I’ve been fortunate that I’ve had 3 healthy pregnancies and that with each I easily became pregnant within two months of hubby and I deciding we were ready for a baby (which was extremely fortunate for me as each time hubby changed his mind but it was too late!). Despite planning for our first pregnancy, I went into it with little knowledge about anything pregnancy and birth related. I had seen a new OB/GYN once for a yearly exam that I just assumed would also care for my pregnancy. I ended up not sticking with that doctor and instead sought care with a doctor recommended by a friend.
I was happy with the new doctor and began educating myself about pregnancy and birth. I read the usual suspects like “What to Expect” and realized I didn’t agree with a lot of what I was reading. I realized I wanted a natural delivery and decided to enroll in a Bradley course and began researching natural birth even more. When the Bradley course got canceled, I was left in the dark until a parent of one of my kids at work suggested a Hynobirthing course.
Hubby and I took the course at 24 weeks and it was exactly what I needed. The course provided me with information and confidence to move forward with what my instincts said were the right way for me to birth. I created my birth plan and prepared for a calm, intervention free birth. Of course, if you’ve read “The Best Laid Birth Plans”, you know I ended up being induced and didn’t get my ideal natural delivery with Honeybun.
I spent the next year processing my situation and educating myself even further on birth in America and all the pros and cons to each and every intervention possible. I began considering homebirth. I knew I could do it and I knew having the proper support and environment would make a huge difference in my experience. When I became pregnant with Sugarplum I was still thinking homebirth. We took a home pregnancy test the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and before heading to see hubby’s family for the holiday. Black Friday we got the news we were officially moving to Ireland. My homebirth plan was squandered. It would have been hard to build a rapport with a homebirth midwife here and getting into the homebirth scheme in Ireland requires registration extremely early in the pregnancy, long before I arrived in Ireland.
So with #3, it was no question. I knew before we even decided to go for #3 that I wanted a homebirth. With both Honeybun and Sugarplum, while the labor and deliveries at the hospital were okay, I hated the recovery part. I found the nurses uncaring and unhelpful and all I wanted was to be home. I left the hospital with Sugarplum when she was 19 hours old (much to the horror of the nurse!) and this time I just wanted to be home with my girls right away. I wanted them there to greet their baby brother or sister and I wanted to be a family right away. I didn’t want to have to fight the system to get what I wanted so I took it into my own hands.
I chose homebirth and a midwife who was so supportive of my vision of my birth. She never once told me no or that something I wanted wouldn’t work or wasn’t a good idea. She believed in every ideal I had and helped me to get it. I am so thankful for her and her assistant who helped bring Doodle into this world in the way that suited me and my family best. No rules, no limitations, just me doing my thing and adding to my family without worries, fears or longing for something different.
While not ideal for every woman or every situation, I now know homebirth is the only option for ME and should I be given the opportunity to birth another child, a homebirth will again be the only option I consider so long as it is safe for me and my baby. Nothing in my life has been so rewarding as welcoming my children into my world and I can’t imagine doing it any other way after finally getting the homebirth I’ve wanted for years.
THIS is what a homebirth is like:
Daddy, my daughters, Grandma, Grandpa looking on as I meet my little guy for the first time.
The midwives doing Doodle’s footprints
Doodle getting weighed in a soft, warm sling rather than on a cold, hard scale
Honeybun holding Doodle while I eat breakfast
