Why I do the things I do.....
I have gone through three natural childbirths, and I can honestly say I can’t imagine going through it any other way. I’ve learned and matured with each birth. Avin is our first born and his delivery was amazing. At that time, I really didn’t know much about natural childbirth. Determination was one of the main things that got me through it. I wish I would have been more educated at the time, but I was still able to do it. I knew our bodies were designed to do it, and women had done it for many years. So why not try it? His birth was kinda like what you read in the textbooks. I woke up at 1:00 am with my first contraction. They were 10 mins apart. Then by 3:00 am, they were 8 mins apart. Being uneducated, I wanted to get to the hospital ASAP. So I got there and they told me I was 1cm dilated. Boy that was hard to hear. My doctor wanted me to walk for an hour to see if anything would happen. So that’s what we did, we walked and walked and walked. An hour had passed and I was 3 cm. So they said I could stay. I ended up walking until 9 in the morning. Got into my room at a little after 9:00 and had him around 11:00. With Avin’s labor, I hit a really big wall and didn’t think I could do it. But with the encouragement of Jeff and my mom, they reassured me that I was almost there. At that time I was 7 cm and going through the hardest part of labor.
After Avin’s birth, I was amazed on what I had just experienced, and it really made me do a lot of thinking. I became very passionate about the process of labor and delivery and wanted to tell the world. I probably got on a lot of people nerves because I wanted, and still do, talk about it ALL the time. I hate that women are told that Natural Childbirth is this horrible, painful experience, and they are told from the beginning from friends, family, and even their doctors, “Why would you want to go through all of that?” I decided to look into becoming a Doula. A Doula is someone who coaches women during labor. I started reading books and getting my hands on any information I could about natural childbirth. Wow, I learned so much in that year. I still haven’t become a certified Doula but someday after we’re done with the having babies, I would love to.
Almost 2 years to the day after Avin’s birth, we were in the hospital with Parker’s delivery. Parker’s was a completely different experience than Avin’s birth. I went through a “crazy stage” for about 2 weeks before we actually were in labor. I thought I was in labor and went to the hospital 2 times before it was the real thing. I’ve always said I wasn’t going to be one of those crazy women, but I was! Looking back, it was good for my pride. It made me realize how easy it is for women to think they’re in labor when they aren’t. I was 3 cm for 2 weeks with contractions almost every day. At anytime during those 2 weeks, I could have easily decided to get put on Pitocin to get labor going but of course I wasn’t going to do that. Parker would come when he was ready. A friend of mine kept saying, “You’ll now when it’s real contraction.” She wasn’t lying. It was 4:00pm at Target. I had my first contraction that felt completely different than the ones I was having for weeks. I knew at that time we were going to see Parker really soon!! I finished up my shopping and headed home. We ended up going to the hospital around 7:00pm. Contractions were 3 mins apart. I got to the hospital and was 6 cm. Boy, was I happy!!!! We had Parker around 9:33pm. The one thing I did different with Parker’s birth was mastering the “noodle state of mind” during transition. Transition is the hardest part of labor. It’s the stage right before pushing. I put head phones on and just relaxed my whole body. At the beginning, I was able to laugh and talk with my friends and family in between contractions, but during transition I had to stay focused. A lot of people think that natural childbirth is this horrible, painful thing but really it’s not even close to that. Yes, you experience pain but it’s a different kind of pain. Your body is amazing and it can do amazing things. We were designed to do it. You just can’t fight it. You have to let your body relax and go for it. Believe me when I say, “It’s worth it!!!!!!!!!!”
16 months after Parker’s birth there was Cooper’s. Now Cooper was a different story. My water broke at 3:00pm on Oct 16. I had set down to watch Parker’s birth video and out of no where it just broke. I wasn’t contracting or anything it just broke. I was only 37 weeks pregnant and had been 2 cm dilated for 2 weeks but that wasn’t a big deal to me because I knew I could stay there for weeks or even a month. So when my water broke I knew I had to do something. I called my ob who was on the road leaving for a trip and asked him what I needed to do. He said the hospital would say you need to have the baby within 24 hours but he was fine with 36- 48 hours but I needed to speak to my family doctor who was my back up doctor. So I called my family doctor and he had me come into his office to see if my body was progressing at all and to go over my options. We got to the office around 5:00 and I was 3cm. We hoped that my labor would just pick up on its own but if it didn’t by morning he wanted me to go to the hospital. Nothing happened all night, I got very little sleep, drank probably 200 oz of water (no joke) you amniotic fluid replenishes it’s self every 3 hours so I was trying my hardest to have fluid in there for Cooper. We got to the hospital at 6:00 am Oct 17 with no progress. At this point I knew we needed to do something so by 8:30 I got started on the Pit, Pitocin. I was scared out of my mind, for two reason, one I had no or very little water to help cushion my contractions and two PIT is horrible, it brings your contractions on so strong and so fast. I just didn’t know if I could do it!!!! It took about an hour for contractions to come on constantly. The plan was for the doctor to come in at lunch time and check me. So all morning I had no clue on the progress I was making. At 11:00 contraction where non stop with maybe a 30 sec break. at 12:00 the doctor still wasn’t there so I had the nurse check me and I was 7cm. They took me off the PIT and about 15 mins passed and I felt Cooper coming down the birth canal and said I needed to push. The nurse probably thought I was crazy because she just checked me and i was only at 7 cm but sure enough I was 9. She rushed out of the room to call the doctor and when she left the room I felt the urge to push. No one believed me but my mom looked down and Coopers had was out and the next thing we knew she was laying on the bed. I delivered her with no nurse or no doctor in the room! CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1o mins later the doctor rushes in to deliver the placenta!!!!! I will say I never-never never want the PIT again. Praying that baby number 4 doesn’t need it!!!
So, why am I so passionate about Natural Childbirth? There are so many reasons. I don’t even know where to start. Like I said before, our bodies were uniquely designed to give birth. Women have done it for years. It is the most empowering thing you will ever do. When you have an epidural, you will be stuck in bed with an IV hooked up to you. Then you can’t walk around because you’re catheterized. Also, using medication increases your chance of interventions such as pitocin, forceps and vacuum extraction. Babies that are born naturally are more alert and are able to breastfeed easier. Also, a lot of time women who have an epidural can’t feel the pressure of the baby, so they have trouble pushing the baby out. When you are free of medicine, you are in control of your body. You’ll have less recovery time with Natural Childbirth. With all three deliveries, I was up within a couple hours taking a shower.
Pitocin is used to induce labor or increase the strength or duration of contractions. In the hospital, it seems that Pitocin is used much more frequently, even when its usefulness and safety are still questioned. When given Pitocin, you’re putting yourself at risk of uterine rupture. If labor doesn’t progress as quickly as they would like, then they usually up your Pitocin which makes your contractions even closer and stronger. This can cause the baby’s oxygen supply to decrease and put the baby in distress, which usually ends up in a c-section. The use of Pitocin, when medically not necessary, is very dangerous. When I say medically necessary, I mean if your water breaks and your labor isn’t progressing within 24-48 hours. It doesn’t mean you’re at 39- 40 weeks and you just want the baby out. If the baby shows no sign of stress, then there is no need to induce. A due date is just an estimate date. Your baby will come when it’s ready!!! Pitocin is also used after childbirth to prevent hemorrhage after birth. 5% of women have problems with postpartum hemorrhage. But out of those 5%, 8 out of 10 more than likely had a rushed delivery of the placenta, which means the doctor was in a hurry and didn’t want to take an extra 5 mins to see if the placenta would separate on its own. Breastfeeding immediately after your baby is born helps your body produce the oxytocin it needs to contract the uterus, which helps the placenta separate on its own. So, if you deliver your placenta on its own, the risk of hemorrhage is close to none. So there is no need to have Pitocin after the baby is born. You’re just putting a useless drug into your body! I had Pitocin after Avin’s delivery, and not with Parker’s, and had less bleeding with Parker’s postpartum.
Delay clamping the umbilical cord after delivery, not giving the eye drops, vitamin-k, or hepatitis B shot are things we refuse on baby. Here are some reasons why……
Clamping the Umbilical Cord.
In the hospital, it’s protocol to clamp the umbilical cord as soon as possible. Studies have shown that delayed cord-clamping allows between 25 and 50 percent of the baby’s blood volume to flow into the baby. Early cord-clamping results in fewer red blood cells. Premature babies especially benefit from delayed cord-clamping. You should wait until the umbilical cord is white or has stopped pulsating, which is about 2 mins.
Eye Drop (silver nitrate) is given to the baby for one and only reason. Its prevents babies from blindness if the mom has gonorrhea. Well, I can tell you I don’t have gonorrhea and I’m not going to give my baby something that is completely unnecessary. This is one of the hardest things to refuse in the hospitals. This topic really gets me fired up. They put the eye drops in every baby’s eyes even if delivered by c-section (which means they don’t go through the birth canal and there is no way of them catching the virus). When the babies receive the eye drops, they’re eyes become irritated and it interferes with the baby’s ability to see for several days.
Vitamin k
1 out of 10,000 babies have a vitamin k deficiency and out of that small percentage, babies who have been identified at risk and needing the shot, include those born to mothers who took drugs or antibiotics during pregnancy, premature babies, babies who are born cesarean, early cord clamping of the umbilical cord, and the use of forceps or a vacuum extractor during delivery. The colostrums that babies get during the first few days before her milk comes in is rich in vitamin k.
Hepatitis B Vaccination
Hepatitis B is a disease that is primarily passed by sexual contact or needle sharing. Giving this to newborns is extremely controversial because newborns do not have sex or are not drug users. Side effects include soreness, fever, allergic reactions, digestive disorders, contracting Hepatitis B, and even death.
So those are some reason why I do the things I do. If you are at all interested in Natural Childbirth or not doing what is normal protocol in hospital, I encourage you to research and ask questions. I’m blessed to have an OB and a family doctor that supports me 100%. I would encourage women and men to question why they do the things they do. We live in a really unhealthy world and there are side effects to what you put in your body!
Get EMPOWERED!
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