Lately, several expecting friends of mine have been asking me about my experience and what I learned during my pregnancy with our son. Looking back, there are a lot of things I wish I had known. But, there are also many things I'm thankful I DID learn! Here are the highlights for other mamas who are trying to figure this out too.
One of the best resources I consulted during my pregnancy was The Birth Book by Drs. Sears. It gave me a detailed look into the adventure of pregnancy, childbirth, and new motherhood. It was a wealth of information, and incredibly relevant to today, despite the fact that it was written in the 90's. Perhaps most helpful were the questions it raised that I was then able to dialogue with my doctor about. The book also helped me write a detailed birth plan to help insure that my personal wishes were met during labor and delivery, which ended up being a life-saver! I personally was not comfortable going the traditional medicine route after gaining a thorough understanding of how certain common procedures work, so I chose to go the natural route. My doctors were much more supportive of this once they understood I had done the research. Regardless of whether a mommy wants a natural birth or drugs all the way, this book is a must read! You should know what you're facing. As mothers, we have the responsibility to educate ourselves for our own sakes and our children's.
For those wanting to go the natural way, Natural Childbirth The Bradley Way and Husband Coached Childbirth by Dr. Bradley are essentials! The Bradley method has proven to be far more effective than Lamaze for several reasons, one of the biggest reasons being breathing technique. Breathing is so important during labor as you provide oxygen for yourself and baby. Bradley teaches deep, natural, breathing from the diaphragm as opposed to the short, quick, patterned breathing of the Lamaze method. Lamaze has been known to cause lots of tension and hyperventilation in mothers, consequently making pain worse and skyrocketing the chances of having an epidural. Learn more from the books!
That about covers labor and delivery, but what about when baby arrives? Baby Wise is a very popular book about establishing sleep and feeding patterns that was recommended to me by at least four people. While it did contain some helpful information, I felt more confused and frustrated as a new mother having read it. I felt like it encouraged me to go against my maternal instincts. One of the methods discussed is the "cry it out" method, also called CIO. In my experience, my baby never cried unless there was something wrong. Until your child is much older and you know that his cry is a cry of fatigue or bordom, don't employ CIO. Newborns especially only cry when they need something, and when they are hungry, they need to be fed- regardless of the clock. Babies have many huge growth spurts and need to be fed on demand in order to be healthy. In short, my opinion is don't waist your time reading this until baby is much older. At that point, the CIO and Parent Directed Feeding methods seem more applicable.
The early days of motherhood are an excellent time to start doing research on coming days with baby. Spend your time researching vaccination, medicine, and nutrition, because you may find that the status quo isn't good enough. Excellent resources (written by doctors) include The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Child Care by Sally Fallon and Dr. Cowan, and The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears. I HIGHLY recommend you read these if nothing else! Again, it is critical that YOU as your child's advocate do your homework. Please don't naively accept whatever a doctor tells you without validating information first. Wonderful, credible sources to consult on these matters include: Dr. Joseph Mercola, The Weston A. Price Foundation, VacTruth, National Vaccine Information Center, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (governement website known as VAERS), Dr. Tennpenny, Sally Fallon, and Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride to name a few. Plus, read as many medical journals as you can access on these topics. After all, "First, do no harm."
In the days of early motherhood, I found wellnessmama.com to be a very informative and helpful website for natural alternatives to many common practices. For instance, check out this post to expecting moms about how to prevent common issues such as yeast overgrowth and group b step! This is one of those treasures I wish I had found prior to my son's birth, as the advice therein might have saved us both months of health issues. And just so you know, probiotics are highly recommended to help prevent many common prenatal and postnatal issues. Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride explains in detail how beneficial bacteria (probiotics) are passed from mother to baby during birth, so be sure you have a healthy balance. Here is a short article about choosing a probiotic. I personally like this brand called BioKult, and have responded very well to it.
Exercise during and after pregnancy is also critical for your health and the health of your baby. It is important to find a routine that includes cardio, stretching, and strength training. I use this program by Lindsay Brin. Lindsay is the mother of three and just seems like a very real, down to earth person. I like her workouts because they are short and effective. Check out her website by clicking here.
So basically, here's the idea. Do your research, question everything, get sleep, eat clean, exercise, and take your probiotics. And most importantly, relax and just enjoy this time! It will go by quickly.
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