Here is a story of a couple's birth from another HypnoBirthing practitioner where the mom & the midwife didn't believe she was truly in labor!
BTW...Jamie is a woman, in the couple she carried the baby. Just wanted to clarify since the name Jamie is gender-neutral. If one didn't know that, it could read in a very confusing manner. : )
Hi Kristen-
This is Jamie and Sarah (we took your HypnoBirth class in the summer). I am finally writing to tell you our birth story and announce the arrival of Lucy Magnolia! I know you said you loved hearing people's birth stories and wanted to be updated. I've been thinking about writing this for awhile, but now I finally found the time.
So, I'm sure every birth is a long story, so I'm still trying to figure out how to condense this, so I'll cut to the chase and then give you details: Sarah and I were planning on a home birth - and we had one! my labor was only 4 hours (and yes this was my first baby!), so things progressed so quickly that Sarah actually delivered the baby before the midwives could get here! wow!
So, the morning she was born I woke up feeling different. I had no idea I would go into labor that day, I was thinking maybe the next day or two. She just felt heavier inside me and my low back ached in a dull way it hadn't before. I had been swimming the whole week before she was born, but decided to not go swimming this day. My back started to feel more achy and slightly crampy, but I didn't think anything of it, so I just spent an hour on my hands and knees stretching on the exercise ball.
At noon my mucous plug came out, but I was cautious to not get too excited since I knew it could still be a few days. But then I realized, I shouldn't have cramps if I'm pregnant... I think I'm beginning labor! So I called our midwives and she said to eat some protein and take a nap. So I tried to lay down, but when I had a contraction it hurt so much worse to be laying down, that I hopped up out of bed and spent the next 2.5 hours walking around the house - stopping to breathe through the contractions. My contractions were only a couple minutes apart this whole time. We called the midwife at some point and told her this early on, and she said it was very normal in pre-labor for them to be very close together and then they should space out.
I was still thinking we had 12 or 18 hours to go, so I didn't think that much of it. I was "afraid" (for lack of better words) of the midwives coming over too soon to only find out I was 1 cm dilated - so I overreacted by being too tough and holding out too long. oops!
So at 2:30, I went in our room and got on my hands and knees with the exercise ball. When I had a contraction I would just breathe through it and Sarah would push on my back as hard as she could (I was having back labor the whole time). From 2:30 until 3:50 I did this. Sarah was in and out of the room - she was trying to set up the birth tub in the other room and get the house ready for labor.... then my contractions changed and I had to stand up - it felt as if my abdomen was pushing down and pushing the baby out!
Sarah came back into the room and I was standing, holding onto the window sill - my thighs quivering so hard during each contraction I thought I might collapse. We called the midwife at 3:57 to say come check me and that it felt like my body was trying to expel something. She clarified if I felt the need to push. I said no because I was so focused on not pushing (like you taught us!) and just breathing and allowing my body to do its work!
Midwife said she was on her way. I went into the bathroom and sat on the toilet, I reached down and felt something ! Sarah called the midwife back to say the head was coming out, but she told us it was probably the bag of waters.... and it was. It broke into the toilet. (Sarah is still on phone with midwife) after my bag of waters broke, with the next contraction I felt her head! I continued to breathe through the contractions and allow my body to do its work. Once her head was out, I could no longer feel my contractions. I got off the toilet and on my hands and knees on our tiny bathroom floor. Sarah was still on the phone with the midwife who was coaching her to have me push. I pushed as hard as I could, but NOTHING was happening. I still couldn't feel any more contractions. Her head was out for about 4 minutes with nothing happening. I could hear the tone of Sarah's voice change and become a bit more serious. The midwife instructed her that "that baby needed to come out NOW" and Sarah was to pull, however hard it took. Sarah finally got her hands around the base of her head and neck and pulled and she finally slipped out and started crying immediately. We wrapped & dried her off a bit and I held her to my chest covered in towels until the midwives got there about 15 or 20 minutes later.
Sarah and I both were so calm. Everyone says we must have been in shock and perhaps we were. We are both such calm people I feel we were just well prepared for the event.
Reflecting on being in labor, Sarah never once said any of the HypnoBirthing "things" during my labor. It was just quiet. I was in my own little world. We both figured we had a whole day of laboring that we didn't want to start anything to early. Sarah could also tell I was just enjoying the quiet of the room. The only time I made noise was when I pulled myself up on the window, (probably in transition?) I moaned a bit during those contractions. Although we did not actively use HypnoBirthing during labor (prompts, music) we both feel it absolutely prepared us for being so calm during labor and allowed me to just breathe, relax and allow my body to do the birthing. It helped me trust my body to be able to handle each contraction. I am so thankful we took your HypnoBirthing class. I believe it made a profound impact on how I handled my very fast labor and delivering on our own! I believe my body was using the HypnoBirthing I had practiced "subconsciously" while I was just focused on breathing through contractions even though Sarah was not prompting me, speaking to me or playing our birthing music.
Thanks Kristen for your class. Lucy is now 13 weeks old and doing fabulous. I feel almost all the way healed, but WAY better than I was. We are all doing great and loving being a family. Best,Jamie
Kristen Olberz, RN, CH, HBCE, HFT
Portland, OR
www.zenana-spa.com
So, for anyone who isn't familiar with HypnoBirthing, we teach our moms to push by bearing down gently while using her breath to bear down/push vs vasalva pushing where the mom pushes forcefully while holding her breath. So, HypnoBirthing moms don't "push", but they are encouraged to breath & use their breath while nudging the baby down with their muscles & breath similar to the way that one bears down during a bowel movement. This helps the body work with labor vs against it. In other words, they push, but much more gentle than the type of pushing encouraged during most births.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Jumat, 13 Februari 2009
Sabtu, 07 Februari 2009
A 1st time mom's HypnoBirth story
This is a birth story from one of my class members, Nancy, who took the class in November/December 2008. This was her & her husband, Mark's, 1st birth!
My Birth Story: Isabella's Entrance!
My birthing experience did not go exactly as I had visualized, but it ended up being the perfect birthing experience for myself and my daughter, Isabella. My pregnancy was smooth, and felt like a very natural experience to me. I enjoyed being pregnant, although in the last few weeks, the aches and pains that are common seemed to be getting worse. I was very ready for my baby to come by the day it happened - the day before, I remember feeling very uncomfortable and taking a couple of naps during the day. I had been having insomnia a lot in the days beforehand, and somehow that night I was feeling a little better and that maybe I could get some sleep. Well, it wasn't too long after I started drifting off when my water broke! I was very calm when this happened (midnight on January 22, 2009)- I ended up "gushing" rather than getting a trickle, but everything felt very natural. My surges began soon afterward with a frequency of about 5-7 minutes apart at 1 minute long each. We spoke to our OBGYN, Dr. Zaid, who happened to be on call that night, and she told us to remain at home until the surges were at a frequency of 3-4 minutes apart at 1 minute long.
A couple of hours later, my surges reached that frequency, and I found that they were increasing in intensity of sensation. I used my HypnoBirthing techniques to breathe through each surge, and felt calm and very little discomfort. Again, I was struck by the sense that everything just seemed so natural, and I felt very in control. I told my husband we should head over to the hospital before the surges got more intense and it was harder for me to walk around. In the car, I listened to birthing affirmations on my ipod, and they kept me in a calm state.
We arrived at the hospital at 2:30 in the morning and I was put on the monitor to keep track of the baby's heartbeat and my surges. Usually the monitoring is for about 20 minutes and then they let you walk around. The nurse who was taking care of me was concerned by the pattern on the monitor, and she told me I needed to spend a few more minutes on the monitor to make sure everything was ok. I complied, but I wasn't very happy about being stuck to the bed, hooked up to the monitor. It seems to be an integral part of HypnoBirthing or any type of natural birthing experience to be able to change positions and move around if I needed it to achieve comfort and relaxation. Without being able to do so, it was harder for me to relax and let go with each surge, as I was limited in how I could move and didn't feel as in control anymore.
As the surges grew more intense, my comfort level decreased because I couldn't change positions, and was limited to lying down - I also had to switch from right side to left side and also being on my back so they could monitor me in those positions. Needless to say, I felt somewhat discouraged as a few minutes more of monitoring ended up stretching into the entire time of my labor in the hospital, but I continued to do my best to breathe through the surges. At one point they put a hep-lock on my arm just in case I needed fluids or any medication. I hadn't wanted an IV or hep-lock so that made me somewhat unhappy, but I knew that there was a potential medical situation. They also gave me oxygen because they were worried I and my baby weren't receiving enough. When they first checked my dilation, probably about a half hour after we arrived at the hospital I was 4 cm. Within an hour after that, I was up to 9 cm! I was shocked at how quickly I had progressed. Right before the nurse checked me, I had been starting to have doubts about whether I could last until the birth, and told my husband I might consider an epidural. I was disappointed in myself but it was uncomfortable, and without the ability to move about and change position, I wasn't sure what else to do. Since I was already fully dilated when they checked me and soon afterwards I got the urge to push, my question about the epidural became moot. Isabella was ready to come!
In HypnoBirthing we are taught to breathe down the baby, but I felt an incredible urge to push. Dr. Zaid showed soon after I reached this point in the labor. I immediately felt more comfortable when she showed up, as she was our primary OBGYN and we were very familiar and comfortable with her. She was also aware of my birth plan, so when the nurse told her I wanted to push and asked if she should talk me through it, Dr. Zaid said no, they have a specific way to breathe down the baby with HypnoBirthing. I told her actually I wanted to push and the baby wanted to come out now, but I was also grateful that she remembered my birth plan wishes. At this point, they let me sit up in the bed, which increased my comfort level. They coached me through the pushing, which made me feel in control again. So I ended up pushing the baby out, which may not have been my original intention with the birth plan, but it was what worked out and the way that my daughter came to me. It only took a few pushes before Isabella's head was showing! I was definitely in another zone, but I remember hearing my husband Mark exclaiming "Wow! you can see her head!" After hearing that, I knew that it wouldn't be long, and a couple pushes afterwards, Isabella came into the world!
I didn't have an orgasmic birth as we discussed in class that some women have experienced, but it was a wonderful and satisfying feeling when my daughter was born! I felt very empowered to have done it naturally. I ended up tearing a little, but I feel that I have been healing very quickly and despite tearing it hasn't caused me much discomfort. I didn't get a chance to do much perineal massage, so for the next time, I will try to be better about it to try to avoid tearing. As I held my daughter in my arms right after birth, it was just the most amazing experience. I looked over at Mark, and he was so calm and had such a look of joy and satisfaction on his face. He thanked me for carrying and birthing our daughter.
I have to credit him for making the birthing experience as great as it was by staying so calm throughout my labor, and giving me comfort by talking to me throughout the labor, holding my hand, and using light touch massage. He was my rock throughout the labor. Most importantly, he didn't let me worry by telling me about the monitoring situation, which I found very annoying but didn't exactly realize the seriousness of - apparently the baby's heartbeat was dipping below a level that the nurses thought was safe during each of my surges! I know that if I had known that during my labor, I would have panicked and been even more uncomfortable - I may not have been able to get to birth the way I did.
Although things weren't exactly as I visualized, they worked out perfectly. My labor was very short, which I attribute to the calm and natural manner of HypnoBirthing, and also how it keeps you in tune with the needs of your body and baby. I was fairly comfortable until my labor progressed to the later stages, but I think that I could have maintained a higher level of comfort if the situation hadn't required the monitoring which limited my movement. I am so happy that I was able to birth naturally, and being able to walk around soon after birth was great. I think my daughter was happier and calmer to have come into the world this way. She is one week old now, and she is such a wonderful baby. She has been eating well and sleeping well and was in perfect health at her newborn checkup!
I definitely recommend the HypnoBirthing technique to all moms, and hope I can have my next birth(s) using the technique also. Another wonderful thing about HypnoBirthing is how it encourages the involvement of the fathers in the birthing experience. My husband was very involved with me every step of the way as I described. As we start our adventure as new parents, I believe his involvement with the birthing increased his bond with our daughter from the very beginning. Everyday we find more joy and wonder with our daughter. Hypnobirthing gave us a great start from pregnancy and has fit well with our interests in more natural parenting methods and philosophy. I look forward to my next birth experience!
Thank you to Nancy for allowing me to share this wonderful birth story! I hope it helps to inspire someone to use HypnoBirthing for their birth.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
My Birth Story: Isabella's Entrance!
My birthing experience did not go exactly as I had visualized, but it ended up being the perfect birthing experience for myself and my daughter, Isabella. My pregnancy was smooth, and felt like a very natural experience to me. I enjoyed being pregnant, although in the last few weeks, the aches and pains that are common seemed to be getting worse. I was very ready for my baby to come by the day it happened - the day before, I remember feeling very uncomfortable and taking a couple of naps during the day. I had been having insomnia a lot in the days beforehand, and somehow that night I was feeling a little better and that maybe I could get some sleep. Well, it wasn't too long after I started drifting off when my water broke! I was very calm when this happened (midnight on January 22, 2009)- I ended up "gushing" rather than getting a trickle, but everything felt very natural. My surges began soon afterward with a frequency of about 5-7 minutes apart at 1 minute long each. We spoke to our OBGYN, Dr. Zaid, who happened to be on call that night, and she told us to remain at home until the surges were at a frequency of 3-4 minutes apart at 1 minute long.
A couple of hours later, my surges reached that frequency, and I found that they were increasing in intensity of sensation. I used my HypnoBirthing techniques to breathe through each surge, and felt calm and very little discomfort. Again, I was struck by the sense that everything just seemed so natural, and I felt very in control. I told my husband we should head over to the hospital before the surges got more intense and it was harder for me to walk around. In the car, I listened to birthing affirmations on my ipod, and they kept me in a calm state.
We arrived at the hospital at 2:30 in the morning and I was put on the monitor to keep track of the baby's heartbeat and my surges. Usually the monitoring is for about 20 minutes and then they let you walk around. The nurse who was taking care of me was concerned by the pattern on the monitor, and she told me I needed to spend a few more minutes on the monitor to make sure everything was ok. I complied, but I wasn't very happy about being stuck to the bed, hooked up to the monitor. It seems to be an integral part of HypnoBirthing or any type of natural birthing experience to be able to change positions and move around if I needed it to achieve comfort and relaxation. Without being able to do so, it was harder for me to relax and let go with each surge, as I was limited in how I could move and didn't feel as in control anymore.
As the surges grew more intense, my comfort level decreased because I couldn't change positions, and was limited to lying down - I also had to switch from right side to left side and also being on my back so they could monitor me in those positions. Needless to say, I felt somewhat discouraged as a few minutes more of monitoring ended up stretching into the entire time of my labor in the hospital, but I continued to do my best to breathe through the surges. At one point they put a hep-lock on my arm just in case I needed fluids or any medication. I hadn't wanted an IV or hep-lock so that made me somewhat unhappy, but I knew that there was a potential medical situation. They also gave me oxygen because they were worried I and my baby weren't receiving enough. When they first checked my dilation, probably about a half hour after we arrived at the hospital I was 4 cm. Within an hour after that, I was up to 9 cm! I was shocked at how quickly I had progressed. Right before the nurse checked me, I had been starting to have doubts about whether I could last until the birth, and told my husband I might consider an epidural. I was disappointed in myself but it was uncomfortable, and without the ability to move about and change position, I wasn't sure what else to do. Since I was already fully dilated when they checked me and soon afterwards I got the urge to push, my question about the epidural became moot. Isabella was ready to come!
In HypnoBirthing we are taught to breathe down the baby, but I felt an incredible urge to push. Dr. Zaid showed soon after I reached this point in the labor. I immediately felt more comfortable when she showed up, as she was our primary OBGYN and we were very familiar and comfortable with her. She was also aware of my birth plan, so when the nurse told her I wanted to push and asked if she should talk me through it, Dr. Zaid said no, they have a specific way to breathe down the baby with HypnoBirthing. I told her actually I wanted to push and the baby wanted to come out now, but I was also grateful that she remembered my birth plan wishes. At this point, they let me sit up in the bed, which increased my comfort level. They coached me through the pushing, which made me feel in control again. So I ended up pushing the baby out, which may not have been my original intention with the birth plan, but it was what worked out and the way that my daughter came to me. It only took a few pushes before Isabella's head was showing! I was definitely in another zone, but I remember hearing my husband Mark exclaiming "Wow! you can see her head!" After hearing that, I knew that it wouldn't be long, and a couple pushes afterwards, Isabella came into the world!
I didn't have an orgasmic birth as we discussed in class that some women have experienced, but it was a wonderful and satisfying feeling when my daughter was born! I felt very empowered to have done it naturally. I ended up tearing a little, but I feel that I have been healing very quickly and despite tearing it hasn't caused me much discomfort. I didn't get a chance to do much perineal massage, so for the next time, I will try to be better about it to try to avoid tearing. As I held my daughter in my arms right after birth, it was just the most amazing experience. I looked over at Mark, and he was so calm and had such a look of joy and satisfaction on his face. He thanked me for carrying and birthing our daughter.
I have to credit him for making the birthing experience as great as it was by staying so calm throughout my labor, and giving me comfort by talking to me throughout the labor, holding my hand, and using light touch massage. He was my rock throughout the labor. Most importantly, he didn't let me worry by telling me about the monitoring situation, which I found very annoying but didn't exactly realize the seriousness of - apparently the baby's heartbeat was dipping below a level that the nurses thought was safe during each of my surges! I know that if I had known that during my labor, I would have panicked and been even more uncomfortable - I may not have been able to get to birth the way I did.
Although things weren't exactly as I visualized, they worked out perfectly. My labor was very short, which I attribute to the calm and natural manner of HypnoBirthing, and also how it keeps you in tune with the needs of your body and baby. I was fairly comfortable until my labor progressed to the later stages, but I think that I could have maintained a higher level of comfort if the situation hadn't required the monitoring which limited my movement. I am so happy that I was able to birth naturally, and being able to walk around soon after birth was great. I think my daughter was happier and calmer to have come into the world this way. She is one week old now, and she is such a wonderful baby. She has been eating well and sleeping well and was in perfect health at her newborn checkup!
I definitely recommend the HypnoBirthing technique to all moms, and hope I can have my next birth(s) using the technique also. Another wonderful thing about HypnoBirthing is how it encourages the involvement of the fathers in the birthing experience. My husband was very involved with me every step of the way as I described. As we start our adventure as new parents, I believe his involvement with the birthing increased his bond with our daughter from the very beginning. Everyday we find more joy and wonder with our daughter. Hypnobirthing gave us a great start from pregnancy and has fit well with our interests in more natural parenting methods and philosophy. I look forward to my next birth experience!
Thank you to Nancy for allowing me to share this wonderful birth story! I hope it helps to inspire someone to use HypnoBirthing for their birth.
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Minggu, 01 Februari 2009
Babies know best
HypnoBirthing teaches parents to trust in the birthing process & the readiness of the mom's body & the baby. 42 weeks is the latest most U.S. medical care providers will allow pregnancies to go but in Europe (& sometimes with homebirth midwives in the U.S.), pregnancies are allowed to go until 43 weeks. HypnoBirthing encourages parents to allow birth to happen naturally & to realize that the normal gestational period of a baby is anywhere between 265 & 300 days. As long as the baby & the mom-to-be are healthy, the best place for that baby to be is growing in the safety of the mom's uterus. Here is one story of a couple that chose to allow birth to happen & resisted the pressure of induction.
Hi Sue,
Please find attached a slightly later version of our birth announcement - I'm happy for you to share it with other Mums and Dads. It doesn't really convey the pressure I was under to induce chemically or even to use natural methods to 'interfere' with Zac's timing.
It was really hard not to go on bumpy car rides/ eat pineapples/ have a curry etc., especially when we were being told that we risked Zac's death as a result. However, we really didn't want to intervene at any level and so, it was quite a tense time trying to prove to the rest of the world that Zac knew what the best timing was...
Zac was born at 6:06am on Friday 1st August – 19 days past his due date (he clearly failed to take note of the original project timetable!) Zac weighed 8lb 4oz and was born via a rather rapid home waterbirth. We were asleep in bed when, at 5:20am, it dawned on Isabelle that she might be in labour. Forty-six minutes later, Zac was born… Thankfully, we didn't have to have any medical interventions or pain relief.
We're overjoyed to have been able to give birth at home and are really grateful to everyone who supported us when Zac was defying the medical 'norms' by being so overdue. It wasn't an easy decision to leave Zac to choose his own timing for his arrival, but the payoff for us was having a magical, enjoyable and gentle birth, which we couldn't have had if we'd agreed to an induction of labour.
Shared by Sue McNally, HBCE
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Hi Sue,
Please find attached a slightly later version of our birth announcement - I'm happy for you to share it with other Mums and Dads. It doesn't really convey the pressure I was under to induce chemically or even to use natural methods to 'interfere' with Zac's timing.
It was really hard not to go on bumpy car rides/ eat pineapples/ have a curry etc., especially when we were being told that we risked Zac's death as a result. However, we really didn't want to intervene at any level and so, it was quite a tense time trying to prove to the rest of the world that Zac knew what the best timing was...
Zac was born at 6:06am on Friday 1st August – 19 days past his due date (he clearly failed to take note of the original project timetable!) Zac weighed 8lb 4oz and was born via a rather rapid home waterbirth. We were asleep in bed when, at 5:20am, it dawned on Isabelle that she might be in labour. Forty-six minutes later, Zac was born… Thankfully, we didn't have to have any medical interventions or pain relief.
We're overjoyed to have been able to give birth at home and are really grateful to everyone who supported us when Zac was defying the medical 'norms' by being so overdue. It wasn't an easy decision to leave Zac to choose his own timing for his arrival, but the payoff for us was having a magical, enjoyable and gentle birth, which we couldn't have had if we'd agreed to an induction of labour.
Shared by Sue McNally, HBCE
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
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