has anyone started Hypnobabies yet?

[beachbaby]

*Amy* asked this in the "Childbirth Classes" thread earlier this week....Maybe those of us who are doing the homestudy course could post here about our experiences with it if ya'll are interested...

I started earlier this week--so far, so good! I listen to the "Pregnancy Affirmations" in the car each day (I drive 20 miles to work) and do the regular scripts at night. So far I haven't had a problem staying awake during them, although I kinda zoned out & don't remember any details of the "Painless Childbirth" one (who knows--maybe that was just my deep state of relaxtion! I'm new to this whole hypnosis thing! :LOL )...I'm just keeping an open mind and trying to not focus on doing it "right" (I can be kind of a perfectionist)....

anyone else wish the "Bubble of Peace" script was on CD, too? Haven't done it yet b/c trying to find time for DH or someone else to read it to me. And I really need that one to keep all my negative co-workers from telling me their birthing horror stories! :

looking forward to hearing how it's going for everyone else! Happy weekend, all!

[*Amy*]

Oh good idea for a thread, beachbaby. I'll be curious to hear everyone's experience with it.

I ordered mine yesterday and I'm really looking forward to starting!

[MistyB]

I am doing Hypbirth but not starting until I am 30 weeks or so.

Nt

[Queen of Cups]

I think I'm going to start this week or next. I'm 25 weeks right now, and I'd like to get through the whole course twice. Last time I started at 23 weeks and got through it twice and it worked wonderfully for me.

[Awaken]

I've been sort of doing it all along, but not consistently. I really want to start doing it consistently with dh on a nightly basis and start to settle on what imagery and prompt words work for me. I don't have the whole home study course- just the rainbow relaxation (hynobirthing), and the hypnobabies peaceful sleep now and pregnancy affirmations, plus I printed out a bunch of scripts for dh to read me.

I listen to the affirmations in the car (although my commute is only 10 mins so it's in bits and pieces!) and listen to the relaxations at night- however, whenever dh reads me the scripts I definitely fall asleep every time! I think we need to make a tape so I can listen during the day and not fall asleep. Although this is how we did it last time, and it worked for me just fine b/c the affirmations and breathing are what I really used in labor, not the scripts.

[Slackermom]

I'll probably be starting next week. I have to get the materials from a friend of mine this week, and I'm on vacation, so I'm too lazy to start something new. :

[momoen1]

I want to start this week. I'm 28 weeks tomorrow. My pregnancy brain is working against me. I keep totally forgetting about it. I need to just put the cd player and binder on pillow when I get home so I can't forget.

Mona

[hypatia]

I tried to start Hypnobabies last week, but I changed my mind and am going to put it off until week 30 or later. DS's naptime is the only time I have to just be me, and I'm not ready to give up 30-40 minutes of it every day to scripts! Plus, I've done hypnosis before, so I can't imagine I need to invest as much time the second time around.

[*Amy*]

I just started week #2, and I have to say that I am *loving* hypnobabies (or "hippobabies" as DH calls it). I am kind of amazed at how well I am responding to the suggestions, but I did the first anesthesia CD today and totally could not (did not want to?) move my arms when my switch was off. It was awesome!

I'm also really loving the whole "special place" idea and find myself daydreaming about it a lot when my mind is idle and when I'm going to sleep. I've felt closer to the baby since starting the program, and even much more peaceful overall.

I'm really glad I decided to do it. How are y'all liking it so far?

[Queen of Cups]

I love it! I'm really struggling with anxiety this pregnancy, and I have to say that starting hypnobabies this week has helped. I'm still in my first week, but I'm surprized how much I've retained from my last pregnancy/birth. I bought a shower cd-player so I can listen to the pregnancy affirmations cd every night while I shower ($40 at BB&B). Its a wonderful way to wind down the day!!! Have you listened to that cd yet?

[beachbaby]

Originally Posted by *Amy*

(or "hippobabies" as DH calls it).

Cute! My DH calls it "hippie-babies"

I'm enjoying it so far, too. I think it has really helped with a lot of the anxiety I was starting to feel about the whole birthing process. Plus, it's a also a good way to spend some time each day focusing on me and the baby--I think it's helping be stay relaxed and positive in other areas, too (work, family, etc.)

I have been falling asleep more during the last few sessions, but I think it was due to a busy/stressful week--by the time I get to do the scripts, I've been exhausted. I know it's ok because your subconcious still absorbs the material, but I feel like I really want to be awake to hear what's on the scripts.

Good to hear how everyone else is doing!

[PicnicBear]

I started it about 2 months ago and it was going great for me. Then I stopped all of a sudden after about 3 weeks and never got back to it. I really want to start again soon, of course, I will have to start from the beginning again. I did enjoy it and I found that those CDs really knocked me out. I just could not stay awake. I, too, really enjoyed listening to what I did remember of them.

Yes, I am a slacker and need to start again now that I hit 30 weeks . . .

[*Amy*]

I did fall semi-asleep during one, but I now listen to them around mid-morning after DH is at work and I've eaten breakfast. (I know not everyone has the ability to listen to them at that time though.) Beachbaby, I think I remember reading in the binder that if you do fall asleep, you can like fast-forward over the first couple of minutes and just listen to the core of the CD while you are washing the dishes or cooking dinner or whatever, so that you hear the information in an awake state too.

Yes I have been listening to the affirmations CD, which I LOVE! I find myself nodding along, saying "yes" to so many of them. It's cool.

Hippie-babies. Heh-heh, that is a good one!

[Kavita]

UPS just delivered mine about half an hour ago. I opened the box--does that count for something? :LOL

[*Amy*]

How are we all doing with our hypnobabies stuff? I'm in "maintenance" mode and just trying to spend lots of time visualizing a great birth.

I just watched an episode of Baby Story with a hypnomama - she was using Hypnobirthing (or whatever it's called) instead of Hypnobabies though. Anyway it looked like she had a really comfortable and peaceful birth, and seemed to only have discomfort when her baby crowned. She also had a very supportive OB and L&D staff, which obviously helped a lot. So, yay Baby Story for showing an "alternative" birth!!

[RainRaven]

I want to try this method sooo bad

but unfortunitly, I am a stay home mom with veary limted income, so buying cds out of the question, no clases are offered in my area(only one class in offered for birth period in our are, and it sucks veary pro c-section and pain killers) : I have been trying to find some one in my area that I can barrow course from or any one who had used the course or taken a class, I even asked my midwife if she knew of anyone who had used the method, no luck. our library has no books on the subject. Any Ideas?

I am starting to get kind of depresed about my lack of luck with finding a solution. I had such a horable delevery with my son and i whanted to have more control over the situation this time. any input is aprecated

[spughy]

RainRaven, I forked out the big bucks for a hypnobirthing class and while I think it was totally worth it, if you are really motivated and set aside a half hour a day til you give birth to practise, you will probably be able to get most of the benefits.

The basic idea is that a fully relaxed body is able to give birth more smoothly and more gently than one that it tense, so the techniques you learn are all directed towards physical and mental relaxation. The primary technique is visualizations, and in the class I took we were encouraged to create visualizations that were personal to us in any case. We also got a CD with a relaxation "script" and nice music recorded on it, only we ended up making our own recording of the same script, because the voice on the CD annoyed me

What I would do is search the internet for how-to's for self-hypnosis, relaxation scripts, visualizations, etc. Get you partner or a friend to record the scripts for you and play them back to yourself - they don't have to be fancy to work. If you want to get fancy, you can get free software that will let you overlay musical tracks on the recording but that's not really necessary. You can even record them yourself but the idea of listening to my own voice kind of weirded me out a bit

Good luck, I hope you manage to find something that works! Just practice relaxing all your muscles too. If you get braxton hicks contractions, try relaxing yourself as much as possible during them, that'll give you a good start!

This seems like a good self-hypnosis script - you can add in birthing-specific stuff at the appropriate parts, record it and just spend some time every day practising relaxing and visualizing a calm, healthy, gentle birth. script

[Queen of Cups]

You can join the Yahoo groups Hypnobabies email group, and you can download the text for several of the scripts. Then, either you can record yourself reading them or have your birth coach/partner read them to you daily. Totally free! The entire course is not available in text format, but several of the key scripts are. Good luck!

here's the link to the yahoo group:http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Hypnobabies/

[RainRaven]

thanks , i submited to join the yahoo group, just waiting for aproval now

[PicnicBear]

QofC -- you are the expert here -- someone from the yahoo group posted about nightmares after the fear release CD. I had that, too! I posted back to that group (Julia) but I wonder if anyone here in the DDC has had issues with that. DH heard some of it when I was doing it and said he thought it did a lot to dredge up fears but not much to really deal with them expect sort of "poof" them away