Archive for Experiencing the miracle of birth
October 22, 2009 at 6:48 pm
· Filed under Choosing your care and support, Experiencing the miracle of birth ·Tagged birth, choice, delivery, delivery process, inclusion, web-cam
Jenny chose to have a natural home birth with a midwife present. This immediately made sense to her. Her Mom had done it and therefore she felt she could too. It wasn’t unfamiliar inside her family. Her Mom had experienced a home birth and her mother-in-law had experienced a natural childbirth. So there was immediate support and understanding in her extended family.
Jenny got a referral from a woman who had given birth with a particular midwife a few times. Jenny met with this midwife and found her to be positive and upbeat. The midwife confirmed her decision as a great one, shared her stats with Jenny, and asked if she had any questions. Jenny didn’t. She didn’t look further. She didn’t have to.
An inquiry Jenny spent more time with was who to have at her birth. Read the rest of this entry »
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September 24, 2009 at 7:25 pm
· Filed under Choosing your care and support, Experiencing the miracle of birth ·Tagged birth, choice, delivery, home birth, midwife, pregnant, sharing your experience, unassisted birth
This week’s blog entry is written by Debi. Debi is a life coach, Children’s book writer (www.njoybooks.com), and regular blogger (www.njoybooks.com/sunnydays).
Debi writes: Angels woke me up the night Ellie was born to let me know that she was about to arrive. I was asleep in one of our living room chairs when I was awakened by the absolute knowing that birth was about to begin. As I arose from the chair, I thought how crazy that was, because there were no obvious signs that that was the case. I went into the bedroom and lay down when suddenly my water broke. From all the literature I had read, we had loads of time before having to arrive at the hospital, so I took my time taking a shower, blow drying my hair, preparing myself. I was still feeling good, just occasionally a slight contraction that would slow me down. My husband, Thom began timing my contractions and he realized that we needed to be at the hospital five minutes ago. Weird. I was still feeling like taking my time. Read the rest of this entry »
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July 7, 2009 at 12:55 am
· Filed under Experiencing the miracle of birth ·Tagged unassisted birth, pregnancy, pregnant, birth, delivery, delivery process
In Debra’s family, they talk about birth. The stories are passed down from generation to generation. Since Debra was a little girl she’s known that her great grandmother gave birth to 8 kids at home. She’d work at the family farm store all day and then when she would feel that it was about time, she’d come into her kitchen, dangle herself over the kitchen sink and give birth there. It was something that was talked about and handled in a real straightforward manner. The older siblings would know what was going on and in some instances helped catch their new younger siblings as they were born when the family doctors did not make it in time. It was not something to hide from the family. It was not considered too messy or intimate to be shared.
Debra also knew that her Grandmother used a birth room at her physician’s home to deliver her mother. And, she knows her Mom’s stories and how she (Debra) was born 20 minutes after her mother arrived at her birth room in the hospital. The details were discussed and celebrated in her family. For her big Italian family, it was a right of passage!
I think it’s amazing how many mothers and daughters – let alone full families – haven’t discussed the birth process. And, for some who gave birth between the approximate years of 1920 to 1940, they might not know their birth story. This was a time when many hospitals routinely put the expectant Moms under anesthetic and they woke up after their babies were delivered from their wombs. How strange and disorienting it seems to me now.
I’m excited that more and more of us giving birth are being very intentional about what we’re creating and are sharing our full stories: including the good, the disappointing and the miraculous! Let’s talk freely and openly. What a service to those around us.
And, I get that there are still stories and aspects of our experiences that we don’t always feel safe to share. We’re not sure they’ll be understood – at least not without a LOT of context. Or we’re afraid that we’ll be judged or be the recipient of an “ah gross” face because they feel we’ve just shared too much information. Birth is a beautiful, miraculous, creative experience. It’s also a bloody, goopy, and sometimes poopy experience!
Please join the conversation: What do you wish we all talked about more? What judgments are you most concerned about if you were to share it all?
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June 16, 2009 at 3:32 am
· Filed under Experiencing the miracle of birth, Honoring each others' choices ·Tagged baby, birth, delivery, delivery process, pregnancy, pregnant, Transforming the conversation
Julie reflected over the events of the past couple of days. And boy were there some events to consider! She held in her arms a beautiful baby boy. Her baby was colicky, yet for the moment he was calm so she was going to consider and revel in what she had accomplished. She gave birth to a baby. Now, it didn’t happen the way she might have originally thought it might. And it unfolded in a way that was comfortable to her. Read the rest of this entry »
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June 2, 2009 at 4:50 am
· Filed under Experiencing the miracle of birth ·Tagged baby, birth, delivery, getting pregnant, pregnancy, pregnant, sharing your experience, Transforming the conversation
At the end of her second pregnancy, Marianne gave birth to a healthy baby and to another beautiful baby she would soon bury. She had been pregnant with twins. The pregnancy went great. They felt so blessed to be adding 2 little babies to their family. They didn’t find out gender and Marianne was hoping to add at least one girl to her family. She had a young toddler boy already. And, she knew – boys or girls – she was ecstatic to be adding to her family in this big way. At her 37.5 week doctor’s appointment, the doctor could only find one heart beat. One of her babies had died. Ahhh. I don’t know…as a mother it’s tough to even write those words. I feel so much sadness for this family. Read the rest of this entry »
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March 28, 2009 at 9:52 pm
· Filed under Experiencing the miracle of birth ·Tagged baby, birth, Looking forward to your pregnancy, pregnant, Transforming the conversation
Especially for something you’ve never experienced before?
Jill spent her pregnancy preparing in a particular way for her birth process. She was aware of practice called kiva (in fact she teaches that in her doula practice) in which a person becomes internally focused. It’s a type of focus where you are super present to the present – what’s going on with your feelings, vibrational energy and physically with your body in that moment. Jill knew that she wanted the ability to literally transition herself to an altered state of consciousness during birth, without the use of chemicals. And, she knew that she would need to practice in order to be able to do that during the birth process. Being internally focused when there are things going on in your external environment to prepare for the birth (whether it’s in a hospital, your home or somewhere in between, there are plenty of circumstances to distract you!) takes something.
There are ways to practice kiva – to practice creating that sacred space. Read the rest of this entry »
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January 27, 2009 at 11:53 pm
· Filed under Experiencing the miracle of birth, Transforming the conversation ·Tagged Transforming the conversation, choice, Honoring each others' choices, unassisted birth, birth, delivery
Christi writes, “I interviewed with you for the book in the early stages of my pregnancy (my second). Just wanted to let you know that my visualizations worked – on Sunday, I had a GLORIOUS, triumphant homebirth with my son, Henry! Exactly how I pictured it. It took a lot of work on my part during my pregnancy to get past the fears, doubts, and past memories of my C-section…(read more on Christi’s blog) but I worked through it day by day, as we spoke about so many months ago… and it happened!
It took 9+ months to intentionally make the shift, and there were many things, people, and experiences that were a part of it. I feel very blessed.”
Please join the conversation: What’s your update? Where are you in the phases of parenthood?
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