Well I decided that since I have so many opinions, and quite good ones I might add, that it's a shame for me to keep them all to myself. My experiences with being a chiropractor and trying to do things naturally to allow the body the chance to heal and work itself have been useful and sometimes challenging during my time as a mother. There are always hard decisons and some hard lessons to learn within the first year of motherhood: when medical intervention is needed, when vitamins are needed, what to do for that snuffy nose, how to prepare your child for daycare, what decision to make when it comes to vaccinations, teething issues, ear ache issues, etc. There are too many to list out. I hope to use my own research and experiences to provide comfort to other's in the same cross roads in life. We all want the best for our children and for our own health and for our loved ones. I have hopes that this blog will serve as that comfort for some and challenge some others to think outside the box and educate yourselves. We have options as parents and we have to make some hard decisions concerning our children's health sometimes too.
Things don't always go as planned, I learned this during the labor and delivery of Benton. After 24 hours of labor, 4 doses of pitocin, my water being manually broken, Benton being manually turned from face up to face down, and an hour of pushing, a C-section was well welcomed. I did do it naturally for the first 12 hours and when I hadn't reached a centimeter, I yelled "Uncle"! Natural labor is where I gladly exit the "chiropractic- all natural" band wagon. I know not all will like this point of view, but did I mention Benton was all of a 9lb. baby? So those 9 pounds bother me a lot more than other people possibly criticizing my labor strategy.
We have chosen to take the natural route in everything concerning Benton's health from that day on. In the hospital, the only thing he received was Vitamin K and that was only to avoid readmitting him to the hospital for his circumcision. We denied the eye drops and the Hepatitis B shot. The eye drops are to protect the baby from sexually transmitted diseases in the mother. Since I knew I had none, and it was pointless anyway because he wasn't a vaginal delivery (it's just standard hospital protocol), we did not want those. Hepatitis B is not transmitted casually. It is transmitted via blood to blood contact, unprotected sex, unsterile needles, and/or an infected mother during labor (once again hospital protocol). This is where a birthing plan comes in handy so you can make sure things that are standard protocol don't happen to your child while you are unconcious or caught up in the moment. Education to know what you want and why you don't and communicating those things with your doctor are very important and should be discussed before you get to the labor part.
Benton was first adjusted at day 4, has never received any vaccinations, and is a perfectly healthy and happy little boy and does attend daycare on a regular basis. He has never had an ear infection, colic, digestive issues, or any other common baby complaint that you hear so much about. I would like to think it's because I am such a super mommy, but realistically it is because of regular adjustments and the nutrition that I have incorporated in since I knew I was pregnant (natural prenatal vitamins) and then continued since his birth with supplementation in his diet.
More about Benton's first adjustment and my maternity chiropractic care soon to come! :)
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