My beatiful baby girl is here!

My sweet little Amelia Jane came into the world on Saturday night at 7:30pm, and my heart is so full of joy and love. She is 8lbs, 5ozs, 19inches long, and she is just beautiful. I am so in love with her, and I know she wanted me to have a perfect and easy labor because it was the most beautiful labor I've ever had. If you haven't heart of hypnobabies, you should definitely look into it. I was able to completely work with my body and baby so that I naturally birthed her without really feeling the pain. It was the most natural hospital birth I think I could have imagined. And Amelia is healthy and strong, and beautiful. She came out very aware, and content to be with me, and is already eating like a pro. All of my prayers have been answered very specifically, and I feel so overwhelmed with how much Heavenly Father has poured out his blessings upon us.

I really feel the truth of that last talk by Elder Wirthlin before he died "Come What May and Love it"- My favorite quote from that talk is: "The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude."
I really feel that Heavenly Father has compensated me for every tear in this beautiful miracle of our new daughter.

And here's the long version of my labor using hypnobirthing and hypnobabies techniques.

On Saturday morning we got to the hospital at 8:30am hoping for the induction they promised me, and sure enough I was able to get in. They started my IV for GBS and a low dose of pitocin by 10am. Then I had to wait at least 4 hours to get my 2nd dose of GBS meds before they would break my water (and I figured that's when the real labor could really begin). In the mean time, they kept raising my pitocin in small increments to keep my contractions going, and I used my hypnobirthing methods to stay completely relaxed. Before they broke my water I had dialted to a 4, and hadn't experienced pain thanks to my hypnobirthing.
My doctor ended up taking longer than expected because he got caught in another delivery, so he didn't get over to break my water till around 4:30pm. I had been feeling a lot of anxiety about having my water broken because I knew everything would take off from there, and the pain would get worse. But just after he broke my water, I felt a calm, peaceful feeling that everything was going to be okay. And I felt excited about my little Amelia coming to see me soon.

Sure enough, the contractions got more intense, and I had to fully utelize my hypnobirthing mp3s and the support of my husband and doula. Within an hour I had progressed to a 5, and then in another hour I had progressed to a 6. I tried using the birthing ball on the bed and the floor, but things were getting intense and I knew transition was getting close. I just kept thinking about my little Amelia, and it got me through the contractions.

It was so nice to have a doula there, and the nurses were great about letting us do whatever we wanted and not coming in to bug us. After hearing I was still only at a 6, I started to feel like this was taking forever and didn't know how much longer I could hold up. It was so nice to be able to listen to my body's natural instincts so that I went through transition on my hands and knees, helping the baby turn the way she needed to and loosening up the birth canal for her to come through. After just a few more intense contractions I was wondering how much longer it would be and why I didn't feel any urge to push yet. The nurse asked if I felt any pressure yet, and I said yes. Then in the next contraction, I felt it all at once, and pushed her entire head out in one push! The attending nurse kind of panicked because she had no idea I was so close and had just barely told me not to push yet so she could get some help, and no one expected the baby to come so fast! She ran to get other nurses and instantly there were several people in the room. I waited till the next contraction about one minute later, and pushed the rest of her out on my hands and knees- the most natural position I could have imagined. I am so glad the nurses were so accomodating to my position and didn't try to get me to turn around and lie on my back right in the middle like they did with Isaac!
Everything about my experience was so beautiful- and more than I ever imagined. My labor and recovery feel so much nicer than they ever did with my first two, and I even tore so much less! It is amazing how powerful your mind can be in relaxing your body, and I really felt like Amelia and I worked together through it. Most often during natural labor, a woman will fight the pain of the contractions, making them feel worse- but I welcomed them, knowing they would bring me Amelia, and I really feel like my body is healing better because of it.