Birth story thoughts

I think about the amazing events that happened to me with Rachel's birth story.

I was telling a friend at church about how things went with Rachel and she told me how that's a great story and how important it is that each kid knows their birth story. She told me how for her training she was working in a juvenile center and when the kids were asked about their birth story they responded negatively saying things like their parents didn't want them or they were a mistake. It taught her the importance of their birth story to let kids know they were loved and wanted. People who grew up thinking they were a mistake will make mistakes.

I want Rachel to know that this little pink house with four bedrooms, a big backyard, and no driveway or garage was where she was born. 

We choose to have her at home surrounded by people who love her and who anxiously awaited her arrival. I did more to prepare for this birth because I was with midwifes who really cared about giving me knowledge and choices.  I listened to a Hypnobirthing CD to help me relax and sleep during the pregnancy and read a book about how to work with my body through the contractions.  It was difficult to use any of these techniques during labor because they got intense quickly.  I was also planning on a water birth to help during the transition phrase (we didn't have time to even think about setting it up). I added more protein to my diet to help prevent preeclampsia. I also drank pregnancy tea that the midwifes provided which helped increase my iron levels. 

I was able prepared for a natural home birth due to the other children. I wouldn't have been able to do it with Hailey because for contractions were always 2 minutes apart and you can't prepare yourself for the pain of labor and know what your body is doing until you have experienced it.  The ease of Robert's and Hannah's labor gave me the confidence I needed.  Though despite having labor twice completely drug free, I failed to realize how much I was progressing with Rachel because I was focused on getting drugs when the contractions were right on top of each other and it was too difficult to handle instead of thinking the baby is about to come.  With Rachel, it didn't really hit me how close I was until my water broke and I felt her head coming down.

I also did an at home, natural birth to let me kids know that still with great hospitals and doctors all around you still have choices. It's like getting my Bachelor's Degree. I most likely will never use to it to get a job but I have it and I can show my kids that it is possible to accomplish this great goal. It also opened up a world of alternative medicine and methods to us which has helped greatly with Hannah's seizures.

Another amazing aspect on Rachel's birth story is that Nathan caught her. He delivered his own baby and very few dads nowadays can say that or even have that opportunity.  My mom and Nate did CPR on her to help her learn how to breathe. I am very lucky to have had this opportunity that isn't available to all women, to have Rachel at home. Rachel's story makes me feel grateful and blessed.