Jennifer and Joe of Gwinnett County, GA have an enjoyable birth in a hospital setting, even though their little one surprised them 7 weeks early after only 3 classes!

Here is how they explained it to me:

Hi Nicole, Joe and I are going to give ourselves an A+ on our homeplay [homework]. Instead of going to our baby shower on Sat we went ahead and had a baby! Our yet unnamed daughter was born 7 weeks early and we are both doing great. We were told to expect a 3lb baby based on gestational age, but she ended up being 5lb 4oz  [Instructor note: baby weight estimates are often erroneous]. She is in the nicu as a precaution but is doing well so far.

Your classes made birthing with no epidural a pleasant and wonderful experience despite very little going according to plan.

The plan: full term or late, stay at home until the last minute, no epidural, no intervention, no IV, no episiotomy. What happened: we had a house full of guests that came from out of town for my baby shower. Everyone went to bed and two hours later (1am) my water broke (I’d never had a birthing wave [contraction]). The Dr. wanted us to come in right away. I grabbed my purse thinking that my ipod with the Hypnobabies cds was on it. The Dr. on call was the only one in the practice I didn’t like and felt he was not going to be respectful of our choices which bothered me [Instructor note: choosing a compatible Care Provider is crucial to a satisfying birth experience. Often a practice has multiple care providers that rotate ‘call’ and Affirmations and Visualizations that focus ONLY on what you DO want can go a long way to getting the most supportive of them.].

It was clear after a few hours that we were going to have a baby (as opposed to try and delay birth [labor] which was an option). I had to have an IV to get antibiotics for the baby and had to have constant fetal monitoring because we were so early. We also discovered no ipod in my purse. So far, nothing according plan. At 5am we decided to send Joe home to get the ipod, a few things and to have his folks feed the dogs and horses. We estimated that it would take 1 hour max. 2hrs later he hadn’t gotten back to the hospital and things were moving quickly. The Dr. told me “his wife tried self hypnosis and she couldn’t make it to 6cm dilated before she was begging for drugs.” [Instructor Note: How’s that for supportive and positive?? To a Mama who is highly suggestible 🙁 ]

I was anxious about the health of the baby, not having the Hypnobabies, no Joe and a disrespectful Dr. I tried all of my Hypnobabies techniques but couldn’t relax or get comfortable, was feeling panicky, and was in a great deal of pain. They told me 4 or 5 times that Joe better hurry and asked about pain. I told them I wanted to try natural but wasn’t sure. The nurse told me that I needed to have a liter of IV before an epidural so she recommended turning up the drip while I was thinking which I agreed to. (But probably shouldn’t have done). Then Joe showed up with the cds and a laptop (he couldn’t find the ipod). In no time I was able to pull it together. The cds helped, but Joe was critical. Holding my hands and doing the shoulder press during pressure waves [contractions] made all the difference. Within 15-20 minutes I was comfortable, relaxed and in control. I couldn’t have done it without him [Instructor note: Birth Partner preparation and participation is an integral part of the birth experience]. Unfortunately the IV had slowed things down [Instructor note: common side effect of pushing IV fluids is dilution of hormones both natural or synthetic] and at noon the Dr. was worried about the baby and pressured us to start pitocin. We negotiated waiting another hour and a lower dose. The Dr. was pissed but I didn’t care [Instructor note: this Mama remembered that SHE was in charge and could make informed decisions using BRAND].

Our daughter was born at 3:21 after a hour of pushing. It was clear that Eastside rarely sees natural births and I think I started pushing too early because they told me “push when you are ready.” I realized 40 min in that I should have waited until the urge to push was stronger and I was more effective [Instructor note: bummer! pushing techniques are discussed in detail in Class 5 :)]. I also ended up with an episiotomy despite telling him in advance I didn’t want one and arguing with him while pushing. I think we had different definitions of medically necessary [Instructor note: it is perfectly reasonable to follow up with the hospital regarding patient rights].

All and all, I’d say the birthing was comfortable and wonderful experience. The nurses are still talking about it because they had never seen a Hypnobabies birth and many said they had never seen anyone so relaxed.

So I don’t think we’ll be coming to class on Monday!

A few days later, I got the follow up announcement that their little girl had been named:  

What a whirlwind week!  We had to cram a month’s worth of planning into 7 days (find a pediatrician, install car seat, get diapers, pick out a name she has to live with forever – no pressure or anything).  Rosalie Frances is home and doing great.

I feel fantastic and have already told a few folks about Hypnobabies. The other moms in the hospital discharge class all looked awful –  maybe I got off easy with a 5lb 4oz baby but I prefer to think that it is because of Hypnobabies.  I feel blessed that for me giving birth ended up being such a wonderful experience.

The moral of this story should be that a birth does not have to be PERFECT to be enjoyable or satisfying. As Janet Balaskas wrote in her book, Active Birth, “No matter what happens, birth is an adventure.” This is actually how I named my business (Adventures In Childbirth). All along the journey of pregnancy and childbirth, there are choices to be made and each one leads toward the experience you will have. I liken it to a ‘choose your own adventure’-type book we all read as kids… take a right and turn to page 143 to see what happens or go knock on the door and turn to page 433. Where will your birth lead you? Are you prepared physically, mentally and emotionally to accept the path that YOUR birth will take? I can help you! Contact me today