Hypnobabies: Afterbirth

 Right After Birth: 
  Kory went through a bunch of medical precaution drama right after birth. It meant for a really tired mother!! I was grateful again for my hypnosis for many reasons including:
1. During afterbirth pains, I didn't have to take any medication. I must admit that I forgot that they existed until the day of his birth (he was born in the middle of the night) and was surprised and frustrated by the pain a felt. When I prepared to nurse him each time after, I tried to prepare by putting myself in center-switch first, which helped immensely. I was still completely medication free.
2. In the seemingly LONG hours he was in the special care nursery, I used hypnosis to help me relax, when I couldn't be in an actual bed to sleep. It helped me to think level-headed so I could make better choices. It helped me with patience and most of all hope that my baby would be healthy and normal (though I must note it was only one factor to this end).

 Adjusting to a new "Normal": 
In the months following Kory's birth, I struggled to feel like my "normal" self again and to adjust to having him as part of our family. Hypnobabies helped me in the following ways:
1. I used the After Baby is Comes script, which I borrowed from a close friend. It helped me to relax before sleeping and to remember my priorities.
2. I still (5 1/2 months later) use my off switch to help me get to sleep at night. I'm a busy mom of two children and our house is hectic! It can be difficult to find time to think, but also difficult for me to turn the thinking off. Use my off-switch - goodbye emotions and thoughts, hello sleep! I love it!
3. It still seems difficult for me still to apply what I've learned to the rest of my life. A relaxed, optimistic (yet still impressively productive) me did not really exist before hypnobabies (at least outside of vacation). I still find myself stressed and struggle to balance life. I wish there was a script for everything...perhaps if I use my off switch more often or put myself in center while I try to memorize meaningful scriptures.

Reflection:
 In my quest to have this birth, I became passionate and desired to help other women find what I have found birth can be (which is not necessarily a "natural" birth experience). I recognize now though that extreme caution comes with such the sharing of such personal experiences. Not everyone wants a natural birth and even more, not everyone can have a natural birth experience. Yet every woman can have intense joy and wonder at choosing to partake in such a beautiful miracle; in giving bodies to God's precious children. I do not desire to make anyone feel shamed or guilty because they have not experienced an unmedicated vaginal birth.

 Instead, I hope that I can positive and encouraging of each unique mother and her beautiful baby. I hope I will have many more opportunities to testify that our purpose as women truly to is give bodies to these precious children of God. It is to nurture them by teaching them, loving them, and directing them to Him, their loving Heavenly Father. We should not be comparing or judgmental. We should not be negative or depressed. Pregnancy, birth, and motherhood are not easy, but that is all the more reason we need to cheer each other on! We can do it! It is our calling from On High and we will surely have His help as we seek for it.

Breastfeeding Fashion

I've been struggling for clothes lately, now that I'm nursing again. Seriously, what did I do for clothes the first time I was nursing?! I feel like everything is uncomfortable to nurse in this summer and I'm dreading when the baby starts pulling at the nursing cover!
I ran across Mod Milk Momma - a site by my college friend, Mandi. So cute! I love her thrift. I love her easy tutorial on making any top to accommodate breastfeeding AND modesty by including a tank underneath! I just bought 10 of the Old Navy tanks for only $20! I'm so excited that the $20 is going to save me A TON in buying nursing clothes! The tutorial looks super easy (even for an intimidated, green seamstress such as myself). It might just help me get over the fear of using that machine ;) Hope you enjoy the site! I'm proud to be a Mod Milk Momma too!

New C-Section Guildelines

I was happy to read this article on C-Section guidelines, referenced on my friend Jenny's blog. I'm grateful that the pendulum is starting to swing the other way. It's scary how much interest groups and national academies, which are set up to actually represent and help differing groups, can actually set up guidelines to hurt them. Be careful with the power you've been given!
I'm grateful the ACOG has more seriously considered the tragic C-Section rate in our country. I'm grateful we have C-Sections (for which my breech, leg behind his head, low heart rate, and one month early water breaking husband would not have been born without). Still think that 1/3 of the United States' women have them is alarming! I'm hoping this policy especially helps so many women who'd like to have a VBAC! What are your thoughts?

Kory's Beautiful Hypnobabies Birth

On Monday morning, March 21^st, 2011, I decided I wanted to sleep in, for no particular reason. I felt awake but just wanted more sleep. I finally got up at about 8:30 a.m. and had breakfast with my two-year-old. I had two appointments Monday morning – at 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. – to visit teach (visit some women in my church with a gospel message). The first was cancelled because the sister was sick. I started getting ready for the second and felt some pressure waves (contractions) and it made me not really want to go, but I went anyway. It was a good visit and helped me stay distracted from the pressure.

When I got back at about 11 a.m., I realized I didn’t have plans for the day, so I decided to start getting more ready for the baby to born. I made an overnight bag for my two-year-old, emailed our birth/baby preferences to my husband to print, and started charging my camera battery and my IPOD (which is what I’d been listening to my hypnosis scripts on). In the middle of doing this, I was trying to take care of making some more urgent appointments and answering phone calls. I made one appointment for Sunday and even told the lady that I was 9 months pregnant (thinking that I probably would not end up going).

Noon rolled around and I got on google chat to ask my husband (Austin) to come home for lunch because my waves were getting more intense and I really wanted to focus and do a hypnosis script. He said he couldn’t make it until around 1 p.m. I told him not to bother because by then my two-year-old would be napping and I could lie down to do a script. I was hoping to fall asleep (like I had in my script practice the last couple weeks) and wake up having the waves calmed down.

I barely got my two-year-old lunch and in bed. It was getting much more difficult to handle him. I lay down on my bed and started the deepening track. I loved this track because it helped me feel so deep in hypnosis that, even if I didn’t get a full nap, I could wake up feeling refreshed. That didn’t happen this time. I was conscious during the entire script and came up at the end of it, still feeling the intense waves. I called my husband on the phone and told him to come home.

Breastfeeding is Tax Deductible!

Check out this article! I was happy to hear some support in favor of breast-feeding.

Breastfeeding: It's Now Tax Deductible!

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:

Cravings

Craving: an intense, urgent, or abnormal desire or longing
(Merriam Webster Online Dictionary)

I've been thinking on and off again about "cravings". Reading that definition really makes you want to call it something different, does it? Many pregnant women typically have cravings. During my first pregnancy I escaped with very few (though I had some intense aversions to certain food). This pregnancy I seem to have more cravings. Interestingly, my husband seems to have them much more often than I do! Recently I've noticed, everyone has some kind of craving (which may in fact not even be food... but that's another post). Here are some observations and ideas about "taking care" of pesky food cravings.

Parenting

Parenting

What a beautiful reminder & blessing to parents!

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

Please follow this link to watch the video. It is for mothers. It is for those considering motherhood. It is for those who wonder about motherhood and those who doubt motherhood. This video is for everyone to watch and remember the importance of this divine, eternal calling.

The Business of Being Born

After receiving many recommendations for watching this movie, I got anxious to watch it & even got a free Netflix trial so I could. Sadly, I didn't even make it to the halfway point before turning it off. Let me be clear about my feelings about this movie. Please do not misunderstand me. I think it covers the sad story of birth in our country and helps to encourage people to better study their options before deciding how to birth. I am pro-"natural" birth and am glad that Ricki Lake, etc. took the pains to discover what is really going on with birth in our country (especially compared to similar countries around the world). The findings were interesting and depressing at the same time.

Mother's I's

It started about a month ago. I started thinking of Mother's Day and wondering if my husband would remember me enough to do something special. As Mother's Day came closer I started dropping more hints and found myself thinking more and more about how I should be appreciated. Sad, huh? Then all of these horrible things started to happen, from people whispering about me with my tantrum child in the airplane to a horrible day with Cadence at church (and everyone else seemed to know what his problem was).
I was complaining to some friends about how little credit we get as mother's. Then some flowers and candy arrived unexpectedly from a friend wishing me a Happy Mother's Day. I began to feel really pathetic. I had been complaining about my role as mother and thinking about how little credit I get for the work I do. I had been thinking about one thing - MYSELF!

I am booked!

Wow! It seems like so much is going on that I don't have very much time to sit down and write a little thought. Oddly enough I get some time and my mind is completely blank! Maybe it's because I have been writing more in my regular journal.
A short question and thought -
Question: Sometimes people ask me for advice and I don't know what to say. It doesn't happen often (in fact I think I'm one of those people that gives unrequested advice), but what should I do then? Just say "I don't know". I think maybe I need to learn how to help people come to their own conclusions. Thoughts on this...
Short thought: I love spring time and now I remember why. So many people are out and about! I love seeing and running into the most random people. The weather is beautiful and you just feel happy anyway :) It's why I think the winter time is the perfect time to have a baby. You're in to take care of your child when no one really wants to be outside so you don't miss much. Then they are old enough to be out and about and everyone else starts "feeling like it" again. I love it!

I compared...

.... The Happiest Baby on the block video with the book - get the movie!! The book drags on with needless examples. The movie is quick and much easier to understand.

I finished reading...

... Babywise. Okay, I didn't give it a good go in the beginning. I got stuck in the first part of the book that reviews other philosophies and why they aren't right. That bored me to tears! Besides, what new mom has time to read all that garbage? But I must say there are some good suggestions, and things I wished I had started sooner. If you are like me and want the quick facts, go straight to chapter 6, which I found most helpful (on routines), and then skip to the "quick reference" chapter at the back of the book. It gives the short version of everything, and for more explaination if you want, the page number you can go to.

I beamed...

... Today when I got on the ward directory online to look up a phone number & saw that Cadence John was listed under our names!! It somehow feels more official now. I'm so happy he is apart of our eternal family.

I Finished Reading..

...The Baby Sleep Solution. Honestly all of these books on sleep have been AMAZING for me to read. Mostly, it gives me ideas, even though I take them all with a grain of salt and don't follow anyone exactly. This book is GREAT for people with multiples. It is also good for someone who has the same schedule everyday (I sat down for 45 minutes and tried to think of different ways I could always have the SAME routine for Cade - not going to happen). Lastly, if you are struggling to come with ideas to soothe your baby or a routine for yourself, the book will really help you.
For my son, the biggest thing that helped was turning them into different positions. What Jessica said was right (in her posted comment), your baby usually sleeps like you. Well MY BABY sleeps like his daddy - all over the place and in really weird positions! He gets so frustrated when he has to be in one spot and can't move around (hence the squirmy nickname). So if I help him move around he finds a comfortable position. :)

I finished reading...

... Solve your child's Sleep Problems by Dr. Richard Ferber. It's a great resource book for all sorts of sleep problems. I found it very informative as to the general nature of sleep itself. I think it's going to help me be less tired too!! However, it does not give a specific schedule to keep your child on, or very much information for the first couple weeks of life. I have trouble thinking of what to do for a bedtime routine, or setting a particular schedule. Still, despite that one need it did not cover, it is an excellent book. I've heard it's pretty controversial, but though myself the book was very straightforward! A must read for every parent! I want it in my library.

I paused...

... last night when for the first time in, I can't remember how long, I rolled onto my stomach trying to get comfortable.