how my mind has changed

I've been debating/delaying writing this post because of all the controversy surrounding different methods of childbirth. BUT, I have become so fascinated with this topic and have developed a passion about it and just want to share what I have learned, my thoughts, and my feelings. Before I begin, let me first say that I do not think that one birth plan is better than another. My intentions are not to belittle anyone's experiences with childbirth; they are each beautiful in their own way and have a rightful place to be an option. Whether someone has or plans to deliver naturally, with an epidural, by c-section, at home, in a birthing center, or a hospital, I say to each her own. What works for me may not work for you, and vice versa, and that is totally fine! As long as you do what you believe is best for you and your baby, then I am happy for you. So, moving forward...

Up until roughly a year and a half ago, I thought there was basically only one way to have a baby -- in a hospital, with a doctor, and an epidural. From what I'd seen in movies and what I had heard from the women in my family, I pictured birth as this: lots of yelling, pain, and chaos. And then somehow after all the madness, out comes a tiny human. I'd come to terms with that as my idea of child birth long ago. It wasn't until I was home alone one afternoon, shortly after my wedding, that I was browsing Netflix and came across a documentary called The Business of Being Born. I could write an entire post alone on my thoughts about what I saw, but let's just say an hour and a half later, my mind was racing with all these new ideas. I was so fascinated watching these women give birth with a midwife in their homes without being attached to all kinds of medical equipment and handling the pain on their own. They were in control of their environment and their bodies and had these beautiful births without any intervention. I had never seen anything like it. Before the documentary, when I heard the word "midwife", my mind immediately jumped to a "granola" grandma-type ready to catch a baby with a towel -- a very antiquated idea that is still commonly thought of today. But today's midwives are entirely different. They are very personal, well-educated, and trained extensively in what they do. I was attracted to this new idea of a comfortable, personal, natural experience of birth. I didn't come away with thinking hospitals and doctors are evil (though the documentary doesn't cast them in a very flattering light). Rather, I felt a sense of enlightenment and wanted to know more about my options (I have options?!) and figure out what I wanted for my birth experience when the time came.

Well, the time has come, as I am just over 32 weeks pregnant (HOLLA!) and am working with my husband to take steps in the direction of the birth that we want.
**Funny story time**: Early in our pregnancy, I had Bronson watch the documentary to see if he was on the same page as me. He was on board for whatever I wanted to do, no qualms, no questions asked. I was not fully convinced that he was game until I saw an entirely different expression on his face when I tested him by saying I wanted to eat the placenta/afterbirth (as a joke). THAT is when I discovered the look of horror that would imply he was not on board. He was so relieved when I said I was kidding. Now I believe he's down with almost anything -- the line is drawn at eating the placenta (which I could never do)! I am happy to report that he has been nothing short of incredibly supportive this entire time. **end of tangent**
After much reading and research, we decided that we wanted to combine multiple approaches of child birth, which I love because we can pick-and-choose our favorite things from each approach and customize our "birth plan" to what we are comfortable with and hope it to be. Now, I use "birth plan" loosely, knowing that when it comes down to it, I could have all the t's crossed and i's dotted, but things could go totally opposite from what I want. That's just the nature of child birth and I've accepted that so that my world doesn't fall apart if my birth plan doesn't work out. As long as our baby comes into this world healthy, then I am happy. But we still feel it is important that we have goals and hopefully we can facilitate a birth in the direction we want because of the preparations we are taking now as well as how we plan to approach labor and birth itself.

In a nutshell, our birth plan is to deliver naturally (without drugs, ie. epidural, pitocin) in the hospital with an OB. I originally wanted a midwife, but that wasn't an option with my current insurance (and we couldn't afford one otherwise). I thankfully was able to find an OB practice that has been supportive of my desire for natural birth, as well as find a hospital with accommodations for delivering naturally. For having a baby in a hospital, I feel that we have been very fortunate to have found a happy medium that we are comfortable with.

Now, the big question many of you are probably thinking is, "How in the heck are you going to handle giving birth without any pain medicine/an epidural?!" Some of you may even think I'm cray-cray, which is okay. I would have thought the same of myself a year and a half ago. ;) The question is valid -- how am I going to manage the "pain" of childbirth? When it comes to natural birth, there are several different coping methods/pain management techniques out there, the three big ones are Lamaze (breathing techniques), Bradley Method (husband-coached birth), and HypnoBirthing (a form of hypnotherapy). I have chosen to use HypnoBirthing as my method for managing labor and delivery. When I first heard of HypnoBirthing, my first thoughts were of the "entertainment" hypnosis: getting a pocket watch waved in front of my face, falling asleep, and someone else having power over me. Totally not what HypnoBirthing is. Essentially, the HypnoBirthing philosophy is that childbirth is something that our bodies, as women, are designed to do. It doesn't have to be a fearful or painful experience. When practicing HypnoBirthing, you bring your mind into an ultra-focused state and help facilitate what your body is already meant to do all on its own. You stay aware of what is going on and what is going to happen and keep yourself relaxed so your body doesn't work any harder than necessary. Many women become fearful and tense when giving birth, which hinders the body from performing its natural function efficiently. Women who practice HypnoBirthing have a lower rate of labor interventions such as induction, episiotomy, perineal stitches, epidurals, along with a much lower rate of C-sections, and are more comfortable during birth, and have shorter labors. The stats are fascinating and very encouraging (statistics from 2010 can be found here). Nothing guarantees that labor and delivery will be a piece of cake, but the statistics, along with watching HypnoBirthing births, and hearing from women who have practiced it themselves, has made me excited to put it to use and see how it helps me when I need it most! Bronson and I had our first HB class today and so far we really enjoy it!

If you made it this far, you are awesome! I hope that you maybe thought about something you hadn't before or at least just enjoyed a new perspective. If you have Netflix, definitely check out The Business of Being Born and see what you think for yourself! Whether or not your childbirth philosophy changes doesn't matter to me, but I highly encourage you to educate yourself on your options and see what you think will work for you. OH, and if you have no idea where to even start, a fantastic, un-biased book and easy read is The Birth That's Right For You, which I found at the library or you can find on Amazon here. It is really easy to understand, outlines all the things that you may (or may not) have thought of, and guides you to making your own decisions. To all you soon-to-be mommas out there (and there are MANY of us -- spring babies, woo hoo!), good luck with your birth journeys. Feel free to comment or message me if you have any questions or want to chat about all this fun stuff.