Pregnancy thoughts
Well, we are in Week 29. I'll feeling pretty good. Mostly just urinating a lot now and occasionally get acid in my esophagus that burns the back of my throat. I sleep pretty good and get about 8-10 hours of sleep a night, sometimes more. We keep the house cool all day (72 degrees) and a fan on us at night. My hair and nails grow quickly from my prenatal vitamins. I drink a lot of water during the day because it tastes so good, which means I am hydrated and regular. I make sure I get fruit and veggies in my diet everyday. Carbs, grains, sugars, and proteins are not difficult to do. I either go on a walk in the evenings with Joe and the dogs or go to the gym. Either way, 30 minutes of exercise is my goal. Thursday is prenatal yoga at Full Bloom. Since I have paid for 6 sessions, I need to get 5 more in before Lincoln's arrival to get my money's worth.
I go to the doctor every two weeks now, which means I have an appt. today at 11:30 in Toccoa. I have to leave at 10:15. I'm not sure at what point I go every week. It will be during school so I may have to work out an arrangement with my principal to leave at 2:30 on those days so I do not have to take a half-day. For maternity leave, you use your sick days and personal days. I have 27 sick days right now, which will give me about 5 weeks of leave without losing pay. If I want to take 6-8 weeks, I will lose pay.
With hypnobirthing, and everything in life really, I am supposed to think positively. This is difficult when you are pregnant and everyone before you has had a baby and they have stories or advice. I do not want to be rude and cut someone off in the middle of their story or rebuke their negative energy when they are finished. In our last session, we did a fear release session where we removed the negative stories or images from our minds and replaced them with pictures of how we envision our birthing to be. Last week, I rented Father of the Bride 2 and there were two births in that movie. I was prepared to fast forward through grunting and screaming that Hollywood often attaches to birth. I was surprised. Both actresses were calm and smiling. They didn't show a fake birthing with manic women huffing and puffing and yelling at their husband, etc. I have affirmations hanging up around the house and one in the car. When I walk by the light switches or sit at the toilet, I read my positive affirmations that help me feel confident and relaxed. I am still excited about birthing and using the techniques I have learned in HypnoBirthing. Unfortunately, people do not have the same confidence when it comes to their birthing. They are not prepared and I feel sorry for them. They either didn't take classes or they have a medicated birth planned, which almost sets you up for surgical intervention. Once you have Pitocin and an epidural, having a C-section is 1 out of 3! Those women have a reason to be scared. You and your baby become distressed and the birthing doesn't unfold like your body knows how to do. A body and baby do not need help giving birth. They work in harmony.
The main reason women end up with medicated births and unnecessary interventions is fear. When you are scared, your body tenses up. When "contractions" called surges come, the woman tights up her stomach rather than relaxing it; therefore slowing down the birth. During a surge is when the baby moves downward so to make the most of each surge and have a natural progression of labor, you make your diaphragm large by breathing out, this gives the baby room to move around and downward. This shortens the labor time by taking advantage of each surge rather than tightening up in fear. However you envision your labor, is the kind of labor you are going to have. I will labor at home until there are 5-minutes between each surge and then we will drive 1 hour and 15 minutes to the hospital. I will do the slow breathing technique during each surge and listen to my relaxation exercise on a mp3 player (it will put Joe to sleep if he hears it). My goal is a 6-hour or less labor from there in my birthing tub. There are a few quotes that I love from my HypnoBirthing book:
"Mothers, hold on to your bag of waters. It is there for a reason. - William Sears and Martha Sears (referring to artificial induction)
"A beautiful woman is like a beautiful flowering tree, but take care when it comes time for the harvest that you do not shake or bruise the tree, for in doing so, you may harm both the tree and its fruit. - Peter Jackson, R.N.
"All natural birth has a purpose and a plan; who would think of tearing open the chrysalis as the butterfly is emerging? Who would break the shell to pull the chick out?"
"When a baby is "ripe" and ready, true labor will begin." -Grantly Dick-Read, M.D. Childbirth Without Fear
A friend from back home, lost her baby. She was pregnant with her third child. At 5 weeks, she found out she was pregnant. Week 6 she started having complications and was told to relax and post-pone a trip. Yesterday, she went to the doctor and she was no longer pregnant. When you find out you are pregnant, you have a dilemma. You are so excited whether you have been trying for one month or for twelve. You want to tell people and a lot of what you read tells you to wait until 11-12 weeks because you have survived the most crucial time in a pregnancy. We told our families the morning we found out and a few other close friends in the couple weeks that followed. I think I even told all my co-workers by week 8. I asked several people for advice on how long we should wait to announce. Some said don't wait, others said wait until 12. My best friend said, "You don't want the reason you don't tell to be because you fear something will go wrong." Other things I read said the more people you tell, the more support you will have if something goes wrong. This particular friend subtly made an announcement, but discretely. Her friends have been offering encouragement and prayers all week. Now she has many people to surround her with comfort. I say no matter what number child it is and how early in the pregnancy you have a miscarriage, it is still painful. Joe and I were talking about it last night. He said he loves Lincoln more and more everyday and he hasn't even met him yet. I said think how excited we were at 4 weeks pregnant and if we'd had a miscarriage a couple weeks later, how devastated we would have been. That's how it feels.
I go to the doctor every two weeks now, which means I have an appt. today at 11:30 in Toccoa. I have to leave at 10:15. I'm not sure at what point I go every week. It will be during school so I may have to work out an arrangement with my principal to leave at 2:30 on those days so I do not have to take a half-day. For maternity leave, you use your sick days and personal days. I have 27 sick days right now, which will give me about 5 weeks of leave without losing pay. If I want to take 6-8 weeks, I will lose pay.
With hypnobirthing, and everything in life really, I am supposed to think positively. This is difficult when you are pregnant and everyone before you has had a baby and they have stories or advice. I do not want to be rude and cut someone off in the middle of their story or rebuke their negative energy when they are finished. In our last session, we did a fear release session where we removed the negative stories or images from our minds and replaced them with pictures of how we envision our birthing to be. Last week, I rented Father of the Bride 2 and there were two births in that movie. I was prepared to fast forward through grunting and screaming that Hollywood often attaches to birth. I was surprised. Both actresses were calm and smiling. They didn't show a fake birthing with manic women huffing and puffing and yelling at their husband, etc. I have affirmations hanging up around the house and one in the car. When I walk by the light switches or sit at the toilet, I read my positive affirmations that help me feel confident and relaxed. I am still excited about birthing and using the techniques I have learned in HypnoBirthing. Unfortunately, people do not have the same confidence when it comes to their birthing. They are not prepared and I feel sorry for them. They either didn't take classes or they have a medicated birth planned, which almost sets you up for surgical intervention. Once you have Pitocin and an epidural, having a C-section is 1 out of 3! Those women have a reason to be scared. You and your baby become distressed and the birthing doesn't unfold like your body knows how to do. A body and baby do not need help giving birth. They work in harmony.
The main reason women end up with medicated births and unnecessary interventions is fear. When you are scared, your body tenses up. When "contractions" called surges come, the woman tights up her stomach rather than relaxing it; therefore slowing down the birth. During a surge is when the baby moves downward so to make the most of each surge and have a natural progression of labor, you make your diaphragm large by breathing out, this gives the baby room to move around and downward. This shortens the labor time by taking advantage of each surge rather than tightening up in fear. However you envision your labor, is the kind of labor you are going to have. I will labor at home until there are 5-minutes between each surge and then we will drive 1 hour and 15 minutes to the hospital. I will do the slow breathing technique during each surge and listen to my relaxation exercise on a mp3 player (it will put Joe to sleep if he hears it). My goal is a 6-hour or less labor from there in my birthing tub. There are a few quotes that I love from my HypnoBirthing book:
"Mothers, hold on to your bag of waters. It is there for a reason. - William Sears and Martha Sears (referring to artificial induction)
"A beautiful woman is like a beautiful flowering tree, but take care when it comes time for the harvest that you do not shake or bruise the tree, for in doing so, you may harm both the tree and its fruit. - Peter Jackson, R.N.
"All natural birth has a purpose and a plan; who would think of tearing open the chrysalis as the butterfly is emerging? Who would break the shell to pull the chick out?"
"When a baby is "ripe" and ready, true labor will begin." -Grantly Dick-Read, M.D. Childbirth Without Fear
A friend from back home, lost her baby. She was pregnant with her third child. At 5 weeks, she found out she was pregnant. Week 6 she started having complications and was told to relax and post-pone a trip. Yesterday, she went to the doctor and she was no longer pregnant. When you find out you are pregnant, you have a dilemma. You are so excited whether you have been trying for one month or for twelve. You want to tell people and a lot of what you read tells you to wait until 11-12 weeks because you have survived the most crucial time in a pregnancy. We told our families the morning we found out and a few other close friends in the couple weeks that followed. I think I even told all my co-workers by week 8. I asked several people for advice on how long we should wait to announce. Some said don't wait, others said wait until 12. My best friend said, "You don't want the reason you don't tell to be because you fear something will go wrong." Other things I read said the more people you tell, the more support you will have if something goes wrong. This particular friend subtly made an announcement, but discretely. Her friends have been offering encouragement and prayers all week. Now she has many people to surround her with comfort. I say no matter what number child it is and how early in the pregnancy you have a miscarriage, it is still painful. Joe and I were talking about it last night. He said he loves Lincoln more and more everyday and he hasn't even met him yet. I said think how excited we were at 4 weeks pregnant and if we'd had a miscarriage a couple weeks later, how devastated we would have been. That's how it feels.
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