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The Business of Being Born



Chris and I watched "The Business of Being Born" last night. It was a very enlightening and depiction of what giving birth has become in the United States. Basically, women are told that they cannot handle the pain of childbirth and most believe it. They are pumped full of drugs and the release of these drugs keep the natural release of hormones from happening and can damage the initial mother-baby bonding.

I know that in my first two deliveries (both fully medicated) I remember feeling like I was "sick." I was in the hospital, hooked to tons of beeping machines and being pumped full of God-knows-what... but I wasn't sick. I was doing the very thing that God created me to do. With Gabriel, they pumped me full of so much stuff that I spent the last thirty minutes or so of my labor throwing up. If you think labor isn't fun, trust me, throwing up during labor makes it much less enjoyable.

I switched doctors this time because I knew someone that used my new doctor for a natural birth. The same doctor allowed another friend to "catch" her own baby. That's kinda neat.

I'm spending the next seven months learning everything I can. We are going to sign up for Bradley Method classes and I've already purchased the book. The movie last night was a good start too. We probably watched five or six un-medicated births (all at home). It's really not as bad to watch as we are led to believe.

We are still planning on delivering at the hospital with a doctor. Although this morning I did check to see if my insurance covered mid-wives. They do, but the closest one that they cover is in Charleston. We are going to have a doula present and we plan on staying at home for as long as possible before driving to the hospital. It is only about 10 minutes away, so we should be able to stay home for a while.

Gabriel's Escape

The kids' daycare has a huge play yard. The play yard is separated by chain-link fence into areas for each age group of children. This way, the after school kids and the toddlers are not in the same area. Cadence plays with the after school kids in the afternoon and Gabriel stays with his two year old class. Or at least he is supposed to stay with his two year old class. Lately they have found him with his sister and the after school kids. Two out of the first three times the gate between the area was closed so they had no idea how he was getting over there. Then someone snapped this photo as evidence of Gabriel's method of escape.


Week 7 - Third Ultrasound

We had our third ultrasound yesterday and were able to see our little "pistachio" and hear his/her heartbeat. Everything looks perfectly healthy and normal. After the experience that we've gone through with the other two ultrasounds and the hCG level testing, I don't think I like the idea of doing that sort of testing early in pregnancy. It seems to cause more worry than good.


Everything is on track and we do not need to go back to the doctor until May 5th. By that point, I will be 12 weeks preggers and the doctor should be able to hear the baby's heartbeat using a doppler on my tummy.

Now that we've seen the baby and heard the heartbeat it is definitely feeling more real. I am looking forward to finishing Gabriel's "big boy" room and preparing the house for baby number three.... THREE!!! That still scares me if I think about it long enough. Now Chris and I will be out-numbered by the dogs AND the kids!