Clean Bill of Health

Last week, I met with the midwife for my 6-week check up, and I have been cleared to return to all of my pre-pregnancy activities. I started attending a "mommy and me" yoga class, which has been very nice. Basically, it is a yoga class you can take your kids to. It isn't as calm as a normal yoga class is... what with the toddlers running in and out of class and infants making their presence known as well... but it is nice to be able to take Emily along and have some interaction with other moms. Hopefully the exercise will help me fit back into all of those pre-pregnancy jeans that are waiting for me in a container under the bed.

Here is a picture of Emily with my midwife, Ruth Cobb, at my 6-week check up. I just wanted to introduce everyone to the woman who helped us bring Emily into the world. She helped us to have an amazing birth experience. Many people have asked about whether we would choose to have another baby at home after the last experience, with Emily getting sick and all, and the answer is absolutely... after talking to everyone in the hospital, from the doctors to nurses, they all said that she would have gotten sick even if she was in the hospital. Plus, since her breathing was a little fast right after she was born, she would have probably been whisked away to ICU and we wouldn't have gotten to spend any time with her right after the birth.

People have also asked me whether I want to have another baby at home after experiencing childbirth without any drugs, and to that I say absolutely as well. I had always been told how awful and painful labor was, so I was really scared going into labor that I wasn't going to be able to handle it. When my labor started, I remember thinking that I wasn't sure I was really in labor because it wasn't as bad as everyone had described. Andrew and I had worked on our relaxation exercises almost every day for the second half of the pregnancy, and I really think that helped me to deal with it. I also heard that being at home can help a lot because you are in a familiar setting and it makes it easier to relax, not to mention that you don't have people offering you drugs constantly. Of course, that only works if being at home makes you comfortable, if you're freaked out about it, I'm sure it would have the opposite effect. The other thing that I think helped me get through it was accepting what was happening... knowing that each contraction was bringing me closer to having my baby... knowing that all of the pain was happening for a reason... and knowing that each contraction would only last for a short period of time and when it was over, the pain would go away... until the next one at least. If anyone is interested in reading more on natural childbirth and the methods we used to cope with labor, I found the following books invaluable... Husband Coached Childbirth by Dr. Robert Bradley (I just saw that they have a new updated version out), Hypnobirthing by Marie Mongan (some parts seem a little hokey, but it helped me), and Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin (full of great information). Sorry, I just had to give a plug to some of the information that helped us to have such a beautiful birth experience. If you have considered natural childbirth, I would tell you to do some more research and go for it, and if you haven't, I would say you should think about it... at least read a little bit to see what it's all about. I could go on for hours about it, but I won't. If anyone wants to talk more about it, let me know... I'd love to.