5th Pregnancy - You never know everything - What I have learned

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Education is key. 5th Pregnancy – You never know everything – What I have learned during this pregnancy I would love to share if it can help anyone else on the same journey.

First Trimester

Surprise pregnancy!

We were going to wait until our youngest was at least one year old to get pregnant again. But what do you know, 7months postpartum I went to the Doctor thinking I had an infection, which thankfully I did not have, but rather a 4.5week pregnancy! I won’t lie, I was a bit shocked. But we do believe that children are a blessing and no matter what we do, ultimately it is God who allows pregnancy to happen. So with a lot of prayer and my husbands comfort and encouragement, I went from shock, to really being thankful and exited for our newest addition.

I believe God also worked in me a real passion to do all that I possibly can to have a healthy and positive pregnancy, birth and postpartum experience. So we started exercising regularly and I really started focusing on my nutrition, even more than in my previous pregnancies.

This also was the very first pregnancy that I experienced only mild nausea! What a blessing! My heart goes out to all the mommies that have bad nausea and some that even have to receive IV because they dehydrate because of it. I realise it is not something to take for granted.

My one theory for the mild nausea is that I would give in to my cravings, even the unhealthy, greasy, takeaway ones.

Second Trimester

I have never felt so good in all my previous pregnancies! Keeping up with our exercise twice per week, I am sure it is a huge reason for me feeling so good and strong. I can’t believe that I could never get myself to really exercise during my previous pregnancies, it makes such a huge difference.

Then 27weeks hit…

Sciatica like I have never experienced before. I could not walk. I could not lay still in bed because my leg was in so much pain. We went to the chiropractor multiple times. I got massaged. We went to the physiologist.

Nothing. Helped.

I had 4 other small children needing me while I couldn’t even help myself. To say the least I was a little negative and frustrated.

After about 3-4weeks of trying so many things, my mind went to the cause of the sciatica and muscle spasms. So we all know that during pregnancy our bodies start producing and releasing a hormone called relaxin. The purpose of this hormone is (as its name suggests) to relax ligaments, tendons and cartilage to prepare the mothers body to stretch during pregnancy and ultimately, to help the pelvis to be flexible and expand during labor. This is also the reason why we are not supposed to do intense sport during later pregnancy, as our balance is not what it should be without the support of tendons, ligaments and cartilage and we can easily get injured.

So what could I do about it?

When thinking that nutrition is the foundation for our body’s to grow and recover, what type of nutritional supplement specifically effects our cartilage, ligaments, tendons, etc?

COLLAGEN!!!

Collagen that was sitting on my kitchen shelf because I knew how important and healthy it was, I just completely forgot about it. Did it help? Well, after starting a double dose of grass fed, non GMO, organic, multi animal collagen, I could walk relatively pain free within 24 hours. I still could not pick up and carry our 1year old baby, then I would get a muscle spasm, but I COULD WALK!

In conjunction with the collagen supplement I also started making and eating more bone broth, inspired by The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother. A book that I can highly recommend and thoroughly enjoy reading.

NORA Tea

Around 34weeks I was reading a blog post about NORA tea which consist of Stinging Nettle Leaf, Oatstraw, Red Raspberry Leaf and Alfalfa. Again I wanted to kick myself, as it again was something that I knew all the benefits of and just forgot about it. And believe it or not, once I started drink this herbal tea blend, my sciatica and muscle spasms was almost 100% gone! Thanks to the anti-inflamatory properties of the herbs, I am sure.

If you are interested to read more about NORA tea and why it is such a wonderful supplement during pregnancy and for woman in general, you can read my blog on it here.

Third Trimester

This is the first late pregnancy that I experience my baby being veeeery low in my pelvis. It is so uncomfortable to walk or stand! I always had to guess how it must feel because my babies wouldn’t drop until during labor. Not this time. I do hope it means that baby is in an optimum position and that labor would not be as long as my previous one. I really do pray for that. Having to get to end of labor being exhausted is … so discouraging… Nothing can describe that tiredness. It just doesn’t feel like you can truly be in the moment when your baby is born. I was just so relieved that it was done that I couldn’t care less about the baby in my arms, until a good few minutes later.

Waiting on the (predetermined) Birthday

Why are people so anxious to get a baby out??? It has nothing to do with them, it is my body, my baby…and I am fine going to 41weeks and even further if that is what baby needs. Any way, I just try to remind myself that these people really care and are excited for our sake, I try.

So here we are, one day away from 40weeks. Patient, but also a little anxious. Labor is such a mind game. You constantly have to keep your mind from running to places that makes you more and more negative and fearful of what lays ahead.

Tonight I am baking my super indulgent Double Chocolate Cheesecake for tomorrow to celebrate my 40th…week of pregnancy (tongue in cheek). I must admit, I will be a little bummed if I go into labor tonight and I won’t be able to eat the cake tomorrow! But at least if it happens we will then have a baby in our arms and probably not think of eating cake… The cake also lasts well in the fridge and then we can celebrate the baby’s birth when we come back from the midwife after 3 days.

Normalize ‘overdue’ babies

I recently heard a woman saying she was very proud when she carried her 3rd baby to 41weeks as she felt like her body was so well nourished that it could provide everything the baby needed up to that point. I would like to agree with this and I hope that more people will adapt this view. A lot of babies these days are ‘forced’ to come early and some with good medical reasons, but all too often it is because of impatience and not because it is best for the baby. When left to be, babies will come when they are good and ready, with much easier births and less complications and need for interventions after birth.

Preparing for labor

In preparation for labor my husband and I are reading Husband Coached Childbirth by Dr Bradley, and we are really enjoying it and believe there are a lot of principles that we can work with and want to try for this labor. We do not agree with all Dr Bradley’s philosophies, and definitely not with his evolutionary stand, but we like his suggestions and enjoy his humor and ‘no nonsense’ way of saying things throughout the book very much. I would love to update you when I write the birth story on how we experienced his method.

We are in a situation where we will have to travel 3hours to the midwife once labor starts. We have done it once before with my previous labor, but it was not the best experience. Up to now I can detect very quickly when real labor starts for me, just by having regular noticeable contractions that wrap around my low back and to the front of my lower abdomen. So we made it to the midwife with the previous one, and our baby was only born 24hours later! I am certain that being so focused on labor it caused it to drag out much longer than it could have been if I could just ignore the signs and continue life as normal (as possible).

But here we are again.

My strategy for labor this time is:

Try to ignore it even if we have to leave for the midwife, maybe we could visit someone on the way or something.
Prayer to be calm and present, no matter the circumstances.
Distraction for as long as possible.
Listen to my body’s needs in terms of position changes, eating, drinking, need for rest, etc.
Bradley Method when contractions start to get painful, which is: deep relaxation in sleeping/ running position with stomach breathing.
Do not get in the bath tub too early or do not get in at all, it does stall my labors.
Wait for the fetal ejection reflex (involuntary pushing).
Pushing according to Bradley Method (basically squatting position) in bath tub if possible.

5th Pregnancy – You never know everything – What I have learned

Do not forget about collagen from early pregnancy onward.
Definitely exercise for as long as possible during pregnancy.
NORA tea, especially from 2nd trimester onward.
Nourishing your body is EXTREMELY important for mother and baby, and postpartum recovery.
Anxiety over labor is real, it is not just ‘a mindset’. Some people really have to work hard and prepare well to stay positive.