When I was 16 I was in a car accident. It wasn’t a very bad one, a guy who was on his cell phone rear-ended me, and I walked away with some neck pain and a dented back bumper. My mom suggested that I go see a chiropractor. As it turns out, my grandmother had worked part-time for one and she called and made an appointment for me within a week of the accident. I remember going in for weekly visits and laying face down on a cold leather table while my back was massaged with an old school electric massager. He’d adjust my neck during each visit, but admittedly I wasn’t a fan of the “neck pops”. He sent me home with a special pillow to offer more strategic support for my neck and after about 12 weeks of seeing him as many as 3 times per week, my neck felt normal again.
Flash forward 18 years. I just had my second child, sweet Everly Jean. She was a very unhappy baby for the first 10 weeks of her life. She was by textbook definition a “colicky” baby: she kicked her legs and screamed as the biggest farts rolled out of her tiny body, she refused sleep and SHE CRIED FOREVER. I developed leg muscles quicker than I’d hoped due to incessant bouncing and walking through the house in efforts to console her. There we many days that she literally cried all day long. Reid would come home from work and I would be crying, too. We were miserable, and there were several days that I just knew she would cry for the rest of her life.
I had heard of chiropractic care being helpful for other families dealing with similar challenges with their kids. I put out a poll on a Natural Living/Attachment Parenting Facebook group that I am part of to find out if anyone in our area recommended a good chiropractor for children. I was quickly given anecdotal referrals to at least 3 chiropractors in the Triad who see children. Before I could even make the first phone call, one of doctors that my friends were referring actually contacted me…the power of social media! Within 24 hours, I was sitting in Dr. Kim’s office for Everly’s consultation. I had briefed her over the phone as to what all we were dealing with, but during the in-person consultation we dug much deeper into Everly’s personality, sleeping habits, diaper habits, nursing habits, etc. Dr. Kim began to explain the central nervous system to me in a way I had never noticed it before. I remember sitting in the chair in her office and literally feeling mind-blown, thinking to myself, “how can everyone in the world not know about this?!”.
Chiropractic means to move with the hands. God thought our central nervous system was so important that he encased it fully with bone in order to protect it, right? If our nervous system is functioning 100% properly, then the organs on the other end of all these nerves will function 100% properly. If the bones (vertebrae) that are protecting these nerves are causing any type of interruption or dis-ease on the nerve (sublaxation), then the organ that nerve leads to will not function as it should. Moving the bone back to its proper place (chiropractic adjustment) allows the nerve to function as it should. When our nervous system is “in check”, our body can function as it is intended. It makes complete sense, right?!
Each time you are adjusted by a chiropractor, your immune system is boosted up to 200%. Adjustments are simply getting rid of sublaxations. Back when I was 16 and fresh out a car accident, I thought chiropractors were only needed for instances such as this. I had no idea that chiropractic care was really preventative care rather than reactive care. I love the reaction that people tend to give me when they learn that I have been (and have taken my 2 children) to the chiropractor and they say, “what’s wrong?”. NOTHING is wrong! That’s what is so beautifully right with it all! Our bodies were designed to heal themselves, but they cannot do that if they cannot function 100% and if the nerves aren’t fully circuited back to the organ they serve. Spinal interference/sublaxations are caused by three things: emotional trauma, chemical trauma and/ or physical trauma. In our day-to-day we deal with things that stress us out, make us worry and too often times we are in unhealthy relationships, all of which can and will cause emotional trauma. What we put on and inside of our bodies has an affect on our central nervous system. Everything from our shampoo and conditioner to the type of ground beef and butter we eat, down to the lotions and sunscreens and fruit snacks and caffeine–that old phrase “you are what you eat” really does make so much sense. Physical trauma is everything from the repetitive way you hold a cell phone to your ear while driving, the posture you adopt while sitting at a desk or the way you carry a diaper bag on the same shoulder every day. Keeping your spine free of sublaxations will give you the best shot at being the best version of YOU.
Everly and I have been seeing Dr. Kim ever since March 2016 when Everly was just 10-weeks old. The first time Everly was adjusted Dr. Kim explained that when babies come out of the birth canal, they get pretty jacked up on their exit and have sublaxations the second they take their first breath. She reminded me that when a baby is in utero it is in a position so that the head is down and the feet are up toward the sky, and she explained that when you hold a baby by the feet upside down in this position, it mimics the position they held in utero. This is a comfortable position for them and instinctively, their arms should float down toward their feet when you hold them this way. Dr. Kim dangled Everly upside down by her ankles and I watched as her tiny spine took the shape of the letter “J”, as her arms shot straight out like the letter “T”. Everly stayed so calm, and I remember being surprised that she hadn’t freaked out. After just a few seconds of suspension, Dr. Kim signaled for me to grab Everly’s head as we laid her back down on the special pillow used for baby adjustments. She ran her fingers down Everly’s spine to locate the sublaxation. She worked her magic to make a few small adjustments to Everly’s spine and flipped her back over again, grabbing her by the ankles and suspending her up into the air. Before my very eyes, my child hung straight down and her tiny little arms floated down to her feet, literally a completely different sight than what I had witnessed less than 3 minutes prior, and still no freaking out!
The very next day, almost 11 weeks into my 12-week maternity leave, Everly smiled at me for the first time. She didn’t cry all day. I recall weeping as I videoed her late that afternoon, because the way she was acting was something I had never seen before. I wanted to attribute it 100% to her chiropractic adjustment the day before and was sad that I hadn’t taken her sooner. I felt like I had finally met my daughter and she has literally been a different child since that first visit.
Sadler and I also see Dr. Kim regularly. We go at least once every other week, but sometimes we go every week. If one of us starts to express symptoms of health that make us feel icky, we go in for an adjustment. Thankfully, Everly has never had to see a medical doctor for a sick visit and has never taken any prescription medications. I wholeheartedly believe that keeping her clear of sublaxations has played a major part in this and can honestly say the same for myself and Sadler. Yes, we still get sick but we are able to recover much faster than we would have a year ago, and often times with fewer medical interventions.
I notice a lot of chiropractic offices in our city when I drive around and it makes my heart happy. We drive 30 minutes to see Dr. Kim and while I know there are other doctors closer to our house, there is no one I would rather have in my life to fill this role. Aside from being an amazingly intelligent doctor, she is a beautiful person inside and out and God put her in my life for so many reasons. She is expecting twin girls any day now and we got to see her this weekend for a special maternity party before she goes out on leave.
The best part of this whole story: after almost a year of trying, my husband will be getting his first adjustment tomorrow. He has been for his consultation appointment (and no, unfortunately adults don’t get suspended during consults, only the babies!) and to say that I am excited for his journey to begin is merely understated. I cannot wait to hear how good he feels tomorrow afternoon.
Mama Chose Joy 