Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Hypno-Mom Kari shares her third daughter Chloe's Hypnobabies Birth Story!

Chloe’s Hypnobabies Birth Story

Wow...I can't believe the time has come for me to post my very own birth story! I wasn't sure I was going to have a very exciting birth story to tell... it was!!!

This was my third baby girl, but my very first all natural Hypnobabies birth! I'm so happy to be a part of the elite women who have a natural birth, it's very empowering!!

Chloe's ETA was September 22nd, but I had anticipated her arrival to be the weekend before, sometime between the 17th and the 19th. I even told my best friend the month before to make her trip out from Utah that weekend... so she did. We usually have our babies on weekends and I couldn't imagine her coming the weekend AFTER her guess date so it had to be this weekend!

I kept myself SUPER busy all week walking with friends, doing pre-school stuff with my 4 yr old, and making hair-bows for my THREE girls! I decided to make the last days nice and fun! I'm SO glad I did.

I had a Dr. appt. on Friday the 17th, where the doctor checked me and I was 60% effaced and 2 cm (nothing different for me during the last weeks of pregnancy). I ran some errands with my mom, Home Depot, health food store, etc. (We live in the San Bernardino Mountains in California, so trips up and down the mountain take about 45 minutes, so we do major shopping when we're down there). I had been experiencing lots of Braxton Hicks all week (as well as other changes in my body that told me she was coming soon) nothing to complain about, but they were starting to change a bit while walking around with my mom. I didn't think much of it though, didn't want to get my hopes up. I wanted Chloe to come when she was ready...even though I had felt ready for a while! We got home about 7 pm. On the drive up I felt the PW's (pressure waves) had more of a pattern and they felt a bit more like real PWs, but still didn't think this was it. I picked up my two girls from my dad and took them home to get ready for bed.

Once home I just did all the normal stuff, feeling the waves but not really giving them much thought. After my girls were in bed, my husband and I watched TV and I told him that maybe we should get some stuff packed because I was having waves about every10 minutes. So I started getting my things ready. I decided that I should try to sleep a little and listen to Hypnobabies. I did for a bit, but had to keep going to the bathroom. So, I decided I should get my kids bag packed. As I was walking around getting things together for them I started feeling them very close together, but thought it was just because I was walking a lot (they felt like a side ache from running, just in the front lower part of my abdomen.) I still was unsure if this was it! I told my husband I was going to call his mom, he told me to wait because he didn't think it was time yet either. But, I called her anyway around midnight she is a Labor and Delivery Nurse and I told her I wasn't sure if I should go down to the hospital or not. She asked how close together they were and I told her they felt about 1-2 minutes apart. I was starting to have to focus now. She told me she would come to sleep with my babies and that we shouldn't wait around any longer. She lives 5 minutes away, but in the meantime I decided I should try to make the nurses some brownies to keep my mind off of the PWs. She arrived and told me she would finish the brownies for me and we needed to go. I called my sister and parents and told them we were going down, that my waves were about 1-2 minutes apart and I'd call once I knew if this was it or not.

My husband and I left about 1 am. The car ride down was a little rough with all the turns, but I listened to Hypnobabies and held my lavender and chamomile pillows to my face. I remember feeling SO good once a wave had passed and making sure my body was nice and loose during them. I told myself to "open".

We arrived at the hospital about 1:45, they checked me and I was 5 cm! "What, really??" I still couldn't believe this was it! My parents and sister arrived about 10 minutes after us, then soon after them my brother and his wife showed up. (Even though I told them all we'd call them... oh well, it was good they got there when they did!) My PWs were starting to come one after the other. I was so proud of how I was handling them. I felt a little agitated with my family just sitting there starring at me. I really only wanted my sister and husband in there but I felt bad because I didn't want to hurt my mom's feelings (she'd been there for my other two, so I just put the pillow over my face and stayed inside myself. At one point my mom said, "You can always change your mind and get the epidural!" Annoyed, I told her to "Shush or get out!" I wasn't in that kind of pain, I was just very focused and occasionally moaned and whispered "relax, peace, peace, peace, peace". I told my mom that the moaning was helping me feel better, I wasn't doing it because I was in excruciating pain.

I could feel my body trembling a bit and new that my body was entering transition. I was looking forward to it, but not sure what to expect. The nurse came to check again, I was a 6 with a bulging bag. She asked how I felt about having my water broken because sometimes things can slow down because the baby's head can't get into the birth canal with the bag in the way. I was starting to feel like I wanted this to be over very soon so I said sure.

The Doctor came in and checked me about 5 minutes later, I was a 7 and the water broke, Right when that happened my body went from having PWs to a HUGE pushing feeling which was extremely intense. I had never felt what it was like to feel the pushing waves and I got a little scared. Right after the 1st pushing wave the doctor still had her hand in there and said, "Whoa, this baby wants out NOW!" She said I was now a 9 and she was stretching things out...it was VERY uncomfortable and I told her to get her hand out of there! She apologized and began getting ready for the birth.

With each pushing wave my body just pushed on its own. With the first one I lost my focus and never really got it back because everything was happening so fast. My husband, sister and mom had never seen me birth this way so they didn't really know what to do or say so I had no one to help bring me back and try to relax me more. The sensations were very intense and I definitely was not quiet throughout them, I have to admit I let out a few choice words (and I'm not a "truck driver" kind of person) and about 3-4 pushes later Chloe was out! No tearing or anything! I was VERY happy that I had her naturally. Actually even though it was quick and intense I was happy it was quick rather than LONG and intense. MY husband joked that he'd stood in longer lines at Disneyland!!

Chloe Lynn Cummins was born at 3:36 am on September 18th, just two hours after we arrived at the hospital! She weighed 8 lbs and was 21 inches. She's the perfect mix of her older sisters Madison (4) and Riley (2). She's the sweetest little baby... We're all obsessed with her! Everyone was amazed that I predicted her birth so well, especially my friend who drove all the way out from Utah!

I loved Hypnobabies! Everything happened almost EXACTLY how I had visualized it. Funny enough the only thing I had trouble visualizing throughout my pregnancy was the pushing faze, which ended up being the part where I lost focus. Even though I couldn't think and get myself back once pushing it was a godsend during my pressure waves and made my entire pregnancy much more enjoyable. I couldn't believe how relaxed I was, which made everything move so quickly. For my next birth I NOW know what it's like to FEEL the baby coming out and I can focus more on making that experience a little less intense using my hypnosis. I still feel it was a WONDERFUL experience and a GREAT birth!

I also loved being a part of the Hypnobabies Mom’s support group and hearing all of the wonderful birth stories! If I could offer any advice to future Hypnobabies moms, it would be to really practice your visualizations and know that they make all the difference.

Love, Kari




http://www.hypnobabies.com/mylink.php?id=6293

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