Sunday, September 14, 2008

why?

I went to a baby shower today for my dear friend, Cristina. She is the tiniest cutest little lady, no taller than 5'3" and has a husband about Scott's height. In case that doesn't mean anything to you, Scott is 6'8". Cristina is all belly with this baby and I am not sure how she can get much bigger between now and October 31st.

Why? starts a lot of my questions lately. Questions that I have always wondered in my head, but I actually blurt them out these days. So, I set that all up to say that showers are filled with baby talk. I overheard one of the girls talking about a friend of hers who had a baby early this morning and she ended up having to have a c-section. Normally, I would think to myself, "oh, that poor girl!", and I did, but in addition to that thought came another thought. "WHY did she have to have a c-section?" I have recently gained the interesting knowledge of the overwhelming statistics of c-section rate in North Texas. It is an unbelievable 50%! Again, why is this? Of course these many questions are coming the more I am studying about birthing and babies these days. I find myself asking women, "why did you get induced?" and "how did that make you feel?" You know what I am hearing? Most of them are saying, "well that is what my doctor recommended." I haven't quite gotten up the guts to say, "and for whose convenience was that?" I know I am sounding a bit sarcastic and sassy, but I am out to change the world people! That may be a little bit dramatic, but I gotta dream a bit, right?

Right now I can firmly say that I know that my training to be a doula will prepare me entirely for my births one day. It is fascinating to read about women and their birth and postpartum stories. I don't have a lot of experience in the childbirth department (oh yah, I already covered that in my previous post), but I do have ample experience in the baby department. I have been around babies my whole life.....siblings, cousins, niece and nephew....well you get the idea. For now, I will keep on watching live births on the internet and be in awe. I am looking forward with excitment and timidness to the first birth I get to be at whenever that day may come.

On that note, I will ask for prayer as I interview tomorrow for a part-time position as a Childbirth Coordinator at an adotion agency here in Fort Worth. The position involves many emotionally and physically demanding tasks and I am praying for the wisdom to know if I am capable of mentoring and coaching young women as they go through the birth of a child that will be given to a loving home. I have thought long and hard on this one and would appreciate your prayers.

Thanks, once again, for reading my blog. Have a great week everyone!

2 comments:

JoAnne said...

Hannah, your awesome! I am glad to call you my friend.

Hannah said...

How was the interview?

"Why" is one of the questions, I find, that most people don't want to answer.

I try to see it from their view - I got very lucky that I decided against having an epidural, etc. because of my needle-phobia and that I found HypnoBirthing. But the first trimester while pregnant with Kamy I planned on an epidural, listening 100% to the doc, not researching simply because I thought that was just how it is all done. Truth be told, I just didn't know any better.

I do find myself really reaching out to people who HAVE NOT had babies yet (no experience to compare it to) and to friends/moms who have had a difficult outcome with induction, etc. They are much more open to the "why" and open to hearing there are alternatives. People who had fantastic experiences with their doc being super hands on aren't really interested in hearing alternatives. Know what I mean?