This week brought more great Hypnobabies lessons (affiliate link) along with an even stronger feeling of “wow, this baby is really going to be here soon!” 😀 Lessons focus on late first stage of birthing and pushing your baby out, then move into important information for your newborn baby.
We’re really going to have a newborn baby around here soon!
Anyways, onto deeper thoughts on the lessons learned this week:
Weekly Assignments
This week called for continuing to eat very well and do daily pregnancy exercise. I’d let my nutrition slide for a couple of weeks while the family was sick (though, thankfully, not me) and I was working really hard to finish up some projects. But we’ve done a grocery re-stock and I’m back to eating really well and I can tell the difference in how I feel. I know this is a critical period now for baby to pack on fat and develop his/her brain, so I’ll be diligent until the end of pregnancy!
I’m also doing really well with my pregnancy exercising. I should be out walking more, but I’m doing well with prenatal yoga and getting in a good amount of movement with prenatal belly dance. I’m really enjoying both of those, too.
I did make up the final draft of our birth preferences and talked it over with my midwife. Even on my sixth baby and writing a website about birth, I still feel nervous sometimes when talking to the “authority figure”. So I was glad to have really worked on my birth preferences. I was also glad that my midwife had lent me a birth video where the mom had a pushing stage very much like what I’m envisioning, and that helped me to explain to my midwife what I really want.
The birth preferences exercise was simple and empowering and I’m grateful for doing it and especially for how it helped me discuss some specific desires I have for this baby’s birth.
I’ve also been doing a lot better with listening to my pregnancy affirmations and I’m glad for that, they help me stay cheerful 😀
The Fear Clearing Session
I have always liked the fear clearing exercises in Hypnobabies (affiliate link) and that I’ve discovered working through my own births, reading, etc. I was really looking forward to getting started with some fear clearing sessions for concerns/anxieties I’ve had for this pregnancy.
I have to say, though, that this is probably the one place I’ve been really disappointed with the Hypnobabies revision. I have enjoyed every other CD track in the program, even parts I didn’t care for when I went through Hypnobabies while pregnant with Galen 4 years ago. I really like most of the revisions. But I don’t like the new Fear Clearing track.
It’s possible that if this is the first time I’d done it, I would really appreciate it. But it has changed a lot from the initial session. There were powerful visual images to help you feel like you’d truly “let go” or “released” a fear in the original track, and I think that resonated with me personally much more. I came away from the new track feeling like it was a little shallow and didn’t really help very much.
I actually went back and pulled up the old fear release mp3 from my computer music library and added that to my MP3 player (I’ve been listening to the tracks on my phone’s mp3 player). I used that instead of the new one and I really felt like I got a lot more benefit and was able to let go of a persistent anxiety using that older track coupled with a worksheet from my own Fearless Birth Workbook. My anxiety this pregnancy has been about preterm labor/birth, and even though it’s not logical (I’ve had no signs of preterm labor) it has been persistent and I knew I needed to effectively let it go.
So again, I’m not sure if my impression of the Fear Clearing session is due to having heard the previous one and just liking it better or not. That’s probably it, but the preference was strong enough that I decided to use the older MP3 for my weekly sessions.
Class #5 Reading
The reading this week goes over Transformation. Hypnobabies calls it “transformation” rather than “transition.” Transition is not really a negative word… it has always felt positive and exciting to me… but I know that the connotation it has with childbirth is negative. So transformation is a good substitute – also very positive, uplifting, and exciting 😀
Good information is given on working with your transformation stage and I like the suggestions for both mama and birth partner.
There are many pages on pushing, and on choosing mother-directed pushing over other pushing techniques. It’s great! This is what I am really focused on with my baby’s birth (see below in the CD track review for more on why) so I read these sections with a lot of attention.
I really like the idea of pushing baby’s head out between contractions, so I’m completely in control of it. I don’t know if that will happen because my last two babies have come out so quickly, but if possible I will try and do this. No matter how his or her head comes, I will be using my Hypnobabies “Peace” cue and have been practicing it as I do some perineal massage work.
There’s also a lot of information on baby’s first moments in this week, and you create your Baby Plan. I had fun creating my Baby Plan, even though I’m not too worried about it with having a home birth 🙂 It did give me a chance to review procedures and re-make informed decisions about each thing.
There’s a detailed section on baby positioning, which I think is really important. I have a hard time figuring out my baby’s position myself, so I’m going to have my midwife help me determine it at my next prenatal appointment, then either try and encourage baby into a better position or down into my pelvis if he/she is in a good position.
There’s also more great birth ball information in this week’s class. I love my birth ball and love how detailed Hypnobabies gets with using this tool. I was thrilled to see that they suggest using the birth ball to help a posterior baby turn. I wish they hadn’t emphasized birth ball/counter pressure as a comfort measure for back labor since that (counter pressure) doesn’t do much to assist baby in moving down, but since they did give good advice on how you can rock/move on the birth ball to help baby turn, that’s definitely noteworthy.
I haven’t used my birth ball for my daily relaxation in a couple of weeks so I really need to get back into that.
There’s also breastfeeding info this week!
Class #5 CD Track Sessions
With the exception of the Fear Clearing track detailed above, I loved this week’s CD tracks! Hypnotic Childbirth #2 is definitely my favorite track to listen to.
You learn the “Release” cue with this track and it is, by far, the most powerful cue for me. Or, maybe it’s tied with “Peace” — “Peace” and “Release” are a powerful combination and I have quickly added both in on a daily basis. The “Release” cue lets you quickly turn off your lightswitch and move into deep relaxation. I use it with the finger drop technique, still, but it’s nice to know that if I need an instant “off switch” it’s there even without the finger drop (which I sometimes find awkward based on my position in bed or in the chair).
This track also goes into the moments surrounding baby’s birth and how they’ll be peaceful and joyful and that’s something I really enjoy listening to that encouragement and getting it down into my subconscious. I have loved all of my babies’ births, but have felt that the pushing stage wasn’t the most pleasant with any of them. With Galen it was best. With Honor I wish I could go back and change parts of it… so I am really focusing on that this time around. I’ve been doing a lot of intense visualization and a lot of work physically with massage/Pink Kit Internal Work to prepare for this baby’s birth.
I do treasure feeling both Galen and Honor’s heads descending in the birth canal, and after Honor’s head crowned I had my hand on her head, rubbing it gently, as I waited for the next wave to push her body out. Those are all precious memories to me. I want to really feel connected at the moment in the middle of those two moments, too — the actual crowning. This track really speaks to me because it gives me a chance to focus on that with complete relaxation and confidence.
The second track for this week is the usual: Deepening. I’m gaining a greater appreciation for Deepening, I think. I still get pretty drowsy and even drift off here and there (at least it feels that way) during Deepening. But, I am enjoying doing Deepening more because it gives me a chance to just really focus and move my anesthesia around. It may be because I’m feeling a lot more ache/pain in my hips and pelvis now, and this is the time of day I can get real relief. Deepening lets me focus on those areas, sort of drift off, and picture my baby’s birth. It’s nice.
Class #6 starts the maintenance I’ll do until our baby comes! I’m also going to use an extra track on visualizing baby’s birth here and there. More details when I review those 😀
Note that I receive a small affiliate commission if you order Hypnobabies through my affiliate link – thank you for your support! 🙂
Going Through Hypnobabies with “Riceball”
- Starting Hypnoabies!
- Class 1 Review
- Class 2 Review
- Class 3 Review
- Class 4 Review
- Class 5 Review
- Maintenance and Visualizing Your Perfect Birth
Photo by Kamoteus (A New Beginning)
