Sunday, December 18, 2011

Homebirth

Ok, so before I even knew I was having a baby I told myself after watching MILLIONS of baby shows on Discovery Health that I wanted to have a water birth. After I got pregnant I really got into seeing what options were out there for me as far as the birthing process goes. I knew I wanted a water birth but what more specifically did I want? Well, I did NOT want to give birth at a hospital. One reason being is that they really give me anxiety. Also, I was 100% present when my little sister died of meningitis in the hospital. Just the smell takes me back to being 10 years old again and wondering if I'd ever see her grow up. I also, was in the hospital twice during my first trimester for dehydration and I just remember feeling the need to crawl out of my own skin. I could not get comfortable and it was just "ugh". That's really the only way I could describe it! So, I went on a hunt for a midwife (at this point I was still in Washington state since that's where I was stationed when I was in the Navy). I found a wonderful woman by the name of Niki Corragio. She was so cute and great. I was pretty bummed when I found out that I had to do ANOTHER midwife hunt because I moved back to Boston. It took a little while but I found an amazing woman named Rebecca. I knew from the second I met her that she would be my midwife! But, the difference between the laws of WA and the laws of MA when it comes to midwifery is that insurance does not cover midwifery services here as opposed to WA where they do cover it. Anyway, I still decided that I wanted her to be my midwife no matter what.

Another thing that REALLY confirmed my wanting of a homebirth was watching the movie "The Business of Being Born" (ch-ch-ch-check it out if you haven't already!) Now, I had heard of this movie and had it on my mental "I'm gonna watch that movie someday" list but had never gotten around to it. Then the day came when Netflix had it on thier instant queue. So my stepmom, Wendy and I sat down and watched it. It was really great and raw. Ricki Lake (who's the producer, I think) has her second son at home and it is so intense and she wanted to give up so many times but she stuck through it. There was a midwife who also did a homebirth which was equally as intense. I liked the fact that you saw these women doing this because they made it clear that it's not super easy but it IS rewarding and also that they're human.  A lot of the information I had found out awhile ago but some information I was not aware of. For example, the amount of money it takes to give birth in a hospital (15k-20k) as opposed to the cost of a homebirth (around 5500). What it boils down to is who's going to be making money at the end of the day. No one really cares about how things are done as long as there's money in thier pocket at the end of the day.

So, after watching that I was like, "Ok, well, if I can help it I will NOT be going to the hospital unless this kid REALLY needs me to go." So, I began to brainstorm how I would raise the money considering that I am not working and go to school full time.

So I decided that I would start a fund.

First, it was just gonna involve the people who would be attending my baby showers (YES, I said baby showerS...I'm having one in both MA and ME) or people who couldn't make it but still wanted to help out. I don't really need any big ticket items since I have most of them already so instead of getting presents why not accept donations towards something that I need, right? So my goal is to reach 5000 dollars by the time BamBam comes into the world so I can pay my wonderful midwife (she's been so great and flexible throughout this whole thing. I truly can't imagine giving birth to my son without her being present).  Any little bit helps and is immensely appreciated! I just want to be able to make my own rules and have as much control as I can during the birthing process and I just think homebirthing is really the right thing for me. If by chance I do not get to have my homebirth I will just put the money into a college fund (or just gamble it away at Mohegan Sun jkjk!!!) So anyone that's reading this pass the word! Even if it's a dollar, who cares!?


Let me just say that I get a range of reactions about my choice of trying to do a homebirth. The most common one is, "Why would you wanna do that? Aren't you scared?!" Hmm, actually I'm STOKED to give birth and go through what millions of women go through every single day.  It's MY body and MY birth. If I'm gonna carry this rascal in my belly for 9 months then I am going to birth him the way that I want to(unless of course he decides to be difficult and I have to involve the hospital)! Don't let ANYONE stop you from following your dreams and achieving your goals ( I know that shyt sounds corny but I truly believe it wholeheartedly. I also watch Oprah's Life Class like it's my job and I swear she knows what I'm thinking EVERYTIME I watch it) even if they don't agree with it. All that matters is that YOU'RE happy because you may have the ability to give someone the fire to go for thier goals. Just like negativity is contagious, positivity works the same way!






he's obviously a Yogi already. Look how his toes touch his forehead! Crazy baby! As for the second one, I think he's yawning. When I went for my second ultrasound he didn't move. He just sat in the above position and then as if he was saying "Fuck you, I'm comfortable where I'm at." He just sat there and yawned at us. Of course any other time he's prancing on my bladder, jumping around, running away from the doppler whenever my doctor wants to hear his heartbeat. In other words, I'm stoked to meet this kid especially since 1. He hasn't gotten my fat. 2. He craves healthy things, like fruits and such 3. He's going to be an Aries 4. And he's a jerk like his mom and dad :-)

Well, folks until next time :-) Ciao

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