9 TIPS AND TRICKS TO ACCOMPLISH A NATURAL LABOR.

Hello, my beloved readers!!!

On the Last Post I talked about my natural labor story, today I want to talk about the tips and trick I

followed and I came up with to have a successful Non medicated natural labor.

Disclaimer: this tips are for a normal pregnancy and deliver, you have to have ALWAYS in mind that

sometime thing don't happen the way we want it and the MOST IMPORTANT THING IS YOUR BABY´S

HEALTH AND WELL BEING!!!

In order to accomplish this task you must prepare yourself mentally and phisically, here is how I did it:

MENTALLY

1) Make your decision regardless of what anybody says.

Sometime making the decision of having a natural none medicated labor it’s hard and some people will

tell you that you are crazy and that it’s old fashioned and even archaic. But this is a personal decision

that only effects you and you have the right to make it and be respected.

2) Embrace the fear, because you will feel it.

Fear is a natural response to the unknown. I have to be honest, I had fear of how much I could hurt but

I always thought if any woman’s body is especially build to give birth is because somehow we are also

build to manage the pain and all the hustle that comes with it.

My take on this matter was besides of that mindset was:  the last month or so I began watching videos

on youtube of natural births, I wanted to know the most I could about what I was facing, I paid close

attention to positions to deal with the pain, the best ways to give birth and successful delivery stories,

I wanted to feel confident and in charge of my body and my decision.

This allowed me to think that no matter how much was going on, I was expecting more even when it

was the end and I was ready to push.

3) You are going to do everything right even when you don’t know what to do.

Giving birth is a total connection with your body and your root as ”animal” if you just stop listening to

other people say and start listening to what you feel and your body’s needs you are going to be ready

to give birth to this baby the best way you can.

4) Consider the fact that something could go wrong.

Sometimes because of reasons out of our control a natural birth it’s not possible. Let the professionals

take control of what is best for you and your baby.  That is the most important thing that should be on

your mind.

PHYSICALLY

5) Take walks and swim.

For me, swimming was impossible because it was winter time when I was pregnant but I did take long

walks and it was great. They helped me position the baby in the birth canal and helped me not gaining

too much weight.

6) Get a pilates ball.

I remember having a lot of sciatica pains and not being able to sit or stand for long periods of time.

Sitting in a pilates ball made me feel better about this pains and with exercises in that same ball,

helped me to open up my hips and also position the baby’s head.

During labor sitting in the ball release the pressure in the perineum during contractions and allowed

me to move to handle the pain.

7) have sex.

Even better if you are a first-time mom, prostaglandins present in semen are a group of physiologically

active lipid compounds having diverse hormone-like effects in your body. They help you induce labor  

if you are past your due date and the sex is also relaxing for you and the baby.

8) Sit on the toilet.

For me sitting on the toilet was the clue to the success of my active labor. I cannot tell you how much

I could handle the pain by sitting on the toilet, I think I was there for more than two hours and I just

stand up from there because I was expecting the pain to go higher and I didn’t want to waste this card

on the earlier stages of the labor. But apparently, I was in active labor while sitting there and it helped

me a lot. Totally recommend it!

9) Move!

While in labor there was a moment that I ly in bed because I felt tire, Worst idea ever! That was the

moment when I felt the most pain and It was unbearable. Move while you have the contraction, walk,

dance or wiggle if you feel like it.

This tips and tricks I put them in your hands they assured me a natural delivery without medication.

Some of them I got them from the obstetric nurse, some of them from the youtube videos I watched

and some I came up with as a result of my experience. I hope this has being useful and I hope you

have in mind that a natural birth leads to a successful breastfeeding and a proper bonding between

you and your baby.

As always, I hope to read your comments about this subject,  they are always so useful to me and

others, down below I leave you an infographics with exercises to relieve sciatica pain with the pilates

ball.

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GIVING BIRTH, MY STORY.

Hello my beloved readers!!!

Today I want to talk to you about my baby´s delivery story. before all that, I want to tell you that I had a natural non medicated delivery I was 39 weeks along and also that this was my first baby. Do you want to know how I accomplished? keep on reading...

Baby Leonor was borne on a Wednesday, June 10, 2015, at 1:38 a.m. I’m not sure when the contractions began because I was sleeping at the moment, but I remember in my dreams I felt some stomach cramps and discomfort usually normal for that advance pregnancy stage. So I woke up at 6:30 a.m.  Tuesday morning still in some pain and followed my nurse’s advice about trying to get rid of the contraction and went to pee. Then I headed to the kitchen for a little snack (yogurt and crackers) and some water. After I eat it all, I went back to the bathroom because I still felt some stomach pain and poop just in case I was having a stomach ache and not a contraction, went back to bed and slept for another 3 hours. 

I woke up again at 10:30 a.m. And as I was feeling the same cramps, I went to my mom as she was visiting for the baby’s birth and describe her the pain. She told me that she was pretty sure that kind of pain was a contraction and that we had to start counting to know how much further apart one contraction was from the other. That was 40 minutes apart in that moment.

By 2:00 P.m. The contractions were more defined and they were 20 minutes apart from one another and I started feeling anxious about how effective these contractions were on dilating or if this were just false labor. At 5:30 I was driving crazy about knowing how good I was, so we went to the hospital. My husband and I wanted to have an all natural labor, we studied our options and decided to have our baby in water but the only hospital that provided that option was 50 minutes away from our home. So we went with everything we needed to stay comfortable at the hospital and to bring our baby home. On our way to the hospital, I started having more painful contractions that were uneven. By the time we got there, I was pretty sure I was very far along in labor but I was only 2 c.m. Dilated and We were sent back home with some tips on handling pain and the nurse told me that we only had to go back either when I had already expulsed the mucous plug, bleeding or when the water has broken. We got home at 8 P.M.

The ride was very difficult because of the sitting position and as soon I got home I went to bed because I felt exhausted but the pain felt 10 times worse so I took a bath in the tub. The contractions intensified by 9:30 P.m. And the pressure I felt was like having an urge to go poop so I decided to sit on the toilet to see if the sensation was going to go away. It didn't go away but it helps me to deal with the pain and the pressure reduce considerably. My husband is sitting next to me counting the contractions and keeping a record of them to know how much further apart were one from another. 

I sat there for more than an hour and every time a contraction came, I moved my hips like I was dancing to manage the pain. After a while, my Husband told me I should get up and do something else like walk and leave the toilette again for the last stage, so I could find better release for that moment. As soon as I got up, I realize the mucous plug has come off. I walked around the house and with every contraction, I leaned over my husband and move my hips all over to release the pain. After a while at the end of every contraction, came a terrible urge to push. I was so worried because I thought it was too soon for that, but it was getting worse and it was uncontrollable. So I decided to go to the nearest hospital available. 

We got to the hospital by 12:40 a.m. It was almost impossible for me to come out of the car, my husband an a guy nurse helped out me and sat me down in a wheelchair to get me to the triage room. Another guy nurse ask me a few questions about my labor stage such as: are you bleeding? Or has the mucous plug already come out? How far along one contraction was from another? And the last one and worst one was: what makes you think that you are about to give birth? 

I felt tired, uncomfortable, in pain and for the most part INSULTED! I shouted at the man that I WANTED TO PUSH RIGHT NOW! so hard that the poor man was pale and referred me to the obstetrics department right away. When I got there I was in so much pain, I was ready to ask for some pain relief shuts! 4 ”matrons” receive me at the door, they were so gentle and nice to me, lead me to an Obstetrics room to check how dilated I was. The big surprise was that I was fully dilated and ready to give birth to my baby girl. I asked one of the ladies if I could push already and she said yes, so I did, and broke my water right there. At that moment life came back to my body! I felt awaken and strong again, so in control of my body. 

The matrons headed me walking to the delivery room, I had one contraction on the way but, being able to push that out was the best way to deal with it. When we got to the delivery room, they put me in a hospital rope an I stand in front of the bed. When I could push my way out of the next contraction, I had such a need to get on the bed and on my knees and I lost my rope in the maneuver. By the time the next contraction came, I was ready to push from a comfortable position. To make this amazing story short after a few pushes I felt this burning pain down there for just a second, it was her little head coming out and the rest came behind so easily.  The matrons passed my baby from behind so I could grab her and finally sit in my back and rest. 

She was crying, she was warm and responsive, she was perfect!

For me, having a natural birth has been the most amazing and empowering experience of all my life.  Did it hurt? Of course, it did! But I think is a little price you pay when you are about to receive the biggest gift of your life. I hope you liked it. Please comment if you want to share your story or ask me any questions, I would love to hear from you. In upcoming posts, I will be talking about the tips and tricks I used for handling pain. 

THE PURSUIT OF YOUR DREAM

Hello my beloved readers! 

As some of you may already know drawing is my passion, but this wasn't something you could live from at the moment that I was choosing my career, so I picked one that would allow me to exploit my creativity in some way, that is why I  decided to study advertising. I invested myself in my studies and left drawing as a hobby and when I started working that hobby was something that I was doing more and more sporadically.  After I moved abroad I would barely draw and when I became a mother I just stopped drawing altogether.

I’m here today to speak a little bit about the pursuit of your dreams even if it's about learning something that you always wanted to learn, getting your degree, selling your craft or even moving abroad. It’s all worth working for it, because many of us put our dreams on hold when we become mothers or even before that. with the hustle of life and the rush of time we just forget about them. I really wanted to write a post about working for your dreams because I'm in this process myself right now and I find it to be a very inspiring and fulfilling experience that I want to share with you.

Not too long ago, I started browsing the web to give me ideas to start my own business. The first thing that had came to mind was to open an advertising agency. It was something I already had experience doing as an entrepreneur. What I found opened my eyes in an incredible way! I found a lot of young people living from what they love doing the most. Drawing!. They were in every social media site, posting their illustrations, recording their creative process, sharing their knowledge, selling their stuff and just living from it, so.

I asked myself: Where have I been all this time? Well, I had been hidden under a pile of regrets, scary feelings and forgetfulness. So I decided to put myself in a state of action, I had to learn everything in half of the time. The motivation has been there all the time and the search for inspiration is like a muscle that  I have to work on strengthen it. I'm still in my journey to get where I want to be, but starting and being consistent has been one of the challenges I have came across in this path and as always, I like to give you some advice and Ideas because I believe your dreams and your passion worth chasing after:

1. If you have not yet found what you really love, research is your duty and the Internet is your tool. Perhaps you will find something you didn't know existed or maybe there is something you will like more. look for people and things that make your heart beat fast. When you find it you will instantly feel motivated, wanting to learn more and you'll be more inclined to investigate about things you want to accomplish. If you realize that the dream you want to pursue is rare, don’t be scared. It gives you the opportunity to build a nice marketplace where You are early and therefore can become a referent to those after you and you have the chance to make it great, in marketing and sales is what they call a blue ocean.

2. Organize and plan ahead. If you already have a full-time job, a husband and children, the search for your dreams is something you will likely always leave for the end of the day. If you make a schedule and organize your time, I am sure that you will find the time to fit your dream in and give it the value it deserves, check my early post about time management when you become a mother here. Another tip is to stay active, don’t you have the feeling that you don’t have enough hours in the day and that other people in your same situation have "more time" or "they do more"? It is the power of planning that allows people to procrastinate less by making lists of tasks and giving the right time for everything. One great tool I have found that helped me get organized is “the bullet journal” if you don’t know what the bullet journal is, It’s basically a method when you personalize your agenda and your schedule to your personal needs and you can do it in any kind of paper. Since I use it I’ve been able to accomplish many tasks including the simple ones like house chores and errands.   

3. If you have a day Job is more likely you start pursuing your dream in your free time. Start little by little building your little project with short, medium and long term goals. try not to set very big goals too soon. Sometimes you’ll want to see results fast and when it doesn’t happen you will lose motivation. Learn to enjoy the journey, it’s as exciting and rewarding as the goal itself.

4. There are many ways to earn money online to minimize the risks and you can do it from home, It could be either opening an online shop, writing a blog or creating your own youtube channel, selling e-courses or e-books or even on crowdfunding websites where you share your knowledge with people and they pay a subscription so you can have a monthly salary. Check all this options and add to your learning list these ways to earn money so you can work from home, do the things you love and also make a salary out of it. 

5. Last but not least, don’t be afraid of failure. The moments in which we make mistakes is the ones we learn the most, is like this quote that Walt Disney said: “We don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious… And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths”. Moving forward is important in order to put in practice what you have learned.

I just noticed this post is a bit long, but there is so much I would like to talk to you about what I have learned in this  year. I have found my muse and this has allowed me to stay motivated and inspired to do more. Keep working for your dreams, I believe everything is posible and you should too! I hope this is helpful,  let me know if you want me to talk to you more about these topics and I will see you soon. 

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THE CREATIVE PROCESS OF ¨BEE IN MOM¨

Hello my beloved readers, today I just want to talk to you about this blog and the reasons I decided to write it. 

For those who don't know me, my name is Natalia, I studied advertising but my real passion is drawing, I've drawn since I can remember. I was always carrying around paper, colors and my favorite pencil called "mirado 2".  I guess I could say I still carry one around, since I accidentally buried the tip of a pencil in my hand when I was a child.  I'm from Colombia but since 2011 I’ve lived in a foreign Country  and as if life wasn’t hard enough when you live abroad, my husband and I decided to have a baby.

Since the moment we found out I was pregnant, we decided to be very informed about everything related to labor, breastfeeding, childcare, parenting, etc. Because although we knew we had the help and advice of our family, we had to handle many situations on our own. So we gathered an insane amount of information about everything that we could think of. I felt calm and relaxed because I knew a lot.

But even though I knew everything about my baby, I didn't know how to handle the way I was feeling. I had feelings not just about my body, but the constant worrying about my role and how this was changing my mind and my life as a woman. I couldn't find any information (besides professional information about baby blues and postpartum depression) to let me know that what I was feeling was perfectly normal and I didn’t have to worry because those feelings eventually go away when you see your child growing up healthy and you start feeling more like yourself.

With the experience I have now, I think  things would have been easier if I just would’ve talked to someone or found any kind of information online about what I was going through, helping me understand it was all very normal. That’s why I decided to write this blog for all the other mommies that are either beginning to discover this new phase in their lives or have been in this journey for some time.

I believe talking and illustrating about the challenge I’ve face as a mother not only gives moms the much needed reassurance they need, but also allows them to know and to understand their feelings in an easy and endearing way. Of course this blog is also an opportunity to cherish all the sweet and powerful moments that motherhood entail.

I hope you guys feel the same way I do about this blog and I want to take this opportunity to invite other moms to share their experience in the comment section below. I would love to hear some ideas from you on how I can help you through this blog. Thank you for reading this and I will see you soon. 

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5 TIPS TO MANAGE TIME WHEN YOU ARE A MOTHER.

TIME

Is the resource that people possesess in big amount, Some don't have it, and some others know just how much valuable it is that they put a price to it. 

I used to waste it in great amount and now it's quite little, but at the same time, I've learned to take full advantage of it. Since I became a mother, I’ve learned to create routines, to make tasks more fast and more effectively and to work hard to make them timely. I used to procrastinate a lot, now I make time for the house chores, dedicate time to my daughter, go to work (part-time job) I even incorporate the writing and illustration of this blog and I still believe I could do a little more if I stay more organize and follow a schedule.

One thing is true and is that in order to get the job done I've had to cut down some hours of sleep. But the making of this blog is a dream I'm finally making time for and having the courage to do. So I feel very motivated and that’s  why I don’t mind resting time of rest.

Don't think I'm the woman with the flawless house, the perfectly dressed child and the clothes folded like it’s all  ironed. But I decide not to focus on the little details that will take a lot of time to make and won’t last long. If you are interested in knowing how I handle the chores being with my baby, let me know and I will write a post about it.

Here are some practical tips and tricks to manage your time and the daily tasks you have to do and to do them faster and effective:

1. As I was saying before, I try not to focus too much on details, when babies crawl or are learning to walk, they need space to play, move and explore. Less decorations will assure your child's safety and you will have less to clean, besides, you won’t be nervous because he or she might break something and get hurt.

2. Mix simple tasks, for example: try to do something that need all your attention with things that don’t. In my case, since the moment my baby was born and until now, I used to fold the clothes while playing with her or watching her play on the floor. You don’t  like the floor? try  on top of a rug or the bed.

3. Take good advantage of the time you have without the baby (nap time, sleep time, the time you have when people take care of the baby for you). This way you can be more focus on doing the tasks that need a lot of concentration like planning next week, answering 

e-mails or do some job's work at home . 

4. Ask for help when you need it, if you do not have it, do not overload yourself with things to do and tasks that do not contribute to your daily life, for example: Before having my baby, I used to help friends and family with things related to the design among other and I also used to stayed until late with my boss helping him with his clients, but since I became a mother those activities simply did not fit in my agenda anymore. You should understand that your rest and your health care is important as well. Being a mother is an activity that takes 100% of the time in your day, every day. So if you do not have any support to raise your child or take care of him, focus on what really matters and do not overlook your health.

5. leave some time for a personal project or some activity  you enjoy doing. It could be reading, drawing or painting. Maybe the pursuit of a dream like in my case. This activity should be motivating to you, so you can make it whenever you feel like it, because more likely that you’ll do it in the little moments you have free.

I think managing time is something that you learn along the way when you become a mother. Do not feel frustrated if at the beginning time runs out and you haven’t done all the things you want to do, because with time you will learn to prioritize chores and make them faster.

Thank you for reading this, hope this is useful and I will see you soon, please, tell me your tips and trick on how you manage time and also don’t forget to follow me in all my social media where I post illustrations about this beautiful adventure of being Mom.

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