Just so excited!!

[joyce619]

Hi Cathe and everyone,
So much has happened since I last posted! No the baby hasn't come yet and I am still on bedrest but the doctor would like to induce me by the end of next week. He feels that once I stop the medicine I will go into labor pretty soon after that. I also have very quick labors, my last one was 3 hours!

So I may have a baby in my arms by the end of January, 3 weeks early. ( and my husband likes the idea of having everything settled before the Super Bowl...GO RAMS!)

Also with this miracle, my husband just got offered a position with his company that will bring us back home to the Phila. area! He didn't have to interview or anything, it basically was given to him if he wanted it.

So after the baby comes we will have to get into that house selling/buying mode. I don't know which is more stressful, before or after the baby is here but I'm really excited. Its going to be so much easier moving to an area that you already know that has family and friends as opposed to moving to a place where you don't know anyone or where anything is. Cathe, I may be finally able to come to one of your classes, too. We thinking of making the move during the kids spring break!

I really was hoping to have a nice quiet maternity leave and having time to focus on the baby and getting back on my feet. This job transfer was really out of the blue!

By the way, Cathe or Shiela, can you explain the breathing technique that Cathe used?

Want to jump for joy!
Joyce

 

[Sheila]

Breathing for the "pushing stage"

Unfortunately, many women are told to hold their breath while pushing their babies out. This “non-physiologic” pushing is known as “traditional” or “purple pushing.” We have all been taught to “exhale on exertion.” Why should women be told to hold their breath during one of the biggest “exertions” of their life? Holding the breath while pushing can lead to the following:

- Decreased downward force leads to less effective pushing
- Abdominals are pushed outward with breath holding
- Pelvic floor reflexively tightens
- Increased blood pressure with brief periods of breath holding and decreased blood pressure with prolonged breath holding.
- Increased blood pressure may burst small capillaries in the face

The type of “pushing” that we teach our moms, and the type that Cathe used, is called “physiological pushing” (i.e. exhaling while contracting your abs during birth).

Exhaling during birth makes much more sense than holding one’s breath. Oxygen levels and blood pressure remain steady and there is no strain on your pelvic floor or your abdominal wall. Decreasing the volume increases the pressure within the abdomen; much like it is when you squeeze toothpaste out of a tube. Here the ribcage, the diaphragm and the abdominals work as a unit to help push your baby out.

When the uterus contracts, it’s kind of like when you make a fist. Its walls move inward from all directions. When you exhale slowly and forcibly, your abdominals shorten and contract, moving inward. This is unlike breath holding where the abdominals move away from the uterus.

Hope this helps! Keep in touch. We all want to hear from you after you’ve had your “pushing experience.”

Sheila