Today, I am 41 weeks and 3 days pregnant. It feels as though I've been pregnant for a short eternity: through honeybee swarming season, honey harvests, 4th of July fireworks, a road trip down the coast to California through the redwoods, my friends' wedding, summer school, a trip to Seattle and flat tire, the ending of a job and school year, the start of a new job and school year, Burning Man (which I didn't go to and had serious FOMO about), another friends' wedding which I officiated, a feast hosted by my chef friends, Halloween parties, the harvesting of chickens, Friendsgiving, Thanksgiving with my parents, the Christmas holiday, New Year's, book club gatherings, Snowpocolypse 2014 and snow falling on the same bridge where I watched the fireworks. Not to mention countless appointments, prenatal yoga classes, meditation challenges, papers graded, books read, vet visits for Elijah, house projects started or completed...
And here I am, still pregnant. Which leads me to the point of this post: why I recommend acupuncture to anyone trying to have their baby without being induced via pitocin or another such drug. According to the studies and statistics, my placenta supposedly has a shelf life. And that shelf life is right about now, with each passing day a greater risk for my placenta to go kaput. So I'm trying the no-drug methods to induce this baby. I can't yet attest to any of them working, and quite honestly, with acupuncture, I don't think that it matters. I would encourage any woman past 40 weeks pregnant to consider acupuncture for the following awesome and beneficial reasons:
Relaxation
As is commonly known, it's hard to sleep when you are housing a 6 lbs. plus baby, and while some women still get fairly decent sleep (me being one of them), many suffer from insomnia. And fatigue can be worse at this stage than any other stage of pregnancy, even with decent sleep. Acupuncture is extremely restful whether or not you actually fall asleep. Each time I've gone (3 times now), I've gone into a state of complete relaxation where I've been able to escape my anxieties and feel a sense of calm come over me. I have only slept one time, but each time is a wonderful, restful experience. I can only imagine that this respite of worrying about and wondering when the baby will come and this sense of peace must be beneficial to mother and baby. Plus, it helps me get some much needed to rest.
Meditation (good practice for labor)
If you haven't before, I would recommend meditation or guided relaxation techniques throughout pregnancy and before trying acupuncture. Once the needles are in, I meditate, focusing on my breath and perhaps a mantra. My current mantras are very simple: "Open" and "Soften." Something about the acupuncture helps me go into a trance-like meditative state where I feel that everything will be okay. All anxieties melt, and I am able to focus on breathing and focusing techniques that I have learned over and over again will help get me through labor. Therefore, I see this practice as a way to help train my mind to go to certain places of peace and comfort during labor. For example, today I decided to think of my contractions as waves on an ocean that I am riding over, the stronger the contraction the stronger the wave.
Visualization
While I'm in this meditative state, I am able to visualize the labor and delivery of my baby and set my intentions for how I want things to go. While I understand that many aspects of this whole thing are not completely in my control, I believe that the more time I spend visualizing a drug-free birth, skin-to-skin contact with baby, and peaceful breastfeeding, the more determined and optimistic I will be to achieve these very things.
So does acupuncture work to induce labor? Of course, I want to say yes! And my body has shown great signs of progress towards labor in the last 3 days of doing acupuncture, but maybe those are coincidental. However, I don't care. I'm reaping many other rewards as a result. So if you or someone you know is past 40 weeks and feeling anxious, recommend acupuncture. It will empower her and help her feel (if only for a little while) a sense of calm during this anxious time.
And here I am, still pregnant. Which leads me to the point of this post: why I recommend acupuncture to anyone trying to have their baby without being induced via pitocin or another such drug. According to the studies and statistics, my placenta supposedly has a shelf life. And that shelf life is right about now, with each passing day a greater risk for my placenta to go kaput. So I'm trying the no-drug methods to induce this baby. I can't yet attest to any of them working, and quite honestly, with acupuncture, I don't think that it matters. I would encourage any woman past 40 weeks pregnant to consider acupuncture for the following awesome and beneficial reasons:
Relaxation
As is commonly known, it's hard to sleep when you are housing a 6 lbs. plus baby, and while some women still get fairly decent sleep (me being one of them), many suffer from insomnia. And fatigue can be worse at this stage than any other stage of pregnancy, even with decent sleep. Acupuncture is extremely restful whether or not you actually fall asleep. Each time I've gone (3 times now), I've gone into a state of complete relaxation where I've been able to escape my anxieties and feel a sense of calm come over me. I have only slept one time, but each time is a wonderful, restful experience. I can only imagine that this respite of worrying about and wondering when the baby will come and this sense of peace must be beneficial to mother and baby. Plus, it helps me get some much needed to rest.
Meditation (good practice for labor)
If you haven't before, I would recommend meditation or guided relaxation techniques throughout pregnancy and before trying acupuncture. Once the needles are in, I meditate, focusing on my breath and perhaps a mantra. My current mantras are very simple: "Open" and "Soften." Something about the acupuncture helps me go into a trance-like meditative state where I feel that everything will be okay. All anxieties melt, and I am able to focus on breathing and focusing techniques that I have learned over and over again will help get me through labor. Therefore, I see this practice as a way to help train my mind to go to certain places of peace and comfort during labor. For example, today I decided to think of my contractions as waves on an ocean that I am riding over, the stronger the contraction the stronger the wave.
Visualization
While I'm in this meditative state, I am able to visualize the labor and delivery of my baby and set my intentions for how I want things to go. While I understand that many aspects of this whole thing are not completely in my control, I believe that the more time I spend visualizing a drug-free birth, skin-to-skin contact with baby, and peaceful breastfeeding, the more determined and optimistic I will be to achieve these very things.
So does acupuncture work to induce labor? Of course, I want to say yes! And my body has shown great signs of progress towards labor in the last 3 days of doing acupuncture, but maybe those are coincidental. However, I don't care. I'm reaping many other rewards as a result. So if you or someone you know is past 40 weeks and feeling anxious, recommend acupuncture. It will empower her and help her feel (if only for a little while) a sense of calm during this anxious time.
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