Having a baby is so exciting! If this is your first baby, it’s not like anything you’ve ever done before. If it’s not your first, this baby’s birth still may not be anything like the first one. Preparing both mentally and physically is important and will make things easier when the time comes! Here are 7 things you can do to be more prepared for the arrival of your new little one:
Preparing both mentally and physically before the birth of your baby will make things easier when the time comes. Get excited! You’re having a baby!
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 There are few things I’ve seen that make as big of a difference in labor and birth as chiropractic care. At one point, after a series of very long births, I considered only taking clients who were being seen by a chiropractor. I didn’t make that change but I do strongly suggest to all my clients that they see one. It makes that much of a difference. Prenatal-specific chiropractic care during pregnancy helps address all the aches and pains that are considered normal. That low back pain? This will help. Having trouble with your pubic bone? This won’t solve it but it will help. Previous tail bone injury? This may make a big difference for you. Adjustments also help promote balance in the pelvis to provide baby with the most room to move around possible. This in turn encourages baby to move around and more easily move to the best possible position for birth as the time approaches. In addition, continuing care after your pregnancy can help your body regain its normal balance as you adjust to no longer being pregnant. Your body make a big change in those 9 months of pregnancy and then a pretty quick one at birth. It takes time to heal and recover. Chiropractic care can aid in that recovery. If you are looking for a chiropractor or would like to speak with one more about the services they offer, we have an abundance of wonderful chiropractors in our community that treat pregnant women. Here are a few that I highly recommend in no particular order: Shrout Family Chiropractic in Carmel with Dr. Melissa Shrout & Dr. Tracy Reichert. They have a float tank too! Rangeline Chiropractic in Carmel with Dr. Hilary Hushower Sacred Spines with Dr. Kristen Hartwell. Her office is located inside Sacred Roots Birth Center on the west side. Mommy & Me Chiropractic with Dr. Stephanie Muir located on the Southside. Indy Kids Chiropractic in Castleton with Dr. Kristin Huber Pala Chiropractic with Dr. Shawn Pala in Noblesville. Himsel Chiropractic with Dr. Jared Himself in Noblesville. Chiropractic during your pregnancy can make you more comfortable and shorten your labor. Even if this is something you’ve been skeptical of in the past, I encourage you to try during your pregnancy. Find someone you like. It could make a big difference in your comfort level now and birth later. Interested in doula services? I'd love to work with you!
 First and foremost, know that going past your due date is totally normal! Average first time babies come 8 days after their due date (so a lot come later than that too!) and second babies come an average of 3 days past their due date. Totally normal. It’s even not that unusual for a second baby to come later than the first baby. That’s particularly difficult because you expect things to be similar the second time around. I know this is not what you want to hear. You want to have your baby here and in your arms and for all these pregnancy symptoms to be behind you. But. Sit back. Relax. Your baby will come. Your body knows what to do. You will actually go into labor. I promise. Unless there is a complication, there’s no big rush! Babies come when babies come. But…there are few things that can help things get rolling or at least give you something to do that might help so you don’t feel quite so frustrated by the waiting game.
These are all options to try that “can” get things moving. These can help increase the hormones in your body that prepare it for labor and bring about birth. Ultimately, until baby is ready and your hormones have reached that necessary peak baby’s not going to come. Be patient and if you have any questions or concerns related to your specific situation always talk to your care provider. Interested in doula services? I'd love to work with you!
 I get asked more often than you might think what kinds of births I support. What my favorite kind to attend are, or even if I leave when things don’t go the way they were planned. This breaks my heart. Every birth is unique. The needs of every laboring mother are unique. No birth looks the same and the best birth possible looks different for every woman! And I don’t leave. As your doula, my role is to support you in YOUR choices, not to make sure you make the choices I think you should. For that matter, it’s pretty rare that I even have an opinion. This is your day, your experience. I am not in your body. Yes, there are benefits to a natural birth but there are very valid reasons (including just desire) for that not to be your goal. My goal for all is not that everyone would have a “natural birth,” but that everyone would make their choices from a place of confidence.
I look back on all the families I’ve had the privilege of working with and each one has a special place in my heart. The long births, the fast ones, the ones that ended in surgery. Every mother was amazing. Every father stepped up. It’s such a joy and privilege to be part of that. I would truly not be able to choose a favorite. No matter if your plan is all natural, an epidural, or even a planned csection, (and certainly when things don’t go quite how you plan) doula support can have a role and enhance your experience. My hope for every woman is that they are able to look back on their birth, be confident in their decisions and be at peace. That’s the best birth. Fail is the “f” word of birth. It does NOT apply to you. And everyone need stop stop saying it. What a terrible word to apply to inductions and VBACs and everywhere else they use it. What a way to set mothers up. Ranks right up there with Advanced Maternal Age. Sometime the system fails. Sometimes part of the care team fails. Sometimes what you perceive (or are told) as a failure really is the very best choice for you and your baby. But I’m telling you, and listen, YOU NEVER FAIL.
Somehow we’ve got to figure out how to promote normal birth without making people feel terrible when it doesn’t work. Somehow our care system has to figure out how to intervene as necessary rather than as standard procedure so we can trust the system. I don’t pretend to have all the answers but I know this to be true. Because sometimes, the interventions we are trying desperately to avoid really are the right choice and the best thing for us as mothers and our babies.
I know, right about now someone will be thinking that, “if they just had a home birth….” Sure. But not always and the women who are risked out (and those for whom it is just not a comfortable choice) also deserve to have good, evidence based care and to not be told that they should have had a home birth and all would be well. Whether or not you did things “right” doesn’t matter. Having adequate information to make good decisions matters. Good as in the best for you. How you, as a mother, are treated matters. What happens to your baby matters. How you feel about it in the moment and looking back matters. But there is no failure no matter what. Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright Round yon virgin Mother and Child ~Joseph Mohr  Tonight I’m thinking about Mary. I’m thinking about her journey on her donkey (or more likely walking since the donkey comes from tradition rather than scripture) from Nazareth to Bethlehem. I’m thinking about how many miles she covered, full term, presumably in early labor. I’m thinking about her arriving nearly alone in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by people she didn’t know, about to give birth. Actually, not unlike what most women experience today birthing in a hospital I suppose. I wonder as I wander out under the sky How Jesus, the savior, had come for to die For poor on'ry people, like you and like I. I wonder as I wander out under the sky. ~John Jacob Niles I wonder if Joseph was there at all as Jewish custom would not have permitted him to be involved with the birth. Maybe there was a group of women from Bethlehem that assisted. I hope so. Were they loving and kind to a young, unmarried, laboring stranger in their midst? I wonder if she missed her mom. Or sisters, if she had them. I wonder if she was scared. I wonder if she knew her time was near before they found somewhere to stay. I wonder if a woman about to give birth was part of why a stable was their only option. Mary, did you know That your baby boy will one day walk on water? Mary, did you know That your baby boy will save our sons and daughters? Did you know That your baby boy has come to make you new? This child that you've delivered Will soon deliver you ~Buddy Greene & Mark Lowry She knew this baby would be special - that he wasn’t ordinary. But he was still her child. I know that despite her surroundings, the moment that baby was in her arms (maybe she even caught him herself) were moments she’d never forget. Her heart was full of joy and her eyes full of tears - just like every other mother before her and since then.
May the Peace of Jesus be with you this holiday season. |
Adina Nelson, CD(DONA)I am a birth & postpartum doula and chlidbirth educator practicing in North Idaho. 
She was there every step of the way for me and my husband...I thank Adina for everything she helped us with. She truly is a special person and we will be forever grateful for her! ~Erin Categories
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