I was one of those people that looooved to watch the TV shows like A Baby Story, Maternity Ward, Labor & Delivery and whatnot. As the years went by I found myself thinking and commenting to myself a lot about what was happening in the shows. "I don't want that to happen" or "That's not going to be me." As the years passed I formed a picture in my head of what I wanted it to be like for me:
I wanted it to be quiet and dark. I really wanted to have a water birth. No doctors and nurses yelling at me to push harder. I wanted to hold my baby right away if not help pull him/her out. I wanted to breastfeed as soon as possible. I did not want spectators. I really didn't want to be hooked up to a bunch of machines. I didn't want pain meds or interventions. I don't watch those shows anymore.
So when I moved home from AZ I started looking into what hospitals offered. Unfortunately the Duluth area does not have any birthing centers or birth tubs in their hospitals. I put off these thoughts for a while until I got married. Now having a baby was a reality and I had to make my 1st decision as a future parent. How was this future baby going to be born? I never really thought much of a midwife until a wonderful friend had her baby at home and spoke about what an amazing experience it was to give birth naturally. I did my research and found a local midwife, Jana. I talked to her, when I found out I was pregnant, we met with her for a little interview to see if it was really the right thing and I knew it was when I left her office.
Just to clear things up: a midwife is a medically trained professional. It's not "some lady who comes to my house to catch my baby." I heard that from a person or two :-) Jana was my friend, therapist, adviser and more. She carries oxygen, meds for hemorrhaging, kits for suturing and various other medical supplies. I looked forward to my appointments. I'm not sure many can say they looked forward to seeing their OB's. My appointments were usually an hour and a half and we talked about everything. My family, her family and kids, marriage, hopes and dreams, fears, nutrition, tests .. everything. I trusted her completely. She didn't pressure me to do anything just gave me the facts and let me decide. Even at the end when my blood pressure was going up and up I trusted her to tell me when it wasn't safe any more. . and she did. She was right beside me the whole time I was in labor, came to visit the next day and made several postnatal visits to my house. We had planned that quiet, dark birth in a tub of water but as I said before God had other plans. You might be wondering if I had to pay for her and the hospital and yes I kind of ended up paying more but luckily we had insurance that covered most of both a midwife and hospital expenses. The money is about the only down side, if you end up going to the hospital. If I hadn't ended up with complications at the end prenatal, the birth and 6 weeks of postnatal care would have been practically free!
At this point I'm not 100% sure what I'll do for the next baby. I'm determined to push a kid out of me and really am going to do everything I can to make sure that happens, whether it's in a hospital or at home!
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