Friday 11 May 2012

RE: [Everything doTERRA] A doTERRA Home Birth

Leah

 

Thank you for sharing and Congratulations!

The great detail you have given is very helpful

 

Ruth

 

 


From: everythingdoterra@googlegroups.com [mailto:everythingdoterra@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Leah Spencer
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2012 10:50 PM
To: everythingdoterra@googlegroups.com
Subject: [Everything doTERRA] A doTERRA Home Birth

 

I had a home birth a bit over 5 weeks ago, and I wanted to share how using doTERRA essential oils and supplements impacted the birth. For the birth of my first son, I was blessed to live in the same town as Stephanie Fritz, who introduced me to doTERRA. For the second son, I was living in another state and had to use a local midwife, Mary Darling out of El Paso, Texas. She was very comfortable with my essential oil usage, as I have proven myself knowledgeable.

 

Let me start off with saying that I’ve been using a chiropractor since the birth of my first son. I had incredibly tight hips during his labor. At one point, he was basically “stuck” and my midwife (Stephanie Fritz) was calling the chiropractor to see if he could make a house call.  He couldn’t, and she had to get creative in applying pressure on my hips. Since then, I promised myself I would see a chiropractor for the last month of the next pregnancy, if not the entire pregnancy. It’s really helpful to have everything in proper alignment for labor.

 

In the first two trimesters, I used essential oils inconsistently. I dabbled with DigestZen and ginger for the morning sickness. I was much more concerned with keeping up my breastmilk supply for my firstborn, who was only 12 months old when I got pregnant. At first I was doing basil essential oil (a no-no, I know) and fenugreek capsules. Once fennel oil came out at the convention, I started using that to help my supply. Fennel did create an incredible sensitivity when nursing and I would have to take breaks from it.

 

At 16 months old, my son started eating more real foods, and by 18 months, I had given up on trying to keep up my breastmilk supply. That also coincided with reaching my third trimester. I started getting very aggressive about using doTERRA. For the first time, I ordered the LifeLong Vitality supplements. Within the end of the month, I was seeing a huge difference in my nails. I also lost 7 pounds in my first month of using LLV.

 

In the third trimester, I started using Serenity or lavender every night to help me sleep. Before, I would take a while to fall asleep, and sometimes I’d wake up in the middle of the night for 2 or 3 hour stretches. I usually applied the essential oil on the back of my neck before jumping under the covers. The Balance blend was also applied every night, either on my lower back or the bottoms of my feet. My husband had to give me a lot less backrubs than he did in my first pregnancy. :)

 

Another problem solved with essential oils was my leg cramps. They would randomly come on in the middle of the night, but quickly slapping lavender oil on the spot made them disappear for the rest of the night.

 

Researching the EverythingdoTERRA group, I found helpful pregnancy information. Tamalu Watkins posted a Labor Blend of “A blend of equal parts Clary Sage, White Fir, Helichrysum, Geranium and Ylang Ylang topically (ankles and lower back) assisted with pain and controlled bleeding.” Per a post reply by Stephanie Fritz, I also added cypress essential oil to the blend. I started applying this to my lower back around the time I was due, probably about every other day.

 

Another lady named Jessica posted that she had good results easing back pain with Black Pepper essential oil, diluted with a carrier. I was so glad I had snagged the Summer Sizzle deal!! Jessica also said that smelling myrrh can help bring labor back if it starts to slow down. Just don’t apply it topically to the laboring mom, it quickly can become too strong.

 

I put peppermint essential oil in my “labor oils” box. It did a fabulous job at keeping my nausea at bay during my first birth. Balance was in the box, to be applied to my back for any discomfort and to be diffused. Lastly was a 5/8 dram bottle with 4 drops of helichrysum and the rest filled up with Fractionated Coconut Oil. This was for perineum support.

 

Now you know the oils I prepared for my labor, let me share how the birth actually went. At 12 days past the due date, I was getting pretty desperate. My first son was only 10 days past his due date. Applications of Whisper, clary sage, myrrh and who knows what else I tried brought on no results. I had been 4 cm dilated and well over 95% effaced for over a week. My membranes had also been swept at least twice. That afternoon I went full blast with homeopathics for the third time. Castor oil, cotton root, black and blue cohash, and evening primrose oil vaginally. I did that for 4 hours, and at the worst point I had a little stomach discomfort for about an hour, plus one or two contractions. At that point I give up and start putting my 21 month old toddler to bed. As I’m nursing him to sleep, I start getting contractions like I’ve been for a couple weeks, but this time they were different.

 

I recall asking my husband to put Balance on my back for the discomfort. I start texting my midwife about half an hour later to let her know I was dealing with different contractions. Around that point I started to feel like I might need to throw up, so I ordered my husband to give me the peppermint bottle. I’m VERY bossy during labor. ;) Several sniffs and a little dab under my nose took care of that problem.

 

I had intense back pain during my first birth, so when I started feeling twinges during this labor, I had my husband apply the Labor Blend (ready in a handy roller bottle). It took off the pain a little, but about 15 minutes later I was asking him to try the Black Pepper essential oil. He was aiming for one drop, but two came out. Looking back, we realized that was the point where I stopped complaining about any kind of back pain.

 

After an hour and a half of laboring, I ask my mom and sister to come over. They were supposed to help set up the birth pool, but we didn’t have the right wrench to unhook the laundry hose. At that point I was pretty much camping out in the bathroom and working through the contractions. 2.5 hours after my contractions started, I was feeling pushy. I was begging for perineum support and had my sister apply the diluted helichrysum. Unfortunately, she didn’t know I wanted the whole bottle applied, and only did half. Anything is better than nothing. The midwife was on her way, but I was ready to put out the baby now!

 

The midwife’s assistant arrived at 11:08pm and suggested I go to the bed to help me not tear. As I was walking out of the bathroom, another contraction came, I told the assistant that I needed her hand to support the skin from tearing… and I pushed out the head! I was trying to wait a minute so the shoulder could turn, but I had to push again and my second son was born at 11:10pm. A mere 3 hours after the first contraction started. I had skipped early labor and skipped any transition phase. I went from active labor to pushing. Perhaps all those essential oils and chiropractic adjustments did their job after all. ;)

 

My baby was 9 pounds and 7 ounces. I did have two small tears, but my Immortelle spray (20 drops Immortelle in a 15 ml bottle with water) every time I used the bathroom gave me a ton of blessed relief and helped the skin heal quickly. At 10 days after birth, my midwife declared me completely healed from the tears.

 

I was doubting the Labor Blend Tamalu shared, but a week after the birth I found out that I only lost about 1/8th cup of blood or 30cc’s worth. Since it’s acceptable to lose up to 500cc’s in a vaginal birth, I realized the blend did help after all.

 

Several other “wow” moments for me was being able to deliver the placenta in a timely manner (was retained in the first birth); his quick latch onto my breast (my firstborn needed a nipple shield for 2 months); that the cord wasn’t wrapped around his neck at all (firstborn had it wrapped around his neck 3 times); and that he was able to self turn his shoulders after his head was out. I still can’t believe the labor was only 3 hours!

 

My baby had Frankincense applied to his crown, Myrrh to his cord (after we let all the blood pulse into him) and Balance to the bottom of his feet. Later I applied Melissa too.

 

The top three oils that I wouldn’t want to be without in the next birth would be:

Immortelle spray: made a world of difference going to the bathroom. I wasn’t so likely to hold it in to avoid pain.

Black Pepper: I had intense back pain with my first; I’m thrilled that I found a way to avoid it for my second birth.

Peppermint: I hate throwing up (managed to avoid it for a good 14 years straight), this was an awesome relief for when I wanted to heave.

 

Something I'd like to research for the next birth is how to deal with the shakes and afterbirth pains. Both took me by surprise, as I hadn't experienced either in my first birth. I tried lavender and geranium for the afterbirth pains, but didn't notice any relief. I tried other tricks I've heard of, like bathrooming before nursing. Any suggestions or advice? (And yes, I'm planning to buy Stephanie's birthing book that's being published next month. Can't have too much information on oils and pregnancy!)

 

Feel free to ask any questions. I did leave out a lot of details that aren’t related to doTERRA oils. Like my mom thought I was saying I need cranium support – somebody to catch the baby’s head, when I was really saying perineum support. Or how my toddler never woke up during my labor, despite the fact the bathroom is right next to his room and we live in a tiny house. The midwife didn't even make it until 10 minutes after I birthed. My husband is afraid of an unassisted birth next time. :)

 

Blessings,

Leah

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