I was blessed with a beautiful, easy, and healthy first pregnancy that concluded with a beautiful natural birth. What I now know is I got darn lucky with some things I consciously chose to do. Basically, I followed my innate maternal wisdom without really knowing that is what I did.
Truth be told, I believe EVERY pregnant mother does this to some degree. It comes naturally to all of us, but in our modern world it is easily drowned out by all the external noise.
So here is what I think I did right:
- I read (actually listened on 1.5x) a lot of books about pregnancy and birth in my first trimester. Then I stopped reading and didn’t pick anything up for the rest of pregnancy. This helped me feel informed but also prevented the feeling of cramming at the end of pregnancy and allowed me time to mull over all that I had read and find my own path forward.
- I kept up my normal exercise routine until about 30-weeks and then I just walked or swam most days of the week. I didn’t worry a lot about what I was doing or what position I was in, but I did keep moving in ways that felt good to my body.
- I floated. I went several times to Dream Float Hawaii where you climb in a dark tank of body temperature water that is as salty as the Dead Sea. What do you do then? You float, you feel weightless, and you are provided the most profound opportunity for connecting with your baby. Oh and you can actually lay on your belly, which is nothing short of heaven at 39 weeks pregnant.
- I spoke to my doctor about my desire to have a completely natural birth from early in pregnancy and every visit I told her about my evolving plans for how that would look and how I felt about various common interventions. By starting these conversations early, I knew by my 3rd trimester that I was with a doctor who was supportive of my vision for birth. When I gave her my birth plan, there was NOTHING surprising about it. She already knew how I felt and what I wanted.
- Despite having very clear opinions about my birth, I also remained quite pragmatic and flexible in my thinking. Birth is unpredictable and what I wanted may not be what the universe had in store for me. By the time my due date (and birth date) arrived I had surrendered to all options and held faith that I would have the birth I imagined.
None of these strategies were things anyone told me to do, but 8 years later I can say with full conviction that these 5 things served me the best when it came time to bring my daughter earthside.
In Health,
Hilary Valentine
PS- Interested in preparing your body for birth? Looking for strategies you can apply to your daily life rather than a class you need to take?
I got you!!
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