Harrison is a Big Brother

We are a family of four now, our newest little Kozling growing inside my womb for the next few months before we meet him or her earth side. We are elated to be adding to our family, and the miracle of growing a tiny being will never be lost on me.

Since my recent posts have shifted to be about our family’s more natural lifestyle, I have decided to continue on that topic and write about how we are going about this pregnancy, which is essentially identical to how we went about my pregnancy with Harrison. Read: very hands off.

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When I first became pregnant with Harrison, I would tell anyone who would listen “do this, not that, when you are pregnant.” “Do this, not that, when you are in labor.” “You definitely do NOT want to do that!!” As I went through pregnancy I realized in hindsight how uncaring and unkind I had been in those (one-sided) conversations. And as Harrison has been growing up, I’ve become more and more aware of ALL OF THE MOM-SHAMING that goes on in our world. I’ve since learned (tried to learn) to tame my words, and to not tell people what to do. We all have our own version of what works for us, and what we hope for in pregnancy and labor and birth, and this blog post encompasses what I’m doing to try and achieve my hope, my ideal pregnancy, labor, and birth. The lifestyle I live is a passion of mine and so yes I will keep talking about it. Because it works for me and I want to share it with the world. And I'm doing my best to share it in such a way that makes it clear I have no judgment for those who choose differently. This is me doing me. You do you.

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We had the most wonderful set of midwives for my pregnancy and birth with Harrison, and we are so happy to be able to work with one of them again for this pregnancy, along with her new colleague. We are once again planning for a home birth, in the same one-bedroom apartment we’ve been living in for over four years now. If you’ve read my birth story with Harrison, you may recall we ended up transferring to the hospital after close to 48 hours of labor- once it became overwhelmingly clear that my body needed intervention to open up past 7 centimeters. And while our time at the hospital was generally positive, we are hopeful that we can actually stay at home this time and that Harrison will be with us to welcome his sibling into the world.

Working with midwives and planning for a home birth are very conscious decisions for us- we know (and have experienced) that the closer we get to the medical model of birth, the more interventions will be asked of us or coerced on us. We believe that pregnancy and birth are fundamentally natural processes and we thoroughly appreciate going through them with a team of individuals who are like minded. Our midwives provide us with plenty of scientific and evidence-based information about all the choices we have during this process, and we are supported in the choices that we make based off the information.

So what are the choices we are making?

We are not doing any ultrasounds. This includes turning down the option to hear our baby’s heartbeat with a doppler. We believe that the safety of these options is overstated and that they are overused. Here are two blog posts on the subject from sources I trust: here and here. (This coming from the person who turns the WiFi off at night, uses a radiation-blocking cellphone case, and has never gone through the x-ray scanner at the airport. I do my best to walk my talk.) We felt it was definitely unnecessary to have an ultrasound done to confirm our pregnancy when the baby was just a few weeks gestation- a urine and blood test had already confirmed it. Later in pregnancy our midwives are able to determine our baby’s health and position based on palpating my stomach and keeping track of my fundal height, and eventually feeling the baby and gauging the amount of amniotic fluid. We are perfectly happy to wait until around 20 weeks (give or take) to hear the baby’s heartbeat through a fetoscope (like a stethoscope, but specifically designed to hear a baby’s heartbeat in the womb). I trust inherently in my body, and hearing the heartbeat (or not hearing it, for that matter) would not and does not change the course of my pregnancy. If we wanted to find out the gender of our baby, we could do a blood test rather than an ultrasound. But we enjoyed the surprise when Harrison was born, and we are happily anticipating that moment again with our newest little one.

We are forgoing all invasive tests. An amniocentesis is definitely out of the picture as we see it unnecessarily dangerous. We will also forgo internal checks that can become routine towards the end of pregnancy; I don’t need to know if I’m one centimeter dilated at 39 weeks, it would just make me anxious and it would lead to more checks. Once I’m in labor, one or two checks are fine if seen to be necessary. Really it’s pretty easy to tell how far someone has progressed through labor when she is unmedicated. Any time you have an internal check you increase the risk of introducing foreign bacteria into the very environment your baby will be passing through.

I made my stance on vaccines clear in my last post, but to reiterate- we are declining all vaccines. The standard vaccines offered to pregnant women are the Tdap and the Influenza vaccine. Unfortunately these are routinely given without informed consent- has any care provider ever taken out the insert of either of those vaccines and shown their pregnant patients the lines that read “safety and effectiveness of this vaccine has not been tested in pregnant women”? There is also casual evidence to suggest the flu vaccine can cause miscarriages or early labor. I hesitate to write that because, as stated in the inserts, no safety studies have been done so there is no “scientific” evidence either way, and so I have no studies to cite. But the stories are out there in droves.

And I totally am not doing the glucose test that every pregnant woman seems to dread. Have you ever looked at the ingredients in that drink? There is no way I will ever allow those ingredients in my body, ESPECIALLY when I have a baby growing in me and relying on me for all of his or her nutritional needs. I have the option of declining testing for gestational diabetes altogether, or I can track my levels with an in home blood prick for a set amount of days, or I can eat a specific number of specific organic jellybeans in lieu of the drink. We declined testing altogether when I was pregnant with Harrison, due to my overall good health. I imagine we will decline it again this pregnancy, but we haven’t discussed it yet.

What are we doing then?

Non-invasive tests are fine by us if it’s helpful information. Blood tests for my vitamin/mineral levels are great information. Urine tests are non-invasive and provide helpful information as well. I am keeping myself as healthy as possible through diet and exercise. First trimester was rough this time around (after being mostly a breeze with Harrison), and I lived on carbs, cheese, and refined sugar for far longer than I care to admit. I’m currently in the blessed bliss that is second trimester, and my diet has gotten much better. I’m taking a few extra supplements- this very clean prenatal vitamin, Blood Builder due to low iron (not as clean as I'd prefer, but it is a decent option), continuing with this cod liver oil, magnesium (as well as using this magnesium lotion to help avoid leg cramps), and this probiotic specifically formulated for healthy flora in the birth canal. I’m eating fermented foods (a far better source of probiotics than any pill), drinking raw milk, “eating” chicken liver (read: freezing it and then swallowing pill-sized pieces), and including plenty of healthy fats in my diet. I generally walk a minimum of three miles per day, and I’m actively aware of my posture and movements throughout the day while I’m playing with Harrison. I’m doing my best to drink plenty of water, which is my primary source of hydration. 

Additionally I am seeing a chiropractor throughout the course of my pregnancy- a chiropractor who has specific interest in and extensive experience working with pregnant women and who does craniosacral therapy as well. This is beneficial in so many ways; keeping my body aligned so I am carrying this baby the best way possible, helping my spine and pelvis adapt to the many changes my body is going through, and generally helping my body AND mind feel GOOD. It is also so beneficial to help my baby stay in the best position for birth as he or she continues to grow and especially when I approach the later weeks. I was feeling so rough before my first chiropractor appointment this pregnancy and simply felt like gold afterwards. I treasure the appointments I have with my chiropractor and know without a doubt it is some of the best self-care I can implement.

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So ... off we go on another adventure!

Kozeluh family of 4, picture taken a few weeks ago on my birthday.