Giving Birth

The birth of Brandon. I went into labor on Wednesday, July 18 at 8:36 p.m. While standing in the kitchen I felt a sharp pain hit me. I grabbed the back of a chair to hold myself up while going through the contraction. After it passed I began to walk, when another one hit me. I then looked over to the clock on the stove to began timing the contractions. After my contractions got closer together I yelled to my husband that I needed to go to the hospital. My husband was so nervous he was laughing. (It was not funny to me.) When we got to the hospital I was wheeled to the maternity ward. The doctor came in and checked me. She said "You are not that far along. We will keep you for a while and if you are not further along we will send you back home." After about an hour and a half the doctor came back in and while she was checking my cervix my water broke on her hand. "I guess your staying," she said. Around 8:00 am the next morning the doctor came in and said that his heart was not beating correctly and they needed to take him. My husband who faints at the sight of anyone's blood but his own asked my mother in law to go into surgery with me. They wheeled me into surgery and at 9:56 am I gave birth to a 8lb 9oz, 19 inch long baby boy.

I choose this birth experience because it is the only one I have experienced. My husband and I are the oldest of our siblings and no one else has had children. I think giving birth to a child made me realize how proud I am to be a mother. It is amazing how you feel an automatic connection to someone you just met.

I saw the movie Babies. In this movie they follow babies from their birth to about 4 years old of four women from around the world. In the beginning of the movie they show how each woman gives birth. A woman in Africa is in a hut crouched down on the dirt floor giving birth while a midwife stands on the side. As the baby comes out she reaches down a grabs the baby.When he is all the way out she pulls him up and puts him on her chest. The woman gets no medical care or anything. It is funny how in America we rush to the hospital when we give birth, but in other countries they can just give birth in a corner. This woman needed no drugs or anything. It makes you think if all the things we go through to give birth are necessary?

Even though this woman and I had almost completely different birthing experiences we both still felt automatic connections to our babies. I don't think how a child is born, natural or with drugs, makes a difference on the development of a child. As long as their are no complications during birth I think all children will develop at an appropriate rate.