THE EXTRAORDINARY BIRTH OF E!

This birth story is written by CFYC's own Erin Rosenberg,  once a student and now a teacher!  I remember Erin coming to class when she was barely pregnant and now baby E is running the halls of CFYC! Erin is sharing her birth story with you in the hopes that it will inspire and inform you.  I love her story because it shows that sometimes, you find yourself dealing with the unexpected during your labor, but you can still find your beautiful birth experience in the midst of that.  I believe that yoga teaches us many great things for labor, but also for life.  Read on to find how Erin found acceptance and peace when her birth plan changed. 

Namaste,
Meliea

It was a Tuesday and I was overdue. I was ready for my baby girl to get here, make her appearance and let me start loving her in person. My mother was also in town… so off we went to the hospital to be “augmented” (my mother really couldn’t wait any more). 

The doctors had told me to get to the hospital around 6am and that the whole process could take 24-48 hours. I told my husband to go to work in the morning cause we would probably just be sitting there. So he helped get me checked in and then went to work.  I was hooked up to a monitor that charted my contractions at about seven minutes apart.  I was feeling nothing and had no clue I was even in labor.   A good friend came by and we chatted the whole morning, no big thing, entertaining guests and laboring at the same time.   All in a days work.  

My doctor had come in at 8:30am and we had decided to go ahead and break my water. It just felt like I urinated all over the bed and continued to for awhile. Around 11am my friend left and I was desperate to get out of bed. My contractions were starting to get stronger and more uncomfortable. My mom helped get me onto the birth ball  Oh the agony!  I just couldn't get comfortable.  Nothing was helping.  I finally found myself on all fours with my only relief being my mother’s hands massaging my low back. “This is back labor I’m in” I thought, "crap."  I remembered in my birthing classes that they talked about this. The back of her head was pressing against the base of my spine, causing immense back pain. I was doubled over a bucket, sure I was going to vomit from the pain.  

Let me back things up a bit. We had gone into this day with a very loose birth plan. I wanted a natural childbirth but was open to an epidural if needed.  If a C-section was medically necessary then I guess I was open to that too. What ever it would take to get her out safely we were on board for.  I had taken every birthing class I could, read books, and knew things were going happen the way they were supposed to and I was at peace with that.  I had started taking prenatal yoga when I was just 5 weeks pregnant and had kept myself in good shape during the pregnancy. I felt strong and capable going into that day. I had done all I could do to prepare myself for what was to come. 

But I didn’t plan on back labor.  My husband got to the hospital around 12:45pm and tried to take over for my mother, which I promptly shut down because he wasn’t massaging my back right. Poor guy. The nurse had come in once before and asked if I wanted an epidural. I turned her away. No, I could do this. My contractions were getting closer together, only two minutes apart now. I thought, “Any time, two minutes right, that’s like some magic number, I must be close to pushing.” My nurse told me it could be like that “for a long time”. What did that mean, “a long time” – minutes, hours, days? The thought of it was almost enough to send me over the edge.  I felt like if I only knew how long then I could get through it, but the thought of countless hours doubled over a puke bucket was more than I could take. “Please get the anesthesiologist in here as soon as possible”, I said. He came, he poked, he delivered the goods, and I was happy as a clam. My doctor came in to check me and I was only 3 cm. Despite all that madness I had only dilated 1 cm (I came into the hospital at 2cm). Thank goodness I had already had the epidural when he delivered that news. 

So we popped in a DVD and got comfy. I was relaxed, finally. And in an hour and a half I went from 3cm to 9.5cm.  I think the epidural was just what I needed to relax and let my body do the work.

At 4:30pm I started pushing.  I must admit, despite staying fit and all my yoga squats I was an inefficient pusher. I just wasn’t doing it right. When I finally got the hang on it (and they mentioned the vacuum), I started making progress. It took me an hour and forty-five minutes of pushing, and the help of a vacuum to deliver her. She was 8 lbs. 12 oz., 21 inches long and a big ole head. She was beautiful

Looking back at the process and my pregnancy I couldn’t have asked for either to go any better. I had a wonderful birth experience, it went relatively quick, and everyone came out of it healthy. I pushed for a very long time, but never felt tired if you can believe it. I owe that to the power of my yoga practice. All those malasana and goddess squats prepared me to push for that long. The best decision I made was to go into the experience knowledgeable about the type of birth I wanted, but open to the possibility that it may not go the way I envisioned, and to be okay with that, to not be hard on myself for getting the epidural.

Charlotte Family Yoga Center’s Prenatal Program gave me a community, a place to make friends, a place to ask questions, learn about the birth process, listen to those who had gone before me share their experiences, practice my birthing breath, be challenged, and de-stress all at the same time.  Pregnancy and the birthing process is such a magical time in your life, do all that you can to enjoy it. Because before you know it, your baby will be a toddler!

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE PREGNANT BRAIN AKA "THE BABY MADE ME FORGET IT!"

There are inevitably many things that happen in our lives that make us forget things.  We've all had that moment when we walked into a room and said, "Now, why did I come in here?"  We call it "pregnant brain" when we're pregnant because it seems to happen a lot more than usual!  However for some reason when I was pregnant, my husband didn't accept this diagnosis.  So, in empowered woman fashion, I set out to prove that he needed to show some R-E-S-P-E-C-T to his babymama.  DISCLAIMER!  I am not an actual scientist, neurologist or person who really knows much about the brain at all. BUT when I'm on a mission to prove something, there are no facts that I can't find to support my need to be vindicated.  So I share with you the results of my research in the hopes that even if your man doesn't believe it, you know that you are not going crazy.  There really is a reason that you can't remember where you put your keys.......for the fifth time today!

First, let's blame the hormones...because we all know they are usually at fault for just about anything that alters the female brain.  Sometimes I think they get a bad rap, but most of the time they deserve it.  Oh sure, they do all kinds of wonderful things, like make us want to get pregnant in the first place, but they have their sneaky side. 

"There are 15 to 40 times more progesterone and estrogen marinating the brain during pregnancy, and these hormones affect all kinds of neurons in the brain," says Louann Brizendine, MD, director of the Women's Mood and Hormone Clinic at the University of California, San Francisco. ~WebMD

Progesterone in higher levels is believed to be linked to fatigue, headaches and mood swings which affect the way the neurons in our brain our firing.  So in essence....yes...there is a physical reason for your forgetfulness. In a recent British study on the phenomenon, midwife and researcher Diane Farrar said,

“Altered hormone levels during pregnancy may affect brain regions involved in memory processing. Altered mood and increased anxiety, which may be due to altered hormone levels or pregnancy related worries, may also adversely affect memory function.

Now, to me, that is proof enough, but to really drive it home  build a stronger scientifically based case, I forged on.  I found that there are other reasons for our fetus induced fogginess.

1.  We love to think about and care about our babies.  There is only so much room in our brains for thought and we spend a lot of our time THINKING about our babies.  We want to be sure we are eating the right things, avoiding the wrong things and learning about new things.  We read a lot of books and websites and process loads of new information.  So yes, honey, sometimes that barbecue you wanted to go to got pushed out of my brain and I forgot about it but it is because I was BEING A GOOD MOM!

2.  We don't sleep well.  Is it any wonder?  In the first trimester we wake up and go to the bathroom multiple times.  In the second trimester we are getting used to having a bump and readjusting our sleeping position.  And in the third trimester, when we are feeling the size of a small continent we now have to make multiple trips to the bathroom again as well as deal with ninja womb moves.  There is a reason that lack of sleep is used as a form of torture!  Lack of sleep affects how sharply we think and react so it's no wonder we can't remember why we came into the kitchen(but we might as well have a snack while we are there, right?). 

3. One word:  OXYTOCIN.  Yes, the love hormone.  I didn't list it with the other hormones because it is different and I like it more. Practically speaking, it helps us go into labor, endure labor and make milk!  Oxytocin is responsible for the feelings that you get when you see a picture like this: 

It literally produces a euphoric feeling of well being that surpasses human reasoning.  Thanks to oxytocin(and I'm talking natural, not the stuff in an IV bag) we are able to look at our babies after a night of 2 hours of broken sleep and kiss their cute noses and babble at them shamelessly.   It's the reason we can't describe the immense love we feel for them.  It's beautiful BUT it drowns our brains in love, washing out some of the unpleasant thoughts and memories, like making that bank deposit by lunch time so that the mortgage payment won't bounce.  So in essence, you are forgetting important things because you are consumed with love and well being.  I don't think that is such a bad thing.  All that love and well being may very well be the reason our husbands are still standing when all is said and done so they should really become oxytocin's biggest fans, in my opinion. 

So can anything be done to help pregnancy brain?  YES!  YOGA!!!  Yoga helps to balance your body's physiological responses to pregnancy and can help you to sleep better.  It helps offset some of the physical demands on our bodies.  It also helps to quiet our minds during the relaxation part of class.  When we can take a moment and quiet our mind on the mat, we are able to give our brains some much needed rest so that they can recharge and be ready for the heavy demands of our day to day life.  The focus on the breath during class sends oxygen surges to the brain making us feel more alive and alert.  Charlotte Family Yoga Center Prenatal recognizes that there are so many things for new moms to think about and prepare for.  We offer you a place of rest and refuge on the mat with us.  We promise that you will feel renewed and restored.  And just in case you forget, here is the prenatal class schedule!

Tuesday:  6:45pm-8pm
Wednesday:  10am-11:15am
Thursday:  6:45pm-8pm
Saturday:  10am-11:15am
Sunday 2:30pm-3:45pm($8 class!)

See you there!

Namaste,

~written by Meliea Holbrook, CFYC prenatal instructor and community birth activist

A New Adventure Begins!

Welcome to your Charlotte Family Yoga Center Prenatal community blog!  We hope that you will find that it is a source of valuable information, inspiration and support.  As teachers at CFYC, we hope to provide you more than just a yoga class....we want to create a sense of community and camaraderie for each and every mother who shares the mat with us. 

One year ago, Diane Cevallos' dream of having a yoga studio sprouted wings and took flight.  From the very beginning, she set out to create not only a premier yoga studio, but also a platinum standard prenatal program.  Her vision for prenatal yoga stepped beyond the standard of providing a safe and sound class for expectant moms....this vision included bringing mothers together and providing a place of safety and support for their souls as well.

Photo by Donamari D'Andrea, Capture Fotography

Pregnancy is one of the times in a woman's life where a plethora of emotions are felt and expressed.  In our current society, where it is no longer common to still live in the place that you grew up, expectant moms can find themselves disconnected from the friends that they grew up with....the very friends they dreamed of sharing the adventures of motherhood with.  This is creating a sense of isolation for mothers and can be connected to our current rates of postpartum depression.  While we at CFYC realize that we cannot change the world, we believe we can produce change in our own community by helping mothers interact and share with each other. 

One way of doing this is by having a time of sharing at the beginning of each class, where a mom can introduce herself and share her pregnancy experiences with the other moms if she desires to.   We believe this time is a valuable tool to connect with the mothers who trust us to be a part of their most incredible journey, and to connect with each other in a safe community where friendships can be formed. 

The second component to Diane's vision is exceptional prenatal instructors.  Instructors at CFYC must attend specific training to teach prenatal classes that includes not only how to instruct a safe yoga class, but also how to appreciate the pregnant body and be familiar with the community birth options.  Most importantly, each instructor who teaches here must have the heart vision that it is a privilege to be invited into a woman's sacred journey toward birth.  We honor each woman's choices and experiences and seek to support and empower her in the process of becoming a mother.  We believe that pregnancy is a normal process, not a disease, and that the benefits of yoga are for the mind as well as the body.  Though we may not be physically present at our students births, we hope that our empowering words as well as the body/breath awareness created by our sequence of poses becomes very apparent during labor, delivery and recovery. 

Lastly, we believe in providing education and support for our students.  We do this through our share time in class, our Facebook page,  our workshops and through this blog.  Follow us here for informative articles, thoughts from our instructors,  and incredible birth stories from our students.  We are excited to be part of a community of incredible families.  Thank you for the trust and support that you have given us over the past year and we look forward to enhancing that support and sense of community as we move forward into our second year!

Namaste!