July 31, 2009

Not the "feel good" movie of the year

Jack was 8 days late, I was induced . . . and after a bajillion hours of pitocin I finally started having contractions. And after that much pitocin, the contractions were so intense, I demanded an epidural. Literally. I was demanding one.

I wasn't opposed to pain management during child birth, so this wasn't a big deal. But I always had it in the back of my mind that things would have been easier had I not been induced.

A couple of weeks ago, I was site-hopping while doing research on cloth diapers and ended up on this random message board that was discussing the movie, The Business of Being Born. I watched it last night.

Wow.

It's changed my perspective on childbirth a lot. I didn't think it would. I thought I'd find it igonorant and sesational. And while I think there was a lot of "spin" . . . it did make sense. And the movie's idea of delivering naturally is not necessarily just a "drug-free" birth. It's my pet peeve when women brag about their drug-free labor and delivery as if it makes them a super hero.

I'm not planning on a home birth as a result of this, though I'm much more aimiable to the idea . . . our insurance probably doesn't cover it (which is ironic, given the fact that it's about 1/4 of the cost and proven to be incredibly safe . . . something I didn't realize). I'm not even going to search for a midwife. I really like the group of doctors that I see. I AM, however, hoping to avoid induction (I'm shocked at how quickly doctors jump to induce . . . though the doctors at U of M are pretty conservative when it comes to inducing, so that makes me feel like we're on the same page). But I don't even know where I land on that. I guess with Jack we KNEW that I was 8 days after my due date. This time around, my due date is approximate. We dont' know the actual date of conception like we did with Jack. What if I'm 2 weeks late?

If you're going to have a baby soon, I'm not sure I'd reccommend this movie. Maybe . . . but only if you're prepared to have your mind changed on some things. And you have to put up with Ricki Lake. And you see a lot of naked women give birth.

I'm not really sure what it means for what I'll do 7 weeks from now . . . I'm not completely convinced that after a few hours of contractions I won't be demanding an epidural again. And I'm still ok with the pain management. But I do know that when doctors are telling me what needs to be done "for the health of my baby" I'll definitely be thinking twice.

5 comments:

rachel said...

I think that all women reserve the right to brag about giving birth. Anyone who pushes an avg. of 6-9 pounds through... THERE can brag all she wants - pain meds or no. Or C-sections?! Mothers of the world - you have the right to boast.

Karin Schueller said...

Well, I've never seen that video... but I can tell you that giving birth with pitocin and giving birth without pitocin are completely different, lol. With my first, I had some pain meds, something that took the 'edge' off. I am ANTI NEEDLES personally, lol. I hate them... to the point of extreme. My husband made fun of me during my first labor because I looked away when they did the IV... and I was more worried about that than the contraction. lol. Anyway, with my second child, I was induced. Mid-day I was begging for an epidural. My husband thought I had been taken over by some other spirit, lol. The contractions are more intense (at least in my case) and I bet if you don't need to be induced... you won't need an epidural (if you don't want one). Oddly enough, when I begged for the epidural I hadn't progressed in HOURS, then they came and checked me and I was at 10... no epidural for me, lol. ;)

I do agree with what rachel said.. I think EVERY birth story has bragging rights. Even adoption stories. :)

Kyle Luke said...

I agree, Rachel. I think it will always be a pet peeve (maybe I'm sensitive because I did have meds) when those who delivered "naturally" come off as being superior to those who have not . . . I've only run into a few. And many of them have made comments about how sad it is that I had to use drugs . . .

Again, I might just be oversensitive to that.

Arwen said...

I will probably not watch the video for the pure fact that you mentioned seeing several women give birth. And while I realize I will be doing this in about 12 weeks or so, the thought of watching someone else do it makes me feel like i'm going to faint (I'm such a wuss!), but I am a fan of natural for weird reason (aka I hate needles), but the more I read about it and different takes on natural (not just the granola ones), I start to get excited about it. I know you don't have a lot of time right now, but I've been reading "The Husband Coached Childbirth" and it has really changed my understanding of the natural process, worth skimming through if you have the time!

Xander said...

I asked for an epidural with Alex, but couldn't get one in time, so I ended up going natural by default. So I don't look down on anyone requesting an epi (because I did it myself), but having delivered with no pain meds, I WILL BRAG TILL MY DYING DAY. :)

Sounds like a cool movie I want to check out. I see a midwife practice and they have educated me a lot on some of those topics you mentioned. I heart midwives.