I want to share my story with you. My son is now 3 months old. I read and read while I was pregnant and decided I wanted a natural labor to be home as long as possible and do be coached by my husband through the pain and hopefully out of a hospital bed. That all changed on July 28, 2013. I went to the hospital for a non-stress test because I was 10 days overdue. [Read more…]
Our Birth and Lactation Story
by Bethany
I had planned to have a drug-free water birth at The Birth Cottage, a freestanding birth center in Milford New Hampshire. I had watched documentaries such as “The Business of Being Born,” “Gentle Birth Choices,” and “Orgasmic Birth,” and therefore was very well-informed of what goes on in many hospital settings. I didn’t trust hospitals and knew I wanted my baby to be born in a safe environment where the baby would remain with me and not be separated after birth, and where I wasn’t at risk of having unnecessary surgery. I had taken childbirth classes in the Bradley Method to prepare for a drug-free birth, during which we read about the many possible dangers to the baby of drugs during labor. I had interviewed and chosen a doula to provide labor support. I even chose to go to a birth center in New Hampshire, rather than having a home birth in Massachusetts where I live, because the laws regarding midwifery are different in New Hampshire and I knew that should I need to transfer to a medical facility, a New Hampshire midwife would get a lot more respect at a New Hampshire hospital than a Mass. midwife at a Mass. hospital. Midwives are actually licensed by the state of New Hampshire, and therefore are acknowledged providers there. [Read more…]
A Book Review of Sage Parenting: Where Nature Meets Nurture
Sage Parenting: Where Nature Meets Nurture by Rachel Rainbolt, MA could have drastically changed how I prepared for motherhood. When I became pregnant I read What to Expect When You’re Expecting like it was the holy bible for pregnant mothers. Each month I read the corresponding chapter about 12 times. I enjoyed reading about my baby. I didn’t know that there was a whole world of parenting books out there and when I gave birth to Jack, while I spent the whole pregnancy following his growth, I wasn’t at all prepared to be his mother. I wasn’t even prepared for birth or the decisions made immediately after birth. [Read more…]
Big: That’s Birth For Ya
Back in high school my friend asked if I wanted to do acid. I asked him what it was like. He said “well, it’s… Big.” “Big? What the hell does that mean?” I asked. “I don’t know how to explain it, it’s just… Big,” he responded. I did acid with this friend and a few days later another friend asked what it was like. I said “well, uuuuh, it was…. Big.” I have read all the books by the writers who have experimented with acid. I have tried myself to explain it to people. Just as our reality is impossible to explain, all other forms of it are twice as hard. [Read more…]
Jack Jack Attack: My Birth Story
41 weeks and another doctor appointment. My doctor had this way of telling me when I was going to go into labor. The week before last she said “you will go into labor next week.” Last week she said “you will go into labor next week.” I knew she was full of shit, but it didn’t help when week after week went by and nothing happened. Last week we decided if there was no baby by today then we would induce. I knew there were risks to induce and I knew there were risks to wait. I put my faith in my doctor to steer me in the right direction. So when she told me today that we were not going to induce I was confused, angry and felt alone. [Read more…]
