Why I Chose Hypnobabies

Well, you may wonder why or how I ever came upon Hypnobabies. Well, I'll tell you. When I became pregnant with my first, my Mom told me the more detailed story about the birth of her firstborn-my older brother. She told me that she had gotten her epidural late into her labor, and they had to use forceps to get the baby out, and then she did not do well recovering because of her epidural. She had to have catheter because she couldn't go to the bathroom for a week. So for her next 3 babies, she did it natural. So I decided to do more research on the subject of epidurals and other pain medication used in childbirth. And while I was reading on babycenter.com about what they had to say on the subject, I saw a comment from somebody who had their baby using childbirth hypnosis, more specifically, Hypnobabies. It sounded interesting...so I went to the website. I read all that they had to say about childbirth hypnosis. At first I didn't think it was possible, like it was all sounding too good to be true. But I was intrigued, because I thought that everything I read about it sounded good. So I decided then to join the Hypnobabies Yahoo Group to talk to real people actually using Hypnobabies. I wanted to ask questions to those who already used Hypnobabies, and I was also able to read the many birth stories listed in the group. I loved reading the birth stories, it was amazing the way their births turned out. My questions were answered, and it didn't take long for me to decide that this is what I wanted to do. So I ordered the home study course because there were no instructors in my area of Southern Utah. I was so excited to get the course in the mail, and started the lessons pretty soon there-after. As soon as I started listening to the CD's everyday, my pregnancy symptoms were diminishing away, and I was sleeping a lot better! I slept all the way through the night all the way through my pregnancy. I also started reading a book recommended by Hypnobabies called, "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth" Reading that really made me see the facts about all the interventions that may happen during a birth and the CHOICES you actually have, and how to avoid the things you don't want. I recommend this book to anyone ever going to have a baby. It really educates you on these things, and I believe woman having babies should know about these things and the risks, and not leave the final decisions up to the doctors, nurses, or hospital without understanding the birth process. But anyway, Hypnobabies really changed my mind-set on childbirth, and I really have been able to accomplish amazing, wonderful, comfortable births.

Max's Birth Story

Max was born on April 20th, 2007 at 3:45 am. He was 10 lbs 8 oz, 21.5 inches long, with a 15 inch round head. Everything went really well, and I’m glad to have my big baby out of my stomach.

I used Hypnobabies again, practicing my light-switch, and listening to a CD everyday. This time I went to a birthing center, and what a wonderful difference it was! The number one difference I think was the fact that I felt more like a person being cared for with the midwife there the whole time, instead of a procedure, a number, or that woman in that one room giving birth. The birth center felt like home, with a big bed that my husband could lie in with me. The prenatal visits were night and day different too. Instead of waiting for 45 minutes to see the doctor for 15 minutes, I would wait hardly at all to see the midwife for 45 minutes. I loved having a midwife, and birthing at the birthing center!

At 39 weeks I was checked and was 3 cm and 50% effaced, so the midwife said that my cervix was favorable if I wanted my membranes stripped the next week or later. That following week, I kept having braxton hicks that I could only feel if I touched my stomach, sometimes they’d be coming regularly, and sometimes not… But my feelings were that this baby was coming soon… For my 40 week appointment on Thursday the 19th, we arranged for a babysitter for my toddler, and packed our bags to travel the hour down to the birth center. I knew that I didn’t want to travel that hour back home without a baby!

The Midwife checked my cervix at my appointment at about 6:30pm, and it hadn’t changed, but we decided for her to go ahead and strip my membranes, and give me cohosh. We monitered the baby for a little while and then we left. We drove down the street to IHOP to have dinner, and as soon as I walked through the door, I had a contraction. I felt the same as the ones I had before, but then a few minutes later I had another, and they quickly became 2 minutes apart. So we ate our dinner, and then I called the midwife, she asked if they were getting stronger… I really had no idea… So she suggested we go to the Mall and walk around a little bit. So we did that for about a half hour, and our midwife called me back, and I still didn’t know if the contractions were getting stronger, I just knew they were coming. So this was about 9:00 at night, and we decided to go back to the birth center to see how things were going.

I was checked again, and no progress, but the contractions were still coming. I still couldn’t tell if they were getting stronger. She explained that the cohosh would give me contractions for a while, and then my own body would kick in and continue labor. So if they got stronger that was a sign of my body kicking in, otherwise the contractions would die off because my body wasn’t ready. So the midwife didn’t want to prepare my room unless we were sure that my body was kicking in, and it wasn’t just the cohosh. I didn’t want to go anywhere, and I just wanted to listen to a CD or something. So we stayed at the birth center, and I lay down on the couch in the waiting area, and listened to the birth guide CD, which has many suggestions that I AM in labor. So after over an hour, the midwife checked on me, and I said that I thought the contractions were maybe stronger, and that this was it. So she prepared my room, and I was in there by about 10:30pm.

I laid on the bed for a while, and started using my light-switch (going into hypnosis) during the contractions. I remember when it was 11:00, about 4 hours after I received the cohosh, thinking that this was really it. Because I remember the midwife told me that it took about 4 hours for the cohosh to wear off, and I was still having contractions close together and regular. My husband was still in the waiting room watching a movie. I went in to see him after a while, and his movie ended. We went back in on the double bed so we could both lie down. The midwife asked me if I wanted to get in the tub… I was really comfortable where I was in bed, but I said, “Sure, start filling up the tub.” I got in a little while later, and it was really nice! Even big enough for my tall body too.

So there I lay, in the tub, using my light-switch, going completely off during each contraction, while my husband and the midwife just sat next to the tub. They would be talking, and I would close my eyes during a contraction, and then they’d stop talking or whisper, “She’s going under again…” The contractions still were only felt as pressure and with no pain. The midwife said I was really hard to read as far as reading my progress, etc. I began using different positions like leaning forward against the tub while on my knees, and Travis would pour water down my back, which felt really good.

At about 2:45am my legs starting shaking, I remembered that this happened with Elora’s birth when I was in transition. But the contractions were still only pressure with no pain. A little while later, I started to push, but I felt like something was there in front of the baby. I really had to pee, but I just couldn’t… She said it was ok to pee in the water, but I couldn’t… Sorry if this is too much information, but it just wouldn’t come out! Finally I did pee, and a little while later my water broke at 3:15 am. So then pushing felt like it progressed much better. I got to a point where I just wanted this baby out NOW! And I got really impatient. Pushing was harder this time because of this. But it was good to move around and use different positions in the tub instead of on my back in bed like last time. When he was crowning I reached down to touch his hairy head, and it was a weird feeling. Well, I kept pushing, and he was out at 3:45am, what a relief!! The cord was around his head, which the midwife took off before the rest of his body came out. When he came out, and I saw him and held him, it was very shocking again. I couldn’t believe there was baby in my arms. He was healthy and chubby. It was amazing!! I had our beautiful son in my arms!! What a miracle!

After a little while of holding Max, we pretty much decided his name right there, the cord was cut after it stopped pulsating. Then I got cleaned up and dry, and went to bed. I tried breastfeeding, but Max would only latch on for a few sucks and then let go and go to sleep, he was pretty tired. We found out too that I had a few abrasions on top and a first-degree tear at the bottom. But when we measured Max and found out he was 10 lbs 8 oz and 21.5 inches long with a 15-inch round head, the midwife started bowing down to me. We rested in bed, my husband got more sleep than I did, and ate breakfast and did a few other things. We were out of the birth center by 12:30 pm that day, so 9 hours after the birth. It was good to go home and rest in my own bed.

What a wonderful experience, I’m so thankful for Hypnobabies again. It made the whole experience a memorable one in a good way. This birth was easier than my first, and my first was pretty easy! The birthing time was about 8 ½ hours compared to 6 hours last time. The birth center and midwife was sooooo much better then the hospital and OB/GYN. This time the contractions were only felt as pressure the whole time, and last time they felt a little more like mild cramps at the end and really intense during transition. This time pushing was harder because I just wanted it done. This time my body was really tired during pushing but I could change positions easily. Last time my legs got really tired having to hold them up in bed. Oh, and I totally recommend a water birth!!

So I’m really pleased with the experience and I love my beautiful new baby boy.

(This story was written about a week after Max was born.)

Elora's Birth Story

Elora came to us Friday, September 23rd 2005 at 8:32 pm. She weighed 10 lbs 3 oz and was 21 inches long. She is beautiful and has brought a wonderful spirit into our home!

To explain a little, I used a childbirth hypnosis program called Hypnobabies. It was a home study course that I ordered off the Internet. For the last few months of pregnancy, I practiced going into a deep state of relaxation, and basically re-programmed my mind to think of birth as a wonderful, positive experience with little or no pain. That birth doesn’t have to be complicated and a fearful matter. I learned to put away any fears, which could’ve led to the fear-tension-pain cycle. I practiced everyday by listening to CD’s and bringing myself into hypnosis.

I had been having braxton-hicks contractions for a while before birth, but nobody believed me because I could only feel them if I touched my stomach and it felt tight. I discovered this when I went to my doctor at 36 weeks and I was on the table, and she said, “You’re having a contraction right now.” I just thought to myself, “Oh, I am?” Anyway, I was almost all the way effaced for the last month of pregnancy, but I was always at one cm. Starting at 39 weeks, I drove myself crazy wondering when this baby would come. I did everything they tell you to do… but nothing worked, this baby just wasn’t ready to come out yet. So at 41 ½ weeks my doctor and I decided we would induce with Pitocin at 42 weeks.

On Friday, September 23rd at 2:00 pm we arrived at the hospital to be induced. The doctor checked me and I was 90 % effaced, 1 cm, and –1 station. They set up the IV and got the Pitocin going by about 2:30 pm. The contractions started at about 2 to 3 minutes apart and were pretty much like that the whole time. At first the only way I knew I was having a contraction was if I looked at the monitor or felt my stomach. So I really didn’t feel a thing. My husband, Travis, and I played Uno, then after a little while, he did his homework or slept, and I just put on my birth affirmations CD. After a couple hours, the contractions began to feel like mild cramps, nothing bad at all. So I listened to my Birth Guide CD, and began using my light switch for each contraction (going into hypnosis). After a little while they got a little more intense, but Travis used the cue word of “relax” and put his hand on my forehead, and a wonderful wave of relaxation went through me. At 7:00 pm I went to the bathroom and at 7:15 or so I asked the nurse if she’d check me. I was at 5 cm. About a half an hour later or so I started feeling really hot and shaky, and the contractions were really intense. I think it freaked Travis out a little, because he’d say “RELAX!” in a not so relaxing, pleading way. During this time, I was wondering if this is what transition is like? Thinking that I couldn’t be at transition, because they just checked me and I was at 5. But I began doubting, and thinking that I couldn’t take this much longer –thinking that I still had a while to go! I even told Travis that I might want an epidural, even though, in my mind, I knew that I didn’t want one! But Travis was great, and kept telling me I was doing great, and that I didn’t really want an epidural. I told him to call in the nurse to help me go to the bathroom, just to get a nurse in there. By the time she came in, I thought I felt a pushing urge, so I told the nurse this. She checked me, and I was 10 cm!! This was at 8:00 pm, so I went from 5 to 10cm in 45 minutes! So she called the doctor, and then everybody was getting everything ready, and I started pushing. I was making a lot of ooo and ahhh sounds, which seemed natural at the time. As I was pushing the nurse thought that she’d be delivering the baby. The doctor was probably very surprised to get a call. He even told me before labor began that he thought I’d probably deliver the next day. The doctor did come in time though, and I continued pushing. This didn’t hurt at all, just a little tiring for my legs. My eyes were closed when Elora was born, and my husband said, “Cynthia, open your eyes, you did it!” I opened my eyes, and there was a baby on my stomach! I said, “Oh, she’s big!” I couldn’t believe there was a baby on my lap! She was beautiful, it was amazing! So after a half an hour of pushing, Elora was born.

I am still in awe of this whole experience. The doctor and the nurses were all in awe. They said that I did better than most of their epidural patients. They hadn’t seen a birth like this before; I was the talk of labor and delivery. The lady who gave birth to a 10 lb baby naturally! Honestly I wouldn’t have known that I was giving birth to a 10 lb baby or a 4 lb baby! I did get a second-degree tear; I think this is because we slacked off on perineal massage. We did it during weeks 36 to 39, but during weeks 39 to 42, we were too busy hoping the baby would come soon. Recovery was great though, a little hard to sit and move around, but not too bad. The nurse kept asking me on a scale of 1 to 10 how much pain was I in? This was a very annoying question, I was thinking, “Pain? What’s that? I might be in a little pain, 1 or 2 maybe?” I didn’t take any pain medication after birth. The doctor did numb me with a few stabs before stitching me up, I think that hurt more than anything… I hate needles.

The only thing that I’m disappointed about is the fact that I didn’t go into labor all by myself, but I was getting inpatient. The fact that I had waited until 42 weeks to be induced was a long time already. I am really pleased with the whole birth experience; I would do it again in a heartbeat! Hypnobabies enabled me to be more relaxed as the due date of my baby came. I think it is because of Hypnobabies and because I was so ready and relaxed that my labor was so short, especially in a first time mom. I felt great the last few months of pregnancy. I slept all the way through the night, and felt little discomfort as the days progressed. I felt ready and had no fear of birth. Also, in one of the CD’s it says that 20 minutes will feel like 5, so even with a 6-hour birth, it only felt like an hour or two to me.

Elora is beautiful, and I can’t get enough of her! We are just so happy that she’s finally here! Making us a family of three instead of just the two of us. I love her so much, and feel even more love for my husband Travis as well.

(This story was written about a week after Elora was born)