Natural Birth

A lot of people I know are having or have had babies. I'm still 4 and 1/2 months away, but watching them and hearing their birth stories make me think about how I want to give birth. To me, birth is a very intimate, sacred and spiritual event. It's not something you share with just anybody. Giving birth is an important event that should be spent with people close to you and in a place where you feel comfortable. Me personally, I am not a fan of hospitals. Never have been, never will be. Maybe it's because I live with the thought that doctors are out to make everything worse than it needs to be so they can extort money out of me. Or maybe it's because the only times I've been in a hospital is for bad reasons. The last time I was in a hospital, I remember squirming and crying because I couldn't get comfortable. Just laying in the bed gave me hot flashes and nausea. Ironically, I went in because of nausea.

I've been planning to go with a completely natural birth for awhile now. Not just because of my hatred for hospitals, but because a hospital birth is unnecessary. I don't want to be induced and have all of these artificial hormones and chemicals going through my body, forcing my baby out before she's ready. I'm not knocking anyone who does go through this process, I'm just saying it's not something I want. I want to have my baby and go home that day. You are likely to be able to do that when you go natural. I want to be in control of my body. I want to walk around, get in the tub, whatever I can to make myself comfortable. As a woman, I have the right to do what I want with my body and not what a doctor tells me to. I know my body better than anyone. I know what I can handle.

Something that bothers me is when I tell people I want to try natural, most of them tell me I'll be begging for the epidural. They tell me, "do you not realize how much it's going to hurt?" "You're weak Rachael. You won't be able to do it." How dare you people say that to me. I'm sick of it. No one calls me weak. I am not weak. This is what I want and this is what I'm going to do. I know women who have had natural births that were beyond painful, but oh so quick. A woman's body was MADE for having babies. If I want it bad enough, which I do, I can endure it. Yeah I'll probably crap myself, but hey... shit happens.