I have been reading a book given to me by a dear friend, (thanks, Gayla!)
It's called Birthing from Within.
I love this book for so many reasons.
When I gave birth to Donovan, I was a new mom, with no real idea what birth was like.
In today's day and age, everyone wants to take what a Dr says at face value. They are the ones who went to school right? You would think they know better than we do, but I am not sure that is always the case when it comes to labor.. don't get me wrong, they do know what they are doing, but sometimes, I think they have a different idea of what labor should be, we have gotten so far away from where we began.. sometimes, technology is great when you really need it, but doing things the way they were done 100 of years ago might be worth looking into in this instance. My great grandmother birthed 11 kids at home on a farm in northern Colorado with a midwife and she didn't die, or lose a child and she didn't have Pitocin and have to be induced and she never had an epidural.. and she was only 4'11" tall. Incidently this is one of my heroes who I am naming my daughter after.. she brings me such inspiration, I mean heck if she raised 11 kids, I don't have anything to complain about, and why can't I do it!! this is only my third!!
I went to all my scheduled appointments, listened to my doctor and did what I was told, when it came to delivery day, she opted to induce me, due to the fact that at the time, I still had a pretty petite frame and an ultrasound revealed that he was not going to be a small baby, so she told me if I didn't go into labor over the weekend( this was Friday) that I should report to the hospital Monday evening for my induction.
I really was naive.. the used an investigational drug used to treat Pepcid Ulcers ORALLY, up my good girl to ripen the cervix..after the fact I read about this drug which from what I gather can cause massive hemorraging and can be complicated see what can happen here.. so maybe it was not such a good idea to have it.
Anyway, I was induced, started having contractions and had only the labor nurses and my husband to coach me through them, the nurse seemed to be very happy when I told her they hurt. She said " that's good" when I told her I was uncomfortable, and my husband at the time just did his best to help me breathe through them.. I ended up having an epidural at 4 cm and lying on my back, letting the Dr break my water and just wait until they told me to push.
Not the experience I had visioned, but then again, what was I really expecting? This is they way it was done, right?
So the second time around, I was a little more assertive and wanted to walk around and let nature help me, I wanted to go into labor naturally( after I labored for nearly 2 weeks and they wouldn't grant my requested to be induced since I was so uncomfortable), I walked the halls of the hospital and when I got to about 3 am, they strapped me to the fetal monitor and there I was again, lying in bed. They broke my water to move things along. It was on their time table that I labored, not nature...
I labored Owen until I was about 7 cm, but since I wasn't dilating as fast as they wanted, they augmented my labor with Pitocin, which intensified my contractions immensely.. I am convinced that had they been patient and not set my labor to their time table, I would have been okay on my own without an epidural, but I ended up having one anyway, I couldn't focus on anything but the amount of pain I was in.. I really felt like a failure,, women for years have been birthing their babies without pain medication, so why can't we all do it now?
What has happened in the medical world where more woman then ever are having C- sections, and are having their labors induced, and 1000's of women just go to the hospital, get strapped to an IV and lie there until they are told to push..
Where is the free will of birth?
This time, I am taking drastic measures..first of all I am hiring a doula.. she will be there to be my voice, while I do what I can to labor in the way nature intended, she will be there just for me, and to help Chris be there for me as well.
To better explain what a doula is check this out. What is a doula?
I will make this third and last labor the one I want.. I know I can manage the pain, I can wait the time it takes to labor my daughter, I can listen to my body and I want to feel like I am finally in control of my labor and listening to what it tells me about what I need to do to birth the way nature intended.
I may have to go to a birthing center and get a midwife, I will know after Monday, I am going to talk to my current OB about what my plans are, and if he supports them, then I will stick with the medical center I am currently planned to birth at, otherwise, off to a birthing center I go. One of the most wonderful parts of my 'awakening' to all of this, is the wonderful support I get from my amazing husband, He is the reason I feel like I can do anything I want to..thanks babe!!