Beckett Part 2

This was a big decision. A thousand things that could go wrong race through your mind because society in America says having a Homebirth is insane. But then you think about it, you get to stay at your house where it is comfortable, where you have all of your own things. There are no weird sounds, there is no IV, you can do whatever you need to during labor. It was normal years and years ago, it is normal in other countries, maybe it's not a bad idea and maybe it shouldn't be such a weird thing. Both Luke and I did not get pregnant thinking we were going to have a Homebirth though and we had apprehensions and questions about this idea. 

With Owen I had pretty bad tearing. This was one of our biggest apprehensions with this baby and a Homebirth. What happens if I tear? The answer is that the midwives go with you to the hospital, you get numbed up and stitched up and go on your way. The better answer is that we didn't have to do that! Our midwives took preventative measures (unlike the hospital) and they don't do episiotomies (which increase your chances of tearing). All leading up to Beckett's birth I was still nervous that I would tear. Owen had a big head (in the 95th percentile). Beckett had a bigger head. I did not tear. I did not need stitches. Head size has nothing to do with tearing. With Owen we had an episiotomy and I was not in a position that would work for me in terms of tearing. Luke and I talked about this to death even in the weeks when we had decided to go ahead with the Homebirth. We looked for articles, read discussion board posts, anything for some reassurance. Especially when everyone started doubting our decision for us. Clearly we were insane.

We were as low risk as a pregnancy can be. I was young (27 at the time of birth), my blood pressure was perfect (and had been perfect through Owen's pregnancy and birth as well), I eat really well, I'm active and in good shape, I didn't have gestational diabetes, I didn't have any kind of anything that would raise a red flag as far as needing to go to the hospital to have the baby or myself taken care of. We decided to have a Homebirth. Yes.

When you decide yes...you have to sign a whole bunch of papers. Those papers scare the crap out of you and make you doubt your decision again. Basically if someone goes horribly wrong, you understand that the midwives have no medicine, they can not carry oxygen. They want to make you aware that if something does go wrong, family members and friends often blame the parents for it because they chose Homebirth. Even though in reality, the statistics say that things go wrong in hospitals just as often and even if the doctors use all the medicine and fancy gadgets they have, the baby won't survive. Those words are scary. Especially when you are pretty far into a pregnancy. We signed the forms. Again we were extremely low risk. I was still nervous. I read a lot of Homebirth stories and asked some ladies in a crunchy moms group I am part of if they had any insight to offer. Luke and I decided that we really did want a Homebirth. This was a good idea for us. Once we were committed, we were excited.