So here it is...the one thing that has helped me more than anything during this pregnancy is...chiropractic care!
Don't stop reading yet...I promise, I was just as scared and skeptical as those reading might be. However, being in massage school, I got to know a great chiropractor. Getting adjusted never really appealed to me. I get queasy when my husband cracks his knuckles...no joke! (Like seriously...it bothers me) Once I got pregnant though, I figured I would give it a try this time around.
When I gave birth to my son, he was born super late. He did not engage well until I hit about 6 cm! (Luckily...phew!) He also was in the wrong position, aka posterior or "Sunny side up." When babies are born, they are supposed to come out face down so that their spine is not against yours. My son's spine was completely against mine, causing some super fun back labor. (Though I will say, this back labor was very easily manageable!) In the end, I had to push extremely hard to get him out, which I did, and he eventually turned into the right position right at the last minute.
Though I have forgiven my son for all this trouble, I have to wonder if perhaps there was something out there I could have done that could have helped my baby get into a better position. My son didn't even turn to head down positioning until 36 weeks, the week they were going to decide if I needed to discuss other options of getting him out! He was breech forever, and then sideways...which was super awkward. Finally at the last minute, he surprised me.
After a lot of research, I actually found that chiropractic care can help with all sorts of issues in pregnancy, including, but not limited to: breech babies, babies not engaging, general aches and pains of pregnancy, nutrition/diet and even can allow women to have faster, easier births. I mean, where do I sign up???
I will say, I was apprehensive because of all the cracking, so I knew I needed someone I already trusted. Luckily this was not hard! I started chiropractic care at 11 weeks pregnant. But I will say, it is never too late! (or too early for that matter)
When I first went in, my chiropractor decided he wanted to do some muscle energy testing and see how my organs were all functioning. This technique is really cool...he could see how all my organs were doing just by having me touch the organ with one finger, and then with my other hand he would have me put my thumb and strongest finger together. He would then try to pull my grip apart...if it pulled apart easily, that organ was weak. If it was difficult to pull apart, I had a good strong organ.
We found that all my organs were functioning really well except for my gall bladder, which was very weak, and my lower intestine which was a little weak. He then went a step further and pulled out some different supplements. He had me hold the supplement while he did the same energy testing to see if my muscle got stronger or weaker. He noticed HCL made me gall bladder stronger, and tried a couple others, but they didn't do much. I thought it was so cool that he could find all this out just by my muscle's response to this supplement being so close to me. He then said there was something he wanted to try, and pulled out some chlorella. Chlorella is a green algae, but it has SO many benefits...it has a ton of protein and naturally strips the body of mercury and other heavy metals. Therefore, this is a great supplement for anyone pregnant and breastfeeding. What he found when introducing this supplement to my muscles, was that all organs got stronger. He also emphasized how much this supplement would benefit my baby. When we are pregnant, often we can feel really good because a lot of our toxins go to the placenta. (and the baby) There are usually over 600 toxins found in the average human placenta. Anything that keeps them filtering out in a gentle way, is a welcome help.
Apparently a study was done in Germany where mothers were given this supplement while pregnant. The babies were referred to as the "chlorella babies." 18 years later, the findings are huge! These chlorella babies are measuring on average, 3 inches taller than their non chlorella counterparts and have higher IQs. I figured as something that could benefit me AND my baby, I would give it a try. And so far, this baby has been measuring ahead...so who knows! Maybe it's working. I do plan to continue taking the chlorella while breastfeeding as well. I want to be as non-toxic as possible for baby. When taking this supplement I had to start small...I took 4 pills twice a day. If you start too high, you can have a toxic reaction, as your body will pull too much at one time. Every week I increased the dosage. I am now at 10 and will stay there, as I don't feel the need to go up much more. Chlorella is also a blood builder, something I really need!
Then, we got to the adjustment. For much of the pregnancy my sacrum has been tilted. First it was tilted to one side, then it went to the other...then yesterday when I went, it was tilted forward on the left side. We just kind of work with it. Because of the relaxin my body is producing, it's normal for joints to move around...it also means I crack significantly more each time I go to get adjusted. Ha! My main complaint during the pregnancy has been my SI joint. I can literally feel it pop in and out. It doesn't hurt, but it's rather weird...as I've never had this happen before.
During yesterday's session, we worked on the sacrum a little through the SI joint and then there was something on my lumbar spine that needed work. Because I'm getting bigger, I'm starting to develop a lordotic curve in my spine, meaning the belly is pulling my spine forward, so the joints are getting a little jammed up. Luckily, this doesn't cause too much discomfort and for most pregnant women, resolves after birth. He showed me some different stances I could do to work on lessening the curve so I don't develop complications.
After that, we moved on to a couple ribs that were knocked out of place. Thank goodness, because my ribs WERE bothering me a lot in the past couple weeks. Then I had a couple things in my neck that got adjusted, which actually felt really good for my jaw too. It's so important to lessen jaw tension, as the jaw muscles, and muscles in the vagina are directly linked. So thinking ahead for birth, I'll take any relaxation I can get for my jaw!
After this, we are pretty much done and I plan to come back in a month. I am not super diligent about a lot of things in this pregnancy, but I don't mess around with my chiropractic care. When a month has gone by, I get back in that office asap! My chiro himself, often emphasizes the importance and impact for pregnant women, and says many times he has women that come during their pregnancy, because they know the benefits, and then he never sees them again.
The other killer (and of course I can't prove it's the chiropractic care) is that our little baby is ALREADY head down, in a perfect position and right at the cervix, feeling at times as if he/she is ready to bust out! Totally different from big brother! So in addition to measuring really well size-wise, I have to hope that things I'm doing are the right things. Regardless, I plan to keep this up, and in the next month or so, will probably start going twice a month. I am also toying the idea of going to get adjusted after birth, and getting baby adjusted as well. Chiropractic has been proven to help with colic in babies, amongst other things.
So there you have it...a long nerdy schpeel from me. But my bottom line, is that I highly recommend chiropractic care to anyone, but especially an expecting mom!
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