The amazing Allison Staiger with her daughter Violet Adele (2.5). Before becoming pregnant, Allison had an eating disorder and says that she was probably drinking too much. Taking care of herself and appreciating her body wasn't something she was accustomed to having to do but pregnancy changed that for her. Her pregnancy came as a surpise but as an anxious person she was amazed to find a sense of calm settle in right away. Her body began to grow and change without control and seeing that happen was both shocking and a lesson in self love. Taking care of her baby meant taking care of herself.
Two days before her due date, Allison lost her mucous plug and ended up going to the hospital later that day. Just after she got checked in her water broke but she wasn't progressing. They gave her pitocin and she went from feeling nothing to a huge rush that left her unable to move or talk. Having been unable to ease into labor she went ahead and got an epidural which she hated. They also gave her Stadol without consent and she says she felt like she was drowning and was numb. She slept fitfully for few hours and woke up ready to push but didn't feel like she could do it - exhausted, throwing up, on oxygen and running a fever due to chorioamnionitis. She was told to push differently but couldn't feel and Violet kept descending and then retracting. She pushed for two hours and they tried vacuum extraction but they ended up having to deliver via emergency cesarean, an experience that felt both like defeat and relief. Violet was healthy and Allison's recover went very well initially but she over did it a bit early on and had to take a couple of days of bed rest due to excessive bleeding. Allison initiated breastfeeding without complication but went back to work at three months and wasn't pumping enough for Violet. She made it to 6 months before starting to supplement and Violet weaned herself at 9 months.
Alison says her eating disorder hasn't been much of an issue on the other side of her pregnancy. She learned that she could eat and exercise normally and nothing bad would happen, it wouldn't change her worth as a person. She still has days where she runs through what she eats with too much intention or doesn't like how she looks but she says she's doing so much better. Her eating disorder was her last battle against herself and she's happy to let it go.
Everyone looks differently and to take the pressure off women to fit a certain mold is so important to Allison and it's so important to remember there is so much more to you than what you look like, she says.