Nany & Marshall

“I started having some tightening in a frequent pattern on Friday night, I didn’t pay much attention to it since I was still pretty active, walking everyday, doing prenatal yoga and stuff. On Saturday my Birth Show was released and by Saturday night my surges got to 7 minutes apart but very inconsistent in duration. I went to bed hopeful that labor would start through the night … nope, Eli had other plans and just chilled there. By Sunday morning they were 30 minutes apart and very irregular, I was still excited that it hadn’t completely stopped but hoping that it would pick up. They were mainly tightening and slowly increased in intensity towards my back.

After lunch the tightening started to be more consistent and I started to feel them coming in a pattern. By 2pm my water released, I was just sitting talking to Marshall and felt some “leakage.” We called my midwife and after analyzing the color of the fluid and assuring that everything was ok I went to lay down and took a quick nap. The surges became more intense but no pain, just discomfort, and sweatiness (a lot!). Marshall and I took it slow and reassessed my progress by 30 minutes increments. The toilet was the most comfortable seat in the house at that time and as the surges came I would lean over Marshall who was standing in front of me as he massaged my back. He wanted to go to the hospital soon but I didn’t feel it was time. After talking to our midwife couple of times and timing my surges we decided to go to the hospital around 4:30.

Our cue was that my surges were 1 minute apart and just the thought of leaving the house made me tired, so I knew it was time to go. The car ride was fine, I was listening to my HypnoBirthing tracks and Marshall and I were trying to not have expectations of how dilated I’d be and stuff so we started joking around which took my mind off the bumps on the road.

Check in took over 1hr because my records hadn’t been sent over to the hospital so they were asking very stupid questions as I was sweating like a pig! I wasn’t in pain just irritated cuz they were touching me non stop (just one cervical check, but they had to get my blood pressure, temperature and stuff like that) and I just wanted to be left alone. My mother-in-law was amazing though in helping keep me relaxed while Marshall was dealing with the nurses and getting us settled. By the time they were done I was dilated to 8 cm, which made me very excited and more focused on the task ahead. Marshall was a wonderful partner and his reassuring voice and eye contact made everything else in the room go away.

I took snacks but wasn’t hungry, just thirsty but Marshall made sure they were put to good use and I remember telling him in between surges that he needed some gum … we all laughed 🙂

By the time my midwife got there, a few minutes later, I was already at 10 cm and she told me to start “pushing” when I was ready. I’ll admit that the pushing, even though was something that brought release, was the hardest part for me because I had no idea how to work “with my surges.” Although my midwife and the staff were supportive of Natural Birth they didn’t understand the concept of Birth Breathing and I felt a bit pressured to follow their lead at this point. So I “pushed” for over 1hr but I believe that most of it I wasn’t really doing anything cuz I didn’t know what the heck I was suppose to do. The surges would come and I still wouldn’t do anything until they started telling me that his heart rate was dropping and that I needed to use my next surge to “push him out.” Once Marshall sat behind me on the bed, which made my position more into a “squat” than “J”, he supported my back and massaged my shoulders , I felt rejuvenated and liked using his legs as leverage while I pushed, in 10 minutes the baby came out.

I had a mirror in front of me (I didn’t think I’d want it but I loved having it there) and saw my progress as he was born, amazing!!! No episiotomy needed but I did get 2 stitches (which I believe could be avoided if I had done more of the Birth Breathing instead the active pushing)

Marshall cut the umbilical cord, I was proud of him for doing it … he doesn’t like blood, needles, veins and stuff like that so I was really impressed of how well he did through the whole thing. Way to go!

I was able to stay with him for almost 2 hrs before they took him to do newborn procedures. They took his temp and heart rate as he was laying on my chest but that was about it. I started stimulating him to nurse right away and he has been eating great ever since! Marshall gave his first bath and was with him throughout the rest of the procedures.

Not everything went as perfect as we planned but I truly believe that for being in a hospital setting and having people around that were maybe “uneducated” about HypnoBirthing our little boy’s birth was a great success! I felt in power of my body, that we were doing the best for our child and even during the moments that I just didn’t “want to play this game anymore” not for a second I’d have chosen another way to welcome our little miracle into our arms, unless it was at our home, in the comfort of a warm tub 😉 which  we are ready to do next time!”

We had an amazing experience and learned much from it. I’m now expecting our 2nd child and just finished retaking the class. Due to insurance issues we decided to do at a hospital again but still using the same group of midwives. I feel that we are more wise therefore better prepared to follow our own lead during the birthing phase this time and although we hope that we won’t need to voice our preferences very often because they might just leave us alone, we are more ready to do so in order to avoid feeling pressured this time. I understand they are just “doing their job” and as parents we are doing the same by declining that their silly hands be all over me or our baby girl this time! We are excited to meet our Lydia and I have even dreamed of receiving her, this is gonna be awesome!