Preparing for birthing

merostomata

Hey y'all!

I was just wondering is you guys were doing anything (or planning on doing anything) to physically prepare for birthing? Are you doing any particular exercises, mental preparation (affirmations, etc), taking herbal supplements, and so forth? Has your OB/midwife recommended anything to you?

I know there is a lot of mixed research and opinions about the utility of some common preparations, but I was curious and open to suggestions. If you're a STM+, do you feel like any preparations helped you in your previous birth?

DLpanda08

I’m planning to start perineal massage once I get to 36 weeks per the recommendations in my hospital birth class. I also do hip circles and pelvic tilts on my birthing ball at home. 

Other than that just walking as much as much as I feel comfortable and continuing to practice my pain management strategies.

merostomata

Physically, I'm just doing a bit of prenatal yoga, kegals and perineal massage- I'm super lazy about all of them though and might get into more of a routine now that we're getting closer to birth time. I'm also about to start red raspberry leaf tea and see how it goes. My biggest prep has probably been doing hypnosis tracks and birth affirmations every day for the last few weeks- who knows if it'll help come delivery, but it has helped my anxiety a lot now!

kmos816

I think staying active/working out and prenatal yoga helped with my first. I’m working out with this one, but not as much prenatal yoga- but at least trying to get my stretches in. I drink raspberry leaf tea but mostly because I enjoy it and like drinking a cup of tea at night every so often!

Kabazaba

Red raspberry tea, positions to encourage good delivery position for baby, squats, had been doing prenatal yoga but have fallen off the past few weeks as work has gotten crazier. Need to get back into that. On the fence about perineal massage. Have done a birthing class and DH is reading The Birth Partner. 

wnn1992

I have a very active job & I am hoping that is enough. I have always had strong legs/glutes/core so I am hoping that helps. 😬 I haven’t peed myself yet so I feel like that is a good sign that my lady parts are strong. Getting soooo nervous though!

pttomato

I’m legitimately worried that I won’t be strong enough to push the baby out. I’ll have to ask if there is anything that I can do to prepare while on bedrest.

jandd2014

I just bought red raspberry leaf tea, which I'll start at 36 weeks. I ate a lot of dates towards the end last time. Pretty soon I'll start to sit on my exercise ball  more to do hip circles and pelvic tilts. I used the trial version of the Headspace app last time in the last few weeks, and I'll probably do that again. I'm lucky that my last day of work will be 12/7 (due 1/8), so I'm hoping to have at least a few weeks to relax and mentally prepare. I've been having a lot of hip/pelvic pain that chiropractic adjustments have minimally helped, but the pelvic floor PT had like a month long wait list, so I'm finally going in on 12/10 so I'm going to ask her for any specific exercises I should be doing. 
@pttomato I was worried about that last time too (I was on bed rest from 25-37 weeks so I was definitely not in my best physical shape). Most of the "prep" I did was after 37 weeks, when my doctor lifted all my restrictions and stopped all my meds. When it came time, I had to push for just over an hour, but I got it done! And then my entire was body was sooooo sore for almost a week after DD was born lol. It will be hard, but you can do it!

kaf1788

Okay you guys are inspiring me to actually maybe do something to prepare haha. I've been drinking the red raspberry leaf tea so that's a start right? I've been doing some light yoga/squats/random prenatal exercises but definitely not as much as I should be. My ball is inflated and ready so I guess I'll start adding in some hip circles and whatnot. I'm more excited for all the date smoothie recipes I'm going to start making. And now I feel like I should google perineal massage because I have no idea wtf that is but it seems like maybe I shouldn't do that from a work computer.

tosh24

Physically, I'm in the worst shape of my life, so I'm super nervous. Add to that that mentally, I am also in the worst place I ever have been, and I am seriously wondering if I'm going to be able to labour effectively or if I'm just subconsciously going to block any progress my body tries to make and then fall into a bunch of interventions

I have been doing all of my daily exercises/stretches since about 28 weeks. I use my fitness ball 2-3 times a day for hip circles, figure 8's, bounces and pelvic tilts. Then I get down on the floor and do butterfly pose and transition into cobbler pose. Lastly, I repeat cat and cow poses a number of times. 

I have been doing chiro every 2 weeks since the beginning of July and will now go every week. I am also doing prenatal massage focusing on my hips and lower back every 2 weeks. I just started my acupuncture up again last month and have been going every 2 weeks but will now up the frequency of that as well. Starting in December I also have a few appointments scheduled for craniosacral therapy which I LOVE and hopefully it will help with the mind-body connection (it was a godsend during fertility treatments). 

I am currently taking a fairly good regimen of supplements, but can't seem to stomach my prenatals very well. I am on folate, two different iron supplements, and B12 to help support blood production (I have low iron/hemoglobin and low platelets), along with vitamin D, Omega 3, and magnesium. I keep forgetting to grab more probiotics but I should be taking those as well. I won't start drinking red raspberry leaf tea until 36-37 weeks since it makes me cramp (I used to drink it all the time during AF but had to stop since it was making my periods worse), and I may or may not do the perineal massage but won't start that until 36-ish weeks at least on the advice of my naturopath. Doing the exercises on the fitness ball inadvertently massages the perineum anyway. 

I'm lacking in the mental preparation department which I really  need to get on. I have a doula who has done some fear-release and hypnobirthing with me, but I really need to be doing my meditations daily, which I am not. Just downloaded an app this morning so hopefully I'll get in some hypnobirthing/meditation once or twice a day from here on out. 

merostomata

@wnn1992 I think having an active job will definitely help! It’s like getting an automatic workout in everyday. Just being on your feet and walking a fair bit through the day is really good for your strength and the baby’s position. I’ve got a desk job and get an embarrassingly low amount of steps per day unless I specifically walk after work...and I usually don’t  

@kaf1788 date smoothies sound soo good. Mmm

What are the best muscles to excercise for pushing? The core? Kegels? All I’ve heard is it’s the same muscles as pooping so I’m like, how does one exercise that? Haa

merostomata

@tosh24 holy cow, it sounds like you’re doing awesome and are going to be a rock star! I’m sorry you are feeling anxious though. Have you tried listening to birth affirmations? I’ve been listening to the Hypnobabies “joyful pregnancy affirmations” every day in the car and it’s helped a ton with anxiety and negativity. And I’m sure your meditations and hypnosessions will help you a ton though as you continue to use them. I totally get the fear and anxiety though. You can do this!

sweetyjenj

Last time I did the following (and plan to do so again this time) and it seemed to go well. It's hard to know exactly what worked/didn't, but maybe a combination of it all?

• Start walking a LOT Jan 1st (EDD is 1/10). I started walking much earlier with DD, but I have irritable uterus and gets tons of BH when I am active, and I don't want LO coming before January.
• Start drinking raspberry leaf tea around 36 weeks
• start perineal massages around 37 weeks (I HATED these and only did like one a week, so I'm sure these did nothing before, but this baby is going to be bigger and I want to minimize tearing)
• I've already started squats, but soon will ramp up to 50/day and around 37+ weeks do about 100/day. Usually if my goal is "daily" then I'll get in about 3-4/week lol
• The last 2 weeks last time I ate tons of fresh pineapple, had sex almost daily, and thought open thoughts
  

libertymomrn

I think the two most helpful things I’ve done for past births have been perineal massage and preventing (or treating) hemorrhoids. If you have active hemorrhoids when you go into labor, they get so much worse! That was the worst part of recovering from birth number 2 for me.

libertymomrn

Oh, and I took Christopher’s birth prep starting at 34 weeks along. I think that really helped shorten my labors.

tosh24

@merostomata I'm trying to do as much as I can since it tends to help my anxiety. The app I downloaded this morning apparently has birth affirmations on it so I will definitely be starting those. My doula said at our next appointment we will also be writing out some birth affirmations to "put out into the universe". Glad you've found them helpful! Being in a positive mind frame is so key and I really credit the mental prep work I did with DS with helping me to have a fast and easy labour (I also did all the other things I mentioned above with him except the supplements and craniosacral therapy). Hopefully I can get into a good mental place in these next few weeks!

merostomata

Those are great plans @sweetyjenj ! Giving me good ideas. The thought of me squatting my large body 100x per day at this point seems impossible, but maybe I’ll try to work up to it too do you do them all at once or in chunks?

My EDD is 1/11, starting to lean more towards calling it at work by Jan 1 (if not sooner with Christmas) to focus on birth prep. Initially I was going to hold out as long as possible.

KLS123

kaf1788 said:

 And now I feel like I should google perineal massage because I have no idea wtf that is but it seems like maybe I shouldn't do that from a work computer.

@kaf1788 I was thinking the same exact thing

@tosh24 you are doing a great job and sounds like you are giving yourself all the possible care and prep that you can. You got this momma!

Things I have been doing:

• Daily red raspberry leaf tea
• Daily collagen peptides so my skin is super healthy to stretch and repair
• Daily pelvic tilts, hip circles, sitting on my yoga ball at work
• so. many. freaking. kegels (100+/day)
• Weekly prenatal yoga
• Weekly chiropractic care
• Weekly prenatal massages (thankfully covered by insurance)

Things I am going to start doing:

• Perineal massage?
• Daily dates (@kaf1788 please share your recipes!!)
• Ramp up the sex life
• Daily affirmations
• Increase my walking/squats

sweetyjenj

@merostomata I was still "working" my last week of pregnancy last time, but had already discharged all my clients, so I basically had all the time in the world and stayed home. I was SO BORED and I hated the wait! There's not much you really can do to prepare for birth, aside from this and that, but it doesn't equate to a full time job. Everyone is different, but keep in mind you may find yourself with lots of downtime that you're doing nothing to prep for birth itself. Nesting? Maybe. 
For squats, today I did 50 in one setting and could maybe have done 10 more. I will work up to 100 at once, but honestly, I get bored before I get tired. 100 squats just take time and it's annoying. I've been using a kettle ball (15lbs) for my squats and that's been making them feel more productive and helps keep my body aligned properly. 

libertymomrn

sweetyjenj said:

@merostomata I was still "working" my last week of pregnancy last time, but had already discharged all my clients, so I basically had all the time in the world and stayed home. I was SO BORED and I hated the wait! There's not much you really can do to prepare for birth, aside from this and that, but it doesn't equate to a full time job. Everyone is different, but keep in mind you may find yourself with lots of downtime that you're doing nothing to prep for birth itself. Nesting? Maybe. 

I agree! The last week or so of pregnancy feel like they drag on and the wait is unbearable. After my first pregnancy, I actually tried to keep myself super busy right up until I went into labor and that made things much easier. The average first pregnancy is more likely to go 41 weeks than 40, if you’re not induced, so mentally plan to go “over” your EDD. I always like to plan something really nice for my due date, like a trip to the spa. Then I have something great to look forward to and distract myself from the fact that I still haven’t gone into labor. I schedule work right up until my due date. With my second baby, I went into labor 3 days before my due date, 14 hours into a 16 hour double shift I had picked up. I actually finished my shift and then timed my contractions so I could drive home between contractions. (We lived 5 minutes from my work at that time.) I would much prefer that to how excruciating it is to just be waiting around to go into labor.

MrsDho11

Just working out for now, and don’t intend to so much more. Maybe blow up my exercise ball and do some stuff on that, but more just for comfort really. I did all the things last time and my body was still zero percent on its way to labor and Baby was super high when I got induced at 39 weeks, so I’m just trying to chill this time. Whatever it is going to be, it will be. *shrug*