Congratulations Rinat and family!

This was my first birth and it was entirely unmedicated. I have the privilege of saying how truly wonderful it was and how genuinely excited I am to do it again.

Alice’s hypnobirthing course was extremely helpful.  I had read Marie Mongan’s Hypnobirthing book (which got me interested in hypnobirthing) but then wanted the practical tools to prepare for birth. I couldn’t afford an in person hypnobirthing class so I loved that Alice’s website was easily accessible and conveyed the main aspects of hypnobirthing and the functions of labor in a concise and less overwhelming way.

I also liked that I could go back and read and learn as many times as I wished.

I also loved the audios. I listened to Alice’s recordings on rotation every night before sleep starting from 28 weeks onward. I began to notice that they had relaxed me so much that I started drifting off without realizing it! I took in and accepted the words and affirmations that Alice kept on repeating. Her comforting tone of voice and music helped me “relax, release and open” and gave me the tools and courage to naturally birth my baby as well as carry on that calmness through postpartum. 

I really enjoyed reading other people’s positive birth stories as well. I also appreciated the videos that showed positive birth experiences (they were not too vivid or scary to watch either… as I and most people would assume).

Thank you so so much Alice for giving me the opportunity to gently and respectfully birth my sweet girl into this world. As well as empowering me to trust my body and my baby. 

My birth story: 

I went into labor three days earlier than my due date.

That same day I was feeling draggier than usual but nothing crazy. I was actually cooking all afternoon for our weekend guests who we were planning on hosting the following day! (pretty ambitious of me…)

That evening by 7:00 pm, I felt a bit of pressure in my lower abdomen not thinking anything of it.  I just felt the urge to move my hips. 

I had wondered if it was “false labor” and began tensing up each time I had felt this feeling. The sensation began coming and going. As it got more predictable instead of fighting it, I remembered that I could get “ahead of the sensations” and breathe like Alice taught me. The moment I started breathing with it, the feeling was not painful but something that simply demanded my full concentration. I told my husband that we could still probably go to bed tonight and he looked at me in confusion. 

I had started involuntarily jittering (didn't know this was also a side effect of labor). Again the breathing helped calm the shaking. I was heavily in denial and told my husband I was probably just in the “early stage labor” and not in active labor. He said, “Ok love, sure, you can think that”.

In between surges I went about my regular night, eating, peeing, and drinking a lot of water. As the sensations intensified and got closer together,  it demanded more of my attention, I laid on our bed with eyes closed and continued breathing through the surges. 

As my eyes closed again and again my husband stopped what he was doing for the moment, and stood by me holding my hand.. he was incredibly supportive. I asked him what the jitters were and he said so sincerely “its power, my love.”

He absolutely got it. His words were so encouraging throughout. The moments I spent with him while in labor were the most connected I had ever felt to him— we were soon going to be parents together.

As surges became more frequent, I agreed to go to the hospital. It had been six hours later but I was not aware of time passing. It was now 1:00 am. The nurse and my doula were highly impressed by me as I was 7 cm dilated!  My husband looked at me with a giant smile.. “I knew it” he said. I had started out in a bath and then made my way on all fours, and hovered over the hospital bed making breathing sounds. Conversations grew fainter and the sensations felt more intense. I kept up with the breathing but more rapidly this time.

 After a couple of surges, my midwife checked inside and could feel the baby’s head!! I reached up a finger's width, and there she was, my finger was touching her little head. It was so incredible to me. 

The energy in the room was filled with excitement and I felt so encouraged.

In my birth prep I had read about adrenaline kicking in at transition. I thought that meant that my heart would be beating rapidly. No. It was adrenaline on a different level; the adrenaline that made me feel unstoppable. 

All of my natural hormones kicked into full gear. I was zoned in completely, hearing the noises behind me but didn’t feel like talking. I was squatting and breathing on the hospital bed with each surge. My husband said I must have been doing that for nearly an hour. It was a full on athletic performance. The exhaustion eventually hit, forcing me to lay on the bed in between each surge trying to regain my strength.

My baby was nestled in my water sac,  taking her sweet time, inching down with each surge and then bouncing right back to the same spot I found her in. Every so often my husband and the doula followed me with the monitor, hearing a steady gentle heartbeat, dancing to the little thumping.

After another hour had gone by with the baby sitting tightly in the same spot, my midwife suggested breaking my water, since it never broke, as it could help move things along. 

After a bit of hesitation and assessing what the risks would be, I pushed it off for as long as I could until the exhaustion really hit. 

She gently broke my water after I agreed to it, and I felt an overwhelming feeling of relief. More so than my baby coming out!  Apparently she said that my water sac was REALLY strong! My baby gracefully slid down and peaked her little head out, as my doula describes it. My midwife was in shock because it happened so quickly! With a few more powerful pushes, a soft cry emerged. Little Nina was born at 6:33 am. Just 6.7 pounds (3.065 kg).

Since Nina was born she has been such a sweet natured and calm baby. I truly believe it was because of her gentle birth. It also happened to be the superbowl that week. My husband eagerly told his friend who’s wife was also expecting that watching your wife give birth is like the most insane athletic achievement. He would like to see an NFL player try to birth a baby!