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Family Blogs |
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The
Woodford Family Blog |
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A Labor Day HypnoBirth: September 1, 2008 |
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Casey,
Nathan and Lauren Allan's Birth Story and Family Blog |
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From Krisine and Joshua: and Samual's Birth |
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At my week 37 appointment Ann informed me that I was 3 cm
dilated and 80% effaced. She told me that this means that the baby
could come between now and a couple weeks. She also informed me
that every woman is different. I was so excited that the reality of
actually having a child was staring me in the face. When I got home
I informed my husband and we decided that I would leave work a week
earlier than planned because we didn't want to risk having the baby
so from home and the Birthing Inn (45 miles). When I informed my mom
she was ready to take a plane the next day, but she decided to wait
a week. Luckily she waited because the baby came two weeks later. |
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In the early morning (3:30 am) of Sept. 30, 2007 I went to
the bathroom and noticed that my mucous plus had come out. I called
Ann to informed her and she told me to try to go back to sleep and
call her if anything else happened. I informed my husband what had
happened and I went back to bed. From 3:30-5 am I couldn't go back
to sleep because I was having consistent "cramp" feelings every 5-7
minutes. Every time the feeling would go away I would look at the
clock and keep track of the time until the next feeling started. |
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In addition I had major urges to go the bathroom every
couple minutes and every time I laid back down I was shivering
cold. The feelings were so strong that when I would finally fall
asleep I would wake up from the "cramp" feeling. At around 5 am I
knew that these feelings weren't going away and that the baby was
coming. I called Ann and told her what was going on. In her
cheerful voice she said that it sounded like the birth was
happening. She said she was on her way and I told her to meet at my
house before going to The Birthing Inn. I knew it would be at least
45 minutes until she arrived so I got all of our things together and
my husband loaded the car. I woke my mom and mother in-law and
everyone was getting ready. |
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I sat on the couch and tried to keep track of the time
between contractions, but they were getting more intense each time
and I was having to find different positions to go into in order to
get through them smoothly. My body was going through many different
feelings (chills, cold shakes, sweats, etc.) that I needed to get
some fresh air. I decided to sit in the car and breath the fresh
air. My body was going through so many feelings that it made me
throw up. We called Ann to inform her that we better meet at The
Birthing Inn because the contractions were less than a couple
minutes apart. By that time she was at our front door and my
husband informed her that I was waiting in the car and that I had
gotten sick. She said that was a good sign. We all immediately
drove to The Birthing Inn and got there in couple minutes. When we
arrived we went to room #3 and I immediately started to undress. My
body was ready to have the baby. |
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I had urges to go to the bathroom, but nothing would come
out. Ann asked me to let her know when the contraction was over so
she could check my progress, but the contraction never stopped. So
I got into the nice warm tub and she checked me in there. She could
feel the baby's head one knuckle in. He was ready to come out. I
listened to my body and pushed when it felt right and rested when I
could. The water was so relaxing between contractions and the
handles on the tub were great for pushing. At 7:45am Samuel
Thornton Strange was born. |
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He came out and calmly rested on my chest while my husband
and I carest him all over. My husband cut the umbilical chord and
they wrapped Sam in a nice warm towel. I was also wrapped in a warm
towel and Sam and I cuddled in the warm bed. This natural bonding
experience has given me a wonderfully happy son who knows that his
family loves him more than anything in the world. |
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In Summary: We
had our baby Sunday, Sept. 30th at 7:45am. The labor was just as
perfect as could be. Labor started around 3:30am and we had Samuel
Thornton Strange 4 hrs. later at The Birthing Inn in Tacoma. He
came on his due date! He weighed 6 lbs 11 oz and was 19-1/2" long.
My mother, mother in-law, husband, midwife, and her assistant were
all there to help, but really my body did all the work without
anyone's help. Samuel is so healthy and I am recovering just
beautifully. You can all view some pictures at this link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kstrange/SamuelThorntonStrange |
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Renee, Curtis and Estella
Estella Luz August 30, at 12:05 AM. We had a successful VBAC
and we attribute much of our success to HypnoBirthing.
We were able to remain relaxed and
positive throughout the entire birthing.
We did the whole labor walking in Wright
Park, a block away from Tacoma General. Renee was able to relax so
well through the surges that we actually didn't realize how thinned
her cervix was and how far along in the labor we actually were. The
initial check at the hospital, to everyone's surprise, showed that
Renee's cervix was completely thinned.
Renee did not have any medication throughout and never showed any
signs of pain or significant stress. We felt so confident and in
control. This was a wonderful experience for us and we wish everyone
the same joy.
I am happy to
hear more moms going for VBAC's and using hypno-birthing. I will be
happy to help them out if I can with advice, encouragement or
whatever.
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For me, this VBAC is
redemption. I feel like I have reclaimed my body.
Just three weeks before
Estella's birth, I cried about having a c-section with my son. Now I
am at peace with it. We feel that the c-section made this birth even
more triumphant. We like to believe it will help other moms have
more choices about their births and more providers willing to
accommodate them.
Thank you for teaching us
hypno-birthing. We are telling everyone how great it is and
recommending it to our pregnant friends.
A few things that helped me though this
experience...
* Having
co-providers.
I saw a midwife for
all my first and second trimester appointments.
Later in my third
trimester, I started switching back and forth for appointments with
the midwife and OB-Gyn.
The OB-Gyn was the
primary provider at the birth since she was the one who can perform
VBAC's.
However, my midwife
was present and assumed the role of the doula.
My midwife and OB have
a very professional relationship and did an excellent job of
communicating and respecting each other.
*
HypnoBirthing of
course!!
*
Seeing a chiropractor
and acupuncturist for the uncomfortable bodily changes that can come
with pregnancy.(for example varicose veins and sciatica nerve)
*
Every night when going
to sleep, I played the hypno-birthing cd.
Sometimes I fell
asleep before it was over but that was ok.
My husband goes to bed
at the same time I do so we listened to it together.
I think him listening
to it as much as I did helped him be a great birthing companion.
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| From T.O. |
| I
was skeptical
about HypnoBirthing at first, but I'm convinced that it helped me
tremendously during my pregnancy and during my son's birth. I may
have started the classes too soon (I went into preterm labor at 20
weeks, shortly after my first HypnoBirthing class), and ended up
having to be on bed rest for 12 weeks and to take a break from
practicing for a while. once i resumed listening to the relaxation
and affirmation scripts, though, they helped me relax and deal with
my anxiety about being on bed rest and having a healthy baby |
| I also had quite a bit of fear about
childbirth as I was preparing for it, but I was totally calm and not
fearful at all during the entire labor and birth. I credit my hours
of listening to the birth affirmations and Morgan's relaxation
script, because segments of those scripts went through my head
during my labor. |
Given
that I'd been having contractions pretty regularly for months, I had
difficulty telling that i was actually in labor. i also started
labor with my cervix nearly completely thinned and over 3 cm
dilated. the contractions weren't what I expected--they weren't
very
 painful,
and they also just felt like menstrual cramps. after laboring at
home for a few hours (which passed like minutes), we went to the
hospital. my first cervical check showed that i was nearly 9 cm
dilated. things moved very fast--we checked in at midnight and
Sullivan was born at 2. the midwife almost didn't make it in time
for the birth, and we only got to spend about 40 minutes in the
birthing tub. It was a very intense experience, but I felt totally
safe and well-supported by my Doula and spouse.
|
 They
helped me relax and breathe, and offered a lot of encouragement. I
focused on breathing into my abdomen, relaxing my pelvis, and
trusting my body to know what to do (a huge change for someone who's
always in her head). I also could tell when I needed to ask them
to remind me to relax my abdomen. Sullivan was born quickly and
much more comfortably than I expected; i did feel pain, but it was
completely manageable, and I didn't ever think of asking for pain
medication. I'm very pleased with my labor and birth experience; I
think it was my favorite part of the entire pregnancy.
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| I still listen to
Mongan's relaxation script to help me unwind. it has sentimental
value for me, as it helps me remember my labor and my son's birth. |
| I'd love to see the HypnoBirthing
institute put out some postpartum support scripts; I would have
found these very helpful in preparation for what to expect and as
general support after delivery. |
| Sullivan's birthday was April 3, 2006 |
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| From Courtney: |
 My
water broke at the Tacoma Mall while I was walking around so we went
to the birthing center to get checked and I was only at 2cm so we
went home for about 2 hours then went back to the birthing center,
arriving at 7:30pm on January 29th 2006. Nancy, my midwife, checked
me again and I was at a 3. I sat on my birthing ball while listening
to a peaceful cd and breathing through my contractions. |
| I laid in bed for a while and began to
feel transition phase, causing me to throw up. At that point, I
wanted to relax in the tub so I did for a long time. About 1/2 way
through tub time, I felt like I might be able to push if I wanted,
but didn't say anything. Eventually, something told me that I should
get out of the tub and give birth to my daughter. When Nancy
checked me, she told me I could push at anytime, and my mom and my
doula couldn't believe it. |
| |
 I
pushed for 15 minutes and felt my daughters head emerge.
 I
reached down to catch my daughter and cried, and cried as I held my
"angel", my daughter Aiyana Rhiannon Henningsen. She was
so beautiful, with a head full of hair and so perfect. I would not
do anything different. My labor and birth went so well.
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Lakeside Birth Center |
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A little of our story from Rachel:
I began having contractions about 4:30 pm
on Thursday Aug 4
 (my
due date). We called our midwife who arrived about 5 pm or so. My
contractions were 3 minutes apart, but I was only dilated to 2cm 100%
effaced with a bulging bag of waters. I continued to have contractions 2
to 3 minutes apart until 6:30 pm when my husband and I got into the
birth tub. At about 7 pm our midwife and her assistant decided to go
into town to grab a bite to eat.
About 15
minutes after they left my waters released, and almost immediately after
I began to feel the urge to push. I fought the urge for a few
contractions until I couldn't help but bear down. My husband had the
midwife paged to return immediately. Our midwife walked in the door at
7:42 pm checked me and found me to be complete with the baby's head 1/2
inch from crowning. I got back into the birthing tub and after 3 pushes,
welcomed our beautiful baby boy into this world! His birth time was 7:51
pm! 9 minutes from our midwife walking in the door to Kaden's birth!
Lucky that she was only just down the road having dinner, or we just
might have delivered him ourselves!
After the birth I was really in
shock, It didn't seem real. I never experienced the pain that I did
during my first labor/birth. I was very calm and quiet up until the last
20 minutes before birth (in retrospect it makes sense, as it was
obviously transition). My experience was very loving and comfortable, I
am truly amazed that it went so wonderfully. And I know that I owe a lot
of thanks to the HypnoBirthing program. So thank you from the bottom of
my heart!
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| March
5 |
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Edith Dolores
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Hi Pat! It went great! Three hours
of labor! Dr. Dakin surprised us and recited a "virtual waterbirth"
hypnosis script during delivery, and I responded to it magically. I'll
write more when I can. Thanks for everything. Rosann. |
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February 19 |
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Kameron
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Hello this is Holly I just
wanted to let you know that Kameron was born on February 19th and to say
thank you, I used the relaxation cds as well as some music ones that I
had from massage and it worked great I was at the hospital for a total
of 14 hours and I made it all the way with no medical intervention, the
medical staff was great and very supportive of my decision they
encouraged me all the way and kept assuring me that I could do it and
they did not ask me if I wanted anything for the pain and did not even
talk about pain they let me know my options and left it up to me for the
rest, and the good thing is that when it came time to push there was no
yelling or counting they just let me do my own thing and left it to me
to push when I needed to and when they did tell me to push it was in low
calm voices and i was only pushing for a total of 8 minuets from start
to finish, and these things were my biggest worry that things would not
happed this way I am very happy that I took your class and would like to
take a refresher when I am going to have my next baby.
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It turned out to be a blessing in
the long run that I took your class because I found out when I was in
labor that I could not have an epidural if I wanted one because I have
MS and the anesthesiologist came in to talk to me about it because he
saw that I had it and wanted to let me know that he would not feel
comfortable giving me one because it could paralyze me, but I just told
him "no thank you anyways I do not want one I am doing just fine". I
knew all along that I could do it and just did not think of it as pain
and there was a point when the contractions were 2 minuets long and 30
seconds apart that I knew that it could not get any worse and would not
be too much longer and I made it and you know what child birth is not so
bad it is nothing like people make it sound like. I did not think that
it hurt as bad as it sounds. Thanks again, I look forward to taking your
class again if you have one available next time. Holly |
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| Sierra
Jade |
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Seth's Birth |
 Just
wanted to share the news that our son Seth was born March 1st. I ended
up with a medically indicated induction due to PIH (it all happened
really fast). The induction took 2 days and the only thing that kept me
sane and calm was my HypnoBirthing practice. I stayed in trance pretty
much the whole 2 days. I had an epidural that did not work---I could
still feel all my contractions---but I was so deep that I did not really
feel them as pain. |
| I felt uncomfortable
or a lot of pressure, but it was not until the end when the pain was
overwhelming. It was a blessing though, as I would not have been able
to push without the intense sensations. Our birth took such a different
turn than I had wanted. But I just listened to my tapes in labor and
relaxed and enjoyed the process (albeit long). In the end, I breathed
him down, but he was in a bad position (face first and sunny side
up)---plus the cord was wrapped around his neck and chest, so I pushed
and pushed for 2 hours and he just crowned and crowned. Finally, the OB
was called in, and I could tell they were about to do a c-section--so I
pushed with all my might and he came flying out.
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All of my worst fears I had to face with this
birth---having all the medical devices attached to me, pitocin, epidural
(which did not even work), threat of c-section, etc. . .But because of
HypnoBirthing I could focus totally on my baby and the process and stay
calm and centered and relaxed. I am sure that without it, I would
not have been able to conserve enough energy over the 2-day induction to
be able to push in the end.
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Even though the birth was different than I had
planned, and most people would look at this as a horrendous, difficult
birth---I still feel happy and content with it. I guess because I
stayed calm and gave my son the best, most relaxed birth that could
possibly be under the circumstances. |
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Thanks for working with me and giving me the
gift of HypnoBirthing. |
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Adriana, Seth, and Craig: 3-1-2003 |
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Emma Lyn' s Birth |
 Emma
Lyn was born at 1:36pm on November 1st, 2002 after only 2 1/2 hours of
labor. I woke up that morning feeling great. I made breakfast and got my
husband off to work. Around 8:00am I started feeling contractions that were
mild. I thought they were just Braxton Hicks. So I got up and started some
housework thinking they would go away. Well they didn't and they were every
5 - 7 minutes apart. So I called my husband and asked him to come home. I
just wanted him to be with me. I didn't know how long it would take or if I
was even going to have her that day. So I put my relaxation tapes on.
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| I also
called my friend, Karen, and asked her to come over. I knew my husband
wouldn't be home for an hour and I just didn't want to be alone. When I went
to see my midwife earlier that week, I was dilated to a 5 with my bog of
waters bulging. I was afraid my water would break and no one would be there
to help me. |
| So I spent
the morning listening to my HypnoBirthing tapes and relaxing. My husband and
Karen just sat with me while I relaxed. Around 11am, the contractions
started happening every 2 minutes apart. So I called my midwife and told her
I was going to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital around 11:30am. I
got checked into my room and changed. I got into the bed so the nurse could
monitor the baby and my contractions. It was extremely hard at that point to
lay still because the contractions were coming very hard and fast. |
| My husband
put my HypnoBirthing tape on to help me relax. My midwife came in around
12pm and checked me. I was at a 6 and my water was still bulging. She asked
me if I wanted her to break my water. I told her no, I wanted to use my
HypnoBirthing for awhile to help get "on top" of the contractions. So she
said she'd come back at 2pm to check me again and we'd go from there.
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| I was
starting to finally feel like I was getting "on top" of my contractions. The
tape really helped me try to relax. I also had my doula, Andrea and Karen
rubbing my back and legs to help me relax. Around 1:25pm, my water broke, no
exploded. I immediately sat up. It felt a little better sitting up anyway.
My midwife came back in and checked me. I was then at a 9+! I told her I
wanted to birth chair, so she sent the nurse to go get one. |
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She asked me if I wanted to sit on the toilet
while they got the birthing chair. I did go sit on the toilet because it
felt better to sit in that position. As soon as I sat down, I had the
uncontrollable urge to push. And 10 minutes later, Emma Lyn came into this
world with me sitting on the toilet! There was not enough time for me to
walk from the bathroom back to the birthing chair. She was born at 1:36 pm. |
| I really
believe the HypnoBirthing tapes helped me. I had been practicing them for
the past several months. They really helped me stay calm and as relaxed as I
could. Especially since it was such a hard and fast labor. It was such a
wonderful experience! It was also a completely drug free birth. I will
definitely use HypnoBirthing with our next baby. I am also planning on a
water birth at home for the next one. I also recommend HypnoBirthing to
anyone, regardless of what type of birth you are planning. I really helps
relax you for any situation that may arise. |
| The
HypnoBirthing concepts have also helped me after my labor. I am
breastfeeding my baby. And in the beginning it hurt! Not only were my
nipples sore, but my uterus was contracting. So I used the HypnoBirthing
techniques to help me relax through those first few days. And I am sure I
will use them again in the future! Like I said, I definitely recommend these
techniques to anyone! |
| Robert,
Michelle & Emma |
| Date: Friday, November 1,
2002 |
| Time: 1:36 pm |
| Weight: 7
pounds and 6 ounces |
| Mom
assisted by: Sharon A. Hinz, CNM |
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I
They
continued at 3 minutes so I called my midwife. She said to wait til
they were stronger. I laid down with my husband (who was sleeping
this whole time) to rest for a while. I couldn't sleep because they
were so close together. They were painful but I was doing pretty
good through them. I woke my dad and husband up around 5 am to
leave. I wanted to be able to set everything up and get relaxed in
the room and have enough time to do it all so we left. The car ride
was horrible because it was so bumpy and it hurt at every
contraction.
I
began to push after my midwife checked and I was fully dilated. I
really didn't want to push and I think this made it more painful and
longer. Pushing seemed foreign to me. I couldn't tell if I was doing
it right or if it was helping...all I felt was pain. I tried to do
the HypnoBirthing breathing from the beginning and it was too
painful, so I did what was comfortable to me and it worked. I was
not aware of time at all and it didn't seem as long as it was. It
seemed like I went from getting in the tub to pushing in like 10
minutes although it was like 3 hours. It was an hour from the
rupture of membranes to birth.
wait for another contraction while part of my son's face was out. My
husband didn't get to help bring him out because my hands were
holding on to him as tight as I could at the worst part. That was
the only time I tensed up or grabbed anything. The best part was the
immediate relief and joy I felt when he was finally out and came
floating up in my hands. My husband and I held him close to my chest
in the water while his wrinkled face quietly cried. We got out of
the water because it was getting cold and the cord had stopped
pulsating and was cut.