Hypnobabies Week 3

This post is a review of my third class using the Hypnobabies at home study course for hypnosis in labor. I finished class three a while ago but haven't had a chance to blog about it yet. The theme of this week's class was "birthing choices" mostly revolving around interventions typically used in hospital birth. They lay out most of the interventions that you typically see in a hospital setting and explain the risks and benefits of each. Since this is a course which is meant for women who are seeking a natural birth it is a somewhat biased approach against the interventions. Having said that I do think the way they present the information is a little more tolerable than other "pro-natural delivery" people I have talked to or things I have read. I have come into contact with people and literature that literally try to scare women into following their advice on natural labor and advocate for women to "demand" and "refuse" and "don't trust the hospital staff." Scare tactics like that really leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Speaking as a medical professional myself I have a different perspective on hospital birth than the average person. I understand that a medical focused model is what I am going to get in a hospital. I understand the rationale for many of the things that they do and why they do it. All that being said I do still want as natural a labor as possible with as little interventions as possible. That is the best choice for me but that doesn't mean that I don't want access to advanced care should something change (which it does). When you walk in the door not wanting to work with the staff and your doctor you are setting yourself up for difficulty. To be honest these women who honestly don't want ANYTHING and are not willing to compromise shouldn't be giving birth in a hospital. You have the option of a birthing center or a home birth, both of which are viable options if you do it the right way and keep it as safe as possible. Ok i'll get off my soapbox now....

I am planning on having a written birth plan for the nurses and my OB (we have already talked about this) but I understand that birth is a dynamic and constantly changing experience and I am willing to bend and flex as need be. The readings of Class # 3 helped me start to think about how I want to word my birth plan and they stress working WITH the hospital team and that THEY ARE NOT THE ENEMY (Amen!)

The hypnosis tracks were

Creating Anesthesia
&
Deepening

I am loving the time out I take every day to listen to my tracks. It's 30 min of total relaxation and I think it's working, I'm feeling more and more relaxed each time I do it. Next week is when my "birth partner" a.k.a. Kyle will get integrated into the process. I have given him the head's up that it's coming; he seems skeptical but he knows it's important to me so he said he'll do whatever needs doing.

Good man!

I'll let you know how it's progressing in my next hypnobabies post!

for more information on hypnobabies check out their website here

Hypnobabies Week 2

So this week (27 Weeks knocked up) is my second week of my at home study course on hypnosis for childbirth called hypnobabies

The Title of Class 2 is "Having a Great Birth Starts with Staying Healthy and Low Risk"

The workbook reading this week was centered around healthy pregnancy diet and exercise. It reinforced some things and introduced me to some new concepts that I am planning on incorporating into my last trimester (i.e. more protein in my diet). My exercise regimen has been waining over the last several weeks due to my own laziness (If I must be honest) but I have been trying to be diligent about doing my prenatal exercises at least three times a week as well as going for walks as often as possible after dinner with Kyle.

There were also some readings about hypnosis as well as an introduction to the self hypnosis skill used in this program. Each day the program recommends that I listen to a hypnosis track as well as my "joyful pregnancy affirmations" track. 

The hypnosis tracks I listened to this week were

Day 1: Learning Self - Hypnosis

Day 2: Deepening

I have loaded each CD onto iTunes and put them on my phone in individual playlists to make it easy to listen to. They stress that you should NEVER listen to them while driving (or operating heavy machinery haha) and I and understand why. Usually I am so relaxed about 10 minutes in that I can't imagine focusing enough to drive a car. Each track is about 30 min so I have gotten into the habit of making myself comfortable on our spare couch in the early afternoon and take a "time out" for 1/2 hour to listen to my track. For the first day or so I just focused on listening to the suggestions and trying not to take it too seriously. The program emphasizes that it will work for you in the way that is best for you. So even if you're not feeling "hypnotized" your inner mind is still benefiting from the positive messages.

(ya ok....)

All the more reason to just relax and see what happens.....

 Kyle took a pic of one of my sessions this week :-) I just need a kitty sized pair of headphones for Alex!

I haven't really felt any of of "hypno-anesthesia" yet that they talk about but I HAVE noticed that my general attitude surrounding my pregnancy has really improved. I no longer think about my pregnant body as fat or ugly or think about my birthing time as scary nearly as often as I used to. I really believe that those attitudes are due to hypnobabies. I hope that continues!

Next week I'll learn about "creating anesthesia" 

Read my post on my first week of hypnobabies here

Bump it: 26 Weeks & Hypnobabies Week 1

Hey everyone! I'm 26 Weeks along!

Hey all! Everything is still progressing normally with this pregnancy, I feel so blessed! The baby is moving around more and more each day; it's incredible to feel someone else moving around inside me. At first he was only moving at night but it seems like I'm noticing a kick or two during the day as well. I love feeling those kicks; I feel like it's the baby's way of letting me know that everything is going well! "All's good in here Mama!" My belly is getting bigger but no stretch marks yet ::fingers crossed:: I have been slathering my belly every day after my shower with Burt's Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter in my vain attempt to prevent stretch marks. So far I have been lucky but I realize that in reality it's a crap shoot and based a lot more on genetics and less on how many pounds of cocoa butter I apply to my body at any given time. My belly button is still an innie (but a really shallow one); I figured that I would certainly have an outie by now, I know by the end of the month it will have popped out :-)

This week I started my self hypnosis at home study coure called Hypnobabies (c) 

I had never herd of self hypnosis much less hypnosis for pregnancy before I was introduced to this program from another Navy Wife. She told me that a natural childbirth was really important to her and that this program really helped make that a reality for her. I was immediately intrigued and ordered the home study course from Amazon. I figured I would give it a try and at least it would give me some "tools in my toolbox" for my labor. Best case senario it helps a lot and I get a baby; worst case senario it doesn't work at all and I get a baby, either way I don't lose! 

The course is divided into 6 parts with 5 classes lasting one week each and a 6th "Maintenance Class" that I continue until I deliver. I got a huge packet in the mail with lots of paperwork and the workbook and 6 CD packet (shown in the picture). Each week you have to read the lesson and each day listen to the CD "assignments" 

The Tracks for week one are

1. Your Special Safe Place

2. Easy, Comfortable Childbirth

They also recommend that each day you listen to another track; Joyful Pregnancy Affirmations which is a 30 min track filled with positive messages about pregnancy and childbirth. It has really helped me feel much more positive about my pregnant body and my ability to give birth naturally.

So far I read the week one portion of the workbook and listened to each track once. It is actually a nice routine to get into each day because each day for 30 minutes I can check out completely and just focus on myself and be completely relaxed. I think I'm going to enjoy this course

I'll update you as I move through the program

Check out the Hypnobabies website here

Ok, that's enough of my rambling!

Until next time I remain a happy mama to be!