News with a capital 'N'

Ahem. Ahum. Err. Wah. Hmmm. So. Nervous. Yes. Not sure about sharing this news. Here. Yet.

Mainly because of IRL people who read this blog. Any IRL people who do read this blog, please, please do not spread this around. Keep this close to your chest. Because we don't know where this will go or what will happen and I don't want people contacting my parents or Mr. T parent's until we know things are looking more secure.

Can you guess what my news might be?? Can you?

Well I'm sure you already have. Yes I am. *Deep in take of breath* Just 4 weeks.

Beta on Friday 44.9. Beta on Monday 229.

(I really wanted to do one of those graph things from BabyMed but they don't seem to do them anymore. If you know where I can go to make one please send the link my way.)

I had my progesterone levels checked too. They are good. So my plan until I get to 12 weeks is to have my HCG checked every Monday along with my progesterone levels. Then if all goes well and we reach 12 weeks we will scan. Until then there will be no scans. No baby tickers. No celebrations. Just lots of rest and positive thinking. And pre-natal yoga. And slow walks in the countryside.

I am so so grateful to Dr. S. Just 8 weeks after starting his program and I am pregnant. I know it's because of what he did for me. And we got pregnant totally naturally, first time trying. I know! How annoying am I? But seriously. So so happy. A little nervous. Trying to be calm and sage-like. It's very early days so we shall proceed with caution. And faith.

Oh and Mr. T comes home today from a long trip. Happy. Me. Face. Smiling.

A HypnoBirthing announcement--Allecia & Jordan's birth

Allecia & Jordan took my classes on Tuesday nights in July 2010 at Indigo Dragon Health & Wellness Center. Here is their birth story:

Allecia & Jordan's Birth Story



My daughter was born August 16th, 2010 at 8:35 pm. She weighed 7lbs. 1oz. and was 21 inches long. I would say this day by far is the best day of my life. I don't think this intimate experience would have been the same without taking HypnoBirthing classes and having her at Best Start Birth Center. My daughter is my first child so there was a lot of reluctance and fear experienced. I wasn't sure what to expect and HypnoBirthing really helped me. It helped me not feel this way by teaching me to trust myself and my baby. My labor started at night on the fifteenth while I was in bed sleeping. The surges weren't regular so I didn't really suspect anything. I also think it had to do with how I dealt with the sensations I was feeling.

I woke up at about 9:30 am the next morning feeling the surges more frequently and regular. At this point I put my HypnoBirthing Relaxation CD on and concentrated on my breathing. I began to also time my surges with the application I downloaded on my phone. For the next two hours I timed my surges and they were above five to six minutes apart. I called the midwife on call at the birth center to tell her I would probably be in to give birth later in the day. She told me to call her back in a couple of hours. After the phone call I kept track of my surges for another two hours and got into my bath tub to relax. While I was relaxing in the bath tub my surges became for frequent and increased with intensity. I called the midwife back and told her my surges were three to four minutes apart and that my husband and I would be heading down to the birth center soon since its forty minutes away. My
husband had to run to Best Buy to get a video camera to tape the birth. He was only gone about an hour but it seemed so much longer! I was in active labor and told him to hurry up and that we were leaving as soon as he got back.



Before we left, we literally had to throw all our stuff into a few bags because the only thing we had ready was the baby's bag. We ended up bringing stuff we didn't even need but brought if we ended up at the hospital. On the way down to the birth center the traffic was crazy and we almost got into a car accident, someone almost ran into the side of our car. We left the house around four in the afternoon. I thought we would have to pull over on the highway because the surges were so intense. We arrived at the birth center at around five. We checked in with the midwife and I was examined to check for dilation. At this point the surges were very intense and it was very hard to get onto the exam table because every time I went to get onto the table I started to have a surge! The midwife measured my dilation at 7 cm!



After that was done I went to the room so the midwife could get information from me and to get ready to get into the warm bath tub water. The room at the birth center was so awesome because I felt so at home. I was able to labor, deliver, and spend the beginning of post-partum in it. The bath water was so relaxing during labor. I don't think I would have been able to relax as much during active labor and transition if I wasn't doing a water birth. I guess wanting the best for my daughter's birth I had good experiences myself. I spent about three and a half hours in the bath tub going through the rest of active labor and transition. It was very intense and I was on my knees in like a modified squatting position. The last part of my labor didn't seem like three and a half hours because I was experiencing time distortion which you have happen when you're in a deeply relaxed state. I was really focusing on my breathing and letting my body do the work. The most intense part was getting the baby's head out. It seemed like the baby's head would never come out but it wasn't painful just a lot of pressure. Not too long after the baby's head came out Ruby Rose was born from a little assistance from the midwife. I was able to pick her up out from underneath the water. It all seemed like a dream holding her little body close to mine.



She was and still is the most precious person in my life. It was awesome to have her with my husband and doula there to share this once in a life time experience. The staff at the birth center was very supportive and respectful. If I could say anything about giving birth it would be to make sure you inform yourself and do what is best for your child.

Thanks so much Carol,Best Start Birth Center, Jordan and Amanda!

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Congratulations Allecia & Jordan! Thanks so much for sharing your birth story! Continue to enjoy your babymoon!

For more information about HypnoBirthing classes in San Diego, CA, please visit Carol's website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. For HypnoBirthing classes outside of San Diego, please go to www.HypnoBirthing.com to find a practitioner near you.

You can find more information about Best Start Birth Center on my resources page of my website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net.

www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com

Back!

I'm back from my whirlwind travels and more doctors appointments. I dread to think how much money we've spent on IF/health investigations if you include flights & hotels etc.. not to mention the doctor's fees!

But. If we eventually have our longed for baby it will all be worth it in the end. So I went back to Dr. S who told me 6 weeks ago that I had serious metal toxicity and that I needed to eat meat (shock!) and stop eating wheat, along with a host of other fruits and vegetables that can make inflammation worse. So I did it all. When I went back to him, he told me he is surprised at the progress I have made. All my other issues he found have disappeared as a result. He tested me for metals, he confirmed that I have got rid of them. He tested me again for wheat - still serious issue with it and he suggested I stay off of it. I have no problem with that, I have felt amazing not eating it. He confirmed that I no longer had any vitamin deficiencies (before my levels of B6 were negligible) and then he said I am going to test to see if you can get pregnant and importantly stay pregnant. I held my breath. I passed. INSERT LARGE BEAMING SMILE HERE:

He has prescribed me a pre-natal supplement, lots of zinc, omega 3 and choline (to make my baby smart, he said). Apparently choline helps with forming more connections in the brain and the more you have the more intelligent you are, so choline me up baby!! So I am officially back TTC. Well I will be next week anyway. Today is CD3 and for the first time in many many months I feel hopeful and positive. I feel that this may actually happen for us. In fact Dr. S gave me a firm but kind talk about enjoying my life and not concentrating my energies on worrying about what may happen but to already imagine my baby in my arms. It's hard to do. I told Mr. T afterward that holding a baby, my baby, feels like a kind of fantasy and when I think of it, I feel like I might as well be dreaming about unicorns and fairies. My baby has existed on that fantasy plain for so long, I find it hard to believe it might one day be real. When I said this I knew it was time for an attitude change. I only began to think like this to protect myself. Now it's time to open up myself again to allow good things to happen. I don't want worry or anxiety to hold me back. Time to picture myself with a healthy baby and believe it can and will happen. It's a tall order. Even Mr. T told me he will be an anxious wreck when (not if!!!) I get pg. I told him we will cross that bridge when we come to it. First we have more important things to do....

I also managed to get all the blood testing I missed out on last time we were back in London. So it will be interesting to see what the results say - these tests are for reproductive immunological issues. I spoke to Dr. S to see what he thought about it all and he raised a very valid point I thought - he said if you have major food insensitivities and you are eating something wrong for you, this will cause inflammation which will initiate a heightened immune response. Now that I have removed this inflammation I will be very interested to know my results from the blood testing and to see how my immune system is functioning. So we move forward on two fronts.

We have the more natural scientific approach from Dr. S - whose protocols have had a major affect on my general health. I have never felt better - so I do hold out significant hope that this will translate into healthier and better levels of fertility. And as a back-up we have done the testing for the reproductive immunological approach so if we ever need to that road is always there.

Now if you'll excuse me I need to have a serious chat with my attitude and my uterus.

Uterus? Can you hear me? We are finally back in business! Don't let me down!