“With my first baby, my water broke on its own, pressure waves came fast and strong, and I wasn’t prepared. It felt overwhelming, and I chose an epidural. With my next two, I didn’t set a goal of going unmedicated, so when I was induced and my water broke, pressure waves again became very intense very quickly. I doubted my ability to cope, so I got epidurals. Each time, I felt like the biggest barrier was mental. I needed help believing I could do it and that my body was made for birth.
This pregnancy was different. I had a strong support team of my husband, my doula, and my best friend who had her own unmedicated birth. I practiced Hypnobabies hypnobirthing nightly, falling asleep to the tracks 90% of the time, which helped me re-train my mind to trust my body.
During the last month of pregnancy, I had mild, irregular pressure waves that I noticed myself breathing and moving with instinctively. That became a beautiful practice for my confidence, and it carried into my birthing time. I was already dilated to 4cm before my true birthing time began which was typical with all my pregnancies.
On October 10th, I had mild pressure waves on and off throughout the day but didn’t think much of it as that is common for me. At 11:30pm, my water broke and things ramped up quickly. By 12:20am we were at the hospital and our official check-in was 12:29am, and by 12:43am he was born!
This kind of quick birthing time is not necessarily typical. I think it was a mix of how my body has handled birthing in the past, the fact that this was my fourth baby, and the calm confidence I carried from Hypnobabies.
I packed affirmations and candles to set the mood, but there was no time to use them. Still, preparing those and imagining the kind of atmosphere I wanted was so helpful. One of my top priorities was being able to move freely and birth in the position that felt best. Thanks to my confidence from Hypnobabies, I was able to advocate for that, and my support people backed me up. I moved instinctively with each pressure wave and I birthed on my knees with my elbows resting on the elevated bed, exactly where my body told me to be.
Thanks to Hypnobabies, I stayed calm and surrendered to each wave. I was more vocal than I expected, and the waves came without many breaks, but I never once thought, ‘I can’t do this,’ or wished for an epidural. Looking back they were like sharp, strong period cramps, but my brain didn’t interpret them as pain in the moment.
The pushing phase was my favorite part. It was pure pressure, not pain. He was born in just two pushes. I barely pushed and the pressure waves did the work. I did tear, but I didn’t feel it, and I never experienced the ‘ring of fire’ people talk about.
It was so fast that I only played the hypnobirthing tracks here and there, not continuously like I planned, but all the hypnosis training kicked in. My husband’s cues helped, and I naturally dropped into a calm hypnosis through breath work like I had been practicing.
After my birthing time, it took me a few minutes to return back to my body, so my husband was the first to hold him skin-to-skin, which was a beautiful gift for them both. I carried and connected with our baby through pregnancy, so I felt happy that my husband got that first special moment while I took a few minutes to let everything sink in. Once I settled, I felt great, full of energy and joy as we met our son and our family felt complete.
Hypnobabies gave me the confidence to trust my body, stay calm, and enjoy the birthing experience. Even though it was intense and ramped up quickly, it never felt like pain. It felt like I was simply along for the ride. I did not try to fight the pressure waves, and just allowed my body to do the work it was made to do.”
