Sarah and Christopher

I was due February 1st and expected to be late like my mother was with hers, so you can imagine my surprise when my water broke hours after we flew back from Christmas vacation.  Since no surges started, however, I did what any HypnoBirthing mother would do – sent my husband to work so he could catch up on the last weeks he missed, made myself a scrambled egg breakfast, and spent hours on the phone letting my family and work know what was going on.  By the time I got to the hospital, I had gone through a few soaked towels and Claudia was beginning to wonder where I was.  Eventually my husband’s boss found out what was going on and kicked him out, so we both ended up sitting at the hospital together . . . doing nothing.  I walked, took baths, and ate the food the Claudia snuck me, but by that afternoon I had still only managed three irregular and weak surges.  Claudia told us that as much as she supported our desire to go naturally, our pediatrician would already have a long checklist since the baby was 5 weeks early and I hadn’t had my group B test yet.  If we were in labor for three days, the checklist would be so long that we wouldn’t get our baby back any time soon.  So we started Pitocin at 5:30.  By 6, my surges were strong and 3 minutes apart.  In fact, we were able to get off the Pit after only an hour or so.

I was doing fairly well and staying relaxed, but by 11pm I was starting to get a bit weary.  We asked Claudia how our progress was looking, and unfortunately she told us that based on her experience we were looking at 5-6 in the morning.  And I panicked!  I was barely holding on then, and I knew I wouldn’t last that long.  And this part, to me, is the biggest testimony of HypnoBirthing: once I lost that focus, the rest of that night was VERY painful.  Of course, I felt the urge to push a half an hour later.  She told me I was only at a 9 or not quite 9 ½, but I didn’t care.  I was so frantic to be done that I let everyone talk me into pushing as hard as I could, laying on my back with my feet in the air, and ended up tearing with my 6lbs 10 oz baby.

Even though the end didn’t go perfectly, I couldn’t believe how good I felt afterward!  And I couldn’t wait to try again the next time.  I could see how the relaxation helped me through so much of it – even through the hep-lock and stitches, since my fear of needles is what brought me to class in the first place.

One of the things that amazed me the most is how good I felt afterwards. I was a bit tired, and being sore down there made walking awkward, but otherwise I felt absolutely fine. That is very different from most things that put you in the hospital- most injuries have pain that just never goes away. But a half an hour later I was cheerfully chatting on the phone with everyone.

I just want to thank you again for everything! Our birthing experience was just wonderful, and even if I didn’t do as well as I wanted to I know now what I need to expect for the next time and can’t wait to do better next time. I recommend this to all my friends, even if most of them look at me like I am nuts and tell me that they would never even think of going without the epidural. I just laugh when they tell me I was lucky to have a short labor and delivery for such a calm baby, because I know that none of those things were accidents at all. They just like to use that as their excuse that they could have gone natural too if it was only 6 hours instead of the 20 they are bragging about, and I try to explain to them that the chicken might come before that egg. They never buy it, but I know better.

Thanks again for everything!

-Sarah, Christopher and Tyler