Rowan's Birth

The morning of December 28 I woke up with one thing on my mind -jumpstart my birthing time before going in for a scheduled induction later that night. The induction was scheduled due to inconclusive results on a previous NST and Biophysical Profile. The previous evening my husband and I tried some of the acupressure points and had
some pressure waves but they were not consistent. That morning we continued some of the acupressure points and added nipple stimulation with a manual pump. I was feeling some pressure waves but they did not feel as if they were productive. During one of the breaks in nipple stimulation I got up to use the restroom. On my way there my water broke. I went to check the fluid and noticed that it was tinged with brown. I knew from my reading and Hypnobabies training that the
fluid was supposed to be clear so my first thought was meconium. I called out to my husband and he flew up the stairs and looked frantically for the phone. My doctor's office told me to go straight
to Labor and Delivery.

My husband and I made our way to the hospital in a snow storm- an event that my husband and I both predicted would happen. Once there (10:30 a.m.) they checked us in for the long haul so we called our Hypnobabies Doula, Amber, to let her know today was they day. They initially did about an hour of monitoring to make sure the baby was
okay and then I was allowed to be more mobile. I listened to some of my Hypnobabies tracks, walked around the room, sat on the birthing ball, rocked in the rocking chair, lounged in bed, and waited for things to pick up. When my doctor arrived at 3:00 and checked me I was only dilated to 2 and 80% effaced which was no change from when I had checked in hours earlier. My pressure waves continued on a consistent basis every 2-3 minutes but were not picking up in
intensity. The doctor recommended that I be put on a low dose of Pitocin to see if that would help to get my birthing time moving. Due to our concern for the baby, my husband and I agreed that we would try the Pitocin. The Pitocin was started at 3:15 p.m. and the pressure waves really started to pick up at about 3:30.

Throughout this time I was continuing to use my Hypnobabies and it was working beautifully. My husband and Amber were coaching me through and attending to my every need. At about 6:15 p.m. I noticed a shift, something about my pressure waves was distinctly different- they were MUCH more intense and I was shaking uncontrollably. I started to lose my focus and p**n started to creep in. My husband and Amber both kicked it up a notch to get me refocused. Amber told me
that she thought I was in transformation and I didn't believe her- it was just too soon. I figured as a first time mom, my birthing time was going to be much longer. I remember telling my husband at one point that if the rest of my birthing time was going to be like this I might need some stadol. He replied with the appropriate answer that I told him to give me if I started to break down. I asked if they could get the nurse to check me and when she did I was dilated to 8- almost 9. She quickly left to call the doctor. My husband and Amber both told me later that the look on her face was priceless. She could
not believe that I had progressed so quickly in such a short period of time. Once I was told that I was so far advanced in my birthing time it was as if I got a second wind. This was it, my daughter was almost here. The nurse came back in and told me that I could start pushing when I felt the need. Amber then put the Push Baby Out track on and we went into action. During this time I almost felt as if I were in a haze, it was very surreal. It was definitely a team effort to push my daughter out and at 7:39 p.m. we were rewarded with the birth of my daughter Rowan Delaney who weighed in at 7 lbs. 12 oz. at
19 ½ inches. She arrived healthy with no complications from the meconium.

I have to say that I cannot imagine my birthing time without the encouragement and love of my husband, the awesome support of my Hypnobabies Doula, Amber, and Hynobabies. I had a wonderful birthing time and would not have changed a thing.

**for those of you that may be put off by my mentioning p**n during
transformation- it was brief. Once I realized I was in transformation
and I had made it that far in my birthing time with no p**n
whatsoever, that is when my second wind kicked in and I was ready to
give birth to my daughter.