Birth is my Extreme Sport
I'm gonna make a t-shirt and a bumpersticker and I'd make a sign for my lawn if I had one. It will read:
I've come to the conclusion that this is about the only analogy that men can come close to understanding.
I'll never climb a mountain, or jump out of a plane or run a bloody marathon. But I'd cheerfully birth a baby without pain medication any day of the week if I could. Well, perhaps more like a couple times a year but, as well as the evident benefit of a lovely new human, I really do enjoy the challenge in a way that I think only participants of extreme sports (or other fans of unmedicated birth) would understand. The deep, joyful satisfaction which comes from the exhaustion of "sucking the marrow" out of that particular event in my life is without parallel.
Birth is about so much more than the pain. And as someone wrote recently - it's not like it's the hardest thing you'll ever do for your kids.
I am deeply, deeply troubled by articles like this. Navelgazing Midwife has also had a bit to say about it as well. And she makes an incredibly accurate observation: What the hell would a man know about the joy of natural childbirth???
Almost nothing. Really now, even my husband (who is super supportive of my desire to birth any way I fancy) has no real viceral understanding of what that experience brings to my existance. Do they have the capacity to really, truly 'get' it?
I've birthed with almost every intervention known to modern medicine and several thousand dollars worth of drugs which were administered in various ways. I've also birthed with the help of my husband, a wonderful Doula, a supportive L&D nurse, some rasberry yogurt and a lot of juice. Oh boy was the second one better. Not only was it rich and empowering and delightful, but it was less painful. You read right. Unmedicated was MUCH less painful than the high-dose epidural and all bells and whistles.
I never want to forfeit again my right to any of the sensations which welcome my babies into my world. I look forward to the day when I meet them again. They are my friends. They telling me that my body is working as it should, where I need to place body and focus my energy.
If you don't understand Doctor Man, that's ok. That's why I'll birth with a Midwife.
BIRTH IS MY EXTREME SPORT.
I've come to the conclusion that this is about the only analogy that men can come close to understanding.
I'll never climb a mountain, or jump out of a plane or run a bloody marathon. But I'd cheerfully birth a baby without pain medication any day of the week if I could. Well, perhaps more like a couple times a year but, as well as the evident benefit of a lovely new human, I really do enjoy the challenge in a way that I think only participants of extreme sports (or other fans of unmedicated birth) would understand. The deep, joyful satisfaction which comes from the exhaustion of "sucking the marrow" out of that particular event in my life is without parallel.
Birth is about so much more than the pain. And as someone wrote recently - it's not like it's the hardest thing you'll ever do for your kids.
I am deeply, deeply troubled by articles like this. Navelgazing Midwife has also had a bit to say about it as well. And she makes an incredibly accurate observation: What the hell would a man know about the joy of natural childbirth???
Almost nothing. Really now, even my husband (who is super supportive of my desire to birth any way I fancy) has no real viceral understanding of what that experience brings to my existance. Do they have the capacity to really, truly 'get' it?
I've birthed with almost every intervention known to modern medicine and several thousand dollars worth of drugs which were administered in various ways. I've also birthed with the help of my husband, a wonderful Doula, a supportive L&D nurse, some rasberry yogurt and a lot of juice. Oh boy was the second one better. Not only was it rich and empowering and delightful, but it was less painful. You read right. Unmedicated was MUCH less painful than the high-dose epidural and all bells and whistles.
I never want to forfeit again my right to any of the sensations which welcome my babies into my world. I look forward to the day when I meet them again. They are my friends. They telling me that my body is working as it should, where I need to place body and focus my energy.
If you don't understand Doctor Man, that's ok. That's why I'll birth with a Midwife.
posted by Louisa at 11:39 PM
4 Comments:
I'll buy a shirt from you! Just after my daughter was born, I turned to my husband and said "Birth is my favorite sport!". I love it so much, I'd consider being a surrogate mother just for the experience of more, more, more labor & birth, since I think I'm done having babies of my own.
I really wish this message got out in the mainstream, that it's possible to view birth as athletic. If you tell someone you're going to run a marathon or climb a mountain, no one asks "But, what about the pain? How are you going to deal with that?".
I really didn't perceive my labors as painful. Intense, overwhelming, difficult, hard work, but not painful. Except for the "ring of fire" moments, of course :-) And the endorphin rush after unmedicated childbirth is the best drug in the world.
"birth is my extreme sport"
I LOVE it! LOVE IT! make lots of bumper stickers - have you checked out cafepress.com?
When you've got the shirts ready, sign me up! I want to buy one from you, too.
My two natural childbirths were amazing, sensual, energizing, empowering experiences. I'd never do it differently. Never.
No man can understand that.
I make shirts all the time. My motto is that since I can't sew, knit or crochet so I "iron-on." Michael's craft store has shirts on sale now...I have all kinds of letter styles. Or Target and WalMart have inexpensive women's tees that work.
MAKE IT!
Hh
(Or go to Cafepress, of course.)
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