Feelings of Liberation and Empowerment

It's early on a Monday morning... not usually my best time of day or the week. Usually I've struggled out of bed, still tired from a weekend of catching up on chores, work, family commitments and wondering where it all went.

Being almost 29 weeks pregnant, having been sick the entire time, many of my morning routines have faded by the wayside, replaced by the cool tiles on the bathroom floor, trying to keep down dry, bland food, wondering how on earth I'm going to get through another day at work if I'm feeling this bad and I'm not even there yet.

This morning is different. Yes, I still woke up three times last night to use the bathroom. Yes, I still feel sick. But my weekend spent at the most beautiful, empowering, liberating and energising prenatal course I could imaging has switched things on for me. It was not all easy sailing, I still had to contend with hubby's anxiety attacks (particularly around meditation and "the gross bits") but I feel like we both got a great deal out of the course.

The last 23 weeks of antenatal visits at the hospital, a million doctors, tests, checks, "oops we lost that test result, have to redo it", the hours and hours spent sitting in crowded and noisy waiting rooms, being told I have limited options... haven't set me up for the best mindset.

When we walked out of Saturday's sessions, we both had a sense that we were facing down our fears about this journey, that it wasn't going to be the mess that it appeared to be. By the time Sunday was done, we both felt like we could take ownership of this pregnancy and it wasn't all in the hands of these lofty doctors who were calling all the shots.

One of the first activities of the weekend focussed on setting up the birth space using the various senses. Images, music, scents, lighting, even clothing... I had in my head a white, sterile room, a gown with too much air-con in the back... my head is in a completely different birth space now. Even if we do end up having a caesarean birth, there are some things I can control in that space (I'll be sure to post a photo of what we end up doing...). And when you watch movies and TV series it's all hype and drama or "just breath..." story lines. It's such a shame that so many women have all these preconceived notions about what birth is... and it doesn't have to be like that. Like the video below... blew my mind and has us all laughing:

So now instead of going into this last trimester with apprehension, anxiety and feeling out of control, I'll be going in with a new sense of empowerment and liberation. I know I can rely on hubby to be the gatekeeper of that birth room, that even if things don't go exactly to plan that I do have control over some aspects.

And I lost count of the number of meditations we did, it's probably why I feel so chilled out this morning... one excellent piece of advice: never meditate on a full bladder...! Pee first - zen second!

So if you're looking for a course - try Calmbirth. And find your inner calm and strength.

Happy travels everyone!!