Baby #6 is here!
3 hours after birth
4 days old
I had an AMAZING birth experience. This time I did several things differently than the others.
COPING MECHANISMS
I did Hypnobabies this time around, which rocked my world. Helped me really have some great coping mechnanisms and think of things differently – pressure waves, instead of contractions, and so forth. I used the same mechanisms to cope with the uterine cramps afterwards.
RELAXED ATMOSPHERE
I did a Home Birth which was so great! The birth happened so fast (TOTAL labor of 1 hour 40 minutes) that the kids were COMPLETELY oblivious to what was going on. My oldest (12) was playing Canon in D on the piano, while the others were entertained on the ipad. I put my youngest daughter down for a nap at 1:20 PM as labor was just getting started. Had the baby at 2:47 PM. It was so fast, the midwfie didn’t make it in time. The assistant made it with 5 minutes to spare. She had just enough time to put down her laptop, through the absorbant pads on the ground and literally catch the baby.
My muscle memory from doing the Seated Tupler Contractions was right where it needed to be – Just 1 1/2 pushes and the baby was out. You can’t learn a new skill while in pain, so if you practice DURING pregnancy, especially (don’t get grossed out here) during each bowel movement, your muscles will know exactly how to push perfectly during the crowning moment. Your stomach muscles will go BACK rather than DOWN (a.k.a. bearing down) while the pelvic floor relaxes. This makes for a good pushing experience – be it a water birth, or land birth. You can get the HOW TO HERE.
QUICK BIRTH
We did a land birth, rather than the water birth. I LOVE water births. Two of my six have been water births. The tub did not have enough time to fill up, so we did a land birth right on the floor. I will always think of that spot in our room differently now – like it has an energy mark of the experience.
PLACENTA ENCAPSULATION
I had my placenta encapsulated by Peace Love Placenta. It has been GREAT for energy. Holy Cow – why did I not do this the first 5 births. It has its personalized cocktail of hormones for each individual. I definitley have felt the quick balance it gives.
HERBAL HEALING
I used some herbal tea with shephards purse, as well as some other herbs that kept postpartum bleeding down to a minimum. THIS TEA REALLY rocked my world. With 6 kids to chase after, its important to really heal internally. This was so great for that.
SPLINTING
I waited several weeks to splint with this one. My uterus was a bit stubborn to go down at first. The encapsulated placenta helped. I listened to my body with the splinting. I have waited a little longer after each child to splint. This time I waited 3 1/2 weeks to splint. I felt it helped everything calm down with the uterus, so there was no ligament damage. ALWAYS listen to your body while splinting. Though my diastasis is already closed, and has been for a couple weeks – the Diastasis Rehab® Splint found HERE is helping the waistine go down. After a week of splinting, though the diastasis was closed, my waist has gone down 3 inches from 29 1/2 to 26 1/2.
BINDING BONES
I have been binding my bones as well. This you can do postpartum ideally in the first 6 months after birth. You use a compression binder ON TOP OF the Diastasis Rehab® Splint. This is the version I like HERE. I like this one because it helps give compression to the hips and ribs both. I have liked the look and feel of my abdomen MUCH better after binding the bones AS WELL AS Splinting to bring the diastasis together, and the waistline in. It also has the added bonus of keeping the Diastasis Rehab® Splint in place.
INTRINSIC HEALING EXERCISES
And now – doing my 10 sets of 100 a day of Seated Tupler contractions to get the waistline where I want it to be, since my diastasis is already closed (mostly from splinting consistently during pregnancy coupled with the 10 sets of 100 contractions, and correct body mechanics). Can learn about them HERE.
SUMMARY
Putting yourself back together after 6 kids can have its challenges. After EACH child, the trick is to listen to your body. Most cultures have learned to approximate muscles, bind bones, use herbs to care for mom, and many other tried and true things our culture has by in large forgotten about, but is now emerging back into our culture.
Postpartum mamas – it doesn’t matter whether you had a baby 3 days ago or 30 years ago, you can STILL put yourself back together!
