Monica

Hi Ashley

I wanted to let you know that Mike and I had our baby, Monica, was born on September 12th.  She was 12 days late but came on her own, just two days before having to be induced.

Hypnobirthing was a godsend throughout the whole process.  My water broke at 9am on Sunday morning.  I did not call the midwives at UCSD because I didn't think I had to since I was GBS neg and although my contractions were regular, they were not strong.  We stayed home most of the day, I baked raisin bars for the nurses, Mike cleaned and watched football, we took our dogs on a couple walks.  Around 5pm the contractions were stronger and so I called the midwife on call.  She was not too pleased with me that I had not called when my water broke (you would think with me being a nurse practitioner I would have known- oops!).  In the end I was so glad I didn't call and go in because it would have been 9 more hours at the hospital and we had such a pleasant and exciting day at home just the two of us. 

When we arrived at UCSD (around 6:30 pm) the birth center did not have a nurse who could take me so I was admitted to the L&D floor.  Our nurse was great, the room was great, I was in the shower a lot.  Around midnight I asked for the volunteer doula because I really felt like I was getting into active labor.  She was great, did not interfere with Mike and I only pushed my hips during surges (all my labor was in my back).  Mike did a great job keeping me relaxed and focused on my breathing throughout the surges.  I had my iPod and listened to Affirmations on repeat.

At 4am I asked the midwife to check me and I was 5cm dilated.  At this point I felt like I could not do it any longer and started asking for medications.  The midwife and Mike reminded and helped me to stay in the moment and not focus on the future, which is what I had been doing.  The next hour is a total blur, it was unbelievably intense (and painful!)  At 5am they told me there was a room in the birth center and they had started filling the tub.  They wheeled me up there at 5:15 but the tub had about a 1/2inch of water in it, that was disappointing to see.  During my first contraction up there the midwife looked and said she could see the baby's head!  I had gone from 5cm to 10cm in one hour and could now push, I was SO happy!

I pushed for 35 minutes and Monica was born at 5:55 AM.  Her coming out was the most unbelievable feeling, I was ecstatic it was over and SO happy I had not gotten medications.

Thank you for teaching such a wonderful class, I will recommend Hypnobirthing to any of my friends who want to try and have their baby naturally.