was still surging intensely. I delivered the placenta about 5 minutes later. Though she came out blue (the cord was wrapped around her) she pinked up immediately and she did not have any meconium in her lungs!
It was no time before I had her in my arms and she started nursing immediately!Though it got really intense at the end, I know that HypnoBirthing allowed me to remain calm and deliver my baby without any intervention.
I am so thankful that I had the support of my husband, mom, and doula and I had an awesome RN who stayed as close to our birth plan as she could.
Thank you Carol and my classmates: Brooke, Holly, Candace, and Kelly! Your support truly allowed us to have the birth that we wanted!
Audrey was born on Monday, November 29th at 2:52AM 20.5in and 9 lbs!
Thanks so much--Jill Ann
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations Jill Ann & Ben! Thanks so much for sharing your birth story! Continue to enjoy your babymoon!
For more information about Jill Ann's doula & massage therapist, please contact Deborah Strauhal via her website: www.kheya.net.
For more information about HypnoBirthing classes in San Diego, please contact Carol Yeh-Garner through her website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. For classes outside of the San Diego area, please go to www.hypnobirthing.com to find a practitioner near you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Jumat, 16 Juli 2010
Meara & Mike's HypnoBirthing Story
Meara & Mike took my HypnoBirthing classes in April/May of 2010. This is their birth story of their 2nd child.
Sylvie Ines D was born at home on May 21st, 2010
She entered the world at 4:03 am
9 lbs, 21 inches long...
As you know, I had been experiencing surges during the temporary suspension of Dr. Biter's privileges and during that wretched period of time I silently pleaded with my baby to stay put until we had a plan in place... I was so certain that I wanted a birth experience that included Dr. Biter, my friend and advocate, that I needed a little time to figure out where and how we would deliver.
Linda Goldsmith, whom I met at a rally for Dr. Biter, offered to be our doula and when I expressed my hesitance to delivery at Sharp Mary Birch, Dr. Biter suggested I contact Jamin Sylvada & Le Shel Montgomery. Trusting that Dr. Biter would come to our home to attend the birth of our daughter should we choose that route gave me to confidence I needed to opt for a home birth. We met with Jamin for the very first time on Monday, May 17th. Later than afternoon I met with Dr. Biter and all at once the details seemed to fall into place and I was able to let go... to whisper softly to my baby that it was ok to come now, that I was ready.
Wednesday evening my surges began to find a rhythm and were gaining in intensity. I lay down for bed though, and they stopped all together. I slept deeply and awoke the next day feeling calm and ready. No surges though... After an entire day without surges like I'd had the night before, we went for a long family walk to the park where I ran and played with Elsa, our 2 1/2 year old daughter. I went to bed that night feeling somewhat discouraged by the false start, and uncomfortable with the weight of baby but still listened to the Rainbow Relaxation just as I'd done every night for weeks... I awoke several times in the night to go the bathroom and was vaguely aware each time that I'd been woken by a surge, but they weren't very strong or uncomfortable and each time I went easily back to sleep. I awoke to really strong surge and looked at the clock at 2:41 am. It was the first of them that was really intense and somewhat painful and I decided to get up and shower to relax and see if more would follow. I had several more really intense surges in the shower and when I got out I woke Mike up, letting him know that labor was getting started. Thinking we might have a baby the next day or evening, I was really trying to relax for the journey ahead. I lay down and put my headphones back on to listen to the Rainbow Relaxation again and my calm was punctuated by several more really strong and uncomfortable surges. I sent Linda a text message letting her know that I was now in labor and asked her to contact Dr. Biter. At 3:25 am my waters released in a warm wave and I had Mike call Jamin immediately. All at once my surges were just one minute apart and I could hardly catch my breath between them, let alone relax! I was really trying hard to quiet myself, to turn inward and to stay present. I was so tempted to just leave my body when the surges swept over me but I managed to stay put. I was unable to find any position that offered any relief so found myself squatting on a towel on the bathroom floor while Mike and my Step-Mom Lorraine (who was visiting from Canada) feverishly rushed around preparing our bed and room, organizing the supplies for Jamin & Le Shel. I recognize now that I was in transition while I was alone there on the bathroom floor. There were a few minutes where I lost my focus and started to get scared, all alone in there with a overwhelming pressure from within and no doula, midwife, or doctor... But Jamin rushed through the door at 3:55 am and she could tell immediately by my breathing (and low moans) that the baby was coming. She and Mike managed to get me onto our prepared bed and Jamin barely had a chance to get her gloves on before Sylvie was emerging. I wasn't pushing, it felt as though Sylive was pushing, as though nothing in the world I could have done would slow her down... Jamin reminded me to breath, not to push, and our daughter was born at 4:03 am. Jamin had only been in our home for 8 minutes and I hadn't even opened my eyes, thinking that we had hours more ahead... I was just desperately trying to stay focused and calm and that singular effort required every ounce of energy and attention. Sylvie weighed 9 lbs and was 21 inches long. Linda, Dr. Biter, & Le Shel all arrived within minutes of her birth, before I'd even delivered the placenta. The atmosphere in our bedroom was so lovely--calm and relieved and joyous and sacred. Sylvie was placed on my chest immediately and remained there until it was time to repair the tear that I sustained during Sylvie's rapid arrival. She was calm and alert and latched onto my breast at first try... It was so beautiful to be at home, to be surrounded by such loving and supportive birth attendants. I have no regrets about my birth experience, I wish I'd thought to open my eyes for a moment, but other than that it was perfect! Perhaps if things had progressed a bit more slowly I could have remained a bit more relaxed and in my hypno-state, but I think everything happened just as it should have and your HypnoBirthing classes gave me a quiet confidence that I might not have mustered otherwise! I was very aware of breathing and my focus inward was my method of hypnosis... Not relaxed perhaps, but very deliberate and purposeful.
After everyone had tidied up and left our home to return to theirs, we snuggled up in our bed with Sylvie as the sun rose. Elsa, miraculously, slept through the night and its many disturbances and wandered into our room at 7:15 am to find that her sweet sister had arrived in the night. The look on her face is indelibly etched on my heart and I will carry the joy of that peaceful meeting deep in my heart for the rest of my life. What a blessing it was to be cared for in our home, our birth experience treated like the sacred rite that it is and not a routine medical procedure! It was magical...
The upheaval of Dr. Biter's temporary suspension of privileges offered up a blessing to us that we never could have foreseen at the time--we were welcomed so warmly into the natural birth community in San Diego and grew to feel so supported by so many wonderful men and women. Your classes were invaluable, and so were the friendships I formed with the women who joined us at the rallies and who offered up their wisdom and services. I knew that Dr. Biter would support our birth in the way that I dreamed possible, but I had no idea that there was such a wonderful community of others who share our same beliefs.
Thank you Carol, for your classes and for all of your support in the weeks and days leading up to Sylvie's birth. You are amazing.
Best,
Meara, Mike, Elsa, & Sylie D
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Thank you so much for sharing your birth story, Meara! I know it wasn't the path that you had originally chose for your 2nd birth, but I'm so glad that everything worked out & that you had a beautiful home birth!
For more information about HypnoBirthing in San Diego, please contact Carol Yeh-Garner at 858-837-1259 or through her website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. You can also learn more about HypnoBirthing at www.hypnobirthing.com.
For more information about Dr. Robert Biter, Linda Goldsmith--labor doula, Jamin & LeShel of San Diego Midwives, please visit Carol's resources page on her website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net for their contact information.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Sylvie Ines D was born at home on May 21st, 2010
She entered the world at 4:03 am
9 lbs, 21 inches long...
As you know, I had been experiencing surges during the temporary suspension of Dr. Biter's privileges and during that wretched period of time I silently pleaded with my baby to stay put until we had a plan in place... I was so certain that I wanted a birth experience that included Dr. Biter, my friend and advocate, that I needed a little time to figure out where and how we would deliver.
Linda Goldsmith, whom I met at a rally for Dr. Biter, offered to be our doula and when I expressed my hesitance to delivery at Sharp Mary Birch, Dr. Biter suggested I contact Jamin Sylvada & Le Shel Montgomery. Trusting that Dr. Biter would come to our home to attend the birth of our daughter should we choose that route gave me to confidence I needed to opt for a home birth. We met with Jamin for the very first time on Monday, May 17th. Later than afternoon I met with Dr. Biter and all at once the details seemed to fall into place and I was able to let go... to whisper softly to my baby that it was ok to come now, that I was ready.
Wednesday evening my surges began to find a rhythm and were gaining in intensity. I lay down for bed though, and they stopped all together. I slept deeply and awoke the next day feeling calm and ready. No surges though... After an entire day without surges like I'd had the night before, we went for a long family walk to the park where I ran and played with Elsa, our 2 1/2 year old daughter. I went to bed that night feeling somewhat discouraged by the false start, and uncomfortable with the weight of baby but still listened to the Rainbow Relaxation just as I'd done every night for weeks... I awoke several times in the night to go the bathroom and was vaguely aware each time that I'd been woken by a surge, but they weren't very strong or uncomfortable and each time I went easily back to sleep. I awoke to really strong surge and looked at the clock at 2:41 am. It was the first of them that was really intense and somewhat painful and I decided to get up and shower to relax and see if more would follow. I had several more really intense surges in the shower and when I got out I woke Mike up, letting him know that labor was getting started. Thinking we might have a baby the next day or evening, I was really trying to relax for the journey ahead. I lay down and put my headphones back on to listen to the Rainbow Relaxation again and my calm was punctuated by several more really strong and uncomfortable surges. I sent Linda a text message letting her know that I was now in labor and asked her to contact Dr. Biter. At 3:25 am my waters released in a warm wave and I had Mike call Jamin immediately. All at once my surges were just one minute apart and I could hardly catch my breath between them, let alone relax! I was really trying hard to quiet myself, to turn inward and to stay present. I was so tempted to just leave my body when the surges swept over me but I managed to stay put. I was unable to find any position that offered any relief so found myself squatting on a towel on the bathroom floor while Mike and my Step-Mom Lorraine (who was visiting from Canada) feverishly rushed around preparing our bed and room, organizing the supplies for Jamin & Le Shel. I recognize now that I was in transition while I was alone there on the bathroom floor. There were a few minutes where I lost my focus and started to get scared, all alone in there with a overwhelming pressure from within and no doula, midwife, or doctor... But Jamin rushed through the door at 3:55 am and she could tell immediately by my breathing (and low moans) that the baby was coming. She and Mike managed to get me onto our prepared bed and Jamin barely had a chance to get her gloves on before Sylvie was emerging. I wasn't pushing, it felt as though Sylive was pushing, as though nothing in the world I could have done would slow her down... Jamin reminded me to breath, not to push, and our daughter was born at 4:03 am. Jamin had only been in our home for 8 minutes and I hadn't even opened my eyes, thinking that we had hours more ahead... I was just desperately trying to stay focused and calm and that singular effort required every ounce of energy and attention. Sylvie weighed 9 lbs and was 21 inches long. Linda, Dr. Biter, & Le Shel all arrived within minutes of her birth, before I'd even delivered the placenta. The atmosphere in our bedroom was so lovely--calm and relieved and joyous and sacred. Sylvie was placed on my chest immediately and remained there until it was time to repair the tear that I sustained during Sylvie's rapid arrival. She was calm and alert and latched onto my breast at first try... It was so beautiful to be at home, to be surrounded by such loving and supportive birth attendants. I have no regrets about my birth experience, I wish I'd thought to open my eyes for a moment, but other than that it was perfect! Perhaps if things had progressed a bit more slowly I could have remained a bit more relaxed and in my hypno-state, but I think everything happened just as it should have and your HypnoBirthing classes gave me a quiet confidence that I might not have mustered otherwise! I was very aware of breathing and my focus inward was my method of hypnosis... Not relaxed perhaps, but very deliberate and purposeful.
After everyone had tidied up and left our home to return to theirs, we snuggled up in our bed with Sylvie as the sun rose. Elsa, miraculously, slept through the night and its many disturbances and wandered into our room at 7:15 am to find that her sweet sister had arrived in the night. The look on her face is indelibly etched on my heart and I will carry the joy of that peaceful meeting deep in my heart for the rest of my life. What a blessing it was to be cared for in our home, our birth experience treated like the sacred rite that it is and not a routine medical procedure! It was magical...
The upheaval of Dr. Biter's temporary suspension of privileges offered up a blessing to us that we never could have foreseen at the time--we were welcomed so warmly into the natural birth community in San Diego and grew to feel so supported by so many wonderful men and women. Your classes were invaluable, and so were the friendships I formed with the women who joined us at the rallies and who offered up their wisdom and services. I knew that Dr. Biter would support our birth in the way that I dreamed possible, but I had no idea that there was such a wonderful community of others who share our same beliefs.
Thank you Carol, for your classes and for all of your support in the weeks and days leading up to Sylvie's birth. You are amazing.
Best,
Meara, Mike, Elsa, & Sylie D
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Thank you so much for sharing your birth story, Meara! I know it wasn't the path that you had originally chose for your 2nd birth, but I'm so glad that everything worked out & that you had a beautiful home birth!
For more information about HypnoBirthing in San Diego, please contact Carol Yeh-Garner at 858-837-1259 or through her website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. You can also learn more about HypnoBirthing at www.hypnobirthing.com.
For more information about Dr. Robert Biter, Linda Goldsmith--labor doula, Jamin & LeShel of San Diego Midwives, please visit Carol's resources page on her website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net for their contact information.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Kamis, 08 Juli 2010
A HypnoBirthing announcement--Mikayla & Brian
Hi-
Mikayla & Brian attended my classes at Indigo Dragon Health & Wellness Center on Thursday nights in April/May 2010. It was their 2nd birth. Mikayla had a vaginal birth the 1st time around but was somewhat traumatized by the experience, especially the pushing phase. They took my classes to help her feel more confident about her ability to have a better, more comfortable birthing experience.
She contacted me when she was a few days overdue & wanted to find some natural induction recommendations. I recommended acupuncture & prenatal massage.
Here's her birth announcement:
Hi Carol,
I contacted Indigo Dragon Health & Wellness Center and had an acupuncture appointment on Friday. That morning I thought I was feeling surges, but decided to keep the appointment. I really enjoyed it. That evening I continued having surges . After a calm labor and very in control of myself and the experience, I gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby boy at 8:25 am on Saturday, July 3rd. Declan M, 7 lb 10oz and 19 1/2". Thank you for all of your help!!! I must have listened to Rainbow Relaxation 30 times during my labor!
Fondly,
Mikayla & Brian
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations Mikayla & Brian! Enjoy your babymoon! Thanks for letting me share your story!
All my best--Carol
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Senin, 10 Mei 2010
Bring Dr. Biter (aka Dr. Wonderful) Back!
Hi all-
Dr. Biter (aka Dr. Wonderful) has been suspended from delivering babies from Scripps Encinitas as of Friday at 5 pm. His patients are being told by the hospital to show up in labor & have one of the on-call OBs attend their birth.
Scripps is supposed to be one of the most mother-baby-friendly hospitals in town. How can they get away with taking away women's right to have their care provider attend their birth at the hospital they want to birth at?!?
Dr. Biter has a back up plan & has contacted the perinatologist group at Sharp Mary Birch. They have agreed to transfer his patients to their care while in labor & he will attend their births as an unpaid doula. This is the level of commitment this man has to his patients.
Scripps will not provide an answer as to why he was suspended. The last birth Dr. Biter attended was Friday morning. The birth required a c-section & when the c-section was being done, meconium was found in the amniotic fluid. No meconium was found prior to the c-section. According to the parents, the baby's Apgar score at birth was a 7 and then a 9. She gave a good cry but then needed respiratory assistance. The baby was taken to the NICU, but 3 days after her birth, she is already breathing on her own & eating on her own. The parents have no complaints against Dr. Biter & specifically chose him to attend the birth of their 1st baby because they did their research & wanted a doctor that would be present & would support their choices. The parents are shocked & distraught that something so drastic as suspending him would possibly be related to the birth of their little girl.
Please come support Dr. Biter, natural birth & a woman's right to choose where to birth & who to birth with.
Where: Scripps Encinitas hospital 354 Santa Fe Dr. Encinitas, 92024
When: Friday, May 14th from 1:30-3:30
Why: We want Dr. Biter reinstated immediately so his patients can have continuity of care & so they can be reassured that they can have the birth experience they want.
Who: You! Bring your family, your friends & neighbors! We want a really large group of protestors. The more the better!
Ricki Lake, documentary-maker, author & actress, will be there as will Anna Getty, author, actress & great-granddaughter of John Paul Getty I. Possibly more celebrities will be attending in support of Dr. Biter.
Wear green to unify the group & bring signs that say:
This is not Mother-Baby Friendly!
Bring Back Dr. Biter!
Bring Biter Back!
Hey Chief of Staff! Bring Biter Back!
If you can't make it to this event, we will be holding mini-rallies Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday in front of the hospital from 9-11 am. Feel free to bring your children!
If you can't make it to any of these events, please show your support by writing on your car windows: Bring Dr. Biter Back!
The more people see this & ask questions, the better.
Thanks so much for any support you can provide.
If you're on Facebook, please join the I love Dr. Biter fan page for up-to-date info & RSVP to the event so we have a good head count.
If you're not on Facebook, please visit www.bringbiterback.blogspot.com or www.bringbiterback.com for updates.
Please share this information with anyone you think can help support our efforts to get Dr. Biter back to doing what he does best--supporting women & their partners to have the best birth experience they can have.
Hope to see you at some of the events!
Carol Yeh-Garner
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
Dr. Biter (aka Dr. Wonderful) has been suspended from delivering babies from Scripps Encinitas as of Friday at 5 pm. His patients are being told by the hospital to show up in labor & have one of the on-call OBs attend their birth.
Scripps is supposed to be one of the most mother-baby-friendly hospitals in town. How can they get away with taking away women's right to have their care provider attend their birth at the hospital they want to birth at?!?
Dr. Biter has a back up plan & has contacted the perinatologist group at Sharp Mary Birch. They have agreed to transfer his patients to their care while in labor & he will attend their births as an unpaid doula. This is the level of commitment this man has to his patients.
Scripps will not provide an answer as to why he was suspended. The last birth Dr. Biter attended was Friday morning. The birth required a c-section & when the c-section was being done, meconium was found in the amniotic fluid. No meconium was found prior to the c-section. According to the parents, the baby's Apgar score at birth was a 7 and then a 9. She gave a good cry but then needed respiratory assistance. The baby was taken to the NICU, but 3 days after her birth, she is already breathing on her own & eating on her own. The parents have no complaints against Dr. Biter & specifically chose him to attend the birth of their 1st baby because they did their research & wanted a doctor that would be present & would support their choices. The parents are shocked & distraught that something so drastic as suspending him would possibly be related to the birth of their little girl.
Please come support Dr. Biter, natural birth & a woman's right to choose where to birth & who to birth with.
Where: Scripps Encinitas hospital 354 Santa Fe Dr. Encinitas, 92024
When: Friday, May 14th from 1:30-3:30
Why: We want Dr. Biter reinstated immediately so his patients can have continuity of care & so they can be reassured that they can have the birth experience they want.
Who: You! Bring your family, your friends & neighbors! We want a really large group of protestors. The more the better!
Ricki Lake, documentary-maker, author & actress, will be there as will Anna Getty, author, actress & great-granddaughter of John Paul Getty I. Possibly more celebrities will be attending in support of Dr. Biter.
Wear green to unify the group & bring signs that say:
This is not Mother-Baby Friendly!
Bring Back Dr. Biter!
Bring Biter Back!
Hey Chief of Staff! Bring Biter Back!
If you can't make it to this event, we will be holding mini-rallies Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday in front of the hospital from 9-11 am. Feel free to bring your children!
If you can't make it to any of these events, please show your support by writing on your car windows: Bring Dr. Biter Back!
The more people see this & ask questions, the better.
Thanks so much for any support you can provide.
If you're on Facebook, please join the I love Dr. Biter fan page for up-to-date info & RSVP to the event so we have a good head count.
If you're not on Facebook, please visit www.bringbiterback.blogspot.com or www.bringbiterback.com for updates.
Please share this information with anyone you think can help support our efforts to get Dr. Biter back to doing what he does best--supporting women & their partners to have the best birth experience they can have.
Hope to see you at some of the events!
Carol Yeh-Garner
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
Minggu, 02 Mei 2010
A Labor & Delivery Nurse's HypnoBirthing experience
Gail & Matt took my HypnoBirthing classes at Indigo Dragon Health & Wellness Center on Tuesdays starting in April 2009. She is a Labor & Delivery Nurse at Sharp Mary Birch. She's seen every intervention used at Sharp Mary Birch, some as standard procedures for laboring moms & some for special circumstances. She knew that when she was pregnant that she wanted a natural birth & that she didn't want interventions for her birth. She chose to birth with Dr. Biter & at Scripps Encinitas.
Here is her birth story:
Hi Carol--
I took your suggestions for Evening Primrose, acupuncture, and prenatal massage last week and started having surges the same day as my acupuncture and prenatal massage treatments at Indigo Dragon. That was Thursday. I had surges that lasted the whole day on 8/20 until 9 pm and then they subsided and I had the best night's sleep I'd had in about a month. The surges started up again on 8/21 after breakfast and continued until after my appointment with Dr. Biter. I had surges the entire time even when he checked my cervix and found that I was dilated to 1.5 cm, completely effaced and the baby was low at -1 station. Dr. Biter offered to strip my membranes which I declined. Then he said I'd probably go into labor very soon and said that he'd see me either that night or sometime over the weekend. I laughed and said that I'd probably see him at my next appointment which was scheduled for Monday.
The surges stopped as soon I left the office and my husband and I went out for dinner with his parents. I settled in for bed around 9 pm but couldn't sleep because my little one was kicking me hard all night.
Around 5 am, the surges started again but this time they felt different. I tried to use my breathing and visualization but it was very difficult. I used the ball, a bath, and took a shower to cope with the contractions. In the end, moaning and making noise distracted me. At 7 am, the surges were really strong coming about every 2-3 minutes and I couldn't talk through them. We started preparing to leave for the hospital and finally left at 9 am.
We got to the hospital at 9:30, got into the shower around 10 am. The nurse checked my cervix when we got there and I was 3 cm dilated. I started seriously thinking about an epidural. My nurse, knowing that I was using HypnoBirthing techniques, called Dr. Biter and he came in to talk me through labor. He asked me to get into the shower and "ride the waves one at a time". That visualization worked and I stayed in the shower for about 1 hour. He came back when I got out of the shower and checked me and found that I was 8 cm. 1 hour later, I was ready to start pushing. I'd been feeling the urge to breath my baby down since 5 am so this was great.
I pushed my baby out for 53 minutes. We didn't know the sex of the baby until she was out. Delilah Rose was born at 12:53 on August 22. She was 6 lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long. She was very alert and calm. She's absolutely adorable and we're totally in love.
Thanks for the class. It really helped us achieve a non-medicated and calm birth which is what we wanted.
Gail and Matt (Tuesday class in April/May 2009)
___________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you Gail & Matt for sharing your birth story! I think it's really great that you were able to have the non-medicated, calm birth that you wanted. You had a lot of visuals to "let go" from being a labor & delivery nurse! I think it's important for future HypnoBirthing moms to read your story, knowing that you still made noises, but not out of discomfort, but rather to distract yourself. So many moms want their birth to look like the videos we watch in class, but sometimes you need to make noise to release all of the energy you're feeling inside or like in your case, to distract yourself.
Happy early 1st birthday to Delilah Rose!
All my best--Carol
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Here is her birth story:
Hi Carol--
I took your suggestions for Evening Primrose, acupuncture, and prenatal massage last week and started having surges the same day as my acupuncture and prenatal massage treatments at Indigo Dragon. That was Thursday. I had surges that lasted the whole day on 8/20 until 9 pm and then they subsided and I had the best night's sleep I'd had in about a month. The surges started up again on 8/21 after breakfast and continued until after my appointment with Dr. Biter. I had surges the entire time even when he checked my cervix and found that I was dilated to 1.5 cm, completely effaced and the baby was low at -1 station. Dr. Biter offered to strip my membranes which I declined. Then he said I'd probably go into labor very soon and said that he'd see me either that night or sometime over the weekend. I laughed and said that I'd probably see him at my next appointment which was scheduled for Monday.
The surges stopped as soon I left the office and my husband and I went out for dinner with his parents. I settled in for bed around 9 pm but couldn't sleep because my little one was kicking me hard all night.
Around 5 am, the surges started again but this time they felt different. I tried to use my breathing and visualization but it was very difficult. I used the ball, a bath, and took a shower to cope with the contractions. In the end, moaning and making noise distracted me. At 7 am, the surges were really strong coming about every 2-3 minutes and I couldn't talk through them. We started preparing to leave for the hospital and finally left at 9 am.
We got to the hospital at 9:30, got into the shower around 10 am. The nurse checked my cervix when we got there and I was 3 cm dilated. I started seriously thinking about an epidural. My nurse, knowing that I was using HypnoBirthing techniques, called Dr. Biter and he came in to talk me through labor. He asked me to get into the shower and "ride the waves one at a time". That visualization worked and I stayed in the shower for about 1 hour. He came back when I got out of the shower and checked me and found that I was 8 cm. 1 hour later, I was ready to start pushing. I'd been feeling the urge to breath my baby down since 5 am so this was great.
I pushed my baby out for 53 minutes. We didn't know the sex of the baby until she was out. Delilah Rose was born at 12:53 on August 22. She was 6 lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long. She was very alert and calm. She's absolutely adorable and we're totally in love.
Thanks for the class. It really helped us achieve a non-medicated and calm birth which is what we wanted.
Gail and Matt (Tuesday class in April/May 2009)
___________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you Gail & Matt for sharing your birth story! I think it's really great that you were able to have the non-medicated, calm birth that you wanted. You had a lot of visuals to "let go" from being a labor & delivery nurse! I think it's important for future HypnoBirthing moms to read your story, knowing that you still made noises, but not out of discomfort, but rather to distract yourself. So many moms want their birth to look like the videos we watch in class, but sometimes you need to make noise to release all of the energy you're feeling inside or like in your case, to distract yourself.
Happy early 1st birthday to Delilah Rose!
All my best--Carol
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Kamis, 29 April 2010
Emelie & Justin's HypnoBirthing story
Emelie & Justin took my Thursday night classes in February 2010 at Indigo Dragon Health & Wellness Center. Here is their birth story:
Hudson Michael R’s birth story
Emelie & Justin had a different OB through the first 7 months of their pregnancy that said that she supported HypnoBirthing. But, after experiencing persistent doubts about getting her 100% support of their ideal birth plan and feeling rushed through one too many appointment, they decided to explore other options and interviewed Dr. Biter. They switched to him at 31 weeks and feel that making this change was vital to the wonderful birth they experienced.
Even though I was due on May 1st, 2010, I felt throughout my pregnancy that my baby boy would arrive sometime in late April and would say that my guess date was “sometime in late April”… I went to see Dr. Biter on Friday April 23rd for my regular weekly appointment, and although he was not conducting any internal exams, he said he thought my practice surges were happening more frequently than I was aware of and were pretty strong. He said I was having one at the time he measured my belly. I couldn’t feel a thing! Since I was 39 weeks along, we all knew that baby boy could arrive anytime and would likely be very healthy. On Saturday April 24th, my family and I enjoyed walking around the Encinitas Street Faire in the afternoon breeze. The baby felt heavy as we walked, and my mom commented that she thought it looked as if he had dropped much lower in my abdomen than even earlier that day.
As we ended our long, 2-hour walk, I experienced a more powerful surge that seemed to continue uninterrupted for about 10 minutes. My mom checked her watch to time the surges if another one began, but nothing more happened. The surge felt slightly more intense than the practice labor we’d been observing.
After a healthy dinner, we headed to bed. At about 11:45pm, I awoke with the distinct feeling that something was happening. As I stood to get out of bed, a slight gush of fluid let me know that my membranes had likely released. I checked, and the fluid was clear, so I knew that all signs were probably “GO” and that the baby hadn’t released any meconium in the waters. I waited to see if my surges were going to start before waking my husband, Justin. The surges started almost immediately and were 2 minutes apart on the dot. I awoke hubby, and we calmly sat in the living room while I experienced and timed the surges. I instinctively knew that even though they were close together – consistently 2-3 minutes apart and lasting 30-45 seconds, they were not yet intense enough that birth was imminent. In fact, I still wasn’t 100% convinced that I was actually in labor. As each surge came, I relaxed on my birth ball and meditated on my HypnoBirth Birthing Affirmations. The surges were very manageable. After about 2 hours, I took a shower to see how it would make me feel, and it was relaxing, which made the contractions begin to feel stronger. I had a secondary release of membranes that was DEFINITELY the real deal, so I knew for sure that I’d be having my baby soon! I called Dr. Biter to let him know I was in labor and get a feel for when we should head into the hospital. He instructed us to just continue to hang out at home as long as possible, and to call back when we decided to leave. He really left it up to me to listen to my body and decide for myself when it was time. At 4:15am, I felt it was time, and my mom, Justin, and I drove to Scripps Encinitas.
I was welcomed into a delivery room for initial monitoring and check-in. I went over my birth preferences with our nurse, and she said they would be able to accommodate all my requests without any issues. I sat on the birthing ball while they did the Fetal Monitoring, and because I was so calm, the baby’s heart rate was excellent and very consistent. I was dilated to 4cm, which I was a little disappointed about (and didn’t really need to know), but I somehow knew that things would move along quickly, so I didn’t let my disappointment distract me from remaining calm. I was allowed to do intermittent monitoring from that point forward, and the nurse left us to labor in peace and said she’d be back in an hour. I decided to use the shower and sat on the birth ball while hot water poured over me. The surges became extremely intense, and I frequently changed positions in the shower to better control how I reacted to them. I was not as outwardly serene as I thought I would be, but I did feel completely in control of the process. Even when I felt sick and vomited in the shower, I knew it was completely normal and was probably an indication that I was entering the latter part of the thinning and opening phase. I made low moans without even meaning to as the surges continued to get stronger. Justin repeated some of the birthing prompts, and the most helpful thing about that was that it helped him remain calm and have something to do that he felt would help. I think the intensity of my surges and my gutteral, animal response to them was fairly overwhelming to him, and the prompts helped him stay calm, which in turn helped me remain focused.
At 5:30am, I left the shower when the heat became overwhelming, and alternated between laboring on my hands and knees in the bed to standing in a swaying position. I was checked again and was already at 7.5cm in just over an hour! The surges continued to intensify and I kept repeating out loud to “Let it Go” – so that my body would release and continue to open and move the baby down. The thought of pain or pain relief never entered my mind, nor did I even once think that I couldn’t do this. I was more focused than I’d ever been in my life! I started to bleed a bit and feel some pressure at 6:30am. Justin called and told the nurse that I felt like I’d need to start pushing soon. She looked at me quizzically and I think was a little doubtful that I’d progressed to that point yet since I was at 7.5 only an hour before. But my body was telling me what I needed to do, and I told her again that I was needing to push. I must have sounded convincing! She called Dr. Biter and told me to remain calm and focused, that I was doing an amazing job, and would just have to wait a few minutes until the doctor arrived.
I did not feel or look like the calm women in the HypnoBirth videos. Instead, my labor rumbled across my body like a thundering stampede. I let the surges take over and began to rock up and down on my knees to keep from pushing. I blew out through my mouth like a horse – something I’d read about in the Ina May Gaskin book, which ended up being a very helpful technique to remain open and loose.
Dr. Biter arrived just before 7am, and checked me as I was up on my knees. My mom asked him how dilated I was, and his response was – we’re going to have this baby right now!
I pushed from an upright position on my knees a few times, but was encouraged by Dr. Biter to turn around and lay back (in the ‘slanting J’ position) for more effective pushing. I listened to his confident support and lay back. I was relieved to be in the hands of someone I really trusted to help me birth our son the way I wanted to. He helped me listen to my body more effectively and push only when I felt the urge. He told me to push past “that point”, and doing so felt incredibly empowering. It was VERY intense, but I knew that I had to do this for my son… his heart rate was dropping a little as he came down the birth path, and even though the nurse didn’t say anything, I knew I had to deliver him with haste. After about 10 minutes of pushing, I crowned. Apparently the cord was around the baby’s neck, and Dr. Biter gently unwrapped it and kept encouraging me. I wasn’t aware of this until after the fact. A few more powerful pushes, and his shoulders were out. From my birth plan, Dr. Biter knew that I wanted to receive the baby, so he told me to look down and birth my son. I reached down, put my hands under his arms, and gently pulled him from me and placed him on my chest. It was the single-most unbelievable, beautiful experience of my life. Justin was in complete awe.
Hudson Michael R was born at 7:12am on Sunday, April 25th– after 15 minutes of pushing and less than 3 hours of labor at the hospital (about 7 hours of labor total).
We bonded skin-to-skin, and Hudson was incredibly alert and calm. He let out a single cry to clear his lungs and afterward, he just calmly lay on my chest and took his new world in. He latched almost immediately.
The nurses were extremely supportive and kept saying how awesome this birth was… how fast, controlled and natural.
Justin cut the cord after it stopped pulsating, and I birthed the placenta easily about 5 minutes after Hudson was born.
While my birth was not a “textbook” calm HypnoBirth, I do believe that I would not have remained in calm control without the relaxation techniques, self-confidence, and body awareness that we learned in our class. I envisioned how proud I would be of myself if I could achieve a natural birth, and I now feel more powerful, womanly, and natural than I ever have. I will carry the memories of this amazing experience for the rest of my life. In addition – my body is recovering from delivery extremely fast. My positive mental and physical state is ideal for handling the fatigue of newborn care.
Even better, Hudson is one of the calmest newborns I’ve ever seen. The doctors, nurses, and his pediatrician have all remarked at how great his temperament is, how healthy he is, and what a great nurser it looks like he will be. He was born exactly the way he was meant to be, and I think he’ll be forever impacted by it without even knowing it. This has been amazing.
Thank you so much Carol, for providing us the tools, knowledge, and ability to create exactly the right birth experience for us, even if it looked different that what we’d pictured in our minds.
______________________________________________________________________
Congratulations Emelie & Justin! Thank you so much for sharing your birth story. Enjoy your babymoon!
Even though Emelie & Justin's birth experience wasn't a "textbook" HypnoBirth, it sounds like it was an amazing experience--even with moaning, rocking & vomiting! I really work hard to convey in class that the videos are just for a visual & that maybe people will experience birth in that way but even if it doesn't happen exactly like that or exactly like what they had envisioned, that they hopefully will still feel in control & empowered throughout their experience. That is the goal for me when I teach HypnoBirthing. If a woman gets a "pain-free", calm, peaceful birth, that's a bonus. I want women to birth with confidence knowing & trusting their body's natural process. I want women & their partners to go into their births with full informed consent, doing the research to ensure they have the right care provider & the right birth setting for them to feel safe & 100% supported, and to know the questions to ask to ensure that any intervention suggested is for a true medical situation.
All my best--Carol
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Hudson Michael R’s birth story
Emelie & Justin had a different OB through the first 7 months of their pregnancy that said that she supported HypnoBirthing. But, after experiencing persistent doubts about getting her 100% support of their ideal birth plan and feeling rushed through one too many appointment, they decided to explore other options and interviewed Dr. Biter. They switched to him at 31 weeks and feel that making this change was vital to the wonderful birth they experienced.
Even though I was due on May 1st, 2010, I felt throughout my pregnancy that my baby boy would arrive sometime in late April and would say that my guess date was “sometime in late April”… I went to see Dr. Biter on Friday April 23rd for my regular weekly appointment, and although he was not conducting any internal exams, he said he thought my practice surges were happening more frequently than I was aware of and were pretty strong. He said I was having one at the time he measured my belly. I couldn’t feel a thing! Since I was 39 weeks along, we all knew that baby boy could arrive anytime and would likely be very healthy. On Saturday April 24th, my family and I enjoyed walking around the Encinitas Street Faire in the afternoon breeze. The baby felt heavy as we walked, and my mom commented that she thought it looked as if he had dropped much lower in my abdomen than even earlier that day.
As we ended our long, 2-hour walk, I experienced a more powerful surge that seemed to continue uninterrupted for about 10 minutes. My mom checked her watch to time the surges if another one began, but nothing more happened. The surge felt slightly more intense than the practice labor we’d been observing.
After a healthy dinner, we headed to bed. At about 11:45pm, I awoke with the distinct feeling that something was happening. As I stood to get out of bed, a slight gush of fluid let me know that my membranes had likely released. I checked, and the fluid was clear, so I knew that all signs were probably “GO” and that the baby hadn’t released any meconium in the waters. I waited to see if my surges were going to start before waking my husband, Justin. The surges started almost immediately and were 2 minutes apart on the dot. I awoke hubby, and we calmly sat in the living room while I experienced and timed the surges. I instinctively knew that even though they were close together – consistently 2-3 minutes apart and lasting 30-45 seconds, they were not yet intense enough that birth was imminent. In fact, I still wasn’t 100% convinced that I was actually in labor. As each surge came, I relaxed on my birth ball and meditated on my HypnoBirth Birthing Affirmations. The surges were very manageable. After about 2 hours, I took a shower to see how it would make me feel, and it was relaxing, which made the contractions begin to feel stronger. I had a secondary release of membranes that was DEFINITELY the real deal, so I knew for sure that I’d be having my baby soon! I called Dr. Biter to let him know I was in labor and get a feel for when we should head into the hospital. He instructed us to just continue to hang out at home as long as possible, and to call back when we decided to leave. He really left it up to me to listen to my body and decide for myself when it was time. At 4:15am, I felt it was time, and my mom, Justin, and I drove to Scripps Encinitas.
I was welcomed into a delivery room for initial monitoring and check-in. I went over my birth preferences with our nurse, and she said they would be able to accommodate all my requests without any issues. I sat on the birthing ball while they did the Fetal Monitoring, and because I was so calm, the baby’s heart rate was excellent and very consistent. I was dilated to 4cm, which I was a little disappointed about (and didn’t really need to know), but I somehow knew that things would move along quickly, so I didn’t let my disappointment distract me from remaining calm. I was allowed to do intermittent monitoring from that point forward, and the nurse left us to labor in peace and said she’d be back in an hour. I decided to use the shower and sat on the birth ball while hot water poured over me. The surges became extremely intense, and I frequently changed positions in the shower to better control how I reacted to them. I was not as outwardly serene as I thought I would be, but I did feel completely in control of the process. Even when I felt sick and vomited in the shower, I knew it was completely normal and was probably an indication that I was entering the latter part of the thinning and opening phase. I made low moans without even meaning to as the surges continued to get stronger. Justin repeated some of the birthing prompts, and the most helpful thing about that was that it helped him remain calm and have something to do that he felt would help. I think the intensity of my surges and my gutteral, animal response to them was fairly overwhelming to him, and the prompts helped him stay calm, which in turn helped me remain focused.
At 5:30am, I left the shower when the heat became overwhelming, and alternated between laboring on my hands and knees in the bed to standing in a swaying position. I was checked again and was already at 7.5cm in just over an hour! The surges continued to intensify and I kept repeating out loud to “Let it Go” – so that my body would release and continue to open and move the baby down. The thought of pain or pain relief never entered my mind, nor did I even once think that I couldn’t do this. I was more focused than I’d ever been in my life! I started to bleed a bit and feel some pressure at 6:30am. Justin called and told the nurse that I felt like I’d need to start pushing soon. She looked at me quizzically and I think was a little doubtful that I’d progressed to that point yet since I was at 7.5 only an hour before. But my body was telling me what I needed to do, and I told her again that I was needing to push. I must have sounded convincing! She called Dr. Biter and told me to remain calm and focused, that I was doing an amazing job, and would just have to wait a few minutes until the doctor arrived.
I did not feel or look like the calm women in the HypnoBirth videos. Instead, my labor rumbled across my body like a thundering stampede. I let the surges take over and began to rock up and down on my knees to keep from pushing. I blew out through my mouth like a horse – something I’d read about in the Ina May Gaskin book, which ended up being a very helpful technique to remain open and loose.
Dr. Biter arrived just before 7am, and checked me as I was up on my knees. My mom asked him how dilated I was, and his response was – we’re going to have this baby right now!
I pushed from an upright position on my knees a few times, but was encouraged by Dr. Biter to turn around and lay back (in the ‘slanting J’ position) for more effective pushing. I listened to his confident support and lay back. I was relieved to be in the hands of someone I really trusted to help me birth our son the way I wanted to. He helped me listen to my body more effectively and push only when I felt the urge. He told me to push past “that point”, and doing so felt incredibly empowering. It was VERY intense, but I knew that I had to do this for my son… his heart rate was dropping a little as he came down the birth path, and even though the nurse didn’t say anything, I knew I had to deliver him with haste. After about 10 minutes of pushing, I crowned. Apparently the cord was around the baby’s neck, and Dr. Biter gently unwrapped it and kept encouraging me. I wasn’t aware of this until after the fact. A few more powerful pushes, and his shoulders were out. From my birth plan, Dr. Biter knew that I wanted to receive the baby, so he told me to look down and birth my son. I reached down, put my hands under his arms, and gently pulled him from me and placed him on my chest. It was the single-most unbelievable, beautiful experience of my life. Justin was in complete awe.
Hudson Michael R was born at 7:12am on Sunday, April 25th– after 15 minutes of pushing and less than 3 hours of labor at the hospital (about 7 hours of labor total).
We bonded skin-to-skin, and Hudson was incredibly alert and calm. He let out a single cry to clear his lungs and afterward, he just calmly lay on my chest and took his new world in. He latched almost immediately.
The nurses were extremely supportive and kept saying how awesome this birth was… how fast, controlled and natural.
Justin cut the cord after it stopped pulsating, and I birthed the placenta easily about 5 minutes after Hudson was born.
While my birth was not a “textbook” calm HypnoBirth, I do believe that I would not have remained in calm control without the relaxation techniques, self-confidence, and body awareness that we learned in our class. I envisioned how proud I would be of myself if I could achieve a natural birth, and I now feel more powerful, womanly, and natural than I ever have. I will carry the memories of this amazing experience for the rest of my life. In addition – my body is recovering from delivery extremely fast. My positive mental and physical state is ideal for handling the fatigue of newborn care.
Even better, Hudson is one of the calmest newborns I’ve ever seen. The doctors, nurses, and his pediatrician have all remarked at how great his temperament is, how healthy he is, and what a great nurser it looks like he will be. He was born exactly the way he was meant to be, and I think he’ll be forever impacted by it without even knowing it. This has been amazing.
Thank you so much Carol, for providing us the tools, knowledge, and ability to create exactly the right birth experience for us, even if it looked different that what we’d pictured in our minds.
______________________________________________________________________
Congratulations Emelie & Justin! Thank you so much for sharing your birth story. Enjoy your babymoon!
Even though Emelie & Justin's birth experience wasn't a "textbook" HypnoBirth, it sounds like it was an amazing experience--even with moaning, rocking & vomiting! I really work hard to convey in class that the videos are just for a visual & that maybe people will experience birth in that way but even if it doesn't happen exactly like that or exactly like what they had envisioned, that they hopefully will still feel in control & empowered throughout their experience. That is the goal for me when I teach HypnoBirthing. If a woman gets a "pain-free", calm, peaceful birth, that's a bonus. I want women to birth with confidence knowing & trusting their body's natural process. I want women & their partners to go into their births with full informed consent, doing the research to ensure they have the right care provider & the right birth setting for them to feel safe & 100% supported, and to know the questions to ask to ensure that any intervention suggested is for a true medical situation.
All my best--Carol
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Minggu, 21 Maret 2010
A HypnoBirthing testimonial
Amy & Ian took my January 2010/Thursday HypnoBirthing classes. Here is their birth announcement & testimonial:
I wanted to let you know that Ezra was born on March 9th, at 9:31am. He was 7 lbs, 19.3" long, and entered this world via a beautiful, natural HypnoBirth.
Thank you so much for teaching such a wonderful, transformative class. You know that I wasn't convinced on the idea of natural birth before the class started, but I could never imagine doing anything else now. It was such a wonderful experience being fulling aware and in control throughout the birthing process, and Ezra so wide-eyed and alert after he was born. He is such a mellow, easy baby. (Takes after his dad!)
I can't tell you how many people are shocked when I tell them that Ezra was born with no induction, no epidural, and no tearing. I had stopped telling people how we were planning to birth because I didn't want to hear "This is your first? Talk to me afterwards!" anymore. It is as though people don't realize that it is actually possible!!!!
Just let me know if you ever need another testimonial or reference for someone who is not sure about the class. I would be happy to speak with anyone considering HypnoBirthing and sing it's praises.
~Amy
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Congratulations Amy & Ian! Enjoy your babymoon & thank you for allowing me to share your story. I hope that the non-believers are now believers after knowing that you had a natural birth!
Enjoy your babymoon!
All my best--Carol
Rabu, 03 Maret 2010
A HypnoBirthing story
Laura Fairchild, the co-owner of Babies by the Sea Boutique, took my Tuesday night HypnoBirthing classes with her partner, Eric, in April 2009. Here is the story of their son's birth:
Linda Goldsmith, my doula, did a birth timeline for me that I would like to share. She documents Rion’s birth story so well. What I would like to add is how much HypnoBirthing helped me so I will explain a little before sharing Linda’s timeline. Once my surges started, I listened to the rainbow relaxation CD and I was very calm. I had listened to the CD before bed during the course and for the month after the course prior to the birth. When in labor, I never felt nervous or scared. I knew that everything that was happening was supposed to happen and was normal. I felt like I really went inside myself and was able to focus on my breathing techniques and visualization exercises. No one else really existed outside of me. My partner, having taken the class with me, was also very calm and knew what to expect and how to support me throughout the labor. Linda, my doula, was also well versed in HypnoBirthing.
We labored at my house for some time then went to the hospital. When we arrived at the hospital we put the CD in and continued our practices. There wasn’t ever a time the thought of drugs or an intervention entered my mind. I was totally at ease. I did feel pain but my body surrendered to it and it did not make me tense or uncomfortable. It was so pure and real and after the delivery I was very awake and clear. I truly experienced and felt every moment of the birthing process and best of all my body did exactly what it was supposed to do. Without the HyponoBirthing I feel I would have been nervous, unfocused, anxious, scared, frustrated, and in uncomfortable pain. I am very proud of our birth story.
Here is Rion’s birth story told from my doula’s point of view:
Laura Fairchild
Baby: Rion - boy
Scripps Encinitas
Physician: Dr. Biter
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
3:30 a.m. Laura had a spontaneous rupture of membranes (SROM) in the middle of the night.
7:20 a.m. She called me to tell me the news. She said she was still leaking a lot of water, soaking six pads thus far. I told her that she should probably reposition baby so that baby was better lined up for exit and also acting as a cork for all that gushing fluid. I suggested she lay upside down on a decline. She did it once and it didn’t really change anything. She did it a 2nd time and it seemed to work. No more tons of water coming out.
8:45 a.m. I called and she said surges were starting. I suggested I come over around 9:30 a.m. She agreed.
9:30 a.m. I arrived. Laura was standing and leaning on her bed. She was breathing very well and talkative, so I knew she was in early labor on her way to active labor. Her surges were every 5 minutes and 20 seconds long.
9:35 a.m. Eric arrived and immediately jumped into to a supportive, helpful role.
9:45 a.m. Laura’s labor intensified. Her labor support team was now there, so this did not surprise me. I sent a text message to Dr. Biter letting him know what was going on as he was in a business meeting in downtown San Diego. I had Laura rock her hips in a figure eight to help get baby in a good position and as a coping technique. I showed Eric the double hip squeeze and he did that while I massaged her scalp and applied cold washcloths to her body that was heating up perfectly. Laura continued to labor very well and her journey was intensifying.
10:20 a.m. I sent Dr. Biter another text…. “3 minutes apart and 30 seconds long, doing great.”
10:35 a.m. Dr. Biter sent a text back… “Should I leave San Diego now?” I sent a text back… “Yes.”
10:40 a.m. Dr. Biter called me and offered to come to Laura’s home to do a pelvic check. I thought it was a great idea and a very kind offer. Laura continued to labor effectively and with great confidence, staying calm and relaxed and focusing on her hip movement and breathing.
11:00 a.m. Dr. Biter arrived. Laura was laboring beautifully and Dr. Biter was observing.
11:15 a.m. Dr. Biter did a pelvic exam and she was 7 – 8 cm dilated, a little more on one side than the other. We suggested that she do some lunges on the low table, which she did for about 20 minutes. Dr. Biter went to go change clothes and said he’d meet us at the hospital when we were ready to go.
11:35 a.m. Laura’s labor was getting stronger and stronger. I really felt like it was time to go. I suggested that to Laura and she agreed.
11:40 a.m. We left for the hospital. Laura’s two sister and mothers were following along.
11:50 a.m. We arrived at the hospital. Laura was still surging very well. The plan was to get a pelvic exam to get officially admitted, then go from there based on the information we were given. She did her standing and leaning against the hospital bed. Jenny was taking some beautiful labor shots.
12:15 p.m. Dr. Biter did the pelvic exam. He said she had “a little more work to do”. I suggested the shower and she agreed. She was in there for 30 minutes. Dr. Biter went and got her a popsicle. Eric and I supported her while she was in the shower. Eric still had her hips and I sprayed the water all over her body and gave her words of encouragement.
12:45 p.m. Dr. Biter suggested she get out of the shower which she did. She went to the bed and began pushing. She only had to push for one hour with a first baby. Her two sisters and her mom were a great cheer squad for her!
1:48 p.m. Calm Baby Rion was born! He was just perfect! He had a very peaceful first hour of life, just resting on mama’s breast, making eye contact with her, hearing her heartbeat, licking at her nipple, and falling asleep. An hour later he breastfed.
2:50 p.m. Everything was perfect and it was time for the family to be alone with their newest, most precious member. I took my leave.
DOULA’S NOTES
This was a wonderful birth! Laura did a great job of staying calm and relaxed. Eric did a great job of supporting her during the labor. Dr. Biter was so kind and gentle. Her family was over the moon with pride at what Laura was accomplishing before their very eyes.
I knew Laura would do well. She is a very focused individual and very loving and caring mother who I knew wanted the best journey for her baby’s birth. She gave that to him on his birth day. What a gift! It was an honor to be a part of it all.
By Linda Goldsmith
Birth Doula
760-633-3344
Here is Rion’s birth story told from my doula’s point of view:
Laura Fairchild
Baby: Rion - boy
Scripps Encinitas
Physician: Dr. Biter
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
3:30 a.m. Laura had a spontaneous rupture of membranes (SROM) in the middle of the night.
7:20 a.m. She called me to tell me the news. She said she was still leaking a lot of water, soaking six pads thus far. I told her that she should probably reposition baby so that baby was better lined up for exit and also acting as a cork for all that gushing fluid. I suggested she lay upside down on a decline. She did it once and it didn’t really change anything. She did it a 2nd time and it seemed to work. No more tons of water coming out.
8:45 a.m. I called and she said surges were starting. I suggested I come over around 9:30 a.m. She agreed.
9:30 a.m. I arrived. Laura was standing and leaning on her bed. She was breathing very well and talkative, so I knew she was in early labor on her way to active labor. Her surges were every 5 minutes and 20 seconds long.
9:35 a.m. Eric arrived and immediately jumped into to a supportive, helpful role.
9:45 a.m. Laura’s labor intensified. Her labor support team was now there, so this did not surprise me. I sent a text message to Dr. Biter letting him know what was going on as he was in a business meeting in downtown San Diego. I had Laura rock her hips in a figure eight to help get baby in a good position and as a coping technique. I showed Eric the double hip squeeze and he did that while I massaged her scalp and applied cold washcloths to her body that was heating up perfectly. Laura continued to labor very well and her journey was intensifying.
10:20 a.m. I sent Dr. Biter another text…. “3 minutes apart and 30 seconds long, doing great.”
10:35 a.m. Dr. Biter sent a text back… “Should I leave San Diego now?” I sent a text back… “Yes.”
10:40 a.m. Dr. Biter called me and offered to come to Laura’s home to do a pelvic check. I thought it was a great idea and a very kind offer. Laura continued to labor effectively and with great confidence, staying calm and relaxed and focusing on her hip movement and breathing.
11:00 a.m. Dr. Biter arrived. Laura was laboring beautifully and Dr. Biter was observing.
11:15 a.m. Dr. Biter did a pelvic exam and she was 7 – 8 cm dilated, a little more on one side than the other. We suggested that she do some lunges on the low table, which she did for about 20 minutes. Dr. Biter went to go change clothes and said he’d meet us at the hospital when we were ready to go.
11:35 a.m. Laura’s labor was getting stronger and stronger. I really felt like it was time to go. I suggested that to Laura and she agreed.
11:40 a.m. We left for the hospital. Laura’s two sister and mothers were following along.
11:50 a.m. We arrived at the hospital. Laura was still surging very well. The plan was to get a pelvic exam to get officially admitted, then go from there based on the information we were given. She did her standing and leaning against the hospital bed. Jenny was taking some beautiful labor shots.
12:15 p.m. Dr. Biter did the pelvic exam. He said she had “a little more work to do”. I suggested the shower and she agreed. She was in there for 30 minutes. Dr. Biter went and got her a popsicle. Eric and I supported her while she was in the shower. Eric still had her hips and I sprayed the water all over her body and gave her words of encouragement.
12:45 p.m. Dr. Biter suggested she get out of the shower which she did. She went to the bed and began pushing. She only had to push for one hour with a first baby. Her two sisters and her mom were a great cheer squad for her!
1:48 p.m. Calm Baby Rion was born! He was just perfect! He had a very peaceful first hour of life, just resting on mama’s breast, making eye contact with her, hearing her heartbeat, licking at her nipple, and falling asleep. An hour later he breastfed.
2:50 p.m. Everything was perfect and it was time for the family to be alone with their newest, most precious member. I took my leave.
DOULA’S NOTES
This was a wonderful birth! Laura did a great job of staying calm and relaxed. Eric did a great job of supporting her during the labor. Dr. Biter was so kind and gentle. Her family was over the moon with pride at what Laura was accomplishing before their very eyes.
I knew Laura would do well. She is a very focused individual and very loving and caring mother who I knew wanted the best journey for her baby’s birth. She gave that to him on his birth day. What a gift! It was an honor to be a part of it all.
By Linda Goldsmith
Birth Doula
760-633-3344
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Thank you, Laura, for sharing your birth story! Thanks to Linda Goldsmith for such a great overview of her birth!
Just a little interesting tidbit--Laura met Dr. Biter (who co-owns Babies the the Sea Boutique with her) during her pregnancy & it was at this time that Babies by the Sea Boutique was created!
Selasa, 02 Februari 2010
A HypnoBirthing story for a 3rd baby
Christina & Simon took my HypnoBirthing classes in November 2009 at Babies by the Sea Boutique. Christina's previous births were vaginal but traumatic & long. They both found the classes to be calming & helpful during Christina's pregnancy. They birthed at Scripps Encinitas Hospital with the help of Dr. Capetenakis/Dr. Cap, partner of Dr. Biter, and Christina's friend & doula, Donna Hooyen.
Birth story- Brodie Louis
Sorry it’s choppy and written badly! I copied notes from my phone that I had been keeping then tried to re-write it the best I could with three boys in the house.
Tuesday, December 8th – We had Rubio’s for dinner, while eating I started feeling constant back aches then started having contractions for three hours about 15 minutes apart. I decided to go to bed after they slowed down. I was able to sleep.
Wednesday, December 9th- woke up at 7 with contractions, started timing them around 7:30, I called my mom and doula to give them a heads up. Contractions were 8-9 minutes apart. Donna, my doula, said Simon, my husband, should come home to be with me and the boys. My Mom was already at my house and made food and helped with the boys all day. Simon worked from home and ran errands for things we needed. Contractions started getting painful in the front and back mid-morning. I took a walk around our neighborhood with my mom and kids around 11, contractions were more intense on the walk. Relaxed all day, called Dr. Cap at 2:30pm, he said to rest, drink fluids, eat, continue to do what Donna said to do. He said there was no need to be checked and if the contractions hold at this pattern, I might want to take an ambien to sleep and restart the system if that’s what my body needed. I didn't time the contractions all day as I didn’t want to dwell on it, some felt further apart towards the end of the day. I had more intense contractions at night but took the ambien before 9pm and was out like a light. I woke up at midnight and Simon had to help me to get to the restroom, I was so out of it. Apparently, he had brought Bennett (our extremely loud 2 year old) into our room around 9:15pm to give him a bath and say goodnight to me and I didn’t hear a peep.
Thursday, December 10th- woke up at 3am to contractions, noticed they were about 6 minutes apart so I started timing them around 5:30am- they were at 6-7 minutes and then started growing to 8-10 minutes apart but seemed to be more intense. I texted my mom and Donna at 6:45am- my mom called right after I texted her and said she was coming up to the house, Donna said we’re just waiting to kick into active labor (5 minutes apart) and out of early labor which is what had been going on, she explained the benefits of going slow (getting Brodie and me ready at a nice pace, increasing the endorphins). Then around 10:00am the contractions started getting weaker. Just as they started to die down, Dr Cap’s office called to check in on me. I told the nurse what had been going on and she put me on hold to relay the information to Dr. Cap. He then said he wanted me to come in to be checked and to check on Brodie after a day and a half of contractions. We arrived at the office at 11:15am. Dr Cap checked and I was a little disappointed to hear that I was still at 2cm! (This is what I was at the week before) He said he could try and stretch me if I wanted or we could leave things be and let nature take its course, we decided to leave things be. I ended up crying at the end of the appointment and I started to get discouraged. After we got home, I took a shower and slept for two hours. At that point, the contractions were almost completely gone. I called Donna when I woke up and voiced my concerns and discouragement. She explained the contractions did and were doing something, and it’s not just my cervix that needs to get ready, I began to feel better. Both Simon and my mom were working from the house and Hunter went with my dad for the day. Just as my mom put Bennett down for a nap, I got up and she made me some lunch. After an uneventful afternoon, Hunter came home and my parents left for their Christmas parties. I ended up cleaning up the house a little bit while Simon and Hunter played Wii. I called Donna again and she suggested Simon and I get away just the two of us, do something relaxing and quiet. My brother’s girlfriend came over after dinner and watched the boys while Simon and I went to Starbucks. We sat and drank decaf coffee and chatted for about an hour before heading home. After the kids went to bed, Simon lit candles, put on some soft music and gave me a massage. He then read some HypnoBirthing scripts to me, turned on my Rainbow Relaxation CD (as we did every night) and I fell asleep around 10:30pm. I woke up quite often that night and had a really hard time getting out of bed on my own.
Friday, December 11th- I was able to sleep in till 10:00am, woke up to no contractions. I went into the Dr’s office around 11:00am to leave a urine sample (which I forgot to do the previous day and to be checked for an UTI). I had an acupuncture appointment at 12:30pm and started having a few Braxton hicks contractions shortly after the appointment began. The contractions stopped and I cleaned up the house a bit, did laundry then went to dinner with my parents, Simon and the kids. We went to an Italian restaurant and I had an eggplant entrée, recommended by my acupuncturist. I then had one very strong contraction in the car on the way home and started feeling a little sick to my stomach. Around 8:30pm I had three contractions, and then they stopped. Shortly after that, I was feeling a lot of extreme pressure very low. I broke down shortly before going to bed so Simon did some light touch massage and we listened to the Rainbow Relaxation CD just before going to bed. I had a few contractions that night but was able to go back to sleep albeit a very anxious sleep.
Saturday, December 12th-Woke up around 8:45am and listened to the HypnoBirthing Birth Affirmations portion of my CD. I called my mom and Donna to update them on my morning and then my friend/neighbor and her daughter came over to play for a little bit. I felt very emotional and tired and did not want Simon to leave the house. I felt like I wasn’t able to take care of the kids on my own. I started having thoughts of my mom and Simon having to go back to work soon and was feeling a little bit of pressure from them (I’m sure it wasn’t intentional) since they had been away from their respective offices for days at this point. I was worried about taking care of the kids and how I would deal with them if I did start labor quickly with no one around. I ended up sitting on the couch with some tea, relaxing while Simon got some work done upstairs and the boys played in the playroom. I put Bennett down for a nap and then took a 20 minute nap myself. My mom came up and took Hunter shopping, Simon went into the office and I watched TV. When my mom returned, she made me some eggs and we talked for a little while before she went home. I thought Bennett was awake so I went to get him up from his nap but he wasn’t fully awake when I got him out of his crib. He was very clingy and ended up falling asleep on my chest on the couch for a little over 15 minutes. It was such a warming feeling. I decided to go over the HypnoBirthing class information while the boys were playing with Simon in the playroom and that’s when I realized that I needed to hear the Balloon script. I felt like I was holding onto feelings which were preventing my labor from starting. I started thinking about what possible fears and thoughts I could be holding onto and came up with quite a few. I was physically ready for Brodie but I wasn’t quite emotionally or mentally ready for some reason. I felt bad for Bennett for being so young still; I was but wasn’t ready to be up all night and hadn’t thought about nursing a new baby yet. I selfishly wanted more time but I knew he was ready, my body was ready and it was “time” for him to be here. I began to swell pretty badly (which started a few days ago at this point) so after talking to Donna, I sent Simon out to Walgreen’s to get some Epsom Salt. He came back with a candy bar and two cartons of salt. I ate my candy bar while sitting on the birth ball and finished going over the HypnoBirthing information. I then went upstairs and soaked in the salt bath and thought of these fears I was having- I decided to change these fears into thoughts about how Brodie was meant to be here and how I am ready physically, emotionally, material wise and how his presence has made Simon and my marriage and relationship stronger and how he has opened up our lives to new and exciting things, people and experiences.
Sunday, December 13th-Woke up at 1:30am with bad acid reflux and continued to wake up every hour after that. I was up for the day at 9:30am but stayed in bed till 10:30am. I ate some breakfast then we all jumped in the car. We drove to Downtown Encinitas and took the boys on a walk down 2nd Street. We all came home, I ate a spicy burrito and drank some coffee, and we all watched the Chargers game. During the game, I noticed that Brodie wasn’t moving a lot so I rested on my left side on the couch while playing on the computer. I then noticed a cold sensation across my entire abdomen. I decided to take a shower to relax and realized that my belly was extremely low. After my shower, I hung out with the boys for a little over 4 hours while Simon went into the store. I just about went crazy! I didn’t have a single contraction all day and then they started up while Simon was away. By 8:00pm, I was shaking. I couldn’t tell if it was from the contractions and the pressure or if it was from being with the kids. I started timing them as soon as Simon returned home and they were 10-13 minutes apart. I was sure labor was about to start so I called my mom and my aunt Jacquie (who was planning on watching the kids). I decided to wait an hour and then update them again. An hour went by and I told them to stay put and I would call them if they got any closer together. By 11:00pm, the contractions started slowing down again. Simon read the balloon script again before I went to bed and then worked in the dark bedroom on his computer while I attempted to go to sleep. I was having really bad heartburn, it was very hard to sleep.
Monday, December 14th-I ended up waking up at 7:10am due to an appointment I had with Dr Cap. My mom came up and took me to my appointment which was at 8:30am. We found out that Dr Cap was out sick so I would be seeing Dr Biter. We waited around but Dr Biter was at a delivery so the office girls said they would call my cell phone when he was on his way back to the office. My mom and I went to Einstein’s and I got a Bagel sandwich with egg and cheese. She got Wahoo’s but I didn’t want to eat Mexican food for some reason. We then walked around Target but decided we didn’t need anything so we headed home. I spend some time with the kids before Simon took them to the office with him to get a few things done and get them lunch. My mom and I went to Trader Joe’s to get groceries and just as we were about to check out, the Dr’s office called. We grabbed the last few things we needed and checked out as fast as we could- bagging our own groceries because it was so busy! I stayed in the car while Simon and my mom unloaded the car and then my mom and I were off to see Dr Biter. He ended up checking me and I was at 5cm! While checking me, my water broke and flooded the exam room!! There was so much fluid that it wouldn’t stop. I was trying to clean up to leave the office and my mom and I ended up laughing so hard that I then started peeing. I couldn’t tell if it was fluid or pee, which made us laugh even harder! Dr Biter was pretty positive we would be having a baby by the end of the day/night and we talked about when to go to the hospital and when to call him. We cleaned up as much as we could- me and the room and then headed home. I called Simon right when we got in the car and told him what had happened. He immediately got that smile in his voice and the excitement began! We called my dad, Jacquie, Donna and then I texted the few people I was updating over the past few days (like my sister, brothers, close friends). Jacquie, Donna and my dad all seemed to arrive around the same time- which was about 4:30pm. My dad stayed for a few hours then took Hunter to stay the night with him. After getting home, I took a shower and waited for everyone to arrive and for things to start. My mom made eggs for everyone (yes, her eggs are delicious) and the contractions started getting regular. I spent most of my time upstairs in my dim bedroom on the birth ball. I was relaxed, confident and happy it was time! Simon was downstairs with Bennett early on and Donna and my mom stayed with me upstairs, keeping me relaxed with light touch massage and positive comments. Donna noticed my belly was really far out/forward and really low so she climbed up in the garage and grabbed a bolt of my fabric. Simon was thrilled that all the fabric I was storing was getting some use. She cut a large piece off and tied it around my belly to keep Brodie more “inward”. I was still leaking quite a bit so I tucked a towel in under the fabric and we were all joking around- saying I looked like a Sumo Wrestler. Laboring at home was the most normal feeling thing ever. I really enjoyed being around my family and the kids. I continued to labor in my room, coming downstairs a few times to snack and visit with everyone. I started to feel like I had to concentrate more around 8:00pm. I decided I was comfortable enough to stay home just a little while longer and say goodnight to Bennett. Simon brought Bennett upstairs around 8:45pm and gave him a bath in our bathroom. I was able to get up between contractions and put Bennett to bed (Simon stayed close to the door in case I needed him). Right after putting him to bed, Simon called our neighbor, Camille, and she came over to sleep on the couch while Bennett was sleeping. Simon took our car, I went with my mom, Donna drove her car and Jacquie followed up the rear. On the way to the hospital, I noticed my contractions had slowed down after getting in the car. I remembered learning in my HypnoBirthing class that this does happen so I didn’t worry too much about it. I wasn’t timing my contractions at home (Donna, Simon and my mom were) so I wasn’t positive about how far apart they were at this point anyway. I believe they were around 5 minutes apart before we left. We parked at the hospital and I decided to walk across the parking lot and into the hospital. About half way there, I realized how cold it was outside and how I should have let them drive me to the door. We were buzzed into Labor and Delivery and we walked to the check in desk. I got frustrated when they couldn’t find my pre-registration packet but shortly after those feeling of frustration hit me, I decided to let it all go. Eventually they found my information and Simon asked that we get a nurse that was experienced with natural birthing. They ended up giving us the charge nurse, Lydia. Little did I know just then how wonderful this little handed woman would be.
Lydia took us down the hallway into our room. I was hooked up to the monitors and sat on the bed then the birthing ball while being monitored and while Lydia asked me a bunch of questions. I remember thinking- I wrote all these answers in my pre-registration papers, why do I have to answer them again? Luckily, I was relaxed and comfortable enough that it didn’t bug me too much. The baby looked great, I did a really good job of not looking at the monitor and reading my contractions (or trying to time or see how far apart they were, I think I looked at the monitor once or twice the entire labor). It was really freeing… not being stuck in bed, not being so bored and confined so that that my wandering eyes peered over to the monitors to see how “big and strong” that last contraction was or how baby’s heart rate was doing, like I did in my last two births. In fact, I didn’t time or pay attention to a single contraction once Donna arrived at the house earlier that day. Lydia finished her round of questions and then it was time to check me, the required admission check. It wasn’t a big deal until it began. This wonderful, albeit little handed, nurse did not make the process of “checks” and easy one. Her outer fingers/knuckles would bang against my pubic bones and man, did that hurt! Yes, hurt. I then learned that I was 5 centimeters. The lights were dimmed and we were left alone for about a half an hour and during that time, Dr Cap called my cell phone and left me a message (which I didn’t hear for a few more hours). I hope I can keep that message forever cause it’s the most positive, uplifting message I have ever heard. He encouraged me to stay positive, take a walk, keep relaxing… and mentioned how excited he was to help catch our 3rd baby boy. Simon was also conversing with Susie (our wedding photographer and friend that was going to take pictures of the birth process) about when to come and where to go. Jacquie then told me that Melanie, her daughter and my best friend, was also on her way. Melanie is also a photographer but I had wanted her to be there as family and not as a photographer- she brought her camera anyway. I kept breathing through contractions, mostly sitting on the birthing ball as that was the most comfortable position for me at that time. Donna, my mom and Simon took turns doing light touch massage through each contraction all while telling me how great I was doing. The reassurance and positive words really helped me focus and relax. Simon turned on the instrumental music from the rainbow relaxation CD which helped me relax even more. I didn’t want anything but that playing softly in the background. My mom, Donna and Jacquie went to the cafeteria for some snacks and coffee and brought me back a bagel with cream cheese. After my first bite, Lydia walked back in to let me know that Dr Cap was on call to come in when we needed him and to ask even more questions. I was shocked that she mentioned Dr Cap as I thought he was out sick. I even made her repeat herself and mentioned that I didn’t want him to come in if he was sick! (Turns out he wasn’t contagious, just something he ate). I also didn’t know if it was ok to eat or not so I sat there with the bagel on the bed in front of me and looked at Donna with a little bit of a smile and concern. Lydia then asked me when the last time I ate was… look at the bagel and said “oh, now.” It wasn’t a big deal after all, so I dug back into the bagel which was no longer warm. I didn’t care, I was just hungry! I also kept up with drinking my electrolyte drinks and emptying my bladder. I didn’t seem to have any problems with that as I was hungry, thirsty and boy did it feel good to empty my bladder from time to time. Sitting on the toilet also brought on some pretty intense contractions and I welcomed them knowing we were getting closer and closer. I was still very comfortable, almost like I was in a blur… I remember lots of little things but the entire process seems like it was a dream. I wasn’t aware of all the medical mumbo jumbo, how far dilated I was, what my contractions were doing, etc… I was tuning into my body and listening to my gut and my heart. I remember my husband eating a Snickers bar and joking around with the camera in my face. I remember flipping him the bird with a smile (as a joke) after a contraction ended (we also have that on camera and in print), I remember napping between contractions for a little over an hour, I remember seeing a stack of unwritten Christmas cards on the table next to my bed and only now do I know that Jacquie was writing her Christmas cards throughout the night. I just don’t seem to remember when all those little details happened, like at what time. I just know they happened at some point during this “dream” of mine. It was nearing the next day when Dr Cap arrived. Lydia had checked me once more before his arrival and I only remember this because of her hands! Susie, Melanie, my mom and Jacquie were all trying to get as comfortable as possible and get a short nap in. At that point, I was becoming hot and cold and couldn’t figure out what my body temperature was doing although it didn’t help that the rooms thermostat was horrible! Donna had me walking the room, eating protein bars, drinking fluids, emptying my bladder constantly and squatting. Still, the birth ball was the most comfortable. Lydia, very discreetly, placed the fetal monitor in my mesh panties every once in a while to monitor the baby. I barely knew it was there and I barely knew she was there! Dr Cap checked me again due to my cervix being very posterior and I believe because of how I was or wasn’t progressing. He then told me it was still posterior and I need to help bring the baby down and move the cervix forward. He suggested I get on my hands and knees on the bed and then alternate laying on my sides- left and right. I got on my hands and knees for quite a while, on the bed with a stack of pillows to lean on. I remember really focusing on the music at this point and the position felt really good. After a while though, I needed a change. The bed was getting uncomfortable and my knees were beginning to get sore. After a quick restroom break, I tried lying on my left side. It was shortly after that point that my body started shaking. I became really hot and uncomfortable. The music was still on but I could no longer hear it. My breathing became deeper and louder and I needed even more reassurance and light touch massage. At one point, Jacquie, Melanie, my mom, Simon and Donna were all doing light touch massage on every part of my body. It just wasn’t enough though. I took my shirt and mesh panties off and kept my nursing bra on. Dr Cap asked to check me once more; I allowed him to but quickly told him to “get out”. It wasn’t till much later that I learned he wanted to help by turning the baby’s head. Even if he would have told me that, I probably wouldn’t have allowed it. Having him check me was uncomfortable enough and I knew he didn’t need to be in there any longer than he was just for a check. I can’t remember if it was prior to that check or shortly after but I started pushing. It wasn’t a forceful push; at least it didn’t feel like one. I just remember at one point Dr Cap saying “Chris, it looks like you are pushing. You need to stop pushing. Your cervix will swell…” Apparently, he determined that I was 8 centimeters when he checked me. I did not know how far dilated I was and in my head he was telling me not to push and warning me about the possibility of a swollen cervix because- in my mind- I was almost complete! I thought I was 9-9.5 centimeters. I’m glad I didn’t know where I was at or I would have become even more discouraged that I was about to be. I continued to listen to my body and for some reason; my body was shaking and telling me to push. I continued pushing and breathing down the baby with each contraction and Dr Cap continued to remind me not to push. I became very restless, Lydia was in full scrubs and I overheard her talking about a C-Section that she needed to go to but then she wasn’t in full scrubs anymore and she continued to stay close if not in the room with us. She brought out a bar and attached it to the end of the bed. I gave one attempt at the bar but didn’t give it long enough to get in a comfortable position. I couldn’t get in a comfortable position, period. I was then thrashing around trying to get comfortable on my right side then my left again. I was grabbing onto the side of the bed in pure fear. I was fearful of another contraction and wanted them to stop. Again, I’m so glad I didn’t know how far dilated I was at the last check or I think things would have been much, much worse. The contractions were one on top of another at that point. I had very little to no break in between them. I remember lying on my side but burying my head into the pillows beneath me, I even slobbered on them. My deep breathing sounds started to become higher in pitch but never became a scream or anything that resembled a scream. Dr Cap and Simon were sitting to my right and Donna was sitting to my left. They were all reminding me to keep a deep sound, I can honestly say I was trying with everything I had in me to get that deep sound and it just wasn’t happening. It was shortly after 5:00am when I turned to my husband and Donna and said “I can’t do this anymore”. I said that a few more times then I started asking for an epidural. Dr Cap appeared in the room and I told him I wanted the epidural- now. He told me the anesthesiologist was in a C-Section and I would have to wait another 30 minutes. He, at first, asked if I was sure I wanted to do that then he tried to explain to me what my body was doing. I kept begging for the epidural and apologizing to my husband and Donna (My husband couldn’t believe that I could calmly look at them and say I was sorry during all of this) . I even made Dr Cap promise me that I could get the epidural and it wasn’t too late (again thinking I was close to 10 centimeters). He assured me I could get the epidural but he tried to calmly talk me through what was happening.
I went on begging for the epidural for the next 20 minutes or more. All while trying to fight off the contractions. I had lost focus on the goal and the fact that each contraction was getting me closer to meeting my baby. I begged to get the anesthesiologist out of his surgery and into my room. Dr Cap explained to me that once the C-Section started, he couldn’t leave (which I already knew but I didn’t care). I continued clutching the side of the bed, tensing my body, pushing down- somehow I was still able to breathe down the baby. Half the time (while doing my version of pushing), I would actually feel his head drop down and “pop” forward and that popping feeling was instant pain relief- I was looking for that feeling again and again! I felt like I had total control of what was going on inside my body but my emotions and my outer appearance was unstable, to say the least. I yelled at everyone to stop taking pictures and to stop the video, I felt overwhelmed. I started to think proactively and asked that I be prepped for the epidural so that when the anesthesiologist was done, he could administer the epidural as quickly as possible. I requested the IV and Lydia then turned on the room lights and placed my IV. My mom stepped outside of the room. She had tears in her eyes and couldn’t handle seeing me in pain. Donna suggested I get up and empty my bladder so I wouldn’t have to get a catheter. The idea of getting up and/or going to the restroom sounded really good for some reason. I jumped out of the bed as fast as I could which shocked everyone. I didn’t want to have any more contractions while walking to the restroom but it also felt right, it felt like I needed to do this. I was also thinking that I hadn’t had a bowel movement in 24 hours so I needed to go. Dr Cap stepped outside the door and stood next to my mom. She dialed my dad on her cell phone while Dr Cap looked at her and said “the baby just might be too big”. My mom updated my dad on what was going on and how I wanted the epidural. Simon went into the restroom with me, Donna and Lydia stayed at the door. I was able to have a small bowel movement and empty my bladder but then I felt like I had to go more (another bowel movement). I pushed and pushed but it was stuck. I started to panic, no, freak out, as I looked at my husband and told him that I had a piece of poop stuck in my butt. Donna peeked her head in and I then told her that “I needed someone to pick the poop out of my butt”. Before long, Lydia was also in the bathroom. By then I was begging and pleading with everything I had in me for her to “put a glove on and pick the poop out of my butt”. I repeated myself quite a few times before she put a glove on and reached behind me. I thought she was actually going to pick the poop out of my butt when all of a sudden she said very calmly “that’s baby’s head… get back in the bed”. I didn’t wipe, I ran to the bed while Donna grabbed my IV bag and tried to remind me to slow down, that I had an IV in my arm and was running away without the bag! I remember blood dripping onto the floor and Lydia yelling at the door “BABY’S COMING!!!” Dr Cap and my mom ran back inside the room and Dr Cap quickly put his gloves on. I sat up straight in the bed with my knees bent in a sitting squat position. Dr Cap yelled for the mineral oil and threw it on as quickly as he could. He then directed me to lightly push once. I went from total panic mode (while having the back to back contractions) to being totally attentive, cooperative and calm. I remember thinking that the “ring of fire” feeling was not all that bad… He asked me to stop, Brodie’s head was out, and he was unwrapping the cord from his neck. He then told me to push a tiny bit more and with that, Brodie was born at 5:44am. The cord was also wrapped around his torso like a sash. He was placed directly on my chest immediately after his birth. I didn’t have time to take off my nursing bra like I had planned but I didn’t care. He was very blue and not breathing well so they called in two NICU nurses and took him across the room to the warmer. I was surprisingly calm when they took him but I did start to shake, my whole body was trembling. Donna stayed with me while everyone went with Brodie. His apgar score at first was 7 but then 9 right after. Before he came back to me, we were able to get my nursing bra off so he could be completely skin to skin with me. My doctor was massaging my abdomen and checking me while he was being looked at. No tears but he did think it would be wise for me to get a small amount of pitocin while I delivered the placenta. He asked me if that was ok and honestly, I was so overwhelmed and shocked by what just happened that I trusted him and said yes. I was shaking violently and the nurses brought me warm blankets and juice. During all this, I overheard everyone talking about how big he was.. Then they started making guesses. I heard “10 pounds”… “9 and a half”… I sat there with my jaw wide open in disbelief. They did weigh him since they were already doing his initial newborn “once over” while keeping an eye on him and his breathing. NINE pounds, nine ounces and 21” long. It wasn’t long before they had him back over to me; the NICU nurse brought him over, unwrapped him and placed him on my chest skin to skin. I instantly stopped shaking the second he was placed on me. We laid there for quite a while, no one rushed us, and no one bothered us. We did have a change of nurse but she came in and did her own thing, let us know she was there if we had questions, helped me use the restroom while daddy held Brodie. We started nursing pretty quickly after we sat and bonded together. I just wanted to hold him as close as I could and then when he started licking and opening his mouth, I knew it was time to nurse. His first attempt was perfect. He was a pro already! His initial sugar levels were good but dipped down (not in the danger zone) so the lactation consultant came in and helped me express colostrum. We cup fed Brodie the expressed colostrum and the fourth reading was back up to normal. After getting to our room, we spent the next 24 hours skin to skin and nursing constantly. I was bound and determined to not let jaundice plague us for the third time. Our pediatrician was amazing and very proactive. We had his levels checked at 12 hours and even though they were in the normal range, we got him on a Biliblanket. Nursing continued to go famously and he brought my milk in on day 2. We were able to go home 36 hours after his birth! What an amazing feeling, I couldn’t wait to get home and see the kids. After a few more lab visits, Brodie’s levels peaked on day 3 and well within normal limits. The next day, his levels were back down! I couldn’t believe it, we finally got to bring one of our babies home and stay home! No NICU for Brodie! At 4 days old, Brodie had already passed his birth weight, he weighed in at 9 pounds, 10 ounces.
Thinking back, I remember lots of mothers telling me the last 30 minutes or so of labor was the hardest… one of my friends had told me that she begged and pleaded for a C-Section! As much as I wanted that epidural, I probably wouldn’t have been able to sit still to get it. There’s a reason why the anesthesiologist was not available and why Brodie came so quickly at the end. I wouldn’t change a thing about my birth and I’m so grateful for the knowledge, support and advice we received from HypnoBirthing, my amazing doula and my awesome doctors. My husband told me that he truly believes I was able to birth a 9 pound baby thanks to HypnoBirthing and the amazing care I received. Did I mention I was told I wouldn’t be able to birth a baby over 7 pounds by my first OBGYN? And that I was the first in three generations to not have all C-Sections?
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Thanks, Christina, for sharing your birth story! Continue enjoying your babymoon!
If you would like more information about Dr. Capetanakis, D.O. or Dr. Biter, please call their office at: (760) 642-0800 .
If you would like more information about Donna Hooyen, please email her at donna at 7thheavenbabies dot com.
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Birth story- Brodie Louis
Sorry it’s choppy and written badly! I copied notes from my phone that I had been keeping then tried to re-write it the best I could with three boys in the house.
Tuesday, December 8th – We had Rubio’s for dinner, while eating I started feeling constant back aches then started having contractions for three hours about 15 minutes apart. I decided to go to bed after they slowed down. I was able to sleep.
Wednesday, December 9th- woke up at 7 with contractions, started timing them around 7:30, I called my mom and doula to give them a heads up. Contractions were 8-9 minutes apart. Donna, my doula, said Simon, my husband, should come home to be with me and the boys. My Mom was already at my house and made food and helped with the boys all day. Simon worked from home and ran errands for things we needed. Contractions started getting painful in the front and back mid-morning. I took a walk around our neighborhood with my mom and kids around 11, contractions were more intense on the walk. Relaxed all day, called Dr. Cap at 2:30pm, he said to rest, drink fluids, eat, continue to do what Donna said to do. He said there was no need to be checked and if the contractions hold at this pattern, I might want to take an ambien to sleep and restart the system if that’s what my body needed. I didn't time the contractions all day as I didn’t want to dwell on it, some felt further apart towards the end of the day. I had more intense contractions at night but took the ambien before 9pm and was out like a light. I woke up at midnight and Simon had to help me to get to the restroom, I was so out of it. Apparently, he had brought Bennett (our extremely loud 2 year old) into our room around 9:15pm to give him a bath and say goodnight to me and I didn’t hear a peep.
Thursday, December 10th- woke up at 3am to contractions, noticed they were about 6 minutes apart so I started timing them around 5:30am- they were at 6-7 minutes and then started growing to 8-10 minutes apart but seemed to be more intense. I texted my mom and Donna at 6:45am- my mom called right after I texted her and said she was coming up to the house, Donna said we’re just waiting to kick into active labor (5 minutes apart) and out of early labor which is what had been going on, she explained the benefits of going slow (getting Brodie and me ready at a nice pace, increasing the endorphins). Then around 10:00am the contractions started getting weaker. Just as they started to die down, Dr Cap’s office called to check in on me. I told the nurse what had been going on and she put me on hold to relay the information to Dr. Cap. He then said he wanted me to come in to be checked and to check on Brodie after a day and a half of contractions. We arrived at the office at 11:15am. Dr Cap checked and I was a little disappointed to hear that I was still at 2cm! (This is what I was at the week before) He said he could try and stretch me if I wanted or we could leave things be and let nature take its course, we decided to leave things be. I ended up crying at the end of the appointment and I started to get discouraged. After we got home, I took a shower and slept for two hours. At that point, the contractions were almost completely gone. I called Donna when I woke up and voiced my concerns and discouragement. She explained the contractions did and were doing something, and it’s not just my cervix that needs to get ready, I began to feel better. Both Simon and my mom were working from the house and Hunter went with my dad for the day. Just as my mom put Bennett down for a nap, I got up and she made me some lunch. After an uneventful afternoon, Hunter came home and my parents left for their Christmas parties. I ended up cleaning up the house a little bit while Simon and Hunter played Wii. I called Donna again and she suggested Simon and I get away just the two of us, do something relaxing and quiet. My brother’s girlfriend came over after dinner and watched the boys while Simon and I went to Starbucks. We sat and drank decaf coffee and chatted for about an hour before heading home. After the kids went to bed, Simon lit candles, put on some soft music and gave me a massage. He then read some HypnoBirthing scripts to me, turned on my Rainbow Relaxation CD (as we did every night) and I fell asleep around 10:30pm. I woke up quite often that night and had a really hard time getting out of bed on my own.
Friday, December 11th- I was able to sleep in till 10:00am, woke up to no contractions. I went into the Dr’s office around 11:00am to leave a urine sample (which I forgot to do the previous day and to be checked for an UTI). I had an acupuncture appointment at 12:30pm and started having a few Braxton hicks contractions shortly after the appointment began. The contractions stopped and I cleaned up the house a bit, did laundry then went to dinner with my parents, Simon and the kids. We went to an Italian restaurant and I had an eggplant entrée, recommended by my acupuncturist. I then had one very strong contraction in the car on the way home and started feeling a little sick to my stomach. Around 8:30pm I had three contractions, and then they stopped. Shortly after that, I was feeling a lot of extreme pressure very low. I broke down shortly before going to bed so Simon did some light touch massage and we listened to the Rainbow Relaxation CD just before going to bed. I had a few contractions that night but was able to go back to sleep albeit a very anxious sleep.
Saturday, December 12th-Woke up around 8:45am and listened to the HypnoBirthing Birth Affirmations portion of my CD. I called my mom and Donna to update them on my morning and then my friend/neighbor and her daughter came over to play for a little bit. I felt very emotional and tired and did not want Simon to leave the house. I felt like I wasn’t able to take care of the kids on my own. I started having thoughts of my mom and Simon having to go back to work soon and was feeling a little bit of pressure from them (I’m sure it wasn’t intentional) since they had been away from their respective offices for days at this point. I was worried about taking care of the kids and how I would deal with them if I did start labor quickly with no one around. I ended up sitting on the couch with some tea, relaxing while Simon got some work done upstairs and the boys played in the playroom. I put Bennett down for a nap and then took a 20 minute nap myself. My mom came up and took Hunter shopping, Simon went into the office and I watched TV. When my mom returned, she made me some eggs and we talked for a little while before she went home. I thought Bennett was awake so I went to get him up from his nap but he wasn’t fully awake when I got him out of his crib. He was very clingy and ended up falling asleep on my chest on the couch for a little over 15 minutes. It was such a warming feeling. I decided to go over the HypnoBirthing class information while the boys were playing with Simon in the playroom and that’s when I realized that I needed to hear the Balloon script. I felt like I was holding onto feelings which were preventing my labor from starting. I started thinking about what possible fears and thoughts I could be holding onto and came up with quite a few. I was physically ready for Brodie but I wasn’t quite emotionally or mentally ready for some reason. I felt bad for Bennett for being so young still; I was but wasn’t ready to be up all night and hadn’t thought about nursing a new baby yet. I selfishly wanted more time but I knew he was ready, my body was ready and it was “time” for him to be here. I began to swell pretty badly (which started a few days ago at this point) so after talking to Donna, I sent Simon out to Walgreen’s to get some Epsom Salt. He came back with a candy bar and two cartons of salt. I ate my candy bar while sitting on the birth ball and finished going over the HypnoBirthing information. I then went upstairs and soaked in the salt bath and thought of these fears I was having- I decided to change these fears into thoughts about how Brodie was meant to be here and how I am ready physically, emotionally, material wise and how his presence has made Simon and my marriage and relationship stronger and how he has opened up our lives to new and exciting things, people and experiences.
Sunday, December 13th-Woke up at 1:30am with bad acid reflux and continued to wake up every hour after that. I was up for the day at 9:30am but stayed in bed till 10:30am. I ate some breakfast then we all jumped in the car. We drove to Downtown Encinitas and took the boys on a walk down 2nd Street. We all came home, I ate a spicy burrito and drank some coffee, and we all watched the Chargers game. During the game, I noticed that Brodie wasn’t moving a lot so I rested on my left side on the couch while playing on the computer. I then noticed a cold sensation across my entire abdomen. I decided to take a shower to relax and realized that my belly was extremely low. After my shower, I hung out with the boys for a little over 4 hours while Simon went into the store. I just about went crazy! I didn’t have a single contraction all day and then they started up while Simon was away. By 8:00pm, I was shaking. I couldn’t tell if it was from the contractions and the pressure or if it was from being with the kids. I started timing them as soon as Simon returned home and they were 10-13 minutes apart. I was sure labor was about to start so I called my mom and my aunt Jacquie (who was planning on watching the kids). I decided to wait an hour and then update them again. An hour went by and I told them to stay put and I would call them if they got any closer together. By 11:00pm, the contractions started slowing down again. Simon read the balloon script again before I went to bed and then worked in the dark bedroom on his computer while I attempted to go to sleep. I was having really bad heartburn, it was very hard to sleep.
Monday, December 14th-I ended up waking up at 7:10am due to an appointment I had with Dr Cap. My mom came up and took me to my appointment which was at 8:30am. We found out that Dr Cap was out sick so I would be seeing Dr Biter. We waited around but Dr Biter was at a delivery so the office girls said they would call my cell phone when he was on his way back to the office. My mom and I went to Einstein’s and I got a Bagel sandwich with egg and cheese. She got Wahoo’s but I didn’t want to eat Mexican food for some reason. We then walked around Target but decided we didn’t need anything so we headed home. I spend some time with the kids before Simon took them to the office with him to get a few things done and get them lunch. My mom and I went to Trader Joe’s to get groceries and just as we were about to check out, the Dr’s office called. We grabbed the last few things we needed and checked out as fast as we could- bagging our own groceries because it was so busy! I stayed in the car while Simon and my mom unloaded the car and then my mom and I were off to see Dr Biter. He ended up checking me and I was at 5cm! While checking me, my water broke and flooded the exam room!! There was so much fluid that it wouldn’t stop. I was trying to clean up to leave the office and my mom and I ended up laughing so hard that I then started peeing. I couldn’t tell if it was fluid or pee, which made us laugh even harder! Dr Biter was pretty positive we would be having a baby by the end of the day/night and we talked about when to go to the hospital and when to call him. We cleaned up as much as we could- me and the room and then headed home. I called Simon right when we got in the car and told him what had happened. He immediately got that smile in his voice and the excitement began! We called my dad, Jacquie, Donna and then I texted the few people I was updating over the past few days (like my sister, brothers, close friends). Jacquie, Donna and my dad all seemed to arrive around the same time- which was about 4:30pm. My dad stayed for a few hours then took Hunter to stay the night with him. After getting home, I took a shower and waited for everyone to arrive and for things to start. My mom made eggs for everyone (yes, her eggs are delicious) and the contractions started getting regular. I spent most of my time upstairs in my dim bedroom on the birth ball. I was relaxed, confident and happy it was time! Simon was downstairs with Bennett early on and Donna and my mom stayed with me upstairs, keeping me relaxed with light touch massage and positive comments. Donna noticed my belly was really far out/forward and really low so she climbed up in the garage and grabbed a bolt of my fabric. Simon was thrilled that all the fabric I was storing was getting some use. She cut a large piece off and tied it around my belly to keep Brodie more “inward”. I was still leaking quite a bit so I tucked a towel in under the fabric and we were all joking around- saying I looked like a Sumo Wrestler. Laboring at home was the most normal feeling thing ever. I really enjoyed being around my family and the kids. I continued to labor in my room, coming downstairs a few times to snack and visit with everyone. I started to feel like I had to concentrate more around 8:00pm. I decided I was comfortable enough to stay home just a little while longer and say goodnight to Bennett. Simon brought Bennett upstairs around 8:45pm and gave him a bath in our bathroom. I was able to get up between contractions and put Bennett to bed (Simon stayed close to the door in case I needed him). Right after putting him to bed, Simon called our neighbor, Camille, and she came over to sleep on the couch while Bennett was sleeping. Simon took our car, I went with my mom, Donna drove her car and Jacquie followed up the rear. On the way to the hospital, I noticed my contractions had slowed down after getting in the car. I remembered learning in my HypnoBirthing class that this does happen so I didn’t worry too much about it. I wasn’t timing my contractions at home (Donna, Simon and my mom were) so I wasn’t positive about how far apart they were at this point anyway. I believe they were around 5 minutes apart before we left. We parked at the hospital and I decided to walk across the parking lot and into the hospital. About half way there, I realized how cold it was outside and how I should have let them drive me to the door. We were buzzed into Labor and Delivery and we walked to the check in desk. I got frustrated when they couldn’t find my pre-registration packet but shortly after those feeling of frustration hit me, I decided to let it all go. Eventually they found my information and Simon asked that we get a nurse that was experienced with natural birthing. They ended up giving us the charge nurse, Lydia. Little did I know just then how wonderful this little handed woman would be.
Lydia took us down the hallway into our room. I was hooked up to the monitors and sat on the bed then the birthing ball while being monitored and while Lydia asked me a bunch of questions. I remember thinking- I wrote all these answers in my pre-registration papers, why do I have to answer them again? Luckily, I was relaxed and comfortable enough that it didn’t bug me too much. The baby looked great, I did a really good job of not looking at the monitor and reading my contractions (or trying to time or see how far apart they were, I think I looked at the monitor once or twice the entire labor). It was really freeing… not being stuck in bed, not being so bored and confined so that that my wandering eyes peered over to the monitors to see how “big and strong” that last contraction was or how baby’s heart rate was doing, like I did in my last two births. In fact, I didn’t time or pay attention to a single contraction once Donna arrived at the house earlier that day. Lydia finished her round of questions and then it was time to check me, the required admission check. It wasn’t a big deal until it began. This wonderful, albeit little handed, nurse did not make the process of “checks” and easy one. Her outer fingers/knuckles would bang against my pubic bones and man, did that hurt! Yes, hurt. I then learned that I was 5 centimeters. The lights were dimmed and we were left alone for about a half an hour and during that time, Dr Cap called my cell phone and left me a message (which I didn’t hear for a few more hours). I hope I can keep that message forever cause it’s the most positive, uplifting message I have ever heard. He encouraged me to stay positive, take a walk, keep relaxing… and mentioned how excited he was to help catch our 3rd baby boy. Simon was also conversing with Susie (our wedding photographer and friend that was going to take pictures of the birth process) about when to come and where to go. Jacquie then told me that Melanie, her daughter and my best friend, was also on her way. Melanie is also a photographer but I had wanted her to be there as family and not as a photographer- she brought her camera anyway. I kept breathing through contractions, mostly sitting on the birthing ball as that was the most comfortable position for me at that time. Donna, my mom and Simon took turns doing light touch massage through each contraction all while telling me how great I was doing. The reassurance and positive words really helped me focus and relax. Simon turned on the instrumental music from the rainbow relaxation CD which helped me relax even more. I didn’t want anything but that playing softly in the background. My mom, Donna and Jacquie went to the cafeteria for some snacks and coffee and brought me back a bagel with cream cheese. After my first bite, Lydia walked back in to let me know that Dr Cap was on call to come in when we needed him and to ask even more questions. I was shocked that she mentioned Dr Cap as I thought he was out sick. I even made her repeat herself and mentioned that I didn’t want him to come in if he was sick! (Turns out he wasn’t contagious, just something he ate). I also didn’t know if it was ok to eat or not so I sat there with the bagel on the bed in front of me and looked at Donna with a little bit of a smile and concern. Lydia then asked me when the last time I ate was… look at the bagel and said “oh, now.” It wasn’t a big deal after all, so I dug back into the bagel which was no longer warm. I didn’t care, I was just hungry! I also kept up with drinking my electrolyte drinks and emptying my bladder. I didn’t seem to have any problems with that as I was hungry, thirsty and boy did it feel good to empty my bladder from time to time. Sitting on the toilet also brought on some pretty intense contractions and I welcomed them knowing we were getting closer and closer. I was still very comfortable, almost like I was in a blur… I remember lots of little things but the entire process seems like it was a dream. I wasn’t aware of all the medical mumbo jumbo, how far dilated I was, what my contractions were doing, etc… I was tuning into my body and listening to my gut and my heart. I remember my husband eating a Snickers bar and joking around with the camera in my face. I remember flipping him the bird with a smile (as a joke) after a contraction ended (we also have that on camera and in print), I remember napping between contractions for a little over an hour, I remember seeing a stack of unwritten Christmas cards on the table next to my bed and only now do I know that Jacquie was writing her Christmas cards throughout the night. I just don’t seem to remember when all those little details happened, like at what time. I just know they happened at some point during this “dream” of mine. It was nearing the next day when Dr Cap arrived. Lydia had checked me once more before his arrival and I only remember this because of her hands! Susie, Melanie, my mom and Jacquie were all trying to get as comfortable as possible and get a short nap in. At that point, I was becoming hot and cold and couldn’t figure out what my body temperature was doing although it didn’t help that the rooms thermostat was horrible! Donna had me walking the room, eating protein bars, drinking fluids, emptying my bladder constantly and squatting. Still, the birth ball was the most comfortable. Lydia, very discreetly, placed the fetal monitor in my mesh panties every once in a while to monitor the baby. I barely knew it was there and I barely knew she was there! Dr Cap checked me again due to my cervix being very posterior and I believe because of how I was or wasn’t progressing. He then told me it was still posterior and I need to help bring the baby down and move the cervix forward. He suggested I get on my hands and knees on the bed and then alternate laying on my sides- left and right. I got on my hands and knees for quite a while, on the bed with a stack of pillows to lean on. I remember really focusing on the music at this point and the position felt really good. After a while though, I needed a change. The bed was getting uncomfortable and my knees were beginning to get sore. After a quick restroom break, I tried lying on my left side. It was shortly after that point that my body started shaking. I became really hot and uncomfortable. The music was still on but I could no longer hear it. My breathing became deeper and louder and I needed even more reassurance and light touch massage. At one point, Jacquie, Melanie, my mom, Simon and Donna were all doing light touch massage on every part of my body. It just wasn’t enough though. I took my shirt and mesh panties off and kept my nursing bra on. Dr Cap asked to check me once more; I allowed him to but quickly told him to “get out”. It wasn’t till much later that I learned he wanted to help by turning the baby’s head. Even if he would have told me that, I probably wouldn’t have allowed it. Having him check me was uncomfortable enough and I knew he didn’t need to be in there any longer than he was just for a check. I can’t remember if it was prior to that check or shortly after but I started pushing. It wasn’t a forceful push; at least it didn’t feel like one. I just remember at one point Dr Cap saying “Chris, it looks like you are pushing. You need to stop pushing. Your cervix will swell…” Apparently, he determined that I was 8 centimeters when he checked me. I did not know how far dilated I was and in my head he was telling me not to push and warning me about the possibility of a swollen cervix because- in my mind- I was almost complete! I thought I was 9-9.5 centimeters. I’m glad I didn’t know where I was at or I would have become even more discouraged that I was about to be. I continued to listen to my body and for some reason; my body was shaking and telling me to push. I continued pushing and breathing down the baby with each contraction and Dr Cap continued to remind me not to push. I became very restless, Lydia was in full scrubs and I overheard her talking about a C-Section that she needed to go to but then she wasn’t in full scrubs anymore and she continued to stay close if not in the room with us. She brought out a bar and attached it to the end of the bed. I gave one attempt at the bar but didn’t give it long enough to get in a comfortable position. I couldn’t get in a comfortable position, period. I was then thrashing around trying to get comfortable on my right side then my left again. I was grabbing onto the side of the bed in pure fear. I was fearful of another contraction and wanted them to stop. Again, I’m so glad I didn’t know how far dilated I was at the last check or I think things would have been much, much worse. The contractions were one on top of another at that point. I had very little to no break in between them. I remember lying on my side but burying my head into the pillows beneath me, I even slobbered on them. My deep breathing sounds started to become higher in pitch but never became a scream or anything that resembled a scream. Dr Cap and Simon were sitting to my right and Donna was sitting to my left. They were all reminding me to keep a deep sound, I can honestly say I was trying with everything I had in me to get that deep sound and it just wasn’t happening. It was shortly after 5:00am when I turned to my husband and Donna and said “I can’t do this anymore”. I said that a few more times then I started asking for an epidural. Dr Cap appeared in the room and I told him I wanted the epidural- now. He told me the anesthesiologist was in a C-Section and I would have to wait another 30 minutes. He, at first, asked if I was sure I wanted to do that then he tried to explain to me what my body was doing. I kept begging for the epidural and apologizing to my husband and Donna (My husband couldn’t believe that I could calmly look at them and say I was sorry during all of this) . I even made Dr Cap promise me that I could get the epidural and it wasn’t too late (again thinking I was close to 10 centimeters). He assured me I could get the epidural but he tried to calmly talk me through what was happening.
I went on begging for the epidural for the next 20 minutes or more. All while trying to fight off the contractions. I had lost focus on the goal and the fact that each contraction was getting me closer to meeting my baby. I begged to get the anesthesiologist out of his surgery and into my room. Dr Cap explained to me that once the C-Section started, he couldn’t leave (which I already knew but I didn’t care). I continued clutching the side of the bed, tensing my body, pushing down- somehow I was still able to breathe down the baby. Half the time (while doing my version of pushing), I would actually feel his head drop down and “pop” forward and that popping feeling was instant pain relief- I was looking for that feeling again and again! I felt like I had total control of what was going on inside my body but my emotions and my outer appearance was unstable, to say the least. I yelled at everyone to stop taking pictures and to stop the video, I felt overwhelmed. I started to think proactively and asked that I be prepped for the epidural so that when the anesthesiologist was done, he could administer the epidural as quickly as possible. I requested the IV and Lydia then turned on the room lights and placed my IV. My mom stepped outside of the room. She had tears in her eyes and couldn’t handle seeing me in pain. Donna suggested I get up and empty my bladder so I wouldn’t have to get a catheter. The idea of getting up and/or going to the restroom sounded really good for some reason. I jumped out of the bed as fast as I could which shocked everyone. I didn’t want to have any more contractions while walking to the restroom but it also felt right, it felt like I needed to do this. I was also thinking that I hadn’t had a bowel movement in 24 hours so I needed to go. Dr Cap stepped outside the door and stood next to my mom. She dialed my dad on her cell phone while Dr Cap looked at her and said “the baby just might be too big”. My mom updated my dad on what was going on and how I wanted the epidural. Simon went into the restroom with me, Donna and Lydia stayed at the door. I was able to have a small bowel movement and empty my bladder but then I felt like I had to go more (another bowel movement). I pushed and pushed but it was stuck. I started to panic, no, freak out, as I looked at my husband and told him that I had a piece of poop stuck in my butt. Donna peeked her head in and I then told her that “I needed someone to pick the poop out of my butt”. Before long, Lydia was also in the bathroom. By then I was begging and pleading with everything I had in me for her to “put a glove on and pick the poop out of my butt”. I repeated myself quite a few times before she put a glove on and reached behind me. I thought she was actually going to pick the poop out of my butt when all of a sudden she said very calmly “that’s baby’s head… get back in the bed”. I didn’t wipe, I ran to the bed while Donna grabbed my IV bag and tried to remind me to slow down, that I had an IV in my arm and was running away without the bag! I remember blood dripping onto the floor and Lydia yelling at the door “BABY’S COMING!!!” Dr Cap and my mom ran back inside the room and Dr Cap quickly put his gloves on. I sat up straight in the bed with my knees bent in a sitting squat position. Dr Cap yelled for the mineral oil and threw it on as quickly as he could. He then directed me to lightly push once. I went from total panic mode (while having the back to back contractions) to being totally attentive, cooperative and calm. I remember thinking that the “ring of fire” feeling was not all that bad… He asked me to stop, Brodie’s head was out, and he was unwrapping the cord from his neck. He then told me to push a tiny bit more and with that, Brodie was born at 5:44am. The cord was also wrapped around his torso like a sash. He was placed directly on my chest immediately after his birth. I didn’t have time to take off my nursing bra like I had planned but I didn’t care. He was very blue and not breathing well so they called in two NICU nurses and took him across the room to the warmer. I was surprisingly calm when they took him but I did start to shake, my whole body was trembling. Donna stayed with me while everyone went with Brodie. His apgar score at first was 7 but then 9 right after. Before he came back to me, we were able to get my nursing bra off so he could be completely skin to skin with me. My doctor was massaging my abdomen and checking me while he was being looked at. No tears but he did think it would be wise for me to get a small amount of pitocin while I delivered the placenta. He asked me if that was ok and honestly, I was so overwhelmed and shocked by what just happened that I trusted him and said yes. I was shaking violently and the nurses brought me warm blankets and juice. During all this, I overheard everyone talking about how big he was.. Then they started making guesses. I heard “10 pounds”… “9 and a half”… I sat there with my jaw wide open in disbelief. They did weigh him since they were already doing his initial newborn “once over” while keeping an eye on him and his breathing. NINE pounds, nine ounces and 21” long. It wasn’t long before they had him back over to me; the NICU nurse brought him over, unwrapped him and placed him on my chest skin to skin. I instantly stopped shaking the second he was placed on me. We laid there for quite a while, no one rushed us, and no one bothered us. We did have a change of nurse but she came in and did her own thing, let us know she was there if we had questions, helped me use the restroom while daddy held Brodie. We started nursing pretty quickly after we sat and bonded together. I just wanted to hold him as close as I could and then when he started licking and opening his mouth, I knew it was time to nurse. His first attempt was perfect. He was a pro already! His initial sugar levels were good but dipped down (not in the danger zone) so the lactation consultant came in and helped me express colostrum. We cup fed Brodie the expressed colostrum and the fourth reading was back up to normal. After getting to our room, we spent the next 24 hours skin to skin and nursing constantly. I was bound and determined to not let jaundice plague us for the third time. Our pediatrician was amazing and very proactive. We had his levels checked at 12 hours and even though they were in the normal range, we got him on a Biliblanket. Nursing continued to go famously and he brought my milk in on day 2. We were able to go home 36 hours after his birth! What an amazing feeling, I couldn’t wait to get home and see the kids. After a few more lab visits, Brodie’s levels peaked on day 3 and well within normal limits. The next day, his levels were back down! I couldn’t believe it, we finally got to bring one of our babies home and stay home! No NICU for Brodie! At 4 days old, Brodie had already passed his birth weight, he weighed in at 9 pounds, 10 ounces.
Thinking back, I remember lots of mothers telling me the last 30 minutes or so of labor was the hardest… one of my friends had told me that she begged and pleaded for a C-Section! As much as I wanted that epidural, I probably wouldn’t have been able to sit still to get it. There’s a reason why the anesthesiologist was not available and why Brodie came so quickly at the end. I wouldn’t change a thing about my birth and I’m so grateful for the knowledge, support and advice we received from HypnoBirthing, my amazing doula and my awesome doctors. My husband told me that he truly believes I was able to birth a 9 pound baby thanks to HypnoBirthing and the amazing care I received. Did I mention I was told I wouldn’t be able to birth a baby over 7 pounds by my first OBGYN? And that I was the first in three generations to not have all C-Sections?
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Thanks, Christina, for sharing your birth story! Continue enjoying your babymoon!
If you would like more information about Dr. Capetanakis, D.O. or Dr. Biter, please call their office at: (760) 642-0800 .
If you would like more information about Donna Hooyen, please email her at donna at 7thheavenbabies dot com.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Kamis, 14 Januari 2010
A HypnoBirthing story
Kirsten took my Thursday HypnoBirthing classes in August 2009. Her doula, Rosie Peterson, accompanied her to most classes because her husband was stationed in Iraq & wasn't due to return until the later part of her pregnancy. Kirsten describes her birth below & then Rosie shares her experience of Kirsten's birth below that.
Here is Kirsten's birth story:
My daughter was born on Sept 29, 2009. The story, in Rosie's words, is short and very sweet. Intense surges up until my daughter's birth (her name is Severin) took only about 5 hours; I didn't practice anything I learned in HypnoBirthing class. It all happened so fast! The only things I remembered to do were to keep my moans low and gutteral, to keep moving (I paced the house for a while) and to position my body in a squat to help baby move down. I instinctively went inside my body; I had my eyes closed the whole time, from the time we left the house to go to the hospital up until she was born. I never had a fearful moment except when I worried I might throw up (I never felt sick! I'd just heard a lot of stories of women barfing during childbirth) so I kept the car window rolled down just in case. I started feeling real proud of myself when the nurses started showing up in my room to tell me how impressed they were with how well I did, how they had never seen anything like it, etc. It was really helpful to have Rosie as my advocate in the hospital. I couldn't have done it without her.
And I couldn't have done it without you, Carol! You're an amazing and dynamic person and I learned so much from your class. Thanks again- Kirsten V.
Rosie Peterson, Kirsten's doula, wrote out Kirsten's birth story. Here it is:
September 29, 2009 at 6:22am Severin Rose entered the world. She had her eyes wide open and was quiet as she observed her parents, their familiar voices, the new lighting, and the new penetrating unmuffled sounds. She didn’t need any direction or help finding the breast, her new source of nourishment and comfort. Severin Rose was beautiful! All 8 pounds, 8 ounces of her!
Severin’s mom, Kirsten and I met in the early summer to chat about ‘everything birthy’. Kirsten comes from a family of good birthers. Would she be one? Could she do it? So many questions, unknowns, anxious moments. Well, pregnancy itself was a breath of fresh air at least! Being pregnant was something she now knew she could do and she did it as gracefully and swimmingly as any I’ve been blessed to witness.
Mom went to HypnoBirthing classes with Carol Yeh-Garner. I went along to a few classes until Jacob got home from Iraq and could attend. I witnessed a birth of a family on many levels. During Kirsten’s pregnancy Jacob was away for many months serving our country. When Jacob returned he and Kirsten took few days away from house remodeling, family and doctors; they retreated to Laguna Beach. As he and Kirsten reunited before Severin was due to arrive a new family was born.
They returned just in time for a visit with Jacob’s mom. Then Jacob had one day of work before……Paternity leave!
Monday, September 28, I went to bed at 11PM wondering, "Would Kirsten call tonight?" The phone rang at 1AM. Kirsten said she had started having different type surges (contractions) after lunch. She and Jacob had dinner and she tried going to bed but could not sleep – this was her first clue that she was in real labor! She didn’t want to disturb Jacob, who was sleeping soundly. Could I come over? I was there just after 2AM. Kirsten was "going deep" with each surge when I got there - using her HypnoBirthing relaxation automatically. She made it look easy, it was HARD work, labor always is. But she was quiet, peaceful, breathing, opening. It wasn’t long before surges were longer and then longer until there was not much break. She was a little fearful when I got there thinking that they were going to get much harder. But I reassured her that they just keep doing this. "They just stay like this. And you keep doing one at a time. They get closer, longer, and I know that you will do those (feared future surges) just as well as you are doing now." And she did. Soon Kirsten said she felt the urge to push at the peak of the last surge. We moved to the bathroom, where she was going to sit on the toilet and then maybe take a hot shower. But on the toilet things changed. It was time to head to the hospital. We left at 3:30AM.
The only vaginal exam Kirsten received was upon admittance because Kirsten was fully dilated! Her bulging bag of water promptly popped, splashing across the bed. There was a little meconium in the waters but there were no extra procedures or ill effects from the mec. Baby’s heart rate was perfect and stayed that way. As the hospital staff rushed around doing things like drawing blood, placing IV, getting file started, the doc and the neonatal nurses came in thinking baby was going to come immediately. But S-L-O-W D-O-W-N! Kirsten wished for a calm, quiet, peaceful, dim room to birth in. This was not it. She stayed in Labor Land, her birthing space, until all the folks calmed down and left us alone. Kirsten’s angel nurse, Tina, turned down the lights. I turned the music on low. Kirsten gently nudged her baby down, down, down, moving into different positions as her body directed her, she was as quiet as a prayer and as gracious a birthing mama as any baby could hope for! Soon her nurse took off the External Fetal Monitor and monitored baby intermittently. They had read Kirsten’s Birth Plan and were following it explicitly.
Jacob was glowing with love for his woman. He whispered in her ear and privately they labored on together. After side lying for pushes on one side and then the other, Kirsten swatted for pushes and could soon feel her baby’s head. She reached down between legs in between contractions and felt a furry, swishy little head. When the neonatal nurses (baby nurses) and the doc came in to join her for the final push, they were all smiles and you could tell they enjoyed witnessing a rarity in their hospital, their technology driven, modern medicalized institution. They were witnessing a normal, natural, sweet, slow, birth! Some said they had never seen such a birth. For others it was rare. For Kirsten it was LOUD, because as quiet as the room was, her body was working like never before, it took her intensive concentration to listen to her body and follow its lead, to let go of her baby. Birth power is strong, but also doable – just ask Kirsten.
Kirsten was ready to go home with her baby within the hour. When she found out she would be staying for 48 hours she was shocked and disappointed. I reminded her that she was in charge – the lady boss! Her baby was hers, legally, spiritually, and in every other way. So whenever she wanted she could leave. She stayed for 24 hours and is home now– enjoying her new status as Mommy, her new precious baby girl Severin, and her new status of Courageous Woman Warrior and Birther Extraordinaire!
It was my honor to be a friend and a witness in the days leading up to and the day of Severin’s birth. Congratulations to Kirsten, Jacob, Severin, the grandma’s, grandpa’s, aunts, uncles, neighbors and friends!
God bless you always, Rosie Peterson, the doula 760-740-2455
Thank you, Kirsten, for allowing me to share your birth story & thank you to Rosie, for sharing your version.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Here is Kirsten's birth story:
My daughter was born on Sept 29, 2009. The story, in Rosie's words, is short and very sweet. Intense surges up until my daughter's birth (her name is Severin) took only about 5 hours; I didn't practice anything I learned in HypnoBirthing class. It all happened so fast! The only things I remembered to do were to keep my moans low and gutteral, to keep moving (I paced the house for a while) and to position my body in a squat to help baby move down. I instinctively went inside my body; I had my eyes closed the whole time, from the time we left the house to go to the hospital up until she was born. I never had a fearful moment except when I worried I might throw up (I never felt sick! I'd just heard a lot of stories of women barfing during childbirth) so I kept the car window rolled down just in case. I started feeling real proud of myself when the nurses started showing up in my room to tell me how impressed they were with how well I did, how they had never seen anything like it, etc. It was really helpful to have Rosie as my advocate in the hospital. I couldn't have done it without her.
And I couldn't have done it without you, Carol! You're an amazing and dynamic person and I learned so much from your class. Thanks again- Kirsten V.
Rosie Peterson, Kirsten's doula, wrote out Kirsten's birth story. Here it is:
September 29, 2009 at 6:22am Severin Rose entered the world. She had her eyes wide open and was quiet as she observed her parents, their familiar voices, the new lighting, and the new penetrating unmuffled sounds. She didn’t need any direction or help finding the breast, her new source of nourishment and comfort. Severin Rose was beautiful! All 8 pounds, 8 ounces of her!
Severin’s mom, Kirsten and I met in the early summer to chat about ‘everything birthy’. Kirsten comes from a family of good birthers. Would she be one? Could she do it? So many questions, unknowns, anxious moments. Well, pregnancy itself was a breath of fresh air at least! Being pregnant was something she now knew she could do and she did it as gracefully and swimmingly as any I’ve been blessed to witness.
Mom went to HypnoBirthing classes with Carol Yeh-Garner. I went along to a few classes until Jacob got home from Iraq and could attend. I witnessed a birth of a family on many levels. During Kirsten’s pregnancy Jacob was away for many months serving our country. When Jacob returned he and Kirsten took few days away from house remodeling, family and doctors; they retreated to Laguna Beach. As he and Kirsten reunited before Severin was due to arrive a new family was born.
They returned just in time for a visit with Jacob’s mom. Then Jacob had one day of work before……Paternity leave!
Monday, September 28, I went to bed at 11PM wondering, "Would Kirsten call tonight?" The phone rang at 1AM. Kirsten said she had started having different type surges (contractions) after lunch. She and Jacob had dinner and she tried going to bed but could not sleep – this was her first clue that she was in real labor! She didn’t want to disturb Jacob, who was sleeping soundly. Could I come over? I was there just after 2AM. Kirsten was "going deep" with each surge when I got there - using her HypnoBirthing relaxation automatically. She made it look easy, it was HARD work, labor always is. But she was quiet, peaceful, breathing, opening. It wasn’t long before surges were longer and then longer until there was not much break. She was a little fearful when I got there thinking that they were going to get much harder. But I reassured her that they just keep doing this. "They just stay like this. And you keep doing one at a time. They get closer, longer, and I know that you will do those (feared future surges) just as well as you are doing now." And she did. Soon Kirsten said she felt the urge to push at the peak of the last surge. We moved to the bathroom, where she was going to sit on the toilet and then maybe take a hot shower. But on the toilet things changed. It was time to head to the hospital. We left at 3:30AM.
The only vaginal exam Kirsten received was upon admittance because Kirsten was fully dilated! Her bulging bag of water promptly popped, splashing across the bed. There was a little meconium in the waters but there were no extra procedures or ill effects from the mec. Baby’s heart rate was perfect and stayed that way. As the hospital staff rushed around doing things like drawing blood, placing IV, getting file started, the doc and the neonatal nurses came in thinking baby was going to come immediately. But S-L-O-W D-O-W-N! Kirsten wished for a calm, quiet, peaceful, dim room to birth in. This was not it. She stayed in Labor Land, her birthing space, until all the folks calmed down and left us alone. Kirsten’s angel nurse, Tina, turned down the lights. I turned the music on low. Kirsten gently nudged her baby down, down, down, moving into different positions as her body directed her, she was as quiet as a prayer and as gracious a birthing mama as any baby could hope for! Soon her nurse took off the External Fetal Monitor and monitored baby intermittently. They had read Kirsten’s Birth Plan and were following it explicitly.
Jacob was glowing with love for his woman. He whispered in her ear and privately they labored on together. After side lying for pushes on one side and then the other, Kirsten swatted for pushes and could soon feel her baby’s head. She reached down between legs in between contractions and felt a furry, swishy little head. When the neonatal nurses (baby nurses) and the doc came in to join her for the final push, they were all smiles and you could tell they enjoyed witnessing a rarity in their hospital, their technology driven, modern medicalized institution. They were witnessing a normal, natural, sweet, slow, birth! Some said they had never seen such a birth. For others it was rare. For Kirsten it was LOUD, because as quiet as the room was, her body was working like never before, it took her intensive concentration to listen to her body and follow its lead, to let go of her baby. Birth power is strong, but also doable – just ask Kirsten.
Kirsten was ready to go home with her baby within the hour. When she found out she would be staying for 48 hours she was shocked and disappointed. I reminded her that she was in charge – the lady boss! Her baby was hers, legally, spiritually, and in every other way. So whenever she wanted she could leave. She stayed for 24 hours and is home now– enjoying her new status as Mommy, her new precious baby girl Severin, and her new status of Courageous Woman Warrior and Birther Extraordinaire!
It was my honor to be a friend and a witness in the days leading up to and the day of Severin’s birth. Congratulations to Kirsten, Jacob, Severin, the grandma’s, grandpa’s, aunts, uncles, neighbors and friends!
God bless you always, Rosie Peterson, the doula 760-740-2455
Thank you, Kirsten, for allowing me to share your birth story & thank you to Rosie, for sharing your version.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
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