So Aaron and I are going to take a Bradley class and it starts this weekend. To get ready for the class I bought the book Natural Childbirth The Bradley Way. It is by far one of the scariest books I have ever read. I attribute this to the fact that I haven't read any other book on child birth so some of the information was more than a little disturbing.
Thankfully, this specific book includes the original photos used in the 1984 edition for, I assume, comic relief. The women and the men, but particularly the men, have some awesome 80s style going on. I tried to convince Aaron that it's part of the Bradley method and if we want to have a successful birth he needs to find himself some super short running shorts, grow a mustache, curl his chest hair, and wear a gold chain necklace and sweat bands to our class. For the extra mile he could get a perm. We'll see how supportive he's really willing to be.
Reading the book, I have to keep reminding myself that it isn't the book that upsets me (I think the material itself is reasonable and very helpful) it is the actual process of birth that I've got objections to. I do not understand why in His infinite and loving wisdom God didn't let us be marsupials. Marsupials give birth when the fetus is still miniscule. The baby then minds its own business, feeding itself in a convenient little pouch, until its ready to hop out and go its own way. What a great idea! Now that's a life process I can get behind.
Unfortunately personal opinion seems to count for very little in this situation so I can expect a normal mammalian birth in a quickly dwindling space of time. I really am grateful for what I've learned from the Bradley method so far. It's big on educating you about the process and it has lots of exercises to help you train mentally and physically for child birth. I trained for my first 5k run when I was 12, where all I had to do was not stop running. You can't get more basic than that and I still trained for it, a lot. Why would I not train for the physically demanding and potentially life threatening condition of labor? Why isn't it common to train for labor? Doesn't that seem weird to anyone else? Was everyone else born knowing something I wasn't?
8 comments:
hi - i'm a friend of kari's -
i think some of us don't train because we believe in the drugs. ;) even then, you're totally right. we should train! i wouldn't go climb long's peak (a CO 14er) after rising off my couch for the first time, but for some reason i jsut let childbirth happen. #1, i could have used some training. kid #1 was the training for #2.
someone from my lab had the bradley book, and the pictures were indeed excellent. maybe that's to give you something to laugh about when the fun is on.
The thing about training for labor is that it's very difficult to exercise your uterus. Although I hear that's what Braxton-Hicks contractions are for. I never could feel those.
I've heard really good things about the Bradley method. I had an epidural (which I loved with all my heart!) but since I didn't progress very quickly at first I got to experience 7 hours or so of hard labor before getting the epi. I was glad I had prepared to cope with the pain. We took a childbirth class that wasn't very helpful (just the basic hospital one) but I loved the Dr. Sears books; their approach is flexible, but very supportive of natural birthing methods.
I'm really excited for you! Giving birth is the most amazing experience I've ever had. I was ready to do it all over again about 10 minutes after Sawyer was born. It is unbelievable what our bodies can do!
I'll be your cheerleader as you train: Go Katy!! You can do it!! It's all totally worth every bit of pain!!
I did some physical training, but mostly mental training (i.e. lots and lots of reading) the first time. I kept some of the material and re-read it each time, repeating some of the exercises. For some good info, I highly recommend The Baby Book by the Sears'- also The Pregnancy Book.
2 vaginal and 2 c-section (one emergency) births later, I am a believer in every pregnancy and delivery being its own unique thing. I also believe in training AND having an open mind, accepting that sometimes we can and sometimes we can't control the way in which our healthy child is brought into the world. That said... Goooooooo Katy!!
Knowledge is power. Understanding the birth process will be a great help to you and Aaron as you prepare for your little boy to enter this world. And, practice makes...if not perfect, at least more prepared. Every time I gave birth, I asked myself, can I really do this? But with Dad's help, you all were born pretty quickly and very healthy and alert. I am glad we, as a couple, prepared for our children's births.
yep, that makes sense to me. I think it's awesome that you're doing bradley's stuff. I think it sounds like a method that would REALLY help you internalize and develop confidence in you, your body, and your partner. That just seems sooo invaluable to me.
and i have both of those books that Maren mentioned, if you want them. I think that I tried to give one of them to you earlier and you "forgot" to take it home with you.
it really impressed me when mom told me that she and dad would practice like most nights at least for like 15 minutes or something the last month or so before they gave birth to one of us. did i get that right, mom?
Because even with all the preparation I did (or didn't do), 1)I was still surprised at how profound the pain was and how I reacted to it. Usually when you have so much pain, it means that something is very wrong with your body. labor pain, though, means that you going through the natural process. BIZARRE! and 2)how inconsiderate and bossy the doctors were (talking over me, not informing me with what was going on, switching doctors 3 different times during my active labor, and making big decisions about what to do without even consulting me)-- that's why it really helped to have mom and my doula there.
... and then still everything happens as soon as people decide to go to the cafeteria. The End.
Yeah for the bradley method. i think my favorite part of the book was all the photos of naked breasts everywhere during the birth...and the husbands in short-shorts and no shirts. I liked the exercises and Jamieson and practiced some. But then the silly nurses made me lay on a table and not move. So I am hoping for a slightly different outcome this time. Good luck.
I preferred the avoidance method myself. Avoid planning for labor and everything will turn out alright. Amazingly, it did!
I practically did the whole thing naturally, but the epidural kicked in just in time to push. That epidural was a great blessing at the time. But looking back, I realize that since I felt almost all the labor pains without the epidural, I could have done the whole thing without it. I don't think I'll ever try to do a childbirth without an epidural, but I am happy to know if I am forced to, I could manage it. You will do great! And this book sounds hilarious.
Hi! I'm friends with Sarah Hartshorn--
I highly, very highly, strongly, ernestly (can I be more convincing?) recommend that you do HypnoBabies also!
I did Bradley with #1 and thought it was effective. However, I am sure I would have ended up with drugs if I hadn't chosen to birth at a free standing birthing center.
With #2 I did HypnoBabies (NOT HypnoBIRTHING) and it made a world of difference. You may have heard of women giving birth pain-free--and it is true!
My second birth was a home water birth using hypnosis, and I can honestly say that it was FUN and EASY. It was hard work very taxing, but so much easier than my Bradley birth.
When you use hypnosis for childbirth, you aren't walking around like a zombie. Everyone enters a hypnotic state quite often--it is that place you go to right before you fall asleep, when you aren't really awake and you aren't really asleep. You are totally relaxed and comfortable and aware of what is going on.
HypnoBabies is very effective in teaching you to go instantly into that state of relaxation, so that while you are in labor your uterus can do its job to open your cervix and then push the baby out.
During #2's labor, when I relaxed, I could feel my cervix opening very powerfully. It was not painful. I felt tremendous pressure in my back, but that was significantly relieved by my husband pressing (HARD) on it.
As a testiment to the effectiveness of HB: Until 60 minutes before I birthed #2 I was walking around my house taking pictures, making food, helping set up the birthing pool. I was in heavy, hard labor, but was managing fine. During the birthing (pushing) phase, I was joking with my midwife & husband. It was amazing....
Bradley is wonderful, but I recommend doing both courses!!!
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