Welcome Evelyn May

 

 

 

 

Born July 26, 2017 @ 11:59pm
Weight: 8lbs 8oz
Length: 21 inches long
Head Circumference: 35.5cm

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Birth Photography by the amazing and talented 

Vairdy Photography

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When I got to 37 weeks, I had resolved to be prepared at any time; my first hypno-baby came at 40 weeks so I wanted to be ready 'just in case' this baby decided to come a bit earlier. The weeks passed and by the time I got to 41 weeks, I was convinced my birthing time had to be any day. But no... this baby had her own plans. My amazing midwives were happy to continue supporting me as long as it took and even agreed to support my home birth plans past 42 weeks if it came to it (as long as both baby & I were doing well of course).

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                                                                         I especially loved listening to my sessions every evening in those final weeks – it                                                                             was a chance for me to stop and just be with “this” baby after long busy days                                                                                 focusing on the rest of the family and juggling all of life's demands. My hypnosis                                                                             also helped me manage stress and stay connected, trusting that my birth would                                                                               happen when & how it needed to. There were many days where I would do as                                                                                 many as 3 sessions in one day!

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                                                                         As I sailed towards 42 weeks, I had

                                                                         agreed to regular post-dates

                                                                         monitoring to check in & make sure

                                                                         that baby was still happy. A few days

                                                                         before 42 weeks, we learned that my

                                                                         amniotic fluid was low. We sat on this

                                                                         for a couple of days and then, facing

                                                                         a consultation with our local OB at

                                                                         42 weeks & the possibility that we'd

                                                                         be changing our plans to a hospital

                                                                         birth as well as discussing medical

                                                                         induction, we made an informed

                                                                         decision to try a few natural induction

techniques to see if we could encourage this little monkey to make her appearance!

The Hypnobabies Fear Clearing session as well as My Special Place & even the

Birth Visualization sessions made making these decisions easy – I was able to

remain calm, happy and open to whatever birth my little girl needed.

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A Small Change of Plans...
On July 26th, at 41 weeks & 6 days, following some monitoring to check in on baby I agreed to a sweep of my cervix. I went home and rested for a bit before we made something called an “induction cocktail” recommended by my midwives.  To help things even further, within the hour of taking the “cocktail” I was at my acupuncturist's house getting a treatment while she fed her family dinner!

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I went home and had some dinner myself then played with my son & a couple of hours later, my husband took over bedtime duty & I went to see my dear friend & doula, Kimberly.  We then spent the next hour+ walking. This is when my pressure waves really started: it's funny looking back now because I was in denial that things were actually happening at the time. I think I had spent SO LONG waiting to meet this little rainbow that I couldn't quite wrap my head around actually setting eyes on her.

By the time I was ready to head home, not long after 9pm, Kimberly asked if I'd be ok to drive to which I laughed (“Of course!” I thought)... and so I set off. During the 10 minute drive home, I had 3 pressure waves which were the first ones that I really took notice of (being the wise hypno-doula that she was, she totally knew I was farther along than I was even aware of!). Also on my drive home, a black bear crossed the street in front of me (I live in “bear country” so this is not uncommon) – I of course safely snapped a quick picture, bookmarking the time and then stopped a bit farther up the road to warn the couple walking their dog of what I had just seen. I laugh now thinking of what they would say if I ran into them again and told them that at that moment I was so close to giving birth! :)

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By the time I got home, I immediately had another wave at

my front door & noted the time (9:29pm). I went to the

bathroom where I had yet another wave & FINALLY thought

“maybe I should time these” - they were already 2-3 minutes

apart!

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My husband came and found me breathing through the

waves and, being the great partner that he is, he immediately

started in supporting me with my Hypnobabies cues. I was

already focused and imagining my anesthesia flowing all

around my baby with each wave but his touch (Relax Cue –

a deepening technique) & verbal prompts just made it all

that much easier.

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                                                                                                             My husband asked if he should call Kimberly & I remember                                                                                                               telling him that it had to still be too early (I had JUST left her                                                                                                               about 20 minutes before!). Then I had another wave as I                                                                                                                     was saying this and that's when I realized just how powerful                                                                                                               these waves were & he was given permission to make the                                                                                                                 call.

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                                                                                                             As we were waiting for her to arrive, with the waves coming                                                                                                               one after another, I then remember him asking if we should                                                                                                                 just call the midwife and AGAIN, my reply was that it was                                                                                                                   too  early yet ... then changing my mind again after the next                                                                                                               wave!

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I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that we were actually going to meet our daughter... let alone how close we actually were to this!!

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I used my Hypnobabies Lightswitch with every wave and

pretty much kept my eyes closed the entire time focusing

on my Special Place (connecting with my daughter),

imagining my body soft and relaxed (especially my face)

and just breathing through each wave with my PEACE Cue.

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I remember hearing the team starting to assemble (everyone

came pretty quickly) and by shortly after 10pm, everyone

had arrived. I got a break between waves and quickly moved

downstairs to my birthing suite where our final home birth

preparations were already taking place.

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My midwife asked to check me once we got downstairs & I consented to a vaginal exam – I had asked not to know details, so    my midwife very helpfully only told me there was “lots of change” happening & I went right back into focusing. had my birthing guide “Easy First Stage” playing out loud during the waves finding Kerry's voice to be so calming & grounding. It really helped keep me focused. Of course my team (doula & hubs) were also  amazingly supportive with both my physical and cues.

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                                                                                                              My birth pool was filling and I remember moving to the side                                                                                                                of the pool sitting on the ball for a bit when I suddenly got                                                                                                                  an urge to push! It surprised me – I even asked out loud if                                                                                                                  it was OK! If you've read my first birth story, you'll know                                                                                                                      that my son took his sweet time so to be there already was                                                                                                                a bit shocking to me to say the least! I think it surprised                                                                                                                      everyone actually because my husband had been given                                                                                                                    the ok by the midwife to run upstairs for a quick shower and                                                                                                        we then had to send someone up to get him!

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As if by magic, my birth pool happened to be ready then

and I was given the ok to get in. This is when I started to

really feel pushy... not long after, my body just completely

took over and after only 2 pushes and 14 minutes,

my sweet baby girl was in my arms.

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                                                                                                                Evelyn May was born in the comfort of my home,                                                                                                                                surrounded by love after a speedy 2.5hrs of birthing, one                                                                                                                  minute shy of 42 weeks, one minute after our second                                                                                                                          midwife arrived & in the caul (with the amniotic membrane                                                                                                                  still intact – it broke AS she came out... pretty                                                                                                                                      much exactly as I had imagined).

 

 

                                                                                                                                                 * If you look closely in this photo, you can see                                                                                                                                       the membrane still covering her face!

 

 

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I think it's fair to say that we got off to a rocky start

(more on this below) but, it was the birth I had envisioned

in the end (including the midwife I was secretly hoping for

- also a hypno-mom!) & I am so grateful for the ridiculously

amazing support I received, as well as of course my

Hypnobabies tools: I honestly could not imagine doing

any of it without Hypnobabies!

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Using Hypnobabies in Pregnancy

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~ Trigger Warning / BOP (for any Hypnobabies students reading this) ~

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Evelyn is my double rainbow baby. After 2 consecutive miscarriages, it's easy to appreciate that I had a lot of tough emotions coming up early on in this pregnancy. Having already done the program & having access to all of the sessions early on, I was so thankful to be able to use my Hypnobabies tools right away. I used the Pregnancy Affirmations to stay positive and the “Special Place” Imagery to connect with my baby. The Fear Clearing session allowed me to remain in the moment and not let my fears get too far away from me in those early days.

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Then, when I was 27 weeks pregnant, my appendix ruptured.

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My Hypnobabies tools were an instrumental part of my recovery not to mention keeping my sanity during the entire ordeal. I used the Special Place Imagery over and over again. This session allowed me to check in on my baby and feel close to her & trust that she was safe (this was my go-to even while waiting for surgery!).

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In the hospital, I played the Deepening track every night to help me fall into a more restful sleep followed often by the Affirmations on a loop all night long. The Fear Clearing helped me release my fears and stay focused on my baby and my recovery. Also interesting for me was that whenever I used my “glowing orange hypno-anesthesia” in those early days (a Hypnobabies tool for anyone reading this who hasn't taken the course...yet!), instead of being orange at that time it was actually white which I interpreted as calming, soothing, healing and cleansing.

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Hypnobabies gives you tools for any curve balls life can throw!

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