Well, I finally told everyone that I am pregnant. We told our children on Christmas and they were all very excited. We told everyone else on New Years Day. Our announcement was met with the usual "Congratulations", and " Don't you know what causes that (har, har, har)". My mother's response was the same as the last 3: "Oh, that's interesting". Its pretty discouraging when your own mother can't be happy for you that your family is growing. I get so sick of people assuming that because they couldn't possibly want anymore children, then you shouldn't either! Even if you tell them that you and your husband plan on having a large family, they still react poorly. People suck. Sorry, I have a little bit of a bad attitude right now.
Our decision to have this one at home is solid now. We are not telling anyone, not the OB, not our parents, not even our children. I think it will be easier for me to just do it and then share it. I do not feel like listening to anyone's opinion on why we should be at the hospital (even though 95% of the people on the earth were born at home!) or how we are putting everyone in danger (really? there is a 3 time increase in mother and infant mortality at the hospital!) I'm no dummy. I know that my body can do this, and has done it, and should be able to do it BETTER if I am comfortable and have no "help" (or rather, interference) of "trained hospital staff". Believe me, when you hear how #4 went, you will probably agree.
I have been reading, reading, reading and one interesting thing that I have discovered is that the hormone estrogen is responsible for women feeling contented and for the progress of labor. The level of this hormone drops when a women is in a situation that she is not in control of or feels dominated over or pressured to do things in a way that goes against her instinct. A drop in estrogen PREVENTS labor from progressing! Think about it - if you have a cat that is preparing to deliver her litter and someone moves her, it may stall or stop labor or lead to her delivering dead kittens! She no longer feels safe and that interrupts the natural labor process! It is the same with women in labor. If they do not feel safe or feel dominated and out of control (yes, labor cannot be "controlled" but most women do not feel worried because they understand that their body was made to do this) then labor may not start or progress as rapidly as it would under more soothing conditions, leading to all kinds of medical interventions that actually increase the risks of childbirth!
I am just past the middle mark of this pregnancy. My stress level is through the roof right now, mostly because our house is in the chaos of a remodel that has stalled. I will go to no more than 3 more appointments with doctors. Hopefully 2 more with my doctor and one with the OB surgeon who would perform a c-section if I needed one. That is my back up plan. It is less than 10 minutes to a hospital from here and 5 for the ambulance to get here. I have been through this enough to know when something is not right, and both my husband and I are reading emergency childbirth manuals in preparation. Hopefully our house will get set in order and be the peaceful place I need it to be before labor begins!
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