I thought I would post this here for anyone considering homebirth. It was a big sacrifice for us to to it (and we're still paying it off) but worth every last dollar. This is xposted from my blog.
The thing that always struck me about hospital birth upon reflection is how you never feel like you have control. At least, I never did. There were times during Jane's birth especially I felt completely powerless and helpless. People are always doing things to you, making decisions for you. I know there are people out there that had a great experience in the hospital but that wasn't the case for me. There's just no way I could have pulled a natural birth in the hospital. I never have felt comfortable enough.
Having the freedom to eat whatever I wanted, move around, play music, and just be in my own house was really an amazing experience. I never felt truly scared, the pain was about a trillion times more manageable too. In fact, it really didn't get to be extremely painful for me until the very last hour. And even then, my midwives talked me through it, gave me visualization techniques, helped me stay calm. It's really invaluable to have labor support the whole way through.
Without having an epidural or being on constant monitoring, I was able to move around. Instinctively my body did the stuff it needed to in order to dilate and have the baby in the right position. I realize now looking back that all the rocking of my hips while standing and leaning forward during contractions probably is what helped the baby come out facing the right way, and move down so quickly. I always had an inkling that birth might be even easier without the pain meds, and I was right. Honestly this birth was less painful than my first birth, and I had all the drugs that time. By the time I actually was beginning to regret not getting an epidural, the baby was about to come out.
Now, having faced that moment, I feel strong. I surrendered to the power of it all and just let go. Then I felt the baby move down and felt her be born. I couldn't believe I had done it! I really did it. I keep going back to that moment in my mind when I felt myself push her out. It was magical. I feel like a different person just from having had that experience. I'm so glad I made a homebirth happen, because it's a priceless experience that I will never forget.
A woman, as long as she lives, will remember how she felt -how she was made to feel- at her birth.
The thing that always struck me about hospital birth upon reflection is how you never feel like you have control. At least, I never did. There were times during Jane's birth especially I felt completely powerless and helpless. People are always doing things to you, making decisions for you. I know there are people out there that had a great experience in the hospital but that wasn't the case for me. There's just no way I could have pulled a natural birth in the hospital. I never have felt comfortable enough.
Having the freedom to eat whatever I wanted, move around, play music, and just be in my own house was really an amazing experience. I never felt truly scared, the pain was about a trillion times more manageable too. In fact, it really didn't get to be extremely painful for me until the very last hour. And even then, my midwives talked me through it, gave me visualization techniques, helped me stay calm. It's really invaluable to have labor support the whole way through.
Without having an epidural or being on constant monitoring, I was able to move around. Instinctively my body did the stuff it needed to in order to dilate and have the baby in the right position. I realize now looking back that all the rocking of my hips while standing and leaning forward during contractions probably is what helped the baby come out facing the right way, and move down so quickly. I always had an inkling that birth might be even easier without the pain meds, and I was right. Honestly this birth was less painful than my first birth, and I had all the drugs that time. By the time I actually was beginning to regret not getting an epidural, the baby was about to come out.
Now, having faced that moment, I feel strong. I surrendered to the power of it all and just let go. Then I felt the baby move down and felt her be born. I couldn't believe I had done it! I really did it. I keep going back to that moment in my mind when I felt myself push her out. It was magical. I feel like a different person just from having had that experience. I'm so glad I made a homebirth happen, because it's a priceless experience that I will never forget.
A woman, as long as she lives, will remember how she felt -how she was made to feel- at her birth.
