Aaron and Kari

From Aaron:

Kari and I took your HypnoBirthing class a little while ago and I wanted to forward our delivery story while it was still fresh in my mind. Both Kari and baby Clayton are resting peacefully and are both healthy and strong. Here is our story from my point of view:

Kari was tired of being pregnant and on the advice of a friend she took some castor oil along with some orance juice at about 7 pm (Easter evening). Kari and I watched the Sound of Music until midnight on Sunday. At 2 am Kari woke me up and was having hard surges. The midwife, her assistant and the doula all arrived by 3 am. After an hour Kari asked me to go back to bed. So I laid down on the couch until I was awoken at about 4 or 4:30. Kari needed me to help her and do the HypnoBirthing with her. As much as she had help from the others, she found that my voice and presense was a big help to her. Just before 6 am Kari asked to get out of the tub (the inflated pool) to use the restroom. She sat down but shortly thereafter she had lots of pressure and wanted to have the baby. The midwife didn’t know that Clayton would come so suddenly and so she rushed over to the toilet over which Kari was standing with the doula and me assisting her. The midwife guided Clayton out and he arrived at 5:52 am. What amazed me most was that Kari was able to do this without any medicine whatsoever, except for some natural herbs etc. I am a true believer now that all babies can and should be delivered at home under the care of a competent midwife. The entire process was extremely relaxing for both Kari and I as we had all the comforts around us and Kari became the focus of attention of four caring people while in labor. (Kari did note that she wishes I had been there the entire time with her instead of going back to sleep until later as my contribution using HypnoBirthing was far more powerful than anything the midwife, her assistant or the doula could do for her.) The second thing that amazed me is that Clayton came out so calmly and really didn’t cry other than a brief grunt.

Through the entire morning he just calmly sat there in our arms. This was a far cry from our previous experiences in the hospital. Kari was so happy to not have medication running through her and the baby during this time. After some time we cut the umbilical cord and he was able to latch on to mom just fine. It was interesting to note that he was perfectly content until I cut the cord when he winced in pain and did cry out briefly. This experience of using HypnoBirthing was nothing short of miraculous as I was able to calmly take Kari to her comfortable place (a pool of warm water on a sunny day) which allowed her to focus on something other than the pain and pressure. Kari noted that the most painful part was not the actual delivery itself but rather the contractions (surges) that became more and more powerful. But by relaxing she was able to deliver him with minimal tearing and blood loss. We still can’t believe that he is here. I still think we are in some dream as the experinece was a far more pleasurable experience for the both of us than any other pregnancy. I, for one, was a skeptic and had never heard of HypnoBirthing. I am now a believer in the power of suggestion and how much you can really accomplish if you keep your mind focused on what is possible. The body was able to follow exactly what the mind was telling it. While the delivery didn’t go quite exactly as we had planned (we weren’t expecting to bring Clayton into the world on a toilet) the overall methods used were highly effective and worth practicing over and over again. We are certain that if/when we have any more children we will readily opt to have home birth with HypnoBirthing. Please feel free to share our story as I know there are many more men and women having babies in some of the most adverserial and non-enjoyable locations: hospitals. We even had some family and friends ask us why we were having the baby at home and why we were so crazy. They simply have not experienced a home birth nor used HypnoBirthing.

Thank you so much Launi!

Aaron and Kari Bryan

From Kari

I finally have a chance to write this all down so here’s our birth story 🙂  Thanks for everything, the class helped me feel so much more confident and prepared.

I wasn’t too fond of going past my due date, even if average gestation is 42 weeks– 40 was enough for me. So Sunday night the 12th around 7 I broke out the castor oil, mixed it with some OJ and chugged it. Sounds good, huh? It actually wasn’t that bad, and it didn’t make me sick to my stomach either so that was nice. I went to bed around midnight, but around then I could tell the castor oil was starting to have some effect and so I didn’t ever really get to go to sleep.

Around 1:30 I decided the feelings I was having were actually surges and not just stomach cramps and realized they were already about 4 mins. apart. So I called Richelle my midwife and Jillynn my doula around 2 and asked them to come over. Then I woke up Aaron. He’d taken a sleeping pill so it took a bit to really get him alert, but he came around.
Richelle got here around 2:30 and checked on me and the baby and then started getting all her stuff out and set up for the birth. Jillynn got there soon after and immediately went to work massaging me and helping me be comfortable. Clayton was sitting posterior (facing forward) so Richelle had me labor on my hands and knees for awhile in hopes that we could get him to turn around. During this time we let Aaron go lay down for a little bit longer so he could be a little more awake when the labor got harder and I really needed him. Richelle’s assistant Kim got there too sometime around then.
Let me just say that I have never felt so taken care of. Everyone was right there waiting on me, getting me drinks and snacks and helping me relax and be comfortable. The surges were uncomfortable, but I had so many people helping me that it made it a lot easier to focus on relaxing and not get overwhelmed.

Around 4 Richelle checked me again and even though I was only at a 4 the baby had turned the way we wanted him to so I was able to go get in the birthing pool. That was fabulous! The pool really was just like a kids blow up swimming pool, but it was super comfortable and the warm water felt so good. It was nice to float in the water and be able to move around so easily. The contractions increased in intensity quite a bit while I was in there, but the water really helped the really intense part feel like it was shorter. Aaron came in a sat behind me and talked to me and helped me with our HypnoBirthing scripts and I realized we should have woken him up long before because it was so nice to have him right there with me. He helped me relax a lot and stay focused. Just when it started to feel like I didn’t think I could do much longer I could tell Clayton was moving down and ready to be born any time. I needed to use the bathroom so I got out of the tub and as soon as I sat down on the toilet the pressure got really intense. Aaron and Jillynn rushed over to help me stand up and Richelle ran over and next thing I knew Clayton was born! It was not exactly the area of the house that I had planned on birthing but at that point I was just so happy that he was there I didn’t even care that he was almost born on the toilet! lol.

He was born at 5:52 am, only about 5 hours of labor. 🙂
My midwife was here for about 3-4 hours after the birth, taking care of my stitches and bleeding. While they were attending to me Aaron got to take Clayton out to meet Grandma Sue and his big brothers for the first time. Then we got to weigh him and Richelle went over the newborn check and all that. After everyone was taken care of I got to snuggle up in my own bed with my sweet little baby with nobody bothering me. Aaron and I slept most of the rest of the day and got to take it easy while Grandma took care of the bigger boys.

I wouldn’t change anything about the way it went. I was surprised by how normal it seemed to be at home. I’m so glad that I stuck with my decision for a home birth and wish I had been able to have such a great experience with the other boys births. I loved how it all went and the wonderful women that attended me during the whole thing. I could really tell a difference in my comfort level when Aaron starting doing the scripts with me and was amazed at how in control it helped me feel.

This was my far the BEST birth I’ve ever had and to look back on it and be able to say that it was a fun, enjoyable experience is the greatest thing ever. Everyone should be able to experience birth this way. Thanks for everything you taught us in class!!

Kari