I feel like I'm on a bit of a Pink Kit crash course now. I got behind on reading so I'm working through the written materials more quickly to make sure I take them all in well before the baby's due date. I find that this keeps my thoughts on the materials – and it also keeps my focus on my body.
I'm constantly observing myself and thinking “does this position keep me open?” “how open do I feel when I move like this?” I'm even finding that I can move in certain ways and really feel my sacrum (the “plate” between the hip bones where your tailbone or coccyx is attached) moving, too.
It's honestly amazing to think of just how flexible the pregnant pelvis is. We tend to think of the pelvis as being a rigid, bony structure that doesn't change much. After all, it supports the entire top part of our bodies! But the pelvis is not actually solid bone – it's made up of different sections and connected by strong cartilage, ligaments, and muscles. Hormones during pregnancy cause relaxation in these connectors and bring flexibility to the pelvis.
Sometimes this isn't so much fun – I always have hip pain in pregnancy that comes at least partially from this softening. But overall, it's really an awesome and amazing thing. The even more awesome thing is that you can learn to work with your pelvis, creating greater amounts of room!
Why Do You Need to Create Room?
Why is that important? Your baby needs to move through your pelvis to be born! By creating additional room in the pelvis you give your baby an easier passage down through your bones and your birth canal. You also have a good chance of making things easier on your body – during the birth and during your recovery from birth.
The Pink Kit has many, many, many ways to help you discover how to open up and create room in the pelvis. The Internal Work helps with this by bringing your awarness to the muscles and ligaments running inside the pelvis (in the “Minnie Mouse ears”). You learn to soften and relax these muscles consciously. I find myself doing it throughout the day, just about any time I have a Braxton-hicks contraction. I want to train myself to soften these muscles (called the “pelvic clock” in PK lingo) after every wave, so I do it now with Braxton-hicks.
You also learn about your unique pelvis and inner dimensions, and you discover how to tell if you're “open” or “closed.” I am constantly asking myself “is this position opening me or closing me?” It just comes to me as I sit down, cross my legs, uncross them, stand up, move around, etc. After reading through the PK resources it's almost second-nature to figure out if I'm open or now, and what will open me up if I'm closed.
Obviously I don't care too much right now – my baby isn't coming. But soon my baby will be on the way, and I want to open up and get that baby to my arms! I've had four babies and labor is no longer a novelty. I want to get it started and I want to get my baby from my womb to my arms as soon as I can. I welcome the work that labor and birth brings – and I value skills that let me be open and welcoming, helping my baby come without delay while I fight labor, try to get “comfortable,” etc. I believe it was the late Jeanne Parvati Baker who said women do not give birth to be comfortable. It's to get that baby from your womb to your soft arms and breasts!
If Baby is “Stuck”
The Pink Kit also goes over several techniques your birth partner can do to physically create more room in your pelvis. Many of these techniques have been used by midwives and native cultures for ages – but the Pink Kit puts them literally at your fingertips. If baby seems stuck that's OK – you can work with positioning, relaxation, and practical techniques such as the Hip Lift, Sacral Manuevre, Sit Bone Spread or Kate's Kat to get back “unstuck” and moving down again.
The Companion Guide is a short “cheat sheet” included in the PK that can be used for reference during labor. I'm really glad to have it because it helps me review ways to feel more open and I know that it can be around while I'm giving birth – in case I do feel like the baby is “stuck” or I feel like my labor is in a plateau.
All in all I really love the awareness and the tools I'm getting with the PK – I know that I'm ready for labor and birth in practical ways that will give me the chance to get down to the joyful work of bringing my baby in to the world.
