Saturday, May 26, 2012

A Public Declaration. . . with one teeny-tiny exemption. . .

Pregnancy brings a lot of soul-searching.  It's inevitable.  By number three pregnancy, just a short time after number two pregnancy, it seems like old hat.  Only every child deserves their own period of wonderment, special moments of planning and agonizing over names, nursery bedding and coming home outfit.  I do think that pregnancy also brings searching for how this child shall come into this world, or how the parents hope the child comes into the world barring any unforeseen complications.

I have referenced my attempts of being a more hippy, natural, granola mom.  But my previous two births have been pretty standard American fare--in a hospital, epidural, one an induction.  I've done a lot of thinking, a lot of researching and this time, this final time, I hope that this boy can come into this world without an epidural.  I've secretly wanted a medication-free birth forever, but never thought I had the strength to pull it off (or out, for an inappropriate reference).

Then there was Brooklyn's labor.  The one where I checked into the hospital at 9:21 and she was delivered at 10:59.  I got the epidural, yep, sure did.  But the thing is, I got that epidural when I was probably at 9cm, when the goal was 10cm.  It felt like hell.  I looked at Stephanie in a moment of raw pain and said, "I can't do this." But I survived.  Partially because of the epidural, partly because it was fast, but mostly it's because that's what women have been doing for centuries.  I am well-aware that there is no award for forgoing pain-relief in labor.  I am well-aware most people will think I've lost my sensible mind.  That's okay.  I just need my husband, my Stephanie and my doctor and lots of relaxation practice on my side.  It really helps that time is on my side.  Evidently, labors get faster with successive pregnancies AND labors get faster with closely spaced pregnancies.  I am fairly certain we should all just be praying that I'm not on the news for Chris delivering the baby in the car.

So there you have it: a public declaration of my insanity intent to have a medication-free birth.*

(*Please note the exclusionary clause for inductions.  I will be the first to say that Pitocin=epidural.)

2 comments:

Cynthia said...

I thought that book, ' Natural Hospital Birth' by Cynthia Gabriel was pretty helpful. It has a lot of suggestions for handling pain. I'm all for the drugs, but if you want to go without, it may help.

Courtneytcu98 said...

I read that book, Cynthia, and I liked it, too. We'll see how this comes to pass.