Washington Park Chiropractic

By: Dr. Lisa Goodman, DC

Washington Park Chiropractic offers Infant Massage classes for parents & babies to promote bonding and development of the baby.  I was nervous and excited to bring 10 week old Nate to one of Amanda’s classes earlier this week.  Nervous because I wasn’t sure how he would like being worked on and excited to finally see what this was all about.

The class started with Amanda discussing what we would do and how long we would spend.  She had cozy areas on the floor with pillows for mom and dad to sit on and a body pillow ‘nest’ covered in warm towels for the baby to snuggle in.  She also provided us with vitamin E oil (to take home) and use for the massage.  The class can last from 20 min to an hour depending on the baby.  Our class lasted about 30 minutes.   I started by showing Nate my hands and asking him if I could massage him!  He agreed. 

Most parents will agree there is nothing more precious than a naked baby!  It was so much fun learning the massage techniques and watching Nate coo and relax as we introduced them to him.  He really liked having his legs worked on!  Amanda demonstrated a variety (20+) strokes to use on the baby.  In fact, since his massage, Nate has been sleeping great, digesting great and has been overall incredibly happy.  To be fair, he didn’t really have any problems in those areas prior to the massage. 

According to Amanda, the best part about introducing your little one to massage is that they will get so used to being massaged they will start massaging mom and dad!  Foot rub anyone?

I plan to send Nate back to Amanda with his dad so that they can have some bonding time with massage before or after bath!

Click here to learn more about the infant massage lessons and other massage services our therapists offer.

….Dr. G’s Pregnancy Update

By Dr. Lisa Goodman, DC

As most of my patients know, I am pregnant with number 2!  In fact, I have just 10 weeks to go until my due date of November 3.  I’ve been asked a lot of questions “how am I feeling?”, “how much longer will you work?”, “is there anything you can’t do at work?”, “where and how will you have your baby?”  I thought I’d take this opportunity to answer those questions and present a few of Dr. G’s tips for a comfortable and healthy pregnancy.

How Much Longer Will You Work?

During my last pregnancy I worked until I was 39 weeks (which was just one week prior to my due date).  I intend to do the same this time.  Looks like my last day to treat patients will likely be Monday, October 25.  That should give me ample time to nest.  This brings me to my first healthy pregnancy tip: Never think your baby will come early!  No matter what expert tells you that you might deliver early – It is probably healthiest to expect baby to come no sooner than your due date  Remember, babies don’t all develop at the same rate and your due date is really just the middle of a 4 week time frame in which a healthy baby is born.  Focusing on or after my due date helps keep me focused on my patients and staying healthy and active. 

Oh – and I plan to be back part time the first week of December (with baby in tow) and full time Mid-January!

Is There Anything You Can’t Do?

As you know, chiropractic is a very physical profession.  I have always made it a point to use good ergonomics and body position when working on patients.  Therefore, even while I am pregnant this doesn’t change much.  I work hard to protect my body and still have very effective treatments on my patients.  However, rest assured that if I ever feel that there is a treatment I cannot safely perform, I will happily refer specific patients to my partner, Dr. Jake Simpson.  Dr. Simpson will be your main treating doctor while I am on maternity leave so don’t be shy!

How Are You Feeling?

I feel terrific!  I really feel absolutely wonderful.  I attribute that to a few key things: Read the rest of this entry →