The Knowledge I've Gained

I am almost 27 weeks pregnant now and the pregnancy is going very very well. I have made sure to drink plenty of water, I have been doing prenatal yoga, and lots of swimming, and taking my prenatal vitamins regularly this time! I have had less aches and pains and more energy as a result. Caroline is really becoming aware of our little Katie, and likes to show people my belly and talk to it. It is cute, sometimes she thinks she has a baby in her belly and maybe even in her daddy's belly LOL.
I have really stepped up and taken charge over my learning for the midwifery. I am almost done with the Orientation stage and should have it mailed within the next few weeks! That means that after I turn in the Orientation assignments I will be able to start on the curriculum!!! In just this past year I have learned so much. I think armed with this knowledge and all the work I am doing to keep healthy is why my pregnancy is going so well.
I am not nervous about my home birth at all. In fact I feel so much more relaxed that we are going to be here for the birth. I will be in my own familiar surroundings, everyone around me is someone I know and love, and I will be able to control what does and does not happen around me. I especially love that I will not be disturbed while I am in labor.
I have done alot of reading this pregnancy...so far I have read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and Spiritual Midwifery, both of which I highly recommend. I have also read Sarah Buckley's Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering which is one of my new favorite books, and one I plan to do a separate blog on. I just recently finished Henci Goer's Thinking Woman's Guide to Childbirth which has a lot of good information in it, but very biased (which she does warn you about in the introduction of the book) and I am currently reading Penny Simkin's The Birth Partner which is a must have if you are planning on working in the birthing world.
Just from these six books, I have gained a wealth of knowledge and ideas on how I can make this birth the best one! If anyone wants to borrow any of these books, just let me know :)
Well, I am going to take a nap while I can, lol. Caroline is down for her nap, and I have the dishes and laundry going, I think that is pretty good for the day :-D

Catching up!

Hello all, it has been too long I know. A lot has happened since that last time I wrote, I found out in February that I am pregnant again! We are all so excited. I am very glad and proud to announce that I am having a homebirth!! I will be chronicling my pregnancy and getting ready for a homebirth so people can see what it is like.

I know how lucky I am to have such a supportive husband. He is not the homebirth advocate like me, but he is willing and not worried about me having the baby at home, which is so important when having a homebirth! I have read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and am halfway through Spiritual Midwifery both wonderful reads for those interested in a homebirth.

My midwives are Margarett Scott and Anne Coffee from Heaven Sent Births in Oklahoma City. Margarett is also my preceptor! So this is going to be a fun birth with friends from all sides! We will be scheduling my first prenatal in the next few weeks.

I am 13 weeks pregnant right now and we will be having an US sometime to find out what the baby is (we can't even wait to get out of the mall parking lot without giving each other the Christmas presents we bought for each other, let alone wait to find out what we are having, lol!). I think that I am having a boy, but Adrian thinks we are having a little girl. But we will be happy either way because this one will not be our last one. We want a big family.

Well I am going to stop for now, I could blog forever about all of the details, but I will leave the rest for other posts. Can't wait to share all of this with everyone!

Filled with disbelief!

I am so frustrated! I can not believe what people are willing to say to get the fear spread about birth! I will not name any names, because I don't want to give this person any more publicity than they already have!

I will keep this as short as I can! The other night I entered into a debate about the saftey of birth with a person who is an OB. This person has decided to dedicate their life to spreading fear about birth! At one point they actually told me that birth was an unsafe thing to happen and in essence that the only way women have healthy pregnancies and births is because of hospitals and dr's. I try and remember that this dr. has had to have seen some very sad tragedies happen in the birthing world, and I would like to hope that this is why they have decided to lable it as something that is so dangerous to us!

I think the thing that I had the hardest time with, was that this person went on to say that there were no studies that proved homebirth was something that was a safe choice for a normal pregnancy. Of course there are studies out there that prove that it is, but the thing is this person goes and picks apart all of the studies rendering them useless in their mind! We have to understand everything on their terms and with their vocabulary, a very unfair playing field.

Everyone knows that I feel that birth is a safe thing and that homebirth is a safe option for those that want a homebirth. This person also wants people to believe that all homebirth advocates are self rightous and trying to say that their way is the best and only way. This is not true, and again unfair. This person knows good and well that there will always be people on the extreme end of things, but to label all homebirthers this way is just a tactic to make the whole lot look childish and stupid.

The saddest part of this is, that this person will never be able to see it in the way we know it. There is a different way of thinking. I was talking to someone about this. It is like a Naturopathic dr (who thinks Holistically) trying to talk to an MD (who thinks symptomly) they both want to do the same thing, have healthy people, but go about it in two different ways. It is hard for one side to see the other's side because they have different ways of looking at the situation.

In closing I would just like to say that birth is a normal and safe life event that we are lucky enough to experience! There will always be things that couldchange the normalcy of a birth, but those situations would mean that the dr. would need to be called in! Why can't we just all work together, because what we all want are healthy mamas and babies!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! Everyone always has a resolution so I just want to talk about mine. This year I have decided that I am not going to do too much! Everyone who knows me, knows that I seem to take on a little too much. Life is just so precious and I want to enjoy what I am doing!
I want to spend more time with Caroline and Adrian...my line of work is going to take me away alot. I have been reading a good friend of mine's blog about how the birthing life is while still taking care of a family. It is alot of work. You are not the only person affected by the births, your family is! I have always known this, but for some reason it has really struck a chord with me here recently. Because of this, it makes me love my family even more! What an unselfish thing for a family to share their mama with everyone!!!! I want to be the best midwife AND mother!
Thanks to everyone in my life that has been supporting me and encouraging me in this endeavor! Because of this love and support I am able to live my dream, and one day I am going to make everyone proud!