Hee Hee Hoooo: Lamaze Day 3

Yes! We learned the "hee hee hoo" method of breathing called Patterned Breathing. I had to slow down at first because I started to feel a little light headed, in fact I don't think I can fully appreciate this method until I practice it a little more. It is supposed to be slow paced and random, not like the stereotypical heeheehoo that many people think of.

This is how this one works: Josh will tell me one, two, or three in any random order and that is how many hee's I give. I finish with a hoo after each set of hee's. It's not like what you see on television where the pregnant lady is panting like an animal...I guess they just thought that makes for good comedy. My hee is a slow breath in through my nose then a slow exhale out through my mouth that sounds like "heeeeeee". I do that once, twice or three times according to what Josh tells me - basically to make me think and keep my mind off of the contraction. Then to let Josh know I am ready for my next random number I take a slow deep breath in and exhale slow with a "hooooooo".

We learned some different ways to deal with back labor, which is when the baby is facing front rather than facing mom's spine. This means that the boney part of the baby's head is pressing hard on mom's spine and causing unrelenting back pain. It occurs in 25% of labors. There are different positions to get in to let baby turn the right way, by opening mom's pelvis wider and also to relieve pressure.

We went over alternatives to pitocin which can be given to induce and stimulate labor. Pitocin is very commonly used but has many cons as well as pros. Most importantly to me, it can cause very severe contractions that are unnecessary and can cause stress on the baby and mom. There are a handful of natural alternatives that release pitocin that I can do on my own if need be. For now I have faith that my body knows what to do and will do it when it is ready...we'll see, won't we?!

I've got my labor, delivery and recovery bag packed as homework. This one is not for postpartum but just for the delivery room. I have my house shoes, robe, mouthwash, hair ties and snacks for Josh. I'm gonna tell him I'll allow him some snacks if he'll sneak me a bite. We've already agreed to sneak me water too cause I know ice chips ain't gonna cut it!

I hope everyone has a good hump day!
Love to all and baby says hello (via the knee in my ribs right now)!