Wow, it has been awhile! GT and I have been sooooo busy preparing for the future. We have been attending parenting classes at our church, going to Bradley classes and we just started birth classes at the hospital here. It is good to keep busy, but being 8 months preggo is exhausting in itself!
As I said in my previous post, GT and I made the decision a few months ago to invest in learning about the Bradley method which is a way to give birth naturally. I will have to say I am very tired of hearing all the negative comments when someone finds out that I wish to give birth naturally. I have learned not to tell people, because most people are not in favor of it and they usually think I am crazy. So I have chosen to vent by blogging about it. I hope to keep this up weekly to share my thoughts, ideas, research etc...on birth, not just natural child birth, but birth in general. I love to learn and this experience has been very very enlightening to me and GT. I think we as society accept too many things without questioning, and the birth of a child is not something to take as lightly as we often do. So with that said, I decided to start my first "birth" blog with the story of how I got interested in natural child birth. (Disclaimer: Some of my entries might be a little "gross" to someone who is not interested in child birth or who isnt comfortable talking about it...so if it grosses you out, you might not want to read the next few post, but this one wont be bad!)
When I first found out I was pregnant, having an epidural was the only option for me. The question of, Are you going to get an epidural?, was like a given YES! The biggest thing that was important to me was breast feeding. So I bought this big book (Everything Book on Breastfeeding) which I highly recommend. When I was finished with that, I had so much fun learning about my body and what it would be like, etc...that I decided, well I probably need to read about child birth too, to know what to expect and what I want...boy was I in for a surprise. So I purchased 3 books: The Birth Book by the Sears, and The Bradley Way by Susan McCutheon, and I dont even remember the 3rd one. Prior to reading these books, I had told my husband on a whim, I think I could do natural child birth if I wanted to. So it was kind of already in my mind, but I wasnt all too serious.
SO- then I started reading and learning. This was the biggest lesson I have learned through all of this...as a woman, as a family, I think decisions regarding the birth of a child should be educated decisions. Some women want epidurals, some want caesarean sections, some want natural child birth...whatever it might be, I think a woman and her partner should become as educated as they can about what they want for the birth of their child. Once I have read the information found in these books, and what we are learning in classes on the internet, I personally do not feel like I have any choice but natural child birth. Which I know it sounds nutso, but I am SO excited about it!
So what have I learned? That is a great question, and I will share it with you in my next posts over the next few weeks! I totally know these are my opinions and how I feel. It is probably very different for you and that is why I am wanting to post this information. Not to make women feel like I do or even have a natural child birth, I am doing it because I think knowledge=power. I think women are very uneducated about birth in American and I believe sometimes the medical field likes it that way. These posts will just be to encourage you to think about it--and if your not pregnant or not planning on becoming pregnant, you probably wont care anyway :) Please let these just be a starter of doing your on research and finding out what is best for YOU and YOUR birth!
