Why Hypnobirthing?

It can be very difficult to find supportive family members & friends when you choose Hypnobirthing. The first reaction is usually "Are you crazy?" or "Why would you do that to yourself?" This is a very personal experience & one that my husband and I have decided is the best decision for us. I even find it humorous when people assume that my husband is making me do this because there is no way a woman (in her right mind) would inflict this upon herself.

There are lots of reasons why I know that natural child birth is right for me.

The first & most important is that I am a woman & everything about my body serves it's purpose so that I can be a mother. Before humans had jobs & mortgages, we were simply here to reproduce and take care of our young. Women birthed when their baby was ready to be born - in whatever location they were in & they used whatever body position made them comfortable. There were no such things as epidurals, labor inducers, IVs, or forceps. Women were not numbed & told to lay on their back for 10 hours. Don't get me wrong - I think medical technology & advances have done nothing but helped society. However, I do believe that medicine is best served when you are sick. I do not believe that a woman in labor is sick. I personally do not want to be drugged & made to lay on my back while doctors & nurses stick me, examine me and tell me what my body is going to do. I want to be an active participant in the birth of my child. I want to be able to walk, stretch, squat, eat, drink and feel my husband when he massages me. If you had a cramp, would you want to walk it off or would you lay there & hope that someone could give you some pain killers so that the feeling goes away?

This experience will be the beginning of my journey as a mother. I want this experience to carry me through the rough times of parenting. I want to remember that my husband & I brought our baby into this world with complete faith in each other. Together, we believed that we were strong enough to be parents and that we can make the best decisions for our family and our baby.

Where do babies come from?

From square one...
My husband and I became pregnant on the 5th cycle since "pulling the goalie from the game" (translation: stopping birth control). I had been on birth control most of the time for approx. 10 years. You are somehow tricked into thinking that stopping birth control immediately puts you "at risk" for pregnancy. This is at least what we are dupped into believing when we are 16 & our hormones are gently tapping on the door with a sledge hammer. I can safely say that getting pregnant is not the instant result of not being on birth control - at least not for everyone & certainly not for me.
For 4 months, I used the basal temperature method. I took my temperature every morning before getting out of bed. It was very routine & boring, quite honestly. It was great at detecting when I had ovulated. Your temperature will peak after you have ovulated. It can be effective if your temperature is very steady prior to ovulation. My temperature is not. I feel like we missed our "peak opportunity" because it is often too late if you know you have ovulated. It is best to have sex everyday for the two or three days prior to ovulation. The egg lives for approx. 24 hrs. Sperm can live for up to 3 days (or 5 if you have Superman Sperm). The odds are better if you have sex before ovulation.
In that 5th month, after many frustrating nights clutching a negative pregnancy test while sitting on the toilet, I purchased the Clear Blue Easy Fertility monitor. It is very easy to use. You pee on a stick from day 6 on your cycle until you are beyond your fertile window. This means you pee on a stick every morning, place the stick in the monitor & wait for it to tell you if you are low fertility, high fertility or peak fertility. High or Peak means that it is time to get busy. Low Fertility means you can have a v8.
I highly recommend the fertility monitor. It is a little pricey - I found a kit with free shipping online for $200 at www.early-pregnancy-tests.com. It included the test strips (which are an additional $30 in other places), Fertility Aid lubricant and free shipping.
Whether it was timing, perfect alignment of the stars, or the fertility monitor - I can't say. But, all I know is, we were unsuccessful for 4 months & then were pregnant after using the monitor. If you are looking for a little non-invasive help. I'd say to try the monitor.

The "Bump"

Tomorrow, our baby is 17 weeks. I noticed tonight, after my shower, that there is quite a significant "bump" there. I am overjoyed. The thought of not fitting into my clothes anymore is not appealing, but the idea of a growing baby makes me smile from ear to ear. Grow belly grow!!

I purchased a few pairs of maternity jeans online. I hope they actually fit when they get here, as my current jeans are causing a little too much constriction in just the right places. It's kind of like that "ate too much at lunch" feeling, except all the time.