HypnoBirthing® Class Outline

I found this outline of our HB class:

UNIT #1: Building A Positive Expectancy

• Introduction
• HypnoBirthing®
• Rationale for comfortable birth
• How the Uterus Works
• What's Wrong with Labor?
• How Fear Affects Labor
• Origin of Pain Concept
• Hypnosis and Deep Relaxation/Creating
• Positive Birth Outcomes
• HypnoBirthing® videos of labor & birth

UNIT #2: Falling in Love with Your Baby/Preparing Mind & Body

• HypnoBirthing® Stories - 3 and 4
• Prenatal Bonding Techniques
• Relaxation and Visualization for birthing
• Rapid and instant relaxation techniques
• Breathing techniques for birthing
• Progressive, Instant, and Deepening Techniques
• Hypnotic Relaxation and Visualizations

UNIT #3: Getting Ready to Welcome your Baby

• Looking at your estimated due date
• Making hospital, home or birthing center plans
• Preparing the Body for Birthing
• Light touch birthing massage
• Birth Stories Videos 5 and 6
• Preparing your birth preferences sheets
• When Baby is Ready
• Avoiding Artificial Induction of Labor
• Your Body Working for You And with You
• Releasing Negative Emotions, Fears and Limiting Thoughts

UNIT #4: Overview of Childbirth - A Labor of Love

• Birth Stories Video 7 and 8
• Onset of Labor--Thinning and Opening Phase
• Arriving at the Hospital
• As Labor Moves along
• Birth Companion's Role
• If Labor rests or slows
• Protecting the Natural Birthing Experience
• As Birthing advances--Nearing Completion
• Birth Rehearsal Imagery

UNIT# 5: Birthing--Breathing Love, Bringing Life

• Birthing Video
• Mother Nears Completion--thinning and opening phase ends
• Birth Explained Simply
• Breathing Baby Down
• Birth of the placenta
• Bonding with your baby
• Forest Fantasy Metaphor

Source: http://www.hypnobirthing.org

25w 1d - "Pason" This Week

• Your baby weighs just under 2 pounds (850g) and could possibly survive if delivered now. Your baby measures approximately 9.2 inches (23cm) from crown to rump.
• He is growing fast and gaining weight now. His skin is less transparent and is becoming opaque as fat builds up.
• Your baby's heart is beating 120 to 160 beats per minute, as you have already heard at several doctor or midwife visits.
• Until now, your baby's eyes have been sealed shut, but he reopens them this week. The eyes are almost fully formed and the retinas contain all the layers they will have when your baby is born. Your baby's eyes are blue right now, no matter the ethnic origin or eye-color of you and your partner since eyes do not acquire their final color until months after birth.
• Your baby is lean right now, but is getting fatter all the time as fat is being deposited. Your baby's skin is getting thicker and paler and is becoming less red and wrinkled as more fat is deposited.
• Your baby has eyebrows, eyelashes and fingernails, though all are short and need to grow more.

Source: http://preg.fertilityfriend.com

24wk 6d - Weight Gain to Date

The white lines indicate the normal 25-35 lb gain.

24 Week Belly Bump

24w 4d - Ups & Downs

Downs

• still a lot on that pre-baby "to-do" list
• only 108 days left (+/-)
  
• lower self body image :-/
  
• sooo many pediatricians and family doctors - just 1 baby!
• increased appetite; can't get enough to eat at work
• to vaccinate... delay... or not to vaccinate?
  

Ups

• good midwife appointment Wednesday
• BP 118/70
• belly measurement/fundal height right on target (24 cm)
• FHT (fetal heart tone) 144 bpm
• received hospital pre-registration info. discussed necessary hospital fetal monitoring
• received glucose drink for consumption prior to 28-wk appointment and glucose blood test
• more frequent baby kicks
• HypnoBirthing classes start in 1 week (hopefully - we've had scheduling conflicts)
• reading HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method - very inspirational!
  

24w 0d - "Pason" This Week

• Your baby now weighs around 1.5 lbs (700g), and measures about 8.8 inches (22cm) from crown to rump, but this varies from baby to baby.
• Your doctor should be able to hear your baby's heartbeat, using a stethoscope or Doppler ultrasound device. If your partner puts his ear right on your belly in the right position, he might even be able to hear it unaided if there is no background noise.
• Your baby sleeps and wakes in a more regular pattern now. You may notice that your baby is particularly active when you are resting.
• The center of your baby's bones are beginning to harden.
• If your baby is a boy, the testes will start to descend into the scrotum now. If your baby is a girl, the vagina will begin to hollow out and mature now.
• Your baby can make a fist now and may already have a preference for the right or left hand.
• With modern medical technology, your baby would have a chance to survive if it were born now.

Source: http://preg.fertilityfriend.com

23w 0d - "Pason" This Week

• Your baby is now about 8.4 inches from crown to rump (21cm) and weighs about 1.2 pounds (530g).
• Your baby's face and body now look more like a full-term baby. She now looks close to how she will look at birth.
• The eyes, though they are still closed, are now close together on the front of the face and the ears are in their final position. Eyelashes are fairly well-developed and hair is growing on your baby's head.
• Your baby's movements are becoming more restricted now as she fills up the uterus more. Cartwheels and somersaults inside the amniotic sac are no longer possible, but she can still hold the umbilical cord and touch and feel around her. Though your baby is already living in tight quarters in the amniotic sac, she will soon have even less room to move around.
• Her vital organs are now quite mature. However, since the lungs are not yet fully formed, your baby would have breathing problems if born prematurely at this stage.
• Your baby is becoming increasingly conscious of the world outside and may feel startled when you are startled.
• Your baby may alternate between having very active and very calm periods.
• Your baby may have facial expressions such as frowning, squinting and pursing of the lips.

Source: http://preg.fertilityfriend.com

A Hypno Birth Video

Here's just 1 version of a hypno birth. (No fear, nothing too graphic here.)



Her blog is here: www.5rips.typepad.com

JMU Team Spirit

Now this is team spirit! Go Dukes!

22w 0d - "Pason" This Week

• Your baby now weighs almost 1 lb (450g) and measures about 8 inches (20cm) from crown to rump.
• She is becoming plumper as her fat is being laid down at a high rate, but her skin is still wrinkled and reddish. The wrinkled and loose appearance of her skin is due to the faster production of her skin than the fat that fills it out. The reddish appearance of her skin is due to the deposition of pigment as her skin loses its translucent appearance.
• Your baby can kick and punch vigorously by now, but she may also be gently feeling the umbilical cord and rubbing her hands and face against the inside membrane of the amniotic sac that holds her.
• She is still swallowing amniotic fluid (which provides an important nutritional supplement to the nutrition she gets from you via the placenta) and is passing some of it as urine. The swallowing of the amniotic fluid may cause your baby to get the hiccups and you may even be able to feel this as her body jumps inside yours.
• The lanugo hair on your baby's body may turn darker at this time.

Source: http://preg.fertilityfriend.com

21w 6d - Ups & Downs

Downs

• SI (sacroiliac) joint pain
• Heartburn
• Hemorrhoids
  
• Sooo many car seats (and other products) and cool names; just 1 baby
• Home renovations
• So many pregnancy and childbirth books; just 4 months left to read them
• So many breast pumps; um, just 2 breasts
  

Ups

• Naps
• Healthy ultrasound reports
• Helpful and generous parents with home renovations
• Pregnancy clothes that finally fit
• Discussing baby names with the father of your child (we're accepting suggestions--feel free to comment!)
• Fetal movement
• even better: Fetal movement when your hubby feels it on the outside too