Birth Stories

Hypnobirthing Fail (sort of) - Brianna's early arrival

Pre-birthing day:  I took a hypnobirthing class and I prepared by listening to the rainbow relaxation CD almost every night at bedtime (Marie?s voice put me right to sleep, it was great) and practicing the different breathing.  I don?t regret taking the class or learning the techniques ? some of them did help and I felt very prepared and knowledgeable when we got to the hospital and things weren?t going as expected. 

Birthing day:  I felt something strange (small trickle) when I stood up around 9pm on Sat night at 37 weeks pregnant.  I went to bed, thinking it was just late pregnancy vaginal discharge.  The same thing happened at about 4am and 8am on Sun, so I called the OB.  She told me to come in and get checked ? she said that about 50% of the time it is nothing.  We finished packing just in case and drove to the hospital.  I was hooked up to the fetal monitors and there were intermittent contractions ? I felt nothing.  An internal exam determined that my water had broken and I was admitted and started on pitocin to jump start the contractions.  I was only 1 cm.  I was also GBS positive, so they started the antibiotics right away.

They upped the dosage of pit every hour or so to get the contractions into a regular pattern (they never did ? I would have 4 or 5 contractions at a time with no break in between).  For a while, I felt nothing.  My family came and visited, we watched TV, I did listen to my hypnobirthing CDs at some points just to stay in the right frame of mind, I even had some of the milkshake that my mom brought for DH (when the nurses weren?t there, of course!).   My mom kept saying that she didn?t remember labor being this easy!  Well, it didn't last. 

I started to feel the contractions at about 8pm (about 9 hours after starting pitocin) and they got really bad really fast.  Of course, it didn?t help that they came all at once with no breaks, then a 3-4 minute rest in between.  I tried to relax, I used the bathroom frequently (lots of pressure, I felt like I had to pee constantly), I sat on the birthing ball, and I had either the rainbow relaxation CD or a nature sounds CD playing in the background.  But around 10:30pm, I started shaking all over and I couldn?t relax.  The nurse said it may have been the contractions (I thought it may be the pitocin).  I tried every position imaginable ? sitting, standing, laying on my side, sitting on the ball, leaning over the bed, squatting, leaning on the counter, but nothing was comfortable.  I had 4-5 contractions all at once and then I had a few minutes to get up and go to the bathroom or change positions and then it would happen again ? it was horribly painful..

I had wanted to wait until 4 cm for any kind of medication (if I needed it) but I was only 2cm and I couldn?t take it anymore and I asked for an epi.  After that, things get a little fuzzy J.  It was great ? I slept on and off, I could carry on a coherent conversation, and I started dilating a lot faster.  The epi was definitely a good decision, it actually helped me to relax and the shaking stopped.  I felt like a failure until my Dr. told me that she had me on the highest dose of pitocin that she would normally give anyone and my contractions still hadn?t evened out. 

The epi worked all night and into the morning.  Around 6am, I was hungry and they let me have Italian ice.  Yum!  I let the epi wear off to the point that I could feel the contractions but they didn?t hurt.  Around 9:30am, I was 10cm and the Dr let me have a rest and decent period.   I started ?breathing the baby down? in hopes to minimize/eliminate pushing.  They told me to let them know and I could start pushing at any time.  I used the breathing technique for awhile until the pressure became quite painful.  I asked the nurse to check me, as I thought I had felt her head against my perineum.  She said she could see the head (and lots of hair) and called the Dr. to come look at me.  The pressure was so intense, so I started pushing  - I just wanted the baby out (I did not hold my breath). 

The Dr got there to check on me and DH said it was an immediate switch ? she was all relaxed and was taking her time and as soon as she checked me, she was donning her scrubs and lights/equipment was being brought out.  She hadn?t expected me to be ready quite yet.  I asked her to use mineral oil to minimize tearing ? DH said she used about a bottle and a half.  She was sunnyside up and her poor nose got smashed.  Brianna was born at 11:22am with about 24 hours of active labor and 30 mins of pushing.  I had a small tear that was borderline, but she decided to stitch it up. 

It was a bit disappointing that we did not have our ideal med-free hypnobirth, but with the circumstances we had to deal with (premature rupture of membranes with GBS + and contractions that would not even out), there isn?t much that I would have done differently.  I do wish I had used the Jacuzzi tub ? I was waiting until I could feel the contractions and then all of a sudden, they were so bad that I could hardly move/talk.  I would still recommend the breathing techniques that I learned in class, but I think that the epi was a good idea too.  I do think that the class prepared me so that when labor got going, I knew the correct questions to ask and I could make informed decisions.

I am happy to answer any questions about hypnobirthing!

Re: Hypnobirthing Fail (sort of) - Brianna's early arrival

  • An unfortunate chain of events that were out of your control but a good lesson for all of us that things don't always go as hoped.  I'm glad everything worked out for you. I'm sad that you would use the word fail in your title -> you had a healthy baby and you are well...sounds like success to me! Best wishes to you and your LO.

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • We are very happy for a healthy LO and we are actually happy with the way everything went at the hospital.  It didn't go as planned, but that was perfectly okay.  I just didn't want anyone looking for a sucessful hypnobirth story to be mislead by my post. 
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