Au Naturale

So last night, I talked to my mother about her birth experiences...and realized that I had never really done that before. Not in any real, meaningful way. I especially loved the part of her story where her labor with me lasted the longest...and she was only in the hospital for about ten hours before I was born! She had my sister after only an hour in the hospital (although laboring at home for about 6 hrs), and labored with my brother for about 4 hours total. Why did I like that part of the story? Because the number one predictor for what a woman's labor will be like is the previous experience of her female relatives. After hearing the story of my mother-in-law's 39 hour labor with my husband, I am hopeful my mother's experience bodes very well for me. And when she told me that she gave birth to me, my sister and brother completely drug-free (no pain meds, no epidural), my first thought was "damn, that woman is a super-hero." My second thought was "If my mom did this three times, I can totally do this."

My husband often teases me about how loathe I am to take medication. I don't like taking something unless I have passed the point of uncomfortable sick, and into the truly sad sick phase -- this extends to both prescription and over the counter medication. The only thing I turn to pretty frequently without equivocation is Tums, after years of significant stomach/digestive system issues. But the fact of the matter is, I 100% come by this naturally, direct from my mother and father who both hold the same philosophy. I just feel like unless medication is necessary, why bother? Why potentially lower your future resistance to a potential drug if it's not going to actually cure what ails you? I'm not a martyr, just trying to be realistic about what modern medicine really means for us all.

So MJW doesn't really know how serious I am when I say I'm interested in trying to end this pregnancy early next year by having the most natural birth experience I can stand...but I think I'm still working that out for myself. I am going to buy this book soon - Mothering Magazine's Having a Baby, Naturally. I hope it will help me decide how to approach this particular part of my journey.