So there I was...looking down at the pregnancy test. I didn't have to question it's accuracy considering I had been feeling squeamish for over a week and throwing up in the parking lot at work. As soon as the test showed positive I starting screaming in bewilderment! My cousin came running upstairs; she already knew what the commotion was about. My first thought was call Sean! I rang him and instantly said "I'm pregnant!" His reply, "Are you making this up again" as I had done so many times before to get a reaction out of him. This time I could hear in his voice he already knew I wasn't kidding. None the less my dear cousin got on the phone and said, "No Sean, she is not kidding. I'm looking at the test right now!"
Thus the whirlwind began. Questions, questions galore I thought. What am I going to do? Where am I going to live? (I was renting my grandmother's farmhouse at the time). What doctor will I go to? How will I learn preparedness for another human life to be my sole responsibility? Up to this point I was pretty much a fly by the seat of my pants kind of gal and had virtually no responsibilities other than my job! I did what I wanted, when I wanted, no questions asked! Boy oh boy, I had no clue what I was about to embark upon.
Over the next several months I did what any normal prego would do. I found a suitable doctor, found the best hospital, made sure insurance was paid up and in full force before what seemed like hundreds of doctor's appointments and the final labor and delivery visit! But something in me urged me to look further than just the usual labor and deliveries that are done at the hospital.
I started to research different options that I felt would best suit me and my tiny baby as we anticipated bringing her into the world. I asked my doctor questions that she said most mommies’ to be don't ask. I started to get the feeling my questions seemed off base or irrelevant. None the less I forged on and made my birth plan. I had it written for all the doctors and nurses to see as they viewed my chart before assisting me.
And so it was the day...September 9th, 2010. I was admitted to the hospital, contracting hard, and dilating pretty quickly on my own. I opted for the epidural when I arrived and was already dilated to a four. I noticed that the nurses did not so much as glance at my birth plan! I thought what the heck?! I spent all this time carefully planning and deciding what I felt was best for me and my child and they could not care less! Let me tell you, it is hard to stick to your guns when you are in labor and that is the precise reason I wrote the daggum plan to begin with!
The doctor came in and said I was ready to push...I said "Great! Oh and I don't want the umbilical cord cut until it is finished pulsating." She responded with a quizzical brow, "Why would you want all that hemoglobin in the baby? No. We are not going to do that." When you are getting ready to deliver your first born child, it is no time for an argument so I reluctantly agreed and said, "Okay, I trust you." Four words that took the power right out of my hands and placed it into the hands of my doctor. Regardless of my definite reason for allowing my baby to receive the much needed iron in the hemoglobin, it meant nothing in that moment. She had no clue why I was concerned about it in the first place.
I opted out of the many medical interventions that are automatically given to every baby when born based on my relentless research, but it was no easy feat! I had to be persistent and very out-spoken about my wishes. You could say pregnancy changed my entire perspective on the medical field. I was determined not to blindly trust a medical doctor with something so basic; it dates back to the beginning of mankind...birth! This is a natural process and should be done, in my opinion, as natural as possible. My next time around (if I choose to have another) will be completely different and probably at home!
Stay tuned for more baby tales in the words of a mother! Have a lovely day!
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