Monday, June 15, 2009

Back for Good

Our trip went well and I am excited to have an open datebook with plenty of time to be a mom and write here.
I am just in awe of the magnificence of a woman's ability to nurture a child both in the womb and out. Cliche, but it is simply miraculous. Regarding pregnancy and birth, I feel that each woman must make the choices that are right for her, and those choices are not the same for every woman. Women need to feel safe wherever they birth, whether that be in a hospital, birthing center or in the home.
What is your birth story?
Right now I am working on a project and I would love your input on any or all of the following:

Where did you choose to birth and why?

What was your experience?

What was your partner's role and feelings during the birth?

What did you learn from your birth; before, during and after?

If you birthed naturally, what helped you most to do this?

Did your mother tell you your own birth story?

Did you have plans/hopes prior to the birth? If so, what were they?

If you've had more than one pregnancy/birth, how were they different?

Would you do anything different in future births?

If you are an adoptive mother, what helped you to bond with baby?

And anything else you would like to share regarding birth or motherhood...

Also, please let me know if you prefer your thoughts not be shared with others. If you don't mind sharing, tell me if you would like to do so anonymously or named.

Comment here or Email me at yournaturalbabyandmore@gmail.com

THANK YOU! I look forward to hearing your stories: )

4 comments:

Sarah said...

Hi Emily,

I'll email the info to you. May take me a couple of days but wanted to let you know it was underway!
Sarah

Emily Ruth said...

Thank you Sarah!!!

LaurenOpie said...

So I was bummed there are not more comments here! I love reading birth stories, specifically natural child birth stories. I will share my story here in the comments if that's okay..

I chose to birth at the hospital. Toyed with the idea of a home birth, or trying to find a birth center (the one in AZ that I knew of had shut down a few months before I found out I was expecting). But with insurance stuff, and my worry of having something go horribly wrong with my first delivery I opted for the tradition OB-GYN and delivering at the local Banner hospital.

My experience was great. I had read the book, "Husband coached childbirth" by Dr Bradley. I was planning on no pain medication. The nurses were so awesome with helping me. I used a labor tub for a lot of my labor. I labored at home for as long as possible. I arrived at the hospital 8 cm dialted! However, after 3 more hours of labor when I was checked again I had somehow regressed and was measuring about 6cm. I was really devestated. So I got out of the tub and started walking around as much as I could. After another few hours I had made no change. I was having extremely intense contractions, had thrown up and was sure this baby was about to come, but my water also hadn't broken yet. Finally it was about 8:00am and I had been laboring for 24 hours. I asked for an epidural. My nurse was amazing. She asked me a million times if I was sure that's what I wanted, she told me I was doing so well. But I was exhausted. I wanted some relief so I would be able to push my baby out with minimal intervention. I got the epidural and slept! Just a quick nap, because at 10am I woke up ready to push. At 11:06am Olivia was born. No episiotomoy. Small tear, 2 stitches.

My husband was an extremely active role. He coached me through everything. He never stopped telling me I was amazing, and wonderful. He did exactly what I asked him to do for 26 hours. When he had to go to the bathroom, I made the nurse bring him a bedpan because I didn't want him to leave my side! (Don't tell anyone that part, he'll be embarressed ;)

I really had in my idea what the perfect birth would be. I had it planned out, but I learned that things come up that you simply can not plan for. I was very happy with my experience, even if it wasn't exactly as planned.


Yes, my mother had shared her birth story with me. Emergency C-Section, planned C-section, and then natural. None of them a pleasant story.

I am currently 21 weeks pregnant, and am planning again for a natural childbirth.

Emily Ruth said...

Lauren,
Thank you so much for sharing with us! Don't feel alone, I've been getting birthstories via email and will post the ones that felt comfortable doing so in a future blog.
Thanks again!