Pregnancy countdown – 38 days to go and I had to get…..

• …Ewan The Dream Sheep 

Like most, I’m not good without my sleep. And I know that once baby is here, the first few weeks will be tough. Waking up every few hours is guaranteed but hey, that’s the one of the joy’s of having a new born and I wouldn’t expect any different.

I was blown away by this cool little toy though. Ewan The Dream Sheep not only looks adorable, but it’s cool little features like playing womb and heartbeat sounds which mimics what they heard from the womb is said to help sooth your little one and help them settle.

It also has three other noises including classical music and white noise and it gently lights up a pinky colour, which according to research has been to mimic certain aspects of the womb and be extremely comforting.

I’ve only heard good things about Ewan and CAN’T wait to give him to my baby girl. He is so soft and most impressively the heartbeat and womb sounds that he plays are actual recordings, not computer generated, which should help her with the transition from womb to big wide world. These sounds have also been trialled on different babies and toddlers to find the most effective ones to aid sleep.

Ewan will without doubt be in my hospital bag – the sooner I introduce her to him the better. I can’t wait!

Simply Healing – Abdominal Healing

Since leaving the wonderful Simply Healing Retreat, I’ve kept in touch with Vivien and been seeing her for extra healing and treatments. One treatment that really stuck out for me was The Abdominal Sacral Massage’s that the retreat offers.

Vivien came across these when she was visiting Hawaii and first became really aware of how well the women looked after each other, groomed each other and supported each other.

One day she came across four women laying their sister or cousin down on a bed of rocks with the sea washing over her gently in waves. I realised that they were using the energy of the waves to massage her body: as the water came in their hands would go one way, and as it went out they would go the other. The whole rhythm of nature and the sea was part of this ritual.

She asked the women why they did this and they said that their sister was trying to have a baby and explained that the lower (sacral) part of the body had become congested and this particular massage helped to decongest it. As part of her healing journey she spent time with this family every Sunday for six weeks to see what the outcome was – and was struck by how keen everyone was to share their traditional techniques with me. She then brought that info back to the UK and sent her therapists on a course in the UK to learn the technique.

I was  lucky enough to have this massage two or three times during my treatment at Simply healing and although it was relaxing, have to say that it was very weird too.  It feels like you are having a deep massage of your womb and organs, and it feels like everything is starting to align and relax internally. No-one ever thinks to massage your insides – it’s usually all about the outsides, which makes this massage pretty unique.

Instantly I felt lighter and that everything was working abit smoother again. More importantly, Nicky, the therapist, showed me where my womb/uterus lay and taught me that I could also massage it myself. If she hadn’t of shown me this, I would have probably ended up massaging my bladder!

Being able to do this myself (not as well as Nicky of course) gave me another tool in my toolbox that I could do myself when taking some time out and relaxing. Boosting your circulation to your womb, ovaries, and fallopian tubes can only boost your chances ever more of naturally conceiving – while also helping bloating and digestive orders to name a few!