We invite our chiropractor to come speak to all of our childbirth prep class students. If you had told me 7 years ago that this was going to be true, I would have laughed you out of the room. Here is my story – maybe it will help you understand why people choose chiropractic care if you are on the fence about going to go see one for care.
I was terrified of chiropractors. In my mind, they were back-crackers. I have a vivid memory of my childhood dance instructor, who I revered, going ballistic when she saw some of my classmates walking on each other’s backs. She admonished us to NEVER risk injury to our back, or we would live to regret it when an injury prevented us from dancing, or doing anything else we wanted to do. There was no way a back-cracker, or “chiroquacker” as I called them, was ever going to touch me!!
As an adult, I became a student of yoga. This study also emphasized the sacred spine, the lifeline of all health. Except, our instructors had a working relationship with a chiropractor and there was a reciprocal discount between the studio and his office. I chalked it up to a crazy idea and I wanted nothing to do with chiropractic care.
Fast-forward to July 2009. I was pregnant with Charger, and at my 32-week check with our one of our OBs, he informed the student nurse that the baby was breech. No thought to mention to me that I might want to do something to change that.
Before our 36-week appointment, I had growth ultrasound to see how big Charger was. I consented to this because my primary OB wanted to know if she would need extra hands during the birth “just in case” – Night Owl was an easy 11 pound, 1 ounce delivery – surprise! She didn’t want any surprises this time. The ultrasound showed that Charger was still breech!! The ultrasound tech mentioned that if he was a persistent breech, my doctor would want to schedule a cesearan.
Cue FREAK OUT!!! I was speechless at the idea of a surgical birth and recovery with two toddlers running around. I looked for everything I could on the Internet to see what I could do to get this baby head-down.
At our next appointment, I took the list I had compiled and went through it with our primary OB. She checked off the ideas she was comfortable with, and I set all my intention on having a vaginal birth with a head-down baby. (Read more about that HERE.)
The combination of things we tried got Charger into a transverse position. That position was still most definitely a cesarean birth – there is no other way to birth a baby who is lying sideways in the uterus. Last on the list of things to try was to have a chiropractor do “The Webster Protocol”.
As things worked out, all three people I asked for a recommendation gave me the same name: Dr. Kevin Ross. So with a wish and a prayer I went to see him. To my surprise, he was very kind and took the time to explain to me what chirpractic care is, what it isn’t, and what I might expect from The Webster Protocol (click HERE for an explanation of what it is from Dr. Ross).
It wasn’t as scary as I had imagined – my back was still in one piece and I actually walked better after my first adjustment. And, The Webster Protocol worked for us!! I think I had a total of three visits before Charger turned head-down on his own, and then I kept going 2 times a week to make sure things stayed balanced. He was borh eight days after turning head-down.
What really sold me on continuing care with our chiropractor was the new baby check that we did around 10 days postpartum. I had a huge and painful learning curve when I was breastfeeding with Puma, and another painful initiation of breastfeeding with Night Owl. It took 6-8 weeks with both of them for nursing to be less painful. Before that, it made me cry every time I nursed on the left side. It’s a miracle that we breastfed at all: if it wasn’t for the fact that I had seen it as a child and an amazing support system, we would have quit after the first week.
Charger and I started out the same way – it was excruciating to nurse on the left side. Dr. Ross did one little tiny adjustment on Charger. The next time I put Charger to the breast to nurse – flowers bloomed and angels sang. It was a miracle!! Pain-free!! And it never hurt again.
After that, I was hooked. We continued care all through Otter’s pregnancy. Being pregnant with my fourth, and having a 6, 4, and 2 year olds to care for was a little daunting given the demands of pregnancy in my body. There had been days with all three previous pregnancies where I literally crawled around the house in the evenings because walking was too painful. When I could “walk” in late pregnancy, I waddled. I believed my body did not like being pregnant.
That pregnancy taught me the benefits of chiropractic care as the body changes through pregnancy. It was my best pregnancy ever!! I had more energy, I was virtually pain-free, and I was able to walk from day one until the day of her birth *without* waddling. It turns out my body needed some pubic bone adjustments along the way to resolve that excruciating pain that made me crawl or waddle in late pregnancy. Dr. Ross also did “Webster checks” every session to make sure that my body would encourage a head-down baby. By that time, he had also started using KST in his office, and that allowed me to connect with our Sweet Pea in a whole new way.
Our whole family has been going to see Dr. Ross for 6+ years. Daddy Bruss and I are in the best health – we rarely get sick, and when we do, it doesn’t last very long. We have also learned much more about natural living with Dr. Ross’s guidance – his wisdom has forever changed the course of our family’s health.
The biggest beneficiaries are our children. From an early age, they are learning that their body is a wonderful machine with the ability to heal itself. As soon as something is misalinged, Dr. Ross does a child-appropriate adjustment and they are off and running. The same holds true for them: they are rarely sick. For the most part, rest and hydration kick any illnesses in less time than is typical. They are also learning that their body is capable of healing itself. Medication is rarely necessary, so they are not learning that drugs are a panacea for every ache and pain. First we ask Dr. Ross, and then we usually follow whatever course of action he recommends based on their needs.
In fact, one of our pediatricians thinks we had left the practice since it was so long between visist with them. I chalk it up to saying our prayers, taking our Juice Plus, drinking lots of water and getting adjusted 🙂
So that’s our story. Please leave me a comment if you have any questions about our experiences.
Find out more about Dr. Ross and his practice HERE
