Childbirth...

You want to know what I want to be when I grow up? A person who helps people have babies. But I don't want to be a OB or a midwife because, well honestly, I don't want to be up in anyone's stuff - you know? BUT I do want to encourage women and help them prepare for baby having and love them and teach them and share my experiences with them.

I've only had one baby, I know this. But in just 12 short weeks (woohoo 3rd trimester!) I will have another experience. I don't know how it will turn out, but I do know that I can prepare myself and remind myself that God is the Lord of my body, my baby and my birth experience. Maybe after two babies I will feel more qualified to tell people how great -even when it's hard- child birth can be!

Now, I'm a firm believer that our bodies (as women, sorry guys!) were made to have babies. They were created to carry and nurture a tiny fetus for nine months. Our bodies were created to grow an extra organ for the sake of growing a baby. They were created to labor and deliver a child. I love this! I love knowing my body was made for baby having!

And I also think that all (minus the medically dangerous exceptions) are capable of delivering vaginally and naturally, every time. I will not, however, judge you if you think otherwise (I won't mention names...ahem ::grin:: ). Sure it's hard. And it hurts. And it can be long and exhausting, but the rewards are so incredible! But I won't go into this any further because it's not my goal to make any one feel like I'm attacking them. I'm just sharing what I know and what I love.

Anyways, I'm going to tell you about this book: Ina May's Guide to Childbirth. I love it. It was so helpful to me the first time around. In fact, I borrowed it when I was pregnant with B and loved it so much that I bought it for all consecutive babies! I even bet I raved about it two plus years ago on here.

And to make my point a little more strongly - I wrote things from the book on notecards to take to the delivery room with me. Turns out that I didn't need them, but I still have them!! I love Ina May's perspective on child birth and women. I love how she gives so much information about all aspects of child birth. I even love that she gives bits of information on all sorts of induction, pain relief and delivery options (medical and non).

Either way, I'm so glad that I have this resource. It makes me so excited about labor - again. I'm preparing myself for anything. I know all the things involved with baby having and I think it's best to go into the delivery room knowledgeable. The more I know, the more I can advocate for my body and my baby (also a plus of having a doula. look into it). Sure, the worst could happen - but until then I will continue to do all I can to prepare my body for labor and delivery. And I'll continue bathing this experience in prayer, because that's ultimately our best preparation!!!