So maybe I'm not going back to the VERY start of this little guy's life... but then again I'm sure we don't need a run down of how that all began! Nothing alternative to that story, haha! But I'd like to explain why I decided to start this blog.
My son is now 11 weeks old. To say 'my son' still seems a bit surreal. He was a surprise this little guy. We didn't plan him, but we couldn't be more happy with him! I still stare in awe at his little fingers and toes, and his tiny little nose, his cute little ears, and his perfect little lips. And now I also get to enjoy his smiles, his giggles, even his cry sometimes.
My pregnancy was fairly uneventful. A fair bit of nausea (but small amount of actual sickness). I had a bit of fatigue but not enough to keep me from weekly dance class, personal training sessions, and mum and bubs classes! I was definitely not exempt from the stretch marks, but as my partner reminded me, I was growing a little human being inside me, so as long as I felt good and healthy who cares about the marks! They'll fade eventually.
Throughout my pregnancy I stayed on top of being adjusted (I'm a chiropractor myself), acupuncture, healthy eating (minus my potato cravings in the first trimester), exercise, and extracurriculars! I managed to work until 37.5 weeks with no swollen ankles/feet, played my softball finals (during my first trimester), and even played in a concert at 38 weeks.
Once my due date was here, and my son stayed all tucked up nice and comfy inside, I tried acupuncture, electro-acupuncture, clary sage oil, spicy food, long walks, sex, exercises to stimulate contractions, evening primrose oil, etc. I tell you, if it was written somewhere to help stimulate labour then I tried it! No dice.
So once I was said to be 10 days over I was induced by my midwife. I had 2 sets of prostaglandin inserted the night before, then my waters were broken and syntocin started via IV at 8am. I wanted to do things as naturally as possible, so I used my TENS machine for the first 4 hours (which got me to 2cm dilated). Then I hopped in the shower with my partner spraying a figure 8 over my back for another 4 hours. I made it to 3cm. It was so slow! I'll admit it, I thought I was ready for labour and I was going to cruise though it. Haha! Being induced often causes labour to ramp up fairly intensely. I think by the time 12 hours was up I was exhausted. I tried gas and air but it made me sick. I ended up only using my acupuncture press needles in my hands to cope with the pain. If I'd had to go on hours more I probably would have understood why people would go for an epidural.
Regardless, I went from 3cm to 10cm in 4 hours. I had planned on being on all fours to deliver but due to some back pain and intense contractions causing me to be super tired, I ended up on the bed to power nap between contractions. My midwife checked me to tell me I was 10cm dilated, and my son was out in 12 minutes. I think it was about 4 pushes. Quick quick! And the pain of his head passing through wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. No tearing, minimal bleeding, and a beautiful baby boy with a full head of hair to stare at in wonder.
Natural labour without medicinal intervention is not for everyone. I'd say the best thing to keep in mind when going through labour is that you don't need to be a superhero. You need to do whatever works for you, and whatever it takes for you and your child to be safe and healthy. Be as flexible as possible, but if you're keen to try different things then make sure your labour partner and midwife or obstetrician know that you'd like support and reminders that you want to try to do things naturally.
Oh, and one last thing: people will constantly try to give you advice. I'm not going to do that, but just blog about my personal experience. Take it or leave it. Everyone is different. Each body tolerates things differently as well. So, listen to people politely (or try), nod, and then go on with your day. That is, unless you actually ASK them for advice.
