Medicated vs. Unmedicated Childbirth

Danny gave me an ultimatum. I have until 30 weeks (that's THIS week for those who haven't been counting) to decide if we're doing this whole childbirth thing unmedicated or not.  That's right - I have to pick, because in his mind if he's going to coach me and encourage me in something he wants to know what the end goal is. Okay, that's logical.

So, my obsessive compulsive disorder saw that deadline and immediately bumped up the reading . . . and the crying . . . and the freaking out.

Until one day, I just decided. I want to try this.

I feel like I need to have good, strong, convicting reasons as to why I'm probably, not-fully-committed to, but most likely going to try for a natural, unmedicated labor and delivery.

I think I need these logical reasons because alot of people look at me crossed-eyed and like I've grown two heads (instead of just a bigger belly) when I talk about our Bradley classes and possibly not wanting an epidural.

But I don't have any mind-blowing reasons.

I just want to try it. For no other reason that I want to see if I can do it.

I wanted to see if I could run a marathon. So I trained and I did it. With this child in my abdomen.

Part of me wants to see if I can have an unmedicated birth. I want to feel that child move, shift and be born. I want to see if I can relax through the contractions. I want to see if a warm tub of water makes it feel "better." (Better being a very relative here.) I want to see if I FREAK out at the transition stage to the point of telling Danny I quit and then surviving that to see if I get than undeniable urge to PUSH.

And so I'm going to train. I'm going to practice relaxing, breathing, moving into different positions.

I ran a marathon and it hurt like heck. For DAYS afterwards. Muscles I didn't even know I had were sore. But I'm glad I did it.

I have a feeling that the reward from giving birth is a little bit better than the medal and sense of accomplishment you get from crossing a finish line at the American Airlines Center. A birthing high had BETTER be BETTER than a runner's high.

I also want to avoid the epidural/Pitocin cycle. I would LIKE to feel my legs after I deliver - at least I think I would. I would also like to avoid the insane pain that comes with Pitocin and NO epidural. And, I even more so want to avoid a c-section. 

And so, those are my reasons, nothing profound or deep, nothing spiritual or moral, nothing right or wrong. That's just what I want. If it's not what you want(ed) that's totally fine. 

I almost didn't write this post. I don't want to be a childbirth fanatic. I don't want you to be afraid that I'm going to beat you over the head with my Bradley book when I find out you're pregnant until you relax and take deep belly breaths. I just wanted to do my research. And several of you asked what I've been discovering during all my research, so here's this post.

My friend, Becky, wrote a great blog post and got a great discussion going on this very topic on supporting one another in our differing decisions over here.