My Pregnancy Week 34 - by Betsy Cherry Twin Cities Maternity Photographer

5/2/2014

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Posted in: PROJECTS | MATERNITY | JOURNALING | FOR PHOTOGS

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SELF-PORTRAIT HOW-TO: This week i stayed indoor because not only was the sun beaming down, threatening to put me in weird highlights and shadow that i didn't feel like dealing with, but i also wanted to wear something more see-through and it was a bit chilly out. i also wanted to see how many different poses i could do in one small space, without changing much. This is a good thing to know when you want to get a good variety for your client without having to move them around too much. I used the deck doors for light, with the curtain pulled shut to diffuse the sun and soften the overall feel of the photos. The goal was to make sure the light shone through the lacy material, and that I was illuminated on the front plane. I overexposed for myself and allowed the scene behind me to fade to white. I leaned n towards the camera slightly to make my upper half a bit bigger and my bottom half a bit smaller...not to change my body, but to help compensate for any distortion that can be created by camera angle and/or lens. I also made sure to not hold or push my arm into my body as this can make it look wider than it really is. Lastly, dropping my shoulder elongated my neck and gave a much more flattering shape. This practice session opened my eyes to new posing techniques, which is one big reason why I'm doing my own maternity photos! I included the rest of the photos from this fun practice shoot at the end of the blog entry.

WEEK 34 MONTH 8 | MAY 2ND - MAY 8TH
B A B Y C A N T A L O U P E

Friday May 2nd - Tonight we had some people over to watch the Wild play in the playoffs. It was fun. I fed baby lots of pizza and healthy snacks like wheat chex, pretzels, goldfish crackers, popcorn, watermelon, and M&Ms. Okay, so maybe the M&Ms weren't healthy, but they were tasty! My brother-in-law's girlfriend said I didn't look pregnant at all from the back or front but that when i turned to the side it was almost a shock. Made me laugh.

Saturday, May 3rd - Little baby cantaloupe had her first experience at the races! We went to watch some sprint car races and it was super windy and cold, but fun and loud! I hope she enjoyed it.

Sunday May 4th - We got to spend a few hours with our doula this morning! It was so great to see her again. We hadn't since the day we met her. We talked all about what i've been doing, how I've been feeling, what i can be doing from here on out, and what my goals, hopes, and fears are in regards to my birthing plan.

Monday May 5th - my coworker/friend is gone on maternity leave so I've taken the liberty of making sure her exercise ball get plenty of action. I sit on it everyday now, hoping to keep a good posture and giving this baby plenty of room to move where she needs to go. It should also help keep my body in balance. If one side is off, it can make one side of my uterus harder to access, which can in turn keep her on one side and make birthing more difficult. I rarely sit on the couch, and i have a small hard pillow to sit on in my car that helps keep my hips and pelvis level and my knees lower. Without the pillow, my butt sinks down in the seat, jackknifing my whole baby region. After a short time, i start to ache. My back will hurt and i'll feel cramping in my abdomen. With the pillow, much of that discomfort has gone away.

Tuesday May 6th - I've been feeling stronger practice waves today. Some within an hour, some further apart. I've been taking advantage of them by quickly finding a place where I can shut off my mental switch and allow hypno-anesthesia to move into that area. If I can't find a safe place to turn off my switch, I will close my eyes and tell myself to breathe, or say the word "peace", which is my cue word for anesthesia and relaxation. I practiced moving in my center-switch mode too. I turned the lights off in the lactation room, counted myself out, flipped off my switch, and relaxed. Then i brought my switch to the center position and sat on the floor to do my stretches. Then I sit back down and counted myself back to full awareness. I did this a few times. I hoping to master my Hypnobabies techniques so that i can feel confident that my birthing time will be peaceful and wonderful.

Wednesday May 7th - I arrived at work 45 minutes early this morning so I took advantage of the extra alone time and listened to a hypnobabies track. I decided to listen to "Creating Anesthesia" because creating my own anesthesia is one of the most important aspects of a hypno birth and I'm determined to practice and master it. I have a little trouble with it right now. What I do is bring myself into a deep hypnotic state and say the word "peace" as i slowly exhale. I am essentially breathing anesthesia to the part of my body that I direct it to. Sometimes I worry its not working, and that's when it doesn't work. Go figure. So I need to keep practicing so that i'm consciously and subconsciously confident that I can create better anesthesia than a medication can. By better, I don't mean making me feel nothing. The point is to relax and feel what my body is doing, but feel it as pressure rather than pain. I'm training my mind how to enjoy what my body is doing rather than fear it and fight against it. I need to feel how my body is helping my baby along in order to help my body through the process. This is why I had a natural (drug-free) birth with Landon. I wanted to know how to assist my body. The different with Landon is that i was scared and tense, which made everything hurt. But birth doesn't have to hurt. As a matter of fact, its not supposed to. Our culture is so bent on thinking that birth is the most painful and scary experience a woman can endure, and we've been trained to believe that. In truth, birth is supposed to be beautiful and peaceful and empowering. I am using hypnosis as a gateway to my mind and to God's will. If I don't fear birth, I can relax and enjoy this whole journey. I believe God's intent on saying He will make our pains great during birthing was for us to take great pains in ensuring that our birth is wonderful by putting everything into pregnancy and calling upon Him for strength and peace during birth. I believe its about having faith in the tools He provided in our own bodies. The word "pain" has two definitions, one being "careful effort or great care". Enough said.

Thursday May 8th - Last night I did another hypno session in the tub. I was out pretty good because i didn't start to hear it consciously until nearly halfway through a second playing of the track. That means I was pretty relaxed, which is good! Normally when I'm in the tub I feel itches and pops of stimulation that keep me from getting into a super deep state. This time I tried a slightly different position. Rather than lay directly on my back with my legs stretched out to the other end of our 5" tub, I turned a little on my left side and laid my head on a towel that draped over the tub. I think it worked much better than having my head resting against the wall. And its likely that I will have my head down on my arms, or on Mike's arms, during the birthing anyway.