Jaxon's Getting a Fishing Buddy!

 Well, I've been slacking in my "30 things my Children Should Know About Me" posts but I promise to finish all 30…eventually…. but for now I have some VERY exciting news to blog about.  Jaxon is going to be a big brother in November!  We are all nothing short of elated to be adding to our little family! Since I am working at the hospital on the other side of town, and not at the hospital where Jaxon was born I was forced to start looking for a different OB.  Through some conversations with a friend I came across Kelly Miller, CPM,  a traditional midwife that does home births.  Jay and I started a conversation I never imaged having.  I had researched the rising cesarean rates, and the extensive interventions that increase the risk during Nursing school and had very strong feelings about them; but I never felt like home births were "safe".  To be honest, they just sounded too "granola" or too "hippie" for me.  When Jay and I began the conversation about home births someone had suggested a Ricki Lake documentary called "The Business of Being Born" (you can find it on Netflix). As Jay and I watched it, my excitement was far too much to contain.  There were so many questions I had answered, and so much I didn't know about traditional midwifery that was presented to me clear as day.  Needless to say, its definitely one of my favorite documentaries to date.

    The following day, I called Kelly and talked to her about booking a consultation so that we could get answers to the questions we compiled so that we could make a decision, together, about what kind of care we would be seeking.  When we went to our consolation, we were kindly greet by Kelly, Lauren, and Sherri; our Midwife, her student and her assistant (respectively).  They all three listened to my excessive questions, and answered them with so much patience, and compassion.  I was really excited to see a waiting room almost completely dedicated to a kids play area. (If you've ever taken a child to a doctor's appointment other than their own, you understand how nice it is to see an office that is kid friendly!).  After some deliberation Jay and I decided that this was 100% the direction we wanted to take with this pregnancy.  From that moment on my head has been stuck in a book, or I've been glued to documentaries and research to educate myself to the best of my ability.  There are so many things that I think our generation, and our society doesn't know about midwifery and since its been something I have been considering getting my MSN in, what better way to learn than to completely immerse myself in it.  

     I am hoping that this blog will educate people, and to shed some light on something that people aren't very open to talking about.  I don't think that every family should choose water and or home births, but I do feel that women should feel empowered to choose the labor and delivery experience they want.  Over the next few months I plan on sharing some information, my experiences and maybe some links to readings, videos etc… but until then I just want to share about my first appointment.  

     I have to say, that when I was pregnant with Jaxon, my appointments never took less than 3 hours…every single time I went.  My first appointment with Kelly was scheduled at 4:00, and in true Kayla fashion, I was 15 minutes early.  By 4:00 my appointment was underway.  Jaxon had fallen asleep in the car on the way, and they laid out a mat and brought me a blanket for him.  I was instructed to do a routine UA (urine analysis), I weighed myself, and a physical exam was completed.  No pelvic exam!  (if you're a woman you know how uncomfortable that situation is).  We talked about NORA Tea, (which I promise to share some information on once I start actually brewing and drinking mine) and nutrition, as well as exercise and my history.  It was all conducted in the presence of my midwife (the student did most of the "work" which I am totally all for, but never once was my midwife out of the room!) Many of you know that when you see an OB, your nurse does 99% of the work and you spend maybe 15 minutes with your OB.  I loved my previous OB and would have chosen her again if I had the opportunity but it wasn't an option.

    Since making my decision I have encountered lots of skeptics and people that think that I'm making an ignorant decision, but I fully believe in the human body and a woman's ability to give birth naturally.  I feel like labor and delivery is something that a woman should DO and participate in, not have done to her.  I completely understand that cesareans are necessary sometimes but the fact that our local hospitals have a 40% rate of cesareans is alarming.  Women all over the world give birth in their homes, and naturally.  America has the highest rate of c-section and infant mortality and some part of me doesn't wonder if the correlation exists.  We have taken something so natural and made it too synthetic.  When I had Jaxon, despite the fact that I was progressing perfectly and was in active labor, they started me on Pitocin.  I wasn't happy about it and it's definitely not something I want to go through again.  I have heard labor and delivery nurses laugh about and ridicule women who bring in extensive birth plans.  I hated the fact that I spent a maximum of 30 minutes with my baby and then he was whisked away to be bathed by a stranger, when I am perfectly capable of bathing him and was up for the adventure.  None of those things will happen in my home birth and I couldn't be more thrilled.  I hope that this opens up the doors of communication and education for everyone thats even had a slight glimmer of curiosity of home births.  I am open to answering any and all questions and I hope to share the wealth of knowledge I have gained!  


Until Next Time, Peace, Love and Ina May Gaskin!

Kayla Moore