Tiffany and Ryan

Hi Launi!

Well I looked into the possibility of going to the birth center. Unfortunately they didn’t accept my type of insurance. But I did stick to my guns as far as my doctor was concerned and basically told him it was my way or the highway. And surprisingly things went amazingly well. Here’s a short synopsis of how things went.

My water broke at 2:00 am 3/11/07 on the dot! Actually that’s when it started trickling out. I told my husband Ryan and he panicked for half a second before I told him to calm down and go back to sleep. Which he did…promptly. I was too anxious so I got up, showered, shaved my legs, curled my hair and some other self care since I pretty much knew that a fresh shower wouldn’t be happening for the next 48 hours.

Around 4 am I was tired again so I went back to bed and woke up around 9am (to the smell of bacon!). That’s when Ryan let his parents know that my water broke. Then the mayhem started. “Let’s get her to the hospital she has to go right now!!!!!” I wasn’t even feeling any surges at this point or at least wasn’t aware of them. I called my doctor’s office around 10:30 and got the on-call physician messaging system. I left a message of what was going on and hung up. I had my husband call the hospital and he spoke to a nurse who was as nearly panicked as my husbands family and told me to come to the hospital RIGHT NOW! Which we did…eventually. 🙂

I was admitted to the hospital at noon (UVRMC) and around 1:00 started feeling my first surges I was dilated to a 2 and was about 70% effaced. My doctor was on his way back from St. George and he told the nurses to watch me over the next two hours if there was no progression to start the pitocin (NOOOOO!!!) I knew my nurse from when I worked at the hospital and she knew how I felt about medication. Over the next two hours I focused on all my kitchen cabinets opening. I imagined wide open spaces like the grand canyon and such. Two hours later the nurse came in and I was dilated to a whopping 2 1/2 and 90% effaced. So she fudged a little and told the doctor I was a 3. Hooray no pitocin! But that’s right when things started to really progress.

By 6:00 pm I was at a 7 and 100% effaced. My husband and mother took turns with a massager and worked my lower back. Both of them read and re-read for hours the affirmations. The time from 12:00 pm to 8:30 pm felt like maybe an hour. I was actually able to “sleep” for most of the time. I did have a transition phase but my mom was there to talk me through. I started breathing her down around 8:45 and was able to picture my balloon lazily drifting away, but at the peak of a surge I felt better to actually groan out loud and that really helped to release some tension.

After about 30 mintues of some intense surges I kept saying to myself “this baby WILL be born by 9:30!” I also talked to the baby out loud and told her to come out because I was tired. 🙂  The doctor arrived just in time and within 10 minutes she started to crown and with a giant breath, I breathed her out at 9:29. She’s a very good listener!

The doc wiped her off and Ryan cut the cord (it was done pulsing by the time she arrived) and he placed her on my chest. AMAZING!!! They left us 3 alone and for the next 45 minutes we were able to bond as a family. Sienna Malin weighed 8lb. 2 oz and was 18 1/2 inches long. Then the marching band came in (i.e. family) and we all rejoiced over this incredible girl. I got up about an hour later and walked around. The next morning I got up and walked around the nurses station. All of them were seated there and blinked at me in surprise. They asked me what room I was in and one of them said, “Oh, you are one of our patients.!!” They asked if I needed anything and I said no, I just wanted to walk a little bit. Blank stares! So I walked. Apparently they’re not used to women having given birth 10 hours earlier wanting to get up and walk around.

My nurse was amazed that I gave birth to such a large baby with no medication and no thrashing or yelling or screaming! She hadn’t heard of HypnoBirthing before but was intrigued to learn more. My husband told her when and where about the meetings, hopefully she’ll take advantage of it. Since my experience I have had family and friends ask for more info about HypnoBirthing and I’m only all too happy to share my experience with them. It is possible to labor and deliver with virtually no pain and have a happy, alert, and calm baby afterwards.

Sienna hasn’t had a problem nursing. Although she didn’t latch on immediately after birth she was more than willing a few hours later. She is extremely  aware of her surroundings and is so calm and peaceful. Everyone says how lucky I am to have a calm baby, but I can’t help to think it’s because of my dedication to calming myself and my baby through HypnoBirthing that she is the way she is.

Thanks Launi! We’ll definitely be doing this again the next time!

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My beautiful baby girl Elise Ryan Breivik finally made her appearance this last Monday. So here’s the scoop!
My water broke at 1:40 am Monday morning. Now, with Sienna I didn’t start having contractions until about 13 hours later. With Elise the contractions started within the hour. I knew that this delivery was going to be quick! I called my mom and told her to be on the alert and to meet us at the hospital when I called again. About 20 minutes later I called her and asked if she could just come over and be here till we were ready to leave. Half an hour later she arrives and I try to go back to sleep to get some rest before the impending marathon. 15 minutes after that the contractions are a little too strong for me to feel comfortable staying. So I got up, woke Ryan up and told him to call his mom so she could come over and be here with Sienna while we went to the hospital. We made our way to the hospital…okay scratch that we SPED to the hospital (Ryan was really hoping to get pulled over so he could give a cop what for!!) and I was admitted about 4 am.

Now to those of you who know me you know I’m an au naturale kind of girl. I used Hypnobirthing with Sienna and planned to do the same with this delivery. That means no epidurals and no pain medications. When I got to the hospital I immediately got out my ipod and started listening to my affirmations and relaxations techniques. My contractions got stronger but I was only dilated to a 3. By 5:30-6:00ish I was at a 4. At 7:00 I was a 5 and by 9:00 I was a 7. My doctor came in at 9:00 asked how I was feeling and how soon I felt things were going to progress. I told him I imagined she’d be here within an hour to an hour and a half. I stayed at a 7 for about 99% of that time. Somewhere in that time the nurse felt like it was time for her to page the doctor. The next thing I knew I was having very intense contractions and an immediate feeling of pressure. The nurse came in and checked me, left the room immediately and I heard her yell to the nurse’s station, “She’s skipped 9!!” Between breathing I asked, “Is she crowning?” The nurse checked and said she was not. ONE MORE CONTRACTION LATER!! I knew she was crowning, the nurse checked again and it was an immediate tornado around me. They called a ‘code white’ over the hospital (which I heard in my room) which means any available doctor to come to the delivery room pronto! It didn’t matter. In one more surge and not a very quiet scream from me, Elise was born into the two very capable hands of my veteran nurse Linda. After that about 20 people filed into my room. About 10 of those were nurses and a handful were the doctors who came running from every corner of the hospital. Oh yeah, did I mention that I have no problems being an exhibitionist now? A few minutes later my doctor came into the room, he was coming up in the elevator when he heard the code white and got stuck while other people were filing into the elevator. I could tell he was very frustrated when he got to my room, but he was able to take care of all the other pertinent things that need taking care of and being there caused most everyone else to go ahead and leave.

Elise was born at 10:20 am. She weighed 7lbs. 11 oz. and measured 18 1/2 inches in length. She is a beautiful baby!