1st time mom-HypnoBirthing Story
Maggie and Brian took my HypnoBirthing class early in their pregnancy. Maggie knew gaining information early was what she needed. She had fears she wanted to release and wanted tools to gain confidence. Just wait until you read her powerful story!
Molly Ruth
January 31, 2023
I started having contractions Saturday morning. I can’t explain the excitement I felt knowing my baby was coming soon. The contractions stopped, and while I was disappointed that I wasn’t going to meet Molly that day, I was so excited that we were getting closer.
Tuesday morning, I woke up at 4:30 in the morning with some contractions. After laying in bed for a while, I got into the bath to help and stayed there until Brian came in to shower before work. Contractions continued and I was pretty sure I was going to have a baby in the next day or two, but I still wasn’t convinced I was really going into labor yet. I was tired but so excited I couldn’t sleep, so I painted my nails and watched Gilmore Girls to try to relax and settle down. I took a shower around 9 AM and contractions felt better but still persisted and got a little more regular. I finally fell asleep around 10:30 and woke up, still with contractions. I made myself some buffalo chicken tenders and took another bath. Around 12:30 I texted Brianne to see if she could come over and walk with me. It was cold and rainy but Brianne came over at 1:00 PM and we walked for about 45 minutes in the rain, I had a couple contractions that made me stop, at this point I thought there was a slight chance Molly would come that night. Brianne took me to Starbucks then dropped me off around 2:00, at this point I told Brian to come home because my contractions were really picking up in intensity. Brian got home a little before 3, by that point I was pretty sure she was coming that night.
As my contractions picked up, I tried finding comfortable positions on the floor and my birth ball but they were too intense. Brian was timing my contractions at this point, about 4:00 PM, and I decided to labor in the shower. My contractions were getting more intense, longer, and closer together. In the shower I kept going on all fours during my contractions then I’d sit down in between. After I was doing this for a while, Brian came in and told me he asked our friends and family to write letters of affirmation and support for me and he started reading them. We got through a few but I couldn’t focus on them, my contractions were pretty strong at that point. Brian had called Mayanne, our midwife, and she said she thought we should leave soon. This was about 6:00. Brian asked if I was ready to leave for the birth center and I said absolutely not, I wanted to stay in the shower. He convinced me we needed to leave so I went into our room to get dressed but I felt a lot of pressure in my pelvis and felt like I wanted to push. I needed to sit down so I went and sat on the toilet. Brian was taking our stuff out to the car so I tried to get up and get dressed but the pressure in my pelvis was a lot and I needed to sit down again. I felt a pop and realized my water had broken, at this point Brian told me I needed to get dressed because we had to leave. I threw on sweats and waddled out to the car, I was yelling a little as we walked down the steps of our apartment and a woman in the parking lot stopped and stared like I had three heads.
In the car I was leaking amniotic fluid and felt like Molly’s head was so low it was sticking out. I felt a strong urge to push, but Mary had told me not to give in too much to that so I didn’t end up having the baby in the car. Five minutes into our drive, the gas light came on, (I had planned on stopping for gas on my way to work that day, but that didn’t end up happening) and I acted like I didn’t notice because I knew Brian must have wanted to kill me. We got to the birth center around 7:00 PM. The second I got into the room I stripped off my clothes and jumped into the empty tub. Brian turned on the water while we waited for my midwife to come in the room.
I had tested positive for GBS so a nurse was trying to start my antibiotics. She put the needle in my hand and it hurt more than my contractions. She said she needed to take it out and try again, I said I didn’t want the antibiotics because the baby would be here too soon for them to even work. The nurse said she wanted to try the other hand so I said fine. She tried again and the same thing happened, at that point I was frustrated with her and told her I was refusing the anitbiotics and she should stop trying.
While that was happening, Brian and Mayanne had put my candles all around the tub and hung up my paintings. I was in such a zone I couldn’t really focus on what anyone else was doing. When I finally got to start pushing, I was so relieved to experience a different pain than the one I had felt all day. Pushing was such a logical, productive pain and I could picture Molly moving down my pelvis. I felt so in tune with my body and I loved it.
After pushing for I don’t know how long, I reached down and felt Molly’s head, the first time I ever felt my daughter and it was incredible. I pushed again, reached down and felt her head again and said “I think she has a lot of hair!” At that point Mary had gotten there and I was really pushing. The room was so calm and I was in another world, just working with my baby. My midwife bent down and got on my eye level, she looked at me and said “I want you to take a minute and get in the head space you want to be in to meet your baby.” I will never forget that for as long as I live, I am so grateful to her for calling me back to moment and getting me to recognize what was happening in that place. I immediately started praying Hail Mary’s, asking the Blessed Mother to guide me as I officially began motherhood.
As I was crowning, they asked Brian if he wanted to catch the baby. Mayanne explained to him what he was going to do, and at that point I said “Her head is out!” and Brian got ready to help our baby into the world. The cord was wrapped around her neck but Mayanne fixed it, Brian held our daughter and put her to my chest immediately. She was purple, and didn’t breathe for about ten seconds. I was a little nervous, but they said she was okay. Mayanne was pinching her foot to get her to cry and take a breath, and then they brought over an oxygen tank and did a few breaths but by then she had already started to cry a little and her color was changing already. Finally she was breathing and crying and I just held her and cried and stared at my beautiful, perfect baby.
Molly Ruth was born at 8:09 PM, measuring 19 inches and weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces.