HypnoBabies

Zach and I just finished up our 6-week Hypnobabies class. Since most of you probably don't know what Hypnobabies is all about (we didn't before this pregnancy!) here's a little info if you're interested in learning about what'll be going on during the Birthing Time. We've got our "birth suite" upstairs, so friends and family are welcome to come to the house and hang out downstairs during the birthing time without worry of disrupting me. It'll probably be kind of the same scenario as we had at the hospital for Lolli's birth, with people coming in to visit in short shifts during the birthing time and in the waiting room (which is our downstairs!) for the rest of the time. We realize not everyone may be able to make it depending on when baby decides to be born, but we really hope to have family and close friends here to meet the newest family member when she arrives :)

http://www.hypnobabies.com/
What is Hypnobabies" Eyes-Open Childbirth Hypnosis"?
Eyes-Open Childbirth Hypnosis is one of the excellent techniques that sets Hypnobabies apart from other natural childbirth programs and helps our Hypno-Moms to truly enjoy childbirth. It originally comes from master hypnotist Gerald Kein’s exploration of exactly what women wanted in childbirth as he sat down with a group of them and they gave him their invaluable feedback.. “I don’t want to be relegated to a hospital bed, only lying down to maintain my relaxation and focus! When I’m giving birth, I don’t want drugs, and I want to be physically comfortable doing what comes naturally! I want to be able to move around freely, change positions, eat, drink, communicate, shower, squat and as I do, I want to be completely relaxed, calm, confident and completely comfortable!” Not asking too much, did they?

Actually, NO. Gerald Kein set about to create exactly what they asked him to - a way for women to use hypnotic childbirth while being supremely mobile, able to easily move into upright positions that aided in the descent and position of the baby during birthing, while still allowing the mother to enjoy childbirth comfortably. These hypnosis suggestions were built right into his Painless Childbirth scripts, reinforced many times and very powerfully created exactly that. He called it, “Eyes-Open Childbirth Hypnosis” and we decided to use it in Hypnobabies, which Gerry is very proud of, and the rest is.history.

Eyes-open, self-hypnosis the way Hypnobabies teaches it, gives mom all the control over her hypnosis during her birthing time with a drop of her finger literally. Practicing our finger-drop/eyes-open childbirth hypnosis technique for instant self-hypnosis and anesthesia, allows you to be mobile and even open your eyes throughout your birthing time, and not be rendered dependent upon passively listening to deep relaxation and guided imagery, which has been a major concern of many expectant mothers who have done other natural childbirth programs.

Why choose a natural, easier birth using Hynobabies? The benefits are many:
● The Hypno-mom will use fewer drugs or no drugs, which means less risk of side effects for mother and baby, due to elimination of the Fear/Tension/Pain Syndrome, and using post-hypnotic suggestions.
● Most Hypno-mothers have shorter labors since there is less resistance of the birthing muscles when pain and fear are minimized or eliminated.
● The birthing woman generally has much more energy throughout first and second stage, due to a total relaxation throughout the birthing process.
● The birthing environment is much more calm and peaceful when the natural childbirth mother is comfortable.
● Breech and posterior babies can be turned using hypnosis.
● Blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature can be lowered and nausea, back and hip pain eliminated with hypnosis during pregnancy and labor.
● There are fewer interventions for failure to progress and therefore fewer fetal and maternal complications during labor.
● The deep relaxation in Hypnobabies sessions has also helped many a nervous birth partner to enjoy their partner's pregnancy and childbirth, and the skills that the Hypno-couple learns for relaxation and hypnosis will benefit them for the rest of their lives.
● Our Hypno-couples are "deprogrammed" from the usual negativity of childbirth stories and scenarios they've always heard, by way of training in Hypnobabies classes and audio CDs which have positive messages and hypnotic suggestions. This automatically allows for a positive attitude and much more confidence in birthing.

How you can assist the Hypno-family
We are all very suggestible and the words we use have specific connotations to them. Many of the words commonly used regarding labor and birth have negative associations to them in the minds oif our expectant mothers, so we have changed some of them to create a positive association. If you can use them as well, it would be very helpful and very much appreciated.
*Birthing Time: in place of “labor”
*Pressure Wave: in place of “contraction” or “labor pain”
*Pressure and Comfort: We do not use the word “pain” at any time; we instead use “pressure” and we create comfort with our minds. Please don’t ask her if she’s in pain, since our Hypno-mom is in hypnosis and the mere suggestion of pain could cause it to happen!
*Birthing: Our word for “delivery”; our aim is a gentle, confident birthing, not for someone to intrusively “deliver” the baby

Preparation!

Zach, Lauren and Lolli spent the past week getting the house all ready for baby. This meant rearranging the bedroom to fit: a king-size bed, a full-sized crib, a dresser, a chest, 2 night stands, a dog bed, a co-sleeper attachment, and an Amby baby hammock. Whew! They also organized Zach's office to fit the futon in there, which meant moving one of his desks to the loft and getting rid of Lauren's old computer cart. Then they set up the twin bed in the birthing room and hung affirmations on the wall. All of the birth supplies are organized in a dresser, just waiting to be needed! The upstairs bathrooms got a new massaging showerhead as well as a new shower curtain liner. The garage was cleaned out and de-junked. As of this morning, the entire house is clean, all at once - they even scrubbed out the fridge and replaced an old toilet seat. All of Poppy's sheets, clothes, blankets and prefolds are washed and ready to go. As soon as her diaper covers arrive, everything will be complete! But don't come yet, little baby, because Zach and Lauren are going to a concert in Cincinnati in 2 weeks!

Pregnancy Update

Zach, Lolli, Molly and I went to see Lynda yesterday. The short version: everything's going great! If you're bored, feel free to read more ;)

I got the results of the 1-hour glucose test I took on May 1st. I had been so sure I would fail it, I even ate some chocolate the night before the test because I didn't even see a point in trying. I had tested my own glucose levels a couple times with Dad's glucomometer and my 1-hour level had been high (230's, I think?) but my 2 and 3 hour levels had been fine, so I wasn't really concerned about Gestational Diabetes, just sure I would fail the 1-hour test and have to take the dreaded 3-hour test. That morning I ate breakfast then a few hours later went to the lab, drank my 20 ounces of 100% purple grape juice (apparently midwives don't make their clients chug that Glu-Cola stuff, hooray!), and 1 hour later they drew my blood. I needed to be below 140 to "pass." My score: 106!!! Woohoo!

So anyway, yesterday I was 32 weeks 5 days. I was measuring 33.5 centimeters, which was actually lower than we'd expected (have been measuring 2 or 2.5 cm ahead consistently). That's because the baby is moving down lower into my pelvis! Which I knew, because I'm peeing more often now :) The baby's heartrate was high 130's, low 140's. My blood pressure was 106/168, which is good.

Lynda helped Zach feel the baby's rump (easy to find!) and follow the curve of the baby's back (which was on the left side for a change!) down to the head (not as easy to find). Zach was able to "hold" the baby's head in his hand, which I am a bit jealous of because I can't really reach. It was fun to watch him get to "hold" the baby again (he found the head one other time when we were doing belly mapping for fun).

Lolli knows the drill now, and starts saying "baby baby baby" as soon as I hop up on the table in the exam room. She loves hearing the heartbeat. I hope she's not disappointed when the baby comes and there's no more "whoosh whoosh whoosh" in mommy's belly :)

We also got a list of basic supplies to have available on our birth day. Most of it we already have (large bowl for placenta, receiving blankets for baby, towels, etc). We'll get our official Birth Kit Supply list in a week or so, and then get to go shopping for the things Lynda doesn't bring with her. Our next visit is June 3rd and after that it's time for the Home Visit on June 15th!

We're 1/3 of the way done with our Hypnobabies classes and so far we really like it. I have scripts on CD to listen to every other day and Zach reads me scripts on the other days. I also have a wonderful "Joyful Pregnancy" affirmations cd that I listen to in the car and I love it! The ultimate goal of Hypnobabies is pain-free birth, so we'll see. My analytical mind is still skeptical, but when we're doing a session, I feel soooo relaxed that I'm starting to think it may be possible to train my mind to feel only pressure, not discomfort. Even if I don't get good enough to feel no pain, I am 100% sure that doing this will help me relax, which is what I was unable to do during my last labor (I think). Wish us luck!

I went to the chiropractor for the first time on Friday. I'm hoping that getting adjusted for the remainder of my pregnancy will really help baby in the birthing process to come out quickly and effeciently (and hopefully comfortable for her!). At the very least is took away the pain in my left hip, which hadn't been bothering me terribly, but it's nice to have it gone! I go again on Wednesday.

I'm still drinking my RRL, alfalfa, nettles and peppermint tea every day. And drinking my 100 ounces of water and adding chlorophyll to 1 bottle. Taking my vitamins and being sure to get boatloads of healthy proteins. I've been on a fruit kick lately but have been trying not to fill up on it too much so I can fit in all the other stuff I need to be eating. I blame Farm Fresh Delivery ;)

Our "birth suite" is ready, except for the tub which won't come until I'm about 39 weeks. I still need to work on getting food in the freezer. The baby's clothes are washed and put away, ready for baby! We still need to get a pack of disposible diapers for the first week and then our cloth stash for after that (the smallest we had for Lolli fits 15lbs and up). I wanna clean up the car seat a little bit and wash the sheets on the Amby and Co-sleeper, so that whichever one we decide to use will be ready to go. I really feel like this second baby thing is easy to prepare for, 'cause we already have almost everything we need. I'm sure there will be things we'll realize we need after baby is born, but getting out of the house is good for us, so a-shopping we will go :)

Prego survey

How far along? 32 weeks, 4 days



Total weight gain/loss: 24 lbs



Maternity clothes? Mostly, although I still wear some non-maternity shirts.



Stretch marks? The ones I acquired while growing Lolli are just now starting to get a little big longer. Not too bad, though.



Sleep: I am incredibly tired. I never sleep for longer than 2 hours in a row and since we get up early, I'm only in bed for about 8 hours a night. I'm exhausted!!!



Best moment this week: Hmm... Watching how excited Zach was when got to feel the baby having hiccups.



Movement: Pretty active, but usually stays in the same spot. Arm and hand movement is felt way down low and the legs kick up in the center of the top of my belly.



Food cravings: Lately it's been fruit



Gender: Sex is female, hoping the gender is, too, but I guess we won't know that 100% for a couple decades!



Labor Signs: None, really. Having lots of pressure waves, but no actual sign of the birthing day coming any time soon (which is good)



Belly Button in or out? Getting close to flat



What I miss: Sleeping. Being comfortable (even laying on my side is totally uncomfy at this point). Being able to have a glass of wine at night. Being able to bend over without pain.



Weekly Wisdom: Babies come on their birth days, not when a doctor decides



Milestones: Started Hypnobabies class last week! And in 3 more weeks and 3 days, I'll be full term (36 weeks) and eligible for home birth!



Next appointment: Tomorrow. I think we'll get our list of supplies to buy for the birth. Fun!

18 Month Well Visit

Lolli's 18 Month Well Visit was today, even though she's coming up on 20 months old. She measured 32 inches tall, weighed in at 24 lbs 12oz, and has an 18 inch noggin. She's right at the 50th percentile for all of those. She's met all of the developmenal milestones expected for an 18-month old and has even mastered many of the 2-year old ones, so she's right on track!

She cried when she had to be laid down on the table to be measured, but other than that she was very brave. She loves the fish in the waiting room and had blast pointing out all the different colored fish. "Purple! Blue-a! "Ish" (orange) "Yellow!"

She showed the doctor where lots of her body parts are and repeated many words he said, which led the doctor to say to Zach and Lauren, "Ooohhh, you gotta watch what you say around this one!" Ha yes, they are very aware!

Stringing Words Together!

Lolli is really starting to string words together. Last night she and Lauren were at Papaw Swain's. They were all sitting outside and Lolli was eating ice. When her bowl was empty, she picked it up and said, "More ice! More ice!" Then later, after feeding the donkeys celery and strawberries, she said, "Bye Donkeys!" Woohoo!

Getting ready!

Lauren washed all the NB and 0-3 months clothes in "free" detergent, dried them without fabric softener, carefully folded them, and placed them in the drawer that used to hold her socks. Now Poppy's wardrobe is ready and waiting for her :)