Sure, birth can and certainly does still happen for women everyday without much prep or forethought, and there are many qualified and capable midwives and doctors helping women do that, but I'm a commitment freak. When I say I'm going to do something, I like to jump in all the way and know all I can. No judgements. This is just how I'm rolling.
Just as the modern medical profession has researched for years and found out that babies shouldn't be separated from their mothers, and skin to skin contact is best, midwives and doulas who have witnessed many more natural births, have really figured out some great protocols to help prep a gal for giving birth. Now, just a few days away from mine, I'm sharing with you what I have been doing to "train" for my birth.
Just as the modern medical profession has researched for years and found out that babies shouldn't be separated from their mothers, and skin to skin contact is best, midwives and doulas who have witnessed many more natural births, have really figured out some great protocols to help prep a gal for giving birth. Now, just a few days away from mine, I'm sharing with you what I have been doing to "train" for my birth.
Building a Tiny House and a Tiny Human both require a little more time and attention to detail.
HOME STRETCH PROTOCOLS
So what protocols am I doing?
DIET
From the beginning of knowing I was pregnant, around 6 weeks for me, I first had a minor panic attack because I had just returned from the Cannes Film Festival and you pretty much can't make it through the day without at least 3-5 glasses of wine... and a couple of cocktails... and a few flutes of champagne.
Oh, no! I'm making a lush of a Baby before I even knew I was pregnant. Thankfully, my first lesson in the miracle of divine intervention was this...
The Yolk Sac!
Fortunately, God knows you're not going to be conscious of the wee one until you start feeling it's effects and can be more mindful, so.... the yolk sac feeds and protects your baby during those super crucial first cellular splits. No booze can make it's way in there, the baby is simply not connected to you yet.
But after confirming my little bud, I said good bye to a few things.
Coffee- Which was hard, not because of caffeine withdrawals, but because I'm one of those people who LOOVES it. I can taste the difference between instant and a fresh pour-over, and ADORE the nostalgia of a hot cup of Joe in the morning.
So... I switched to Decaf occasionally, but mostly began drinking herbal teas.
Alcohol- Again, I'm not a lush, though my industry calls for it sometimes. I do however LOVE a good glass of red wine. My husband doesn't drink, so when we indulge in a bottle, I get to have the whole thing to myself! Yippee!
I know you can have a glass every now and then during a pregnancy, but I'm not good at having just one glass.
So... I only have A GLASS of wine at a restaurant. Surprisingly, I've definitely had less than nine glasses over the last nine months, with out much effort. But I have definitely said "I miss wine" many more times than that.
Alcohol- Again, I'm not a lush, though my industry calls for it sometimes. I do however LOVE a good glass of red wine. My husband doesn't drink, so when we indulge in a bottle, I get to have the whole thing to myself! Yippee!
I also started saying hello to...
SUPPLEMENTS
A not so TINY regimen of supplements as follows:
- Metagenics Prenatal Vitamins- (which I started taking pretty early, an upgrade from my whole foods generic prenatal that I began taking as soon as we decided to start trying for a baby.)
- Vitamin D- an additional 3000 IU per day to take me up to 4000 IU (I maybe should have started this sooner, but didn't until about 29 weeks.)
Starting in the Third Trimester I began incorporating...
- Alfalfa- This is an Ina May Gaskin recommendation for those annoying digestive issues, but also for helping on a variety of levels including upping your Vitamin K levels and supporting nursing.
- Primrose Oil- This is known as a cervical ripening agent and advised to take in the 3rd Trimester. It's and old standby in the midwifery world. In your last 4 weeks, my midwives suggested vaginal application as well. Puncture 3 pills with a clean needle and place them as close to your cervix as possible.
- 5W- Similar to Third Trimester Tea this herbal supplement is known for helping tone the uterus and prepares your body for birth with the following herbs: Black Cohosh Root, Sqawvine Whole Root, Dong Quai Root, Butcher's Broom Root, and Red Raspberry Leaf.
- Third Trimester Tea- This is actually quite tasty and I haven't needed any sweetener to go along with it. This Tea also helps tone the uterus but also has lots of vitamin and mineral properties to help nurture your growing wee one, who takes it's biggest growth spurts in the home stretch.
- Probiotics- I like to eat my probiotics. Kefir is delicious, the variety of Kombucha is outstanding these days and yogurt and sour kraut are my friends, BUT at 36 weeks, my iron test came back low 9.7, which is kind of a big deal because the state of Florida won't let you give birth in a Birth Center unless you hit the minimum of 10. After review of my diet, (y'all I drink Black Strap Molasses at breakfast) we decided my gut just isn't doing it's job of absorbing the iron. So... I just finished Garden of Life's FIVE day Max Care of Probiotics and am following that up with a Dr. Formulated Once Daily Ultra. Here's to absorption. :) As a side note- I think I will keep up the probiotic supplementation and would certainly do so for my next pregnancy. It's a bit of an investment, but certainly one that's worth it.
- Dates- Not only are the romantic kind good for going into labor, (in addition to the resource link below, midwives have reported that couples who keep up their sex lives through pregnancy go into labor more easily and near their due date than those who don't) eating Dates are good for cervical ripening as well! I could have put this in the Diet section above, but it's been shown to help from weeks 37 on, so I've been thinking of it as a supplement more than diet, especially since it calls for 6 dates a day.
- Iron- Do not rely solely on iron supplements to get your iron. Why? Because your bathroom time will become not so much fun. My iron always tests a little low though, so at least one tablet in addition a day helps to get my numbers up. BTW- The probiotics and additional iron tablet helped get me to 11.3 by 37.5 weeks.
STRETCH BABY STRETCH
EXERCISE
I loved being a city girl because you HAD to walk everywhere and I was an avid biker, cycling pretty regularly up into my 6th month. Now that I'm in Florida I'm loving the good weather and being on my in-laws YMCA membership.
I practiced Bikram in Chicago through the 6th month and now I'm hitting regular yoga classes three times a week and jumping in the pool for a good 30 laps and a ballet bar. So here's my standing bow at 38 weeks. I can't believe how my body has changed and am proud to still be standing strong.
I'm also doing inversions. These are like little headstands, but you're on your forearms-not your head and your knees are on a bed or couch. Regular inversions have been proven to get your baby in the right position for natural birth. While my baby is head down, it likes to snuggle it's nose against the inside of my hip instead of back towards my sitz bones, so we've added in Rebozo sifting as well. Check out the Spinning Babies website for more helpful techniques to get your babe in the cozy and right place for birth.
DEAR GOD, PLEASE STRETCH!
BIRTH
I am a trained dancer and for me, birth feels a lot like preparing for a performance. There's all kinds of choreography to learn, but this is a modern dance piece and often you will need to go where the movement leads you, so prepare to improvise!
Improvising means prepping your body and mind to STRETCH.
Prepping my body has meant regular light exercise, chiropractic alignment treatments, hip massage, perineal massage, staying hydrated, and planning for a water birth.
Prepping my mind, has meant reading lots of natural birth stories, talking to any moms who can share their own experience (Please feel free to share yours below), and watching positive births online. I wish I could have joined someone for their birth and really witnessed it first hand, but our society isn't set up that way, and I get it.
COMMON SENSE, OR DIGESTED KNOWLEDGE HELPING ME TO KNOW BETTER
I have a new common sense about birth in our nation, as a modern woman, and soon to be mom.
We have evolved into the physical humans we are today after about 100-600 thousand years, depending on which preserved bones you care to acknowledge. We have been giving birth successfully all of those years, but now live very differently from the way our ancestors did.
My field to plow is a laptop. I sit for hours each day and rarely squat for any reason. It's really no wonder that the average gestation for birth has increased to 41 weeks and a day.
In more active days, sans automobiles and immobile careers, the Baby would have more opportunity to drop down into engagement and the pressure of the baby's head would naturally soften and stretch the cervix.
Since we don't live this way, I'm augmenting with the primrose oil and dates. I'm making sure I get in good walks every day, and try to do deep squats when I pet my cats or meditate. Really, I'm not taking the Lord's name in vain, I talk with God regularly and instead of getting on my knees, getting into a squat is certainly serving a divine purpose. It really helps stretch out those charlie horses too!
We'll see how it all goes, any day now. In the meantime, I'm keeping up the protocols and trying to be conscious about how they are or are not working for me, so I can continue to be mindful on the next go around.
I have a new common sense about birth in our nation, as a modern woman, and soon to be mom.
We have evolved into the physical humans we are today after about 100-600 thousand years, depending on which preserved bones you care to acknowledge. We have been giving birth successfully all of those years, but now live very differently from the way our ancestors did.
My field to plow is a laptop. I sit for hours each day and rarely squat for any reason. It's really no wonder that the average gestation for birth has increased to 41 weeks and a day.
In more active days, sans automobiles and immobile careers, the Baby would have more opportunity to drop down into engagement and the pressure of the baby's head would naturally soften and stretch the cervix.
Since we don't live this way, I'm augmenting with the primrose oil and dates. I'm making sure I get in good walks every day, and try to do deep squats when I pet my cats or meditate. Really, I'm not taking the Lord's name in vain, I talk with God regularly and instead of getting on my knees, getting into a squat is certainly serving a divine purpose. It really helps stretch out those charlie horses too!
We'll see how it all goes, any day now. In the meantime, I'm keeping up the protocols and trying to be conscious about how they are or are not working for me, so I can continue to be mindful on the next go around.
DID I MENTION I'M A TRAINED DANCER, SINGER, AND ACTOR?
It's true. I am NO MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL. I like to explore, research, and make my own informed decisions based on many other's medical opinions. I encourage you to do the same. Here's a bunch of resources I have found helpful.
It's true. I am NO MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL. I like to explore, research, and make my own informed decisions based on many other's medical opinions. I encourage you to do the same. Here's a bunch of resources I have found helpful.
RESOURCE LINKS-
The Yolk Sac- http://www.innovateus.net/innopedia/what-function-yolk-sacCoffee- http://www.mamanatural.com/coffee-while-pregnant/
Wine- http://www.bjog.org/details/news/2085661/Danish_studies_suggest_low_and_moderate_drinking_in_early_pregnancy_has_no_adver.html
Protein- http://www.bradleybirth.com/diet.aspx
Alfalfa- http://wellnessmama.com/188/alfalfa-herb-profile/
5W- http://www.naturessunshine.com/us/product/5-w-100-caps/1120/
Third Trimester Tea- http://earthmamaangelbaby.com/products/organic-third-trimester-pregnancy-tea
ProBiotics- http://www.gardenoflife.com/Products-for-Life/Dr-Formulated/Dr-Formulated-Once-Daily-Ultra.aspx
Dates Romantic- http://www.womens-health.co.uk/inducing-labor-through-sexual-intercourse.html
Dates Delicious- http://jmrh.mums.ac.ir/article_2772_0.html
Natural Inductions- http://avivaromm.com/labor-induction-low-natural-approaches-midwife-md
Inversions- http://spinningbabies.com/start/in-pregnancy/daily-activities/
Perineal Massage- http://www.babycenter.com/404_can-perineal-massage-help-me-avoid-an-episiotomy_1955.bc
NEXT TIME ON TINY HOUSE, TINY HUMAN....
I tested positive for GBS and negative for any VDs. Still the CDC recommends my baby and myself to be hit with rounds of antibiotics. We've decided against this and I'll tell you why...
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