Thursday, August 28, 2008

Homebirth

An article on homebirth:

LA Times Article

Most people don't know this, as I haven't said much. My birth experience was way more medical than I wanted. I was induced, which I did NOT want. I pushed for 2 1/2 hours because the first 2 hours I couldn't feel half of my lower body due to the epidural I had. It wasn't until the epidural started to wear off that I made progress with getting my child out. I was stuck on my back in a bed...which is exactly the WRONG position for giving birth. The thing is, I knew this going into my son's birth. I'm still scratching my head as to why I allowed the "authorities" to take over my son's birth when I knew that I didn't want to be induced, I didn't want to be hooked up to a monitor the entire time, I didn't want to be flat on my back in a bed, and I didn't want to be overmedicated. My child slept for days on end and had a really rough time getting going with breastfeeding. I believe all of the medication really influenced this. Of course I can never know for sure, but that is what I believe. It also didn't help that the nurses in the hospital gave my little one formula without my prior consent or knowledge.

I loved watching Rikki Lake's documentary, "The Business of Being Born" and felt very empowered that I could actually have a homebirth someday. Something that I initially thought was only for those "really out there" people seems so logical and well thought out to me now. I guess I'll just add this to one of the many ways in which I've changed over the last few years!

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