Hypnosis for Childbirth

I've had so many posts lined up to put on my blog, but one is particularly close to my mind and heart right now. Austin and I just finished our fifth (out of six) Hypnobabies class. It's hard to describe in words what this class has brought to my life and my pregnancy. It's seems almost superficial to say that the class is "awesome" or even that I "love" it. It seems though the experience is controlled and the classes "the same" for everyone, each person seems to experience hypnosis, and the classes for that matter, in a different way. This is what the class has brought me:

1. This class has brought me a knowledge I thirsted for, backed up by concrete sources. It is truly astonishing what the power of knowledge alone can do for a pregnant/birthing woman.
2. This class has brought me peace and added self-mastery. I'm not only calmer about my pregnancy and birth experience, I am calmer in general! I would venture to say that most anyone who really knows me, would notice a difference in my temperament. I don't stress myself out to get things done anymore. I look at them calmly, choose my attitude carefully, and then go about to patiently complete them (most of the time).
3. This class has brought me comfort in pregnancy. So often when pregnancy comes up in circles of conversation it turns to uncomfortable and negative effects of pregnancy and birthing. I feel none of those emotions or discomforts any longer. I enjoy being pregnant. I love imagining how I will birth my baby and what he will look like. I cherish my sweet two-year-old, thinking that I gave birth to him, with his sweet smile and growing personality, is even more of a miracle. Motherhood is not a chore or a burden and neither is pregnancy or birth (as an integral part of motherhood). It is the greatest blessing of my life!
4. This class has brought my husband and I closer together. I don't know how often before my husband would think about my pregnancy or birth, but it seems this class at least has given us more occasions to discuss them. Spending four hours (not including 20 minutes of driving each way) a week with him (and of course other birthing couples) has been a wonderful time for us, especially for our second baby (when it's so easy to be distracted by current mommy duties).
5. This class has helped me release fears and let my joy and excitement soar! I feel so wonderfully excited to have this baby. I feel such an inner joy and gratitude for the great journey to become a mother. Somehow, each time I become a mother there is a beautiful re-birth for me, as well as bringing a new soul into the world. I always felt this, but releasing my fears in addition has made me feel it much more intensely.
6. This class has brought me confidence. I know what I know is true for me. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks or feels. I know we will have a beautiful, calm, natural birth that will be perfect for me, my husband, our son, and our new little baby.