Taping the birth - Page 2

[channelofpeace]

I tossed the idea around and decided not to, which I am now glad for. I decided that I wanted the memories of my birth to be seen through that hazy kind of filter that I experienced it in, if that makes sense. For example, I remember screaming when she was crowning, but when I think about it, it is through that filter. I am sure that actually listening to it on a tape would be much sharper and scarier sounding than the memory.

[Incubator]

We videotaped our UC, and I also asked a friend to come take photos for me. I wanted very badly to share the birth with others, and the pictures were beautiful, so I used them to make a slideshow of the birth, and I put it on youtube.
The camera turned out to be not so helpful. *** NOTE TO OTHERS, if you have music on during your birth, put the camera on the OTHER side of the room from it. We set the camera on the dresser and "forgot about it" but it was right next to the radio, so while I know exactly what music was on during my labor, I've got no clue what was really said. In the end we turned off the camera (after the birth) because she was very pale and not breathing and we were a little panicky. my husband turned the camera off when he put it down to help me, and the thought did run thorough my mind at one point that we were filming the birth of a dead baby. (BTW: she was not dead, it just took her longer than we expected to perk up after a long and difficult trip down the birth canal.) I've spread the slideshow far and wide, but only very few people have seen the video, and then they only saw about two minutes of it, just the birth itself, no labor and nothing after the birth. I'm GLAD we videotaped it, but a live, moving picture of the birth is extremely personal.

[shellnurse]

Not a UCer, but one of the nurses grabbed the camera I had intended to use for after the birth and took many very lovely, very discreet photos of our daughter on her way out. I NEVER would have wanted that, until I saw them. She is a professional birth photographer and she stayed after her shift to support me and take photos. I know it was maybe crossing a line for her to take photos, but she reminded me I could just delete them if I didn't want them.

It seems that once the camera is on, you could easily forget it's on. Maybe someone else can start recording and you can throw it out the window if it bothers you.

[Isarma]

I taped mine! I'm really glad I did. I had a friend do it and specifically chose him because he sorta has an eye for seeing everything with a sort of childlike awe. He was really good about staying out of my way and I barely noticed. Mine is also on youtube and has gobs of hits. It's hard fielding the negative comments, but I get alot more positive than negative and I'm glad I did that, too.

Having said that, I'm not a private person and invited a bunch of friends. I don't mind cameras and have no problem ignoring them. I feel more peaceful in the midst of chaos and can easily make my own space in a crowd. All that is unusual for a UCer.

[amberskyfire]

I did tape mine. I thought it would be weird with the camera, but I didn't even remember that it was there, even though it was about four feet away. I waited until I was pushing before we turned it on. By then, I didn't know what was going on around me. I was too into giving birth. Nothing else existed but me and my baby.

I had the lights on in the house, but the bathroom light behind me was on because I wanted to watch my baby being born. I had a full-length mirror set up in front of me so I could watch her come into the world. It was amazing.

The morning after the birth, I must have watched and rewound the tape about ten times. I swear I've watched about a hundred times since then. It never gets old and I'm so, SO glad that I taped it. Maybe it's not other moms' cup of tea, but it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I love watching my baby be born and I bet I'll love it a million times more when she's grown up and has a family of her own.

Besides, if you decide after you tape it that you didn't want to after all, you can always destroy the tape.

[gossamerwindweb]

we taped ours... but it is NOT a flattering birth video. LOL! I was on hands and knees, and as we all know birth isn't necessarily clean. Between my huge amount of cellulite and my pooping it isn't something I would put on youtube... though that had originally been my idea. LOL! I guess maybe I could edit the pooping frames out. Of course birth is full of mucous, blood, poop, pee, and other body fluids. So it is definitely real life

[joliebebe]

Originally Posted by Serenyd

Yes, it's too bad DP doesn't take very good pictures. I was thinking of setting the camera up somewhere close by and then "forgetting" it was there, kind of taping. Kind of like one of those "wildlife" cameras.

LOl Im thinking the exact same thing! I will need him anyway so dont want him fiddling around with a camera. Last time I had a friend come over and take pics, and it was only good because I was already starting to push and couldnt have cared who was there at that point. If she had come earlier it would have put me off.

[lia_joy]

If you watch youtube videos, you may have seen mine (liajoy83)

I consider myself fairly private. My first birth was completely solo and the following two only myself and my husband were there. However, I didn't feel intruded on by the camera. my issue with people being there watching is that each person brings energy, thoughts and feelings with thier presence. I feel i would pick up on those things and my energy would be going into worrying or analyzign thier feelings, which would effect my process... The camera has no feelings and I can destroy it's memory if i so choose.
My only regret from my (solo) first birth is not setting one up on time to get a video. My second birth was the most difficult, and I wasn't able to even begin to really process it for several months. I wasn't able to watch the video with sound for a few years, but after I did I was so glad I had all the details recorded. My third went so fast and simple I was able to watch the video right away and again, It was awsome to compare my experience with the observations of the video camera!

I felt very compelled to record my births and share them as a form of 'paying it forward' to all the women who have shared stories, pictures and videos that helped inspire and uplift me when planning my first birth. Also, just to be able to watch again and again myself. During labor, though, I didn't care about whether the camera was going... Luckily my DH knew how important it was to me and did an excellent job of filming the 2 he was present for. He set the camera up facing the birth pool to film the labor, then picked it up to get a good shot for the births.

My second birth was especially difficult to watch because I was making lots of noises that were innitially embarrasing to listen to. But, I swallowed my pride and put it on youtube, sounds and all. It was incredibly empowering to GET OVER MYSELF and just say "yeah, I sound like an animal, so what?" and really feel that there's nothing about that to be embarrassed about!
And, yeah, there are tons of ignorant comments- you can choose to disable, but I'm writing a book, and thought it would help my process to accept comments. It helped my process (writing and personal growth) more than I could have imagined. I've become so much more patient and calm and self-confident! I've learned to REALLY REALLY not take it personally, and I feel so freed by that... So, for me, filming the births added a whole new aspect of self-discovery that has been ongoing :

-Lia

[Devaskyla]

Dh taped part of mine. He was only awake for about 2 hours of it & was so ill, I'm impressed he remembered. He taped a few minutes just after I got in the pool. He caught me staring up at him screaming "Kill me now." Can you say transition? He also caught ds3 coming out and about 10/15 minutes after the birth. I had planned to tape the whole thing & put it online, but it was so much quicker/easier than I was expecting, I didn't realize I was in active labour until it was almost over. I need to go through & edit it to put up, all I've actually seen of it is that it didn't take me nearly as long to lift ds3 out of the water as it seemed like it did at the time. It felt like a few minutes, but it's not even a few seconds.

I really didn't even notice the camera, except when he started & even then, I didn't care because I'd planned all along to have it. I hurt too much to be worried about it or consider it an "observer". And since this was my last baby...unless I can convince dh to change his mind or I get a new husband , I'm really happy to have it. I have a couple minutes of video from after ds2 was born and pictures of the hospital cleaning up ds1, but I didn't have anything from the births of any of my kids. I only wish I could have been able to afford a professional to take pictures.

[Serenyd]

Originally Posted by Devaskyla

He caught me staring up at him screaming "Kill me now."

Wow, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who said that during labor!

[lilmamabrown]

yes to video and pictures

I never would have dreamed filming or taking pictures of my daughter's birth (1st baby) but now I kind of wish I would have. This time around I want to do both... the video may never be seen by anyone but me... but maybe I'll change my mind later on. The pictures (no private parts or very tasteful) I will probably show to friends I feel comfortable with... I've only known 2 people IRL to give birth without an epidural and that's been SINCE my first baby. I feel like sharing pictures of what I hope will be a beautiful homebirth experience to friends (close ones who want to see them lol) with no previous exposure to things like that is something I am deeply compelled to do now.

My second birth was especially difficult to watch because I was making lots of noises that were innitially embarrasing to listen to. But, I swallowed my pride and put it on youtube, sounds and all. It was incredibly empowering to GET OVER MYSELF and just say "yeah, I sound like an animal, so what?" and really feel that there's nothing about that to be embarrassed about!
And, yeah, there are tons of ignorant comments- you can choose to disable, but I'm writing a book, and thought it would help my process to accept comments. It helped my process (writing and personal growth) more than I could have imagined. I've become so much more patient and calm and self-confident! I've learned to REALLY REALLY not take it personally, and I feel so freed by that... So, for me, filming the births added a whole new aspect of self-discovery that has been ongoing

SMALL WORLD! Back in May of this year (before I knew I was prego w/ #2) I saw your youtube videos and was completely in awe. As I stated above, I have had very little exposure to natural birth in any form and had never even heard of UC until I saw your videos and read your pages and pages of comments. I sat my husband down and said THIS is what I want! Your second birth video resonated the most with me bc you were in such a vulnerable state and somehow that made me know "I can do that. That's how it's supposed to be." A few months later I stumble onto MDC and though I've still not given up the search for a midwife (homebirth w/ a midwife is illegal here tho) I'm very seriously considering a UC.

Anyways that got really long but what I'm trying to say is that you never know how a video or pictures could effect someone else's life... the way they see things, their personal philosophies... regardless of if you show them to just a few people or youtube. I'm very grateful someone else shared their's because it has affected me personally tremendously!

[mrshoobydoober]

I wanted to record mine (we did the previous birth..my first homebirth..as well). And I'm very glad we did.

I was so lost in labor-land I didn't even realize the camera was there and on.

For one, it gave my dh (the audio engineer/camera-guy/computer wiz dh) something to do. I labor best alone. I don't need constant attention, touching, etc. I just need to know he's in the room just being with me. So instead of him fidgeting around the room, he had something to be in charge of.

I also just simply wanted the moment to look back on.

[xbabymamax]

I thought having a video camera would distract me, too. But honestly, It was the last thing I was thinking about while I had a head coming out of my vagina.

[fyrebloom]

I hope to tape mine. Dunno if I'd post it online but I want to remember this. It's a really special birth for me, my last baby and my only UC. We'll see.

[Devaskyla]

Lia & Isarma, did you do much editing on yours before putting them up? I have an editing program, but I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing with it. H & the kids talking in the background kind of bugs me, but, even though I'm deeply embarrassed about it, I think that I should leave the sound in so people can hear what labour sounds like. Screaming and all.

Just watched the part where I'm telling h to kill me. Apparently I said it twice. The second time he said no. lol

[lia_joy]

Originally Posted by Devaskyla

Lia & Isarma, did you do much editing on yours before putting them up? I have an editing program, but I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing with it. H & the kids talking in the background kind of bugs me, but, even though I'm deeply embarrassed about it, I think that I should leave the sound in so people can hear what labour sounds like. Screaming and all.

Just watched the part where I'm telling h to kill me. Apparently I said it twice. The second time he said no. lol

I didn't really edit for anything but length. Jason't birth I edited pretty short because of the screaming, and then spliced in a shot of the placenta. I also felt kind of wierd including our conversations (which were private at the time.) and people on the internet often don't hold back but criticize any little thing you said My DH was asking me questions about cutting the cord, which made it sound like we hadn't discussed any of it before, and like we didn't really know what we were doing, so that also made me uncomfortable.... I really felt like every thing we did/said had the potential to be analyzed and reflect poorly on UC. But I still think it was worth it to share the REAL HONEST experience, screams, placenta, small talk and all.
Logans birth, I didn't splice at all. I started at the point in the video that my water broke, and ended it less than 8 min later holding him in the pool (we didn't have a good shot of his placenta so I didn't include that) It went so fast there wasn't much time for talk or screaming plus I'd already had Jason's birth up for a while, so I didn't have many feelings to deal with about putting that one up...

lilmamabrown- Thanks for sharing that with me! It feels pretty Awsome to know that sharing our experience had such a profound effect

-Lia