Natural Birth

I'm going to post my birth story a little later.  This is more about my personal journey to get to the birth of my son.  My girls were both born after Pitocin and an epidural, not a route I would have chosen necessarily, but the route that was chosen for me more by my medical providers and my lack of knowledge.  I know so much more now.  And have so much yet to learn.  But sometime during my pregnancy, I started really wanting to have Jaden with minimal medical intervention.

There are two books that helped me clarify my thoughts about the labor and delivery experience I desired for my third child.  The first is Birthing From Within by Pam England.  I was really impressed with how many different ideas the author presented without seeming biased toward or against any one.  She really encouraged me to be aware of all my options and find my way to what was right for me and my baby.  The other book, The Lord of Birth by Jennifer Vanderlaan helped me decide how my faith played into every aspect of my life, including birthing my baby.  This served as a guide for a lot of personal growth for me as I came to recognize how much God wants to be in every part of my life.  I have always believed babies to be a blessing from God, but I never gave much thought to His part in the details of their delivery before I read this book.  I encourage all expectant moms to read Birthing From Within and all Christian mothers to study The Lord of Birth.

Anyway, I was blessed to work with a wonderful OB team at College Heights and have an amazing delivery at Lehigh Valley Hospital -- Cedar Crest.  My labor started at home in the middle of the night (just like my girls) and progressed quickly and without intervention at the hospital.  The only thing that entered my system was a number of snow cones!  No IV, no Pitocin, no epidural... it was amazing.  I felt God's presence in the room as He ushered my son peacefully into waiting arms.  I won't tell you it didn't hurt, that there weren't moments I thought "I can't do this!!!", or that anything surreal and miraculous happened in terms of pain.  But the pain was temporary, my recovery much quicker and easier than when I had the epidurals with the girls, and I would choose this path over my former path again.

Jaden is calling.... more later on the birth story and on our cloth diaper journey.