Jami lives in the United States and learned hypnobirthing using our Online Hypnobirthing Course. This was her third birth following two induced births and she prepared so well.

I love her birth story and I know that you will too. Over to Jami…

Wow, what a different birth this was than my previous two (both inductions). All of the education, practice, positive thinking, and hypnobirthing skills allowed me to have a birthing voice and to trust my body and my baby during the entire process. I remained calm--maybe a bit too calm when triage didn't realize I was in active labor!--and had a beautiful natural birth in a hospital.

My message to others interested in hypnobirthing and/or natural birth is to be consistent with listening to your affirmations and guided relaxation tracks. Put in the time and your body will absolutely respond when it's go time. Also, educate yourselves as much as possible on natural birth. Knowledge creates power and calm during labor and postpartum. 

Because of this preparation, I was aware of my body's positioning throughout my pregnancy to facilitate an optimal position for baby. I didn't slouch or recline backwards on the couch but instead lied on my side with pillows supporting my knees. I bounced and rolled on my birthing ball daily and exercised via prenatal barre and swimming up to the end of my pregnancy. At 36 weeks, I began eating three medjool dates a day given the evidence I had read regarding uterine strengthening by doing so. I did perineal massage a few times (not at often as I had intended), but feeling the stretch while intentionally relaxing was helpful. From 38-40 weeks, I stimulated my nipples to prepare for breastfeeding. This always brought contractions and helped strengthen my uterus and toughen my nipples. This was my first pregnancy using these techniques and it was my shortest labor and best recovery out of the three, so I know they made a positive difference!

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At 40.3, I  had a dr. appt and requested a pelvic exam and membrane sweep. Up to this point, I had declined exams but felt that my body was ready and my baby's positioning was ideal. My mom had arrived from Alaska a week prior and we had enjoyed a week playing and making memories and I wanted to give my body every chance at a natural labor to avoid induction. 

After the sweep, I had mild contractions throughout the day, but nothing that became a pattern or painful. I had the loveliest day with my husband, two children, and my mom. My mom and I went out for lunch and my late pregnancy suppressed appetite was gone; I ate a lot! Then, we went shopping and had the best time while mild contractions would come. When we got back, I wanted to take the kids to the pool. On my way out of the door in my bathing suit, I felt some slippery discharge and went to the bathroom. I had begun losing my mucus plug, so I decided to put on an adult diaper and skirt and not get into the pool in case my water broke because my daughter’s head felt so very low and pelvic pressure was building just as my son's had before my water broke. 

At the pool, I had more intense contractions than I had been having, and I welcomed as I watched my family swim. My kids kept splashing my legs as I sat in a chair poolside and I felt completely happy and content. After swimming, I said we should get an ice cream cone for dinner and my children were excited. We all got a huge cone and ate it at the park with flowers and a fountain. We had ice cream dripping down our hands--and my son down his whole chest--and it was such a beautiful moment. My son asked to take a family picture, so my mom snapped one of the four of us in front of the fountain. We didn't know this would be the last picture before we became a family of five.

Once we got home and settled the children into bed, I felt my waters begin to leak around 8 p.m. Soon after, the wind picked up outside and I gasped, “Is it going to rain?!” This was something I had hoped and visualized throughout my pregnancy. Living in Phoenix, rain is a rare treat, and I desperately love it. Our phones said there was a zero percent chance, yet we watched the clouds darken and huge, delicious drops fell from the sky. I went outside and stood in the rain with  my arms outstretched, breathing in its beauty while feeling my surges increase. I prayed thanks to God for such a beautiful gift. I felt so seen by God and so grateful to drink in the delicious desert rain. 

Around 9:00, we watched a comedian while I bounced on the birthing ball. I would get surges while laughing and then I'd breathe, welcoming the surge and thanking God and my body for bringing this baby into the world. The contractions weren’t consistent, but I had such confidence in my body’s ability to birth this baby that I didn't worry.

At 10:00, I grabbed dark chocolate, LED candles, and my Hypnobirthing recordings and relaxed in the tub. I felt calm and happy as I listened to “An Anchor to Calm and Power.” I anchored in our perfect day and felt so happy and calm.

After the bath, I relaxed into bed for a bit before my bowels had a clear out around 11:30 p.m. I also had a bit of blood-tinged mucus. Afterwards, I snuggled back into bed, putting on my Hypnobirthing tracks, and fell into a deep, comfortable sleep. 

At 1:35, I woke up to a mighty surge that radiated throughout my whole body, especially my back and abdomen. I went to the bathroom and had more bowel clearing while breathing through these intense surges. My toilet is in its own small enclosed room, and I pushed on both walls at the same time while sitting on the toilet with knees open wide. I opened and fully gave in to the power. I had about four of these back to back while on the toilet. Once I had finished, I woke up my husband, asking him to start timing the surges. I moved positions each time, trying to relieve the intensity. I leaned over my birthing ball on my bed and circled my hips in a figure eight. I rested my head in my bent arms and leaned into the wall, moving my hips from side to side. I braced myself against the bathroom counter while moving my hips. We only timed four and saw that they were coming every minute and a half and lasting about a minute long. We both knew it was time to go to the hospital ASAP. We were both shocked by how abruptly and mightily labor began.

My husband bolted into action, loading the car while I went very internal and primal, breathing through surges in between trying to get dressed and ready. I needed to lean against walls or counters and circle my hips each time. On our way out of the door, Travis said, “Jami, you don’t have any pants on!” I thought that was a silly thing to care about at a time like this. I had become very minimal with speaking and said, “Skirt. Closet.” He ran up and grabbed a skirt for me to slip on over my adult diaper while I went to the car. I leaned against the garage as a powerful surge heated up my abdomen and lower back. I sat in the car, wondering how I would possibly make it through the 25 minute drive to the hospital. When Travis came out, I said, “Two grocery bags,” as I had started to feel nauseous. I frantically put on my headphones to listen to my Hypnobirthing tracks and put my eye mask on to block out everything else. They kept connecting to the car’s bluetooth and this was very distressing to me. Travis fixed it and I put on “An Anchor to Calm and Power,” remembering the beautiful day that I had anchored in during my bath. This kept me calm and relaxed and I breathed each surge, welcoming the power I felt radiating my body. I opened the grocery bags and threw up about six times. I remember hearing that this can help Baby get into a great position and clears a way for her to enter the world, so I visualized this clearing out and welcomed it. 

My tailbone and back blazed with heat and an intensity which surprised me this soon into labor. I lifted my eye mask to see the hospital and thanked my husband for getting us there so quickly. Later, he said that it was the longest drive of his life and he wondered if my surges were easing up because I became so quiet and internal during the drive, and then when I started throwing up, he realized we were on borrowed time. He parked the car and I spotted a garbage can to throw away my sick bag. While walking away from it, a deeply powerful surge came and I leaned against a light pole to get through it. There were two cockroaches and I didn't care, sweeping them away as the power radiated through my back, abdomen, and tailbone. 

Someone came out to us with a wheelchair and offered it while I finished the surge. They were back to back at this point and though the thought of sitting wasn't comfortable, walking was out of the question. I sat down, kept my eye mask and headphones on, and found comfort in circling my wrists as I breathed deeply through each one. I realized I had forgotten my wallet and I.D. I was glad I had pre-registered at the hospital. Travis answered questions and told them that I didn’t want to know my centimeters of dilation, as we had discussed this prior to labor. I didn’t want the potential discouragement of not being as far along as I had hoped. I surfaced from labor land a few times to voice my wishes. They wanted me to sit on a pad to confirm my waters had ruptured. I said, “Trust me, they have!” Then, they wanted to weigh me and I said, “I was weighed at the Dr. yesterday.” and told them my current and pre-pregnancy weights. I surfaced again when I heard the nurse say to my husband, “You stay here and we’ll bring her back for the examination.” I said, “No! I need him. Travis, where are you?” and reached my hand for him. He grabbed it and this brought me instant comfort. They brought us both back and requested that my husband help me get into a hospital gown. I asked over and over for a toilet. The nurse said, “That depends if you’re going to use it for the bathroom or to pop out a baby.” I said I needed the bathroom, so they left us alone and I sat down and this felt so good. I moaned and my husband said, “Jami, are you pushing?” and I said, “No.” Then a mighty pushy surge hit and I said, “Yes” while moaning low. He called for the nurses and said, “She’s pushing! This happened with our son too.” The team assembled quickly and got me onto a bed to transfer me from triage to the delivery room closeby. At 3:03 a.m., they wanted me on my back to check dilation. I didn’t know how I could possibly do this, but they were quick and later my husband said that the nurse's eyes got wide as she held out both hands to signal "10!" to my husband. They were in complete shock that I was so dilated since I appeared so calm.

I heard bustling and lifted my eye mask to see a team assembling. The nurse said, “I don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you knew how dilated you are.” I said, “Am I complete?” to which she said, “Yes, you're a 10! You were really in the zone!” They wanted me to scoot back onto a delivery bed, so I somehow did this as I felt deep rectal and tailbone pressure. They started getting ready to start an IV, but the thought of holding still at this moment was unthinkable. I said, “No IV” as my body began really pushing. My husband was by my head, telling me that I was doing a great job breathing. He was doing light touch massage, stroking my arm and hair while holding my hand. I got comfort from kissing his hand over and over. 

The team asked me to get onto my back into stirrups and I said, "Not my back!" My back was blazing with heat and pressure and my body's expulsive reflex was mightily pushing my daughter out. I tried to use long, slow breaths while following my body's lead. I wanted to avoid tearing and really concentrated on my calm, slow breath. The Dr. said, "Just keep following your body. You're doing a great job." They helped me position onto my side and I felt powerful pressure and stinging between my legs. The Dr must have known I was in denial that this was actually happening, so she said, "Jami, I want you to reach down and feel your baby's head." I did and couldn't believe how much of her head I felt! My body opened so quickly that I felt as if I was splitting in half. I kept thinking, “I’m not splitting, I’m opening. I’m opening for my baby.” I pushed into this strong stinging sensation and the next contraction brought her head out, then her shoulders and the rest of her slippery body followed. She was born at 3:10 a.m.

I couldn't believe she was here! I kept saying, "You're here, Charlotte! I love you, sweetie! We did it!" Just stroking her perfect body and feeling her wet warmth. 

Her cord prevented her from going higher than my stomach, so I just touched her body, loving her newness. When the cord stopped pulsing, my husband cut it. I put her to my breast and she found my nipple quickly and latched right away. They went to inject pitocin and I asked if we could wait to see if I needed it first, to which they responded that they recommended it as a standard safety measure that can save my life. I agreed and within a minute of the injection, my placenta was ready to deliver. I pushed a tiny bit and it slipped out in one piece. I requested to see it, so the Dr brought it over and I asked my husband to take a picture. I asked if I had tearing and they examined me to find that no, I didn't! I was so excited to hear this and beamed to my husband, “Did you hear that?! No tearing!”I had prepared my breathing, mindset, and positioning to optimize my chances of no tearing and was thrilled it came to be for the first time in my three births.

I started feeling the familiar, deep cramping that I had had after delivering my son (when I had postpartum hemorrhage). My birthing team mentioned that they didn't like the amount of bleeding and asked if they could place an I.V., to which I agreed. They gave me two bags of pitocin plus five cytotec oral pills. My Dr offered to scoop out clots and I agreed, eager to stop the fundal presses which were excruciatingly painful. She did this and it helped the cramping for a few minutes. They kept me in the delivery room monitoring my bleeding and doing constant, hard fundal massage for about 3 hours before the bleeding and clotting were under control and I was transferred to the maternity unit. They brought warm blankets to help my shaking and these felt so good.

Once in our room, I ordered a hefty breakfast as I was starving and very thirsty. I napped as best I could between breastfeeding and hospital checks. I kept looking at our baby in disbelief that she was here! It happened so fast. That day was spent snuggling our daughter and processing her fast but mighty birth. I kept drinking a lot of water, coconut water, and juice to replenish my body and make myself pee often. Towards evening, I sent my husband home for dinner, a shower, and a change of clothes (since our quick exit from home prevented him from bringing anything for himself). I had the longest, warmest shower of my life while my daughter slept. I swayed my hips and let the water run and prayed thanks to God for sustaining me during her mighty precipitous birth. I felt so grateful and happy. I had brought my own shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and face scrub, and loved the smell and feel of being completely clean and warm. Afterwards, I snuggled my babe and breastfed her, marveling at her new, beautiful smell and feel.

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My baby is 12 days old today and I'm still amazed that she's here! Recovery has been the best for me out of my three births. I had support during every phase and my husband has paternity leave to continue bonding with Baby and supporting me. I am exhausted and try to nap each day to replenish my body. I feel so grateful for this experience! It has been empowering and amazing to have a strong birth voice informing each decision along the way. Good luck to all of you beautiful birthing mommas. Trust your mighty bodies!

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