Thursday, August 27, 2009

Decision Made

One thing that my mom instilled in her daughters was that having a baby is a natural thing. Pregnancy is not an illness. Our bodies were created to be able to push out a baby,etc,etc. She was a childbirth educator, labor and delivery RN, and a Doula for most of my childhood years. I remember flipcharts of uteruses and vaginas set up in the livingroom for classes. I was probably a toddler when I saw my first birth film. When I was a teenager she started her own doula service and would often recount the awesome births she experienced where the woman gave birth naturally. Then my older sister had 3 kids before I got pregnant with my first. And she had them all naturally with the deliveries being just awesome. So when it was finally my chance to have my first baby, I had all these big plans. I wanted to at least labor in the water, possibly have a waterbirth. I arranged to rent a pool from a place in Oregon to be sent to me and then set up by us in the hospital when the time came. I was going to a midwife who delivered my sister's 3rd and who I just loved. Everything was going as planned and I was so excited until my prenatal appointment at 34 weeks. My bloodpressure was elevated and my midwife felt like we should have the doctor do an ultrasound. When he did, he was alarmed to see hardly any amniotic fluid. Then they sent me to the next room to do a nonstress test to check on the baby. Tears filled my eyes and I cried as I realized things weren't looking good. This was definetely NOT in my plans. I didn't want to believe what I was hearing when they told me I needed to be on strict bedrest, laying only on my sides. One week after being on bedrest, I woke up bleeding and 2 hours later my baby was born by c-section. I had placental abruption so it was basically an emergency. Lydia was a little miracle baby. She weighed only 4 lbs 7 3/4 oz, but she was perfectly healthy! I was able to come to terms with MY plans being drastically changed for the safety of my baby, but I was bothered by the fact that the c-section would forever be an obstacle for me if I was gonna have more babies, which I was. I was determined to not have any more c-sections. So when I got pregnant with my second, I was in search of a doctor who would deliver a VBAC(vaginal birth after cesarean). We found one and Micah was born beautifully and naturally! And then Nathan's birth was even smoother. Which brings me to our big decision finally made. I'm going to get to have a homebirth! We met with a midwife on Tuesday and got to meet her nurse who attends the births as well. Since then, we've been trying to figure out how much will be covered by insurance and if this is what is best for us. Today we made the decision to go for it and I made my first appointment for next week. I am so happy to have it settled in my mind. The appointments will be at the office and then when it's that time, the nurse and the midwife will come to our house for the delivery. This is like a dream for me. I wanted to tell the full story(sorry it was sooo long!) just to show where I'm coming from and how much this means to me!

9 comments:

christian gal said...

Holy cow this is the aunt and mom i remember i miss you so much and i wish the best for u uncle jon and the kids lot of love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oneblessedmamma said...

You left out the part about us serenading you with Christmas Carols in your living room the night Lydia was born, LOL.
So who are you going with as your midwife?

Sonya said...

WooHoo! I know that there will not be outside spectators! But I am excited for you!

atotallydifferentperson said...

OBM- I know, I left out a few details about that night. Like my mom's cat peeing, puking, and pooping across my house when I was trying to go to sleep!
Karen is no longer practicing, but she recommended Diane Albright w/All Bright Beginnings and so far she seems great!

Jayce said...

I was gonna mention the cat... Ew.
Woooohoooo! I am so excited for you!

Anonymous said...

How exciting! I always wanted to do a home birth. I really wished I had done that with Sophie.

DebiH. said...

That's wonderful! It's good to see you blogging again. I sometimes wish my third birth had gone differently and that I would have been able to go on to have 2 more natural births but it was not to be. What a special time it will be for your family!

Melissa said...

Great news! Very exciting!

Smith Schoolhouse said...

sorry- I am JUST NOW reading this! I am so behind on blog reading.

WOW! What an emotional post! I was laughing at the beginning thinking about the childbirth posters and videos! Then teary thinking about your unmet expectation with Lydi's birth. Then full of pride thinking about Micah & Nathan's births. And then awe thinking about what is to come with a homebirth!

I am SO HAPPY for you!

Love,

Riss