Speaker 1: Birth and labor is like running a marathon, and she's like,
Speaker 1: would you, you know, just enter a marathon and not
Speaker 1: bother training or you know, at least trying and putting
Speaker 1: in some pre work for it. Welcome back to the
Speaker 1: Rise and Conquered Podcast. I'm your host, Georgie Stevenson, former
Speaker 1: lawyer turned entrepreneur, social media personality and personal development junkie.
Speaker 1: This podcast is for my girl gang who want to
Speaker 1: feed their mind with positive and expansive thoughts to help
Speaker 1: them step into their power and live their most authentic life.
Speaker 1: Which had a variety of topics including mindset, business, relationships, health,
Speaker 1: and so much more. Basically, wherever you are on your journey,
Speaker 1: I want to help you feel inspired and empowered to
Speaker 1: rise up and conquer your next bold move. I know
Speaker 1: that's going to look different for everyone, but just no,
Speaker 1: I'm right here by your side and that you have
Speaker 1: the RNC community behind you.
Speaker 2: Let's do this.
Speaker 1: Hello and welcome back to the Rise and Conquer Podcast.
Speaker 1: It is your host Georgie Stevenson, and today we are
Speaker 1: chatting about.
Speaker 3: Something a little bit different.
Speaker 1: But I've had a lot of DMS and questions about it,
Speaker 1: and obviously this is something I'm currently going through, but
Speaker 1: also I know a lot of my community are either
Speaker 1: thinking about or going through. So today I am chatting
Speaker 1: to you about my birth plan and also what I
Speaker 1: have been doing.
Speaker 2: For birth preparation.
Speaker 1: So I am currently when I'm recording this, I'm around
Speaker 1: thirty four weeks, so we've got about five weeks to
Speaker 1: go if she doesn't come early or late, so give
Speaker 1: or take. And I have been doing prep probably from
Speaker 1: the twenty week mark, and so I just want to
Speaker 1: chat about, you know, what I've been doing, what the
Speaker 1: process has been like. And I guess the reason why
Speaker 1: I want to chat about this is I got told
Speaker 1: by my hypno birthing lady and she kind of explained,
Speaker 1: you know, birth and labor is like running a marathon.
Speaker 1: And she's like, would you, you know, just enter a
Speaker 1: marathon and not bother training or you know, at least
Speaker 1: trying and putting in some pre.
Speaker 3: Work for it.
Speaker 1: And I was like, yeah, of course not, and she's
Speaker 1: like exactly. So that's why it's really important to be
Speaker 1: putting in this time and energy to prepare for birth,
Speaker 1: and especially because I do have intentions to have a
Speaker 1: very positive birth. And I don't mean I want a
Speaker 1: completely natural, pain free, no issues birth, but I want
Speaker 1: a positive experience when birthing my baby girl. So I
Speaker 1: have just been very intentional about that. So to start
Speaker 1: the potty, I want to chat about how I felt previously.
Speaker 2: I probably got to stop saying it.
Speaker 1: But I'm not the most maternal person I you guys know,
Speaker 1: I'm definitely like career driven and like when I like,
Speaker 1: I love my niece and nephew's and like my friend's babies,
Speaker 1: and I definitely think they're cute. But it's not like
Speaker 1: I see a random baby at a shop and I'm like,
Speaker 1: oh my goodness, so cute.
Speaker 2: Like I just don't do that. It's so funny because
Speaker 2: one of my first.
Speaker 1: Friends, she is super maternal, and will be like having
Speaker 1: breakfast and we'll be mid convo and she'll be like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, turn around, there's the cutest baby, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, don't be rooted and interrupt me.
Speaker 2: Like I don't care. And I know that.
Speaker 1: Sounds horrible, but I know I will love my child.
Speaker 1: I'm just like not that maternal, and so I don't know,
Speaker 1: I've never really had this kind of spark of I
Speaker 1: want to have a beautiful birth, and to be honest,
Speaker 1: never thought about it. And also, like my mum, she's
Speaker 1: super maternal and like her experience. She literally says the
Speaker 1: words I loved giving birth, And she's said to me
Speaker 1: numerous times if I couldn't have a child, she would
Speaker 1: surrogate for me, Like that's how much she loves being
Speaker 1: pregnant and giving birth and baby.
Speaker 2: She's super maternal.
Speaker 1: And so I guess like in regards to my stories
Speaker 1: around birth, it's not like I've had any negative ones,
Speaker 1: but I just have never been that into it. And
Speaker 1: I was kind of of the view of, why would
Speaker 1: you bother trying have a natural birth when you can
Speaker 1: simply simply get an epidural and not feel any pain
Speaker 1: and have a baby at the end, And why wouldn't
Speaker 1: you do that? So that's kind of how I felt previously.
Speaker 1: I was very set on just getting an EPI not
Speaker 1: really worrying too much about a natural birth and that
Speaker 1: situation until I kind of started looking into it a
Speaker 1: bit more. So, again, guys, this is my feelings and
Speaker 1: my views. I don't want to put, you know, shame
Speaker 1: or anything on anyone if they feel differently like it is,
Speaker 1: so it's your body it's your prerogative, it's your life,
Speaker 1: it's your experience. I'm simply explaining my experience. So I
Speaker 1: when I guess, I did get pregnant. And also, as
Speaker 1: you guys know me and Tim's trying to conceive, journey
Speaker 1: was not easy and.
Speaker 3: Was quite long.
Speaker 1: So you know, this baby is she's so wanted and
Speaker 1: she's just so loved already, and of course every baby is.
Speaker 1: But I think I just have a different perspective because
Speaker 1: of how much you know our journey, sorry, with trying
Speaker 1: to conceive. And so when I started listening to different
Speaker 1: podcasts about positive birth experiences and you know, just different
Speaker 1: stuff like that, and I guess just doing my own research,
Speaker 1: and also a lot of this came in with hypno birthing,
Speaker 1: but I kind of found out a lot of things
Speaker 1: about you know, when the baby is born through the
Speaker 1: birth canal, it gets a lot of like it's immunity
Speaker 1: and things it needs like good bacterias and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: And then also if you have an epidural. So don't
Speaker 1: quote me on there, but kind of what we learn
Speaker 1: in hypnobirthing is when a woman is giving birth, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of these you know, hormones going on and
Speaker 1: oxytocin and you know, the love hormone, and basically as
Speaker 1: a woman, we're given these hormones to deal with the
Speaker 1: pain and then also to create that connection with your
Speaker 1: baby after so you know, big.
Speaker 3: Thing is like skin to skin.
Speaker 1: And then you put the baby on your chest and
Speaker 1: oxytocin is released, and that's what brings in your milk
Speaker 1: and also creates that bond and connection with the baby.
Speaker 1: And when you're getting an epidural, it I think it's
Speaker 1: something like it it stops the blood brain connection and
Speaker 1: sometimes those hormones don't release, and so you can struggle
Speaker 1: to have that you know, love hormone and just that
Speaker 1: natural experience. And I guess and like, of course, you know,
Speaker 1: after breastfeeding you also get the same connection and these
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that you know, getting an epiduro is
Speaker 1: bad or anything like that, Like there's a lot of
Speaker 1: other things that go into it.
Speaker 3: But I think for me feeling.
Speaker 1: Not maternal and really wanting to have you know, a
Speaker 1: really beautiful connection with my baby, I just kind of
Speaker 1: like heard about that and was just like, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't know what's going to happen, but I would
Speaker 1: like to try for a natural birth. And then also
Speaker 1: I know that you know, when you start getting interventions,
Speaker 1: it can cascade and it can lead into the next.
Speaker 2: One and whatnot.
Speaker 1: So I guess, like talking about my birth plan in general,
Speaker 1: like overall, I would love to have a physiological like
Speaker 1: non medical birth, natural birth, so you know, less interventions
Speaker 1: as possible a natural birth. In saying that, I know,
Speaker 1: like I'm so open to anything that could happen, Like
Speaker 1: I know, medically, something could happen and I could need something,
Speaker 1: and I'm so okay with that. But the overall intention
Speaker 1: about it for me is to have a positive experience.
Speaker 1: So you know, even if it like goes to you know,
Speaker 1: her due date and something happens and I do need
Speaker 1: an epidural or clamps or you know, all those sorts
Speaker 1: of things, I guess I just want to be prepared
Speaker 1: and I want to have a lot of informed knowledge,
Speaker 1: and I want to be able to deal with that
Speaker 1: during labor and feel like I was in control just
Speaker 1: so there isn't you know, that trauma or kind of
Speaker 1: feeling like I wanted things to go a certain way
Speaker 1: and then they didn't and having a negative outlook.
Speaker 2: So very much.
Speaker 1: So I would love a natural birth, and you know,
Speaker 1: to do my hypno birthing and the things that I've
Speaker 1: learned that I'm about to talk about. But in saying that,
Speaker 1: it's not so much about I just want it to
Speaker 1: be natural, and that's the only thing. I want it
Speaker 1: to be a positive experience, and that's why I'm using
Speaker 1: a lot of these tools to be informed. So if
Speaker 1: something does happen and it doesn't go to plan, I
Speaker 1: can feel like I'm still in control. I can feel
Speaker 1: like I'm still making decisions for me and baby girl
Speaker 1: and feel very confident and positive within that. So that's
Speaker 1: the overall kind of gist of what I'm doing. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about the prep and then at the very end,
Speaker 1: I actually have like a piece of paper where I've
Speaker 1: written down my birth plan, so also go into that.
Speaker 1: So I first heard about hypno birthing from a girlfriend
Speaker 1: and she had done the hypno birthing I think it's
Speaker 1: called like the Positive Birth program herself and just.
Speaker 2: Could not oh no, sorry.
Speaker 1: So she had had a first birth and it was
Speaker 1: quite traumatic. She was not in a good mental spot,
Speaker 1: mental space, sorry, And she ended up getting in epidural
Speaker 1: and then had to get ape an, a pisiotomy, which
Speaker 1: is where they cut you, and needed a vacuum and
Speaker 1: all these kind of interventions, and I think she just
Speaker 1: felt very unprepared. She didn't really do too much for
Speaker 1: the birth, so when all this happened, it was a
Speaker 1: bit traumatic for her, and she just felt very like
Speaker 1: she didn't have any control or autonomy within her birth
Speaker 1: and it wasn't a great experience. So for her second birth,
Speaker 1: she did hypno birthing, and it's this course which I'll
Speaker 1: explain in a little bit, but she just raved about it.
Speaker 1: And she said even though in her second birth, it's
Speaker 1: not like she did it completely natural. She still used
Speaker 1: gas and you know, various things, but she's like, I
Speaker 1: just felt so much more prepared, so much more informed,
Speaker 1: and I really felt like it was the most positive,
Speaker 1: like best day of your life, like they kind of explain, whereas.
Speaker 2: Her first birth was.
Speaker 1: Not, you know, that good, And she really says that
Speaker 1: that was all towards hypno birthing. And obviously, you guys know,
Speaker 1: like I'm very into my meditation and my breathing and
Speaker 1: that sort of thing, so hypno birthing is very much
Speaker 1: up my alley so I looked into hypno birthing and
Speaker 1: I decided to do a hypno birthing call with Shari.
Speaker 3: On the gram.
Speaker 1: She is called Belly to Birth, and I chose her again.
Speaker 1: She was recommended by a girlfriend.
Speaker 2: She's on the.
Speaker 1: Gold Coast where I'm based. I know she does do online,
Speaker 1: so you can do hypno birthing online of course, you know,
Speaker 1: with covid and whatnot, they have all those resources. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so she's Goal Coast base. I wanted to do it
Speaker 1: in person with her. Reached out to her and she
Speaker 1: is so lovely and she's amazing. I will put all
Speaker 1: her details in the description. Her services were gifted to us,
Speaker 1: which was so so lovely, and she has given me
Speaker 1: a code for you guys. But her services were completely
Speaker 1: gifted in the way of She's like, did not expect
Speaker 1: anything in return, and was just like, of course, you know,
Speaker 1: if you want to share, I'm happy too, but I
Speaker 1: just know how much you will love this course, and
Speaker 1: of course she was right, and yeah, so I will
Speaker 1: put a code in the description which I'm pretty sure
Speaker 1: you can use in person and online with her. And
Speaker 1: I think it's just like Georgie ten for ten percent
Speaker 1: off all her services. But basically what I was saying
Speaker 1: before Hypno Birthing, it's not about pushing you to just
Speaker 1: have a natural birth and that's it. It's really about creating,
Speaker 1: giving you all the information, making sure you're fully informed,
Speaker 1: and also giving you tools for labor so you don't
Speaker 1: just go in there and you've got no tools in
Speaker 1: your tool belts. And I, yeah, I absolutely loved the program.
Speaker 1: I've just got my little book here, so let me
Speaker 1: just chat about some different things.
Speaker 3: So in Hypno.
Speaker 1: Birthing, they also give you like meditations and like breath
Speaker 1: work and things you can do to prepare. And I
Speaker 1: honestly think that has been so good for me mentally
Speaker 1: because I'm definitely a person and where like I said,
Speaker 1: I don't really mind if something was to happen and
Speaker 1: I have to get an EPI or a cesarean like
Speaker 1: that wouldn't upset me. But I think what would upset
Speaker 1: me and create a not so positive experience is if
Speaker 1: I went into birth and labor, you know, for my child,
Speaker 1: and I had done no preparation. I hadn't been informed,
Speaker 1: I didn't know my options, I didn't really understand watch
Speaker 1: you know what each intervention meant and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: So in the course, they.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they tell you everything. They give you a lot
Speaker 3: of information.
Speaker 1: And then my favorite part is the tool. So we
Speaker 1: go into doing stuff like self hypnosis, hypnosis tracks and
Speaker 1: so these are tracks to really help you basically get
Speaker 1: in the zone when you're in labor and when you're
Speaker 1: in quite a bit of pain. And it's funny because
Speaker 1: now that I've finished the course, much like everything in life,
Speaker 1: like I think birth and labor is going to be
Speaker 1: a mental game.
Speaker 3: And it's kind of like, you know.
Speaker 1: It's your perspective, it's your the way you see things,
Speaker 1: the way you go about things. And I think you know,
Speaker 1: for example, if you're not if your head's not in
Speaker 1: the game, you're not feeling prepared, you're not feeling positive.
Speaker 1: You can imagine how you know, the pain of contractions
Speaker 1: or surges they like to call them in your hypno
Speaker 1: birth thing could really just like you could not cope
Speaker 1: with them. It's like, you know, when you do a workout,
Speaker 1: think about this.
Speaker 2: You know, when you do a workout and you've got
Speaker 2: those days where you're just like.
Speaker 1: You're on you're feeling good, you're feeling powerful, You've had.
Speaker 2: A good sleep.
Speaker 1: You know, you've got energy, and you smash that workout
Speaker 1: and you feel like limitless, Like you just feel so
Speaker 1: good compared to another day where you might not have
Speaker 1: a lot of sleep, you might not be in the
Speaker 1: best mood, maybe your boss said something to you, like
Speaker 1: you're not in a good mood. You try to work out,
Speaker 1: you just don't feel strong, and it's shit, and you're
Speaker 1: just like, I'm going home.
Speaker 3: And so I kind.
Speaker 1: Of, of course, like it's so funny because the hit
Speaker 1: Shari kind of said to me the whole what I
Speaker 1: said at the start about birth is birth and labor
Speaker 1: is a marathon. And of course you wouldn't just enter
Speaker 1: a marathon without preparing for it. You would train and
Speaker 1: you would practice, and yeah, you would prepare for it.
Speaker 1: And it's so funny because once she said that, it's
Speaker 1: like I had this mental shift and I was like,
Speaker 1: oh my God.
Speaker 2: Of course.
Speaker 1: And it's like anything we do, like before I started
Speaker 1: Naked Harvest or any of my businesses, I listened to
Speaker 1: all the podcasts, I did courses, I hired a coach,
Speaker 1: you know, like I was doing the preparation, you know,
Speaker 1: the exact same thing with working out, Like the exact
Speaker 1: same thing. With any challenge in your life. You don't
Speaker 1: just go oh, I'll see what happens. You prepare as
Speaker 1: much as possible. And obviously you know you can't fully
Speaker 1: fully prepare because you don't know what it's like. I
Speaker 1: have no idea how I'm going to go with contractions
Speaker 1: or surges, but having tools and having a toolkit is
Speaker 1: so important.
Speaker 2: Okay, r n C.
Speaker 1: Fam, We're taking a quick break and I want to
Speaker 1: ask you, guys, are you getting your daily recommended intake
Speaker 1: of three fruits and five veggies? No? Sometimes maybe I
Speaker 1: feel you on this.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 2: So, in a perfect world.
Speaker 1: We are getting all our vitamin minerals and needs from
Speaker 1: our food directly. But because we live such hectic lives
Speaker 1: and our soil is often lacking from so much farming done,
Speaker 1: that doesn't always happen. And that's why supplements are so popular,
Speaker 1: and that's why Naked Harvest was born just to be
Speaker 1: very transparent with you. So what we really wanted to
Speaker 1: do was make sure you're getting what you need in
Speaker 1: a convenient way when you're not getting your daily recommended
Speaker 1: intake of veggies. In so introducing our newest product, Gorgeous
Speaker 1: greens which is a greens powder that actually tastes delicious.
Speaker 1: So we have been formulating this for quite a while
Speaker 1: because honestly, it was so hard to have a greens
Speaker 1: powder that has all the good stuff and that tastes delicious,
Speaker 1: Like I honestly get why so many other greens powders
Speaker 1: just taste so foul. And honestly, any other greens powder
Speaker 1: I bought, I've just never finished and I just throw
Speaker 1: it away. So there are two flavors. That is very
Speaker 1: vanilla and mango magic. I recommend getting very vanilla if
Speaker 1: you just want to add it to your smoothies, but
Speaker 1: if you do want to have it by itself, Mango
Speaker 1: magic is so delicious and so flavorsome. Also, guys, the
Speaker 1: greens Plowder is gluten free, dairy free, vegan, refined, sugar free,
Speaker 1: and family friendly. So one scoop equals one serfs of veggies,
Speaker 1: so you're really getting veggies in at breakfast time if
Speaker 1: you're a smoothie lover like me, And it just makes
Speaker 1: it easier to get all the veggies in and to
Speaker 1: really making sure you're getting the vitamins and minerals.
Speaker 2: You need daily.
Speaker 1: So I absolutely know that if you try this product,
Speaker 1: you will love it. That's how confident I am with
Speaker 1: this greenspowder because ah, we have just with aiste we
Speaker 1: aste the flavor. So guys, if you need to get
Speaker 1: some veggies in your day in a more convenient way,
Speaker 1: try Gorgeous Screens today. So I do have a sneaky
Speaker 1: code for my Rising Conker family, which is just Rise
Speaker 1: and Conquer podcasts. You can just put that at checkout
Speaker 1: at Naked Harvest Supplements dot com and the Gorgeous Greens
Speaker 1: is under the wellness tab. Okay, enough about Gorgeous Greens.
Speaker 1: Let's get back into the show. So other things that
Speaker 1: she taught and also probably the best part about hypnobirthing
Speaker 1: is Tim did it with me, and much like probably
Speaker 1: a lot of other partners, Tim had no idea. He
Speaker 1: had no idea about interventions, He had no idea about
Speaker 1: what you know, it's like for me, for the baby,
Speaker 1: anything like that. And I think him getting informed was
Speaker 1: and like knowing what to expect was so helpful. And
Speaker 1: then more than that, hypno birthing teaches the partners a
Speaker 1: lot of techniques they can use to help.
Speaker 3: And he kind of explained.
Speaker 1: How he felt after he's like, I really loved it
Speaker 1: because you know, when we were talking about birth or labor,
Speaker 1: I kind of had no idea. I didn't know how
Speaker 1: he could help you, and I didn't feel very involved
Speaker 1: in the experience, which you guys knowed him is like
Speaker 1: he's born to be a dad. Like he's just he's
Speaker 1: so obsessed with this little girl already and he loves
Speaker 1: that sort of thing, and he really wants to be
Speaker 1: like involved in the experience. So with hypno birthing, like
Speaker 1: he has all these tools he knows, like we've been
Speaker 1: doing meditations together where he's like doing certain massage points
Speaker 1: and acupuncture points and knows the positions. And I think
Speaker 1: that's also going to be super helpful because a lot
Speaker 1: of women explain birth and labor kind of like you're
Speaker 1: in this trance and you really struggle to communicate or
Speaker 1: talk to people because you're just so in your own
Speaker 1: mind and your own little land, like dealing with what's
Speaker 1: going on in your body. So to have your partner
Speaker 1: fully informed for him or her to know what you want,
Speaker 1: like what you both want, to know your birth preferences,
Speaker 1: and also to be able to advocate for you, I
Speaker 1: think is so important and has both made us just
Speaker 1: feel really empowered. And so yeah, that's definitely something that
Speaker 1: has been so helpful with the hypno birth in course.
Speaker 1: And yeah, so Tim knows you know, acupressure and certain
Speaker 1: positions and massage, and he's done you know, the meditations
Speaker 1: with me. He knows the affirmations and that sort of thing,
Speaker 1: and it's just, yeah, it's been a really lovely experience
Speaker 1: even for us to bond and oh my god, God.
Speaker 1: So we've done a couple of meditations where you know,
Speaker 1: we sit there, we listen to this guided meditation and
Speaker 1: he's doing soft touch on my back and also anchor massage,
Speaker 1: and you know, the words of the meditation are like,
Speaker 1: you know, visualize your baby. Hear what it's going to
Speaker 1: be like the first touch, And me and Tim will
Speaker 1: both come out of those meditations like teary eyed.
Speaker 2: Like Tim's like.
Speaker 1: Because you know, you're imagining it. And I think there's
Speaker 1: a lot to do with imaginary things and visualizing things
Speaker 1: before they happen to manifest them. So that's like, you know,
Speaker 1: when I teach you guys manifesting, and I'm saying, visualize
Speaker 1: what it will be like to have that thing what's
Speaker 1: the feeling, you know, and then you can attract that
Speaker 1: thing easier. So if you think about it, us doing
Speaker 1: this preparation of visualizing a beautiful, calm, natural birth and
Speaker 1: meeting our baby and everything, you know, her being healthy
Speaker 1: and everything going to plan and having this really beautiful
Speaker 1: connection obviously is so so helpful in that in bringing
Speaker 1: that experience to life compared to not even think about it,
Speaker 1: not even being prepared. Yeah, so that, honestly, the hypno
Speaker 1: birth and cause has been invaluable. And even I think
Speaker 1: for like my mental state, even if, like I said,
Speaker 1: things completely do not go to plan and I have
Speaker 1: to have a c section or whatnot, I think I
Speaker 1: now just feel really good because I have.
Speaker 2: Put in the time and effort.
Speaker 1: I have you know, been connecting with baby girl and
Speaker 1: Tim and have this beautiful intention of a positive experience,
Speaker 1: whatever that may look like. So then kind of the
Speaker 1: second part that I've been doing for birth prep is
Speaker 1: I guess informing myself with other people's experience. So I've
Speaker 1: been listening to a lot of podcasts but really making
Speaker 1: sure they're positive, and yeah, kind of like I don't
Speaker 1: listen to them and then like freak out. But just
Speaker 1: like informative and positive. So Shari who does the Hypno Breathing,
Speaker 1: she has a really good podcast. Let me just so
Speaker 1: Shari who I did the Hypno Breathing where she has
Speaker 1: a podcast called the Nurture Hub podcast which is super informative.
Speaker 1: And then I also really love the podcast called Australian
Speaker 1: Birth Stories. And there's also another one called Positive Birth Stories.
Speaker 1: Actually let me just check if that's what it's called. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So the last one is Positive Birth Australia. So those
Speaker 1: three podcasts, I you know, picked specific episodes and would
Speaker 1: listen to those one of them. So the podcast the
Speaker 1: Australian Birth Stories, I really loved a lot of that
Speaker 1: content and so I ended up looking into the podcast
Speaker 1: Hope Sophie. I'd actually love to get her on the
Speaker 1: podcast for you guys. But she interviews people and she
Speaker 1: has an online.
Speaker 2: Course called the Birth.
Speaker 1: Class, and so let me tell you about that, because
Speaker 1: I bought myself the Birth Class and basically it's kind
Speaker 1: of like an online course that you can listen to
Speaker 1: and do in your own time. And even though the
Speaker 1: Hitno Birthing Course was honestly so enough and made me
Speaker 1: feel made me feel prepared and everything like that. I
Speaker 1: am someone who just loves to consume content, to be
Speaker 1: very engrossed, and so after I had finished Hypno Birthing,
Speaker 1: I kind of was like just seeking out more content,
Speaker 1: and so I actually bought the Birth Class and let
Speaker 1: me just explain a little bit about the birth class.
Speaker 2: So basically it has.
Speaker 1: Nine audio interviews. It also has like an illustrated workbook.
Speaker 1: It has like some yoga meditations, hospital bag checklists, birth
Speaker 1: preferences and whatnot, and it's kind of like not it's
Speaker 1: definitely not as extensive as the Hypno Birthing, But I
Speaker 1: loved listening to the nine audio interviews because they're from professionals,
Speaker 1: you know, within their realm. Let's say, and let me
Speaker 1: just get up my course thing so I can explain
Speaker 1: a bit more. So, for example, in the first module,
Speaker 1: it goes into the hormones of labor and Physiological child Birth.
Speaker 1: So that's just very much giving you the rundown of
Speaker 1: the hormones used what it's you know, what labor is
Speaker 1: like and yeah, just I guess, very informational. And then
Speaker 1: also I loved it because there was interviews with whether
Speaker 1: they were midwives or yeah, like professionals within their profession,
Speaker 1: and so they chatted about things like optimal maternal positioning,
Speaker 1: so if your baby is breach or posterior, and what
Speaker 1: you can do ahead of time to change that positioning,
Speaker 1: or even if like labor isn't progressing, which usually is
Speaker 1: a sign that baby is not in the right position,
Speaker 1: it's not going down the birth canal, and of like
Speaker 1: what you can do there. There was this really interesting
Speaker 1: interview actually about like the sound that you use in
Speaker 1: labor and like, yeah, I don't know, just like very
Speaker 1: informational things and even kind of like pain management and
Speaker 1: the different interventions and even stuff like perinal I don't
Speaker 1: know if I'm saying that right, like perenal massage and
Speaker 1: basically parenal is like that skin in between your vagina
Speaker 1: and but that often tears, and how you can prepare
Speaker 1: that so the tearing's not as bad. And yeah, just
Speaker 1: different stuff like that, which I honestly I think I
Speaker 1: spent a whole Saturday and Sunday, like I bought the
Speaker 1: course and I spent a whole weekend.
Speaker 3: Listening to all.
Speaker 1: The audios and just loved it because I think knowledge
Speaker 1: is power and hearing people's experience, especially if you're just
Speaker 1: listening to the podcast and just you know, because it
Speaker 1: is it's like it's something you've never done before. Of
Speaker 1: course you're not going to have, you know, all the knowledge,
Speaker 1: and so hearing other people's experience and professionals opinions and
Speaker 1: also a wide range of opinions has just yeah, been
Speaker 1: super super helpful for me. And then also the birth
Speaker 1: class also goes into like breastfeeding, what to expect after birth,
Speaker 1: vaginal birth after cesarean, and meditations, pereneal massage and all
Speaker 1: those sorts of things. So I really loved that too,
Speaker 1: And I ended up chatting to Sophie, which is the
Speaker 1: podcast hosts of Australian Birth Stories, and said that you know,
Speaker 1: I had done the course and I loved it, and
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure I'm going to do an interview on
Speaker 1: her podcast once I do give birth. But she has
Speaker 1: so kindly given you guys a code if you do
Speaker 1: want to try.
Speaker 2: The birth class.
Speaker 1: Course, and I think it's around two hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: dollars and she's given you a code for fifty dollars off,
Speaker 1: which is so bloody lovely of her, and I think
Speaker 1: it's just Georgie fifty.
Speaker 2: But I will put it in the show notes.
Speaker 1: So, and like I said, it's a really really good
Speaker 1: resource if you're like in lockdown and you kind of
Speaker 1: want to consume information that you know is positive, that
Speaker 1: you know is helpful, and it's all in one place.
Speaker 1: I think that's something. Right at the start, when I
Speaker 1: was researching, before I had done hypnobirthing or you know,
Speaker 1: found this sort of thing, I felt very overwhelmed with
Speaker 1: the amount of information. And so having you know, resources
Speaker 1: like this where you do just like listen to the professionals,
Speaker 1: you listen to everything in one spot can be super
Speaker 1: super helpful.
Speaker 2: And yeah, just like calming to feel like you've got
Speaker 2: your shit together.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I guess like the last thing I've been
Speaker 1: doing to prepare for birth, and this is kind of
Speaker 1: the physical aspect, is I have been doing.
Speaker 3: So you guys know, at the moment, I.
Speaker 1: Do two hustle classes a week, which is basically just
Speaker 1: pilates and it's at a studio close to where I live,
Speaker 1: which I did that before I was pregnant, and I
Speaker 1: loved their classes. And obviously I am just going more
Speaker 1: at my own pace and not doing certain exercises, but
Speaker 1: I also am.
Speaker 3: Doing an in.
Speaker 1: Person physio pilates with a different studio who they very
Speaker 1: much focus on, you know, mums and bubs and pre
Speaker 1: birth and postbirth. So I'm doing that too, and within
Speaker 1: that too, we've been doing like pelvic floor and those
Speaker 1: sorts of things and whatnot, so very much, you know,
Speaker 1: combining the physical of making sure I am still working out.
Speaker 1: I'm actually finding it really difficult to do walks at
Speaker 1: the moment. Like I swear, I can like go in
Speaker 1: and do a weight session and feel really good, but
Speaker 1: like walking with a girlfriend for thirty minutes, I find
Speaker 1: so uncomfortable.
Speaker 3: She's just sitting like.
Speaker 1: So low, and I just, yeah, I do not feel
Speaker 1: comfortable like walking my body. And so I am making
Speaker 1: sure I'm keeping up with the two to three workouts
Speaker 1: per week to get my body moving, because yeah, I
Speaker 1: can just feel it's going to shit a little bit.
Speaker 1: And very much like if you guys think about it,
Speaker 1: labor you know can go for up to thirty well
Speaker 1: it can, like I don't want to put a time
Speaker 1: limit it, but it can be a very long experience
Speaker 1: and so endurance is obviously necessary. So for me, I
Speaker 1: definitely was keen on keeping up my fitness and endurance
Speaker 1: in that capacity, so I could, you know, keep going
Speaker 1: and keep laboring if I have to if this baby's
Speaker 1: a bit difficult. But yeah, so that's kind of what
Speaker 1: I'm doing for birth prep. I kind of just wanted
Speaker 1: to do an episode and explain that to you. Like
Speaker 1: I said, Hypno Birthing has been invaluable, Shari is amazing.
Speaker 1: Cannot recommend her enough, especially if you're gold cost base
Speaker 1: and you can do it in person. And then just
Speaker 1: other content is those podcasts I mentioned, and definitely check
Speaker 1: out the birth class because like I said, knowledge is
Speaker 1: power and there's so many good interviews with professionals and
Speaker 1: I just, yeah, I'm feeling very informed. Like I said,
Speaker 1: said before, the way I felt previously was so different
Speaker 1: to how I now feel. And I'm not gonna lie
Speaker 1: during Like when I was learning the stuff, when I
Speaker 1: was doing Hypno birth in classes and listening to some podcasts,
Speaker 1: probably from like twenty weeks, I got into this stuff
Speaker 1: and honestly, up until only a few weeks ago when
Speaker 1: I finished you know everything and felt a bit more informed,
Speaker 1: I used to think of birth and literally feel like
Speaker 1: I was gonna bass out. Like I just was like
Speaker 1: this is a lot like it's I know it's going
Speaker 1: to be such a intense experience, but I definitely feel
Speaker 1: proud with the work I've put in and kind of
Speaker 1: getting to this place mentally where I'm like, you know,
Speaker 1: it's a mental game, but where I'm like, I've you know,
Speaker 1: with me and Tim have both put in the work,
Speaker 1: We're both so informed, we've got our birth preferences, and yeah,
Speaker 1: we're both feeling really positive and very capable and very
Speaker 1: like whatever turn happens, whatever happens.
Speaker 2: We're in this together.
Speaker 1: We feel mentally very strong and connected, and yeah, we're
Speaker 1: just very excited. And so yeah, if you're not feeling
Speaker 1: like too great about the whole experience or overwhelmed, so understandbled.
Speaker 1: That was literally me, And honestly, keep listening to the podcast,
Speaker 1: keep preparing as much as possible. I cannot recommend enough,
Speaker 1: you know, the resources like that Hypno birth in course
Speaker 1: or the birth class, which is obviously at a cheaper
Speaker 1: a bit more you know, you do it in your
Speaker 1: own time level. But honestly, guys, like doing that sort
Speaker 1: of stuff has just made me feel so much better
Speaker 1: in regards to my birth plan, because I did say
Speaker 1: I was going to read it out. Basically, I want
Speaker 1: to go in there, and I've you know, me and
Speaker 1: Tim have spoken about this. My preference is a natural
Speaker 1: birth without interventions, So without an epitural or you know,
Speaker 1: the interventions that follow. I'm definitely not opposed to gas.
Speaker 1: You know, if I think I've been told a lot
Speaker 1: of women have said that having the gas because you
Speaker 1: have to take these really big breaths to get the effect.
Speaker 1: It kind of takes your mind of them. And also
Speaker 1: something I learned in the birth class was this thing
Speaker 1: called active birthing where they give you basically stuff to
Speaker 1: do to take your mind off the pain. So for example,
Speaker 1: like you know, if you the way the professional ekspl
Speaker 1: it was, you know, if you hit your thumb or
Speaker 1: stub your toe, very rarely do just stay seal and
Speaker 1: you don't do anything, and you just sit there and
Speaker 1: tense up like usually you know, if you hit your
Speaker 1: thumb in the door, you shake it, you rub it,
Speaker 1: you jump around and you're like, oh my god. And
Speaker 1: that's like a normal response to trying to get your
Speaker 1: mind off the pain and trying to stimulate other areas, yeah,
Speaker 1: to take your mind off it. So this professional was
Speaker 1: kind of explaining a lot of women, like, you know,
Speaker 1: they're told to get on their backs and to rest
Speaker 1: and do different things or you know, definitely if you
Speaker 1: have an epidural, you can't be too active, and so
Speaker 1: she said, and she gives a lot of tools about
Speaker 1: like how to do other things to you know, be
Speaker 1: somewhat active and take your mind off the pain and kind.
Speaker 2: Of I guess, like distract yourself.
Speaker 1: So we've got all those tools and me and Tim
Speaker 1: have gone through that to help with you know, the
Speaker 1: pain management. I also would love to have a water birth.
Speaker 1: So you guys know, I live near the ocean. I
Speaker 1: love the water, I love having baths. I love being
Speaker 1: in the ocean, and so I am opting for a
Speaker 1: water berth. And I'm lucky because I'm birthing public at
Speaker 1: Gold Coast Union Hospital and they do have water baths
Speaker 1: in most of the birth centers, so hopefully we get
Speaker 1: a suite with a water bath. And I would love
Speaker 1: to actually birth her in the bath, in the water
Speaker 1: right at the end, so you don't usually like hop
Speaker 1: in to right at the end, but I would also
Speaker 1: love to have that experience because I think, like, yeah, anyway,
Speaker 1: my personal preference. Also, we have a birth preference where
Speaker 1: Tim is going to receive her. So whether I'm in
Speaker 1: the bath or whatnot, Tim is literally going to like
Speaker 1: receive her, like not pull her out of me, but
Speaker 1: you know, be behind or what not to receive her.
Speaker 1: At first, we were both like, oh, that's a bit crazy,
Speaker 1: Like that's a bit weird. But after we did the
Speaker 1: hypnobirth in course and he's just been so involved, he's like, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would actually love to be the first person who
Speaker 1: touches our baby, so he will receive her and then
Speaker 1: put her on my chest. Definitely wants skin to skin
Speaker 1: at the start, at least for like an hour or whatnot,
Speaker 1: and then Tim will have skin to skin. I also
Speaker 1: want delayed clamping, which is just basically where they don't
Speaker 1: cut the umbilicle called the placenta straight away because there's
Speaker 1: a lot of like great nutrients in there that the
Speaker 1: baby can absorb. What else do I want? Oh, there's
Speaker 1: one other thing I'm trying to think of.
Speaker 3: Oh I don't want to have. So basically, after you've given.
Speaker 1: Birth, a lot of like the general thing is you
Speaker 1: get a needle that helps your placenta being birthed. But
Speaker 1: I just kind of want to birth my placenta naturally,
Speaker 1: so but in some cases you can't because you can
Speaker 1: hemorrhage and whatnot. So obviously I'm you know, listening to
Speaker 1: the midwives and will listen to the doctors and whatnot.
Speaker 1: But these are like my ultimate preferences.
Speaker 2: But we'll see how we go. And yeah, I just
Speaker 2: want it to be like a.
Speaker 1: Very positive experience and obviously want her to be very healthy,
Speaker 1: and I really want him to be involved and really
Speaker 1: have a beautiful experience too, because I just know he.
Speaker 2: Will love that.
Speaker 1: But yeah, that is generally my birth plan and my
Speaker 1: birth prep. I hope you've enjoyed this episode you found
Speaker 1: it interesting. I'll make sure I link the hypnobirth in
Speaker 1: course that I did with Shahi and put her code
Speaker 1: in there, and also the birth plan link and the
Speaker 1: code for that, and yeah, feel free if you have
Speaker 1: any questions about this, like, feel free to come in
Speaker 1: a Facebook group or in the Rise and Conquer dms.
Speaker 3: And of course I will be doing.
Speaker 1: A podcast on what actually happens with birth and how
Speaker 1: that all goes, so yeah, look out for that obviously
Speaker 1: towards the end of the year. But thank you so
Speaker 1: much for listening. Guys, I appreciate it and I'll chat
Speaker 1: to you in my next podcast.
Speaker 3: Bye for now.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening for another RNC episode. I really
Speaker 1: appreciate taking the time to be here with me, and
Speaker 1: also for taking the time for yourself. If you found
Speaker 1: this episode helpful, it would be so amazing if you
Speaker 1: shared it on your stories and tagged us, or simply
Speaker 1: just send it onto a girl, friend or family member
Speaker 1: who would benefit from listening. We are an independent podcast
Speaker 1: run by me and my amazing podcast manager, so it
Speaker 1: would mean the world to us if you left a
Speaker 1: review on the Apple podcast app. Also, if you're vibing
Speaker 1: this podcast and the concepts we're chatting about and your
Speaker 1: craving community, please come and join us over at the
Speaker 1: RNC podcast community Facebook group. Just search Rise and Conquer
Speaker 1: podcast community on Facebook and I will be in there
Speaker 1: to chat to you.
Speaker 2: Until next time.
Speaker 1: Na