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Expecting our first child has been an amazing experience so far. This has given me a “behind the scenes” look at the experience of being pregnant through my wife’s journey and is about as close as I can get without being pregnant myself. It is one thing to hear a client’s experience through their recollection of what happened since the last time you saw them as opposed to hearing and seeing my wife’s experience everyday, all day and all night. 

 

Since I began seeing clients, I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked with expectant parents and their infants. Naturally, through word of mouth, once you see one more will follow. As I started seeing more and more expectant parents, themes began to emerge. Today I’d like to look at one of these themes related to pregnancy and some of the associated uncomfortable symptoms. 

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Treat What You Find

 

First, there is one thing I should explain. There is a phrase that floats around in Osteopathic Circles: 'Treat what you find.' This phrase can be a whole topic itself, but for now, it refers to the approach of some Osteopathic Manual Therapists. 

 

One way to approach someone coming in for treatment could be labelled as the “textbook or recipe” approach. Let’s say, someone comes in for help with low back pain. The 'textbook or recipe' approach would entail applying a pre-determined recipe to hopefully resolve the low back pain. Follow steps 1 through 8 in a pre-determined sequential order, similar to a cooking recipe. The same could be applied to other complaints as well like IBS, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or Sciatica. 

 

“Treating what you find” entails a different approach. We still acknowledge and believe you are experiencing low back pain, because no one wants to be told ‘it is in their head.’ Don’t worry, we believe you. However, in addition to listening to your experience, we also check out the rest of the body to see if there are any other contributing factors to the low back pain. Summarized well by wisdom passed on to a younger me from a wonderful and experienced Osteopathic Physician, 

 

“When has the textbook anything ever walked into your office?” 

 

And, I have to say, I still haven’t seen anything ‘textbook’ walk in. So, I treat what I find. Like an osteopathic version of Sherlock Holmes, I’ve noticed themes and patterns present themselves when working with people. 

 

'Look Watson, another clue!' 

 

*Let me set the record straight here and say that I am not the first, or the only one out there, who does this. There are many great practitioners who spot these themes and patterns. I have not discovered the wheel.

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Juggling

 

One theme that has popped up is something we can call 'juggling.' 

 

Juggling? 

 

Yes, juggling, like you’d see a busker do. 

 

So, what does juggling have to do with pregnancy symptoms? It would seem the list of negative symptoms associated with pregnancy is ever-growing. Most people know of the usual suspects like morning sickness, aversion/craving of foods, low back pain, swelling in the ankles, increased bathroom visits, etc…. But there are some lesser known suspects such as constipation/diarrhea, carpal tunnel syndrome, fluctuating hormones and migraines. 

 

Depending on how you view the body, you might say these are totally unrelated instances.   

 

Let's consider one analogy that tells us that like car tires and a windshield, your heartburn and swollen ankles are unrelated. But, the analogy is wrong. You are not a car made up of different parts. Your body has always been one body since it began as one cell, when you, yourself, were conceived. The car tires cannot feel when the windshield has a crack, but you can feel both your heartburn and your swollen ankles. 

 

To you and your body, all these unpleasant experiences are bowling pins...

 

Bowling pins?

 

Yes, bowling pins like the ones a busker could 'juggle.'

 

Since we began as one cell, we’ve rolled with the punches of life on this Earth. Sometimes, we resolve whatever the blow was and sometimes, we don’t emerge completely unscathed. If we didn’t take the time to heal and properly rehabilitate the area, or scar tissue sets in, our body begins to work around certain things. Some of these things we are aware of, like that ‘trick knee,’ or ‘trick elbow,’ or ‘trick eyeball.’ 

 

Trick eyeball? 

 

Yes, they’re out there…

 

Some bowling pins are tangible and you know they are there. While others aren’t in plain sight all the time. These invisible bowling pins can be anything like residual concussion effects from contact sports in our youth, or they can be mental or emotional stresses that we have been carrying around since our childhood.

 

And to your busking being, a bowling pin is a bowling pin.

 

It is something to keep in the air.

 

 In the air, we don’t notice them as much, whereas the ones that are on the ground are those unpleasant symptoms, or experiences, that hit us ‘out of nowhere.' Sometimes a pin hits the ground and we notice something like our ‘trick knee' or someone/something ‘grinds our gears’ and stresses us more than normal. 

 

To keep it simple, certain things help these semi unresolved issues stay in the air or get fully resolved and taken out of the mix like those under the general heading of “Self-care.” One less bowling pin to juggle, right? 

 

Other things like new injuries, illnesses, mental/emotional or physical stress, increased metabolic processes and lack of sleep add new bowling pins to be juggled. 

 

Now, why are we still talking about juggling? 

 

Well, just like your distant relatives say as they look at you admiringly;

 

This is a ‘special’ time. 

 

Why, you wonder? 

 

Why doesn’t this feel special? 

 

Yes, you are carrying a new human into the world, but why does it have to come with the ‘normal’ symptoms of being pregnant. You feel like you just found the fine print on some electronic legal form stating the ‘normal conditions.’ 

 

This is a special time because you aren’t adding 1 bowling pin into the mix of what you’re already juggling, you are adding upwards of 5 bowling pins at the start and a couple of new ones each month. And, that’s okay. Maybe you’re a great juggler. You grew up in the circus and you can juggle 20 bowling pins. Awesome, that means everything stays up in the air and you generally start off feeling okay until you reach your ability threshold. 

 

But, what if you didn’t grow up in the circus? 

 

What if your juggling skills are so-so?

 

Maybe your threshold is 9 instead of 20?

 

What if you already had 7 bowling pins in the air? 

 

With a juggling ‘threshold’ of 9, you have to try to keep 12 pins in the air. What does this mean?

 

This is the fork in the road, my friends. Here are your options:

 

    Option A: Keep 9 pins in the air and the rest on the ground staring you in the face, and you experience them your whole pregnancy. You don’t get to choose which pins drop, even as more are being added.

 

    Option B: Dramatically increase your ability and attempt to keep all 12 in the air. Risking the dropping of all 12, while adding new ones each month.  

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As far as options go, these do not sound great, but there is good news on the way.

 

This brings us to a wonderful saying that summarizes what we find in the clinic by Hypnobirthing pioneer, Marie F. Mongan. Briefly paraphrased:

 

    'How the expecting mother lives her life before pregnancy determines how the pregnancy, labour, delivery and postpartum period will go.' 1

 

One of the major themes that arise is the contrast between the parents trying to choose Options A or B above and those choosing Option C below:

 

    Option C: Acknowledge that you have been handed this beautiful gift with the additional bowling pins, and find a way to decrease how many pins you have to keep in the air, as you are handed new ones. Assuring that you can still handle future bowling pins.

 

And no, this is not a ‘textbook’ thing.

 

Everyone around you has lived a different life and has their own specific juggling threshold and an assortment of bowling pins they have been handed. Not all these pins are similar either. Some are oblong and weighted funny, some have a speaker that sprays insults at you, while others are invisible. 

 

This is something you cannot compare.

 

It’s apples and oranges. So, back away from comparing your pregnancy story to your relatives, girlfriends, people on Facebook, or that random person who gives unsolicited advice in the produce aisle. 

 

Only you can know how many bowling pins you have in the air, and how many more you can, or cannot handle. What you can question is if some of these bowling pins have to be a ‘normal’ pregnancy experience that you need to juggle.

 

Some things (amongs others) that can help decrease the bowling pins include: 

 

• listening to your body

• eating food that nourishes you

• sleeping/napping/resting 

• yoga/meditation 

• journaling/introspective practices

• spending time with close ones

• discussing life transitions with your support network (partner, family, etc…)

• speaking with or seeing a professional for help (Counsellor, TCM, ND, GP, Pelvic floor PT, etc...)

• spending time in nature

• taking time to smell the roses and generally slowing down

• finding that parasympathetic (rest, digest and repair) state

• seeing your friendly neighbourhood Osteopathic Manual Therapist

 

When expectant parents begin to work with some of the strategies above, it surprises both them, and us, how many bowling pins can be taken out of the mix.

 

Now, with all that being said, you can imagine I bring up juggling a fair amount.  

It should be evident by now, that this isn’t an isolated issue that only expecting parents need to worry about. This juggling metaphor can apply to everyone outside of expecting parents.

 

This is an area we come in as Osteopathic Manual Therapists. Our training helps us understand the body as a unified whole. Unlike the car metaphor above, we acknowledge that your heartburn, swollen ankles and low back discomfort could very well be related to each other. 

 

So, with that said, we treat what we find.  

 

It could be one of the bowling pins you have up in the air. 

 

Whether you know it or not.

 

 

 

References

 

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1. Mongan, Marie F. HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method. Deerfield Beach, Floria, Health Communications Inc., 2015.