Our First Hypnobaby is 1 Year Old

Wednesday, July 7th, 2008 our 1st Hypnobaby, Elisabeth-Jane, turned 1! My pregnancy and birthing of her was amazing in many respects. It was very empowering, a great learning experience, and it brought Robert & I even closer together. Also, the fact that it was pain-free without drugs was a huge plus! You can read the whole birth story online here. The link goes to a site by Sheridan who moderates the Hypnobabies Yahoo board and also teaches the Hypnobabies method. She also has lots of other birth stories and good info there, including her comparison between Hypnobabies and Hypnobirthing. And, I want you to STOP RIGHT NOW that negative thinking that this was some weird, hippy-type, fluke, and that most women would never be able to do it pain-free without drugs. AND STOP thinking that I was able to do this b/c this was my 6th birth; there are many moms who do this for their 1st baby. This birth was just as much (if not more) work than all the others, all it took was preparation and the right tools to get the birth we wanted. Do some research yourself on it, take the class or buy the homestudy course (I hear it's just as good or better than the class), and above all, let yourself believe it is possible, please.

BTW, it is also not cheap (about 300$), but how much did/would you pay for that epidural, huh?

Now, on to the cuteness that is a year old!




Here she is waking up as a 1 year old.





Here she is with Dr. Shirley, who has a very new, very small (for now) practice here in Houston. She looks unhappy b/c he's doing that funny thing where he rotates her legs in her hip socket. I'm sure I will be annoyed when he has the inevitable hundreds of patients (which I know he will b/c he is amazing!) and it's harder to get an appointment, but now I get my choice of anytime whenever we need it!

We went to the Olive Garden (possibly our family's all time favorite restaurant) for dinner and decided we would get her a kid's sized chocolate gelato for dessert. We are not so wild about cake (I love decorating them, but not so much the eating of them), so we have made it a tradition to give our babies their first taste of ice cream on their 1st birthdays. Also, since Robert's side of the family has LOTS if food allergies, we haven't let any of our kids have dairy at all until that birthday. She seemed to enjoy it, especially after daddy gave her the spoon!


p.s. Happy Belated Birthday to Michael, who shares EJ's birthday!!! We love and miss you guys.