I'm going to give birth in January. Your story is so precious to me especially because I'm surrounded by stories about pain so big you can't handle it, wounds, trauma or declarations about no children at all or no more children anymore because the first birth was so traumatic. I feel we have something in common in the way we think, so I'll definitely rewatch this video to get kind of assurrance that I'm not the alien in the way I think.
Ahh this makes me so happy! And is exactly why I wanted to film this video so I'm so, so pleased that you found it helpful. Apparently induction contractions are more intense than natural labour ones so it's very possible it could be "better" than what I experienced with the right mindset! You're going to be amazing :) Please get in touch if you want to chat about anything - hello@carmenelaine.com Hope the pregnancy is going well. It's such an exciting time and I'm so excited for you!!
Dear Carmen, thank you ever so much for your story! I rewatched it several times so that I could completely understand what you were going through and enjoy your inspiring speaking! I remember my labour too well, the way I wanted it to be, in spite of induction, which hadn't been planed, either. In my labour plan I had asked for no stimulation, but when it turned out to be necessary I gave in. You have to go with a flow, when your baby is coming. No time to follow your idealistic wishes... and just do what you have to for the baby. How perfectly you described what those contractions were like, and the little time to recover before the next 10 seconds... the contractions were bearable, quite unnatural though. I remember the idea of every push getting me closer to the meeting! And that there is no right, there is no wrong. I had another point on my mind: there is just one way for the baby to go... you can't spit it out😅 I was against any anesthesia, as I wanted to be there for it, too and feel the most unique part of it all that I will never forget. Thank you for sharing your tremendous philosophic ideas and private surreal emotions! Moms should do that! I feel as if I went through it all the second time)) I am proud of you and your positive approach! Keep going, create more inspiring videos, look forward to them! Best regards to your dad, Lyuba, Charles, your cat, and, of course, the baby❤ your Russian friend, Linda
Aw, Linda! What a lovely message and it's so lovely to hear your experiences were so similar. I love that we can be connected by that. Sending lots of love to you and yours also xx
Congrats and best wishes to you all! Good to have positive (realistic) stories shared. Letting your body do what it knows to do is probably the most important advice for life in general, not just in giving birth!
Congratulations on the new addition to your family!!! So happy to see your update videos from the past couple of months. Enjoy this precious time together as a new family. Sending lots of hugs!
Ahhh congratulations! It sounds like you have a great outlook and, yeah, you're spot on - it's important to have an ideal to aim for but also trust in your ability to handle any twists and turns and your comment reads like you're made of the good stuff! One thing I'll add (I actually edited this out of the video - not sure why now) is that my hypnobirthing course made me feel a bit like I was going to have to put up a fight for everything I wanted and it just wasn't the case at all. The NHS midwives (or at least the ones I encountered) were totally on the same page as the hypnobirthing course. I wish I'd known that earlier because I felt a bit defensive for the first part of my pregnancy - like at any moment I'd be coerced into something I wasn't comfortable with but nothing even came close to that. So I thought I'd share just in case your hypnobirthing course made you feel similarly! Sending you so much love - you're going to be and are amazing. So excited for you xx
@@CarmenElaine Thank you, that's a really lovely, and reassuring, reply :) Yeah we found when we had our first 'meeting' with our midwife over the phone that when we mentioned hypnobirhting, she was really pleased to hear it and said 'we love hypnobirths!' and she said she'd spent the whole rest of the day advising parents to consider basically our plan A but most people wanted the opposite of us (in hospital, all the interventions etc) as their plan A. We found that really interesting, but perhaps when I was younger and had done less research I would have been someone who was scared and wanted literally everything they could offer, whereas now I have the knowledge that nature knows best, and my body and my baby's body know what to do, and nature offers the healthiest start to life, if it can be led that way, but of course with support from modern medical teams if/when it is required for baby/mum's safety and wellbeing. All the care I've had from NHS midwives and obstetricians has been just that - caring - so far, and consider the parents' wishes and I've felt like we've led the process so far, not them. It's been quite a relief how empowering they want to be to us, and it's not been as intense or anywhere near as controlling as some people have expressed from their previous experiences in iyears gone by, or in our hypnobirthing book (by Katharine Graves). We are going in for a full day hypnobirthing course next month and we are looking forward to some more hands on practice with an experienced guide, and we are also looking forward to education by the NHS teams just after that, because they can talk about the 'what ifs' and inform us just in case we have any curveballs. Thanks so much for your transparency and honest sharing :)
Congratulations!. What a lovely experience for you. I was induced too so I know what's it like and just had to make the most of the situation. Well done on making it what you wanted it to be ❤. You did yourself proud. What a gorgeous baby you have with a beautiful head of hair and those little cute squeaks are everything 😊. Xxx
My wife did hypnobirthing for our second child and it was an absolute night-and-day difference from our first. We've been advocates for hypnobirthing ever since. (Oh, and congratulations!) 🎉
I'm going to give birth in January. Your story is so precious to me especially because I'm surrounded by stories about pain so big you can't handle it, wounds, trauma or declarations about no children at all or no more children anymore because the first birth was so traumatic. I feel we have something in common in the way we think, so I'll definitely rewatch this video to get kind of assurrance that I'm not the alien in the way I think.
Ahh this makes me so happy! And is exactly why I wanted to film this video so I'm so, so pleased that you found it helpful. Apparently induction contractions are more intense than natural labour ones so it's very possible it could be "better" than what I experienced with the right mindset! You're going to be amazing :) Please get in touch if you want to chat about anything - hello@carmenelaine.com Hope the pregnancy is going well. It's such an exciting time and I'm so excited for you!!
Oh yeah! 10 seconds at a time. I remember that from Kimmy Schmidt.
You did it!! 💜 💜
So simple and so effective! Sending lots of love xx
Dear Carmen, thank you ever so much for your story! I rewatched it several times so that I could completely understand what you were going through and enjoy your inspiring speaking! I remember my labour too well, the way I wanted it to be, in spite of induction, which hadn't been planed, either. In my labour plan I had asked for no stimulation, but when it turned out to be necessary I gave in. You have to go with a flow, when your baby is coming. No time to follow your idealistic wishes... and just do what you have to for the baby. How perfectly you described what those contractions were like, and the little time to recover before the next 10 seconds... the contractions were bearable, quite unnatural though. I remember the idea of every push getting me closer to the meeting! And that there is no right, there is no wrong. I had another point on my mind: there is just one way for the baby to go... you can't spit it out😅 I was against any anesthesia, as I wanted to be there for it, too and feel the most unique part of it all that I will never forget. Thank you for sharing your tremendous philosophic ideas and private surreal emotions! Moms should do that! I feel as if I went through it all the second time)) I am proud of you and your positive approach! Keep going, create more inspiring videos, look forward to them! Best regards to your dad, Lyuba, Charles, your cat, and, of course, the baby❤ your Russian friend, Linda
Aw, Linda! What a lovely message and it's so lovely to hear your experiences were so similar. I love that we can be connected by that. Sending lots of love to you and yours also xx
Thank you so much!!!
Carmen thank you so much for sharing your positive story! I wish more people saw birth the way you have, but you inspire me to do so 😊
Thank you so much, Jen!! X
Congrats and best wishes to you all! Good to have positive (realistic) stories shared. Letting your body do what it knows to do is probably the most important advice for life in general, not just in giving birth!
Thank you! And that's such a good point!
Your reflections are gold. Sharing this with my doula clients
Wow! That's wonderful to hear - thank you so much xx
So happy for you Carmen! Have been watching you for years!
Ahh that's so lovely to hear! Thank you!! ❤️
Congratulations on the new addition to your family!!! So happy to see your update videos from the past couple of months. Enjoy this precious time together as a new family. Sending lots of hugs!
Sorry for the huge delay and thank you so much!!!!
John and I loved watching this. Lovely to see our great niece xx
Aw good I'm so pleased! Xx
Congratulations on your little sweetheart coming and joining you out here!
Ahhh congratulations! It sounds like you have a great outlook and, yeah, you're spot on - it's important to have an ideal to aim for but also trust in your ability to handle any twists and turns and your comment reads like you're made of the good stuff! One thing I'll add (I actually edited this out of the video - not sure why now) is that my hypnobirthing course made me feel a bit like I was going to have to put up a fight for everything I wanted and it just wasn't the case at all. The NHS midwives (or at least the ones I encountered) were totally on the same page as the hypnobirthing course. I wish I'd known that earlier because I felt a bit defensive for the first part of my pregnancy - like at any moment I'd be coerced into something I wasn't comfortable with but nothing even came close to that. So I thought I'd share just in case your hypnobirthing course made you feel similarly! Sending you so much love - you're going to be and are amazing. So excited for you xx
@@CarmenElaine Thank you, that's a really lovely, and reassuring, reply :) Yeah we found when we had our first 'meeting' with our midwife over the phone that when we mentioned hypnobirhting, she was really pleased to hear it and said 'we love hypnobirths!' and she said she'd spent the whole rest of the day advising parents to consider basically our plan A but most people wanted the opposite of us (in hospital, all the interventions etc) as their plan A. We found that really interesting, but perhaps when I was younger and had done less research I would have been someone who was scared and wanted literally everything they could offer, whereas now I have the knowledge that nature knows best, and my body and my baby's body know what to do, and nature offers the healthiest start to life, if it can be led that way, but of course with support from modern medical teams if/when it is required for baby/mum's safety and wellbeing. All the care I've had from NHS midwives and obstetricians has been just that - caring - so far, and consider the parents' wishes and I've felt like we've led the process so far, not them. It's been quite a relief how empowering they want to be to us, and it's not been as intense or anywhere near as controlling as some people have expressed from their previous experiences in iyears gone by, or in our hypnobirthing book (by Katharine Graves). We are going in for a full day hypnobirthing course next month and we are looking forward to some more hands on practice with an experienced guide, and we are also looking forward to education by the NHS teams just after that, because they can talk about the 'what ifs' and inform us just in case we have any curveballs. Thanks so much for your transparency and honest sharing :)
Sorry Carmen, I don't know how I managed to miss this when it was originally uploaded!! What a lovely video. Hope you're all doing well. ❤
Aww thank you so much! 🥰 We're great, thanks. She's the absolute sweetest little thing. Absolutely smitten. Hope you're keeping well too!! ❤️
So happy you had a positive experiance, she is lovely ❤
Aw thank you so much! X
Congratulations! Welcome to the little one
Thank you!! 😊
Congratulations!. What a lovely experience for you. I was induced too so I know what's it like and just had to make the most of the situation. Well done on making it what you wanted it to be ❤. You did yourself proud. What a gorgeous baby you have with a beautiful head of hair and those little cute squeaks are everything 😊. Xxx
This is so lovely - thank you so much :) Xxx
Congratulations! Thank you for sharing your story! I'm sorry you had a health scare, but glad there was a happy ending/beginning!💕
Thank you so much! ❤️
Herzlichen Glückwunsch, Carmen!
Danke! :)
Oh my goodness she is lovely! You did really great with all the surprises, congratulations 🎉 "the polite one" lol Many blessings for you all ❤
Thank you so much! 🤗
So proud of you 🎉🎉🎉 luyun ❤️
Right back atcha xx
Congratulations!
Thank you! ✨
Congratulations to you both😍
Thank you :) ❤️
My wife did hypnobirthing for our second child and it was an absolute night-and-day difference from our first.
We've been advocates for hypnobirthing ever since.
(Oh, and congratulations!) 🎉
I'm so pleased to hear it!! I loved it too. I felt so much more in control than I ever thought I could in such an unknown. And thank you!