Why I chose a Midwife

Yesterday Christian and I had our first Childbirth Class.  It was the first of an 8-weeks series in The Bradley Method.  Though not a believer in "methods" of birthing, myself, I was very eager to attend a birthing class.  This was a way of bringing Christian into my world and giving him a part of the birthing experience he can master.  I had many fears of him feeling helpless/uninvolved/unwanted/confused during the birth of our daughter.  I felt that the Bradley Method would give him tools to help relax me and to keep him calm as well as learn about specific challenges faced by women who birth in US hospitals.  The class is taught by Gillian Foreman of Uptown Birth, a trained doula with her own interesting birth stories and experiences.  I was a bit nervous that the philosophies of the class and instructor would not be in line with my own, but I went in with an open mind.  For the most part I was very pleased with the first class. 

One of the best parts of the class was when Gillian had us go to different sides of the room depending on if we were seeing an OB or a Midwife.  To my surprise Christian and I were the only couple on the Midwife side.  When asked why we chose a midwife I was hesitant to "out myself".  I was pleasantly shocked when my amazing husband looked at me proudly and said "Because She's a Midwife and I know she is experienced and safe and cares.  I trust Midwives.".  I teared up in front of all of those strangers.  It was one of the proudest moments of my marriage to this day.  I feel extremely blessed to have a supportive husband who "gets it" and who believes in me and what I do.  Had I been forced to answer the same question myself I would have been less eloquent: "Because I'm low risk. Because it's a no-brainer. Because I don't want unnecessary intervention." But in a nutshell, it's because I trust Midwives too. 

In other news, the smoke smell in our apartment has definitely decreased.  HOORAY!  It's been about a week since we've smelled anything!  Our super and Landlord have also been very pro-active and are happy that we are staying in the building.  It's nice to have them on our side. 

Many people have been asking about our Thanksgiving.  Since we are both working too much it was kind of a non-event, a quick reprieve from the daily grind.  We both had to go back to work Friday and Sat.  We were lucky enough to briefly see our friend Heather Donaldson, a Midwife in Pennsylvania whom I've known since my Columbia days.  It was only a quick breakfast date but nice.