Our home birth experience was wonderful. I had been having lots of practice surges off and on for several days prior to the birth. The morning of the birth, I had been having very strong surges with lots of pressure for a couple of hours, but they stopped. Mary and Cauley, the midwives, came over that afternoon because I had been dilated to almost 2 centimeters and 60 percent effaced at my last check up. Mary was concerned that things were going to go rather quickly once I did go into active labor and wanted to check for more cervical change. When she arrived at 5:30, I was dilated to almost 4 centimeters and 80 percent effaced but the surges had lagged. Gil and I were instructed to do lots of hugging and making out and to go for a nice walk. We did. The surges began at about 8:00 that evening. They were 4 minutes apart...lots of pressure. WE walked for about an hour and a half off and on. By 10:30, they were less than 2 minutes apart and VERY intense. For the most part, the surges were quite manageable until the last 20 minutes or so. As it turns out, my son decided to bring his right hand with him against his cheek. This put his elbow right into my lower back. Not comfortable...to say the very least. It was at this point that my husband had to remind me of what you had said in class about that time when women tend to feel like giving up. You were absolutely right. No sooner had I uttered the words "I don't know how much longer I can do this," when I felt my body take over and begin to "push." Three good pushes and out came Wyatt, right into Gil's loving arms. It was amazing.

I cannot say enough about my Mary and Cauley. They were phenomenal. Not once, was I told what to do. No one poked or prodded me during my labor. They truly left us alone until they could tell from my noises that the baby was close. When it was time for them to be present, they remained close, but spoke very little and always whispered, so very respectful of the work I was doing. The baby was not pulled from my body; he simply came out, all on his own. My membranes were not ruptured to speed things along; they released as the baby emerged. Unfortunately, the cord had to be clamped right away because it was short and tore a little during the birth, causing bleeding. When either of the women had reason to handle the baby, it was done gently and with kindness. The baby didn't even cry until his newborn check, which was done an hour later. Wyatt weighed in at 8 lbs. and was 20 inches long. Mary and Cauley (the midwives) were outstanding. They fed me, helped me bathe, and even threw in a load of laundry before they left. Truly wonderful people.

The whole experience was phenomenal. I would recommend a home birth with Mary to anyone. I am sure that the HypnoBirthing is what made the first two and a half hours of my labor so manageable and comfortable. I am not sure that anything could have made the elbow in my back comfortable! Anyhow, that's my story.

Thank you, Gisela, for a wonderful class. I don't plan to have any more children, but if I were, I would definitely take your class again.

Best wishes,

Jocelyn