Sharon's First Birth
Mark and I want to thank you in guiding us in the entire birth process from pregnancy to birth. We feel immensely grateful that we found you to have the most amazing birthing experience. Sending you much virtual hugs! We welcomed our baby into the world 7 days ago! We are over the moon happy with our little one and she is the sweetest baby.
I was initially induced into labor using a foley bulb and Cytotec because of the strong recommendations of several doctors on my age to induce on the late 39th week of pregnancy. I feared the process of needing to use Pitocin.
However when we got to the hospital I was already having regular surges that were being picked up by the monitor that I did not even feel. Once the foley bulb fell out, I started having more frequent surges.
It was great because I put on the birth preferences that I wanted to be asked my comfort levels, and the nurse did that, and it made me feel more calm, rather than being asked my pain levels.
When asked for any pain medication and sleeping medication, I declined, and said I would wait to use any pain medication such as an epidural until I get Pitocin, thinking that would be very painful. My surges went on - I got on my knees and had my head on the bed and repeated all the daily affirmations I learned out-loud, and did my surge breathing. I especially focused on saying out-loud "filling my breath like a magnificent balloon" or just "magnificent balloon" and helped me focus on filling my stomach with air. I said out-loud " I am calm, I feel my baby coming to me...etc"
Mark kept me calm with light touch massages, bringing me ice when I needed, being encouraging and calm the whole time, and looking into my eyes between surges to keep me calm. I noticed that between surges I would get also a rush of oxytocin and felt good to keep me going to have the strength for the next surge.
My doctor arrived at 8am - thinking they were going to administer Pitocin, however when she looked at me, she said with surprise, your baby is arriving right now!! She told me to hold my breath and push. There were two other doctors there. Instead of listening to her I breathed down hard, causing a yelling sound out of me. One of the doctors told me to be quiet thinking I was screaming from pain. I ignored the pleas to hold my breath and did it two more times, and the baby came out!
The three doctors were in shock that I delivered so quickly and smoothly as a first time mom at the age of 40, without any pain meds either. The doctor looked at me again and was puzzled that I didn't tear or need stitches. Mark announced we had a girl and cut the cord.
Now we are learning how to care for our baby and breast feeding and are thrilled and happy. I feel so happy and empowered to have had a natural as possible birth. Thank you so much!!!
Sanron and Mark
Anna's First Birth
Our little boy, Jude, was born almost 2 weeks ago on April 20th. My delivery was tough, but went so much better than I could have ever expected! I was able to apply a lot of the HypnoBirthing techniques to my labor, some worked better than others, but overall I think your class helped prepare us a lot.
Our little guy came 10 days after his estimated due date and we weren't planning on getting induced until 2 weeks out, but plans quickly changed. My body started to go into natural labor the morning he was born, but I still wasn't aware of that. I went in for a routine non stress test, not planning on having a baby that day, but turns out his heart rate was dropping a lot that morning and we decided to go ahead and induce labor a little bit that day. Initially they started suggesting a c-section, but I think I was just anxious because of the surprising morning and I was able to calm down enough to get his heart rate normalized and we prevented the c-section all together. They only gave me the smallest dose of pitocin to help get things going and kept it at the smallest dose. My body had already progressed to 4 cm before they induced me. They gave me the pitocin at 10 am and by 3:52pm our little boy was born!
I was nervous about doing the pitocin at first, but felt really good about it after seeing how it sped things up and helped his heart rate normalize. Turns out, my placenta had calcified considerably and was affecting the oxygen he was getting. I was able to do the entire process naturally, breathed him out in 32 minutes, and the entire process felt extremely fast. It was a whirlwind of a day, but I couldn't have been happier with my team. My midwife was a fabulous advocate for us and my nurse was extremely helpful! We feel so blessed to have a perfectly healthy little boy and we are very grateful for the wonderful training you gave us!
He weighed 8 lbs 13 ounces and was 21 inches long.
Thank you again for everything!
Anna and McKay
Bethany's First Birth
Hi Natsumi,
We have been meaning to connect with you. Our son is a happy, healthy 8mo old. The birth was great. Nine hours of labor and only nine minutes of natural expulsive reflex. I was able to maintain a deep sense of relaxation throughout the surges. It was the best I could have hoped for. Joe has been a calm, easy baby. We feel very blessed!
Thank you so much for your training and time.
With warmth,
-Bethany