My fourth baby was the most painful... despite everything I know, I still had a ton of body issues which resulted in the only truly painful birth I've had...

The thing I feel most important to share about this is that I FULLY grokked how to transcend pain in labor. I'd had 3 prior births that were pain transcendent...3 beautiful, instinctual, primal births, 2 without assistance.

But my 4th baby, (another freebirth) born just 3 years almost exactly after her brother, would not stay in an anterior position no matter what I did (and I know all the ways... she would turn but not stay).

She was not only hanging out posterior through the end of pregnancy and likely into labor, but she also dropped VERY early... like months early.

The result was a ton of inflammation in my pelvis- and that includes in those pelvic nerves- contributing to pain in pregnancy, and in labor.

But why would this happen?

Well, I had my reasons...

I struggled a TON in pregnancy with getting exercise. My body was having a lot of difficulty with the progesterone surge and blood volume increase.

The disease I've struggled with for over 24 years, Lyme, was flaring. My body hurt. I was exhausted. I didn't want to admit I was flaring, but it's likely.

And, my old injuries to my sacrum and general ligament issues from years of Lyme damage, all coalesce into a really not fun experience of pregnancy.

I do my best- but pregnancy is definitely not my friend (and I'm so grateful for the end result- I just don't love the pain and extreme Yin fatigue of pregnancy).

My pelvic floor was imbalanced and weakened in such a way that my body simply could not hold my baby up any more. She dropped deep, her head grinding into those pelvic nerves, and favoring that posterior position, which likely had to rectify in labor itself.

I share this because I recognize how hard it is to do the things that we know would help, even when we know them.

And, there is so much information overload out there...

I also know that some of us struggle with more body issues than others... which is why we need tailored, easy, QUICK self-care regimens that don't wear us out or overstrain an already strained body.

What we need to understand is that the body and pelvic floor are more than just a set of rules that physiology should follow… they are living, breathing, complex interplays between muscle, bone, nerve, fascia, and so on, which respond to hydration, to pressure, to neurology and hormone, and so much more…

We need to learn how to care for our bodies in this modern era. We have become so stagnant, so disconnected from our source, from our Earth, from our natural foods and ways of moving and breathing, that things which once did happen relatively easily for us (and still do for indigenous people) now have become supposed cause for a nearly 50% C-section rate in America (of course we know a lot of this is also fear-mongering and capitalism).

But my point is… our bodies WERE made for this, but as we move, grow, develop and create habitual patterns in our bodies, including stress patterns of tension and misuse patterns of weakness, our bodies have become less resilient, less capable of holding that strain in a good way…

And it’s both not our fault, and yet still our responsibility, to learn better.

We do have to actively work to re-wire our neurology, our patterns of movement, even our breathing, to find balance again.

My pelvic floor had become weak in some areas, and tense in others, due to a combination of factors both in my control and not. Lyme damage, sacroiliac injury 17 years ago, ligament laxity as a result… having had a prior baby more recently… chronic constipation during this pregnancy, and a lack of exercise and healthy movement patterns due to some of the above and other physical factors… all contributed to that baby just not wanting to leave the posterior position, and dropping into my pelvis early IN that posterior position… further compounding my constipation issues, my pelvic floor issues, my ligament strain, and my pain…

Our NERVES are the seat of the pain in our labors (or Pleasure!!)… and it is those nerves that we need to tend to, through tending to the musculature around them. There really is a lot I could have, should have, would have done even prior to that pregnancy to prevent these later issues… and had I the time, energy, and health, I would have.

I certainly forgive myself, but I also somewhat kick myself for not being a little more proactive, trying just a LITTLE harder to get my butt (literally) in gear during that pregnancy. Because the truth is, there probably is a lot I could have done even with some of the more basic exercises I know to do… but I also wasn’t even the expert then as I am now (despite 14 years of working with neuro-structural bodywork, now I am an expert in corrective exercise for prenatal and postpartum too, which is a whole new level of understanding.)

I'm developing my map for you all, and slowly trickling that information onto the birth education app, Nourished Waters Birth Portal, so that pregnancy AND postpartum recovery can be simplified and accessible to you, even if you feel utterly overwhelmed with the idea of exercising in pregnancy.

I also cover a lot of valuable information on this in my book, The Myth of Pain-Free Birth. Link to buy is on my home page.

What do you wish that you knew then or even now, that could help your body better prepare for birth, or recover after?

Let's talk about it. :)

What do you wish that you knew then or even now, that could help your body better prepare for birth, or recover after?

Let's talk about it.