I remained healthy throughout my pregnancy, aside from an occasion discomfort or two. Even when they did occur, I was prepared to know how to successfully eliminate common discomforts associated with pregnancy. Feeling good during those last months was great. Then it came time to begin to prepare for the delivery.

Not only could I prepare for delivery, but also I was able to know exactly when delivery would take place. I didn't want my baby to be born in the middle of the night no more than my anxious family did. Who wants to get woken up at 3 a.m. by the "It's time!" phone call? Frank and I had done a session to find out when the baby wanted to be born. Thursday, July 31st, between noon and 4 p.m. was the answer I received. I was thrilled to find this out, since my OB had scheduled me to be induced Friday at 6 a.m. the very next day.

After learning my doctor's intentions, I called Frank. I was upset knowing that the past few months of preparing would be ruined. Relaxation was all I planned to rely on. However, my doctor wanted to use drugs and more forced methods such as a membrane rupture. Over the phone, along with self taught technique, Frank spoke to the baby. He simply informed her of our situation and stated that it would be okay for her to come earlier. I was still little worried about it all. Reason being that it was only two days before the due date I planned for. If she was to come "earlier", how much earlier could it really be? Especially after Wednesday came and went. That left the original date of the July 31st for her to be born how we had planned.

I woke up that morning still feeling good. I had a feeling that I should call my coach since he lived 30 minutes away, even though I didn't think I was in active labor. I felt no pain, just an uncomfortable kind of feeling. I knew that she was coming. We arrived at the hospital around 10 a.m. They told us that there were two other women ahead of me, waiting for rooms. Because I looked comfortable and didn't appear to be far into labor, they told me they would examine me to see if I was in fact in labor at all. I quickly became the talk of the nurses station because not only was I having contractions, but I was dilated to a 9 and was ready to crown! Needless to say, I didn't have to wait for a room. In the birthing room, I still appeared to be comfortable, so they left me with only one nurse. We started a normal conversation about delivering babies and such as I came closer to delivering. When the baby started to come out, the nurse was shocked and quickly needed to call the resident OB in. My doctor barely made it to the delivery. He walked in just as the resident was cutting the cord. He stood to the side, still wearing a golf shirt, and couldn't believe how fast it all happened.

My daughter, Ashlyn Skye, was born at 11:04 a.m.-not even 1 hour after I checked into the hospital. I joked with Frank over the phone that the "come earlier" turned out to be only an hour earlier. Surprised to learn this was my first child, the nursing staff told me if I planned to have anymore children in the future that they wanted to deliver them. They said I was so calm and actually pleasant to be around compared to screaming and demanding patients in pain.

My daughter is so calm and well behaved. She quickly adapted to my sleep schedule. She stays alert throughout the day and slept through the night after just a few weeks. I would highly recommend Frank Garfield and hypnosis to any woman who would rather enjoy every minute of giving birth rather than fearing pain associated with it.

My story could end with the birth of my beautiful baby girl. However, I have more to tell. While it was true my delivery only took about one hour, my recovery in the hospital lasted a span of 3 days. Unknown to Frank or myself, I developed a problem that disabled my body from the ability for my blood to clot. This resulted in hours of nurses and doctors trying to get the blood to stop when the afterbirth came out. They wanted to use medications, which I denied, to assist with clotting while they discovered what they thought was the problem. My daughter came so fast; I had torn during delivery. After getting a number of stitches, my blood count had diminished greatly. I received two blood transfusions to compensate. This was the reason I stayed an extra two days. First day home, I called Frank to let him know what happened and to tell him how I was doing. Again, over the phone, Frank conducted a session to allow for the bleeding to stop. I was also instructed to continue to listen to my relaxation CD to promote fast healing.

I was scheduled for a follow-up with my doctor with one week. Much to my doctor's surprise, bleeding did in fact cease and my sutures were nearly all dissolved and healed. Even when I had complications after the fact, I was so incredibly grateful that I could rely on Frank and hypnosis to make the whole ordeal as easy as it could be. There's no doubt in my mind that the step I took towards Frank's office was the best step I could have ever taken.   

Tina M. Griswold

 

   
The crew from "Down Under" (Sydney Australia) all Certified Medical Hypnotherapists

L to R : Ann Eyres, Julie Brown (from UK), Campbell McCubben, Del Layton, Kathy Loy & Rae Brown