Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Coulda, shoulda, woulda......

It's cliche but, man if I knew then what I know now the outcome of my first birth experience would have been so different.

I sometimes think back and felt like I totally lost who I was during that pregnancy and birth. Prior to becoming Muslim, I was the total all-natural, no medicine, no intervention type of girl. I don't know what happened to me other than going from a non-Muslim way of life to a Muslim way of life was a big change. It probably also didn't help that my marriage wasn't exactly peaches and cream. (This plays an important role when it comes to birth).

Some of the things I wish I would have known back then?

1- That my high blood pressure was not pre-eclampsia and quite possibly could have been stress-induced(bad marriage), diet induced( not enough protein too much carbs) and spine related (my neck is out of line causing a nerve to be pinched which raises my blood pressure and causes migraines).

2- That I had the right to refuse an induction, especially since I was already contracting and dilating on my own.

3- That I could have eaten regardless of the "rules". Who the heck does any kind of physically exhausting activity on an empty stomach?

4- That there are ways to help a posterior baby get out of that position prior to labor as well as during labor.

5- That posterior labors are much longer than non-posterior labors.

6- That my body worked, it was not broken.

7-That scare tactics are just that..scare tactics. Just because the doctors state your perfectly healthy baby that has not had a single sign of distress WILL eventually be distressed doesn't make it so.

In all honestly it took a few more births to even remotely appreciate some of these things that I "wish I knew" back then. One thing was for sure I knew that the next time I got pregnant I would without a doubt attempt a VBAC. However, I wasn't prepared to do it so soon after my first one. That's a new blog post tho....

1 comment:

  1. Michelle, I get really peeved at Dr's when I read this post. I am glad u posted though.
    I too had a posterior babe, was,able to turn him with positioning.....but holy Almighty, the agonizing pain in my rumpus!!! I was coerced for the frickin Dam* epi/pit Drip...ugh....
    And thank my angels above, I deliv ered vaginlly, AND,THANKS TO THE DRUGS(sarcasm!!), I had,to tell myself to smile and pretend,to be thrilled upon giving birth. yes, I was robbed from my dream of a Natural birth as,NATURE AND I fully wanted.

    Yes, I am still pissed off. yes, its,stupid dr's.

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