Yes, we are expecting our second child and it was a complete surprise. Apparently I prayed a little too hard last semester about passing all of my final tests and I ended up passing a pregnancy test as well.
Being pregnant again has made me think back to my last pregnancy and birth. The only part of my pregnancy that I remember being bad was the first trimester and now I am really feeling it this time around as well. But this time, with not getting as much rest because of a very active toddler, I am suffering more morning sickness all day long and I´m more tired.
I´ve also been looking back at my birth. I had an all natural birth and it was amazing. I´m not saying that it was painless but it was so empowering and it wasn´t a pain that was not tolerable. I´ve been watching Discover Health birth stories and I have just gotten so mad at what the media is saying is normal when it comes to delivery. Pitosen is not something that should be used in a healthy delivery. The only reason Dr.´s want to use it is so they don´t have to stay at the hospital that long. Braking your water is not a good idea. It can rush things along but that water is there to help with the birth. You are risking a C-section if you have your water broken and your baby is not descending in the time that the Dr.´s want then they will give you a C-section. I´m also angry at the fact that almost all of the birthing stories are epidural stories. I´m sorry but the US is just very guilty at making women think that they can not handle birth. That birth is an illness that has to be taken care of by a surgeon. Where have all the midwives gone? Home births are so few and far between and these women are made think by Dr.’s that it is a dangerous practice. I have to say that when I delivered in Iceland that I did not have a home birth but I did deliver on the all natural ward at the hospital called the nest and there I had access and the choice to deliver in water but because of how long I had been in labor and how tall I am I could not get comfortable in the tub. So I delivered in a queen size bed. I did get a little help with the pain of contractions but it was just laughing gas and I had been on it too long by the time it was time to deliver so that was all me. The Midwife that delivered my baby was just there to catch and clean out the airway and then she just handed my my baby. They didn’t take my baby away from me at all for 2 hours and then they only took him over to a table in the same room to measure, weight and give him his vitamin K shot. Then he was handed back to me. For this reason I am going back to Iceland to have this child as well. I want the same experience again. I want the natural no stress delivery where the midwives are there for me and my baby and not doing things just to cover their ass for their their insurance companies.
In a natural delivery women do not need to be told to push. When I delivered I could not have stopped pushing even if I had been asked to. It was so intense that my son came out all at once in one push.
Oh, and one more thing for you mothers that are going to have more children or you women going to have your first child. Cutting the perineum is not better than ripping when you deliver. Cutting will cut though muscle while ripping will rip around and heal faster. That was my biggest fear when having my first son was the pain that would come with ripping. Then when he came I had to ask if I had ripped. I didn’t even know so to you women that have the same fear, fear not.
If you want to know more and be more informed about birth read the book, a thinking woman’s guide to a better birth.
I am glad to hear that you will get to go back to Iceland for Baby #2. I was wondering if you would… I know how important it is to deliver in a place with people and procedures you understand and TRUST.