I don’t think words can convey my husband’s and my frustration and feeling of helplessness after our baby son was born. He seemed to be in constant agony and we were powerless to stop it. We were at our wits’ end…until we met the wonderful Sinéad.
While Mícheál’s birth seemed like a dream in theory (under three hours after my first ‘twinge’, he was born), there was a lot of stress leading up to and after his due date. I worked until five days before he was born, I was already running around after my 21 month old daughter, and I also had the knowledge that I must fit into a bridesmaid’s dress for my best friend’s wedding five weeks after his due date! Team that with stress at work and the death of my husband’s Grandmother (the night of the wedding) and you had a very stressed Mammy and Daddy!
As if that wasn’t enough, around five minutes before Mícheál was born the midwife found in my pregnancy notes a diagnosis of Group B Strep, an infection that wouldn’t affect me but if passed on to Mícheál, would have potentially fatal consequences. It would mean Mícheál and I having to stay in hospital for another five days, during which he would need blood cultures done twice a day and wear a cannula for the duration.
His first day with us was beautiful. I was breastfeeding him and he latched on from the beginning. He was so settled and contented. That evening however, a nurse took him out to draw blood, insisting we weren’t to come with him as it would be too ‘upsetting’. We could hear his screams from my room and my husband and I, unable to stand it anymore, went to the nursery to be with him. We found two doctors holding him down, while a third extracted the blood. To say this was upsetting was an understatement; it was hell to watch. He had to go through this procedure twice a day. He also had to wear a needle in his hand which fell out twice. His veins collapsed which meant they had to stick needles in him many times before they found a suitable vein in his foot. He couldn’t wear clothes for the duration of our stay in case they would interfere with his needles and visitors weren’t allowed to hold him in case they accidentally took the needle out.
When we finally got Mícheál home he seemed like a different child. He was very unsettled and started to drop centiles for his weight. By the time he was six weeks old he had gone from a healthy child to an underweight, unsettled, unhappy boy. He cried constantly and we couldn’t take him anywhere. My daughter would say “poor Mícheál has a sore tummy, Mammy, fix it and stop him screaming”, it was heartbreaking to hear. After many trips to the doctor he was diagnosed with acid reflux and was given Gaviscon then Renitidine then had this doubled, and when still nothing worked, was admitted to hospital. After he was sent home we had weekly appointments with the hospital and he was prescribed Losec an apparent ‘wonder drug’ for reflux. While it improved him it by no means cured him and we still had huge problems settling him.
Meanwhile I was still soldiering on with the breastfeeding, although it was anything but a pleasure. By this time Mícheál associated feeding with extreme pain and refused to even latch on. He was beginning to lose weight now and we were under a lot of pressure from the hospital to give up breastfeeding and replace it with a thickening formula. To try and get him to take something I would settle him with the dummy in my arms and when he fell asleep take the dummy out and feed him while he slept but it wasn’t enough, he still wasn’t gaining weight and I couldn’t express milk as he refused to take it from a bottle. We were entirely dependant on the dummy and so was he; it was the only thing that settled him. This was a bitter pill for myself and my husband to swallow, knowing that he preferred an inanimate silicone object to my breast or my husband’s skin, but it was the only thing that would stop the crying for a while. He seemed to have no energy and was sleeping all day and when he was awake he was listless and unhappy. It seemed like nothing we did or didn’t do made a difference and we were at our wits’ end.
I was approached one day by a friend who had observed me struggling at our local Mother and Toddler group and told about Sinéad and Craniosacral Therapy. While she couldn’t tell me what it entailed she said it seemed very effective and Sinéad was such a calming influence it couldn’t hurt. After discussing it with my husband and concluding we would try anything, we decided to give her a ring and I was delighted to get a quick appointment and Sinéad was very reassuring on the phone.
The day we arrived was a nightmare; we had been up half the night with Mícheál and so slept in, then my daughter was sick on the journey. We finally arrived half an hour late with a screaming baby and a little girl covered in vomit! Not the sort of first impression you’d want to create but Sinéad made us feel totally at ease from the beginning. Her effect on Mícheál was phenomenal, he settled instantly when we sat down and spent the first few minutes staring at her. When she finally lifted him out he started whining and she knew instantly that he’d been through some sort of trauma, I’ll never forget her words ‘this baby is not cross, he’s frustrated’. This was exactly how I felt he was and finally it was like we were being listened to. She was able to trace his problems right back to his quick delivery and subsequent trauma which followed. Sinéad rubbed his chest and back and we were on our way, we didn’t know what she did but what she said really rang true explaining that the stress and trauma suffered by the needles in his first few days had a detrimental effect. However, buoyed by the fact that she seemed to know Mícheál’s feelings and that he seemed so at ease with her, we left with an appointment for three days later.
We saw a change in Mícheál immediately. We had lunch after his appointment and for the first time in a while I decided to take the chance and feed him in the restaurant instead of the car. While it wasn’t perfect, there was a marked improvement in his feeding and he fed for around twenty minutes and fell asleep at the breast. My husband and I were astounded; the norm was to feed for around four minutes, then scream in pain, then settle him with the dummy. We decided to take advantage of his rare good form and took a trip into Belfast and a visit to an uncle’s house and his good form continued for the rest of the day.
On returning to Sinéad we were able to report that there was a definite improvement in his feeding and general demeanor but it was what happened next that really changed things. Sinéad lay him on the bed and proceeded to work at the back of his neck. Mícheál lay transfixed on the bed smiling and looking around with interest. This went on for some time and we were amazed to seem him lying down flat and settled as we always had to prop him up. When she had finished we could see that Sinéad was as impressed with Mícheál as we were and was as she put it, ‘humbled’ by the experience. We left hardly daring to believe that this was all it took to help our little boy. We had one more session with Sinéad during which she said he could come back every few months as needed.
The days which have passed since have been the best of Mícheál’s life so far. He is the happiest most contented baby we’ve ever seen. He smiles and laughs all the time and his feeding has improved day by day. At his last hospital appointment Míchéal gained eleven ounces in a week! The doctors are extremely happy with him and instead of weekly appointments he doesn’t have to go back until he’s seven months. He breastfeeds now for enjoyment and to see him latching off and smiling at me instead of screaming is like winning the Lottery. As for the dummy it’s no longer the glue that holds us together, in fact, Mícheál has settled himself to sleep on his own in the past few days and hasn’t needed the dummy at all. It’s as if a miracle has been performed and it’s all down to Sinéad. Our whole family dynamic has changed and Mícheál is no longer the poor, sick, cross baby but instead a happy bundle who always has a smile for everyone. We’ll never be able to thank Sinéad for what she’s done for us and would highly recommend her to anyone with an unsettled baby.
Dearbhla.
How did Cranio-sacral Therapy (CST) help?
You have only to read the parent’s story above to see that little Míchéal did not have a great time during his first few weeks of life and that what he experienced will not have been pleasant. By creating the right environment and acknowledging that this little one did not have a good time, helped Míchéal release the physical and emotional restrictions from his negative experiences and this in turn kick-started the healing process.
On assessing Míchéal he seemed to have a restricted spine particularly fixed at the pelvis, upper thoracic (upper back) and cervical (neck) with emotional trauma residing in the sternum. I released the pelvic diaphragm and abdominal cavity. Contrary to what some may think, a new born baby does have physical and emotional ‘experiences’ both good and bad and in Míchéal’s case his experience of being held down will have caused a certain amount of trauma to both Míchéal experiencing it and his parents having to observe it. I worked at Míchéal’s sternum area where I felt a lot of the emotional tension was held and you could just feel the tissue’s softening as his little body let go of that negative patterning.
At the second appointment it was like treating a different baby and whilst it was not the 100% I was aiming for, the extreme tension and frustration in Míchéal’s body was no longer evident. I assessed the restrictions from the initial consultation which were much better but could feel how tight the cervical (neck) area still was. In CST we call this ‘occipital base compression’ and if severely compressed it is common to see colic, reflux, respiratory difficulties, compromised bowel function (constipation or diarrhea) and a very un-settled baby. By gently releasing the cranial base to help free up this area Míchéal experienced relief at the neck which had a positive effect on the rest of the spine and developing cranial bones. These positive effects on Míchéal were observed and have been best described by his Parents above.
The gentle procedures used in Craniosacral Therapy are geared toward bringing ease to the body, primarily the nervous system and immune systems. Helping to restore balance to the craniosacral system has a remarkable affect on a babies well-being which of course will also be good for the parents when they are getting a good nights sleep. The last time I saw Míchéal was wonderful, a very different baby indeed, much more at ease and relaxed and really enjoying being a baby and being loved by his family.
If you think your baby, child or you could benefit from CST and you wish to book an appointment or have an enquiry please do not hesitate to contact me.