Ladies and gentlemen, birth class is getting spicy.
I feel compelled to document things here on my blog both for my own future reading pleasure and for my own personal agenda to demystify the pregnancy and birth process. Why are we afraid of and freaked out by pregnancy and birth? Well, Kansas sex-ed curriculum aside (here, kids, watch a full-on vaginal birth without really processing it as a scare tactic to NEVER HAVE SEX), there seems to be far too much secrecy surrounding the whole process in our culture. Secrecy leads to mystery and lots of creative thinking, which can end up making everything scary. So there's my two cents on that. As the signs at the Birth Center say, Birth is Normal.
So feel free to stop reading anytime. I'm just here to lay it all out there.
Things we discussed last night that I will, for your sake, not google image search or link you to:
- perineal massage
- circumcision
- progressive Kegel exercise
- hemorrhoids
- episiotomy
- vaccines (fear of Autism, allergic reaction, the world ending, etc.)
- ultrasound/fetal monitoring with ultrasound for extended time periods (fear of Autism - news to me!)
You do the massage and lots of finger-crossing and squatting in the hopes of avoiding the episiotomy. And you do Kegels like your life depends on it in the hopes of staving off hemorrhoids.
And you figure out what the right answer is for you and your family when it comes to circumcision. I think we've settled on leaving it up to the man - the insurance man that is. Many insurance policies aren't covering circumcision because it's actually a cosmetic procedure from the medical standpoint (no medical reason for it). If that's the case and it's going to cost us an arm and a leg then I'm not really in favor of cosmetic surgery for my kiddo. But we'll see what happens. I told Jonathan that he can save his spending money and give that gift to his son if he wants ;) We did learn that the circumcised to uncircumcised ratio is about 60:40 in the US, with much higher circumcision rates in conservative areas. Or we could just have a girl and not have to worry about it right now.
Luckily we're on the same page when it comes to vaccines. And sonograms (not something to do for fun, not something we want contstantly, but worth it if needed)... and as far as the Autism links... nothing is as simple as the media would like to make it. Autism itself includes a whole range of behaviors and symptoms and is difficult to diagnose. Plus diagnosis will vary depending on where you are. I happen to live in an area of the country that is a hotspot for Autism research, and lo and behold diagnosis rates are higher here. The spectrum is broader here. Could "it" (which is a bit too nebulous to pin down as just one thing right now) be "caused" by vaccines or mercry or ultrasound or diet or hypoxia or environment or or or... maybe. We had a good conversation about it last night and we're on the same page so that's what matters for our kiddo. We'll stick with the standard program. It works for us.
I think that's as much as I remember from last night.... Oh, we brough white cheddar raspberry dip and fruit kabobs which went over quite well with the class. And I discovered that Baby B really likes it when I do progressive muscle relaxation. (S)he was dancing up a storm as I slowly relaxed all my muscles and went to my happy place.
I feel compelled to document things here on my blog both for my own future reading pleasure and for my own personal agenda to demystify the pregnancy and birth process. Why are we afraid of and freaked out by pregnancy and birth? Well, Kansas sex-ed curriculum aside (here, kids, watch a full-on vaginal birth without really processing it as a scare tactic to NEVER HAVE SEX), there seems to be far too much secrecy surrounding the whole process in our culture. Secrecy leads to mystery and lots of creative thinking, which can end up making everything scary. So there's my two cents on that. As the signs at the Birth Center say, Birth is Normal.
So feel free to stop reading anytime. I'm just here to lay it all out there.
Things we discussed last night that I will, for your sake, not google image search or link you to:
- perineal massage
- circumcision
- progressive Kegel exercise
- hemorrhoids
- episiotomy
- vaccines (fear of Autism, allergic reaction, the world ending, etc.)
- ultrasound/fetal monitoring with ultrasound for extended time periods (fear of Autism - news to me!)
You do the massage and lots of finger-crossing and squatting in the hopes of avoiding the episiotomy. And you do Kegels like your life depends on it in the hopes of staving off hemorrhoids.
And you figure out what the right answer is for you and your family when it comes to circumcision. I think we've settled on leaving it up to the man - the insurance man that is. Many insurance policies aren't covering circumcision because it's actually a cosmetic procedure from the medical standpoint (no medical reason for it). If that's the case and it's going to cost us an arm and a leg then I'm not really in favor of cosmetic surgery for my kiddo. But we'll see what happens. I told Jonathan that he can save his spending money and give that gift to his son if he wants ;) We did learn that the circumcised to uncircumcised ratio is about 60:40 in the US, with much higher circumcision rates in conservative areas. Or we could just have a girl and not have to worry about it right now.
Luckily we're on the same page when it comes to vaccines. And sonograms (not something to do for fun, not something we want contstantly, but worth it if needed)... and as far as the Autism links... nothing is as simple as the media would like to make it. Autism itself includes a whole range of behaviors and symptoms and is difficult to diagnose. Plus diagnosis will vary depending on where you are. I happen to live in an area of the country that is a hotspot for Autism research, and lo and behold diagnosis rates are higher here. The spectrum is broader here. Could "it" (which is a bit too nebulous to pin down as just one thing right now) be "caused" by vaccines or mercry or ultrasound or diet or hypoxia or environment or or or... maybe. We had a good conversation about it last night and we're on the same page so that's what matters for our kiddo. We'll stick with the standard program. It works for us.
I think that's as much as I remember from last night.... Oh, we brough white cheddar raspberry dip and fruit kabobs which went over quite well with the class. And I discovered that Baby B really likes it when I do progressive muscle relaxation. (S)he was dancing up a storm as I slowly relaxed all my muscles and went to my happy place.
Comments
love you lady lady and am so glad to see you doin' this! It's official. You're an adult! (scary, huh?)