[blparent] Making decisions with baby in general (keepingflexible)

Wed Apr 18 22:35:07 UTC 2012

Oh very well said!!  With my first I took the birthing classes, I went in 
expecting it would all go as planned ... first, my daughter was two weeks 
late, labor was induced, contractions were horrible and I ended up with an 
Epidura.  (Probably spelled wrong, sorry)!  After 18 hours of labor and an 
infection ... my daughter was too large to fit through my pelvic bones and 
was taken c-section.  With my 2nd I wanted a natural labor that I didn't 
have with my first, but my contractions were so bad, all the way around into 
my back, after about 6 hours I was begging for meds.  And with my third they 
recommended a c-section because they thought he was going to be a big baby 
like my daughter.  So none of my births were the natural beautiful births 
you always dream of!!  I'm still disappointed about that, but all three of 
my kids were healthy and that, in the end, is what counts.
-----Original Message----- 
From: Jo Elizabeth Pinto
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 12:37 PM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blparent] Making decisions with baby in general 
(keepingflexible)

I think we would all agree that by far the most important outcome every
single one of us is, or was, looking for in pregnancy was the birth of a
healthy baby, period.  All natural, drug free, no interventions, those are
all great goals, if they can happen.  But please, please don't get yourself
so set on those goals that you end up disappointed, or feeling like you
failed, if they don't come to pass.

I wanted a drug free labor with my baby, and had one till about seven or
eight centimeters, when I was so exhausted from having been up for about
thirty-six hours straight that I knew I needed some relief from the pain if
I was going to have the strength and stamina to push the baby out.  I was
given a mild pain reliever through my IV line, and that was enough to get me
successfully to the pushing stage.  But the baby had turned her head in the
birth canal by then, sort of looking back the way she had come, and she
wouldn't budge.  After over an hour of pushing, she hadn't moved an inch,
and her heartbeat began to drop.  The doctor recommended that I have an
emergency C-section.  Twenty minutes later--that was amazing enough to me,
but the nurses said they could have gotten the baby out in less than five
minutes if they had to--Sarah was born.  The doctor said that with the way
her head was wedged, I could have pushed from then untill the end of time,
and she never would have gotten out.  He said a hundred years ago, they
would have asked the baby's father to choose which one of us to save, since
they couldn't sew a woman up after a C-section before she bled to death, and
the only other option would have been to take the baby out a piece at a
time.

I guess what I'm saying is, looking back, I didn't get my natural delivery,
I didn't get to nurse exclusively the way I wanted to, but I got a healthy
baby.  That's what really matters.  There's a lot of talk these days about
the overuse of medical interventions, the high number of C-sections we have
in this country, the low number of women who choose to nurse, and on and on.
I'm personally glad we have the medical interventions.  At the end of the
Civil War, more babies were delivered naturally, but one in three women
eventually died in childbirth, or shortly after due to infections.  One in
three.  And almost every family lost at least one baby, even into the next
century.  My dad's mother lost three, and my mom's mother lost one, and
these were in the thirties and forties.

So if your birth goes according to plan and without a hitch, that's awesome.
What a great experience!  But if it turns out that you need drugs, or
surgery, or baby formula, or whatever else is available to the medical
profession, don't beat yourself up.  If you get a healthy baby out of the
deal, that's what you were after in the first place.  And if, God forbid,
you don't get a healthy baby out of the deal, then thankfully, there are
other medical interventions that will prove helpful.

Jo Elizabeth

"How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young,
compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of
the weak and the strong.  Because someday in life you will have been all of
these."--George Washington Carver, 1864-1943, American scientist

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Bridgit Pollpeter" <bpollpeter at hotmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 9:52 AM
To: <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [blparent] Making decisions with baby in general

> Jennifer,
>
> My comment about the natural birthing was more rhetorical, but I too
> plan to go drug-free as well. I just think it important to always keep
> an open mind for most things, and to say nursing is the way to go
> regardless and the argument supporting this is that it's how God
> intended it and how the female body is set up, well, I believe and agree
> with all that, but it also makes me wonder if other God-intended methods
> are followed as well such as a drug-free delivery. This, along with it
> all, is a personal choice, and there is no right or wrong way.
>
> While I fully intend on nursing while in hospital to at least attempt
> it, I am still leaning towards pumping. I always appreciate advice and
> antidotes from anyone whether it be about natural feeding or pumping and
> bottle feeding. If I have more questions or need more advice, I
> certainly will turn to this list. I also hope to update my blind parent
> friends as I too progress along in this journey. 21 weeks to go and
> counting, grin.
>
> Sincerely,
> Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
> Read my blog at:
> http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
>
> "History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
> The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan
>
> Message: 23
> Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2012 03:14:52 -0500
> From: "Jennifer Jackson" <jennifersjackson at att.net>
> To: "'Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blparent] More breast feeding stuff
> Message-ID: <720001.2602.qm at smtp102.sbc.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Bridgit,
>
> As you are just wondering, I gave birth to both of my first two children
> without an epidural or any pain medication. The midwife did break my
> water for baby number 1 and stitch me up after, but those were the only
> medical interventions for that 10 pound baby. Baby number two was only
> about 8.5 pounds because he had an emergency induction two weeks early
> due to some pregnancy complications. I also had my water broken that
> time to get him the heck out of there. :) Still no pain meds or other
> interventions, but no tearing that time either. So I advocate as natural
> as possible every time.
>
> Yet here I am supporting your need to make the choice that is right for
> you and your family. If you go the pumping route I will even pass on
> more tips about making it more convenient and some funny stories about
> what I did with my time attached to the machine every day.
>
>
> Jennifer
>
>
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