Thank You
A mother instinctively does what she can to keep her children safe and healthy. We attend to them in the middle of the night, we give them nutritious food, we take them for walks in the fresh air, we snuggle and coo, and we hold their little hands as they take on more independence and venture further away from us. Along this journey, it's wonderful to have the support of family and friends. And if we're blessed with health care practitioners who see our family as a whole, who have the awareness and intention to help ourselves and our children reach optimal health, well, everyone is happier. Drs David and Melody Spear have been this guiding force in our family, and we are grateful.
I first met David and Melody as colleagues. I was immediately struck by their knowledge, and more importantly, their compassion, and the breathless desire we all shared to educate and motivate families to consider choices that would make wellness a priority. We took a common approach: Not just offering classes or seeing clients, but constantly meeting and working with new people and groups to share ideas and information about the link between healthy development and maximizing physical, emotional and cognitive potential.
When I became pregnant with my second child, I sought care from David and Melody to promote a vibrant gestational time: Thanks to them, and my spunky older child keeping me active, I was able to keep working as a dance teacher until up to 38 weeks! I felt great: giant, but strong and stable.
My son, like my daughter, was a planned natural birth, but in the end he was born by caesarean section. My attending physician took great care of the pair of us, but it's a procedure that can be hard on babies: My son was stuck, and took the brunt of the rotation and pull out of my uterus in his tiny neck and shoulders.
Because Hugh was a second child, I knew something was amiss: He didn't have the doughy sleepyhead qualities of my more relaxed first born. I could see in his eyes he wanted to: He was trying to take his ease and be in this new world. But when I held him on his left side to nurse, he cried, tensed up. His little arms scrabbled and his fingers twitched. This baby was in pain. A mother knows.
I called David, and he visited us all in the hospital, bringing with him good cheer and as he adjusted all of us, we all felt better. Every one of us relaxed, and took a nap. In the weeks that followed our arrival at home, David continued to help Hugh ease into his body, to let go of some of the trauma - akin to whiplash - that he had experienced. David and Melody referred us to other wonderful practitioners, whose expertise enhanced the healing process.
Babies are resilient, certainly. And children are pretty tough. But why would we think that health and wellness is only about weight gain or head circumference? If we can help them to feel better in their bodies, why not try?
Today, Hugh is an amiable, effusively loving little boy. He is physically engaged in everything, scaling new heights and experimenting every day. And as he rolls and crawls, steps and dives, dances and cuddles, I feel so blessed to see his ease and comfort with himself. That's all a mother can ask for.
Thank you David and Melody, for helping my family.
Rachael Carnes
Founder and Director, Sparkplug Dance
Mother of Jane and Hugh