Hypnobirthing, Part II.

Well, apparently when I said I'd try to post "sporadically," that meant: "probably never." Turns out when you have a newborn and a toddler, and nobody is actually paying you to blog, it gets moved pretty quickly to the back burner. However, I came across my Hypnobirthing CDs today while cleaning out the desk, and it reminded me that I wanted to share a bit more about my experience with Hypnobirthing, and that I had already started writing this post a couple weeks back, so I should finish it up and post it already.

In this post back in August I wrote a bit about the whole Hypnobirthing concept, which I have now utilized for the births of both of my kids.

And as much as I'd like to report that because of Hynpobithing both of my beautiful children arrived in this world without me experiencing an ounce of pain, that would be a bold-faced LIE.

I'm not convinced that using Hypnobirthing methods will allow a mother to give birth with little to no pain. But I am convinced that this method allowed me to have the birth experiences that I wanted (as much as was possible, any way). Part of me thinks that I might have still been fighting against it - allowing myself to be fairly consumed with fear and anxiety throughout both labors, even if I wasn't outwardly showing it. But I did my best, and it worked for me. I actually feel like by the 4th or 5th birth, it might just work as well as I've seen in the videos and read in the books. But, alas, there will be no 4th or 5th (or 3rd, for that matter) birth for me to find out (which I'm totally okay with).

That being said, I was definitely more comfortable with the concept the second time around. I knew what the contractions felt like (talk about it all "coming rushing back" to you), and how they would continue to intensify until the baby was born. I also felt more confident that yes, my body can do this - it's already done it once before!

I think one of the most beneficial aspects of Hypnobirthing for me were the "affirmations" that I read and listened to on my ipod during my practice sessions. Here is a link to them on YouTube (note, this isn't the official Hypnobirthing Institute recording, but it is the same affirmations being read by someone else). I was skeptical at first, as it was awkward for me/us to listen to something like this. It just felt... weird, and kind-of new-age-y. But I swear it works. The more you listen to it, the more you start to believe it. During the final hour of Lyla's birth, I was seriously reciting some of these affirmations to myself, reminding myself that my body and my baby knew what to do. And it really did help me through that last hour of contractions.

Another thing that helped me through those contractions? Eric and my mom. Once again the two of them were my support system throughout the labor and delivery. They joke that it's a very special bond that they don't ever really want to talk about ever again. Seeing as how together they spent a good half-hour (or more? I lost all sense of time) literally holding my legs and staring at that part of me where the baby comes out. AWKWARD. But I couldn't have done it without them. I think they would both agree that they had it easier the second time around. First, my labor was shorter. Second, I think I did a better job of relaxing and breathing through the contractions the second time (at least I wasn't yelling at my mom to put fresh heat packs on my back or get cool rags for my forehead for hours on end). But they were both there, quietly supporting me and Lyla as we labored.

The main benefit of Hypnobirthing for me was learning the best way to breathe through the contractions. The ultimate goal is for your whole body to be totally relaxed during and between the contractions, so that the only energy you are expending is focusing on the contractions and "breathing up" with them to make them as beneficial as possible in opening up the cervix.

I did this for a while, but towards the end I couldn't get the rest of my body to totally relax. I needed to do SOMETHING other than just lay there. What ended up working for me was holding on to Eric's forearm with each contraction, using one arm to push, and one arm to pull to sort-of "engage" my upper body. It sounds weird, but I felt like I needed to brace against the contraction a bit, in order to keep the lower half of my body relaxed. For whatever reason, that really worked for me. And later on during the delivery when Eric was otherwise occupied helping me elsewhere, I used my mother to brace against - I think at one point I had my arms wrapped around her waist! But hey, whatever gets you through it.

So in the end, I would say that I am totally satisfied with my decision to use Hypnobirthing practices during both of our birthing experiences. It helped prepare me mentally, each time, for the birthing process, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in a relaxing (as possible), natural birthing experience.

And here's another adorable reminder of the end product:

Lyla had a rough first month of pretty-much non-stop crying. But after we made some adjustments to her feeding schedule and figured out how to better meet her needs, she has been a dream. She's our smiley, happy girl and has brought so much love and happiness to our family. Owen loves to sing to her and make her smile, which makes me melt it's so dang cute.

Our monkey-man (Owen) has adjusted pretty well to our new addition. I might try, between feedings and baby snuggles, to write a little bit about that experience at a later date. It has been more taxing on me, emotionally, than I thought it would be, but I think the worst of it is over... (famous last words?).

Happy Holidays!