Henry's Birth Story

What you need to know before reading it is that for my birth I used the "Hypnobabies" method for delivery and this is the story I gave to them to post on their website. Therefore it uses all of their terms and vocab for labor. Hypnobabies is basically using hypnosis to assist mothers in having an easy and more comfortable birth. The basic idea is to turn something that people usually look at with a lot of fear and anxiety into something empowering and positive. You can probably figure out what a lot of the terms mean on your own, but here is a quick breakdown.

Birthing Time = Labor
Practice Waves = False Labor
Waves (or birthing waves) = Contractions
Center Position = being in hypnosis to manage discomfort but allowing myself to still function normally

A little background about my pregnancy is that I had intended on taking my Hypnobabies course in Minneapolis and had already signed up for a class when we learned that my husband got a new job in Upstate New York. I had fallen in love with Hypnobabies but there were no instructors or classes anywhere near me in NY. I was 7 months pregnant and really determined to use this method so I decided I would do the Homestudy Course. The other things about moving to NY is that I had to change midwife practices late in my pregnancy and we do not know anyone in the area, no family or friends so I decided I would look into hiring a doula for a little bit of extra support. Turns out there are no hypno-doulas in the area either, but I was lucky enough to find a doula who is also a Hypnobirthing Instructor, who was willing to work with me and use my Hypnobabies tools.

Sunday October 27th was my due date. The day came and went uneventfully as I anticipated it would. That night I woke up at 2:30am feeling some unusual cramping. I had not been having my progress checked at my weekly prenatal appointments because I have known so many people to do that and end up with unrealistic expectations of when their baby will arrive. But I also had not experienced much of anything in terms of feeling like my body was prepping itself for my birthing time, so I was feeling rather certain that my baby's birthing time was still a while off. Therefore I was not at all convinced that things were starting.

After feeling a couple of these cramps I was wondering if I was coming down with a stomach bug. The feelings felt an awful lot like the gas cramps I have when I get an upset stomach. I got up and paced around the bathroom for a while, I didn't want to wake up my husband (Jason) because it was a Sunday night (really at this point it was early Monday morning) and I didn't want to deprive him of sleep for his day at work unless I was sure that I was in my birthing time.

I tried climbing back into bed but as soon as I did I felt another cramp and it was not comfortable enough to try to sleep through it. I decided I should get up and walk around the apartment for a bit. I spent until about 3:15am on my own when I realized the cramping was still coming regularly and although I was still not convinced that this was really my birthing time I decided I should wake Jason for some assistance just in case.

When I woke him I warned him that I wasn't sure whether or not these were practice waves but that I'd like him to get up to time them and to help me out by getting me snacks, etc. I started eating an apple and peanut butter, drinking water and he was timing things. Around 3:45am we were getting more convinced that this was something to take seriously. I called my mom, who lives out of state, so she could book tickets to fly out. Then I called my midwives and my doula - I was told to just take my time and that they would see me at the hospital in a bit. My doula and midwife both knew that my plan was to stay home for as long as possible.

Up until this point I was not really using much of my hypnobabies and was sort of struggling with my waves. I kept trying different positions but nothing was very comfortable. Jason finally said to me, "Why don't you listen to one of your hypnobabies tracks." So I got on my birthing ball, set up a bunch of pillows, got all situated and listened to the "Deepening Track" (my favorite one!). I did put my switch in the center position so I was able to talk to Jason and wiggle around. The track absolutely relaxed me and put me into the right mindset. I felt I was in control.

We stayed at home for as long as possible which as it turns out was only until about 6am. My waves were about 3-4 minutes apart (from what we could tell, we weren't being the best about timing) and lasting around 60 seconds. Being that this was my first time giving birth and that we really didn't know what to expect, it just made us both feel more at ease to be heading to the hospital. I listened to my "Easy First Stage" track on the drive to the hospital and basically on repeat from here on out. We arrived around 6:45am and headed into triage. The nurse (Sheryl) I was given was fantastic! The only downside was that she is a travel nurse. She had only been at this hospital for 4 days and did not have admitting privileges. She told me she had looked over my Birth Plan and since I wanted minimal internal exams that she was going to wait until the midwife arrived so the midwife could check me and then (hopefully) admit me.

My wonderful doula, Linda, showed up around 7:30ish and ended up hanging out with us in triage for quite a while. Things slowed down a little bit when we got to the hospital, which I've heard is typical. My waves, upon Linda's arrival, were coming every 3-6 minutes. But by around 8:30 (when we were still waiting for the midwife to show up) I had 3 back to back waves. There was a feeling that our baby was going to be born in triage if I didn't get admitted into a room quickly. Sheryl ultimately decided just to check me herself (Later after I had the baby I asked and found out I had been dilated to 6cm) and somehow got me into a room around 9am. Which is also around the time that the midwife arrived.

Once I was in my room I started using a birthing ball while still listening to my track. I found early on (before leaving home) that breathing through my waves with "horse lips" (I'm not sure if that's the real name for them, but it's what Ina May calls it) really worked for me. So each time I felt a wave I just relaxed my body as much as possible and blew "horse lips" while swaying on my ball and resting on pillows. After some time on the birthing ball I decided to move to the tub. Truthfully I was doing just fine and wasn't convinced I wanted to be in the water, but I've heard so much about how much the water helps that curiosity got the better of me.

Getting in the warm water in a big tub was absolutely amazing, though it is hard for me to say for sure whether or not I feel like it was a major difference in how my waves felt, because the waves became very intense while I was in the water. I had three that hit me leaving me feeling like I was going to throw up (though I am happy to report I didn't). At this point I changed from "horse lips", to making the low "ahh" sounds. I didn't consciously switch because I thought I was supposed to, it just felt better to "ahh" at this point.

I started getting "pushy" feelings shortly after getting into the water, around 11am. I got out pretty quickly, the midwife checked me (this was only the second time I was checked) and said it was time to have the baby! Jason switched my track to "Pushing Baby Out." I didn't have anything to play the tracks out-loud, I just stuck with my headphones. I listened to the track about 5 times, I kept saying to Jason "Babe, repeat the track" and at one point the midwife said "I really want to know what she's listening to." They were all very surprised at how calm I was in-between waves. I would just completely relax and drink water (I was very thirsty throughout my whole birthing time!)

The pushing is the only part of my birthing time that I would have liked to have gone differently. I really wanted to "ahh" my baby out, but didn't ever actually discuss that with anyone because I suppose I assumed it would just be something I would be able to do since I had listed on my Birth Preferences "Please don't tell me when to push." But when it came down to it they let me go for probably 20-30 minutes of "ahh"ing and pushing the way I wanted to and then they started telling me it was time for me to push during waves. I just followed what they told me and ended up doing "purple pushing."

Baby Henry was born at 12:38pm - about 10 hours after I woke up with my first waves and about 6 hours after arriving at the hospital. He was 7lbs 10oz 21.25inches long. He was placed on my chest and stayed there for nearly 2 hours after being born. Having him there to focus on really helped a great deal with all of the after birth stuff that goes on - I wasn't focused on any of that at all, I was just focused on Henry. I had stitches for a 1st degree tear, very minor, yay!

I was given a lot of praise, especially from Sheryl (my nurse), for how well I did throughout my birthing time. Sheryl even bragged to someone for me saying, "This woman just gave a completely natural birth without even a single IV," that comment made me feel really good about myself. I was told that I was very calm and relaxed. I made jokes and didn't stop smiling when I was between my waves. I was told it is unusual to see someone still happy and relaxed in between waves once you near the end of your birthing time but I didn't see any reason to be worked up in-between waves. That was my time to relax, drink water, prepare for the next wave and get excited because my baby was on his way!

We only used my cell phone to take pictures, so they aren't great, but I got some documentation of my birthing time at the hospital:

All set up in Triage

Once I got settled into my room - on the birthing ball relaxing

Jason and me once I moved into the tub

Shortly after Henry was placed on my chest

Linda, my wonderful doula, with me and Henry - about and hour and a half post birth