My 2nd son, I did a complete different approach: hypnobirth + birth center. At 37th week, my dr saw that the amniotic fluid was significantly low. They wanted to ripen my cervix before inducing me, so I was given a cervidol.

 I was sitting in my LD&R room, watching football with my husband and couple of our friends. I've had frequent Braxton Hicks so I don't even know when my actual labor really started; all I know is, I was totally in a trance of hypnobirth visualization technique. I seriously don't know if I was dilated or not because I had asked the nurse to remove monitors (that shows the contraction waves) from my room and to NOT check on my cervix until they absolutely need to - they honored my wishes pleasantly and let me do my thing. 

Mild and intermitten surges came and went, but I wasn't feeling any 'labor pain' ~ I had a wireless monitor strapped on my tummy for nurses at the station to keep watch. Several times the nurse came in to check on how I was feeling, and I was feeling fine; talking and laughing. Qtr to 11pm, the dr checked and said I'll need another dose of Cervidol at midnight if my cervix wasn't ripe enough for her to induce. She said I will probably give birth the next morning around 9am, and left. 

Well, after she left, I decided to soak in the bath tub. Instant comfort and relaxation; I felt longer and stronger waves of surge came rolling, but I was beyond comfortable and totally zen'd out; not in pain at all. Then I felt the urge to poop. I told my husband I need to poop and to help me out or I'll poop in the tub. He asked if I needed to poop or if I needed to push (baby) - I said I don't know. He went to get the nurse when another urge to poop overrode me. She was stressing my husband to get me on the bed ASAP (she knew I was about to give birth but I didn't think I was ready to give birth yet) ~ I climbed onto the bed, leaning over the propped bed, facing the wall behind the bed, while my naked ass mooned the whole staff. I felt the need to poop again and I remember thinking "OMG I'm gonna poop in front of all these ppl and not a baby" ~ then I felt the "POP!" Like a water balloon popping. I thought that was my water breaking. No, that was my baby's head coming out. So my baby's face was looking at my husband, while I was still leaning over the bed facing the wall. Nurse was trying to get me to turn around, and when they turned me, I almost fell off the bed, my husband caught my body and my nurse was supporting me from the other side of the bed. Suddenly, the pooping feeling was gone so I just said "ok I'm good now!" And my husband told me "what do you mean you're good now?! You need to keep pushing!" I said "I wasn't pushing at all; what are you talking about??" Nurse looked at me and said "Listen to me, ok? You need to push now because the baby's head is already out." ~ meanwhile I hear another nurse saying "all hands on deck! Where's the dr?! Oh she went home! Where's so-and-so (the only midwife that was working that night)?!" I just looked at my husband confused, why am I pushing and I don't know how to push? So I took a deep breath and imagined blowing a floating red balloon down in my uterus, and felt my baby slip out. Right when the baby slipped out, the midwife came running in to catch him. Immediately he was placed on my chest and I was stunned. Like.... How the hell did I just have a painless labor & delivery...?!? 30 min later, my dr came running. She was surprised within that one hour that she left, I went from 0 to 10, an active labor to transition in one hour - without me even realizing. And without me 'pushing', my second son, Gianni was born. 

I tore 2cm and stitching that was the most painful thing I ever experienced in labor & delivery. 

I am passionate about this technique of birth and wish more women were aware of this amazing alternative birth... It CAN BE DONE painlessly and peacefully. 

I am excited to do hypnobirth again soon. I am now facing 37th week with my third boy. Whenever he decides to come, I'll be ready ;)