Hypnobirthing

A few weeks ago, Adam and I started attending Hypnobirthing classes. We meet once a week from 7-10 to practice relaxation techniques that will hopefully help me achieve a more comfortable, natural, intervention-free birth. Adam drags his feet each time we go, but once we get there he has a good attitude and always provides me with comic relief by whispering jokes in my ear and shooting me mischievous glances. I really like my teacher and she can't say enough good things about the hospital that I am delivering in and the doctor and doula that I chose, which is giving me extra confidence for the birth day. The literature and facts that she refers to in class I am already familiar with due to all of my summer reading, so Adam wonders why we are paying money to have someone tell us again. While the class hasn't offered any new information in that sense, I do feel like I am learning some techniques that will help me relax. In fact, some of the techniques are already working.
Part of my "homework" is to listen to a relaxation CD. Adam and I both agree that when we listen to it before we go to bed we sleep much deeper than usual. Another sign that aspects of the class are working is how much better I am doing at "silencing my mental chatter" in yoga and how much easier I am able to go into deep relaxation during yoga. (I never used to be good at this and would spend this portion of my classes thinking of all of the things I needed to add to my to-do lists.) One technique that am not so good at, however, is the visualization exercise where I am supposed to visualize different things happening to my body. I just can't seem to make that one work.
At the end of every class we do some sort of hypnotherapy or relaxation session and Adam and I have gone into the desired sub-conscious sleep-state each time. I haven't decided yet if that is because it is really working or because it is 9 o'clock at night and just past our early bedtime. I think it may have a lot to do with the time of night!