I have never been more ready ,was all I could think when the pressure waves became more consistent . I woke up at 5:39am to what felt like a menstrual cramp . I ate a little started drinking water and couldn't help, but fall back to sleep as my mind prepared itself. I woke again at 9am to the same feeling. I felt at ease. I began walking the stairs at my house because I knew it was time. For the first time my mind did not race or panic and I hadn't even begun the self hypnosis just yet.I felt proud of myself a feeling so long forgotten. Throughout the morning the pressure waves became consistent and along with letting my midwives know I felt ready to begin the hypnosis. My birthing partner by my side the track began to play ,my finger dropped ,and my switch was off. It was just me and him it was quiet and peaceful. When the pressure waves again started I felt as if it was a hug. By midnight I was 5 minutes apart and at that point I was excited. In my mind I pictured my safe place. Which was a forest I had often visited anytime I felt left behind or hurt or unloved. It was my safe haven and to share all this with my little one and birthing partner I had for once brought good feelings to that safe haven. We left our home everything packed and ready and with my mother driving we drove 40 minutes to my midwives and at that time my body some how pushed the pressure waves to just 2 minutes apart. Now the scary part. On the way there I was sure I knew the right road to get on as soon as we were clear of the free way thinking I knew my way I turned off the gps and told my mother turn left. Yet what I meant to say was right. My helpful and unknowing mother of course took the left as to not upset me to make me lose my focus. Within seconds we were back on the freeway. With my contractions 2 minutes apart at this point I needed to find peace and quickly as the gps rerouted. We had to drive for an extra 14 minutes back to the road we should've been on before. I will admit I lost focus because i panicked and had it not been for the calmness of my partner and mother I don't think I would've easily regained it. We finally arrived at 1:44am. My heart was calm and mind at ease with what I knew what was coming. The tub was filled and a few moments later my water broke. My switch was off at that moment and all I felt was a slight pop. I smiled at my littles ones progress at 8cm I felt something might have been off with her position though she was facing down I felt like she needed to be checked. Sure enough her head was a tad bit off center. The next few cm would be spent getting her to center and of course the midwives did just that by 10 cm she was centered .Throughout the labor I stayed on my knees and switched from bed to even the floor or back to the tub. 3am to 6am was the hardest times to keep my breathing focused. I focused on listening to the birthing time track. 5:50 am I went back into the tub on my knees and felt the need to bare down and push. That's just what I did. Putting my back up against the tub with my arms supporting my weight I pushed and pushed. My husband ready to deliver our child smiled and said she has hair I smiled just like I did was all i could think. I kept my eyes closed and continued to let my body do what it was meant to. 6am my baby was in my arms. She cried that beautiful cry and I could help but hold her to my chest. She was here and all the trial and fighting while pregnant was over. Me and my husband looked at our beautiful baby girl and shared a smile and tears. I will never forget this day.
Added thanks to my hypno instructor Claudia Buckly for all her wonderful guidance. I couldn't be more grateful to learn what I learned.

Before I go to the details of my VBAC birth, I want to tell a little about my previous birth experiences.

My first birth was a very typical hospital birth. I took a hypnobirthing (Mongan method) class and thought I was prepared for what was going to happen. On April 21st 2010 (Two days before my guess date), I woke up at 11:30 pm with some consistent pressure waves. I stayed up all night timing them (silly me) and they were every 6 minutes. We got to the hospital at 6:00 a.m. on April 22nd. I was checked and I was a 6. They checked me again at 11 a.m. and I was still a 6. My OB was asking me to start doing pitocin to speed things along. The thought of having pitocin made me very nervous. After 12 hours of coping with back labor and having my OB pressuring me to get pitocin, I caved in and got an epidural and the pitocin. Even with the epidural things were very uncomfortable especially after they broke my water. Finally the time to push came. After about 30 minutes of pushing my OB asked me if he could perform an episiotomy because I had a tight fit. I didn’t even know what an episiotomy was but I consented to it because my OB must know better right? Everything was very far from what I was planning and expected. My boy was born at 2:29 p.m. On April 22nd weighing 7lbs 8 oz.

For my second birth I was more prepared and confident that I could have the natural birth I desire. I did the Hypnobabies home course and saw how different it was from hypnobirthing. I had a different OB who seem to be very supportive of the natural birth I planned for. As I approached the end of my pregnancy my OB became very concerned about the size that my baby was showing on the ultrasounds. He offered to induce me as soon as I reached 39 weeks but I declined. My due date came and baby wasn’t here yet. At 40 w 2 d, I had an OB appointment and my OB greeted me shaking my hand and saying very rudely: “YOU ARE STILL PREGNANT.” He measured the baby and the ultrasound said he was 10 lbs. He freaked out and told me that a C-section was the only way to go. He also told me that if I was his wife and planning on a natural birth with my circumstances, he would divorce me right away. 

I was more than shocked at what he had said and asked him for the risks of having a C-section, just to hear his answer. He told me that there were no risks in having a C-section. [!!!] I left the office and went to a hospital to get a second opinion. At the hospital they did an ultrasound and measured the baby at 12 lbs. after hearing that, I got a little scared for the baby and the risks he could face so I consented to the C-section. He was 10lbs 3oz at birth. I had a very bad recovery.

I did a lot of things to prepare for my third birth: Hypnobabies, Hypno-doula, 3 cups of red raspberry leaf tea daily since the beginning of my pregnancy, Dr. Christopher’s birth prep pills, wheat germ oil pills to strengthen my uterus, weekly chiropractic adjustments for the last 3 months of pregnancy, exercising, eating healthier than usual, head inversion exercises from spinningbabies.com, and most important lots of prayers. Here are the details of my Hypnobabies birth:
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On Saturday April 23rd 2016, I was 6 days passed my guess date. I was so ready for my baby to be on my arms. This was my second VBAC hypnobabies birth and first home birth. While my husband was getting a night snack ready for himself, I started to walk around in circles on our family room. Bryce thought I was being silly, but I just had a feeling that I didn't want to be on the treadmill if my birthing waves suddenly started. Thinking back, I am so glad I followed my instinct. We started to watch a movie at about 8:30 pm. We watched "Here Comes the Boom" which was very suiting to what was coming that night. 
At about 9:45 pm, I started to feel pressure waves which were strong in intensity. I didn’t feel pressure waves like that until the last 2 hours before my last baby was born. I texted my midwife and she told me she was coming to see how I was doing. The pressure waves continued, and I told my husband to prepare the birthing pool. I went to the bathroom and noticed I had some blood show. This was a sign for me that this was indeed my birthing time. 
When my midwife came, she was so surprised to see me so calm and making jokes like always. Thus, she didn’t think it was my birthing time. My midwife asked if she could check my cervix and I consented. This was the first time she ever checked my cervix during the whole pregnancy. I had told her before that I am always a zero until the very last moment. That was the case with my previous 3 births. After she checked me she said: "Now I see what you mean, I can't even find your cervix." The fact that I was so relaxed (like we were just visiting) and a zero in dilation, made my midwife think I still had a long night ahead of me. She asked me if I wanted her to stay. She lives 15 minutes from me, so she promised to come back if I wanted her to check on me again later that night. Bryce wasn’t very keen on the idea. He kept asking me “are you sure they should go?” I was thinking that maybe I would have a long night ahead of me. After all, my last birth lasted 18 hours from the time of the first birthing wave until baby out. Thus, I told her it was fine if she wanted to go. My mom, who was already at my house, told her that I am always very calm during my births (yay Hypnobabies!), but it didn’t mean this wasn’t "it." She said I was just fooling all of us. We all laughed at her comment and said good bye to our midwife and her assistant.
 After they left, I went to bed and did some nipple stimulation to get things going. Also, I visualized my cervix opening with each birthing wave and kept looking at all the birth empowering affirmations I had hung up throughout the house.  Soon after that, my pressure waves increased in intensity and duration. I tried relaxing my jaw and repeating the Hypnobabies prompts. This helped me to stay relaxed.  At that time, I was progressing very rapidly, and I didn’t realize I was already in transition. But, how could I? It was only 10 mins after my midwife left my home and 30 mins after being checked at zero dilation. I went to the bathroom, and it was again very intense. At the time, I was still thinking I had a lot of time to get my cervix to open up. I know...Silly me. 
Bryce came to our room to check on me. I leaned on him for two contractions and did something I had never done before-vocalizing! I got on a kneeling position next to my bed and felt my water breaking. Bryce asked me if he should call the midwife and I nodded. After about 10 more minutes, I was passed the transition stage and my Hypno-anesthesia took over.  
Bryce really did an amazing job for the birth. When I went to the living room where the pool was at, I was pleasingly surprised that he had the hypnobabies tracks going on and the video camera all set up and running. Listening to the tracks really helped me stayed focus and relaxed-Thank you babe!  I rested on the birthing ball next to the pool.  Bryce started to boil water since the pool wasn’t close to be full at all. With my previous birthing time, he admitted he did not think I was really having the baby that day because of how calmed I looked. This time around, because of how calmed I was, he took me seriously! He was so on top of things, making sure I was comfortable, boiling water for the tub, putting the relaxation tracks on, giving me water, and so much more. He did more in 2 hours this time around than in the 18 hours my previous birth took. 
My mom was very nervous because she had very traumatic births and this was her first time witnessing a homebirth.  As she came out of the bedroom, I proceeded to reassure her that I was doing great. It was funny how she was all nervous, and I was making sure she was okay. I kept telling her I was doing just fine. At this point I was resting on the birthing ball and letting my body do the rest. My mom proceeded to gently rub my back, which felt so good and soothing.
My midwife arrived at 12:00 am. She was really surprised to find me resting on the ball, and the baby already crowning. She later admitted that she didn’t expect to see me that advanced in my birthing time. She thought I was going to be a 7 at the most.  I got into the pool even though it was only 1/3 of the way full. I pushed several times. Then, I tried to move to a different position. As I was getting up, his head came out and a second after he was born! At exactly 12:10 am, He entered this Earth. It was only 2 hours and 30 mins from my first birthing wave. He weighed 8lbs 9oz and 20.5 inches long.  I had a small tear that needed stitches.  I made sure to use my hypnobabies technique to stay relaxed. I used the finger drop technique and went to “Center.” And, it was not painful at all! But what I loved the most was the pushing stage. It was like having a walking epidural. I didn’t feel a thing, which is amazing and all thanks to the Hypnobabies techniques I learned. It gave me the tools to have a wonderful, peaceful, and powerful birth. ​