Sam's Birth
Erin's 3rd Hypno-baby 2007
read her first birth here Michael's Birth
read her second birth here Alex's Birth
I've been a lurker on and off for the past FIVE years! Last week I
just had my THIRD hypnosis birth, and wanted to add another positive
birth story to the repository for all you moms-in-waiting!
Just a little intro about me-- I was actually a HypnoBirthing student,
but way way way back in 2002, Kerry from Hypnobabies had some excellent
supplemental
tapes for HypnoBirthing students (yes TAPES! None of those mp3s!), as
well as useful handouts. I purchased these to enhance what I had
received from the HypnoBirthing program. My birth stories are
actually still accessible here ("Michael's" is my first baby, then Alexander's
birth).
Since I was a HypnoBirthing student (back in 2002!), I'm unfamiliar
with the terminology used in the Hypnobabies program today. So if I
use any counterproductive/negative words, I apologize in advance!
Also I'm including lots of details from the birth, since I remember
them all...if it's TMI for some people, well, you've been warned!
(But that's the nice thing about being wonderfully present during
birth...I can remember all those graphic little details!)
Now, I will have to make a confession here: I was not very diligent in
my hypnosis practice the third time around! I listened to my tapes
and practiced only a handful of times throughout the pregnancy. I
wasn't too worried though, because I felt like I had such positive
experiences the first two times, and my view on birthing was that it
was a natural process-- nothing to be afraid of. Interestingly
enough, my Braxton-Hicks surges were very similar to my birthing
surges from before (not sure if it's something that gets more intense
with each pregnancy), so it was a sensation that I was feeling
throughout second-third trimesters.
I was almost 39 weeks on September 24th, and really, really *tired* of
being pregnant. It was getting physically difficult to keep up with
the precocious 2yo (Alex), and Michael (the 5yo) was also starting
kindergarten. (It was hard to keep up with the two kids and squeeze
in a lot of hypnosis practice! Not the greatest excuse, but the one
I'm using! :) To make me even more on edge, I had surges fifteen
minutes apart the Friday before, and it petered out to nothing at
night. I kept telling myself that this little girl was giving me an
exercise in patience-- something you think a mother of two would
already know!
As a result, that Monday night, when surges were six, no eight, no
eight, no ten, no eight, no twenty...minutes apart, I was in denial
that it was time to go to the hospital. I finally decided that we
should go. Hubby got the kids fed, bathed, and in bed, then we called
Grandma 1 to the house while we headed over to the hospital.
We arrived at the hospital around 8:30pm (and I'm still in denial) and
after the whole admission process, got into an LDR by 9 (still in
denial!). What added to my stress was the fact that my OB wanted to
treat me for GBS+ (which is interesting to read all the posts about
GBS+ now!) and the whole "two doses in four hours" timeline was
hanging in my head. The nurse checked me ("2 cm...") but told me that
it would be okay for me to stay for a bit for "observation." After a
certain point, they could see how much I've progressed, and decide
whether or not to go home from there.
Hubby suggested I pop in some of my old tapes and listen to them. I
was relaxing this whole time, and at one point, commented to my
husband how I could feel Sam kicking her way downward with each surge.
I wished the surges would last longer, because I could really feel
what they were doing, and how the baby was moving each time! During
this time I was also drinking water, and I ate some hospital-supplied
orange Jello, which comes into play later on in the story..
At around midnight, the nurse came in and checked me again ("Still
2cm, but effaced a lot more!"), so we decided to stay. The nurse
reassured me that my OB said it was okay if we stay overnight and
decide what to do the next morning. We made the necessary calls to
Grandma 2 ("Overnight Grandma") and Grandma 1.
At this point, I got the IV in for the GBS antibiotics. It didn't
bother me, because at that point I was done standing around, walking,
and swaying, and preferred to sit in the bed. Now I am the biggest
wimp when it comes to needles, but I managed very well with this one!
I think it was just the mental prepping for it beforehand-- I decided
that I would rather do this than have that teeny risk of a GBS+ baby
(but that was just my personal decision).
So I'm still relaxing, still relaxing... and fast forward to about
2:45am. (Wow! That time distortion thing *really* works!) At about
this time, it started to feel appropriate to "breathe down the baby"
(like the yoga ujjayi breath). I remember doing this with Alex, and
was just more aware of the sensation this time around. After a few
more surges, I started to vocalize a little. Not screaming...kind of
groaning. At this point, Hubby turns to me and says, "We'll probably
have a baby in thirty minutes." I turn to him and said, "Yeah, RIGHT!"
Hubby (wisely) ignored me and went to get the nurse to check me
("5cm...but this is your third, so that last 5 can go really fast!")
I think that she sensed that birthing time was coming up soon because
she started to set up the warming table, the neat-o Star Trek light
that lowers out of the ceiling, etc. She *also* cranked up my
antibiotic drip because I wasn't quite through with one dose! I
didn't realize that until my left arm started to ache. Interestingly
enough, when this started to happen, my surges stopped! It was like
my body was going, "Okay...what the heck is this???" I wasn't
panicking, but said, "Ow...okay, getthenursegetthenursegetthenu
She hurried back to adjust the drip, and then my arm went cool
(saturated with the saline) then back to normal. The surges resumed,
and I focused on birthing once more. ("Okay, back to business...")
Pretty soon after that little distraction, the surges became
"expelling-baby" surges. I started to pee on the chux pad. The first
surge I let out a trickle, but the next surge I just let it all go
("What the heck...I'm not relaxing any by holding it in!") I *then*
decided, "Well, I'm gonna go and empty my bladder if I'm gonna pee all
over the place!" Talk about being completely present! The nurse
unhooked me from the fetal monitors and I hobbled over to the toilet.
I sat down, and felt a wave of nausea. I told my husband, "Um...I'm
gonna puke..." He responded, "Really?" Then I just grabbed the
soiled linen hamper that was in the bathroom next to the toilet and
upchucked orange Jello into the hamper ("Nice save!" comment from the
nurse). Now I will say that orange Jello is probably one of the more
inoffensive things to vomit. I was just glad that the lemon Jello had
already made it down the hatch (I didn't really like the lemon). I
used the bathroom, had a surge that caused my husband to start
panicking, washed my hands, then headed back to the bed. (The fact
that I wiped and washed my hands cracks my husband up! What can I
say? I was going to the bathroom!)
I made it back to the bed and maybe a couple minutes later, her head
was out. I didn't even feel it-- only the "rectal pressure." This
may be because my membrane never ruptured! The nurse had to pull it
apart to let Sam's head come out. After the head came out, the nurse
had to rearrange the umbilical cord (it was around the top of her head
and was starting to slide down her face to her throat), then I birthed
the rest of Sam's body. At 3:21am, September 25, my 8lb 14oz little
girl came out into the world! (Hubby was off by five minutes...talk
about having a birth partner so in tune to your signals!)
When Sam was completely out, the nurse noticed that she had tied a
true knot in her umbilical cord. She kept saying that we were really
lucky-- I guess in lots of cases, this would cause fetal distress,
which would have started the whole intervention process. I have to
give credit to the hypnosis, which kept me calm, which I believe kept
Sam calm as well!
Once again, the OB arrived after the birth. He came in time to stitch
up a minor tear (Sam had added a new lane to the highway, so to speak,
being the biggest baby! Michael was 8lb 5oz, and Alex was 7lb 11oz).
These hypnosis babies are just coming out faster than the doctors can
catch them! :)
Samantha's a strong nurser (I call her my little Hoover), and very calm--
similar to my first two. The nurses were just amazed that I had just
given birth to such a big baby. Even *I* was amazed, and was going
over what I had ingested in the past month that would've made such a
big baby (chocolate fondue and *lots* of brownies... :). I was also
happy to have had such a wonderful nurse-- she was completely calm and
patient, and I was glad that she was the one who caught Sam. Even
though we didn't get around to showing her our birthing plan, she
seemed to understand our birthing philosophies based on our requests
(and she was completely understanding about my needle phobia!).
After my third birth, I have to say that the whole process amazes me
more each time. I was so wonderfully aware of everything that was
going on-- never fearful, only amazed. It was so incredible to think
that Sam was helping me out in this whole experience-- I'd have the
surge, and she'd kick her way down and out. I was telling my husband
afterwards that it's kind of sad that many women think that this is
all a medical condition or procedure, and that they don't experience
it like hypno-mommies do.
Now I just have to learn to juggle three...*that's* going to be the
toughest part!
I will probably be unsubscribing sometime soon as we've decided three
is enough for our family. But I'm happy to answer any questions or
the like through email. I'm glad and so fortunate to have been part
of this group, and I wish everyone a positive and amazing birthing
experience! It's just so incredible what your body can do!
Good luck to everyone!
erin