Natural birth...

Almost three weeks ago, I gave birth to one of the cutest little boys ever. It was another natural birth with very little intervention. (For Jack's birth story go here and here.) It really was a dream-come-true birth, as all the details I had prayed for worked out! I'll have that story up here soon!


I thought first I'd tell a little---or long, being me----story of how and why I choose to go natural, as I have had people ask "Why on earth would you do that?" or, more commonly, say "Wow, I could never do that!". In sharing, I am certainly not seeking to persuade or condemn anyone who thinks otherwise. I think the details of how and where you give birth are very personal and that everyone has to do what they feel most comfortable with. I don't think people who have epidurals or choose c-sections are wrong or making a bad choice. Everyone is different and has different bodies and needs in pregnancy and birth. I would never say "I will never have an epidural/c-section" because every birth is different and I might, depending on the situation next time. But I do love the experiences I've had giving birth to my two boys and I always like hearing people's thoughts on such things, so decided to share my story just for fun.


Though my mom gave birth to all of us without drugs and I knew lots of moms who had natural births and home births, birth did not ever seem like a natural or simple thing to me. I was, and to some degree still am, very squeamish. I was the  girl who fainted when she heard birth stories. I feared the doctor and the hospital and weird things happening to my body. I always knew I wanted to have babies someday, but I was terrified of giving birth and not so sure about pregnancy either. Even after marriage when I went baby-crazy, I was freaked out about it. My plan was to not think about it until I was pregnant and I had to. And that's pretty much what I did. I also hate pain. Until giving birth, I've never really experienced a lot of pain--never broke anything, the only surgery I'd had was my wisdom teeth, I'd never even been able to get my blood drawn, cause I always passed out. Fighting fear and trusting God has always been a big struggle for me and it was definitely the case when it came to giving birth. Yet oddly, it was fear that made me turn to natural birth. After hearing nursing student friends graphically describe the processes related to c-sections and epidurals, (after which I nearly fainted) I decided I didn't want those needles and scalpels and scary doctors near me! (I have gotten over most of those fears, though the scalpel part I'm not such a fan of.) 


So, that led me to natural birth. The pride in me also wanted to prove myself. I was a known wimp. Not the family member known for being tough. I wanted to prove I was tougher than everyone--and I---thought. I'm pretty sure with Jack, most people didn't think I would do it. I wasn't sure I could either. I saw it as a means of challenging myself waaay beyond my comfort zone. I am a researcher--I have to read up on everything before I do it. So once I found out I was pregnant, I began absorbing all the information about natural birth that I could find. I read birth stories online, watched The Business of Being Born, and read lots of books. After studying birth fairly in-depth, my motivation changed. As I learned about how our bodies work during pregnancy and labor, I began to realize that this wasn't some freaky illness I was facing, it was part of what God designed our bodies to do and was actually really amazing. Though there is always a possibility of complication, from the stories I read it seemed like natural birth was safer and had less complications, provided the mom and baby were both healthy. I began to understand why birth hurts and that that pain is not a sign of a problem, but the result of an amazing process that our body does all on its own. The pain was actually a good thing, not something to fear. (Though even now, I still get scared of the pain! I'm not going to say it doesn't hurt!) Though I am extremely grateful for modern medicine and the options of epidurals and c-sections for certain situations, it seemed like science and medicine over all these years hadn't come up with anything that worked better than what our bodies did naturally. I liked this quote from an influential Dutch OB:


"By no means have we been able to improve spontaneous labor in healthy women. Spontaneous and normal labor is a process, marked by a series of events so perfectly attuned to one another that any interference only deflects them from their optimum course."
-Prof. G.J. Kloosterman

It is really cool to see God's design in what my body does in labor. He created all those muscles to work together in a specific way. He even created the teeny little baby to help with the process and to know what to do. (Did you know they spin as they make their way out? Tyler got to see it with Jack and said it was really amazing.) For Liam's birth, probably because it was during the day and I wasn't exhausted, I could really feel everything working together and what was going on. Though those feelings were often painful and I didn't necessarily like them at the time, in retrospect, it was really cool. Though I've done this twice now, I still in many ways am a big wimp. I tell Tyler I think I'm dying on a fairly regular basis. I get a bit freaked out about medical things still. I've not gotten over the occasional faint. But I no longer consider birth a scary medical thing.


I also love my midwives' approach to things. They are all so calm and relaxed about pregnancy and birth. They love to talk and educate. They believe that our bodies are made to give birth. They understand how the process works and how to work with your body. And they also recognize that there are sometimes circumstances that require some help and are partnered with an OBGYN practice that offers back-up in those situations. The hospital I had the boys at is amazing too. Not only does it have queen beds and mountain views, but they approach birth and baby care very naturally too. Many of the nurses have had midwifery training. It was nice to know I wasn't going into a situation where i had to fight for what i wanted. These elements definitely played a huge role in my births being what they were. I'm really grateful we live near a hospital that allows midwives.


So, anyhow, those are my reasons for doing what i did! I never in a million years thought I would be saying this someday but I loved my births and I really love learning about it all. Seeing how all the little details work together to make a baby come out just really have come to provoke an awe in me of how God has created our bodies and has helped me to learn to trust Him in the workings of them and not to live in fear! If I had a different life, being a midwife actually sounds pretty cool. Like I said earlier, I'm not seeking to persuade. However, no matter what approach you choose for birth, I would encourage all women to study and learn how their body works during birth. It has helped me so much to understand what exactly is going on and makes that little miracle I get to hold in my arms at the end all the more amazing to me!