Thursday, January 24, 2008

Our new baby, installment #13

After the home birth midwife and my husband and I discussed the logistics of who would watch the kids when I went into labor (like, on a Saturday afternoon)I called my parents.

"Do you want to be there?"

"Of course," they said. "We would love to."

"Can you check your nervousness and negativity at the door?" I asked.

"Yes," they both said.

So I went and reported this back to my husband and the midwife, who both looked at me skeptically.

Then, a few weeks later, having Sunday dinner with my parents, we discussed this plan some more.

"Well, just tell me what to do if you say you want an epidural," mom said, knowing that such pain relief would require transfer to the hospital.

That was the deal breaker. It was clear that the default setting in her brain was THIS WILL BE UGLY AND MY ROLE IS PROTECTOR.

I called mom later to tell her she and dad were off the hook. We now had no plan B for childcare.

Mom admitted to being relieved. I guess I was too.

There was one phenomenon working in my favor, however. It is a statistical fact that the majority of women tend to labor through the night. (For nocturnal creatures, the opposite is true.) In my next post I will explain why.

6 comments:

mom said...

Hmmm...I don't remember the phone call telling us we were off the hook. Do you think this family has a communication problem?

Howdie said...

Hi Tina. I'm an independent home birthing midwife in Scotland.

I just wanted to say how much I am enjoying your blog. We met and spoke briefly at your book signing after your talk at the Edinburgh book festival last summer and I was very impressed by your talk and even more impressed by your book. I got to thinking about you lately and how you had gotten on with your 2nd pregnancy so thought I would search for your website and here I am....

It is so refreshing to hear such a common sense approach to birth coming from across the Atlantic where the concept of normal birth seems to be becoming as rare as hens teeth!

I'm really looking forward to hearing the conclusion to your story and am well and truly hooked on your blog now.

Keep up the good work. Between you and Rikki Lake maybe there's hope to spread the good word!

Tina Cassidy said...

Howdie - thanks for taking the time to find me again.Edinburgh was a delight. If you search my blog you will find posts from my time there.

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