Homebirth: Not Just for the Crunchy, Country Folks

Recently, I have had many women comment about their "normal" friends birthing at home. Many people are under the misconception that only "weird" people have babies at home. I can tell you that growing up I may have been guilty to think that only certain types of people had babies at home. I now know differently.

I grew up in a rural community in Kansas. If you were to ask me as a teen what I thought about homebirth?" I would probably have told you that I am sure that the local Mennonite community was maybe the only group that would birth at home. My mother had five natural, unmedicated, hospital births, but I don't think I even knew there were any other options.

When my sister and her husband got pregnant with their first child in 2005, they decided to have a home birth. They live in Northwest Arkansas where they have access to midwives that would come to their home for prenatal visits and then for the birth. They don't have birthing
centers in their immediate area.

I recently sat down with my sister to ask her specific questions about her homebirth experience and the choices they made surrounding their pregnancy and birth. "I don't like drugs or pressure," she told me when asked why they decided to have their children at home. After interviewing local midwives, they made their choice based on the openness of the midwives, their loving spirit, and their passion for birth. (*Pictured is my sister with her daughter who was born at home in August 2008.)

She went on to say she had a positive, interested reaction from friends and family. No one ever made them feel bad or guilty for having a home birth. They got asked many questions that they could easily answer because of their comfort level with birthing at home. Her only concern with homebirth was "the worst case scenario" option which, in their mind, they were believing that they weren't going to have. And, they never did with either birth.

They loved both of their experiences with having babies at home. The intimate, safe, calm, peaceful atmosphere is what they desired for the baby and themselves and it was perfect for them. She believes the safest place to have a baby is where a mother and her support feel most comfortable. She read that during her first pregnancy and tells that to anyone asking advice.

"It is awesome," is her response to having a homebirth, "the love and care you get at home and the approach to labor and newborn care is refreshing and reassuring." She would tell anyone on the fence to keep doing research. If one of the parents is not in agreement with the other, continue to get educated. Read books, watch documentaries on birth, talk to friends who have had a homebirth experience, and talk to midwives, natural childbirth educators, and doulas. Make a final decision based on education, not fear.

Homebirth is safe. Midwives come fully prepared for anything that could happen during and after birth. I wouldn't say that homebirth is for every couple, but certainly I believe that it is a glorious option for every low-risk, healthy mother and baby.

Childbirth Education

Did you prepare for your birth with childbirth education classes? Lamaze, Bradley, HypnoBirthing or another?

Why or why did you not choose to take a class?

What class did you take?

Tell me about your experiences and how it affected your birth.

And the random winner is.......

Congrats, HANNAH MACBETH!!! She is a great high school friend has three precious little girls. Visit her awesome blog...click here!

A Petition for Health

Today on the radio I heard an ad that was promoting a petition for "free your health care". The idea is to not let the government run our health care system and to ensure that it stays in the hand of the people. If the government takes control, we will not see as many options of our own desires for care available. I looked into the website (here) and decided I needed to sign the petition.

I rarely share my "opinion" on my blog, but I feel so strongly about this that I must share it today. As a practitioner in the "alternative health care community", I believe in massage, chiropractic, natural birth, homeopathy, acupuncture...and so much more. Do I really want the government to put restrictions on these alternative health care services (or even mainstream health care for that matter)? Do I not have a right to choose and obtain the health care of my choice without the government putting restrictions up for what I can do for myself and my family in time of need? Or, what insurance can or cannot pay for?

Although, most alternative health care options are not covered by insurance, I truly believe that it is imperative that people should have access to these options if they choose. For example, it would be a shame if the government had control of birthing centers or even decided that it was against the law to have your baby at home.

One reason I am so passionate about this topic is that I have seen first hand the benefits of alternative health care on for acute and chronic illnesses. When my sister was sixteen years old, she was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis....a chronic, devastating colon disease. With only the use of alternative treatments such as acupuncture, dramatic diet changes, and yoga, she is completely well today, eleven years later.

What are your thoughts on this?

One More Day

Remember the giveaway? You still have one more day. Click here to enter!

Coming Full Circle - Ch.5

CHAPTER 5

When I awoke from my groggy, post-surgical state, I could faintly see the television on in front of me. It was now Thursday around noon. I looked over to see Scott and his dad sitting next to me in the chairs. The doctor had already visited with Scott and shown him pictures of the 5wk 6day baby they had taken out of me along with my left fallopian tube that didn't survive the event. Had we waited even just a few more hours and my tube had ruptured, I would have bled out with within two hours. Yes, I am blessed.

When I came to fully, one of my firsts calls was to my friend Marissa. Her dad is a pastor in our church. She didn't know any of what had just gone on. When I told her, she immediately said she would come right away. She came with her dad and daughter to pray for my recovery. They didn't stay long. I was going to be heading home in the next couple of hours anyway.

First things first though. You have to empty your bladder before they let you leave. Sounds easy, but it isn't. Once that was accomplished, I was free to go. It was all such a blur. I don't even remember anything that happened between getting into the wheel chair and getting into the car. Thankfully, it was a short drive home.

I went straight to bed when I got to the house. Scott laid down next to me. We both needed the sleep. Mom still was on her way. The next thing I knew, she was standing at the side of my bed. She was saying some things, but I don't remember any of them now. She brought me a smoothie. She had also brought me lots of supplements and herbs for my rehab.

For the next few days, I had friends coming in and out bringing us food and stopping for visits. I am so grateful for so many wonderful, amazing friends that surrounded me during that time.

The plan was to get well enough to go to Arkansas on Monday. My sister was still sick, and had a newborn, a husband, and a two year old, and she also needed her momma. Most of the weekend was spent watching the Olympics. Saturday was when it hit me. I had been okay emotionally until then. When I think back, I am thankful to not have known that I was pregnant before the loss. There wasn't much time to mourn a loss when we only had just a short while from the time we found out till the time I had surgery.

I began to have a flood of emotions that Saturday. I had been pregnant. My body had betrayed me. Why did this happen to us? I have one less body part. So many things were going on in my head and in my heart. Shortly after that day, I wrote this down and it has become my prayer:

"Lord, I know you have a will and a reason for everything that happens in our lives.

This little baby that was growing inside of me that was taken so suddenly has a meaning and a purpose for its existence.

Lord, teach Scott and I what you have us to learn from this. Help us to grow and to be stronger and to be able to help others from what we have experienced."

That prayer sits in my prayer box and every once in a while I read it. I believe that I have had this experience to help others in their journey through this life.

Slowly, I began for feel better physically. Every now and then, I have a moment when I want to ask "why?", but usually catch myself and grin, knowing that I know the "why". I think deep down we all know the "why" when things like this happen.

My current prayer is for another life to join us in this life's journey. But until then, I know that every day I have is a day that I have to touch another soul in a way that I may not have been able to otherwise. And, for now, I am a mother of a heavenly baby, awaiting on our gift to come to this earth to live with us.

~The End. (or actually...To Be Continued one day...stay tuned)

Coming Full Circle - Ch. 4

CHAPTER 4

At 5:00am the sonographer came in with his big machine. He was a nice guy. I asked him if he was there to take a better look at my cyst. He said "well, I was told you are pregnant and that I need to take a look to see what is going on." And that is how I found out I was pregnant, sadly without my husband there with me. He had brought an obnoxious nurse with him for the procedure. He prodded and poked around on my belly. It was not the most comfortable experience, I will say that. I remember him telling me that there was no baby in my uterus. At that point I knew that with all the bleeding, no baby in the uterus, and a positive pregnancy test, this was not a good combination. It got to be kind of a blur after that. I do seem to recall the moment he told me that the baby was growing in my tube. There was a lot of whooshing sounds. At one point the nurse asked in very chipper voice "is that the heartbeat?" Seriously lady!? You are a nurse. You should know better than to ask that question when you clearly know that my pregnancy would not be sustainable after hearing what the sonographer just told me. The answer from him to many of my questions that followed was, "I will let the doctor answer that for you." I knew he knew it wasn't good and wasn't allowed to share a lot of medical information with me. I bet that makes their job hard. In the middle of the sonogram, Scott came back in and I told him about the baby, but that it wasn't good news. When the sonogram was finished at about 6:00am we waited only about five minutes for the ER doctor to come back in.

When he returned, he wasted no time in telling us that I indeed had an ectopic pregnancy that was growing in my left tube. He said that the the gynecologist on call was on his way down and that I would be having surgery as soon as possible. I asked him what my other options were. I think I caught him off guard with that question because there were no other options at that point, other than being dead I guess. He left and we sat on the hospital bed and cried and prayed. Then, I called my mom who was still in Arkansas helping my sister and her family with the new baby. It was about 6:15am. I told her that I was headed into surgery. Unfortunately, this was not the most opportune time. My sister had developed a pretty bad case of mastitis and was sick with a fever. I told my mom to stay with her, but she said she would come down anyway.

The gynecologist came into the room and found us a bit shook up. Scott was taking it harder than I was. He was really concerned for me. The doctor explained to us what he was going to do. I was sitting up on the bed and Scott sat in a chair across from me. Mom had asked me to make sure he knew what he was doing. I was going to make sure I was fully informed before going under the knife. His response to my obviously ridiculous question of "have you done this procedure many times before" was "well, let's just say this isn't my first rodeo." Then, when I asked him how much this was going to cost, he looked at me like I was half crazy. He told me not to worry about the cost. This was going to save my life. I would find out later that the cost of saving a life comes at a very high price. He also reassured Scott that he would keep him in the loop every step of the way. Then he left the room.

I was again poked and prodded and put under for surgery at the brand new Baylor Women's Center. Then, by 9:00am I was in surgery.