Birth - A Man's Perspective (Part 2)

Welcome back,



Stage 2: Preparing for a Child

Stage two really has a part A and part B.  I heard you sigh!  Yes, I am apparently going to drag this out through as many posts as I possibly can.  Sorry.  But at least you have the freedom to stop reading.  However, I urge you to press on.  Part A is preparing for birth, part B is preparing for the child.

So Tiffany is a researcher.  We had already been through a dramatic change in our eating habits spurred on by a mentor of Tiffany's in Iowa.  She really makes sure our family has the information we need to make wise family decisions.  This continued right on into the birth planning stage.  She dove head first into researching birth, birth methods and birth classes.  She asked one day if we could do a birthing class.  The closest was in Jacksonville 1 night a week for 12 weeks and would cost about $250.  I was certain New Bern had to have a birth class, but I said yes, after all it didn't matter to me either way.  Boy was I wrong!  Without that class things would have been drastically different in the rest of what I plan to write about!  Looking back, I would pay 10 times that gladly to take that class and drive to Raleigh weekly.

The Bradley Method is a natural childbirth method.  Natural means no pitocin, no epidural, no Tylenol!  Ok, maybe Tylenol is ok.  Like most of you just did, I laughed when I first heard this, but again, I always trust Tiffany's research.  As we learned of all the side effects and risks of your typical child birth I became more and more a fan of this natural method.  Let me tell you though, if you go this route be prepared for the mockers and nay-sayers to come out in full swing. 

"Wait until she starts having contractions"
"She hasn't been in labor before, once she gets there she'll change her mind"
"Why wouldn't you want an epidural, they're safe"
"It's too much pain, it's impossible without an epidural"
"What are you, some tree hugging hippie"

We heard them all and many many more!  From EVERYBODY!  But we pressed forward, while trying to educate our nay-sayers on what we were learning. 

There's just too much to discuss in any written forum, but we'll be glad to share details in person.  In brief, we learned labor is... well, labor!  It's hard work.  Guess what else, epidurals haven't been around since Cain and Abel were born... women have done birth without them before!  Shocking, huh?  Also, most hospitals are pretty pushy when it comes to trying to give you an epidural, putting on the fetal monitor (which basically reduces mobility to zilch), doing exams, etc.  There were so many things we wanted to do differently than the standard hospital procedure and it was worrisome to go in knowing you may have to fight for some things.  I mean, this is our birth right?  Why can't we make the decisions?  This class gave us the knowledge we needed and the confidence to pull off the birth experience we were hoping for!  I highly recommend it to everyone.  It also included so many other things including good nutrition for pregnant moms.

I am so thankful for Tiffany's willingness to research things that affect our family and be diligent in making wise decisions.  It certainly paid off in this story!

Part b includes painting, buying baby stuff (mostly this is gifts which is nice so you don't spend the $$$), getting the nursery ready.  Most people know what's involved with this stage so we'll skip it for the sake of time.

Next: The Birth!  Please come back, this is the part that made me start this whole post to begin with...