by Franki Arnold

Following Franki of Those Young Moms through her pregnancy journey after VBAC

I’m just over 20 weeks now, and so far this pregnancy has been very easy on me. Besides being slightly more tired than usual (and the many cravings for perogies and Asian food!), I would hardly notice that I’m pregnant with baby number two. But although it has been smooth sailing so far, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been doing numerous things to get my body ready (as well as my mind) to carry this pregnancy well, and to make it through labor and delivery as well as my body will handle it.

While I was pregnant with Tatum, I did very little beyond eating well and taking prenatal classes through Public Health to help prepare myself as well as my body for labor and delivery. Working in health care, I felt that the eight hours I spent standing up would suffice as exercise (it doesn’t!), that my prenatal classes would provide any and all information I needed to know, and that when my labor came, I would know what to do and it would all turn out fine.

Unfortunately, I feel that my lack of preparation and knowledge led to me feeling overwhelmed and ill prepared for labor and delivery. I was overwhelmed and was not able to make the decisions I would have liked to have made.

Knowing what I know now, and having already experienced pregnancy and labor, I’ve vowed to do as much as I can to help ready myself for labor, and to make pregnancy, labor and delivery as enjoyable as possible. Here’s what I’ve been doing differently this time around to help lay the groundwork for a positive pregnancy and birth experience.

My tips on how to have a healthy pregnancy with second baby:

Incorporate chiropractic care into my lifestyle.

While my husband and I were trying to conceive, I started researching ways to help successfully achieve a vaginal birth (and in my case, a VBAC). Chiropractic care was something that kept popping up in the articles that I read. Not only is it great if you already have back pain issues, but regular chiropractic care during pregnancy can help establish good pelvic balance and alignment which is essential for your developing baby. If your pelvis is misaligned during pregnancy, it can limit the room your baby has and can make it difficult for baby to get into the best position possible for delivery.

Ensuring that your spine and pelvis are properly aligned can help to reduce your chances of having an invasive birth and interventions such as a c-section. Chiropractic care can help maintain a healthy pregnancy, relieve back, neck or joint pain, reduce labor time, and prevent a potential c-section. All incredible reasons to incorporate regular chiropractic care into my pregnancy!

Practice yoga daily.

I have been taking a weekly prenatal yoga class since December, and it has been a huge help in not only preparing my body for labor and delivery, but my mind as well. Not only that, but it’s a wonderful way to connect with other moms-to-be. Because I only take the class weekly, I make sure to do a minimum of 15 minutes of yoga each day, preferably before bedtime. Prenatal yoga has SO many benefits, such as strengthening your core muscles to carry your baby efficiently (and help with all of that pushing!), ease back pain (my favourite position for this is “legs up the wall”), and help to keep your pelvis open and ready for birth.

You will also learn relaxation and breathing techniques as well as vocal toning that will help keep your mind calm and as relaxed as possible. Something I learned during my prenatal class was “closed throat = closed cervix.” Labor is not an easy time to remain calm, but if you have the correct techniques to help you as much as possible, you can relax your body as much as it will allow and you will be able to birth your baby much more efficiently.

Exercise twice or more weekly.

This is awful, but when I was pregnant with our daughter, I didn’t do one ounce of exercise, save for the time I spent standing up at work or walking around the grocery store during our weekly shopping trips. Because of my lack of strength and stamina, I feel that birth was that much more overwhelming to me. I read online in an article regarding exercise during pregnancy that labor and delivery is like a marathon. You don’t jump into a marathon without any training, and you shouldn’t jump into labor without any training either.

By exercising regularly (and no, prenatal yoga is not enough!), you could possible have an easier labor with less medical intervention, help guard against gestational diabetes, fight fatigue, and keep those feel-good endorphins running through your body. You want to feel your best during pregnancy, and exercising a few times a week is a perfect way to achieve that.

These are just a few of the things so far that I’ve been doing to have a more positive and healthy pregnancy, labor and delivery this time around. I feel really good, and I’m excited to see how my preparations help with my end goal of achieving a VBAC, and most importantly, birthing a healthy baby!

Franki Arnold, owner/operator and blogger of Those Young Moms is a 26-year-old mother to 4 1/2 year old Tatum and expecting baby number two in July 2013. Franki is passionate about natural and empowering birth for women, organic and healthy eating for families, easy chic fashion for moms and big cups of coffee. She hopes to inspire women through blogging about her journey towards a VBAC with her second pregnancy. Find her also on Facebook and Twitter.