October 2010 Archives
The Natural Birth Story of Theresa’s Twin Girls
Vivian & Fiona’s Birth Story by Theresa Wohlfeld
Written by Theresa for the La Leche League of Dallas Newsletter in August 2003
After a long painful labor with my first daughter, I decided to take a different route when I became pregnant again. (…) Carrying two was definitely more challenging than my singleton pregnancy. I didn’t feel up to my usual daily dog walks –just chasing Veronica all day was workout enough. I tried to eat a lot of nutritious food, and I rested every afternoon for a couple of hours. I started having Level 2 sonograms, and everything always looked great. Both babies were head down, and their growth was right on track. Getting used to the idea of having twins was such an adjustment, I hadn’t given much thought to the birth. When a friend told me she was taking a HypnoBirthing® class, I was really curious. The idea is that, through self-hypnosis, you bring yourself to such a relaxed state that your body does the work of labor without interpreting the sensations of contractions (surges) as pain. Ideally you experience the surges as pressure. It sounded great to me, if maybe too good to be true.
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After talking to a few instructors, my husband and I decided to take classes from Nadine Romain and hired her as our doula as well. The classes were great, and I found that I really enjoyed practicing self-hypnosis. Being in such a relaxed state is really a pleasant experience. I used the techniques to release a lot of my fears about the birth and also my fears of being overwhelmed by the realities of breastfeeding and caring for two newborns in addition to our toddler. My husband and I practiced whenever we could, and I worked on visualizations I would have him and Nadine prompt me with during labor. I came up with a “Special Place” (my backyard) that they would describe to me to help me relax.
I had been told that as soon as I reached 35 weeks I was pretty much full term for twins, so we were getting ready and excited in early April. When I went in for my 37 week checkup with Susan, I was thrilled to find out I was 4 1/2 cm dilated and 90% effaced. Almost halfway there! I had been having a lot of Braxton-Hicks contractions but none were painful. It was incredible to find out I had made so much progress without even knowing it.
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Theresa & Family in August 2003
I reached 38 weeks with no babies yet, and friends and family were starting to get anxious. I was now 5 cm dilated and wondering what the babies were waiting for! I was not worried myself, but people were starting to ask me, “When are they going to take the babies?” “Take them where?” was my response. It seems that the general practice of most OB’s is not to let a twin pregnancy go much past 38 weeks. I was so glad that I was not being pressured by Susan (Akins, my midwife) to do something. She did say that she would break my water whenever I wanted her to if I became too uncomfortable and just wanted to get on with it. I hadn’t reached that point yet.
At 39 weeks I had a non-stress test, and the babies did great. I also had another Level 2 sonogram and everything again looked perfect. The amniotic fluid level was good, and the girls’ estimated weight was now 61/2 to 7 pounds each. The doctor doing the sonogram was amazed that I was closing in on 40 weeks and had had no problems. I was now setting a record for length of twin gestation for his office!
As week 39 wore on, I was starting to worry that when labor did finally start, things might progress too fast. We needed enough time to get Veronica settled with someone and get ourselves to the hospital in time. I didn’t really want an unassisted home birth with twins! My husband and I decided to pick a day that we would want Susan to break my waters. We settled on Friday May 2nd –just a few days before my 40 week due date of May 5th.
Friday came and I was very relaxed and felt very comfortable with my decision to push things along a bit. I had Nadine with me, and I had slept the night before and eaten breakfast. I felt ready for the challenge ahead of me. Susan examined me and found that I was 6cm dilated, 100% effaced and that baby A was at +1 station. Yeah! We were so close. She broke my water at 9:30 am, and I started having surges about 10 minutes later. My husband talked me through them, and I felt confident and relaxed. Another 10 minutes later the surges were really strong. I didn’t seem to get a break between them. I was getting a little panicky at this point. It reminded me a lot of my labor with Veronica, and I had my doubts that I was going to make it through without medication. The fact that the air conditioning was out didn’t help. The room was stuffy, and I was getting really nervous.
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At this point Nadine stepped in. She had a little hand held fan that she handed to my husband to point at my face. She put a wet washcloth on my forehead and started to talk me into a deeper state of relaxation. She has a wonderful French accent and a very soothing manner of speaking that immediately put my mind and body at ease. She used the visualizations we had worked on to help me relax and also urged me to project myself forward in time to when I was already holding my babies. I instinctively started to moan softly with the surges, and I was surprised by how much this helped. The pain and panic were now gone, and I only felt a slight pressure in my abdomen as each surge peaked. I was somewhat aware of nurses coming in and out of the room, but it was not disturbing to me. We had our soft music on and the lights dimmed, and my focus stayed on being relaxed.
The staff at Baylor was really great about working with us. They tried hard to keep things as quiet and peaceful as possible. At about 11:00 am someone came into the room to take my blood. I was only vaguely aware of his presence and just heard Nadine say, “Your arm is going to float up and someone will hold it for a minute.” I gently lifted my arm and felt someone’s hand hold it, but that was all. I didn’t feel the bind of the elastic or the prick of the needle or anything! I had to ask someone later if they got the blood sample at all.
A minute later, I felt a little nauseous and then a strange sensation of my body bearing down. It wasn’t like I felt consciously that it was time to push; my body was just doing it on its own.
Nadine was startled and said, “What’s happening, Theresa?” I replied, “I think the babies are coming.” I heard her repeat my words excitedly, and all of a sudden there was a lot of movement in the room. I heard someone call out for Susan, and then she examined me and I was completely dilated! It had only been 1 1/2 hours since labor had started. Everyone was rushing around preparing to move me from the LDR room to the OR. I kept my eyes closed to stay focused, but in the hallway I heard someone ask “Where’s Dad?” We’d left Paul back in the other room where he was changing into scrubs. It all happened so fast no one was quite ready!
He soon joined us in the OR where the doctor on call was also with us. I felt nauseous again, and my body again instinctively pushed. It was really amazing to realize that I had surrendered the birthing process to my body. I just did what felt right; I wasn’t really thinking about it. I really felt that my body knew what to do, and I just got out of the way, so to speak. I moaned with each surge and just felt a tingly numbness as the first baby crowned. A few more pushes and Vivian Elise was born at 11:33 am weighing 6 lbs. 14 oz. She was put immediately on my chest, and I was so excited to finally meet her. I just remember being almost overwhelmed with how easy it was. I couldn’t believe I already had one of my babies! Paul said later that I looked almost dazed. It wasn’t too good to be true; HypnoBirthing® had worked!
After about 10 minutes of rest, I could feel my second baby getting ready to descend. This was one of the most amazing parts of the births. I felt the surge start and then the baby move all the way down my body and through the birth canal in one intense continuous movement. It was wild! This was definitely a sensation you wouldn’t feel with the birth of a singleton (as they are engaged down in your pelvis by the time of their birth). Fiona Marie was born after that one push at 11:46 weighing 7 lbs. There was no need for an episiotomy, and I had only a tiny tear as Fiona Marie came out with her hand on her cheek.
Both babies were robust and healthy.
We couldn’t have been any happier with their births. I delivered twins at almost 40 weeks after only two hours of labor, and it honestly didn’t hurt! What could be better than that? Life at home has been a little hectic with three girls under three, but the babies are nursing and gaining weight well and even sleep a five to six hour stretch at night. I never imagined that I would have twins, and now we can’t imagine life without them.
We are so lucky to have found Nadine and HypnoBirthing®. I had the unmedicated birth I’d always wished for. It was a revelation to learn that birthing is something that our bodies know how to do. Women are taught to fear the process and that pain is inevitable. The cycle of fear and adrenaline does lead to pain, and now that I have experienced both kinds of labor, I know that it doesn’t have to be that way. It was amazing to learn that labor can actually be an enjoyable experience and not just something that has to be endured. I will forever be grateful for my serene birth experience.
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When Birth goes “Quantum”: Painfree Birth is Possible!
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that the way we look at life has changed tremendously in the past, say, 10-20 years! Quantum physics principles and daily applications are popping up every now and then and just remind us that we are not only made of this flesh and bone stuff; that beyond what our eyes perceive there are living cells made of molecules and atoms, and if we continue our magnification process, we discover a whole new world where the electrons and little packs of energy are either here or there, or NOT here, nor there but in other dimensions… The world of the infinitely small keeps changing and moving in this dimension and out of this dimension… Why would it be different for us?
And what does that have to do with me giving birth, you may ask?
Quantum Physics has everything to do with giving birth in bliss, free of pain… because it demonstrates to the average gal that what we see is just the tip of the iceberg…. our whole being is not limited to an assembly of atom and molecules, even if most amazingly assembled, I’ll give you that! The essence of who we are is in the unseen… The energy that holds it together! That which you could call “Life Force”, “Unconditional Love”, “God” or “Source”, or many, many other names. When you give birth, it is not only a bundle of flesh and blood responding to hormones, it is that life expression in its ultimate power of creation… Can you see that?
Quantum physics gives us proofs that our thoughts are things as real and as powerful as any other thing around us. Thoughts influence and create our reality. Quantum physics shows us that an outside observer to any situation DOES change the outcome (the physical reality). Translate: how you feel at birth and what you think makes a difference in the unfolding of the birth process! What other people in the room (nurses, midwives, doctors, husbands, doulas, family members) think, feel and believe influences the way your birth unfolds too. Knowingly or unknowingly!
So, if you become a master of your thoughts and learn how to shift your emotions and keep focusing on what you do want (rather that what everybody says it will be like), you can become the creator of a very blissful birth, free of pain and complications.
And, yes, it takes some time and practice… But it also is easier than you think… Because you already know this stuff… It’s just a question of re-finding and remembering it.
I dedicate my life to teaching pregnant couples and all birth professionals this “Quantum Birthing…”
Would you be interested?
Continue reading When Birth goes “Quantum”: Painfree Birth is Possible!
