Friday, September 4, 2009

Birthing matters and a few lovely things....

My mind doesn't always want to produce average, ordinary thoughts. I like pondering about useless crap that nobody else would care about. I like delving in to the deeper thoughts without using Google. Take yesterday, for example. My mother came to visit with me and help me around the house. We took a break to grab some lunch and hit a second hand store for a bookcase for Max's room. On the way, we passed the hospital where my brothers and I were born. She started to reminisce about our births. I'm fairly sure, after nearly 45 years on this planet, that I've never heard the details of any of this. I found out that my brother Jim was a quick and easy birth; he was born exactly 5 minutes after my father circled the parking lot and dropped her off at the front door of the emergency room. I, on the other hand, "was a pain in the ass" and apparently the best mistake that ever happened. My parents had bought a modest 3 bedroom house and had planned on having just my brothers. When they found out she was pregnant with me, they wondered how they would make room for baby #3. I tell you all of this with the fact that my mother did not say any of this hurtfully; she was simply recounting the story. So anyway, I did not want to come out. My grandparents were visiting from Florida. Every day, they would come over to the house and ask my parents if my mom was ready to have me. Finally, faced with the fact that my grandparents were leaving to go back to Florida, my mother called the doctor and requested that she be induced, which is what happened. My mother said that she always wondered what my real birthday would have been had she not been induced. Now here is where the pondering comes in...

When a baby is induced before its time, does that have an impact on the baby? I arranged to have my son induced because my doctor was going away on vacation for 2 weeks during my due date. I only wanted him to deliver my son. It was the most painful and traumatic labor ever. I knew that day, after the inducement medication kicked in, that I should have waited until he was ready to come. Every day since, I can't help but wonder if things would have been different had I waited. Did inducement have an impact on him? I look at my brother Jim's personality. He is confident, antsy and ready to leave 5 minutes after arriving anywhere. I look at my personality. I'm a late bloomer. I never want to do anything uncomfortable until I'm good and ready or finally forced to act. My right side of my body is also completely different starting with a webbed toe and an irregular earlobe. I also grew differently and had an intensive spinal surgery when I was 16. On a deeper level, I wonder if there is a specific plan for each soul in the birthing process and what happens if that plan is unnaturally interrupted. Hmmm.... See what I mean about pondering useless crap? I asked Breen about this last night and he said that I certainly had an interesting angle but what good would it do now even if any of my theories were true? My mother can't go back and re-birth me just as I can't go back and re-birth my son.

On a lighter note, here are some lovely things that I've experienced over the past few days.

I'm enjoying sketching and making food notes in my new food diary:




I've been enjoying lush, orange produce:


and comfort foods like Noodles Romanoff and grilled Portabello mushrooms and avocado sandwiches:



I didn't find a bookcase yesterday but I did find an amazing sterling silver ring for $6 and a big sparkling belt buckle for $5. I was thrilled this morning to discover that the belt I bought in Oregon a few years back at a cowboy shop has a removable buckle. Now I can change them up!


Don't forget to visit my food blog for a chance to win a vintage sugar sack apron :)) Happy Friday!

4 comments:

  1. I love the questions you bring up about allowing the natural birthing process ... great pictures I love your sketches and food journal :-) ... enjoy your weekend!

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  2. I tend to believe that we are born right when we are meant to be. Whether it is a chosen date picked ahead of time, or the baby coming prematurely, with drugs, or naturally.

    With my daughter... she was born a week past the due date. On that day, I had started having some signs labor was starting but because it wouldn't kick in at a normal rate and I was already late, they induced me. Hours and hours and hours of nasty pitocin induced contractions. The horror. They even tried at one point to give me an epidural but it didn't work. FINALLY.... after ripping, and being cut, and feeling like I would die, at little after 1:00am that morning she decided to come out.
    Totally worth the wait and pain... BUT....
    what was interesting was that years later I began a study of astrology and found that she was born only minutes into the sign of Gemini.
    It was almost as if she'd waited and waited to get to that point. Well, I know that probably sounds a little odd... and I can't ramble on for umpteen paragraphs to explain it... but I just feel that we are born at the exact time we are supposed to be.

    Have a great weekend!

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  3. When I was pregnant, I developed gestational diabetes and the doctors said that it was not safe to go over my due date so they scheduled an induction the day before my original date. It took about 14 hours, and then Arianna came into the world. I did have a blue baby, but thank God, they were all the resources needed and she did not suffer consequences. They said that it did not get to her lungs, and she did not need any intensive care. So, sometimes I wonder what if for whatever reason we did not scheduled and was somewhere else that I could not make it to the hospital in time for the help that we needed. So, I think I agree with CrystalChick, she was meant to be born that day. :)

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  4. I too had gestational diabetes and had scheduled a c section as close to the due date as possible
    I always wonder what would have happened had I not had gestational diabetes and could have delivered both of them naturally

    peace and hugs

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