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Around 1:30am on May 1st, I was lying in bed
asleep but awoke with a bit of a start. I felt a strong
uterine surge come on, so I opened my eyes and took some
deep breaths. After about 30 seconds, I felt that
familiar POP, and leapt out of bed to the bathroom
because my water broke (just like my first birth – very
unusual!) Brendan woke up and I shared the news, but
then we both got busy packing, as baby was about 2 weeks
early and we didn’t have anything packed!
By
3:30am, Brendan, Ashley (our 21 month-old daughter) and
I were at the birthing center, and the surges were
coming about every 3-4 minutes. They were strong enough
to make progress, but not strong enough that I was
uncomfortable. Brendan and I actually took a nap for
about an hour or so around 5am; I would wake every few
minutes and breathe through the surges. But even then, I
felt I was able to rest those few minutes in between the
strong surges.
Around 9am, the surges were much stronger and closer
together. Brendan continued to prompt me with our
deepening scripts, and my favorite images to focus on
were the blue satin ribbons and the baby emerging from
the opening flower. I found that if I closed my eyes and
smiled to myself through the surge, that it actually
felt a little better. I also used a lot of focused, deep
breathing to keep me relaxed, loose and limp.
Around 11:30 or so, I felt the strong urge to begin
pushing, but I worked very hard not to push. My cervix
was actually not completely dilated, and I didn’t want
to force the baby out. I kept thinking back to the video
I watched with the woman in the birthing tub that
breathed her baby down slowly…first the head emerged,
and then she waited for another surge before the body
worked its way out. She became my inspiration. I changed
positions at this point, as I spent much of my labor
walking, standing or sitting on the birthing stool. But
at this point it felt more comfortable to rest on all
fours – so I climbed on the bed and continued to focus
on my breathing.
I
felt Luke’s head emerging sometime after that… his head
came out in one surge, then we had a minute…then his
shoulders emerged… then the rest of his body gently and
slowly slipped out! I couldn’t believe I did it!! I
didn’t push him out – he was breathed down gently and
calmly. He was handed to me between my legs, and I
grabbed his warm, little body and held him to my chest.
Brendan and I just started laughing and cheering – it
was the perfect ending to a long night.
He
was a healthy boy; 8 lbs, 3 oz and 20.5 inches, so I am
thankful that he decided to join this world at 38 weeks!
Both Brendan and I couldn’t be happier with our birth
experience, our beloved son and the entire VILLAGE of
people that supported us in this birth. We feel so lucky
to have had our second HypnoBirthing Baby, and I can’t
wait to start spreading the good news to others when I
begin teaching HypnoBirthing classes in a few months.
-Angie & Brendan Egan
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