For a while now I’ve been wanting to talk about my experience with my providers during pregnancy. I actually had the opportunity to experience both midwifery care with Cynthia Banks and Hannah Weiss, as well as obstetric care through Kaiser. I think I received good care from both, but the care I received from my midwives was particularly thoughtful, compassionate and supportive so I thought I would talk a little bit about my experience and why I think midwives are so awesome. Continue reading
Tag: childbirth
Random Home Birth Moments
The whole gang, proud of what we all accomplished!
Random moments that I didn’t include in the previous birth story posts but I found interesting/funny looking back on them now: Continue reading
Our Birth Story, Part 4
It was finally time, the part in labor that people both look forward to and dread that the same time. The part in the movie where you see the woman in a gown on a hospital bed screaming and sweating and grunting and everyone is yelling at her to PUSH PUSH PUSH.
It was nothing like that for me, and for that I am so thankful. Continue reading
Our Birth Story, Part 3
As the contractions got more intense I got more and more uncomfortable. So far during my labor I had been laboring mostly without assistance, vocalizing when I needed to and trying to relax and utilizing Kourtney when I needed. But now I knew I needed something more. Continue reading
Our Birth Story, Part 2
Around 10:30pm my mom went home to get some rest, since it was clear I was not having the baby that day. My sister camped out on our couch, and Kourtney and I went to bed. And that’s when things started to get going. I tried to sleep, or at least lay down comfortably, laying on my side was very uncomfortable, and with each contraction I had to roll over onto my hands and knees, gripping our headboard to steady me, letting the contraction crest and fall. After rolling back and forth probably 5 or 6 times I just got out of bed and pushed away the thought of getting any rest. My contractions were about 5 minutes apart at this point and getting stronger. I probably could talk through them but I didn’t feel much like talking. I would stand next to my bed until I felt the start of a contraction and then I would fold over, head and arms on the bed, belly hanging low, until it faded away. Eventually I asked Kourtney to put counter pressure on my hips to ease the pain a bit. Little did she know, she would be doing this for HOURS. Continue reading
Our Birth Story, Part 1
First let me say a few things: I loved being pregnant. I had a very easy pregnancy, with all the typical “symptoms” and “side effects” being relatively minor and manageable. I spent my first trimester with a chronic stomach ache, I had strong aversions to most green leafy vegetables and towards the end of my pregnancy the acid reflux got bad enough that I woke up throwing up bile. And all of that sounds like a bummer but honestly it wasn’t that bad at all. I loved being pregnant, I loved my baby bump, and I was excited about getting to my due date. I had convinced myself that Baby Snow was going to be at least a week late.
38 weeks pregnant, my last day of work before I went on maternity leave
So I was really surprised when my water broke four days before my due date. Continue reading
Apples And Pomegranates 