This won't hurt a bit!

ALRIGHT, OK! I have no idea how to write a blog and I’m sure you’ll all be able to tell that this is my first attempt, BUT, there is something I am SO passionate about that I’m willing to step way out of my comfort zone to talk about it. Pregnant women…..the myths stop here! In my six years of practicing chiropractic, I have heard a recurrent theme: my back hurts, but it’s just because I’m pregnant.

FALSE.

I can tell you as a pregnancy chiropractor and as a mom that has been pregnant twice, you don’t have to be uncomfortable while you’re pregnant. READ THIS CAREFULLY – Back pain during pregnancy isn’t normal. In fact, pain anywhere in your body isn’t “normal”. It’s common, because we often try to ignore it or figure it’s just there, BUT, it’s actually your body’s way of telling you that something isn’t right. Most often in pregnancy, it involves the joints (and muscles and nerves) because of ligament laxity and the changing biomechanics that come with carrying (the BEAUTIFUL!) growing baby belly. I will spare you the anatomy, physiology and biochemistry of pain for blogging etiquette sake, but put simply, back pain is not normal (EVEN WHEN YOU'RE PREGNANT!!!). You don’t have to suffer!

From a woman that has been through pregnancy twice myself, I can assure you that chiropractic adjustments throughout pregnancy are extremely helpful! There is not enough money in the world to make me go through a pregnancy without getting chiropractic care to prevent back pain. (NOT to mention that getting adjusted makes labor faster and easier….but that will be a topic for another time).

I know you might think my opinion is skewed because I do this for a living, SO, I hope you’ll take into consideration what our “pregnant mama”, Abby, had to say.

Check out her blog entry about her first chiropractic experience. (I’m honored to be her first!!)

Dr. Kate, My Second Visit, But I've had this pain for years!! by Mama to be, Abby Jordan

I went to my second chiropractic appointment in my life on Monday. It is so enlightening. I was feeling really good and probably would not have made another appointment but I just kept hearing a voice in my head saying, you need to make follow up appointments to make sure things stay in place. So, I did it. I ran in there thinking, I'm already all good, this will be super quick. I was wrong. My little lower discs had started slipping back to where they had been for the last God knows how long so she moved them back into place, again. I then started complaining about all my ailments from childhood through now. The first thing I told her about were how my knees and hips always hurt really badly after a day of standing or other physical activity. I told her the pain had been way less recently and I read it was because of the glucosamine that your body releases during pregnancy. She agreed but checked me anyway. Well, one of my hips needed to be popped. I say popped because that's what I heard. I am not sure what she did but I went through rounds of Xrays, MRI's etc in college because of this darn hip. I can't wait to feel the results. It already feels better but to not have to baby it or pop ibuprofen will be sweet! Another successful visit with Dr. Kate Hansen. Next, we are going to do acupuncture. Can you imagine the things she is going to discover about me then?

OMG! Dr. Kate is AMAZING! My First Chiropractic Visit! by mama to be, Abby Jordan

For as long as I can remember back I have sworn off of chiropractics. I love massages but for some reason I thought the whole back cracking thing was pushing it. I also love yoga and thought, "Listen, I can get myself aligned okay?" Well, turns out I can't. Since I've been pregnant I've been especially lazy with yoga. I have really been doing it on an as needed method to stretch out sore muscles. Last weekend I had taken things too far. My lower back had been sore all week and finally on Saturday it was almost too much to take. I spent Saturday and Sunday alternating heat and ice. It relieved some of the pain but I thought I would check out a Chiropractor. Since I had been taking the Baby Love Birth Classes I knew about Dr. Kate Hansen. She specializes in prenatal care and I thought she'd be perfect for my leap of faith.

Today, I had my very first session with Dr. Kate Hansen. I had an assessment and it turns out my pelvis and my tail bone were not aligned. Can you believe it? I could!! As soon as she made the adjustment I felt a difference. I know I will need more treatments to ensure everything stays all lined up (something else I've always been skeptical of) but it makes sense. Who knows how long I have been off the track? Of course, my bones and muscles are going to try to revert.

I have been pregnant for almost 30 weeks now and I kept thinking that back pain was part of the process. I kept thinking, "I am gaining weight up front and it must be putting pressure on my back ." I really didn't know that you could go through pregnancy (or life) without back pain.

I'm thrilled I finally hung up my misconceptions and tried it out.