Birth Choices

It's funny because, until I got pregnant, I thought I would do things a certain way. I'm a big baby about a lot of medical things (I cannot stand the sight of my own blood) but when I started reading about childbirth and all the options you have, I realized something about myself. I'm not just a baby about a lot of medical things- I just don't really trust medicine to make decisions for me. I don't want to just hand control over to a doctor and trust that everything will be done in my best interest. I don't like being out of control, and if I'm going to be in a position where I won't be in control, I'm very picky about who I trust to take care of things.

So I'm having a natural childbirth. I'm educated, well-read on this subject and Josh and I made a choice based on the things we found to be reliable and sound in research.

Why is it that this offends some people? I was recently at a church gathering and sitting at a table with about 8 or 10 other people that I didn't know very well and when I was asked about plans I admitted that Josh and I wanted a natural childbirth. The obligatory horror stories came from a woman or two but one of the women present seemed to think this was some sort of judgement on her own choice to embrace the needle. I explained that I have a thing about needles and I think it would be more distracting and difficult with it (never mind that the epidural isn't the healthiest choice for my baby) and she proceeded to try to convince me that it wasn't that bad- that my gut instincts were not something I should listen to. It reminded me of the doctor I left two months ago.

I have no problem with other people using drugs- my mother used drugs- and if the need should arise, I will use them. However, I think I define "need" a bit differently than other people. I don't want to be drugged just because there is pain. God made pain for a reason- and feeling it isn't a bad thing if you are willing and able to deal with it. I believe that I am.

So- just to shock the pants off of anyone else out there who is reading this:
I'm breastfeeding exclusively.
We're going to be using cloth diapers for at least the first six months or so. (check out reason number 3 on the link)
I will not be inducing labor, except by ahem natural means :)
and
My main form of pain management will be massage and guided imagery.

(By the way, I've enrolled in a study with the head nurse midwife at Vanderbilt (it's for her doctorate) on guided imagery and the effect that it will have on the third stage of labor. There is a little more medical intervention in the third stage (some internal monitoring) but I think it would be good for the medical world to have more medical support for the mind's ability to heal the body.)

I guess the funny part of all this (to me anyway) is that I hate to lose control, but I'm giving a LOT of control over to God on this one. It's taking a lot of trust on my part to even have this child. The whole idea of giving birth seems so insanely out of control.

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Just a side note- Mom101 had a great post the other day about children and their behavior in public places. It really boiled down to a respect for families... wow I'm not explaining it well. I just thought it was brilliant. Check it out!