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At 39+6, at 5:50 AM, I woke up with small contractions that felt like period cramps and were 3 minutes apart. I took a shower, ate a small breakfast, and chilled out until I felt like it was time to go to the hospital. At that point, they were about 1 minute apart.
I chose to have a hospital birth for two reasons:
1 - I felt safe there, and I really trusted my OB (she was great at helping her mamas have vaginal births)
2 - I knew exactly what I wanted to decline and had my husband to support me in those decisions.
I felt at peace with my decision, and I believe a lot of that was from what I learned in the Christian Hypnobirthing course.
When we got to the hospital, I was so thankful to already be 6 cm dialated. I was actually so surprised, but I honestly think I was handling it well because of the course, being informed about what my body was doing, and being in a positive mood. The excitement, laughing, talking, and keeping the mood light was SOOO HELPFUL in dealing with contractions.
I was also able to sit on a birthing ball and move around freely with wireless monitoring.
I labored without an epidural for about 4 hours at the hospital. I wasn't 100% sure I wanted one, but I had decided to let my OB break my water, and although I was handling the contractions well, I knew they would get more intense after, so I decided to get it so I could rest and prepare to push.
The contractions at this point weren't necessarily painful, just intense. I was able to get through them pretty easily by turning inward, breathing, closing my eyes, and picturing them like a wave that comes and goes.
After an interesting epidural (honestly way worse than labor, lol), I noticed that only my right side was numb. It numbed the intensity of the contractions a little as I progressed quickly to a 10, but after a few more hours, only my right shin felt numb and I had to blow raspberries and make low noises to get through the contractions. I went from a 6 to a 10 in about 2 hours.
Again, they weren't exactly painful, just really really really intense. Breathing deeply and getting into a meditative mental space was so helpful during this stage. Had I not taken the course, I probably would have been panicking at this point.
Having a peaceful environment was also helpful. I requested that things stay pretty calm and quiet in my room as labor progressed.
The epidural not working properly was a blessing in disguise because I could tell exactly when I felt the urge to push, and my wonderful nurse was able to coach me through it.
The pushing was natural relief to each contraction, and the rest between contractions was AMAZING. The rest got me through the 60 seconds.
The hardest part of pushing was the insane pressure on your butt. But it was a sign I was making progress.
The ring of fire was the most intense part, but I was kind of prepared for it, as each push stretched out more and more. It was definitely startling, but it was over so quickly after my son's head was out.
We got to do skin to skin pretty much immediately.
The post-birth high was INSANE. I was on cloud nine for 24 hours. I felt like I could run a marathon, and my son was absolutely perfect.
I couldn't have asked for a better hospital birth, regardless of the wonky epidural, lol!
With The Lord's protection, my loving husband, the amazing medical staff, and the knowledge I had from the course, it went better than I could have ever imagined.”
If you'd like to start preparing for a faith-filled birth try our Christian Hypnobirthing app FREE for a week when you subscribe.
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