helping my son heal from his birth trauma

[star*mora]

ds2 is very high needs and i think it is linked to his birth experience.

homebirth abandoned as he was born at 36wks
i had a uterine rupture
ds2 had been going in and out of birth canal so was born with hydrocephaly and had huge decels, low apgars and the crash cart was there for both him and me.

i just don't know what to do for him. i had bad ppd with ds1 (medically unexplained 33+6wkr) and he has some issues with particular noises - cars honking/alarms - he spent more time in the nicu but had a comparatively peaceful birth even though i didn't get to hold him for the first 24hrs after he was born.

so back to ds2. it was a really terrible birth for both of us but i have been doing different workshops and therapies to release the pain and sadness of his birth.

but now, what can i do for him? i wear him a lot, i nurse him non-stop it seems (can be as much as every 20 or 30min). he can flip from happy to screaming in a second, he freaks out if i move more than a few steps from him. he just seems like he doesn't know how to process what he went through. his sleep is erratic at best. i am trying to be there for him, but i just don't know what kind of therapies / natural healing would be available for a near 10mth old. i am a registered massage therapist and use acupressure and massage to try and calm him. i tell him reassuring words, but to no avail.

in my heart i just feel like he needs help moving past his birth experience and i would be grateful for any guidance/links/input.

[claudi81]

I want to hug you and wish you guys the best to get through this and help him recover from the birthexperience as well.

I have heard that osteopaths can help bring babys back into balance as they have been thrown off balance by the experience. I was induced with my dd and had hypercontartions and we tried it over a period of 3 days.. to get her to come due to my pre-eclampsia, she did well but she has extreme ADHD and I do conect it to the birth. I am treating her with homeopaths.

Osteaopaths and Naturpaths/homeopaths are great in helping you on a natural basis, even for a Baby, but you have to contact a proffesional!!!

Hope this helps you

[Megan73]

I'm so sorry to hear that, star*mora. No advice but many, many hugs and know your sweet boy is lucky to have you as his mother.

[Serenyd]

No advice. Just wanted to say I'm sorry you are going through this and hope you find a solution. (({HUGS})) Take care

[star*mora]

Originally Posted by claudi81

I want to hug you and wish you guys the best to get through this and help him recover from the birthexperience as well.

I have heard that osteopaths can help bring babys back into balance as they have been thrown off balance by the experience. I was induced with my dd and had hypercontartions and we tried it over a period of 3 days.. to get her to come due to my pre-eclampsia, she did well but she has extreme ADHD and I do conect it to the birth. I am treating her with homeopaths.

Osteaopaths and Naturpaths/homeopaths are great in helping you on a natural basis, even for a Baby, but you have to contact a proffesional!!!

Hope this helps you

hadn't thought of an osteopath - will look into it, thank you.
my naturopathic doctor is on vacation but will also contact her and keep seeking as many options as possible in hopes that something will be the right fit for him.

[star*mora]

thank you mamas for the thoughtful replies - loving words are gratefully accepted!!

[star*mora]

thanks megan,
you are so thoughtful and sincere. hoping for a big beautiful pregnancy and couldn't help but smile when i saw the wonderful update in your signature!

still want to meet up at the park. just been kind of overwhelmed, so sincere apologies for that...and will hopefully be better about that soon. would love to catch up and spend more time with you - i've only met you briefly but your strength and care impressed me a great deal!

arlene

[Jelinifer]

Our Webster Technique Chiropractor has done wonders for our high-needs little guy.

[neveryoumindthere]

nak

Have you done EFT or NET?

NET is a combo of EFT and Chiro.

I did EFT right at birth with dd#4, because of a traumatic birth with ds#3, and she calmed right down.

For my son though, around 4 months old or so,I took himto have NET and he wasmuch better after that.

hth!

[chellebee]

So sorry you have to deal with this.

The thing that comes to mind that has not been mentioned is craniosacral therapy.

[star*mora]

Originally Posted by neveryoumindthere

nak

Have you done EFT or NET?

NET is a combo of EFT and Chiro.

I did EFT right at birth with dd#4, because of a traumatic birth with ds#3, and she calmed right down.

For my son though, around 4 months old or so,I took himto have NET and he wasmuch better after that.

hth!

yes, was thinking of eft, as i have used this myself and found it helpful. my best friend lives in the uk and is a chiropractor and does net (she did it on ds1 when he was a babe when she was visiting)

will try and find someone who does net (i'm in downtown ottawa, so there is a chance).

great idea, thanks

[star*mora]

Originally Posted by Jelinifer

Our Webster Technique Chiropractor has done wonders for our high-needs little guy.

will ask my naturopathic dr if she can refer me to a chiro that does this (i know she was going to before i had ds who ended up as a kneeling/footling breech - he was a preemie and was born before i made it to the appt)

[star*mora]

Originally Posted by chellebee

So sorry you have to deal with this.

The thing that comes to mind that has not been mentioned is craniosacral therapy.

thank you chellebee - i actually have my level one in cst (upledger) and am a registered massage therapist, but maybe i am too close to the situation to affect it..or i could see if one of my fellow rmts has done level 2 as well.

[star*mora]

thanks mamas for all the helpful suggestions, lots for me to look into and try with ds2. something here is bound to help

[Megan73]

Thanks, Arlene. Thanks for the pregnancy wishes. You're lovely. I'd love to meet up sometime at the park but it's just plain hard to get all the stars to align. Your arms (and heart) must so full right now!

[P.J.]

First of all: . I just had my first baby in May and unfortunately ours was also a long traumatic birth, ending in cesarean. Part of our problem was DS's head was in the wrong position to come out, plus he was sort of squished in a position where his neck was krinked as well. Towards the end each contraction was painful for him, he got very stressed and that's when we decided it had to be a ceasarean. This was after 35+ hours of labor.

Anyway I'm only telling you this because in our case it also had an impact on our baby. He cried and screamed a lot the first weeks of his life, and I feel certain it was at least partially from the birth.

We have been bringing him to an osteopath, and I think it's helped. Not just with the crying (which he may have outgrown by now in any case) but his whole body was always curling to the right due to the birth squishing, and that has also improved. We have no idea if it was causing him pain before and he could've been crying from that too.

Besides osteopaths, you can have Cranio-Sacral therapy done on newborns to resolve birth trauma. If you are in or near a big city I'm sure you can find someone who does this. Some midwives do it. Osteopaths use a type of cranio work for newborns, so it is very similar.

Good luck!

[star*mora]

Originally Posted by P.J.

Towards the end each contraction was painful for him, he got very stressed and that's when we decided it had to be a ceasarean.

i hear you
and the part i quoted really resonated - i feel he must have been in pain - his head was so swollen - in and out of the birth canal. sometimes it makes me regret trying for a vbac, i know i couldn't have predicted uterine rupture, but i wonder sometimes how different things might have been had i not put him through this (and i also took a really long time to recover this time around - a uti that became a nasty bladder infection and affected one of my kidneys.

but i digress. i think i will try for cranio again. osteopaths in canada are not as common

as a sort of ok update, i have been doing a lot of specific massage and acupressure work along his head and neck muscles (longus colli, scm, scalenes) and he is slowly increasing his sleep - he had a 3hr stretch last night for the first time in 7mths, and he is doing a 2hr stretch here and there.

thanks again, beautiful mamas, for your suggestions and support - it means the world to me as i struggle through this with him.

[MamaMem]

Reviving the thread...

My son had head, neck and back injury from birth. I did tons of chiro and cst and tey made a world of difference. Then I stopped about the time he got to a year. (stopped cst, still had occasional chiro) by the time he was almost 3 he still barely talked and my new cst said it could easily be from his birth injury. After only 2 sessions he has gotten much!!! more understandable.

I say all that to say this: hang in there. Even when you do not see immediate results. One day he will thank you. And you will know it was all worth it.

[star*mora]

Originally Posted by MamaMem

Reviving the thread...

My son had head, neck and back injury from birth. I did tons of chiro and cst and tey made a world of difference. Then I stopped about the time he got to a year. (stopped cst, still had occasional chiro) by the time he was almost 3 he still barely talked and my new cst said it could easily be from his birth injury. After only 2 sessions he has gotten much!!! more understandable.

I say all that to say this: hang in there. Even when you do not see immediate results. One day he will thank you. And you will know it was all worth it.

thank you for that - helps in remaining hopeful

[doulawoman]

haven't read all your responses, but I really getcha, my dd is 7 months and sounds very similar. homeopath +crainiosacral therapy has worked wonders though. both our practitioners are very intuitive, experienced with babes