If you're a bird, I'm a bird

*Midwife's name has not been included to protect her identity as home births are very sensitive in Georgia.  On June 21, 2013 at 38.6 weeks pregnant, I started having mild contractions. As I was sitting on the couch at 9:00am, I noticed that the contractions started feeling "real" rather than just Braxton Hicks. My stomach was still tightening, but there was a downward force with each one. I just relaxed my cervix and allowed any opening to happen. I watched show after show getting up to eat occasionally and use the restroom. Lincoln was at school and Joe was working. I sent him a text and told him I was having inconsistent contractions. Throughout the pregnancy, I read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth . Since I felt like some of the material would come useful very soon, I read several chapters of that book that afternoon. As I sat on the porch at 3:00, I took a notebook out there and started tracking the contractions. Joe came home from work and started making fish tac...

This is a post I know I need to write. It will be difficult because I am still dealing with emotional issues tied to Lincoln's birth. However, this is our story. Sunday, September 11th, we went to church at Church of the Nations Assemblies of God in Oconee County. We have been enjoying the messages and the worship and have even met a few people. Another girl and I share the same due date so each week we check in to see if the other has had their baby. Joe and I cleaned the house and went grocery shopping together. I wanted to keep walking around so I went with him, even though I normally do not. Plus, I knew he didn't have a lot to buy so I didn't mind accompanying him. We watched Big Brother 12 that night before bed. We did our Five Love Language Couple's Devotional . Before turning out the lamp, I said,  "I'll let you know if my membranes release." I think it is interesting to reflect back on the day before labor began because we didn't know then t...

Now that we are home from the hospital, we are finding that the best things aren't the easiest. When making decisions about how to birth and raise Lincoln, we had choices to make. First, it started off by planning a natural childbirth, free of medications and a loud traumatizing delivery. Laboring for over 24 hours without medication wasn't easy. If I had taken the medication, would things turned out differently? Would it have been easier? While I was in the hospital, a lady next door to me came in at 0 cm and a few hours later I saw a pink ribbon hanging outside the door. I figured she had Pitocin and an epidural and got it done! She sure made it seem easy! We also decided to breastfeed Lincoln. Growing up I wasn't around many breastfeeders. I wasn't breastfeed. I always said I wouldn't breastfeed because of the dependency I saw in the babies that did. I babysat one once and I couldn't soothe her because all she wanted was her mom. Sometime during the pregn...