19 weeks 2 days pregnant

BIRTHING CHOICES and Judgement

I am a judgemental person. I have tried to be more aware of this personality trait as I progress farther into this pregnancy. I don't take offense at other people's comments about our choice to birth at home. Those don't bother me. It's the four other people I know who are currently pregnant that I don't want to settle for a uninvolved birth. I want this birth to be theirs. I want them to own it. It's hard to hear some proclaim that they "want an epidural the moment a contraction begins" until birth occurs. I have been wrestling with my inner judge to keep from saying--but that seems so cowardly. Your body was made for this.

Judging is never going to get anyone anywhere. That's why everbody hates Christians these days. We can be so damn judgemental. So can everyone else. And I've just realized how judgemental I am about the birth process.

But the past month has softened me. The birth I desire is not going to be the right birth for another. To the person who says--I could never birth at home, too much can go wrong...Then the hospital is the place for them because they would not be able to birth at home with that mentality. Their body could very likely stall labor until they were in the comfort of the hospital with all the high tech interventional amenities.

To the person that desires an epidural at the first twinge of a uterine contraction, I say I hope it works out for you and you don't suffer from the potential side affects.

To the person that want to birth at home, I say I hope you find the inner strength to complete the task at hand and come out with a sense of pride and accomplishment.

I'm at a place where I want to support the decisions of these friends even when it's not what I would choose for myself. In the same way I would hope that they would return the support.

I wish women had more courage demonstrated to them when it comes to the birth process. I wish doctors would up their belief in a woman's ability to birth a healthy baby. We need a cultural shift away from birth being viewed as a sickness and instead have it be viewed as supernatual yet normal bodily function.