Oh...my...GAWD!!!
Ryan and I attended the second class of our childbirth series. I think the title says it all - oh my goodness!!! We learned about labor; how to recognize the signs of early labor, the different stages of labor, when to go to the hospital, etc. The class was extremely informational. As we looked at diagrams and talked about what was going to happen, I was thinking that it didn't sound so bad. After all, educating yourself about something makes it a little less scary.
The last part of the class was where I got a little freaked out. What happened you ask? Well, we watched a video of an actual labor - from the midwife's viewpoint - we saw everything!!! AHHHH!!! Yes, the body is an amazing thing. The female body is able to create a human life and sustain that life inside of itself for 9 (really 10) months, all the while rearranging itself, growing, and streching. It's incredible that the body naturally does these things and prepares itself for childbirth with the contractions, effacement, and dilation. With all that said though, do you know what a natural birth looks like? Do you know that a first time mom is generally in active labor for about 20 hours?! Do you know what 10 centimeters of dilation looks like? Huge yet small considering that a baby's head gets pushed through it!
Yes, the movie freaked me out a little bit (ok, a lot), but Ryan and I couldn't help but dwell on the absolutely awesome feeling of finally being able to lay our eyes on our baby boy for the first time and get to meet him. I expect that feeling to make me forget about all the streching, pushing, and pain of labor. I just keep telling myself that it can't be that bad, or else no one would have a child after the first one, right? :)
The last part of the class was where I got a little freaked out. What happened you ask? Well, we watched a video of an actual labor - from the midwife's viewpoint - we saw everything!!! AHHHH!!! Yes, the body is an amazing thing. The female body is able to create a human life and sustain that life inside of itself for 9 (really 10) months, all the while rearranging itself, growing, and streching. It's incredible that the body naturally does these things and prepares itself for childbirth with the contractions, effacement, and dilation. With all that said though, do you know what a natural birth looks like? Do you know that a first time mom is generally in active labor for about 20 hours?! Do you know what 10 centimeters of dilation looks like? Huge yet small considering that a baby's head gets pushed through it!
Yes, the movie freaked me out a little bit (ok, a lot), but Ryan and I couldn't help but dwell on the absolutely awesome feeling of finally being able to lay our eyes on our baby boy for the first time and get to meet him. I expect that feeling to make me forget about all the streching, pushing, and pain of labor. I just keep telling myself that it can't be that bad, or else no one would have a child after the first one, right? :)
posted by Berenice at
3:16 PM
1 Comments:
You are so funny. That is totally the same thing I have thought just after watching videos on Discovery channel and what not (I am sure your video was more graphic than those, though!). Labor is a scarey thing, and I have thought about that a lot. But, like you said, the human body is prepared for it. If it was unnatural or too burdensome for the woman to take, humans wouldn't be around anymore! And hey, if Brittney Spears can do it, Berenice Walker can!! I'm sure everything will be fine. And who knows, sometimes the process is a lot easier for some people---you never know.
By
Emily, at 5/30/2006 6:08 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home