An Interview with New Mom, Constanza

Your name: Constanza
Partner’s name: Greg
Babies birthdates: My first boy May 9 2011, my second February 21 2013

1. What is the best part of being a mom?

That is a very hard question to answer! There are so many things I could think of, like the unconditional love in the eyes of your baby as he gazes into yours totally absorbed in you. But I think my favorite is to see their personalities emerge, their self confidence develop, and to help them through the journey of becoming a good person. And boys are a crazy lot of fun!

2. Give us the cliff’s notes version of your birth story.

I wanted a natural unmedicated birth, but my first child was a C-section (and since a lot of people have asked this: no, I have no bad feelings about this, it was planned and it was life saving) so for my second I went for a VBAC.

Labor started on its own a few days before my due date, I broke waters at 10 PM and that got my contractions going from mild every 10 minutes to very strong every 4! After that I labored at home with my husband until about 1AM when my doula came to help us. Labor was intense and enjoyable up until transition when it got harder to keep happy and zen. Then we decided to head to the hospital. The car ride was the most challenging 20 minutes of the whole experience.

Once they checked me in at Magee the resident doctor told me I was 7 cm dilated but a few minutes after that I felt a huge urge to push and I was at 10! I delivered my baby physiologically less than two hours after getting to triage. It was a wonderful experience and I would recommend anybody to give it a try, not once I felt it was beyond me to do it or that the pain was bad enough as to want drugs. Plus I got to avoid a second C-section and go home to my older child as soon as possible.

3. How do you find your “me time”?

I must confess that I don’t. I have tried to, but I failed at it each time, so I have instead developed “us time” doing things that I enjoy. I babywear my five months old while I cook with my toddler, or we garden together. Once I week I try to do it a bit more relaxed going to Mommy and Me yoga, when I can focus in finding my center again.

4. What’s the last non-baby related book you’ve read?

I am currently reading the Vegetable Gardener’s Bible, by Edward Smith, in an attempt to make my “us time” fruitful 🙂 it is a sort of reference book, so I can just read a page when I need to find a specific solution.

5. What’s the most useful baby product you have? Why do you love it?

By far my baby wearing gear! I find that mothering two children so close in age while giving them as much attention as I can is much easier if one of them is on me and my hands are free. I have a MoBy that I absolutely love because the baby is snug against mom and it relaxes him a lot, but it can get really hot in Summer. For carrying on the back, hiking and doing housework I rather my Ergo, which distributes the weight in a way that does not hurt my back or shoulders.

6. If a newly pregnant mom asked you why she should take classes here, what would you tell her?

The best thing is that there are many yoga classes through the week and it makes it easier to find a class that will fit anybody’s schedule, as opposed to other yoga institutes that do not cater to mothers specifically. Now, in a personal level I loved Shining Light because I found that the prenatal classes not only helped me to gain physical strength and flexibility in preparation for labor but helped me to find balance and calm to face the VBAC, which was a little scary. The classes taught by Gallina were so spiritual, I loved them!

Now, after the birth, I am trying to regain strength and take a little break from parenting two children going to Mommy and Me classes. I wish Shining Light would have been there when I was pregnant the first time! I would have loved going to the babywearing workshops and all the other classes they offer geared to new parents!