You Are Getting Sleeeeepy

And while I have been getting sleepier much more frequently throughout the day, that's not what this post is about. Last week brought another milestone in this 40-ish week journey: we completed our birthing classes. We are not doing the Lamaze or Bradley methods of childbirth, or even straight-up natural childbirth. Come on, we live in Eugene, OR now, where midwives and naturopathic doctors are as common as chiropractors or dentists. Home births are very common here, but I am too chicken to go this route.

We decided - at the suggestion of our well-liked OB - to pursue the Hypnobabies method of childbirth. Maybe it'd be more accurate to say that I decided to pursue this, and Ryan graciously agreed to come along for the ride. After looking at the hypnobabies website and viewing a few of their calm and relaxed youtube birthing experiences, I was sold. Briefly, hypnobabies is a natural childbirth method that relies on self-hypnosis and deep relaxation to have a more relaxed and comfortable birthing experience. I contacted the doula who teaches it here (who we later hired to be there for birthing time), and signed us up for the 18 hour class, taught once a week for 6 weeks.


And so on each of the past 5 Tuesday nights, we drove to our doula's tiny cottage for both practice and instruction (and delicious green smoothies that she made for us). Throughout the course, we learned about the dangers, risks, and inconveniences of all sorts of medical interventions (epidurals, cutting the cord too soon, being tethered to an IV, etc.). Certainly, there are all kinds of reasons why these interventions may become necessary (that's why I want to be in a hospital), and in the end all women's experiences are beautiful and amazing, no matter what.

I was particularly struck by the idea that part of the reason why women have such painful, prolonged birthing experiences is because of the massive amount of fear and anxiety we bring to the process. This fear has been instilled in us since we were little girls, through images in movies and TV, and through other people's experiences (why people love to share their birth horror stories with pregnant women is beyond me). A big focus of the course was to "re-program" our expectations of childbirth to clear this fear away. Fear and anxiety, it is believed, will lead to tense muscles and interfere with their ability to work efficiently, and this is what can lead to discomfort and prolonged birthing times. If left to work on its own, the incredible female body knows exactly what to do, and birth can be a shorter, less uncomfortable experience. The key is to be relaxed and focused, and this is what we've been learning how to do.

For our final class, last Tuesday, our doula came over to our house for a "birthing rehearsal", and we practiced using the techniques in a mock birthing time scenario. And while the real deal will surely be different (um...intense?!?), it was useful to visualize what that day might be like. We even practiced different birthing positions (laboring on her back is the worst position a woman can be in...who knew there were other options?). In the end, after mock birthing a teddy bear (and trying so hard not to laugh and make our doula feel bad), I feel really good about our decision. No matter what happens during that time, hypnobabies has already worked. I no longer feel fearful about childbirth (and for a hypochondriac who hates going to the doctor this is a massive accomplishment), and I look forward to putting my newly-learned relaxation and hypnosis skills into action.

Ryan deserves a shout-out for being so awesome and patient, for reading hypnosis scripts to me regularly without cracking up, and for generally allowing me to indulge in my new age tendencies without making fun of me (too much). He even liked the green smoothies, so much so that we have made them at home several times now. Clearly, Eugene has begun to get to him, maybe more than he realizes.