Calling all "natural birthers!"- Share Your Story!

In response to my last post, in which I explained how I was preparing for my first unmedicated birth, Chelsa said... "With brycen i had no pain meds at all either- what an exhilarating feeling!" This comment sparked an idea...

It seems to me that many women, who have had a planned natural birth have actually grown to cherish that experience for one reason or another. I, for one, who have not yet experienced it, am facsinated by that, because I would describe my first birth as "traumatic." My second went alot smoother, but I still see it as something that could have been potentially "traumatic" and I don't believe it has to be that way at all.

This time, I hope that when its all over, I will be able to say that my birth experience was, empowering, challenging, yet not impossible, beautiful, amazing, etc. As I prepare, I would love to read more about other's natural birth experiences. I am thinking of checking out the book you see above entitled,"Adventures in Natural Childbirth: Tales from Women on the Joys, Fears, Pleasures, and Pains of Giving Birth Naturally" by Janet Schwegel which is a culmination of many natural birth stories. But in the meantime...

...I'm CALLING ALL "NATURAL BIRTHERS!" If you have a natural birth story you would like to share, please write a post about it and leave the link to it (or your blog) in the "comments" section of this post. If you already wrote a blog post about your natural birth(s) please do post a link to it (or your blog) in the "comments" section of this post. If you do not have a blog, but would like to contribute, please write your story in an email and email it to me at: lasandrahutchinson@gmail dot com and I'll post it on my blog.

Here are some questions I still have that you can use as guidelines if you wish:

1. Why did you decide to have a natural birth?

2. How did you prepare for your birth?

3. Who was present at your birth? How did you decide on those individuals? What role did they play?

4. What positions worked well for you? What position did you deliver in? Would you do that again?

5. Did you have a perineal tear/and or episitomy? If not, what do you think helped you avoid that?

6. What was the best and most challenging part of the experience as a whole?

7. If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?

The Joys of Motherhood

As you may have noticed, I only have 54 days left before the predicted arrival of my "man child!" Consequently, I have been englufed in any useful information I can get my hands on as I prepare for my first unmedicated birth.

In my search, I ran across the book, "Childbirth Without Fear" by Grantly Dick Read. Dick-Read points out that although many modern interventions and societal ills have caused a tremendous amount of fear around the experiences of birth and motherhood, much joy can be found in both. I found this particular excerpt to be truly empowering:

"...is there any happiness that can be compared with that of a woman with her small babies? Is there any love so unselfish and inspiring as the love of a mother for her child? To healthy-minded women, it is the realization of their highest ambition, the fulfilment of their distinctive urge and the ultimate perfection of their bodily functions."

Book Study & Giveaway!

Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking is hosting a book study and giveaway of the the book "Practicing Hospitality: The Joy of Serving Others" by Pat Ennis and Lisa Tat. The study of the book begins February 1st and in order to enter the giveaway you must leave a comment under Lindsay's Jan 11th post. If you're interested visit Lindsay's blog.

Here's a short description of the book:

"Practicing Hospitality: The Joy of Serving Others by Pat Ennis & Lisa Tat lock will assist you in fulfilling this command through supplying you with the vision and excitement to see how you can take part in extending His kingdom by simply opening your home and life to others. The authors delve into topics of extending hospitality first and foremost to your own family, keeping your household managed so you can be prepared for hospitality, in addition to a wealth of ideas, recipes and resources for all aspects of serving others. This book is for single and married individuals alike as the authors provide tangible ideas for both audiences on how to fulfill this command."

Oh yeah...

...other things happened at the wedding, besides my baby being the flower girl, didn't it? Here are a few pictures:

They caught a picture of my man lovin' on baby Bella.


Hubby sang his heart out during the lighting of the candle.


The lovely bride and groom.


Hubby with his brother.

Just because she was so adorable...

...here are more pictures of Our Flower Girl Princess!

Primping.






There's a smile!


Here's the dress detail.

How am I feeling at 31 weeks and 4 days pregnant?

I used a dictionary to make sure I had an adequate description for you.

Let's take a look at two words, shall we?

adj. ex·treme (ik-strem)
2. Being in or attaining the greatest or highest degree; very intense: extreme pleasure; extreme pain.
3. Extending far beyond the norm: an extreme conservative. See Synonyms at excessive.

and...

n. hun-ger (hnggr)
1.
a. A strong desire or need for food.
b. The discomfort, weakness, or pain caused by a prolonged lack of food.
2. A strong desire or craving: a hunger for affection.

Yeah...that would be it. Uh huh..."extreme hunger" would be the most precise way of identifying what this is that has overcome me the past few days.

Strangely enough, it seems to overtake me almost every two hours. I'm not talkin' "I need a snack" hunger. I'm talkin' "Pass the meat and potatoes!" hunger, if you know what I mean! I don't know if I remember reaching this extent during the last two pregnancies, but there just doesn't seem to be enough food to satisfy my peculiar, unceasing state of...you know... "extreme hunger."

Because I love all things radical...

...I immediately thought: "I MUST read this!" After reading an excerpt from Carolyn McCulley's new book; "Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World," I was very much inspired about my role as a Christian wife and mother in today's society. I visited her blog and it also seems to be wellspring of inspiring support for a gal like me, always on the prowl for more info on virtuous living! Below is a small portion of the excerpt I read at www.boundless.org.

"...Ever since, Satan has labored to destroy the offspring of those who are made in the image of God. The real mommy wars are not against flesh and blood — other mothers and their parenting methods — but against the one who seeks to destroy the next generation of those who would rise up to praise God. We can debate all kinds of parenting philosophies, methods, and practices, but the real conflict is not with the proponents of opposite ideas. Most assuredly, there is a war and the price is high. Mothers (and fathers) are called to be strong warriors in this battle. But, as we've explored before in this book, Ephesians 6:12 tells us that our true opponents are not flesh and blood, but the spiritual forces of evil in this present darkness...

You may be a mother and in the thick of rearing children right now. Perhaps it took you many weeks to read this chapter, thanks to the constant interruptions of young children. Your daily life may consist of dozens of repetitive tasks that feel so mundane and irrelevant. You kiss boo-boos, you make dinner, you do dishes, you answer a homework question, you drive to soccer practice, you read a good night story, you do laundry, you make dinner again. Unglamorous daily tasks and unimportant in the big picture, you may think.

This is absolutely not true! You are engaged in spiritual warfare, battling against beliefs and philosophies that slander God's name and tarnish His gifts to us. You are standing against those who believe heinous lies, like "the most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it." By giving life and nurturing life, you are reflecting the life-giving characteristics of our holy God! Made in His image, you are reflecting Him when you care for the lives He has created.

I think it is very easy for mothers to lose sight of the big picture when they are consumed with the daily "ordinariness" of life. I hope that this chapter has helped you to see how relentless the assault against bearing and mothering children can be. I hope it has helped you to take the long view of what you are doing in training the next generation to be worshipers of God. None of us can make that happen — it is the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in each of us — but we are called to plant and water the seeds of the gospel and wait with expectant hope that God will give the growth..."

Our Flower Girl Princess

I'm finally settling back into "normal life" after the holidays and our trip to Atlanta for my brother-in-law's wedding.

Our 3 year old was sold on the idea of being a flower girl after we told her she would wear her very own "princess dress" for the day. Although she was a bit nervous, she was adorable and did a great job!






After the ceremony, "the princess" and her little sister were elated to be rewarded with a box fruit loops!