But First, Coffee: Stella's Birth Story: Part 1

Well hello there, my long lost friends. After a LONG hiatus, I’m back! I’ve decided to start blogging again, and although my first few posts won’t really be timely, I really want to share the story of my very first daughter’s birth.

I was hesitant to share it because I know birth is a hot-button topic responsible for igniting mommy wars everywhere, but I decided I don’t really care. I have always been of the mindset that you have to be confident in your own decisions. Otherwise, why would you make them? Doesn’t mean those choices are always perfect or correct, but I believe you make the best decision based on the information you have. So, if this post makes folks uncomfortable or if you disagree with my thoughts and choices, I don’t really care. Sorry, but I just don’t. Eek, what an abrasive jump back into blogging, right?! I’m really not that bitter. I just don’t feel like having to tiptoe around the next few posts so I want to emphasize that my choices may be different than yours, you may think I’m nuts or dumb (if so, you’re kinda right!), but I want to share my story. It doesn’t mean I’m judging you by sharing or I think the choices you made (and many of you had no choice at all in your birth story, and for that, I’m sorry!) were wrong. It just means we are different.

Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I’ll start from the beginning and will break this birth story up into a few different parts. Blog series are both fun and so annoying so I apologize in advance. Here goes…

Travis and I were thrilled to find out in January of 2012 that we were expecting a baby! We were filled with a variety of mixed emotions, many of which stemmed from previous and traumatic trials we had faced previously. I’ll spare you those details, but if you want to discuss our entire journey sometime, let me know.

Although very nerve racking at times, my pregnancy was mostly pretty easy, and for that, I am so thankful. Of course I had the usual fatigue, some headaches, achy back, yada, yada, yada, but more than anything else, I was absolutely thrilled at the privilege of being pregnant. Never once did I forget what a special miracle I was experiencing or forget that it’s one not everyone has the joy of experiencing.

To be honest, I was pretty nervous from when we found out the news I was pregnant until about week 34. Some beyond that, but after week 34, I felt much more confident in a healthy delivery. That’s a long time to be nervous, but I just couldn’t help it. Believe me, I tried. Once I hit about the midway point and began to finally accept that we most likely would be introducing a sweet new baby, we began planning.

I knew I wanted a natural, unmedicated birth from the beginning. Of course I knew I may not be able to because so much of childbirth is unpredictable, but it was my desire. Fortunately, Travis is awesome and was thrilled to do anything he could to make doing so possible. I began researching and reading a variety of books, and the best part was that Travis did, too. We spent hours and hours discussing our findings and eventually signed up for Bradley classes, which center on the concept of the husband (or birth partner) as coach. We enrolled in the course, and I began my journey to becoming a hippy. Just kidding. The classes at least fulfilled a little bit of my longing anyway.

We approached our challenge of having a natural birth somewhat like one would prepare to participate in an athletic event, like a marathon. We knew I couldn’t just say I wanted a natural, unmedicated birth and then accomplish it. We knew it would take work. We studied, I watched my diet, I performed a variety of exercises in preparation, I sought chiropractic care, and we hired a doula. Much like preparing to run a marathon, we had to train. We did all this knowing that there was a chance I would not be able to accomplish the task. Just as someone training for a marathon could experience a devastating knee injury or fall sick the day of the race, I knew there was a possibility that I would have absolutely no control over what would happen. We decided that regardless of what happened, we, and our baby, would benefit from more knowledge and a pursuit of a healthy pregnancy.

Travis was a pivotal part of the entire process. Sounds funny because that’s pretty obvious, but he really took it to the next level. He attended every Bradley class with me, adopted the same diet and even made me a hot, protein-packed breakfast almost every single morning. What a man.

So, as you can see, we didn’t take our decision to pursue a natural, unmedicated childbirth lightly. I was pretty determined while also remaining cautiously optimistic.

Below are a few pictures from throughout my pregnancy.