Natural Childbirth

There has been a lot of discussion about what my childbirth plans are. So to fill everyone in, here it is.....

My ultimate number one goal is to not have a c-section. I think that they are overused in hospitals as a quick and easy way to keep the doctors on schedule. Of course there are obvious medical reasons to use them and plenty of people would not have had a healthy baby without them- I totally understand that! But, I also feel like women have been having babies for thousands of years, and I would like to have my baby naturally. I think I would be devastated if I had to have a c-section, but let's get real - My REAL number one goal is to make sure Baby D is safe and healthy and I will do whatever I can to make sure that happens.

With that being said, in my head (you don't have to agree with me and that's totally fine) the best way to avoid a c-section is to avoid interventions (yes, like epidurals and pitocin). I would be totally down with epidurals and not feeling a darn thing if it did not mess with my body's knowledge of how to handle the labor. Again, I am not the only woman in the history of mankind to have a baby.

Also, I am super cheap and I don't want to pay for one. Even though Zach would do it in a heartbeat, I am the one that is the cheapo. I cannot make that justification (maybe I will get back to you at 7 cm dilation, but for now, I can't justify wasting our money like that). And, that needle totally scares the poo out of me!~

Third of all, I am about as stubborn as you can get. I don't go around shouting from the rooftops that I want to have a natural childbirth, but if someone asks me I will tell them. For the most part, I am met with "you are crazy"- and actually in all of our birthing classes and in stories of labor they are mostly tailored to the fact that all of the women will get epidurals. Well, you know me- that means that I don't want to get one. If everyone is doing it- then I don't want to. Haha- I guess that's just how I operate in a weird way. Same thing with the drinking- if that is what everyone is doing- then I don't want to.

I would love to say that an epidural is always an option- but I know that if I have that in the back of my mind I will take the easy way out. I have to pretend like that is not one of my options.

I am also absolutely terrified of pitocin. This is the drug that is given to the mom in order to speed up the labor process (if she is not progressing on her own). That sounds great right? Well, basically all of that pain that you were going to feel over hours of birthing is packed into a much shorter amount of time and the mom has much less rest between contractions. Although it happens, it it makes it much harder for a mom to still go natural when on pitocin.

Also, there is this little thing called "pit to distress"- I am not big on conspiracy theories and I really don't believe in them (some people say that pit to distress is something like this.... "All that Pit is not to coerce mom’s body into birthing ASAP so they can turn that moneymaking bed over, but to purposefully squeeze all the oxygen out of her baby so they can put on a concerned face and say, “Oh dear, looks like we’re heading to the OR!”") I really do not think doctors actively think like this- they shouldn't be a doctor if they did. But I have researched the effects of pitocin on the labor process. It can put stress on the baby if given too much of a dosage, which is why many moms can end up in the OR with a c-section. Obviously I do not want any intervention to put stress on Baby D- but I also again will stress the fact that women have been having babies for thousands of years! Not all women are the same, and not all women are on a quick birth process. Sometimes it takes longer than that. I would like my body to tell me what is going on and how fast it wants to go.

Well, all in all- that is my goal. But again, Baby D's safety is the ultimate concern and I will do whatever I need to do for him to get here!

My disclaimer is that I am not a crazy person who runs around telling people who get c-sections and epidurals that they are crazy. Every person is different and every person should have the right to decide on their own- this is just my goal.

This is a trailer of the Ricki Lake movie that I got from Keight Dukes' blog - I know, I know- Just because I said "Ricki Lake" you probably won't watch it. But, it is pretty powerful and I think it's worth the 2 minutes of your life to watch it.