Nisha’s Birth Truth
Can I just share how amazed I am to be offering you another woman’s truth? It seems simple, yet it’s so profound. The more stories I read and share with you, the more I’m inspired to keep asking the questions. This story is no different. Nisha Logan and I met last December thanks to our mutual friend, Eunique. Having worked together before on yoga photoshoots, it seemed only natural to work together on capturing what it’s like to do a prenatal couple’s yoga session on camera. If you’ve been following along for a while with me on Instagram, Nisha and her husband Rick (with baby Lux still growing) have made many appearances. A fellow yogi and sweetest mama with the intention to host her own baby and me yoga classes, Nisha’s story is a testament to how powerful a woman’s and mother’s intuition truly is.
MY PERIOD TRUTH
“Donisha can have a baby now!” I heard my sister exclaim from the backseat of my grandmother’s car.
“No, no, no! I don’t want to hear it!” My grandmother blushed. Apparently, periods were taboo to talk about or at least that was the message that my 11-year- old self received.
I had gotten my period 3 days earlier. I remember getting my period and not really knowing what it was for days before figuring it out. When I finally told my mother I got it, she gave me a big floppy pad and some spill about ovulation. All I really gained from it was that I could have a baby now if I had sex and the floppy pads would be my best friend for at max a week’s time.
I think back to that talk with my mom and realize that’s when the confusion surrounding my period truth started. The education about what was happening to my body just wasn’t there in a way that I could comprehend at that age. My mother tried to explain what was happening but may have just missed the mark.
There were a few lessons that were plain as day though:
Lesson #1 periods aren’t to be talked about
Lesson #2 period + sex= baby
To be honest, thoughts of my first period still feel really cringe-worthy. I don’t think I got over the awkwardness of my period truth until I experienced pregnancy.
MY PREGNANCY TRUTH
My cycle had been irregular since I was 17. I was 2 weeks late, without a period in sight. I finally decided to take a pregnancy test. The only reason I was tipped off was the nausea and fatigue. When the pregnancy test said positive, my husband and I were elated. We were going to have a baby!
Photo by Eunique Deeann
After the initial excitement, the panic set in! I wasn’t where I wanted to be in my career, not where I wanted to be in my finances. How was I about to take on the responsibility of being someone’s mother?
Then one day after teaching a yoga class, one of my regular students stayed after to chat with me for a while. I remember her saying “No one’s ever really ready to be a parent. We just figure it out.” That was the day my whole perspective shifted. I chose to release my sense of worry and replace it with faith. I chose to surrender. Unsure of my future, I embraced every piece of my pregnancy knowing that I was fully capable of handling whatever challenges came my way. That missed period changed my life in ways I didn’t even fully comprehend in that moment. My child had yet to enter the world, but I was indeed a mother.
MY BIRTH TRUTH
I remember throughout my pregnancy telling people that I just felt intuitively I would have a quick birth. We had gone to all the parenting classes the birth center, bought our snacks for labor, we were ready to do this.
The big day had finally come. It was 10 am on a Tuesday and after laboring overnight my contractions were only 8 mins apart, but they were intensifying. According to the birth center, we were only to come in when the contractions were 3-4 mins apart. I decided to soak in the bathtub hoping to relieve some of the discomfort I was experiencing. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep but when I awoke, I had my biggest contraction yet.
I moaned in discomfort as my husband helped me up from the tub. All of a sudden, another one hit and out came a gush of water with it. It’s GO time!
We started packing the car and preparing to head to the birth center. My contractions only intensifying. As I made my way to the back seat of the car, I remember trying to keep myself calm and breathe through the contractions when all my body wanted to do was tense up.
As we were driving to the birth center, I kept telling my husband, “I’m getting the urge to push”.
“We’re almost there,” he replied.
“I’m going to push, I’m listening to my body,” I told him.
I began to feel extreme pressure, reaching into my pants I began to feel the head crown. Finally, we made it to the birth center just in time. I wobbled to the door and screamed out as another contraction came.
Within five minutes of arriving to the birth center, Lux David Logan was born.
Turns out I was right all along; he indeed did have a speedy delivery. That day I learned the true power of mother’s intuition.
THE FOURTH TRIMESTER
The fourth trimester is the trimester you never really hear about. However, I think it is one of the most important. You are sleep deprived, while trying your hardest to learn the ways of your little one. You may even take on the age-old battle with postpartum anxiety/ depression. It’s a time period that can seem scary and be very isolating.
If I had to pick my most important lesson from my third trimester it would be, you can NOT pour from an empty cup. Make time for you mama. This can be in the form of yoga, meditation, journaling, crafting, taking a long bath, or maybe just catching a nap while your little one naps. Remember, you’re doing amazing mama.
Through this experience I’ve learned that my period truth runs deep. I am still peeling back the layers as I grow in womanhood.
I am grateful for the space to express my truth.
