Easy as A B C...

http://www.alabamabirthcoalition.org/

Check out the Alabama Birth Coalition! Get involved... it is YOUR right to birth!

Labor Induction

One of the most common things that I hear among pregnant women is regarding induction. My insides cringe when I hear "I was induced"...

As our society has slowly placed more and more emphasis on the "due date", we have forgotten that babies don't keep a calendar with them in your womb. Each baby is unique. It grows at it's own pace. And frankly, it should be allowed to pick its OWN birthday. Why? Because it is safer. Safer for your baby, and safer for you.

Babies that are induced before they are ready can have trouble breathing, staying warm and breastfeeding, and they often need special hospital care after birth. In fact, we are seeing a large increase in preterm births, mostly due to the fact that we are inducing and sectioning babies way before they are ready.

It's isn't devoid of risk for mothers either. Research shows that first-time moms who are induced are twice as likely to have a cesarean as one whose labor starts on its own.

Actually, I've only scratched the surface here. The other risks involved are being confined to your bed, IV fluids, continuous fetal monitoring and denial of food and drink. These often lead to epidurals, because induced labors are significantly more painful. Epidurals lead to catheters and internal monitors. They can even lead to an assisted delivery with a vacuum or forceps. AND as mentioned above, inductions often lead to a cesarean, usually for fetal distress or stalled labors. Oh, and did I mention that sometimes an induction just doesn't work at all?

My advice to any pregnant woman... skip the elective induction. No matter how miserable you think you are, no matter how many times your well meaning friends call and ask if you've had the baby yet, no matter how tempting it is to schedule when you are going to meet your baby... be strong, for yourself, for your baby and for your birth.

Fresh Bread

Freshly baked bread is a wonderful thing. My daughter and I made some today and it was wonderful, or as Sophie says "Yummy!"

Childbirth Intensive

A 3-hour intensive class on the ins and outs of labor and delivery! We'll talk about the process of labor, the risks and benefits of getting an epidural or going all natural and the real reasons for c-sections. And we'll be a peek at a birth shown in the film, The Business of Being Born.

Saturday, June 6, 2009 from 10:00am to 1:00pm

The class is for couples or moms-to-be, place to be announced.

For more information or to register, please contact Ashley by phone (334/726-9267) or email (apmotz@comcast.net).

Price: $40.00

Babypalooza

I had a booth at Babypalooza yesterday. I think it was a success! There were so many women and babies there, I ran out of brochures and flyers within the first 2 hours!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and said hello. I met a lot of great new people and saw a ton of beautiful pregnant bellies!

I hope to hear from some of those ladies soon!

Congratulations to anyone that won a prize. That stroller and car seat was amazing!

A "birthy" quote for inspiration!

"There is power that comes to women when they give birth. They don't ask for it, it simply invades them. Accumulates like clouds on the horizon and passes through, carrying the child with it."

-Sheryl Feldman

Tea Party

Are you attending a TEA party today???

If you're in Dothan, it's from 5:00pm - 7:00pm at the Federal Courthouse on Troy Street, Downtown Dothan. SEE YOU THERE!!

If you can't attend, show your support by honking your car horn 3 times at noon!

DON'T TREAD ON ME!

Just not a hamburger... please!

So, here is some great justification for not starving yourself during labor! Just do yourself a favor, NOT A HAMBURGER! You'll thank me later.

Eating During Labour Has No Effect On Delivery

Eating during labour does not affect delivery, according to a study published on bmj.com. It also has no effect on the duration of labour, the need for assisted delivery (forceps or vacuum extraction), or caesarean rates.

Read the full article at: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/143640.php

You're a "Crick in the Neck"

So, I woke up this morning with a crick in my neck. I spent the whole day trying not to turn my head the wrong way. So, I decided to look up some info about "cricks", so you won't suffer as much as I have today!

About 75% of "cricks in the neck" are due to a muscle spasm. If you wake up with a crick in the neck, try at home therapies like ice and/or heat and massage. But it's important to go easy on the area in the first few days at least, to avoid making it worse.

Remedy #1: Take a hot towel (or rice sock) and wrap it around your neck for 20 minutes. Take it off and then very slowly move your neck around, up and down and back and forth, but don't "stretch". Then use an ice pack for 20 minutes. Slowly move your neck again. Rest for 20 minutes. Do this every hour until you start to feel better.

Another interesting tidbit is that most cricks are a long time coming. It has been building up for some time and no matter how you slept last night, the crick was coming, like it or not.

Remedy #2: Put lotion on your neck and have someone roll a rolling pin up and down the large muscles along your neck. If you don't have a rolling pin, you can use use a round smooth plastic bottle or such.

Don't stretch your neck! This can irritate and even make worse a crick in the neck. It's fine to slowly move your head (within normal range of motion), but don't stretch the muscles!

If you are still hurting after relaxation, rest and remedies.... head to the chiropractor!

Good luck! I'm off to try to relieve some pain.

My Birth Story, Cole Henry

My 2nd Birth...

I woke up around 5am on 2/19/08 with easy contractions, but they were different than the previous weeks. I basically continued on with my day as normal. Contractions were all over the place (which happened with me last time).

My mom came over and cleaned my house (way cool). Around 12pm I got irritated about being in the house and we went and ate lunch at Ruby Tuesday.

When we got home, I cleaned some more and wandered around. Around 4pm I was getting really irritated about where I was in labor, and that I was bored in the house. So, I got everyone together and we took a quick (2 min) trip to my doctor's office to get a "progress report". Once I got there, my contractions started getting worse. He checked me and I was 6cm and 90% effaced. Told me to head on over to the hospital.

We ran home for a few last minute things and went in. My doctor called over to L&D and got me THE BEST nurse there. She has actually looked into opening her own birthing center (but the interest still isn't here). She did all doppler monitoring like I wanted and when they wanted one strip she just held the monitor on me herself for 20 minutes.

Anyway, about 8:45pm I started feeling a lot of pressure all of a sudden and made my husband go get the nurse (she had stepped out for a minute). There was a lot of scurrying about trying to find a doctor. Mine wasn't there yet and the on-call was heading into c-section. My nurse was trying to find a midwife from downstairs while putting on gloves to possibly catch the baby. The on-call walked in (because apparently someone thought I was only at 30 weeks gestation), but stayed anyway to catch.

Pushing was QUICK! His shoulders got stuck for a second or two, but pulling my legs/knees back was enough to free them, no biggie. I felt a big pop when his shoulders came out. Baby was born at 9:06pm. He was 8lbs 5oz and 21inches long (HUGE, more than a pound bigger than my last, who was 6 days past her edd). I had a tiny tiny tear that wasn't really on my perineum and didn't need any attention.

I had a lot of bleeding (again) with this birth AND my water never broke and they had to tear it off the baby.

This was such an easy birth!