The One That Changed It All (Part 1)

Posted on: July 7, 2015 | Birth Stories

Before I even became pregnant with my 4^th child I knew this one was going to be different.

With our last child, my husband had a fear of me going into labor and having the baby in the car.  I had met some local women who had home births and I was intrigued.  When I mentioned it to my husband, his response was a resounding NO!

I was determined to do everything in my power to have a better birth experience.

I found my local La Leche League and even attended meetings while still pregnant.  It helped me feel supported and really ready for the first time to make breastfeeding work for me and my baby.  I had a friend talk to me towards the end of my last pregnancy about a childbirth class she had taken.  It was too late for me at that point, but with this pregnancy I knew I wanted to take a Bradley Method® class.  I found a local teacher who had taken a maternity leave and convinced her to start teaching again.  I also decided to round out my birth team by adding a doula, someone who provides emotional and physical support during labor.

For the first time in any of my pregnancies I felt completely prepared for childbirth.

Throughout the course of the Bradley Method® series we learned about nutrition, exercise, and relaxation.  We learned about options, so many more options than I even knew existed.  My husband and I came up with a birth plan and we were getting excited.  I went to my next OB appointment ready to discuss things like delayed cord clamping, having food and drink during labor, and no IV fluids among other things.  I was basically told as far as the cord, she would compromise at 1 minute and the rest of the things were not possible.  During one of our classes we watched a portion of The Business of Being Born.  It showed the ‘cascade of interventions’ and that was like watching my last 3 births put into cartoon form right before my eyes.  There was also a video of a woman during a home birth.  She was quiet, beautiful, peaceful, and smiling.

On our drive home from class that night my husband turned off the radio, turned to me, and said “Do you still want to have a home birth?  Let’s talk some more about that.”

I was about 25 weeks pregnant or so when we interviewed midwives and started to plan our home birth.  I decided because it was covered by insurance I would also continue to see my OB.  I was encouraged to share my change of plans with her, but after hearing about other practices in my area dropping patients for this very same thing.  I really liked my doctor and didn’t want to lose her.  However, it came time for the glucose test.  I used my new found knowledge of right to refuse. I told her I had been checking it at home and have not had a problem.  My OB smiled at me and said “We are still going to have you do this anyway.”  That was my last appointment.  These appointments checked my weight, blood pressure, and urine for protein and I would get no more than 10 minutes with my doctor.  My midwives appointments were generally about an hour.  They checked my weight, blood pressure, urine (but for way more things than just protein).  They also checked my blood for iron, I found out this is important because low iron can cause postpartum hemorrhage.    We talked, we discussed the ways I can improve my iron, things I can do to stay healthy during cold & flu season, and so much more.

I felt confident in the care I received.