We’re happy to share the eighth edition of our Very Rookie Summer series.
Kristi uses the yoga ball to soothe baby Nora | Photo: Kristi Whitehead
Kristi is sharing three short stories (the final one is a love story) about a great big green ball. Her daughter, Nora, is 6 weeks old. They live in smokin’ hot North Carolina. She blogs at Here we go…
This story is about the Giant Green Miracle Ball (also known as Exercise ball, Core strengthening ball, Balance ball, or Birthing ball but to us it will always be the Giant Green Miracle Ball of Goodness). Call it what you want. THIS lone item has saved my sanity over the past six weeks since Nora was born. Let me explain.
The first time I was introduced to one of these balls, it was a core strengthening ball. Some fanatical dare-I-say-PERKY class instructor at the gym introduced it as a miracle tool which would help our balance, strengthen our cores, and basically give us all the abs of a bikini-clad 18 year old model. She then led us through 25 minutes of crunches in every possible position imaginable: sitting on top of the ball, reclining with our upper backs and shoulders on the ball, holding the ball between our knees while lifting our legs in the air and crunching up to transfer the ball to our hands (don’t even try to picture that last one; it took coordination that I do not possess).
I hated the ball that day. I hated the ball the next day. And I’m sad to say that me and my almost-30-year-old-abs hated that ball the third day after the class also.
The second time I was introduced to one of these balls, it was birthing ball. The lovely woman who taught our childbirth classes at the hospital taught me that sitting on the ball during labor could help with the pain of contractions (something about distributing pressure evenly across my back). This lovely woman told me a lot of LIES about childbirth… (Trust me – this was one of the things I yelled about while I was pushing…that this woman LIED TO ME!! I have yet to determine whether it was on purpose or whether she has the absolute WORST case of placenta brain known to man) …BUT…BUT…BUT… she was right about the birthing ball.
I sat on a birthing ball for several hours during my 33 1/2 hours of labor. It did magically help with the pain of the contractions. Okay crazy woman, ONE correct piece of advice to 47 LIES. Deep breaths…therapy session on Tuesday…moving on…
The third time I was introduced to one of these balls, it was a miracle ball.
A woman leading our infant care class casually mentioned that her giant “miracle ball” had saved her sanity during the first few months after her child was born. She claimed that holding her baby close while sitting and bouncing on the ball stopped her baby from fussing when nothing else would. I made a mental note of this comment and went right back to taking notes and wondering how in the world we were going to handle an infant.
Fast forward to two weeks after Ms. Nora was born. Don’t get me wrong, she is a good baby, but like any baby, there are times that she cannot be soothed. We tried everything those first few weeks: swaddling, shushing, singing, and there were times that nothing would work.
Finally I remembered the “miracle ball” idea, so we ran right out and bought one. Four weeks later, not a single day has passed without Nora and me bouncing on that ball. And you know what?
IT WORKS. Oh my goodness it works.
I would estimate that 95% of the time, Nora calms down almost immediately once we start bouncing, and then 70% of the time, she is asleep within five minutes of bouncing. Yes, there are still a few times when she is inconsolable, but anything with a 95% success rate deserves a blog post in my book! I LOVE this ball. I will seriously be giving these “Giant green miracle balls of goodness” as baby shower gifts from this point on. I’m not saying that this is a solution for every baby, but for us, it is probably the single most useful item that we currently own.
So again, call it what you want. Use it for whatever devious, weird, or useful purpose that you want. I will call mine a Giant Green Miracle Ball of Goodness, and I will use it to soothe my sometimes fussy baby.
Related Rookie Moms Activities
- Activity #19: Bounce it out
- Activity #210: Roll, bounce (more uses for the yoga ball)
- Buy a yoga ball miracle ball from Amazon.
Love this blog. I have one of those balls, but since I left it collecting dust in the corner, my older boys have started using it as a weapon. My 6 and 7 year old, literally knock one another off their feet when they throw it at one another. Maybe when Nora grows up she will introduce you to the ball for a fourth time as it becomes her toy!
I hate to ask, but I’m due any minute now….what kind of lies are we talking about?
haha! no, really. such a funny story. 🙂
I am so bummed I missed out on using my “fitness” ball as a baby soother! I will try it on my 11-month-old, not sure how successful it will be. But I will tuck this nugget of goodness away for the day I am lucky enough to be the mommy of a newborn again!
I am happy to report that the miracle ball still works for my 3 month old. 🙂 I’m not sure about an 11 month old, but I definitely plan to use it for any future children that I am lucky enough to have also! 🙂
Alisha,
I’m sorry if I have worried you! The woman just went on and on about birth plans and what not (how prepared you needed to be, how knowledge would help you make the proper decisions, how much CONTROL you would have over the whole experience), and I was silly enough to fully expect to be able to “direct” when and how my labor and delivery went (Ha ha silly silly). I ended up having a particularly tough experience because I was induced two weeks early due to gestational hypertension (I basically went in for a normal check up and was suddenly told I was having the baby that day). I was in labor for 33 1/2 hours, and my epidural failed right when I wanted it the most. BUT despite all of that, I still made it through, and I still think that having my daughter is the best thing I have ever done in my life. 🙂 AND I know plenty of other people that have recently had babies who had a much easier time than I did. I am a bad case to listen to (and I may or may not be a weeee bit bitter about the whole thing). 🙂 Just focus on this wonderful child that you are bringing into the world, be prepared to roll with the punches, and you will be fine!
I have been the dare-I-say PERKY fitness instructor advocating the core strengthening ball. I have been the childbirth class instructor advocating the birthing ball. AND last summer I was the rookie mom on the giant white miracle ball bouncing my often fussy baby EVERY single day. Using the giant ball as a MIRACLE ball for newborns (used it regularly till about 3 months) is definitely what I advocate now. (However, I’m sure it still works for the other purposes too…just haven’t tried them myself lately.) AWESOME, MUST-HAVE for all new parents!
I just stumbled across your blog for the first time, and I’m glad I did! 🙂
Ha ha! Amber, We had the miracle ball in the house already for some sort of athletic use but it really found its place in our home/hearts when our fussy little baby was born.
In a few years that ball will become a giant play toy/destroyer of things in your house.
I loved the ball for stretching out my hips and back when I was uncomfortably pregnant, and I also used the miracle ball for soothing my newborn. I wholeheartedly agree with its wonderfulness. It has also become the favorite toy for my nine month old, who loves pushing and chasing it around the living room and bouncing on it while holding my hands. Best $10 I ever spent!
We too had the ball recommended to us for stimulating birth, help during the birth, and calming afterward. I I think our baby was late because she so enjoyed my bouncing on the ball from 37 weeks to 41+ that she was afraid it would stop once she came out. At four months we still deflate it and travel with it.
I just told my husband to dust ours off and inflate it. I have a six week old with reflux and can use anything to add to our arsenal of soothers. So far the sling plus the vacuum has been magic sauce. Once the floors are done, then thr furniture, then the shelves, then the walls, and anything else that can be vacuumed.
I used my ball extensively during pregnancy to keep flexible, etc. Maybe our little one was used to the bouncing in-utero, because it was one of the best tools in the arsenal I had to soothe her to sleep for the first several months. And it had co-benefits for me, too! Bounce, mamas, bounce!