I love Carrie and I was able to have my successful homebirth come true with her by my side. Carrie was our Hynobabies instructor, I found her on a random google search AND when my midwife also suggested her I knew it was meant to be. During our class time Carrie made my husband and I so comfortable about birth and gave us tools to have a clear vision of what we wanted for our homebirth. Her voice was so relaxing I knew I had to have her as my Doula. She could put me in the best-relaxed state with just her voice alone. I told my husband I had to have her their for our birth. Our homebirth was a breeze because of Carrie. Before Carrie arrived my husband felt very anxious and unsure of what to do, once Carrie got here he felt reassured and knew she was able to help me and give my husband peace of mind knowing that she had been through this multiple times and was experienced. As soon as my contractions got closer together she was called and never left our side until our baby girl was born. She knew exactly what to do and gave me prompts just when I needed them. She was assertive and recognized what I needed to guide me through each contraction. She went above and beyond my expectations and I cannot wait to have her again for my second homebirth. Thank you Carrie for everything that you’ve done for our family. ~
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On 5/9/15 at 8am my water broke... It started out as a small trickle with no contractions. I realized by 9 am my contractions were coming in a lot more. I was very calm and collected. I assumed we had more time to finish any baby stuff this weekend, but we didn't so I wanted to make sure we at least went to Babies R Us (so glad I went because we got a brand new pack and play Trinidad Ed. for $189 org. Price $250) and Target to pickup last minute items. While shopping I started to feel contractions every 2 minutes lasting only 25 seconds. I couldn't focus to time exactly my contractions. After we left Babies R Us, at the car I felt a huge gush of water come out. When I got home I knew we had to pack our bags, finish our laundry and shower. This is when I really started using my hypnobabies techniques. I have listened to these tracks for 21 weeks so I started listening to the tracks to ease me. The contractions really only felt like pressure. By 12:30 my contractions started to feel stronger and closer together but totally doable since I had breaks in between. On the way to the hospital I listened to more relaxing affirmations (this takes away the fear of giving birth). I was admitted into the hospital by 12:45 (after we stopped to get cookies for the nurses at Albertsons). By this time I started feeling pushy. My contractions started feeling more intense... But again it was completely bearable!! It felt like a lot of pressure. By 1:30 my pushy feeling continued and the midwife gave me a vaginal exam - I WAS 7 cm and 100% effaced!!!! They were soooooo surprised!! By 2:00 I started to push baby out asking my hubby to put on the hypnosis track of pushing the baby out. I'm not sure how long I was pushing...everything was so fast! 2:30 baby was here. Amazingly enough there was no ring of fire so many women talk about. It was a tingling feeling. A few pushes and baby was out! I think pushing the baby out too fast caused my tears, but my hypnosis still protected me still during this time. Everything was calm and beautiful, and my baby girl was alert and calm! The midwife and nurses just kept saying: you need to teach other women how to do this.
I believe the key is to just go with the contractions and not being afraid of it. I had my husband and doula remind me to relax. The room was quiet. The nurses were awesome and NEVER pushed me to do anything I didn't want to do. Hypnobabies didn't just prepare me for birth but it kept me calm and focused the entire pregnancy. I slept very well all the way through my pregnancy and didn't let the negative horror birth stories of other people affect me. Remember ladies, our bodies are made for this. Don't be afraid and embrace it all!! Carrie supported my family and I through my second child birthing experience. I wasn't satisfied with my first child birthing experience in the hospital two years ago, so I decided to educate myself more deeply and have a natural birth experience. First, we took Carrie's Hypnobabies class and then we asked Carrie to be our Doula for our big day! The classes were great. It was a few hours once a week that allowed us to educate ourselves, practice techniques, create our birth plan (super helpful for hospital births and doulas) and did I mention RELAX! Carrie was always available to us via e-mail or phone outside of class. As our doula she visited our home to get to know us and understand our birth plan. Carrie was all about giving me and my family the tools and information to plan the birth that we wanted, never forcing her own preferences on us. Carrie is truly on a mission to give every family the birth they want and imagine, and boy, did we get that! I had such a wonderful birth! I was on the fence about a water birth and had communicated in advance that I was open to it, if it felt right when the time came. Carrie suggested it during my birthing experience to help relax me more during the later stage of my birthing when I was fully dilated and I am SO GLAD she did. Being in the tub made such a difference for me! My baby was born in the tub about 30-40 minutes later!"
Of all the choices to have our first child, our wisest was asking Carrie to be our Doula. She was our trusted partner, our mentor, our coach, and our friend through the trials and tribulations to meet our son. Her knowledge and experience guided us through peeks of birthing, and her patience and warmth grounded us during the valleys in-between. While our journey wasn't exactly to plan, the experience was beyond expectations- and Carrie was there every step of the way. Our son is wonderful and the memory of his arrival will always include you.
If you're looking for someone to help you get through birth, Carrie is not for you. But I would never choose anyone else to be there on the day we welcome our baby into the world.
I found Carrie when I was looking for Hypnobabies classes in my area. I was pretty sure I wanted a Hypnobabies birth in my home, but I thought I did not want a doula. My concern was it would minimize my husbands role as my support. Eventually I changed my mind, deciding I would like to have a woman present to reassure me that things were normal and safe. This ended up being one of the best decisions. Carrie was the instructor for my Hypnobabies class. The class was amazing. Beyond being a powerful tool for birth, it was also a couple hours to be relaxed and get excited about giving birth! Carrie was an awesome instructor AND host. It was always cozy with lots of pillows and tasty, healthy snacks. It felt so much like visiting family, especially when I got to know the other two awesome couples. (I almost chose private classes, but I'm so so glad I did a group class!) About Carrie as a doula: I saw an ob and a midwife during my pregnancy. At my 40 week appointment, my ob wanted to schedule my induction for the following week. I had no indicators that the baby was in any distress. I wanted to have my baby at home and I had learned in my Hypnobabies class that spontaneous birth of first babies doesn't typically happen at, or before, 41 weeks. I wanted to give my baby a fair chance at picking her own birthday. So when my ob insisted we schedule an induction, I panicked. I started texting Carrie who helped me tremendously. She urged me to call her and we talked about other options and she provided me with several resources. Most importantly, she helped me refocus and find calm. This would become a reoccurring theme in our relationship. On June 29, I started feeling pressure waves consistently. I text Carrie and she took it completely seriously, as she did the 2-3 previous times I text her saying "I don't know, but this might be it". She never made me feel silly about "first time mother" questions. Things picked up and I text her again the following day and she came over. When things stalled out, she had lots of tools for getting things moving again. No matter how spaced out things got, Carrie did not leave. That evening, things really picked up, and would continue to be pretty intense for the next two days. Carries hypnosis scripts carried me through. She was there by the bathtub, by the bed, playing the Hypnobabies tracks, helping my husband, and always focused on my needs. When I got discouraged, she was there for support. When I was feeling strong, she was my biggest cheerleader. Her presence was always warm and calm even when hours became days. During the last six hours of my birthing time, everyone was exhausted , but her and my husband took shifts by the pool. My husband could not have done this alone. This was also the most magical time of my birth. If you're wondering HYPNOBABIES WORKS. I was in a beautiful hypnosis and in this time all I needed was quiet, the scent of lavender, and water. And that's exactly what was provided. Shortly thereafter the midwife came, Carrie tied back my hair and started a camera, I pushed, and horray! In the afternoon of July 1, there was my beautiful 9 pound, 3 ounce baby girl! Carrie stayed for several more hours, helping with post partum recovery. In fact, at one point, while she was tidying up I had to insist she go home and rest. So, if you're pregnant and reading this wondering will Carrie help you "get through" birth? No. She will be there, experiencing it with you. She's there for the marathon, not the finish line. And what an awesome marathon it will be! We couldn’t have asked for a more passionate and enthusiastic birth educator and doula! Carrie was such a great support to us not only during the birth but also during the pregnancy and those first few trying days after birth, she really is the total package and why we choose her.
During the hipnobabies training Carrie really teaches you the tools you need to stay calm and relaxed, she also will help guide you with all the millions of questions a new soon to be mom has. Our daughter flipped breech and after a lot of efforts to get her turned naturally it just didn’t happen. Carrie was with me step by step when I had an inversion preformed. She helped me to stay calm and relaxed and we successfully got the baby back in to place. Carries support, knowledge and encouragement was so helpful during this process. The birth of our daughter didn’t go as planned as I’m sure most don’t, but Carrie was so supportive and flexible to meet our needs through the process. Carrie is not afraid to dive in and help where she’s needed, even in those most difficult moments that most would shy away from. We feel very luck to have had Carrie be apart of this special and life changing moment and we consider her a forever friend. My Husband and I were looking to have a natural birth for our first child. We wanted to find an instructor who had used Hypnobabies and that we could relate to. We were planning to have a water birth and Carrie was our Hypnobabies Instructor and our Doula. I was nervous as most first time moms are about the pregnancy and birth, and Carrie was so warm, caring, professional, and informative. She gave me the tools to be confident and proactive about my birth experience. I learned so much from her and her Hypnobabies class.
Initially, I was debating if I really needed a Doula for my birth. I figured that having my husband there was enough. Boy was I wrong! Thank goodness I decided to ask Carrie to be my Doula. I had several false alarms (braxton hicks) at all hours of the day and night and Carrie was there every time with me and my husband at the birthing center offering support and guidance. When I finally went into my birthing time, having Carrie there to help me use my Hypnobabies and also to help my husband so that he could have a break was great. I couldn't have asked for a better Doula and having Carrie there was the best thing I could have done for my birthing time. From my experience, it's best to have the same person for both as an instrucor and as a Doula, because you have already established a rapport with each other. I highly recommend Carrie as a Hypnobabies Instructor and a Doula! Thanks to Carrie, I had a wonderful birthing experience. On July 30, 2014, my life was forever changed. I gave birth to my sweet baby boy. I had an amazing experience using Hypnobabies and am so thankful that I was able to have a natural delivery without any pain medication. My husband and I hired Carrie as our doula and she was awesome. I don't know how I could have done it without her. Birthing my baby was the most powerful and hardest thing that I've ever done. With Hypnobabies and Carrie, my birthing waves were not painful. Even my doctor was surprised at how well I was doing. Carrie was professional, caring and really kept me focused. She cheered me on, guided me though the Hypnobabies scripts, helped with dealing with the doctor and helped keep me in positions that were comfortable. My husband and I were less stressed having Carrie there. I will be forever thankful to Carrie for helping me to have the beautiful birth experience that I had hoped for.
Joshua and I were extremely pleased with your Doula services! We were especially thankful for the successful natural birth of our son Henry Wilde Smith! You grasiously guided us through our Hypnobabies birth and you were there for us every step of the way.
We were up against a lot of odds with my previous birth resulting in a c-section and we definitely had our concerns. You put all of that rest however, by offering us the reassurance that child-birthing is a natural experience that can be enjoyed by any woman, even one with my history. I can't express enough how much your support and knowledge meant to us. You were that voice of reason and glimmer of hope that we needed to pull through. Your professionalism and reliability was always present. We are so thankful for your doula services and expertise with Hypnobabies and beyond throughout our pregnancy. Our only regret is that we didn't hire you sooner! We would gladly recommend your services to any couple or single mother that is considering a natural birth. We look forward to growing our relationship with you and we would absolutely hire you if we are ever pregnant again. You helped us achieve a joyous and beautiful birthing experience. Kristin and Joshua Smith Everyone told me to be prepared to “be late”! So I wasn't expecting it when I started my birthing time, two days before my guess date, and I didn't actually believe it was happening until we called my midwife telling her we thought I had food poisoning and needed to go to the hospital.
But let me rewind a little... I really enjoyed my Hypnobabies classes and the home-play, and I know that listening to the CD’s and practicing my self-hypnosis kept me relaxed through the last few months of my pregnancy. I had confidence in my body and myself, and I wasn’t scared about giving birth. However I was nervous about finding the right doula. Our Hypnobabies instructor wasn’t a doula herself, so I had to look else where to find a Hypno-doula. We had a couple interviews with potential doulas that never felt right, until we met Carrie. After 10 minutes I knew that Carrie was the one! Fast forward to June 7th… My Mother-In-Law and some of her friends were in town visiting for a few days and we all decided to go out to dinner. At dinner everyone said that I didn’t have that so-called ‘look’ and that they thought it would probably be at least another week or so, and I really did too. I ate some heavy and decadent food, like lobster mac n’ cheese and crème brûlée but I was really just looking forward to getting home so I could relax and not talk about when I when I was going to “go into labor” anymore! After dinner my husband, Daniel, went out for a nightcap with his Mom and I went home and listened to a couple Hypnobabies tracks and went to sleep. I woke up at 11:00pm with what I thought were horrible stomach cramps, which lead me straight to the bathroom thinking I had food poisoning. In the back of my head I thought that it was possibly my birthing time, so I downloaded an app to track the cramps, which were every 4 – 5 minutes or so. But I still thought I was just sick! Around 1:00 am I decided that I needed to wake Daniel up because I thought I would need to go to the hospital if I was really having food poisoning. 30 minutes after waking him up I told him to call our midwife to find out what we should do. Of course she asked if the cramps were rhythmic and if we were timing them, and then she informed us that it wasn’t food poisoning but my birthing time! She told us to call Carrie and to keep in touch as things progressed. We had this expectation that my birthing time would start out slowly, giving us ample time to get everything set up. Which lead to this romantic idea of baking muffins together and putting together charcuterie platters for our birthing team. The reality was that my pressure waves were pretty intense from the get-go and I wasn’t able to talk or even think clearly during them. I ended up shouting out to Daniel in between to “get this” and “do that”, as I sat in the bathroom thinking about all the things I needed to do but couldn’t make myself move. I spent some time in the shower, which felt amazing and then around 2:30 am I told him to call Carrie and get her down here. While we waited for Carrie to arrive I tired to play my Hypnobabies tracks and get myself into hypnosis. Although I don’t remember much between 3:00 am – 4:30 am, I clearly remember the feeling of relief once she arrived! Carrie helped me deepen my hypnosis so I could relax in between and during my pressure waves, and just allow my body and baby to do what they knew to do. At some point I really started to feel pressure in my low back, so we moved from the toilet to my birthing ball, where I was able to sway a little while she massaged by back and read me scripts, all the while keeping in touch with our midwife. Then boom, around 4:45 am my bag of waters broke, and I was pushing and I couldn’t stop myself! Carrie asked me if I was pushing and then quickly messaged my midwife to hurry because the baby would be here soon. She told Daniel to get the birthing tub inflated and filled and helped me get unto our bed in case our baby girl came before our midwife arrived. My midwife said when she and her assistant ran through the door that Daniel looked like a deer caught in headlights! They quickly checked the baby’s heart beat and let me reach down to feel her head, and then helped me into the filing tub. Getting into the tub was the BEST feeling ever! Within 2 or 3 pushes our baby girl was born and I sat back against the tub as they placed her in my arms. I remember looking back at Daniel and feeling this love for him that I’ve never felt and then looking down at our daughter knowing that our love for her was more powerful than anything we’ve ever felt and that we would move mountains, if we had to, to give her an amazing life. I will be forever grateful for all the support and love that Carrie gave to us before, during and after Everly’s birth. We can’t wait to get pregnant again and will without a doubt have Carrie as our Hypno-doula!! |