One thing you can do during pregnancy to connect to and comfort your baby

 It was 2012, and they had just pronounced her braindead.

The redhead had came in 26 weeks pregnant and the doctors were keeping her alive with life support to keep her baby boy growing. Unfortunately, the baby was showing very little signs of activity for the past few days. The doctors discussed amongst themselves and decided to try a few different methods of external interaction with the baby.

The next day, a music therapist paid the unborn baby a visit. As she pulled back the curtain and walked over, she put her hands on the bump where the baby was and started singing softly. “He’s got the whole world in his hands”… and she felt a feeble kick under her right hand. The music therapist sang a little louder ““He’s got the whole world in his hands…” and felt two more kicks and the monitor showed that the baby’s heart-rate rose. By the time she got to verse 3, now singing at full volume and gusto: “He's got the little tiny baby in his hands. . . .” the music therapist was feeling feet and elbows and knees and hands all kicking, wiggling, flipping and dancing!!

Suddenly it struck her and she had a sense of awe come over her. “How miraculous it is that life from within can respond to music from without…”

A few months later the baby was born, and the music therapist came back to the neo-natal unit to meet him. As she held his tiny fingers, she started singing again softly, “he’s got the whole world in His hands…” The tiny baby started kicking his feet up in the air, cooing and even smiled a big, toothless smile. Without a doubt, he remembered her, and their connection remained strong throughout his childhood.

Imagine a world in which you could connect to your baby on a physical AND emotional level before it is even born!

Think about how much stronger your connection will be when you are in that early postpartum phase and what a comfort it will be to have methods already in place to comfort your baby. Helping your baby easily feel comforted at 2am when it is tough to get him settled is SO POSSIBLE for you. The best part is that you will be taking care of yourself and your own mental health too by doing just one thing during and after pregnancy.

A few questions for you to see if this could work for you.

1. What are you doing right now to connect with your baby?
2. How do you feel imagining having an easy and simple way of comforting your baby on a tiring and long night?
3. If you could know for sure that you are connecting with your baby while it is still in your womb AND that it will remember this after birth, is there anything that would keep us from moving forward? (message me on Instagram @ine.wilme with any questions you have!)

Now with those thoughts in your mind, imagine a world in which you CAN

1. Know with confidence that you will be able to connect to and comfort your baby after it is born.
2. Get to know them while you are still pregnant on a deeper level
3. AND take care of your own mental health during and after pregnancy

That is what you want, isn’t it!! If so, keep reading to find out exactly how to achieve what I just described.

Benefits of playing the cello during and after pregnancy

When you play the cello while you are pregnant, starting at week 22-24, an unborn baby starts to hear the music and the outside noises. The sound of the cello is especially calming as it is the instrument closest to the human voice. What this means for you is creating a calming environment for both you and the baby.

Did you know that babies in the womb feel the exact same emotions as you? If you feel happy, so do they! If you feel stressed, so does your baby. Now this is amazing news for you because when you have a reliable method to connect to your strong emotions and change them to a desired state, you can be confident that after your baby is born you will have that skill in place already. When you are a new mother you will feel a lot of new emotions, and may struggle with postpartum depression or blues.

Now that other thing that you might experience is that feeling that you are just not taking care of yourself. That you have somehow lost yourself in the process. There is absolutely a way that you can find yourself again, be creative and develop your brain! The best part is that it only has to take maximum 15 in your day. When you practice the cello daily, you can soothe your baby AND develop yourself at the same time!

Just imagine how special it will be when you are playing a simple melody, perhaps a lullaby, and your baby slowly falls asleep… I can see you now. You are sitting in the nursery with your cello and your new baby is in the crib. They are fussing and you feel worried that they might not sleep for very long. You start playing Brahms’s famous lullaby on the cello and you both remember when you played the very same notes when you were pregnant. You see your baby’s eyes drooping and breathing settle, and as you play you feel peace come over you. You know that the cello has brought you closer together and given you something outside of being a mother to make you feel like you still have value.

That's the picture you want to see, isn't it?

Now I know what you might be thinking.

I don’t know how to play the cello yet, and besides, doesn’t it take a long time to play well enough to have those benefits you are talking about?

This is such a great question. I too want to be able to do a new skill well, and make sure that it is truly impacting me and my family in a powerful way for it to be worth it.

Let me explain. Because the cello is a deeper toned instrument and you will focus on beautiful sound production first, even just playing the basic 4 open strings will help you feel calmer already. In Simply Sound, the initial 8 week program, you learn how to create a beautiful sound first, and then within 6-8 weeks are able to play simple and satisfying melodies that will calm your soul and help you connect to your baby. What this means for you is immediately experiencing the life and brain changing benefits that playing the cello can provide you. The real value is being confident that you are learning a skill that will give you and your family a way to connect to each other for years to come.

Just yesterday I was doing a practice session myself, and as I was playing just the 4 basic open strings I was feeling my baby kick and respond to the vibration of the cello. I am currently 27 weeks pregnant as I write this blog post, and I have been connecting to my baby every time I play the cello. In fact, I am noticing that playing different melodies makes him respond differently. For example, playing long, sustained notes focusing on sound quality makes him kick gently and I feel flipping motions. In contrast, when I play a faster, more upbeat piece, I feel strong kicks and elbow jabs that fills me with joy. I know that when I play these same melodies to my baby after he is born that he will remember and be comforted by the memory of being in my womb.

That is so possible for you too! If the above sounds like what you want, then send me a message on Instagram and we can chat, OR sign up for a 20 minute discovery call to save time and see if you could be a good fit to take cello lessons!