Jessica Alba’s Zen Birth

I read on Crunchy Domestic Goddess about Jessica Alba’s wonderful birth.  She used hypnosis for childbirth, which is such a wonderful tool for moms!  I wish more moms would look into it. 

If every pregnant mom took time each day to relax and fill their minds with positive thoughts of birth, it could only help the birthing environment.  They would be confident in their body and baby.  Then using hypnosis during their births, they could stay more comfortable and wouldn’t need medication or other interventions.  The cesarean rate would drop and women would be empowered. 

I agree it would take more than this.  Care providers would have to be on board and flexible.  But in my area, there are care providers who recommend Hypnobabies to their clients who express a desire for Natural Childbirth, because they have seen it work and they know their clients will have a more positive birth experience. 

I am glad that Jessica had a great birth and more women will now be aware of the idea of hypnosis for childbirth!

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Homebirth Statement

Shows how backwards the US is regarding normal birth.  If we were more open to midwifery care for low risk moms, I can only imagine our cesarean rate would go down.

Great post at Citizens for Midwifery about it!

Hypnobabies Birth Story of Noah

 

Noah’s Birth

I haven’t posted much before but have enjoyed reading the posts. The following story is that of the birth of my 3rd child but 1st Hypnobaby. My first was born vaginally after induction at 42 weeks. I was not aware at the time of the risk of multiple medical interventions and ended up with a terrible spinal headache after a bad epidural. My second was a natural childbirth using the Bradley method. This was a beautiful natural birth but I felt a little left in the dark in regard to relaxation. This time I used Hypnobabies….

Our baby boy was born Sat Oct 20 at 1:42 pm. He weighed 8lb15oz and is 21 in long. He is perfect and I can’t stop staring at him. His name is Noah.

I started having pressure waves Thurs night but nicely spaced (20 min apart) and this lasted all night Thurs (not much sleep) and all day Fri. I basically went about my day with my other dds. Fri night, just when I was about to try to rest again, they picked up to 10 min apart then 7 etc.. I labored all night by myself, listening to my Hypnobabies scripts and sitting on my ball. It was very peaceful and exactly how I imagined this stage. At 8:00 am I called my mw to tell her I had been begun my birthing time. I was not sure I wanted to leave for the hospital yet and she said that I shouldn’t then.

I went back to my cds and my ball. It was harder to stay focused though because at that point my kids were up and distracting me. I stayed home until 10:30 am when I started to feel a little shaky and started crying. By the time we got in the car comfortable, drove to the hospital and walked from the distant corners of the parking lot we arrived just after 11:30. I was 7 centimeters!! My mw brought me a ball and some socks… had forgotten to pack socks.

I had stayed very focused this entire time with my Hypnobabies cd using my light switch in center. I was never able to tolerate the off position during pg as I always felt too fidgety and was always more relaxed in center. This worked great for me. I lost track of time completely at this point. My df was also present with my dh and mw.

Everybody was taking turns rubbing my back and fending off the nurses. I was oblivious to anything going on around me. I suddenly just felt the urge to move and change positions but could not find one comfortable as the waves were coming very quickly. I decided to lay down as I was tired.

I then had 2 transformation pressure waves and then had the urge to push. I pushed out my baby boy in 3 pushes about 2 hours after arriving at the hospital at 1:42 pm. He was placed at my breast immediately, his cord pulsed and then cut and he latched on right away and nursed for about 45 minutes. He wasn’t bathed, poked, prodded or separated from me. He is a great nurser.

This is exactly the birth that I wanted for him. I am so happy. I have a slight tear…only 1 stitch. (with my other 2 babies I had large episiotomies) I feel amazing!!! Yeah Hypnobabies…. Hope you are all holding your sweet babies soon

peace

jen

To read more Hypnobabies Birth Stories

Breech Vaginal Birth

I found this story from Rixa’s Blog.

It is of a woman who was planning an unassisted birth.  It was a surprise footling breech baby and there are amazing pictures with it!  Here is the amazing story.

Jake’s Birth Story: A Hypnobabies VBAC

My Hypnobabies VBAC success story

I had been having contractions almost every night while working at
the computer, but any time I laid down they would stop. On Friday,
Nov 16, it was the same thing, contractions every 5 minutes but if I
laid on the couch they would stop. So finally at 11pm I just went to
bed. I got all ready and in bed and after about 10 minutes I had a
nice contraction. I waited and it happened again. I was not very
comfortable in bed so I went and sat in the rocking chair and
listened to my 1st stage birthing scripts. When they kept coming
pretty frequently I finally woke up Dan and asked him if he thought
we should call Jen to come over to watch the girls.

We decided I should at least call her to give her a heads up. This was around
12:30am. I called Jen and was talking to her and she decided she
should come over. I was so excited that this might be the real
thing!!! She got to my house around 1:10am and we started timing my
contractions. They were less than 3 minutes apart, but this being my
first vaginal birth we figured we had time. So we made brownies for
the nurses, called my mom and sisters and finally around 2am, I woke
up Dan to get ready to go to the hospital. We were getting ready to
leave and of course the twins decided to wake up. So I tried to get
them back to bed. I was up there rocking them for about 20-30
minutes and had quite a few contractions I think they knew
something was up and they wouldn’t go back to sleep so they got to
come downstairs and watched a show with Aunt Jen. The contractions
were not bad at all and I just relaxed through them.

We got to the hospital around 3:30am and they checked me and I was 2cm dilated.
They hooked me up to the fetal monitor to check his heartbeat and
then I walked around. They checked me again at 4:30am and I was 3 cm
dilated. They pretty much left me alone after that. I walked, took
a nice hot shower and sat on the birthing ball. Dan was great
through it all and there for me. I still was feeling great and
breathing through each contraction.

The midwife came in at 7:30am and said that they were probably sending me home. She said it is
better to go through the early labor at home but wanted to check me
first. My contractions were still about 3 minutes apart at this
time. She was very surprised to see that I was at 7cm She said I
looked so relaxed and calm. Things slowed down after that but I
still was feeling great. The contractions were getting a little more
intense but nothing unmanageable. I would want Dan to be next to me
for each one and he would help with the relax cues and his hand on my
shoulder. In between he would tried to lay down and rest but as soon
as he laid down another one would come and he would have to jump
right back up

I also remember that I made sure to keep my whole
body relaxed during the contractions. I would face my hands palms up
and make sure my shoulders were relaxed. I continued to walk, took
another hot shower and sat on the birthing ball. I also leaned on
Dan and just went limp a few times. Through this all Dan was great
at keeping the nurses away from me during each contraction and being
there for me to use the cues and help me relax through each
contraction. He was also sending text messages to family to keep
them updated. He did this instead of calling so I would not be
distracted. The nurses and midwife kept commenting on how calm the
room was.

I was finally fully dilated at 1:30pm. I started using
the exhale breathing and was in a squatting position. This felt good
but after a while my knees started to really hurt They needed to
check his heartbeat so they asked me to turn around. This position
actually felt a little better. After about an hour they told me that
since it was my first vaginal birth I would probably not be able to
use the exhale pushing to get him under the pelvic bone and my bag of
water just would not break. We were trying lots of positions. So I
had to use the “blue face” pushing but I still listened to my
Hypnobabies pushing cd and was able to keep my body relaxed while
doing this.

Since my bag of water would not break, it was keeping
his head from really engaging. So I got up for a little bit and
tried to use the bathroom. Once I got back into bed I had about 3
more contractions and my bag finally broke. The midwife knew I did
not want any intervention but I think next time I might tell them to
break my water while pushing This was around 3:30pm. I had a few
more contractions and finally got his head under the pelvic bone. I
felt his head coming down and out and it was such a great feeling.
He was born at 4:06pm and the whole birth was amazing. It was such a
wonderful feeling to feel him come out. They put him right on my
chest and waited for the cord to stop pulsating before Dan cut it!!
He weighed 9lbs 2 ozs and was 21 inches long. His head was 38cm:)
It was my perfect vbac Hypnobabies birth

Thanks to Hypnobabies, my wonderful husband, Dan, and my wonderful
Hypnobabies coach, my sister Jen:)

Diana

Do Doulas replace Dads?

This is a question my husband had when I wanted to hire a doula for Bryson’s birth.  I reassured him they didn’t.  When we met with Alison and talked with her about her role, he felt much better about it.  Then after the birth he wondered why we didn’t have one for each birth? 

He LOVED having a doula!  He was not replaced at all, rather he felt as if he had a huge weight lifted off his shoulders, he could relax and enjoy the birth and let someone else (Alison) worry about the details. 

I have found that sometimes dads are worried about this.  But if you ask any dad who has had a doula at his child’s birth, they are the biggest supporters and say it is great! 

Here is a great chart explaining why doulas do NOT replace dads!

Nurses are really torn

The more I read from L&D nurses blogs, the more I realize they are so torn.  Of course they want the mom to have a great birth, but they are also beholden to the hospital and the staff over them.  Sometimes it is hard to keep everyone happy. 

When you go to the hospital you do not get to choose who is in your room.  You are thrust into a conveyor belt mentality.  Hospital care is institutionalized care. 

I have had 3 hospital births.  The first was an emergency cesarean, so I can’t really comment on it.  I feel it saved Devon’s life.  I was 34 weeks pregnant and it was a true emergency.  So I was greatful for the intervention.

My next hospital birth was good.  I think had I had more support and more positive nursing staff I maybe could have gone un-medicated as had hoped to.  But really it was a great VBAC in my mind and a lovely birth.

My 3rd hospital birth I had a doula, to help really create the environment and support I wanted.  I understood nurses do not have the time to really “help” during birth.  I had a great hospital birth, with only a heplock.  I felt supported by my OB and the nurses and my DH and doula. 

Since then I have seen many births as a doula and read MANY birth stories.  I have seen things that surprise me and read things that shock me.   It made me realize that hospitals really are just institutions and birthing women are just numbers.  I have been to only one homebirth, but it was amazingly different.   I know that if I have another baby, it will be at home. 

So the L&D nurses, what are they thinking?  I will warn you, if you are trying to GIP (gestate in peace) these blogs can be upsetting.  But if you are wondering, where should I have my baby? It might be worth reading some of these blogs to see from an insider what hospital births are like and the limitations of them. 

Birth Abuse

Doubts

Things not to say

There are many more, but this is just a sampling of some L&D nurses blogs.  It just reinforces my desire to birth at home.  If a mom plans a hospital birth, a doula is a really great way to add some continuity of care and another witness to the birth. 

A must read book for Introverts

The Introvert Advantage by Marti Laney

 

On the back cover it says, “Filled with Aha! Moments.”

 

It is true, as an Introvert, I had many of these reading this book.  I scrapbook with a group of wonderful girls.  One time Christine brought this book.  We took the quiz and all but one of us are introverts.  It was fun to realize that about each other and maybe it is why we all get along so well, we can understand each other.  One of my Aha moments, was I hate to make phone calls.  Apparently this is a situation many introverts face.  It made me feel less weird.  J

 

I have learned a lot about personality types for years now and read many different books, mostly focusing on the Myers/Briggs test.  It is really interesting because I was an INFJ when I first was married and now I am and ISFJ.  You can take the test yourself at mypersonality.info 

 

 

This was the first book I had seen or read about introverts specifically.  It was wonderful to read.  It has helped me to understand more about myself and also my son who is an introvert as well.  I think it has also helped me to better understand my husband who is an extrovert, because it does have a section about introvert/extrovert couples.

 

So I recommend The Introvert Advantage to any introvert, or anyone who deals with an introvert on a frequent basis (family member, colleague)  Some of my other favorite personality books are Nurture by Nature and MotherStyles , both parenting books.  The first focuses on your children’s personality styles and how to help them, the second focuses on your personality and how to use your strengths as a mother. 

 I think understanding your personality style and those around you can help you in your relationships.  :)  Enjoy!

Baby Carriers are Wonderful!

I had a sling with Devon and it was helpful to me.  I used it also with Carson, it was even more helpful now that I had two. 

Then I had Bryson and I went a little baby carrier crazy!  :)  I had a sling, a wrap, a mei tei, backpack, side carrier.  I went all out.  My favorite of all the carriers is the wrap, to me the most comfortable and the most versatile. 

There is a contest going on to win some baby carriers at Along from the Ride.  Go check it out! 

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Weddings and Births

Wedding Disasters and Bad Births, you might wonder what they have in common.  But this post points out how supportive others are if a woman has a bad wedding experience (photographer doesn’t come, etc) but gets little sympathy if their birth doesn’t go as hoped for.  They hear, you have your baby.  That is all that matters. 

Well, you could say to the woman with a wedding disaster, “Well you are married, that is all that matters.”

I do find it ironic that women will spend thousands and thousands of dollars and spend MONTHS planning for their wedding.  Yet most women will then spend as little as possible to have a baby, many women want homebirth, but are unwilling to pay a few thousand dollars out of pocket for it.  Or moms who want a doula, but are unwilling to spend the money on that.  I am always curious how much they spent on their wedding.  I feel for moms who are struggling financially.  But after seeing my student G. who was struggling financially, made choices to take my class (which I gave her a discount on, because she asked) and then they chose to have a homebirth midwife last minute, despite the cost, I thought if SHE can do it, because it means that much to her, anyone can do it.  It is about choices, priorities. 

Most women spend relatively little time (compared to the time they spend on preparing for a wedding) on preparing for birth, choosing a care provider and birth location. 

A wedding is a special day, something most little girls dream about their whole lives and they usually only have one wedding day.  So it is certainly well worth the time and money. 

A birthing day should be a special day too, a woman will probably have only 1-4 of these days in her life.  I wish all little girls dreamed about these days their whole life, some probably do, but many probably fear it.  Which makes me very sad.  I have seen many moms who fear birth, take Hypnobabies and it helps them to change their perceptions about birth and look forward to their birthing day!  That of course makes me happy.

A birthing day should be a day in which a mother is respected and honored, one in which she should get the best care possible.   It is certainly worth the time and money. 

If you are an expecting mom, think about what you did to create the best wedding possible.  What are you willing to do to create the best birth possible?  It doesn’t have to cost money, check some books out of the library, learn about your choices, find a doula in training.  But it will take time and effort.  I know it will be worth it.