Water Labor/Birth

Well, if it isn’t another birthday today! Seven years ago today Joseph decided to make his appearance! His birth was by far the best; being in the water was heavenly!

And that brings to mind my annoyance of last week when some friends were laboring with their first baby. A comment was made on Facebook about waiting (that’s what pregnancy and labor are all about, right?) and I said, “Go for a walk. Really. Or take a bath.” Then, “Well, mama, anyway.” The next comment was, “Once her water breaks, she can't take a bath. Showers, yes.” I have to admit that I allowed that to make me angry. Livid, even. Ask Laura. I was ranting. I had to shut my computer and walk away and remember that this woman had been brainwashed by the medical system. And, no, this is not an assumption as the rest of her comment was, “I know I ran the hospital's water bill up 900% when I had mine.”

So, it’s okay to labor in the shower in the hospital but not the tub if your water has broken. That’s fine, I guess, as long as the woman’s perineum doesn’t touch anything, like a birth ball or a shower stool or bench or chair. I mean, seriously? I wouldn’t labor in the hospital in a tub if my water had broken and it would be for exactly the reason they give: infection. But only because it’s the hospital and everyone knows that they are teeming with all kinds of nasty bad things that have the potential to kill you. However, if a bath is out of the question at the hospital after the water has broken, then so should be all vaginal exams. For the same reason. I don’t care if medical personnel use sterile gloves, you can’t tell me that those gloves come in contact with absolutely NOTHING. Do they live in a vacuum?

In taking a somewhat cursory look at what the internet has to offer regarding labor and birth in the water, the only website that cautioned against the use of water was very medical and the reasons it cited were somewhat ambiguous and leaned toward the uncertain line of thought that sounds like this, “I don’t know, laboring in the water? Giving birth in the water? How much do we really know about that? There haven’t been any studies done pro or con so we really don’t know anything. Gosh, the stories can’t all be good so let’s point out some things that might be bad.” Most of the websites I visited listed myriad benefits although one seemed to just be a blog-type thing that was asking for women to express negative experiences with water labor and/or birth. In all fairness, it isn’t for everyone so this blog was kind of cool. It gave the other side of the story from a laboring/birthing mother’s comfort perspective and that is a good thing. The scary medical crap is not a good thing because they don’t know much. No studies, you know.

Anyway, Joseph was born in the water. My water had broken. I labored in the water. I got out sometimes because I didn’t feel like anything was happening. During the infrequent internal exams, the midwife could tell that things were happening. It was an awesome experience for us.

Another anyway, I really think that I would like to write a paper about laboring/birthing in water. Just for fun, you know. Because I’m weird like that.

In other news, I didn’t get to use my computer much yesterday because I let Amena use it to get ready for the activity she was in charge of at church. Much planning and preparation went into it. It’s a shame that there were only six youth there and they didn’t have time to go to all the stations. I think it would work well for a larger, maybe Stake activity for the youth. Or, on a smaller scale, if there were fewer stations.

Still, I got the request for Daniel’s death certificate mailed off. I think when it arrives I’ll just plan on a huge major allergy attack because I can feel one coming on just thinking about it. Yesterday, while Amena was working on her stuff, I could hear Daniel saying to her, “You’re crazy.” He always had good ideas and they always worked but he put far less physical effort into them. He would have been a valuable asset to Amena in planning hers. Which isn’t to take away from her efforts; they are very different people, I just think Amena isn’t as flexible as Daniel.

I discovered a way to make gridlines appear on paint so I was working on Hywel’s cottage yesterday. I was actually using it as an excuse to not write anything because I’m sort of stuck. I decided to not have them travel from Regrebmal to Leinad and to not write about their trip home from Regrebmal. I am wondering if perhaps I should have them do something although if I do, I’m going to have to do something about the seasons because it’s almost winter and snow would be a very real concern. Although not as much in Leinad as it is so far south. Anyway, all food for thought. I need to write at least 3,000 words today to catch up for this very lacking week.

And now, I believe I will be off. I don’t want to use up all my words here. Not that I ever do.

Have a spectacular day!