*33 Weeks*
Howdy out there all ya'll.
What I want to blog about was perspective & how powerful it can be.
When I first found out I was pregnant some of the first books I read were:
Orgasmic Birth
Pregnancy, Childbirth & the Newborn
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
& Spiritual Midwifery (by Ina May)
Any of these books I would/will buy as baby shower gifts for friends.
(Pregnancy, Childbirth & the Newborn is the odd ball in this list. It was like a textbook, detailing EVERYTHING, from pregnancy symptoms, including rare ones, to fetal development, details on all possible tests, thorough descriptions on drugs used during labour, etc, etc, etc. An irreplaceable books for someone wanting all the facts, yet, as helpful as it was/is, it was not nearly as influential as the others.)
The other three books talk about a lot of pregnancy & birth related stuff, but the most powerful aspect of them is the birth stories, particularly Ina May's books.
Most of the stories are 'home-based births' with no drugs administered. The women in these stories aren't tree hugging hippies either (one more comical birth story is from a New York socialite!) They are simply ordinary women, like the women of the world 50-60 years ago before hospitals came on the scene - & like most of the world's women today (still).
(It's funny how we 'Westerners' seem to think the rest of the world operates the same way we do here, though throughout the majority of the world, home births are the norm)
Oh boy, I'm off track.
Perspective - THAT was the topic.
Okay back at it.
The powerful thing about the birth stories in Ina May's books were the perspectives these women had on birth. Though most were in pain & talked honestly about the intensity, they all spoke positively, & with strength. You could have put the words, "This hurts but I WILL do this" in the mouths of each labouring woman.
The best parts were when many women would talk about the love & calmness & peace they felt in the presence of their spouses, families & midwives & how that helped them to 'sail' into & through the 'rushes' (contractions) head on.
I re-read Ina May's book yesterday because of 'horror stories' that have begun to pop up. I was starting to feel discouraged & frightened - something I haven't felt yet about labour & delivery at all during this whole pregnancy.
(As a side note, why the crap do people tell their labour horror stories to pregnant women? What the heck is wrong with those people? It's like telling someone who is about to have surgery that the last time YOU went for surgery they screwed up and had to amputate your arm!! I'm all for telling labour stories, but how about saving the HORRIFIC ones until AFTER the pregnant lady has HAD her baby!?!? Psychos. Note: none of your invited to read this blog are the person(s) I am speaking of)
Peaceful thoughts, think peaceful thoughts...And we're back...
As I sat in the afternoon sunlight yesterday, I finished re-reading Ina Mays stories & while soaking in the sun & thought about how we would have a labour & delivery as wonderful, powerful & peaceful as the stories I just read...how I would sail into the 'rushes' as Squeaker worked harder than he/she has ever had to work yet to come out & join the rest of God's creation.
Then reality bumped into things & Mat & I were off to the mall to meet a lady who was selling us cloth diapers from kijiji.
We got there early & walked around & after about an hour, suddenly an overwhelming wave of lightheadedness & a growing pain in my tummy grabbed me. I started to sweat & headed right out of the mall toward the car, as I sat there alone for a few moments (Mat was following behind me) all I could sense was the pain in my tummy, & Squeaker (thankfully) moving around (which gave me confidence that he/she was okay). But the pain was unlike anything I'd had experienced.
As I sat there, taking deep breaths somehow it happened. I was 'above' the pain. I was feeling it, intensely, but it didn't hurt. I held on to that 'aboveness' for a few moments, & then let go of it, only to find myself able to sail above it again if I chose that perspective.
Mat got to the car, calm yet concerned, breaking my concentration. As we drove home, while I debated calling our midwives to see if I was going into pre-term labour. I felt one more wave of pain that I wasn't able to 'absorb' as well because I was wondering if I was in labour, watching the clock to 'time' the pain & also thinking about whether I should disturb my midwives.
(I'm a people pleaser & I HATE to inconvenience anyone, making decisions like this REALLY difficult for me...I'll probably get in trouble from my midwife next week when I tell her all about this & she finds out I didn't call because I didn't want to bother her, so you don't have to scold me, she'll take care of that)
By the time we'd gotten home, everything felt normal again. Squeaker was still dancing in there, giving me reassurance that he/she was just fine. After dinner & a night out nothing more had happened, so I've chalked it up to an 'unknown' lesson in perspective & how we can/will have a positive birth & delivery (even if its pre-term!) sailing through the 'rushes'. WE will do this.
Howdy out there all ya'll.
What I want to blog about was perspective & how powerful it can be.
When I first found out I was pregnant some of the first books I read were:
Orgasmic Birth
Pregnancy, Childbirth & the Newborn
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
& Spiritual Midwifery (by Ina May)
Any of these books I would/will buy as baby shower gifts for friends.
(Pregnancy, Childbirth & the Newborn is the odd ball in this list. It was like a textbook, detailing EVERYTHING, from pregnancy symptoms, including rare ones, to fetal development, details on all possible tests, thorough descriptions on drugs used during labour, etc, etc, etc. An irreplaceable books for someone wanting all the facts, yet, as helpful as it was/is, it was not nearly as influential as the others.)
The other three books talk about a lot of pregnancy & birth related stuff, but the most powerful aspect of them is the birth stories, particularly Ina May's books.
Most of the stories are 'home-based births' with no drugs administered. The women in these stories aren't tree hugging hippies either (one more comical birth story is from a New York socialite!) They are simply ordinary women, like the women of the world 50-60 years ago before hospitals came on the scene - & like most of the world's women today (still).
(It's funny how we 'Westerners' seem to think the rest of the world operates the same way we do here, though throughout the majority of the world, home births are the norm)
Oh boy, I'm off track.
Perspective - THAT was the topic.
Okay back at it.
The powerful thing about the birth stories in Ina May's books were the perspectives these women had on birth. Though most were in pain & talked honestly about the intensity, they all spoke positively, & with strength. You could have put the words, "This hurts but I WILL do this" in the mouths of each labouring woman.
The best parts were when many women would talk about the love & calmness & peace they felt in the presence of their spouses, families & midwives & how that helped them to 'sail' into & through the 'rushes' (contractions) head on.
I re-read Ina May's book yesterday because of 'horror stories' that have begun to pop up. I was starting to feel discouraged & frightened - something I haven't felt yet about labour & delivery at all during this whole pregnancy.
(As a side note, why the crap do people tell their labour horror stories to pregnant women? What the heck is wrong with those people? It's like telling someone who is about to have surgery that the last time YOU went for surgery they screwed up and had to amputate your arm!! I'm all for telling labour stories, but how about saving the HORRIFIC ones until AFTER the pregnant lady has HAD her baby!?!? Psychos. Note: none of your invited to read this blog are the person(s) I am speaking of)
Peaceful thoughts, think peaceful thoughts...And we're back...
As I sat in the afternoon sunlight yesterday, I finished re-reading Ina Mays stories & while soaking in the sun & thought about how we would have a labour & delivery as wonderful, powerful & peaceful as the stories I just read...how I would sail into the 'rushes' as Squeaker worked harder than he/she has ever had to work yet to come out & join the rest of God's creation.
Then reality bumped into things & Mat & I were off to the mall to meet a lady who was selling us cloth diapers from kijiji.
We got there early & walked around & after about an hour, suddenly an overwhelming wave of lightheadedness & a growing pain in my tummy grabbed me. I started to sweat & headed right out of the mall toward the car, as I sat there alone for a few moments (Mat was following behind me) all I could sense was the pain in my tummy, & Squeaker (thankfully) moving around (which gave me confidence that he/she was okay). But the pain was unlike anything I'd had experienced.
As I sat there, taking deep breaths somehow it happened. I was 'above' the pain. I was feeling it, intensely, but it didn't hurt. I held on to that 'aboveness' for a few moments, & then let go of it, only to find myself able to sail above it again if I chose that perspective.
Mat got to the car, calm yet concerned, breaking my concentration. As we drove home, while I debated calling our midwives to see if I was going into pre-term labour. I felt one more wave of pain that I wasn't able to 'absorb' as well because I was wondering if I was in labour, watching the clock to 'time' the pain & also thinking about whether I should disturb my midwives.
(I'm a people pleaser & I HATE to inconvenience anyone, making decisions like this REALLY difficult for me...I'll probably get in trouble from my midwife next week when I tell her all about this & she finds out I didn't call because I didn't want to bother her, so you don't have to scold me, she'll take care of that)
By the time we'd gotten home, everything felt normal again. Squeaker was still dancing in there, giving me reassurance that he/she was just fine. After dinner & a night out nothing more had happened, so I've chalked it up to an 'unknown' lesson in perspective & how we can/will have a positive birth & delivery (even if its pre-term!) sailing through the 'rushes'. WE will do this.
sounds like a braxton-hicks (aka jackson triggs ;) ...they can actually get quite painful for some women. it can be a little scary when it's your first pregnancy - everything is so new and unknown. sounds like you handled it great though! it's always good to listen to your body! people who tell you horror stories are just dumb. personally, i had an amazing birthing experience with ally. of course it's horrible pain... but overall it was an empowering and transformative experience. i've done it both ways now - with drugs and without. i will do it without drugs from now on, for sure. a woman's body birthing a baby is such a natural and amazing thing!
ReplyDeleteYou are going to do AMAZING! & you have an awesome support system around you. I can't wait to hear the follow up post to this all about how wonderful your birth experience was!
ReplyDelete