Pre-natal care: Pregnancy Massage

by Amanda

Pregnancy can bring much joy and excitement as you learn that your family will be growing and you prepare for your little loved one to enter into your life.  However, with this joy one may also experience common aches, pains and discomfort as the body expands and prepares for the growth and delivery of your precious baby.

With only 6 weeks left (hopefully not 8!) before we get to meet our little girl I have found this pregnancy much harder on my body than the first.  I noticed I looked pregnant sooner then second time, my round ligament pain started earlier, sciatica problems which were easily relieved by yoga before were a bit more of a nuisance and my body was just plain exhausted all the time.  Now, some of these symptoms could have been increased due to the fact that I have a super cute but active 20 month old to chase around but even with taking much care of my body, practicing yoga daily, eating well and sleeping lots I found things still just felt different.

I am one of the few “blessed” women who experience nausea through their entire pregnancy.  Nausea may actually be down playing it a little.  What I experience is downright ugly and I carry a garbage can with me everywhere because you just don’t know when you may need it for 40 weeks.

There is only one thing that can make my nausea, discomfort, pain and aches completely disappear or at least lessen.  That thing is…… MASSAGE!  I worship my massage therapist. I met her when I was only 12 weeks pregnant with our first child and we became fast friends. She was hired as our doula and I had massages at least every 4 weeks.  As I near the end of this pregnancy I have been seeing her every three weeks and it has been divine!  My body continues to thank me.

When having my massage it is the only time I can once again lay on my stomach with complete ease and comfort. The special cushioning system ensures that the belly is supported at all times but that there is lots of room for baby and that both mom and baby are comfortable. The cushioning and padding provided under the chest ensures that sore and growing breasts are comfortable throughout as well.  As soon as I lay on that magic table, face down; I feel my body begin to ease.  The hands of my therapist warmly and with great intentions of healing begin to ease my mind, body and soul.

When you are pregnant going to a massage therapist who specializes in pre and postnatal care is crucial.  It is not only your body that they are working on but that of your unborn child as well. Anything you as the mother are feeling can be passed onto the child.  Aches and pains the mother is feeling can be because of various positions or growth of the baby. It is important that your therapist is experienced and knowledgeable.

I cannot recommend enough the importance of taking care of your body as you grow such a precious and innocent little baby that will become a part of this world.  Take time out for yourself, pause and enjoy the positive moments of life.  While you are at it book yourself a prenatal massage….you deserve it!

Amanda DeGrace is mom to a 20 month old boy and a baby girl due in 6 weeks.  When she is not at her massage therapists enjoying her treatments she can be found running her company DeGrace Energetics (www.amandadegrace.ca) & Little Lotus Yoga (www.littlelotusyoga.ca) and is the Fitness Supervisor at the Ottawa Athletic Club.

Music In Your Heart And A Song In Your Step

by Jenn Parents always love to dish out advice or recommendations to other parents. I think that's part of the job description. Most of the time I'm sure it feels like you're spinning your wheels trying to solve some parenting "problem". When we finally find something that works, usually by accident, we want to share it and spare others the learning process we went through. It's only natural to want to share our experiences. It builds community and a sense of I'm not alone in this.

I've mentioned in the past that when I had my first daughter I was reluctant to leave my comfort zone. My comfort zone being my house. However, my daughter was shy and nervous around others, so I felt we needed to get out and socialize. I didn't want her to be a shy wallflower forever. It's no fun. The best way, in my mind, to overcome something is to just do it. So we signed up for a host of Mommy and Me type classes and thrust ourselves into the outside world. Yikes! It was one of the best parenting decisions I've made thus far. Hopefully I'll have another one before she's a teenager.

This is the sharing part. One of the classes I signed her up for was called Making Music Meaningful. This is an amazing class for both parent and child. Actually, lots of grandparents take their grand kids too. The program includes children from four months up to four years. Classes are divided into different age groups all with music, songs and activities appropriate for that group. The kids get to explore and have fun with instruments like maracas, drums, and bells. There are lots of songs and nursery rhymes accompanied with bounces, dancing and skipping. They also listen to music played on the guitar, flute and xylophone. Often when the kids are older they find their way into the circle to clap and dance along with the music.

I started taking my oldest daughter when she was fourteen months old. For the first term she was quiet, taking everything in, but enjoying it all the same. By the next term she surprised me. She wandered into the circle by herself and danced and bopped to the music! She only became more outgoing and happy as time went on. It was something that we both really enjoyed and looked forward to attending together. She stayed in the class until she was two and a half and loved every minute of it. Now my second daughter attends the same program. She's been going since she was three months old along with her sister. Music is in her blood. It calms her when she's sad or stressed and it makes her smile more broadly when she's happy. She's fourteen months now and claps and bops to the music when she's there. It's made a huge impact on my kids and for the better. Now songs and music are part of our lives everyday. If you're looking for an activity to share with your kids I highly recommend it to everyone. If you want to learn more, check out the Making Music Meaningful page.

*****

Jenn is a mom to 3-year-old and 1-year-old girls. She says that talking to herself would just be crazy; so she has a blog instead.

Parents in the Capital : Lara K

Ottawa has some wonderful bloggers and we are lucky that many of them are Kids in the Capital contributors and readers! We want to share some of our favorite Ottawa parent bloggers on a more regular basis so we have introduced a series of posts called Parents in the Capital. Say hello to Lara!

1. Tell us about yourself and your family (please include a photo if you’d like)

My name is Lara, I am a mom to a 3 year old "with heart" and a healthy 17 month old, who thinks she's 3!  Stinky Monkey has two heart conditions and has had one open-heart surgery.  After a rough first year in and out of hospital he is now stable, growing and doing things all other 3 year olds do.  Having a healthy baby, Bella Bear, was life altering and scarier than having a cardiac kid!  Before I had Bella Bear I was on a very driven career path, I've taken a step back on returning to work this time around to give myself, my knowledge base and most importantly, my family the attention they deserve.  My interests are volunteering with/for other cardiac families, shopping (helping the economy), and giving my kids the best opportunities and lives possible!

2. What is your favourite activity to do with your kid(s) in Ottawa?

The experimental farm is a family favorite for us.  Going early in the morning, packing a picnic and watching the kids explore the animals and amazing play structure ensures lots of great pictures and happy memories!  Also, Stinky Monkey is obsessed with tractors.

3. What is your favourite at home activity to do with your kid(s)?

Swimming, we put a pool in after Stinky Monkey was born, we knew travel would be limited so we invested in a heated, saltwater pool.  We can all keep cool, get exercise and are close to home!  We love to entertain and enjoy watching all the kids have a great time on hot, sticky Ottawa summer days.

4. What was the biggest surprise that parenthood has brought into your life? The source of strength and confidence I have gained. And both my kids are inspirations to me, they teach me to live more authentically, more real and more in the present.

5. What parenting tips/advice do you wish you'd known when you first became a parent?

That is a really hard question for me to answer because my experience becoming a parent was so different.  I suppose I would have like to have known before I had kids how little sleep the human body actually needs to survive and still function!

6. Tell us about your blog and how you discovered blogging.

I discovered blogging through friends (thank you Lara Wellman) that inspired me by their ability to use social media to share their stories and unique lives!

I had the best of intentions to blog regularly when I returned to work, but that hasn't happened.  www.ParentingwithHeart.blogspot.com was meant for two things;

1. To keep family/friends informed of how things were going with the kids, it gives me a space to provide status updates.
2. As a place to provide other cardiac families with our story of how we are raising a kid "with heart" because our parenting is different, our issues are sometimes different.

7. What do you love best about being a parent in Ottawa?

The number of museums and kid-friendly spaces where we can explore, learn and socialize with so many others in the community.  I am also really appreciative of having CHEO and a great medical community so close to home, I know my kids, if and when they need it, can access great care.

Thanks Lara!

Parents in the Capital: Meet Sara

Ottawa has some wonderful bloggers and we are lucky that many of them are Kids in the Capital contributors and readers! We want to share some of our favorite Ottawa parent bloggers on a more regular basis so we are introducing a series of posts called Parents in the Capital. Say hello to Sara!

Tell us about yourself and your family I am the proud mom to two boys, the firefighter, who is 5, and the monkey, who is 2 and a 1/2.  My husband, who does not have an endearing nickname other than ‘DH’, and I have been married for almost 9 years.  We recently moved further out into the suburbs and I joke we now live closer to Montreal than Ottawa.  Orleans really is that far east.

Since the firefighter was born I have juggled part-time work and at-home motherhood.  I am a photographer who specializes in couples, children, families, maternity, and newborns.  The very same photographer who does not have a recent picture of her entire family together and instead decided to include this outtake from our Christmas photos.

What is your favourite activity to do with your kid(s) in Ottawa? We love the newly renovated Museum of Nature and our favourite outdoor haunts are Parliament Hill (“the place with all the grass and cats” according to the firefighter) and the Mer Bleue boardwalk.

What is your favourite at home activity to do with your kid(s)? Both boys are at a place where they live in a world of make-believe.  More often than not we are firefighters and rescue personnel of some sort but depending on whatever dress-up outfit or accessory they’ve unearthed we might be construction workers, hair dressers, secret shark divers, or cooks.

What was the biggest surprise that parenthood has brought into your life? I am incredibly tidy and neat.  I even blog once a week about my neurotically clean and organized ways.  However, I also embrace the mess and chaos of being a mom to two small kids.  We play in the puddles and the mud, we paint almost everyday; I fill the sink with soap and bubbles for them to play in; and there is always play-dough stuck to my kitchen floor.  Despite my preference for all things orderly, I’m surprised at how easy going I am about all the fun and mess that makes childhood so great!

What parenting tips/advice do you wish you'd known when you first became a parent? It gets better.  Parenthood is wonderful and full of joy and amazement.  It’s also exhausting and can be the source of so much despair.  So many times my friends reminded me “this to shall pass”

Tell us about your blog and how you discovered blogging. Less than a year ago I discovered Kids in the Capital and contacted Lara and Brie, asking if I could write some guests posts.  I had kept a password protected family journal for three years but wanted to write for someone other than my immediate family.  Two months later I started My Points of View.

I am also one of the bloggers at Losing It in Ottawa.  Last but not least I have a blog for my business, Sara McConnell Photography.

I have Kids in the Capital to thank for my discovery of blogging :-)

What do you love best about being a parent in Ottawa? Other than the fact that my entire family is here as are all our friends, I love all the green space.  Both my husband and I love the outdoors and there is no shortage of fun things to do with kids outside in Ottawa, irrespective of the season!

Thanks Sara! We are so glad that you found us and blogging.