What Would I do differently?
I wrote about my son's birth a couple of months ago and it was a little unconventional. I mean, not every mama to be has 16 people sitting in her hospital room helping her labor. Alex and I of course want to have more children and when I look back on my son's birth I smile at all the warm fuzzy memories and I know there is not a single thing I would change about giving birth the first time.
But that does not mean that my second time around will be an exact mirror of this experience.
I want to be present during the birth of my child. That means I most likely won't be having a party in my room! But in all seriousness I want to be able to reflect on the time that is ending and the new chapter of our lives that is about to begin. I want to be able to say goodbye to the way of life that has been mine for 2+ years and begin this new chapter of two (or whatever number) with freshness and zest. For me that looks like a lot of quiet time, a lot of time reading my Bible, praying with my Husband. I don't want distractions of screens. I want to be present. I want to be in the moment. I want to feel everything. I think it's so easy for people to pop in a movie, or scroll through facebook these days as a way to escape the amount of nervousness/pain they are experiencing. For me though I think it's really important to take this time to be there in the moment. Because once it is gone you will never get it back.
I want my birth to be absolutely as natural as it can be. You probably already guessed that from reading the above reason. One thing my first birth taught me is that my body is amazing, and I am so much stronger than I knew I was. The fear of not being strong enough caused me to opt for an epidural the first time, but knowing that I was able to talk through and smile and even laugh while being dilated to a 7 makes me so much more confident in my body's ability to be strong through all that labor and delivery can place on a mom. I refuse to buy into the lie that I can't do this without the help of drugs, or that I won't enjoy it. Call me crazy but my body was made to endure this. I got this.
I am going to do a better job of preparing my body for labor. I managed to gain the recommended weight during my pregnancy and also lose it quickly after giving birth. But I also didn't eat the healthiest or workout much during my pregnancy either (besides my prenatal yoga. LOVE IT!). I've read different studies where staying in shape during pregnancy can actually help you to have a shorter labor, which we are pretty much all for, amiright ladies?! So next time around I will definitely not give way to the cravings, take some more me time, and now that I've started running and hope to keep it up, maybe even jogging into labor!
Birth is such a beautiful experience and I am so looking forward to my next pregnancy and labor/delivery knowing that I am strong mother who knows what she wants!
But that does not mean that my second time around will be an exact mirror of this experience.
I want to be present during the birth of my child. That means I most likely won't be having a party in my room! But in all seriousness I want to be able to reflect on the time that is ending and the new chapter of our lives that is about to begin. I want to be able to say goodbye to the way of life that has been mine for 2+ years and begin this new chapter of two (or whatever number) with freshness and zest. For me that looks like a lot of quiet time, a lot of time reading my Bible, praying with my Husband. I don't want distractions of screens. I want to be present. I want to be in the moment. I want to feel everything. I think it's so easy for people to pop in a movie, or scroll through facebook these days as a way to escape the amount of nervousness/pain they are experiencing. For me though I think it's really important to take this time to be there in the moment. Because once it is gone you will never get it back.
I want my birth to be absolutely as natural as it can be. You probably already guessed that from reading the above reason. One thing my first birth taught me is that my body is amazing, and I am so much stronger than I knew I was. The fear of not being strong enough caused me to opt for an epidural the first time, but knowing that I was able to talk through and smile and even laugh while being dilated to a 7 makes me so much more confident in my body's ability to be strong through all that labor and delivery can place on a mom. I refuse to buy into the lie that I can't do this without the help of drugs, or that I won't enjoy it. Call me crazy but my body was made to endure this. I got this.
I am going to do a better job of preparing my body for labor. I managed to gain the recommended weight during my pregnancy and also lose it quickly after giving birth. But I also didn't eat the healthiest or workout much during my pregnancy either (besides my prenatal yoga. LOVE IT!). I've read different studies where staying in shape during pregnancy can actually help you to have a shorter labor, which we are pretty much all for, amiright ladies?! So next time around I will definitely not give way to the cravings, take some more me time, and now that I've started running and hope to keep it up, maybe even jogging into labor!
Birth is such a beautiful experience and I am so looking forward to my next pregnancy and labor/delivery knowing that I am strong mother who knows what she wants!
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