Brando Scott Hemming was born August 10 a healthy 7 lbs., 5 oz., 19 inches long. My delivery experience was anything but natural - at one point I looked around and literally laughed at the tubes and monitors attached to me. I thought of our class and how non-yoga and unnatural I must look. But you know what? It so did not matter at all! I had the most happy, peaceful, exciting birthing experience anyway, and would not change a thing. I had family and friends around to share in the event, excellent caregivers, and a totally perfect baby to show for it!

I was actually induced b/c my amniotic fluid was really low, and after a week of bed rest, it wasn't improving. So I went for about 10 hours on pitocin with no pain meds. I definitely know what a strong contractions feel like, and at 4 am on the day of delivery, I opted for the epidural. Before that, during the contractions, however, I was really calm and able to focus and breathe through them. I thought of us standing against the wall with our knees bent, legs shaking and found that to be a great reference for accepting the pain and relaxing through it. Eventually, though, it was getting really intense, and with the pitocin one contraction would end and another would begin immediately and I was nowhere close to delivering, so I decided to medicate. I gotta tell you - it was totally easy to get administered and it allowed me to get a couple hours of sleep before a long day of labor.

I was in labor all day on Tuesday and I progressed very slowly. Finally, in the evening, I was fully dilated and in position. And here's where yoga was SO beneficial - the pushing part (which was really cool and interesting and rewarding). Even with the epidural, I could still feel very strong contractions and knew exactly when I was ready to start pushing and when push with each contraction. I just concentrated on opening, opening, opening and making room in my pelvis and hips for that baby to get out. I could tell an effective push from an ineffective one and would need to concentrate on giving that area the extra room as we do in class. It totally worked. I could also really direct my focus to the kegel muscles and use my energy in the right places and muscles, as opposed to just tensing up in general. I pushed that puppy out in 15 minutes! It was incredibly hard work, but I felt I did a really good job at it mostly because of how in tune I was with that part of my body through yoga.

And now we're home and loving life together. Brando is a dream child and we are having so much fun getting acquainted and falling in love with each other. I want to thank you for all your guidance and the positive environment you have created that has been such and important part of my life the last 7 months! Your class enriched my pregnancy more than any other thing I experienced during that time. I am officially addicted to yoga and plan to continue my practice as soon as possible. I'm a little sad that I won't have my little pre-natal yoga oasis a few times a week anymore, but look forward to what is next. Thank you so much for everything - you are incredible!

Good luck and much love to everyone!
Love & light - Liesl