Birth announcement

Tracy is delighted to announce the arrival of a beautiful bouncy baby boy on 23rd December 2008 at 7.31pm.

More news later. Just wanted to let you know both Mum and baby are happy and well.

Tracy's maternity leave

Well I guess I'd better start winding down soon then - less than three weeks to go until the birth of new baby Jones.

It's not like I find my work tiring or tiresome even with this huge bump that I'm carrying around with me, but it would be disconcerting for my clients if I happened to go into labour during a session! LOL

So I'm planning to take a few weeks of "maternity leave". By that I mean I'm not planning to take on any new clients until February 2009 and HypnoBirthing classes are not scheduled until 31st Jan and 8th Feb. If any new or existing clients need to contact me during this time they are free to call or email - I will reply as and when available and will always be glad to here from you.

The online shop is still open for business and all purchases will be dealt with as usual. You are also welcome to book onto HypnoBrithing courses either by phone, email or through the online shop.

On the subject of maternity leave, if anyone is unsure about their own rights etc concerning maternity and parenting you could do worse than take a look at the Government's DirectGov website. If you follow this link there is loads of information that you might find useful.

I will post the news of the birth soon after it happens but for now, namaste.

Tracy x

Women's Health Evening

I just wanted to give advance notice of an event that is being held at The Chiropractic Clinic, Wrexham next year.

On 29th January the clinic is hosting a Women's Health Evening providing information and demonstrations on the various treatments available to women at the clinic: including chiropractic, massage, acupuncture and hypnotherapy.

Of course, it's me who's representing the hypnotherapy part of the evening and I will be busy over the next few weeks devising a short talk to discuss the many and various ways that hypnotherapy can play a role in improving and maintaining women's health.

I will post more information when it is available, but for now, save the date.

I'll post again soon.

Tracy x

NCT Xmas Fair

OK - I admit it - this is another shameless plug for an event that I am supporting. But it's all in a good cause.

On Saturday 29th November Chester NCT is hosting a Christmas Fair in Hoole, Chester. As I have just started offering HypnoBirthing classes in that exact same area I have decided to take a stall at the event. I can't pass on an opportunity to spread the good word about HypnoBirthing and also to browse the other lovely stalls that will be there - hopefully picking up a few Christmas presents at the same time!

My colleague, Nicky Abell-Francis from Zenchi Therapy will also be there to spread the word about baby massage.

It's at All Saints Church Hall, Vicarage Road, Hoole, Chester, CH5 3NZ and is open from 12.30-3.30pm.

Come along, support a great cause and get some early Christmas shopping done to boot.

Tracy xx

Indulgence Evening

Here's an opportunity to treat yourselves to a well earned night off and unwind in good company. You can treat yourself to a mini beauty treatment or purchase beauty and other products. There will also be stalls to give you inspiration for seasonal gifts.

The committee of the Garden Village Playgroup in Wrexham has organised a Ladies Indulgence Eveving on Monday 24th November 2008, 7.30pm - 10pm. It will be held at the Garden Village Institute, Kenyon Avenue, Wrexham, LL11 2SP.

Tickets are £5 and include a glass of wine or soft drink and cake (yum!). Profits in aid of Garden Village Playgroup (reg charity no. 1035133).

Tickets are available from the playgroup staff at the Young Peoples Centre during playgroup opening times (Mon-Fri 9.15-11.45am), from playgroup committee members, from Claire on 07931 383196 or from me at Cariad Hypnotherapy.

If you live in the area and feel like you need a treat then please do come along - the playgroup needs your support.

Tracy x

Flash Upon That Inward Eye

Yesterday I attended a breakfast meeting at Glyndwr University as part of Wrexham Business Week. It was called "Flash Upon That Inward Eye" and was facilitated by Jan Green of Wrexham Business School.

My knowledge of English poetry is sadly lacking and so I hadn't recognised the title of the session as coming from Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud/The Daffodils". So I learned something there for starters - and it caused me to go home and read the poem. I also had a nice hearty breakfast and met some interesting people.

The purpose of the session was to talk about creativity and to generate our own personal creativity profile. Jan brought a lot more out of the session that I had expected and I came away with several useful insights into myself (always useful!) and creativity in general.

I wanted to share with you a couple of those general points which I thought were interesting.

Myths about creativity

• The smarter you are the more creative you are - FALSE. Above a threshold of around an IQ of 120 there is no correlation between intelligence and creativity.
• The young are more creative than the old - FALSE. Research shows that it takes seven to ten years to build up a deep expertise in a given field - the kind of experience that enables you to perceive patterns or meaning that might not be visible to a novice. HOWEVER, some experts find it difficult to see or think outside established patterns and minds of newcomers are not contaminated by conventional thinking.
• Creativity is reserved for the few flamboyant risk takers - FALSE. A willingness to take calculated risks and the ability to think in untraditional ways do play a role in creativity but it doesn't mean you have to be markedly different to everyone else.
• Creativity is a solitary act - FALSE. A high percentage of the world's most important innovations are products of collaboration among groups of people with complementary skills.
• You can't manage creativity - TRUE & FALSE. A manager can create the conditions that make creativity more likely to occur.

Some useful tips for engaging your own personal creativity include:

• Look after yourself physically and mentally (meditate, relax, eat and drink healthily, take exercise).
• Persue the passion (whether it's work or a hobby).
• Go with your natural rhythms (fighting them will only staunch the flow of creativity).
• Create some space for yourself.
• Do something different for a change!

Thanks Jan for a thought provoking session and thanks also to the organisers and sponsors of Wrexham Business Week for making these events possible (and free!).

Namaste,
Tracy x

Autobiography

I've been carrying this piece of paper around with me in my handbag for 5 years. It's now tatty and dog-eared but it remains special to me.

Let me share the contents with you if I may......

Autobiography in Five Short Steps
by Portia Nelson

Chapter 1

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost....
I am hopeless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter 2

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I'm in the same place
but it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter 3

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it there.
I still fall in.
It's a habit.
My eyes are wide open,
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter 4

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter 5

I walk down another street.

I was given this piece of paper (in considerably better condition that it is now) by a friend when I was going through a difficult period of my life. As I was reading it I could see that I had already reached Chapter 3 myself. Reading on to Chapter 4 made me smile and realise that walking around "the hole" was indeed was I needed to do.

But blow me, if there wasn't another chapter that I hadn't even considered as a possibility!

I could choose to not even walk down that street anymore. It sounds so simple now, perhaps, but at the time it was a complete and utter revelation to me.

I could choose to walk down another street....

I did.

And here I am now.

Happier and healthier as a result.

I hope that this little autobiography can help someone else to see that change (big change) is possible, sometimes an absolute necessity, if you are to get on with your life.

Namaste,

Tracy x

Positive Habits

I've just heard about a new weekly radio show that's started on Wrexham FM, called Positive Habits, which is being hosted by a fellow hypnotherapist from Wrexham called Mark Darlington.

The show is about health and well-being and the different things that people can put into their lives. The first two shows have been about getting a good nights sleep and stopping smoking and this week's show is about the reality of hypnotherapy with the aim being to dispel some of the myths surrounding it.

I haven't heard the show myself yet, having only learnt about it today, but I will be sure to catch this week's episode. It's on Sunday nights 7-9pm and repeated Wednesdays 1-3pm.

Namaste,
Tracy x

Hypnotherapy & menopause

Here's some interesting news hot off the press of the Nursing Times. "Hypnotic relaxation therapy can reduce the frequency and severity of hot flushes in menopausal women".

In the article, by Tim Downey, the results of a US study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology are revealed. In a study of 51 women, 26 received hypnotherapy. Compared to the group who did not receive hypnotherapy that was a 68% decrease in hot flushes. Not only that but the women who received hypnotherapy also experienced less of the other uncomfortable side effects such as loss of sleep and social interaction difficulties.

On the back of the success of this study there are plans to enlist 180 post-menopausal women for a five year study to further analyse the phsyiological response to hypnotherapy.

The following quote from the lead investgator, Gary Elkins, really strikes a chord with me, and I'm sure with many other people who believe in the philosophy of mind-body healing:

"There is a real need to study emerging mind-body interactions to treating these ailments because many times medications are not an option".

Hurrah for that!

Tracy x

Chiropractic Clinic Open Day

You are invited to attend an Open Day at The Chiropractic Clinic (160 Chester Road, Garden Village, Wrexham) on Saturday 27th September.

Come to the clinic between 9am and 1pm to disucss your aches and pains with qualified professionals and find out more about Chiropractic and other musculoskeletal clinics, acupuncture and remedial massage.

Brief consultations and spinal assessment are available, FREE OF CHARGE, for anyone worried about the state of their backs or other joints.

No appointment is necessary.

FYI this is the clinic where I do my consultations and HypnoBirthing Classes, so you are also welcome to come and have a look around to see what my premises are like.

Tracy x

HypnoBirthing articles

I thought it was time to put the spotlight on HypnoBirthing so I've dug up a couple of articles and a tv interview to do that job for me.

The first article I recommend is from the BBC and is called "Why I chose HypnoBirthing". It dates back to 2002 but is still as relevant today as it was then - although HypnoBirthing is not such a new technique anymore.

As a taster the first line of the article goes:

"Pia Goodman was terrified at the thought of giving birth, but she astonished midwives by having her first baby in just over three hours at home without any painkillers".

Click here to read the full article on the BBC's website.

The second is a quote from an American journal called Midwifery Today. I found this nice quote on the blog of a fellow HypnoBirthing Practitioner, Cindy Unger, who is based in Chicago.

"We must relearn to trust the feminine, to trust women and their bodies as authoritative regarding the children they carry and the way they must birth them. When women and their families make their own decisions during pregnancy, when they realize their own wisdom regarding birth and its place in their lives, they have a foundation of confidence and sensitivity that will not desert them as parents.

There is an inverse relationship between the amount of technology used in a woman's birth and her subsequent self-esteem: The greater the number of interventions, the less well she regards herself postpartum. On the other hand, women happy with themselves in birth eagerly go on to embrace the responsibilities of mothering. The triumph of birthing on their own terms leads to new depths of self-love and self-respect, emotions readily translated to their babies."

— Elizabeth DavisExcerpted from "Autonomy at Work: Woman-Centered Birth and Midwifery," Midwifery Today, Issue 42

Finally, a nice little interview of a HypnoBirthing mother on American TV in May this year.

Click here to view to interview on WCBSTV's website.

I hope you enjoyed these!

Tracy xx

Nappuccino 23rd Sept

I've just heard about a great little event that's taking place in Chester on 23rd September. It's called "Nappuccino" and is being billed as a cafe session for both families with babies and parents to be.

Between 1pm and 2.45pm at All Saints Church Centre, Hoole, Chester you will be able to find out more about natural and organic products including cloth nappies - for which there wil be demonstrations and personal advice for your family.

Not only that but you can meet other local parents and relax with a cup of tea and a slice of homemade cake.

If that's not enough to tempt you, the money raised from the sale of refreshments is going to CLIC Sargent's Yummy Mummy Week Campaign which is raising money to help children with cancer.

If you need any more incentive to come along then - entry is FREE.

Katie, the organiser just asks that you let her know that you are coming along so that she can make sure she has baked enough cakes. Please do give her a call on 07792 067628 or email her at katiemillard@aol.com

I'm a great fan of cloth nappies. I bought some second hand ones to use for my daughter (which were a great price but still in great condition) and am planning to use them again for my next baby. So, I shall be coming along to the event and while I'm there if anyone wants to chat about HypnoBirthing or any of my other services then I would be happy to oblige.

So please, do come along, support CLIC Sargent, learn about cloth nappies and have a cup of tea a piece of cake and a chat!

Tracy x

Because You're Worth It

In my spare time I am a volunteer business mentor for The Princes Trust and I wanted to let you know about a great new company that I am currently mentoring because it's a good news story - and also, as an unashamed plug for them!

The Beauty Lounge in Westminster Park, Chester was established just a few months ago by experienced beauty therapists Celena Davies and Claire Garner. The Princes Trust provided a small amount of financial assistance and ongoing business support (including me as their mentor).

Since opening they have gone from strength to strength due to lots of hard work and well thought through and targeted marketing. Their premises look great and by all accounts the service they provide is second to none.

You can go there for facial treatments, body treatments, sun beds, spray tan, waxing, make-up, nails and even to have your feet done (there's now a chiropodist working from their salon on Mondays).

For all you Mothers-To-Be out there they also offer a number of treatments which are suitable for pregnancy which include a "Foot and Leg Refresher", a "Deluxe Hand and Feet Therapy" and a "Full Body Scrub and Relaxing Massage". Yummy mummy (to be)!

A really good thing about this salon is that you can park right outside - so no scurrying back to the car park across town with your scarf pulled up to your nose and you hat pulled down to your chin after having pluckings and waxings done!

In case you are wondering, I have no vested interest in The Beauty Lounge apart from the fact that I like to see new, fresh, hard working companies do well.

So if you want to get in touch and try them out for yourselves you can call 01244 677687. Their website is currently undercontrsuction, but before long you should be able to access it at www.thebeautyloungechester.co.uk

Good luck Celena and Claire - keep up the good work!

Tracy xx

Hurray for chocolate!

At last ladies - something that we can indulge in during pregnancy that isn't deemed a risk to our or our baby's health - CHOCOLATE! In fact, it is claimed that it can actually reduce pregnancy complications. Bring on the chocolate now.

An article in Reuters recently caught my eye and I thought I'd better share it with you all. If you want to read the article in full you can click on this link - Reuters article.

In summary, the article explains the results of a recent study done by researchers in Yale University. The lovely results include the statement that "women who have five or more servings of chocolate each week in their third trimester of pregnancy were less likely to develop preeclampsia than those who ate chocolate less than once a week".

There was a similar, although weaker, relationship between eating chocolate and preeclampsia in the women's first trimester.

The reason for this is thought to be a chemical called theobromine, which is found in chocolate (especially dark chocolate - so not such a good news story for Dairy Milk lovers out there). Thobromine may be responsible for "improving circulation in the placenta while blocking oxidative stress".

Having read that, I am now going to sit down and really enjoy a bar of really good chocolate. And for those other pregnant chocoholics out there, I hope that this news has brightened your day!

Tracy xx

Happy Birthday Louise Brown!

I was 7 when Louise Brown was born on 25th July 1978 and I never could have imagined that 27 years later I would be giving birth to my own superbabe. At the time, I couldn’t fail to notice the news and realise that something special had happened, but it wasn’t until I began my own fertility journey that the significance of that special day really hit home.

Even now when I think about the miracle of IVF I am in complete awe of the scientists and health professionals who made the birth of my daughter possible. I find myself even more awed when I think about the teeny tiny embryo that was frozen in February 2005 and defrosted in April 2008 and is now a new baby growing inside me. My mind boggles when I realise that this new baby is my daughter’s twin! In fact, I feel humble and at the same time immensely grateful.

So Happy 30th Birthday Louise Brown. Your Mum described you as her “cherished little angel” and to all of us who have had to consider the possibility of IVF during our lives see you as a beacon of hope that one day we too can hold our own cherished little angels in our arms. Thank you for being.

Namaste,

Tracy

Healthier babies from frozen embryos?

I have noticed that Times Online has carried a number of articles about fertility over the last couple of days and this particular article caught my attention on account of the fact that I am pregnant with a frozen embryo baby myself.

Mark Henderson, Science Editor for The Times, reported that Danish research findings show that IVF babies born from embryos that have been frozen and then thawed are less likely to be underweight or premature. Well that's one less thing for the expectant mother to be worried about then!

He goes on to say that it was found that the average birth weight of frozen embryo babies was 200g more than in a fresh-embryo IVF.

OK, so here's my contribution to that research. My daughter was born in 2005 weighing 8lb 1oz. She was the result of a fresh-embryo IVF. This current pregnancy was the result of a frozen embryo transfer from the same course of IVF. So come the end of the year I should be able to compare the two.

If you want to read the fulll article you can click here and this link should take you straight there.

I'm off on my holidays from 12th until 20th July. The website will continue to operate without me (for bookings and shopping) although I won't be able to send out any paperwork or products until 21st July.

Bye for now,
Tracy

Postscript added 5 Jan 2009:

My frozen embryo baby, Iolo, born on 23rd December weighed in at a healthy 8lb 11oz.

I don't know what this contributes towards the debate, although he is clearly heavier than Rhian (his fresh embryo twin) was at birth.

They are both healthy and gorgeous and that's all that matters to me!

Tracy x

Living in the moment

I have always thought that living in the moment was something positive to aim for. Now I am seeing it in a different light courtesy of Drake Eastburn.

Drake is a Certified Hypnotherapist from the US (Denver, Colorado to be precise) and his wife is the fabulous Lynsi Eastburn, the creator of the HypnoFertility programme. I had the pleasure of training with Lynsi in Belfast earlier this year and am pleased to say that she has found time in her busy schedule to come to the UK again in 2009 to be a keynote speaker at the annual conference of the National Council for Hypnotherapy.

Anyway, back to the point in hand. Before training with Lynsi I bought a copy of one of Drake's books called "The Power of the Past" in which he explains Transformational Replay, his take on Hypnotic Regression Therapy. The technique he teaches is brilliant and I now use it in my own practice. I would urge any practising hypnotherapist out there to have a read. Drake's writing style is so easy to read that you'll consume it whole in a matter of hours and then go back for more.

So, again I have digressed. The point about living in the moment is made in the first chapter, "How We Become Who We Are", and Drake explains that at any given moment not much is really going on and that whatever is going on is the product of all the stuff that happened prior to that one moment. Basically, he asserts that without our history there would be no moment.

So far so good, but it really comes to light when he introduces the analogy of music. He explains that the moment, the now, is just one single note. And now I'm going to quote directly because Drake's own words are so much better than my paraphrasing:

"No matter how sweet that note might sound, for that brief moment while it's drifting through the air, it is just one brief note. It is all the other notes that led up to that note that create the melody that, when brought together, sounds so delicious. With only one note there will be no melody..."

"Our history creates the melody of our lives. Without our history we would not be the people we are today. Each moment in our lives is one of the notes that creates the melody (story) of our lives."

The point he goes on to explain is that our history is an important part of who we are now and it can be a motivator or an excuse for how we live our lives. It's up to us to choose. People who recognise their history and deal with it in a healthy manner can gain wisdom and build character in the process.

Having recognised our history we can then go on to move forward and change it, or rewrite our own symphony, to return to the musical analogy.

That's where regression therapy comes into play because one of the problems with trying to change our history is that early events are often no longer in our conscious memory but in the subconscious memory, where they continue to play an important part in how we act and think (we just don't realise it!). So regression therapy is about talking to the subconscious mind to get to the core issue quickly and effectively so that we can start to move forward.

Thank you for the inspiration Drake.

Namaste,

Tracy xx

IVF Pregnancy Due Dates

I recently found a fabulous tool on one of my favourite websites and I thought that I should share it with everyone.

On the Fertility Friends website is this thing called an IVF Pregnancy Due Date and Fetal Development Calculator. What first struck me about this was the fact that rather than simply working from your LMP (last menstrual period) you could alternatively put in the date of egg collection or ovulation. This is particularly important for those of us who achieved our pregnancy through IVF because the date of our LMP is of little relevance when calculating due dates is it.

But, there's even more to it than that. When you've put in your date you get your due date and a whole load of other REALLY useful information too. There's due dates for multiple births, your own personalised dates for various tests and scans and then a week by week description of fetal development (together with the dates at which you reach these milestones).

But that's not all. The Fertility Friends website is also a great source of information and support. In particular, their message board is fantastic - and free to join. There are a multitude of different forums specific to your own circumstances: whether you are just starting out of your fertility journey, in the middle of treatment (with different forums for different treatments and different stages of treatment), pregnant, dealing with pregnancy loss, taking a breather or deciding to move on. In fact, there's too many for me to do them justice here so I recommend you take a look yourself and give it a go.

I hope you find the whole site as useful as I do - let me know what you think.

Tracy xx