Carrie and John

I have to tell you a little about everything that happened! It is too bad that we never made it back to another class but John and I practiced HypnoBirthing faithfully for the last month of my pregnancy. HypnoBirthing saved my life!!!!– at least it felt that way. So Monday I made that eggplant- Parmesan recipe you gave us. I am convinced that is what started my labor!!! Monday night we went to Shrek 3 so I could relax and laugh my head off. At midnight we went to the hospital all bubbly and happy because my Braxton Hicks were 4 minutes a part for 2 hours. The nurse told me I wasn’t dilated at all and I should wait till my contractions were so painful that I would be in “mortal fear” of the next one. I was really disgruntled by her comment. I realized how important it was to opt out of the pain question (that was on my birth plan) because I felt like I had to convince the nurses I was in labor by acting like I was in pain. But honestly I felt like there was NOTHING to fear- I was so calm and reassured…

My surges kept coming all day Tuesday- they were getting more intense… They would absorb all my attention so that I could not talk or walk through them. Wednesday morning at 2am I woke John up so he could help me through the surges. I remembered the story you told us of the girl who didn’t wake up her husband and regretted it. So John started talking scripts with me and we worked through regular surges for 2 hours. I was SOOOO grateful for his soothing, relaxing voice. We went back to the hospital at 4am to find out a I was dilated to a 4 and 90% effaced!!! Yeah!- the golden ticket for admittance. However, at 10am I was still dilated to a 4 despite our long walks around the hospital. During this whole time John used rainbow relaxation, the silver glove technique and countless imagery he made up. You are right about the repetition. John said he felt ridiculous saying the same things over and over but I loved it! Fortunately I kept drinking a ton but I couldn’t eat because the surges made me nauseous.

At 10am the nurse sent me home. I think it was a good move but I hated the car rides. The confined seat made it difficult for me to relax and John was very distracted as he drove.

At 2pm we went back to the hospital and I was dilated to a 71/2!!! I was so happy, I immediately asked for the Jacuzzi. I got a blessed angel for a nurse. She had 4 babies natural so she had a lot of expertise and she was so encouraging during the whole process. My labor moved along and by the time I finally got in the Jacuzzi it only took 2 contractions to make me fully dilated. John’s help was really important through all of this, especially since I moved into a “10 centimeter lull” where my surges slowed down from 4 minutes apart to 10 minutes apart. The doctor offered to break my water but I checked in with my intuition and felt like my body needed to slow down and conserve energy for pushing. So I opted to keep laboring. For the next hour and half HypnoBirthing worked like a charm. At one point I asked, “how long have I been asleep?” John was surprised that I thought I was asleep because I seemed very responsive to his imagery and soft music.

Anyway, the time finally came for pushing and I knew it was there because my body had a very strong instinctive desire to squat. John held me on one side of the bed and the nurse held me on the other. I pushed and felt the baby move down. I was SO grateful I could move around, squat, get on my hands and knees, etc. Here is where we made a mistake. After 20 hours of labor both John and I gave into the belief that it was time to bear down and push. I let the doctor break my water and then I got into a very intense mode and pushed with all my might during each surge. This made me very tired and I forgot to relax. I wanted the baby out so bad that I threw out all the information we learned about letting the baby ease its way down. Every time I felt the baby ease back up between surges I got upset and impatient. I kept pushing so hard. Touching the babies head was wonderful and I felt like it released endorphins- that was good. The doctor kept telling me to slow down with little grunts in the back of my throat but shortly after the baby crowned I pushed as hard as I could and wow! The baby flew out so fast it slid down to the end of the bed J I felt the biggest rush of relief but I had three nasty tears the doctor had to work out.

The doctor didn’t wait as long as we asked for to cut the umbilical cord but we were so wrapped up in everything that we just let it happen. The baby was breathing well and that was what mattered. I got to hold our sweet little thing. He has a PERFECT round little head and face with the most wonderful little features.

Anyway, Launi, I just wanted to let you know that the eggplant, HypnoBirthing and many stories you told us helped a TON. I wish we had listened more when you stressed the importance of relaxation during pushing. I wish that in the moment, I would have listened to you when you told us that it is good for the baby to stretch the perineum very, very slowly. I remember you said that it is the uterus job to push and Mom’s job to relax but I was so exhausted at the end that I ignored what you taught there. Anyway, its all over now and we have a perfect little angel. Thank you so much for all your help! I have been recommending your class to anyone and everyone. I hope all is going well for you.

Thanks,

Carrie