Episode 80
Postpartum Advice
The podcast delves into the intricate and multifaceted experience of new parenthood, particularly focusing on the challenges and revelations accompanying the birth of Penelope, the host's newborn. The narrative unfolds through the lens of Savannah, a holistic health practitioner and mother, who candidly shares her personal journey, marked by both triumphs and tribulations. As she navigates the tumultuous waters of postpartum life, Savannah reflects on the myriad of emotions experienced during the early days of motherhood, including the overwhelming nature of caring for a fussy newborn and the profound exhaustion that accompanies sleepless nights. This episode meticulously explores the intersection of spiritual warfare and parental instincts, particularly highlighting the couple’s unwavering commitment to protecting their child amidst external pressures and societal expectations regarding motherhood.
Moreover, the podcast serves as a poignant reminder of the psychological and emotional toll that can accompany childbirth. Savannah recounts moments of vulnerability, particularly when faced with the challenges of breastfeeding and the confusion stemming from conflicting advice from lactation consultants. The discussion emphasizes the importance of support systems, both familial and professional, as well as the necessity for individualized discernment in navigating the complexities of infant care. Through a thoughtful exploration of her experiences, Savannah provides listeners with invaluable insights into the nuances of postpartum challenges, underscoring the importance of seeking help and staying true to one's instincts in the face of adversity.
Ultimately, the episode is a heartfelt exploration of love, resilience, and the unwavering bond between parent and child, reminding listeners that each journey into parenthood is unique and deserving of recognition and compassion. Savannah’s narrative not only resonates with new parents but also serves as a broader reflection on the societal constructs surrounding motherhood, encouraging a more compassionate understanding of personal experiences and struggles encountered during this transformative life stage.
Takeaways:
- In this episode, we discussed the intricate dynamics of postpartum experiences and the emotional challenges that accompany parenthood.
- We underscored the importance of individualized support systems, particularly the roles of lactation consultants and chiropractors in newborn care.
- The conversation highlighted the often unrecognized difficulties of breastfeeding and the diverse strategies employed to address them effectively.
- We emphasized the necessity of open communication and teamwork between parents, especially during challenging moments of raising a newborn.
- Throughout our discourse, we explored the profound spiritual dimensions of parenting, underscoring the reliance on faith during tumultuous times.
- Lastly, we articulated the significance of understanding infant communication through cries, emphasizing how parents can discern their child's needs.
Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker B:And welcome back to Casting Seeds.
Speaker B:I'm Savannah, your holistic health practitioner and host, and you're listening to the only holistic health podcast that uses God's singular truth to give you individualized discernment.
Speaker B:You may hear Penelope a little bit in the background because she's laying right next to me and you'll hear her, like, little gasps or gulps or I'm just praying that she doesn't wake up crying.
Speaker B:But our last episode, you guys heard that she was super fussy and we were having a lot of issues being able to calm her down.
Speaker B:And I actually wanted to get into that this week before Jeremiah and I share our labor story, because I feel like more information has actually come out about our labor now that we've looked back and watched videos.
Speaker B:And I think that's really important to be able to discuss with him.
Speaker B:And he's exhausted, literally.
Speaker B:He went to bed at 8 o' clock and it's almost 9 o' clock because he let me sleep in today.
Speaker B:I've been having some chronic migraines because of the lack of sleep that we've had with Penelope, and she is now two weeks old in one day, which is crazy to be able to say, as you guys know that throughout our pregnancy, we had two really big bleeds.
Speaker B:We were also asked multiple times by our first OB if we wanted to terminate our pregnancy, because you can terminate and abort a baby up to 26 weeks in California.
Speaker B:And that was a really hard.
Speaker B:I don't know, just a really hard season to go through.
Speaker B:And not that we would ever even consider terminating our baby, but I think I just, I should say murdering our child.
Speaker B:But I think it was hard mentally and emotionally.
Speaker B:But the spiritual warfare was just so evident and clear that the enemy wanted in every single way for us to have the temptation even to consider harming our child.
Speaker B:So I think with that, it was a lot easier to be able to come together as a married couple when the baby wasn't necessarily there and be able to make decisions.
Speaker B:And, you know, because it's just like, baby's inside of me.
Speaker B:All we know is we are protecting the baby and feeding and doing, like, my body was doing all that automatically.
Speaker B:And then you're kind of thrown into being a parent after you give birth.
Speaker B:And the hospital even, like, doesn't necessarily prep you.
Speaker B:Even the classes and even all of the holistic classes that Jeremiah and I took, nothing kind of prepares you for, like, actually doing life with your child.
Speaker B:I will say, too, staying in a hospital was different because you are getting to know your child in one environment, and then after a couple of days, you're she like us, you know, the three of us were ripped out of one familiar environment and then put into a brand new one in your home, where then you realize, oh, my gosh, so sorry.
Speaker B:I'm tired, too.
Speaker B:You realize, I, like, have no backup.
Speaker B:It's just Jeremiah and I.
Speaker B:That's it.
Speaker B:And he doesn't know what he's doing.
Speaker B:I don't know what I'm doing.
Speaker B:We do to an extent, but not really.
Speaker B:And I'm gonna tell you guys the only two things that have been, like, the biggest.
Speaker B:Not that people haven't been the biggest blessings, like family members and stuff.
Speaker B:Um, but even, like, the meal train has been a little bit more.
Speaker B:Yes, it's been a blessing, but it's been a little bit more of a burden than a blessing.
Speaker B:And I'll get into that, too.
Speaker B:So I just wanted to talk about all the things postpartum in the past two weeks that Jeremiah and I have learned and the things that we wish we knew going into, like having a newborn one.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh, breastfeeding.
Speaker B:So we saw in the hospital three separate lactation consultants, and all three of them were so confusing and gave totally different advice.
Speaker B:Now, I'm not saying that everybody has this experience, but I do want to say, for us, it was really infuriating because we were up all night with our baby in an uncomfortable place.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:I'm gonna pray that I don't yawn a lot.
Speaker B:We're in an uncomfortable place, and then we're being told, like, she's just a fussy baby, which is red flag number one.
Speaker B:If your baby is fussy, it's because your baby's hungry.
Speaker B:Either your baby is hungry or your baby needs to poop or your baby needs to burp.
Speaker B:It's one of those three.
Speaker B:And it's not your baby's fault that he or she are doing the biological things that God created them to do and to communicate those things.
Speaker B:Also, there's a viral video that goes around.
Speaker B:Um, if you just look it up, it's like the Oprah Winfrey video, which I'm not a huge fan.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:So sorry.
Speaker B:I'm really gonna try not to yawn.
Speaker B:I'm not a fan of Oprah Winfrey at all.
Speaker B:But the woman who came and taught on her show taught about all the different sounds that a baby makes, and you can understand what they are.
Speaker B:And Jeremiah and I listened.
Speaker B:We have Listened to that so much in the past few weeks.
Speaker B:But the ne sound like crying, like that, that means that your baby's hungry.
Speaker B:The, like that type of a sound, the more of, like, shallow and the throat is your baby trying to burp.
Speaker B:And then the is if you couldn't tell your baby trying to poop.
Speaker B:Those are the three main sounds that you genuinely need to know.
Speaker B:There's also the crying one, which is like they're tired, which is more of like.
Speaker B:Oh, like they sound like a little owl kind of.
Speaker B:But we have barely heard that one because our child specifically we.
Speaker B:We just had constantly was hearing her wanting to poop or especially the burping one.
Speaker B:And it was so hard.
Speaker B:We were just told automatically that she had colic.
Speaker B:We were told that she was fussy, and then we were told that she just wasn't a good latcher.
Speaker B:You know, like all the things just blaming baby.
Speaker B:And they did give us nipple shields, which.
Speaker B:To go into that for breastfeeding.
Speaker B:A nipple shield, which I thought was just like, to protect your nipple.
Speaker B:A nipple shield elongates your nipp nipple.
Speaker B:So it's kind of like a little protection thing that they put on.
Speaker B:It looks like a little protection thing, like a condom for your nipple, but it's harder and longer, and then your milk can flow through that to be able to activate the reflex on the top and the roof of your child's mouth for them to suck.
Speaker B:So it creates a deeper latch and a better latch for them to be able to have breast milk.
Speaker B:Here's the thing, though.
Speaker B:Getting your nipple measured is really important because at the hospital, they gave me nipple shields and they're way too big and they fel off in two seconds.
Speaker B:And honestly, even my lactation consultant, she's amazing, but, like, she gave us ones also for free.
Speaker B:So, you know, like, I shouldn't complain, but they were also way too big.
Speaker B:Like, they're a size 24.
Speaker B:I'm technically a size 15, which is tiny.
Speaker B:They don't even make nipple shields that small.
Speaker B:The smallest I found were 16.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I was shocked to find out that I'm, like, way too small for.
Speaker B:Even for breast pumps and stuff, so.
Speaker B:Which I guess isn't a bad thing necessarily, but it's definitely a frustrating thing because now I have to have, like, all these extra tools in order to breastfeed or to be able to get Penelope to train to breastfeed better.
Speaker B:So I.
Speaker B:And then also, too, something else.
Speaker B:I was not producing milk until about day four of Penelope's Penelope being alive.
Speaker B:So I only was producing colostrum and they don't tell you, people don't tell you this.
Speaker B:You have to have a specific and special pump to produce and pump colostrum versus milk.
Speaker B:So I have the LV pump and I just have one because I just do one breast at a time.
Speaker B:And I'm not gonna lie, I was really frustrated when I found out that that doesn't.
Speaker B:But so this expensive pump doesn't pump colostrum in any way, shape or form.
Speaker B:So we had to rent from the hospital, which wasn't bad.
Speaker B:But we rented their pump for $30 for a week and then you have to hold it.
Speaker B:I was hand pumping for five nights and why I did that was like outrageous and beyond me.
Speaker B:But anyway, we finally rented the other like the hospital pump and that was like night and day.
Speaker B:And then it helped me produce milk faster for Penelope, which was a huge blessing because the fourth morning.
Speaker B:So night three, we took Penelope home and Jeremiah and I were so nervous and excited and she was doing fine.
Speaker B:She didn't eat very much at the hospital because obviously I didn't allow any formula.
Speaker B:She also was born with a lot of amniotic fluid in her belly.
Speaker B:So because of that she had just been vomiting basically the entire three days of the hospital and didn't really get any food in like at all.
Speaker B:So of course no one warned us.
Speaker B:And then we get home and we had a hysteric, hysteric baby.
Speaker B:All night, all night she was screaming and crying.
Speaker B:And babies also do this thing where they will cry so hard that they'll hold their breath and pass out because they get mad.
Speaker B:I thought Penelope was dying, so I ran and got like, I. I was literally ready to do like mouth to mouth on her.
Speaker B:I like blew in her mouth a few times to get her to breathe again and I was sobbing.
Speaker B:So the next morning I was crying uncontrollably and calling lactation consultants at 6am and leaving them voicemails.
Speaker B:Just beggin to please call me back and see if they had anything available.
Speaker B:I probably called about eight people.
Speaker B:None of them had availability.
Speaker B:But then someone's is like a friend of a friend did, which is how we met Victoria up in Tustin in Orange county, which is kind of far from us.
Speaker B:But I didn't care.
Speaker B:I just, I would have driven to San Diego or la.
Speaker B:Like I, we needed help.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, and by that morning too, I'd been pumping a little bit more milk, which was a huge blessing.
Speaker B:And by the time we went in, we learned so much about what it really means to breastfeed and bottle feed.
Speaker B:And I do want to say too this is no shame to women who don't breastfeed, but there is a significant biological difference from someone who pumps versus someone who breastfeeds or someone who does a combination of the two.
Speaker B:If you are not getting that constant saliva let down where the baby's actually activating a letdown with their saliva and sucking on your areola and nipple, your body chemistry can't do that magical thing where the baby is telling your breast exactly what it needs mineral wise and then the next feeding your body is taking more of those minerals from your body and feeding it back to the baby.
Speaker B:We've talked about often on this podcast where herbs and plants and actually food that you grow and the ground can do that for you.
Speaker B:So it's amazing to see that our own body chemistry with our baby can also do that.
Speaker B:But if you are exclusively pumping, you're not getting that one on one body chemistry and you're it's kind of like getting a general multivitamin which is still good.
Speaker B:It's not bad for your body but versus a really specific and tailored for you multivitamin with breastfeeding.
Speaker B:So think of pumping as a general multivitamin and then breastfeeding as a specific as you need hour by hour, you know, multivitamin, which is pretty amazing.
Speaker B:And then of course no harm again for women who are also doing oh my gosh, I can't think who are also feeding via powder.
Speaker B:Why can I think of it right now?
Speaker B:Whatever it's called when you have to buy breast milk from the store via powder or you make it yourself or supplement and extra things like the Weston A.
Speaker B:Price foundation has an amazing why can't I think what I if this tells you guys how tired I am.
Speaker B:They have an amazing replacement basically for breast milk and it's kind of an in depth recipe, but it is really, really close closely similar to how women's breast milk is made.
Speaker B:So that's one of my favorite replacements.
Speaker B:If someone were to ask me what I would if I couldn't produce milk, that's what I would have done.
Speaker B:I would have made the breast milk so that it didn't have any seed oils in it.
Speaker B:Because technically any type of replacement milk or powder has to have a type of seed oil in it for it to be considered shelf stable.
Speaker B:So at least in the usa.
Speaker B:I don't know about outside of the usa, so that's something else to consider.
Speaker B:But anyway, so going back to lactation consultant.
Speaker B:That first day was super eye opening.
Speaker B:She again gave us another type of nipple shield.
Speaker B:It was still too small.
Speaker B:I ordered one the other day and it works a lot better.
Speaker B:But yeah, we.
Speaker B:We actually didn't get a My Breast Friend pillow on our registry because it just seemed, like, so bulky.
Speaker B:And I just saw a lot of reviews that people used it for like, three weeks, and then they didn't use it at all.
Speaker B:So I'm actually really thankful because we ended up needing it.
Speaker B:But I got it off of Facebook marketplace for like 10 bucks.
Speaker B:And that thing is really expensive, and I'm really glad that it wasn't on my registry as an expensive it.
Speaker B:So we have that and we use that with the lactation consultant.
Speaker B:And she showed me really cool ways to help promote breastfeeding.
Speaker B:And that's what I wanted to explain to you guys today.
Speaker B:Basically what you do is you put the pillow and if you don't have a My Breast Friend pillow, you don't have to use that.
Speaker B:But basically, you want baby high enough where if you lay your baby in front of you, they should be like, across your chest.
Speaker B:Like, if I'm rubbing my chest right here, which you can hear, my nipples technically droop down lower because that's what happens when you are pregnant.
Speaker B:Your nipples tend to drop, so your boobs kind of flop over.
Speaker B:So my nipples are lower, but then I can scoop up my breast and put it into her mouth.
Speaker B:Also, her eyeballs are about halfway, so, like, her mouth is more.
Speaker B:Let me think about it.
Speaker B:Let me think how to explain this.
Speaker B:So if I'm laying her on my.
Speaker B:On her side and she's facing my right breast, um, if that makes sense.
Speaker B:Her mouth isn't in the middle of your breast.
Speaker B:Like, what you think you'd actually want to bring the mouth more towards, like, the center of your chest.
Speaker B:So think about if you break up your breast into four separate sections.
Speaker B:Think of, like, your baby being in the first, like, one fourth of the quarter.
Speaker B:And the reason why is because you're going to scoop your breast like a taco and then bring your nipple and.
Speaker B:Or the nipple shield, like you're going to scoop and then push towards your own chest, which right now I'm actually kind of engorged, so it kind of hurts.
Speaker B:But you're squeezing like a taco.
Speaker B:So not a hamburger across your breast, but underneath you're grabbing like a taco.
Speaker B:You're allowing your nipple to start pointing up.
Speaker B:You're lifting up, and then you're bringing it down your baby's face.
Speaker B:So, like, forehead, nose, and over to their mouth.
Speaker B:And then when you gently let go of your breast, the reason why you want your baby lower is then because your nipple will naturally slide up and hit the roof of your baby's mouth.
Speaker B:So you're scooping, dragging it down, which I know is funny, but when you drag down their forehead, nose, and towards their mouth, it actually creates a reaction for them to open their mouth.
Speaker B:So you can kind of pretend to be your baby.
Speaker B:You can put your pointer finger on the your forehead, drag down onto your nose, onto your mouth, and then lightly, like almost like you're going to drag to the jaw.
Speaker B:And it will make your baby go, whoa, like that and open.
Speaker B:And then when you let go of your breast just slightly, it will bounce up into their mouth and then make them want to suck and latch more deeply.
Speaker B:So that was just even learning.
Speaker B:That was huge.
Speaker B:And that and knowing where to position her head.
Speaker B:And that's the other thing too.
Speaker B:Her body, her butt was more in the crease of my left arm and my elbow.
Speaker B:And then I could gently squeeze her and squeeze her back closer to my breast.
Speaker B:And the other thing is too, that I wish more people told us is it's okay, your baby's gonna scream and cry and not like it the first, like five to 10 times that you do it.
Speaker B:But just be consistent and do it and swap.
Speaker B:So try for five to 10 minutes on the first breast.
Speaker B:If your baby doesn't take, then try.
Speaker B:I wouldn't say, then try another five to 10 minutes because that's 20 minutes of your baby possibly starving and screaming.
Speaker B:But try 5 to 10 minutes on one breast.
Speaker B:If your baby doesn't take, do your, you know, have your pumped milk ready and then feed your baby.
Speaker B:And then the next time that it's time for a feeding, try again on the opposite breast.
Speaker B:So, like, Penelope tends to take better to my left breast.
Speaker B:She lays more comfortably there.
Speaker B:I'm not sure why, but then Jeremiah and I realized, like, we often feed her into our left arm, so we hold her a lot with our left arm and then feed her with our right hands because we're right handed.
Speaker B:So we've been trying to feed her.
Speaker B:If we do bottle, feed her more with our left hand and hold her with our right arm.
Speaker B:And then she's actually gotten more comfortable with feeding onto my right breast because of that.
Speaker B:So those are just little tips and tricks that we paid like almost close to 400 for, for all this information.
Speaker B:Of course, it's different being with a lactation consultant and having them tailor things towards you.
Speaker B:She also taught us how to burp properly.
Speaker B:She taught us how to check her tummy configurations.
Speaker B:She taught us how to cloth diaper.
Speaker B:She taught us.
Speaker B:She taught us so many different things.
Speaker B:And I love Victoria so much for that.
Speaker B:And she's kind of like she's on call or text anytime we need her.
Speaker B:So she was definitely worth the money and the two separate classes that we saw her for.
Speaker B:She also weighed Penelope and our goal when we first saw her, Penelope dropped significant weight.
Speaker B:So when I gave birth to her, she was 7 pounds, 13 ounces.
Speaker B:And then by.
Speaker B:I think it was Thursday.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So she dropped a lot of weight.
Speaker B:So I gave birth to her on Monday.
Speaker B:Birth to her on a Monday.
Speaker B:That Thursday, she was down to 7 pounds, 6 ounces, which was like, that's just significantly different in such a small amount of time.
Speaker B:So it was concerning.
Speaker B:And they really wanted us to be able to get her weight back up.
Speaker B:So they made it clear if we could feed her every hour to two hours, which every hour was wild, for 24 hours a day for the next two weeks, if we could try to get up to her birth weight, that would be amazing.
Speaker B:And Jeremiah and I were like, there we go.
Speaker B:So we decided to do every two hours.
Speaker B:And I was pumping and bottle feeding because it was just too hard to try to get her to also breastfeed and do that at that time.
Speaker B:We did a little bit, but it.
Speaker B:We just.
Speaker B:It wasn't our focus.
Speaker B:Our focus was to get her weight up.
Speaker B:And, yeah, it was kind of amazing because then by the next Thursday that we went in, which was a week later, she had not only gone past her birth weight, but she went to 8 pounds, 1 ounce.
Speaker B:So that was incredible.
Speaker B:And she expected us to just try to get to her birth weight within two weeks, and she surpassed it in one week, which was a huge blessing also for you guys who are on my Instagram and my Facebook, who were praying for her to be able to latch and knew that I was crying every day over it and just so overwhelmed.
Speaker B:Thank you so much for your prayers and discernment.
Speaker B:Because I also had long nails during this time, and I felt like an extension of me was missing.
Speaker B:Which is the next part of this conversation I want to get into, which is alignment.
Speaker B:And I was telling Jeremiah for a while, like, I could feel something was off.
Speaker B:Her jaw would pop a little bit when she would suck.
Speaker B:Like, I would hear the, like, that sucking sound, but then I'd feel her jaw click a little Bit, which told me that either her jaw was a little slightly out of alignment, or she had a C1 to C5 misalignment in her cervical spine, which is in your neck, which, if you have cervical misalignment, that means that you have thoracic and lumbar misalignment, which basically means the middle of your back and the lowest part of your back and or hips.
Speaker B:Also, her ankle would pop a little bit.
Speaker B:And I noticed too.
Speaker B:And moms, you know this.
Speaker B:When you lay your baby in front of you onto your chest, and then they kind of curl up in that little ball, they tend sometimes favor one side of the other, and you can kind of look down and see if their spine curves at all.
Speaker B:And I just saw like a.
Speaker B:Like, Penelope looked like she was just in a weird S position.
Speaker B:Like a snake that wanted to slither up my chest rather than a worm who bobs up and down.
Speaker B:A lot of newborns when they're looking for breast milk, they tend to do that head bob where they look kind of wild and like.
Speaker B:And they're bobbing a lot.
Speaker B:That was a huge sign to me that it.
Speaker B:Because she was going side to side more, not bobbing up and down because you could tell it was uncomfortable for her, that she needed alignment work.
Speaker B:And I knew, like, my nails were so.
Speaker B:They're the longest they'd ever been, like, in eight years.
Speaker B:I've been doing this for a long time, and I just wanted long, pretty, girly nails to grow out during my maternity leave.
Speaker B:And I don't regret it, but I realized it was like, kind of.
Speaker B:It felt like part of my vision was cut off.
Speaker B:Like, I don't know, like, I felt like I couldn't see my own daughter's body or see how out of alignment she was.
Speaker B:So I chopped off my nails and I could feel when I cut her nails, like, different adhesions in her back and tension spots.
Speaker B:I'm not a chiropractor, but doing alignment work I can feel.
Speaker B:I mean, I've worked on tons of babies, and I think when you then are holding your own child, it's like you tend to second guess or get kind of nervous.
Speaker B:And also being sleep deprived doesn't help.
Speaker B:So I did some alignment work on her, but nothing that made me feel very comfortable.
Speaker B:And I knew she needed adjustments, but also, too, she was screaming uncontrollably every night, even after really good feeds.
Speaker B:And after seeing the lactation consultant twice and knowing how to burp her and knowing how to get her to go potty.
Speaker B:I could just tell she was constipated.
Speaker B:She kept doing that like pushing sound and she would scream bloody murder.
Speaker B:Like those was screamed.
Speaker B:But imagine that high pitched, like she was dying type of a scream.
Speaker B:And every night, and it's like Jeremiah and I were trying so hard to be like, okay, we don't hate each other.
Speaker B:And we would take shifts with her, but it was just, it was getting to the point where it's unbearable.
Speaker B:Like two weeks of that, like barely getting any sleep, and somehow we still have gone to church.
Speaker B:Every Sunday.
Speaker B:We went to church when I was in labor.
Speaker B:We went to church the very next day.
Speaker B:This past weekend.
Speaker B:We didn't make it to the morning service, but we went to the family service and to the.
Speaker B:We had a potluck afterwards.
Speaker B: slept in literally until like: Speaker B:So finally, do you hear Penelope?
Speaker B:Finally I told Jeremiah after this past weekend of getting no sleep, what's today?
Speaker B:Yeah, so on Sunday I told him, I was like, tomorrow I'm just, I'm calling for infant chiropractors.
Speaker B:I'm gonna call around and see.
Speaker B:And he was like, yeah, go ahead.
Speaker B:And so I did.
Speaker B:I found someone who specialized in not just infant chiropractic, but neurological care.
Speaker B:And to me, that was more important because I can specialize in alignment work.
Speaker B:I can do a lot of what chiropractors can't do, which is they can adjust the bones, which is fine, but if the fascia tissues pulling the bones out of alignment, then there's no point in going back and getting chiropractic over and over and over again.
Speaker B:I wanted to make sure that if I was going to someone that they could actually read my daughter's vagus nerve and do some studies and check out things on her on stress and actually check her bowels and do things a doctor can do that I can't do, especially if I was going to pay money.
Speaker B:So in St. Clemente, which is a lot closer to us, I did find a doctor, which if anyone lives in Orange county or LA or San Diego area and wants the name of or the information of the people that I worked with, you are more than welcome to get them from me.
Speaker B:I actually both of them seemed interested in coming on to this podcast, which seemed really cool.
Speaker B:But yeah, we'll see.
Speaker B:And actually the doctor that I saw, the chiropractor, she actually speaks at a bunch of local churches around here, which was really cool.
Speaker B:So I went and saw her and I took in Penelope and I.
Speaker B:You guys, when I say I did cry at the lactation consultant because I was so exhausted for having 5, 4 days of no sleep.
Speaker B:And just again, she confirmed, like, you're not crazy.
Speaker B:You have no idea what you're doing.
Speaker B:It's okay.
Speaker B:But then going, you know, now two weeks later to a chiropractor and her going, wow.
Speaker B:Like, yeah, your daughter definitely has, like.
Speaker B:Like, pretty severe issues in her lower back.
Speaker B:Like, no wonder why she's constipated.
Speaker B:Hearing those things.
Speaker B:I was choking back tears, and I was sweating the whole time because I knew that something was off.
Speaker B:And knowing that my daughter was in this much pain this whole time, and I couldn't do anything about it.
Speaker B:I don't even know.
Speaker B:Like, this was.
Speaker B:This is just, like, alignment work, you know, just her spine.
Speaker B:I can't even imagine.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:We had someone at our church where their son was in the NICU because he couldn't breathe.
Speaker B:And this is the second time this has happened with.
Speaker B:With their kids.
Speaker B:And I told her I was actually texting her today.
Speaker B:I was like, I.
Speaker B:My problem is so minuscule.
Speaker B:And I couldn't stop crying, thinking about how I have no control genuinely over my daughter and how she really is 100 the Lord's.
Speaker B:And I could not even imagine if she had to go to the nicu.
Speaker B:And, you know, like, I just told her basically, like, how proud of her I was and the way that they handled it.
Speaker B:And, you know, it was sweet because she validated me.
Speaker B:She was like, savannah, your problems are just as hard.
Speaker B:And I was like, no, they're not.
Speaker B:I was like, my daughter had chiropractic issues, and I cried and I.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:And I'm not saying that those things aren't hard, but I was trying to tell her, like, I'm.
Speaker B:I'm crying over the fact that I'm realizing, like, it's so different.
Speaker B:And it felt so different being able to say that while she was in the womb, because I hadn't met my daughter face to face and because I had four miscarriages before, I think it was easy for me to be able to be like, you know what, Lord?
Speaker B:Like, if this child's only yours and I never get to meet this child this side of heaven, that's okay.
Speaker B:I'm used to it.
Speaker B:I've been there.
Speaker B:And knowing that, you know, knowing I had four babies in heaven already, I was prepared at any time.
Speaker B:Yeah, if I have five, that's okay.
Speaker B:Would it be really hard?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:But I would do it again, if that's what God called for.
Speaker B:And now meeting her little face.
Speaker B:And I did, I told Jeremiah, I was like, I can't even imagine parents who have lost their kids after birth or like much later in pregnancy because having early term miscarriages, they're hard in their own way and very.
Speaker B:And I've talked about that in another episode and why they're specifically hard.
Speaker B:But oh, man, like, seeing her, seeing her pain, just see meeting her little personality and knowing that she was hurting that whole time.
Speaker B:And I'm thankful that I caught it early, obviously, because I know these things.
Speaker B:But so many parents don't know these things and so many parents don't know how to catch these things early.
Speaker B:They don't know to see a lactation consultant to learn even how to feed their child properly so that they're not in pain, let alone then see a chiropractor versus an alignment specialist versus a massage therapy.
Speaker B:Like.
Speaker B:Like, who do you go to next when your baby still is screaming in the middle of the night?
Speaker B:And especially when other people are telling you that it's normal, when it's not.
Speaker B:So I felt really validated when she told me, you know, like, we're going over more findings on Thursday, but so be praying for that.
Speaker B:But we also watched our labor and delivery video, our birth video, which is also why I wanted to have this episode come out now so that we can explain in depth our labor and delivery.
Speaker B:But we watched that together and she showed me there are a lot of things that made me upset about our birth experience.
Speaker B:And I can't wait to go over it with you guys.
Speaker B:But basically we did find out that the nurse did pull her neck when there was no reason to because I. I only had three pushes in my whole entire labor, and I pushed her out by the third push and there was no need for the nurse to pull on her neck.
Speaker B:And we saw it in the video that she did.
Speaker B:And that clearly messed with my child's neck and her spine.
Speaker B:So I don't know what that looks like in the future.
Speaker B:Obviously, it's not super severe.
Speaker B:I have someone actually in my group, in my group right now, my church group, who actually was pulled out severely with forceps.
Speaker B:And she has a permanent birth.
Speaker B:She has a few permanent birth injuries and the lack of use of her left hand because of it.
Speaker A:It.
Speaker B:So I mean, I can even imagine that it looked like this lady gently pulled her, but still pulled her by her neck.
Speaker B:And I couldn't even imagine how hard they were pulling out.
Speaker B:My friend and sister in Christ.
Speaker B:So, not that I'm against forceps.
Speaker B:I think those things can be good.
Speaker B:Same thing with the suction.
Speaker B:At certain points, I'm sure they can be what I. Oh, would I want to use them?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Here, one second.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:She just had a little scream and she was okay.
Speaker B:But anyway, I.
Speaker B:Knowing these things and then being validated and then being told that my daughter's vagus nerve was completely off, and her parasympathetic nervous system, which is the nervous system that helps you relax and sleep, get good, deep sleep, and also understand the difference between daytime and nighttime, and all of those things were off.
Speaker B:So finding that out and knowing that not just my motherly instinct was right, but.
Speaker B:Yeah, like my.
Speaker B:My findings, my schooling, all those things were correct and that I should have gone with those sooner, but I was.
Speaker B:I'm also just trying to get to know her, and I didn't.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:You don't know what you don't know.
Speaker B:You know, I just wanted you guys.
Speaker B:If any of you had new kids or just didn't feel validated, especially if you had a screaming, colicky baby, which I feel like people are just given the term colic.
Speaker B:Like, baby's colic, your milk's colic.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:That's not true.
Speaker B:I feel like so many people are just told that they have a colic baby, and you either just have a child who needs to poop, who needs to burp, or who needs to eat more.
Speaker B:It's one of those three things.
Speaker B:And people don't know that or understand that.
Speaker B:And babies do communicate through crying, but they don't have to be aggressive, gnarly cries, and they don't have to be intense, and they don't have to be all night long or all day long.
Speaker B:And there are ways for those things to get fixed.
Speaker B:So as we're learning more about how to be able to fix this through chiropractic and through, you know, my style of doing alignment work, I could explain these things more in detail, but I will say she did get adjusted.
Speaker B:And one of the cool things is that they actually hung her upside down.
Speaker B:It was so cool watching her decompress.
Speaker B:They held her by her little legs.
Speaker B:And that probably sounds terrifying to some people, but she did a full adjustment and then let her spine decompress.
Speaker B:Rest for like a whole 30 seconds upside down.
Speaker B:It was so cute watching her relax.
Speaker B:Then afterwards, when I got home, while I was feeding her or when I was checking her out, I would then go in with my own work and I checked out muscles that were tight around her spine and helped loosen it as well.
Speaker B:And she had the most intense.
Speaker B:And that's the thing.
Speaker B:Newborn poops don't really smell at all.
Speaker B:She had two of the nastiest, most stinkiest poops because she was super constipated and it was built up, up.
Speaker B:So that was night and day, night and day difference.
Speaker B:Especially after those two huge, gnarly poops came out of her.
Speaker B:She's been doing so much better.
Speaker B:Today has been a lot better.
Speaker B:Last night wasn't.
Speaker B:Last night was good, but it wasn't a lot better.
Speaker B:This morning was still a little bit hard.
Speaker B:But today has been easier.
Speaker B:And right now, as of right now, tonight has been easier.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I just.
Speaker B:It's such a blessing, I can't even tell you.
Speaker B:Especially tomorrow we're doing.
Speaker B:We have a.
Speaker B:The friend whose child was in the nicu.
Speaker B:She's actually coming to do a little photo shoot of Penelope tomorrow, which will be so cute.
Speaker B:And we don't post her face on Instagram or any social media because we don't want Facebook or anyone to have any data of her, even chat gbt.
Speaker B:We don't want any AI to have any data of our daughter's face.
Speaker B:But we have shared her face to people directly over direct message where it's not saved that data or text message or email and things like that.
Speaker B:So if people really want to see her.
Speaker B:And I actually have to send out photos to clients still, so that needs to happen.
Speaker B:Um, but yeah, we're just.
Speaker B:We're honestly so blessed with that team combo that we've created between our chiropractic neurological doctor and our lactation specialists.
Speaker B:So I just want you guys to feel encouraged to not be afraid to outreach and just cry and call people and tell people you're struggling and God's going to bring the right team to you.
Speaker B:Like.
Speaker B:Like I.
Speaker B:Every time before I called anyone and left a voicemail, even if I was sobbing, I asked God to just bring the right person to us and trust him that, you know that the right team is going to be made for our healthcare.
Speaker B:And if we met the person and it was a no to make it clear or to make it clear before we even left.
Speaker B:And yeah, God honored that and it's been so sweet and just liberating as well.
Speaker B:So I just want any mother or father that's listening, if you feel lost or feel like your baby is hard, cries a lot, has been told that your baby has colic and, you know, like, or your breast milk is Just bad and colicky.
Speaker B:There.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Is a certain diet that you need to be eating to avoid a colicky diet, like not having a ton of beans or cauliflower or broccoli.
Speaker B:Things that are going to create, you know, gas for you is going to create gas for your baby.
Speaker B:So having a clean diet, like not eating a ton of gnarly, you can have dark greens, but make sure they're cooked.
Speaker B:And also eating them in a specific order anyway, which I can go more into if people have questions on that.
Speaker B:But having a specific healthy diet, also getting good exercise, taking your child out in the morning and at night.
Speaker B:And guess what?
Speaker A:It.
Speaker B:When you have a newborn, you're up when the sun's up, you're up when the sun's going down.
Speaker B:So taking your baby out in the evening and out in the early morning to reset their circadian rhythm and also just getting them checked by specialists, go to that lactation consultant, make sure your child's nerve endings are okay and that their spine is in good alignment.
Speaker B:Make sure that.
Speaker B:I mean, even seeing someone like me, you know, because I would tell someone directly if they needed to see a chiropractor instead of me.
Speaker B:And I love teaching moms and dads how to do it for their children at home as well.
Speaker B:So if you guys have any other questions, too, when it comes to newborns and like, the first few weeks of life or like, we just started today doing cloth diapering because all of our stuff came in for her as a newborn.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:For me, it.
Speaker B:I picked up on it really easily.
Speaker B:For Jeremiah, it's a little more frustrating, but I don't know, I already like it a lot more.
Speaker B:And she seems way more calm and comfortable in these diapers than any of the disposable ones that we were using.
Speaker B:We're still going to use disposables when we go out just to make it easier for right now until Jeremiah really gets a handle of it.
Speaker B:But I, so far today, have loved it.
Speaker B:We'll see after tonight because this will be the first night doing them and it's a little bit longer, a little bit more complicated.
Speaker B:So if she's not screaming through the whole thing, it will be a lot easier.
Speaker B:But anyway, I love you guys and I'm super thankful that you have been.
Speaker B:Been so patient with us through this season and through us having a newborn and being exhausted.
Speaker B:I mean, we were going to tell our birth story, but Jeremiah was so sleepy that we couldn't even record that today.
Speaker B:So I, I do Think that this is a good precursor though, because then going into our labor and delivery, especially hearing now you guys know like the repercussions from what's happened from it.
Speaker B:And now we feel like we know more about how much they pulled on our neck and stuff.
Speaker B:It's going to make it even more exciting when you hear the whole story.
Speaker B:So, yeah, again, I just want new parents to feel encouraged and just know that you guys know what's best for you and your child biologically, but even spiritually.
Speaker B:And you know, Jeremiah and I have lift up.
Speaker B:We lift up our daughter every day in prayer and our marriage as well, because in the middle of the night when your baby's screaming, all you want to do is punch your husband or wife in the face.
Speaker B:Feel like it's for some reason their fault that your baby's upset.
Speaker B:And there were a few times where we both just sat there with her screaming her ears off and Jeremiah just held me sobbing and he, I could tell, was also holding back tears because we had no idea what to do.
Speaker B:We were both so exhausted and wanted to just give up on life.
Speaker B:So we've been there.
Speaker B:And just because you're holistic or moral, allopathic or, you know, whatever, you have a bigger house, smaller house, it doesn't breastfeeding, non breastfed, it doesn't matter you one, none of those things is better than the other and none of them makes your life easier than the other.
Speaker B:So it's all about honestly being able to submit to Christ and then trust each other in your marriage.
Speaker B:And I'm so, I can't even tell you how many times I've told people these past few weeks.
Speaker B:I'm so freaking thankful I did not marry a loser because Jeremiah is the most helpful, wonderful, amazing dad and he loves, he loves Penelope so much and I can tell he loves me so much.
Speaker B:And even our puppies, huh?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Daddy's been taking care of all of us, honestly.
Speaker B:So I pray that you guys are blessed by this episode.
Speaker B:Oh, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to call.
Speaker B:Reach out and let me know if there's any other way I can help you.
Speaker B:I can't wait for you guys to hear a label labor and delivery story next week.
Speaker B:Until then, keep casting seeds and love you guys.
Speaker A:Bye.
Speaker B:We hope you enjoyed learning how to.
Speaker C:Cultivate God's creation from a biblical perspective.
Speaker C:Holistic health is to prioritize whole person wellness through Christ like and comment on what topics we're casting seeds or casting pearls.
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Speaker D:We would like to remind you before we leave that perfect health cannot be attained in this world.
Speaker C:Only spiritual salvation through sanctification and repentance to God and turning away from sin will give you a perfect body in the kingdom come.
Speaker C:Nourish yourself in the Word, in prayer, and in Biblical fellowship daily.
Speaker D:Thank you for joining us today and a special thank you to our listeners for making this podcast possible.
Speaker C:Always praying.
Speaker D:Keep casting seeds.
Speaker A:Sam.
