Taking It Easier This Time

When I had my second child, I was to have a delivery by a Certified Nurse Midwife in the hospital (that's as un-medical as my insurance would cover at the time). My labor had started and I went to see my midwife in her regular office. My labor then stopped, and I was 6 centimeters dilated. My midwife said I was fine and the child was fine and that my body was being kind to me by letting me rest. My midwife also warned, "Do not check into the hospital until labor starts back up!" She was very serious on this point, because the hospital staff has its own textbook-style labor protocol your body must conform to. Also, the staff might not want to wait around for things to start back up however long it may take. So my husband and I went for a walk to help get things going and pass the time. In about an hour, things did start back up. I soon had a healthy baby boy in my hands. I didn't even tear on that (my second) delivery despite the scar tissue from my first birth. Unlike the doctor I had to use for my first birth, my midwife saved my skin with warm compresses. After the birth, the hospital had no private rooms left, and I was given my own semiprivate room. The nurse came in and said my husband cannot stay. I replied by getting up out of bed and packing my clothes to leave right then. Does that staff actually think they will provide better care to me than someone that has a vested interest in the well-being of his family? Besides I needed someone of sound mind to be there to protect our child and me from anything stupid the hospital might try to do. Anyway, after the nurse ran to the head supervisor, she came back saying, "Oh! He can stay!" I should have left anyway.

I am glad my husband was there to safeguard the baby and me through the birth and afterward. During the birth a nurse was trying to "push" stuff on me and she was freaking out that I was going natural. After the birth, the hospital boasted of its security system it implemented to see to it that your child is never lost. (Don't worry we would never let them take the baby without my husband going too.) They breeched their own security system with our child in what seemed 5 minutes from their telling us about it.

I am relieved to be having a home birth very soon. I am due in 5 days and the only concern I have about the birthing process is whether or not my house will be clean and not "Oh what crap am I going to have to deal with this time?"