I'm finally feeling better! I think it's safe to say, anyway, that I'm over the worst of it. I'm still at the tired stage, not quite through the first trimester but things are greatly looking up and I've only been mildly nauseous this week. I'm now at 11 weeks. This whole thing is flying by - so far. (I'm still on the generic Zofran and plan to be until I feel I'm safely out of the first trimester and past this 'sick stage'.)
I had my first appointment with my home birth midwife, this afternoon, at my friend Nicole's house. Nicole is someone I met through our homeschool group and she's also a doula. I've never had a doula before but was greatly interested at the time Carter was born. So, I'm extremely excited that Nicole has agreed to be by my side when this baby is born.
One of my friends from church who lives here and has had two home births has had Nicole at each one and has nothing but great things to say about her assistance during labor. She's just a really calm person with a natural inclination for soothing people. I really like her.
She also happens to be due for a baby, her seventh, three months before me and that's why we met at her house today -- we did a joint appointment with our midwife. I loved the whole feel of it, meeting at home. When I asked if she'd be my doula, she said she would, so long as I wouldn't mind if she brings along her oldest daughter, who is 14, to help her with her newborn baby. And, I told her I don't care who comes as long as she does!
I just finished reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
, which I checked out from my local library, and it's a really great book about natural (and home) birth. I highly recommend it to anyone who may be interested.
If you're like me, you just have to look past some of the hippyisms in it. They call contractions, rushes, for instance. And, keep in mind that some of the choices and values you may not agree with. I don't agree with all of them, and to be honest there was some stuff in it where I was like 'whoa!', but the statistics and info. in the book are very informative and overall the book holds a wealth of great information and facts on natural birth, so don't let that deter you. You may find some of the facts to be quite eye-opening -- I'm thinking number one, how little medical study/research is done on many of the routine medical interventions done during a regular hospital birth. (A fact I've seen repeated in multiple books on birth.) If you're interested in learning more, check out the book. (Note: There are graphic photos of birth in it. So keep that in mind if you have children you may not want to be seeing them.)
Ina May is a very popular midwife from the U.S., although, I wasn't familiar with her until I went to the local Holistic Living meeting about home birth, where I happened to meet my midwife. I know Sheila Kitzinger is another popular midwife with many books and I'm anxious to read some of hers, as well.
I also *highly* recommend two videos on natural birth, many of them water births, to anyone who is expecting or interested in birth -- whether you think you want to birth naturally or not, at home or in a hospital, because they each have a lot of great info! I think every pregnant woman should watch them before she gives birth. :) They show actual births taking place in homes and birth centers, and I think a hospital birth, as well. Some with midwives and others with doctors, where the mothers chose to birth naturally. The first one I saw was a little dated, it's from the 90's, but the info. is still pertinent now and there is a foreword introduction from 2006 -- it's called Gentle Birth Choices
. The other one is The Business of Being Born
. The latter is a recent one and it's a great video to watch if you're going to give birth.
I think all three of these sources I listed are a great source for anyone curious about home birth vs. hospital birth. I am *so* excited about doing this home water birth (my first) after talking to many other moms who have birthed at home and reading books and seeing the two videos I mentioned. It just feels like the right path for us -- just as homeschooling did when we decided to do that. One of my sisters laughed that I was trying to 'convert her' to do a home birth after I was so enthusiastic about them on the phone the other day. I have a few sisters who are slowly migrating from the conventional way to the natural way of doing things, just as we have, and it's so fun being able to share information and to bond over something that we feel is so important to us.
At my next appointment in about a month, I'll get to hear the baby's heartbeat. I can't wait. It's such a reassuring thing and it gets me all emotional every time. But for now, I'm just enjoying the fact that I'm feeling (mostly) well again!
(P.S. Still no photos. A blog reader kindly emailed me (Thank you!) with a suggestion to fix my issue but I still need to find some time to monkey around with it.)