Unassisted Childbirth

I LOVE reading stories like this: http://birthwithoutfearblog.com/2012/05/28/accidental-unassisted-vbac-after-an-inverted-t-incision/


It makes me laugh that she was "planning" an unassisted birth all along, because I am secretly hoping that's what happens for us too. Maybe I should start stockpiling "just in case" items too. ;) But seriously, I'm doing the same thing she did: planning my all natural hospital birth, while all the while visioning giving birth at home. Relaxing in bed and/or in the shower, doing yoga in the living room to help myself relax, giving birth in my own bed, with michael and my mom there to support, other family in the living room anxiously waiting to see the little guy.

Contrasted with:

Laboring at home/my parents for the majority of labor. I don't want to go to the hospital too early, but honestly i'm a little worried about how comfortable it will be to get in the car and sit like that while in transition. I will probably do most of the labor at my parents house, since they have a hot tub, and its closer to the hospital than my house. Ideally i'd like to get to the hospital and start pushing. Of course, first i'll have to make sure the nurses know my birth plan. No iv's, don't even offer me the epidural, baby goes right on my chest, no shots, at least an hour before they ask to take him for weights and footprints. Only michael, my mom and/or my doula in the room. Others not allowed to come in the room until after i'm transferred to the PP unit. Cold, clinical, sterile. I work in hospitals. I don't want to have my baby there.....

Anyways.....

This little boy seems to like using my bladder as a trampoline. And I can only feel him when I'm sitting down, or lying flat (which I know you're not supposed to do...but it happens sometimes!)

I'll probably have my glucose screening this Friday. I'm a little worried about it, since I know i've been using my baby as an excuse to give in to my sweet tooth. We'll see though. I'll find out soon!!

Well, that's enough of my ramblings for now. Be back on later!

Self-Assisted birth

Self-Assisted birth Pregnant women are, usually, crazy. Our hormones are surging, our lives are changing, and the planning of bringing a new life into this side of the womb is crazy. We each want to do what's best for our child, and for us. I was posting my views about this onto FB but....that wasn't going so well. So, if you're here reading this its of your own accord! =D As I was going through nursing school in the Maternal Child semester, I remember the entire class didn't sit well with me. Almost everything we learned about I would think to myself "But...that's not how its supposed to be!!!" Birth in our modern times seemed to have become so...fake...unnatural...a medical problem in need of medical intervention. And I didn't understand why. I knew back in the day women and babies died a lot more often than today, so surly this...medical-ness of modern birth made it safer? Fast forward a year or two. I attended a midwife conference with my friends mother, a certified nurse midwife at a local hospital. There, they showed the video The Business of Being Born: VBAC. It was all about VBAC (vaginal births after c-sections). It was very educational about VBACs and their safety compared to repeat C-Sections. During that film was when I saw my first home birth video. I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped to the floor when I saw the woman reach down and pull her child out of her body and into her arms. "YOU CAN DO THAT?!" was all I was thinking. =) Fast forward another year-ish. After I became pregnant, I started reading The Complete Idiots Guide to Natural Childbirth by Jennifer L. West. It almost totally changed my life. I was interested in home birthing (HB), but after I read all about the history of birthing in the hospital and what a home birth could mean for me and my family, I not only knew a home birth was all I wanted to do, but I became almost afraid to go to the hospital. I knew we couldn't afford a HB midwife (hurray for government insurance!) so I settled on an unassisted birth. Everyone told me i was bats**t crazy, but who cares? I knew I was educated. I knew that I knew my body. And I knew that this was the best option for me and my baby. However, daddy didn't quite agree. At all. In any way, shape, or form. So, after we talked about it, I settled on a hospital birth with a midwife. And that's where I'm at right now. I'm still kinda afraid to go to the hospital. And whenever i think about having our baby, I picture it being at my house or my parents house, not the hospital. So...we'll see. I secretly really hope that we "accidentally" don't get to the hospital in time. Or I may just say "heck to the no, i'm staying home." But...........that would probably be cruel to michael....and my mom and dad...and my mother in love. =) The more and more I read about natural birth, the more in awe I am of my body and its capabilities. I trust my body, and i'm working on trusting it more and more so that i can have total faith in what it needs to do. (And in God, of course. Because, hey, He designed this awesome bod!) I'm also working on trusting my husband and my mother to stand up for me in the hospital. I don't want to be TOUCHED without them telling me exactly what they're doing and why. And I'm looking at a doula to help with that situation as well, should it arise. Above all, i'm working on trusting that God is there and in control, not matter where i give birth. He knows the desires of my heart, but He also knows what is best, and I'm learning to trust that. Its not easy. At all. But I'm learning. =)