My birthing time started Thursday morning at 3AM. I woke up with pressure waves 3 minutes apart lasting 60-90sec. I was pretty excited that this might be the real thing. (since we had several practice sessions over the previous weeks.) They were strong enough that I could not sleep through them, so I used my wonderful Hypnobabies CDs and allowed the experience to fill me. At about 5:30, my husband woke up and I told him he needed to stay home from work because today was the start of our birthing day. They continued to be between 3-5 minutes, and I was able to relax through them wonderfully. I called in my birth support (my doula Marie Johnson and Natalie Permann - my birth photographer) I continued to relax beautifully, and my husband used the “relax” and “release” cues. He was amazed at just how relaxed I would become with the release cue. (which was my favorite) We ended up calling our midwife around 1 because we wanted to be checked, but not at the hospital. We meet her at the office and I told her that I didn't want to know the number of where I was (since that was so emotional for me during my last birth to know how slow I was progressing) I told her if I was less than a 6 to tell me to go home. She checked me and said I was good to go home. (This was hard for my husband, as he really wanted to know where I was at, but he totally respected my wishes not to know.) We went home and continued to have waves all night. They slowed during the night to about 7-10 mins. I thank hypnobabies for the small amount of sleep I did get. I used the shower several times over the course of the morning, but I could feel my waves getting stronger. At about 6am on friday they were about 3 minutes lasting almost 2 mins. I woke my husband and called my doulas back to my house. I felt all the signs of transformation, and I welcomed it. At one point they were only about 2 mins apart lasting over 1 minute long. I know that if it weren't for Hypnobabies, I would not have lasted this long. this 2-3mins apart lasting 90 seconds or more lasted until about two in the afternoon when I told me husband we should head to the midwife to be checked once again. This time I told her I wanted to know where I was at, I felt this was the right thing to do. She informed me that I was about 3cm and almost fully effaced. My baby's head was still high, negative 1 or 2. At this point we talk about our options and decided to break my water to see if we could get his head to move down. My midwife ruptured my membranes and I continued to use my Hypnobabies tracks. My doulas and midwife commented on how my charts on the computer changed when I was listening to my Hypnobabies tracks. My midwife later told me that she was sure it was the Hypnobabies that kept my sons heart rate steady and kept him out of distress the whole time. At about 1am Saturday morning we had made it to a 10, with a small lip, and my midwife allowed me to start pushing. We kept this up for a while, her holding the cervix back, and my birth support team couching and supporting me the whole way. At about 3am he still wasn't moving past the pubic bone and we knew it was time for a repeat cesarean birth.
Our little guy was born happy and healthy, and I was able to hear his first cries. (with my first c/s I was put under a general and wasn't able to nurse my son until he was 3 days old) I was able to hold and nurse him right away. Though we ended with a cesarean birth, this time it was a completely different experience. I was so grateful to be able to work through the birth process with my husband and my birth team. I was grateful to experience pushing and to know I tried everything to have a VBAC.
I had such a wonderful birth, and personally know how well Hypnobabies works. 50 hours of continuous waves and not once even thinking I wanted to quit.
I had a great surgeon who checked my pelvis while he was doing the c/s and gave me more information on the shape of my hips and why my vbac didn't work. This was a great relief for me to know how my body was shaped, and why I had 2 cesarean births.
I loved using Hypnobabies myself, and know it made all the difference in my comfort during my birth.
