Thursday, February 10, 2011

Happy Birthday My Little Rebekah

Last year, on this day, my family was snowed into our little cabin. At 11:15am, my husband (Brent) and 11 year old daughter (Sadie) assisted the birth of our baby girl, Rebekah! Oh, how time flies. She is now, officially, 1 year old. It really does seem like just the other day she was a tiny newborn. Now she has her two front teeth, is walking, and just getting into everything in general.

Happy Birthday my beautiful Rebekah. You are my joy! You bring such happiness and laughter to our family every day!


Rebekah about an hour after birth (2-10-10)


Rebekah March 2010


Bekah in April 2010


Today, on her 1st birthday.

Monday, February 7, 2011

One Born Every Minute...

So, I finally got to watch episode 1 today. I must say, I was sorely disappointed, but not really all that surprised. I was extremely saddened by the second woman who ended up with a cesarean. When she said she had lots of pressure. The nurse said it was because baby was coming and she was almost fully dilated (she was at a 9 1/2). Then, when she hit transition (you could tell), they called emergency c-section for "failure to progress". I was like WTH!!!! She's at a 9 1/2! Baby is pushing it's way down! I was so ticked!!! DH thought it was complete crap!

**Here is the link to the video.

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/one-born-every-minute/video/full-episodes/episode-1-to-medicate-or-not

Fast forward to 27:45. She says that there is a lot of pressure. The nurse says "That is the baby. You are almost fully dilated." Then at 28:07 they call "Failure to Progress" for the reason of the cesarean! NOTHING about baby having ANY problems.**

I've also been hearing all about how the "crunchy" family was so rude and obnoxious. How the nurse (Pam) was also rude and obnoxious. How they should have had a birth in a birthing center if they wanted to go natural. So on, and so on.

I think that the nurse, was a bit rude with her overall attitude about their labour and birth wishes. She needed to step back, and let them labour. Really, just leave them alone. They didn't want all the interventions. After hours of hard labour, I can tell you that I am much meaner than they were. DH is also very protective of my wishes. Neither on of us would have been so nice, and probably would have just asked for a different nurse. The couple most likely would have LOVED to go to a birthing center, but they couldn't. Why? Here is what the mother had to say:

"First of all, there are no birth centers in Columbus, and several homebirth midwives, but only one homebirth midwife practice that has a physician ‘back-up’ (which just felt responsible to me). But, NO insurance locally covers homebirthing, so at first, it was an economical decision. Later in my pregnancy, after we began taking NCB classes, we decided that our next baby would be at home, but there was also a measure of comfort in doing the first at the hospital, since I had no idea what to expect."

I was disappointed when they finally pressured her into Pitocin. :( At 21 hours of labour (which is normal), she was tired and (IMO) they took advantage of that.


Overall, I really think that the show put the hospital and staff in a negative light. The nurses spent a lot of time rolling their eyes when the woman was moaning through her labour pains. They always had snide little looks on their faces. They were always pushing interventions. Which I understand. It is there job to sell the drugs and procedures. The more they sell, the more the hospital makes.

It was actually really sad to watch. However, on the plus side. This show did remind me why I enjoyed birthing my last 3 babies at home so much. It was a little more painful, but so much easier, happier, more comfortable, and much less stressful.

I think that the first episode is all I care to watch. I think I'll throw it in the "A Baby Story" trash bin. It's too bad, because the previews really made it look like it was going to be interesting.