Paige's Birth Story

Preparations for Paige's birth began at about 30 weeks.  I had found a home study hypnobirthing course at www.tums2mums.com, and I followed the course religiously.  At times I was listening to up to 4 hypnosis sessions a day.  It was time consuming, but ultimately worth it.  I began sleeping better, and had fewer aches and pains.  I can honestly say that I was more comfortable at 30+ weeks than I was in the earlier parts of my pregnancy.

After having a couple of false alarms, I asked Dr. Tayler to induce me during my 40 week check up.  He stripped my membranes, and made the appointment for the following day at 7:30 AM.  We were so excited!  Having my membranes stripped definitely got things going.  I contracted off and on all day, and after a 2 mile run with Darcy that night, I was having contractions every 8-12 minutes up until they got the Pitocin going.

Our nurse's name was Paige- a good omen!  She was so awesome.  She had me hooked up and contracting every 5 minutes by 8:30 that morning.  Dallas went and finished up a couple of things at work, and I watched mindless television to pass the time.

Every hour the nurses would come in and turn the Pitocin up a little bit more.  By 10:00, I chose to listen to my "Surges with the Sea" hypnosis session on my iPod.  I was able to use deep breathing and actually enjoyed feeling the rhythm of the contractions.  I was just so excited that soon I would meet my baby girl.

By 11:00 I had to really focus.  Dr. Tayler came in to check me and to break my water.  I was a 6, but I asked him not to break my water.  I knew that after my water was broken that the contractions would get much more intense- I wanted it there to cushion them for as long as possible.  Dallas and I made predictions about when the baby would be here.  He said by 1:00 and I said by 1:30.

After the doctor checked me I decided I would be more comfortable on a birthing ball.  Laying on the bed and contracting was causing my back to hurt.  The ball was much better!  Dallas then sat behind me on the bed and applied light touch massage when I would have a contraction.

I'll be honest, hypnobirthing did not allow me to have a "pain free" birth experience.  I'm sure some women can do it, but I was not one of them!  I was, however, able to stay calm and relaxed and in control of the pain throughout.

The nurses were in and out and were always amazed at how calm I was.  They would think I was asleep, but then I would open my eyes and we would talk and laugh for a minute until the next contraction would come and I would focus again.  Paige- the nurse- even commented on how amazing my vitals were.  She said that if she didn't know that I was in hard labor, she would think I were just sitting and reading a book.  She made this comment right before she checked me and discovered that I was a 9 at 12:45 PM.  I told her to call Dr. Tayler to come and break my water- it was baby time!

At 1:00 Dr. Tayler was there and broke my water during a contraction.  I then moved from laying on the bed to standing up and holding on to Dallas.  It helped the baby move down, and when I was ready to push, I got back on the bed and they broke it down for me.

It's kind of weird how when it is time to push it feels like the pain of the contractions just melts away.  I could feel pressure, but the pain was gone.  I honestly couldn't even feel when I was having a contraction and when I wasn't.  They finally told me to stop pushing and rest for a moment because they could tell I wasn't having a contraction.  It could have only been for a minute, but it felt a lot longer to me for some reason.  I even commented on how comfortable I felt!  When the next contraction came, I pushed, and Paige Abigail was born at 1:38 PM!  Paige was 6 lbs 6 oz (only 2 oz more than what Dr. Tayler had predicted!), and 19.5 inches long.  She was perfectly healthy in every way.

When they placed her on my stomach I just couldn't believe it.  I did it!  I loved having my baby without any pain medications.  I was able to feel exactly what I needed to do.  I have never been so proud of myself.  I felt like I had earned every bit of that perfect little baby girl.  I could not have done it without Dallas.  He was there to help me every step of the way.  He was my rock.  I feel like we brought her here together and I wouldn't change a single thing.

We adore our perfect Paige.

Texting friends and family updates since we asked to be alone while I labored- this was a VERY good choice. At this point I was a 6.

Yes!  9 CM and still smiling, laughing and joking- when I wasn't contracting anyway :).