Some Things I Have Learned In My 13 Preganancies

Welcome to our practical Saturday post for large family living.
 This is when and where we share some practical things
that have helped us along the way of raising our large family. 
These are things I wish I would have known when we were struggling to adjust to a larger family,
or at about child #5. 

Today, I am going to share some interesting things that I have learned in my 13 pregnancies.

Supplements and vitamins are very important,
even when you are young, and don’t feel like you need them.  I wrote about this in a previous post Pampering-Expectant-Mama.  
So I will skip writing about this aspect today.

Baby positioning is of critical consequence to having a good birth.
Once a mama gets to 32 weeks, she should be serious about the position of the baby.
 For the first five babies I had no idea how critical this was.
 If baby is not aligned correctly, labor can be long and more painful,
such as in a posterior birth, where baby presents face up. 
Carrying a baby in a posterior position is also very uncomfortable at the end of a pregnancy,
causing pelvic pain and backache. 
When a mama spends time reclining and/or slouching,
 the baby often doesn’t want to turn and face the side or back, then gets settled in the pelvis face up,
where she will cause the mama a whole lot of back pain during birth,
and possibly a broken tailbone for mama as well.
 I did this and will now do anything to avoid it happening again. 
 If a baby doesn’t get their head in the right place before labor begins, you may have trouble. 
Therefore, it is well worth your while to get this figured out and get help if you need it. 
The older I get, the more I need to see a chiropractor at the end of a pregnancy to keep my pelvis aligned, instead of tipped or twisted. 
Often, a baby  cannot fit through a twisted pelvis,
so then a c section would likely follow an unsuccessful labor. 
Walking, crawling, walking stairs, and doing pelvic rocks are all really helpful
for getting the baby in the right position.
  For more information, I thought that these web sites were very helpful,
 Spinning Babies, Balancing Your Uterus, Fetal Positioning 
I wish I would have known these things several babies ago!

The other thing that I have learned over the years is that miscarriage is common,
and it is not the end of the world.
 We have 4 babies in heaven with Jesus. 
One was a second trimester loss, a perfect baby boy, and the most incredible thing I have ever seen,
 as well as one of the most tragic things I have ever experienced. 
 I have noticed that when the time for the baby’s due date comes around,
and I am not having a baby, it is an emotional time.
 For the first few years after we lost our baby boy,
the anniversary of the miscarriage would catch me by surprise,
even so, I noticed an uncommon effusiveness that week, whether I realized what it was about or not.

This leads me to the next thing I have learned on this long journey of motherhood and life giving. 
God is in charge, not me.
 He is the author of life. 
He says when it begins, and ends.
 To fight with that, I know from experience, is selfish. 
We had 5 years of no baby between baby 3 and 4. 
That was a big learning curve for me.
 We also had 2 miscarriages in that time, and I threw fit after fit because things weren’t going my way,
I wanted a baby! 
Giving up control issues is a hard thing for a woman,
and in this area, even harder, but it is a necessary thing. 
Once I surrendered here,
 my walk with God flourished.

As I get closer to birthing our 9th child,  I am challenged to not fear. 
I just need to do everything in my realm I can to render a successful home birth,
 but sometimes things just don’t go smoothly,
and a transport to the hospital is in the best interest of everyone. 
I need to not fear how big the baby will be, the pain, and how I will cope.
 The Lord will give me grace for the moment when I need it, I do not need to borrow trouble. 
Staying calm and relaxed prior to birthing and during labor will only help,
while being tense and stressed can only make things worse. 
Psalm 105 talks about remembering what the Lord has done in the past. 
The Lord has brought me through an emergency C-section,
a posterior birth,
 two induced labors,
four miscarriages,
and blessed us with four wonderful births.
 I can trust Him.  He will be with me.
 His compassion and mercy fail not. 
I know he will see me through.