Oh Baby Baby

So I totally had a baby!  Flynn Elliott Braybrooke came two weeks early on the 20^th March 2015 at 7:40 pm. After having severe back pain that kept me standing for 18 hours straight I thought it was time to go to the hospital and at least get it checked out. Turns out I was dilated 2 cms. In my birth plan, I wanted to return home if less than 4 cms but because it was quite severe we decided to stay and get some pain relief (Endone tablets) and wait before returning home. Through the whole process I hypnobirthed as best as I could.  It took the edge off at times and kept me grounded.

But hey. I’m human. There were definitely tears during the worst part of my back spasming and a little before the caesarean. I ended up having to have a caesarean because Flynn’s heart rate was getting faster, he had fluid expanding around his head and he was stuck in the birth canal. At the end of the day we had to do what was best for Flynn and I. You don’t get a medal for having a natural birth.

I played the ‘Caesarean birth – calm and relaxed’ hypnobirthing track which helped but I have to admit I was a little disappointed initially that I had to go and have a caesarean. I really wanted to be the first in my family in a long time to be able to give birth naturally. Plus I knew that there were benefits to having Flynn naturally. Once Flynn came out and I saw his cone shaped head I knew we had made the right decision and I can tell you that I do not feel like a failure for having made this decision. (A few people have asked me this and I am totally at peace with it).

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This week I was told my baby was too fat to go to the 40 weeks. Ok, Ok. It was a little bit more politically correct than that. It was more like ‘Baby Braybrooke has had a growth spurt and we need to send you to have a fetal growth scan as we may need to induce you or schedule you for an elective caesarian.’

I went into meltdown mode.

You see I had been practicing my hypnobirthing techniques for months. Months darn it! And Baby Braybrooke has been head down, bum up for over a month now. I was really impressed that perhaps all that work I had put in, nourishing my body, having acupuncture and chiro and so on was going to hold me in good stead. I was going to break the tradition of people in my family having caesarians. (My mum had 4 and my sister has had 3).

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Today on Honour Roll I am honouring the lovely Natalie Sellars from Kindred Toxin Free Facials, Skin Care and Make Up. Natalie is a facialist with 16 years experience in the beauty industry. After experiencing her own health issues, Natalie turned to a holistic life style, gaining as much knowledge as she could about organic whole food life styles, toxin free products, yoga and meditation. She then created Kindred Toxin Free facial studio in Bulimba (Brisbane). Her studio steps up to the next level in self care, self love and luxurious facial treatments. All of which are designed to leave your soul singing, and skin glowing.

Even though I have to travel 30 mins to get to Natalie’s studio, it is so worth it.  I’m always looking forward to our next treatment.  Her facials are so beautiful and I love that she also gives you an arm, leg and head massage as well.  She uses beautiful products and I know that my Psoriasis isn’t going to freak out after seeing her. I feel like I have made a kindred spirit friend in Natalie. We have so much in common. You’re going to love her. Please welcome her into the tribe.

WELCOME TO THE SISTERHOOD – NATALIE SELLARS

+ Maya Angelou once said that ‘We delight in the beauty of the butterfly but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”  What changes have you gone through over the years that have shaped you as a person and have developed what you do at “Kindred Toxin Free Facials?”

I have been on a 4 year journey to toxin free, both my partner and myself have been really sick. (more…)

EEK!

So I finished teaching for the year! I’m officially on Maternity Leave. So what did I decide to do? Make my own VLOG. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while but of course there has never been a good time and I spent ages trying to pull off the perfect vlog. Not ‘perfect’ in trying to be someone I’m not. I just wanted to make it professional.

And for those who know me, you know technology hates me.

Yeah really…Positive Affirmations just don’t cut it when it comes to technology and I!

So that means the well planned out script for my first VLOG, wouldn’t upload properly and display while taping the session. (Said script was really just my dot points. As I mentioned I still wanted it to be authentic but I wanted it to flow much better than it has).

Yes it’s raw. It’s all over the place. My glasses are giving off a reflection and I totally don’t make sense when I try to explain the differences between hypnobirthing and meditation. But it’s me and I can’t ask anything more of myself than that…

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