(My daughter and I the day after I gave birth to her)
The birth of my
daughter was one of the most amazing events in my life. Three years prior to
giving birth to my daughter I gave birth to my son at six months. Sadly he
lived a little less than twenty four hours, I could not go on and explain about
the birth of my daughter without mentioning my late son. I went the doctor for
my yearly, and before I could get changed into the gown the nurse was telling
me to stay dressed. Because my pregnancy test had come back positive. I was in
a state of shock, over joyed, and scared. I was scared because I didn’t want to
lose my daughter, I couldn’t bear to go through that heart break again. The
doctor checked me before I left and determined I was going into my fourth
month. When I went to my OBGYN he confirmed that I was indeed in my fourth
month of pregnancy. I didn’t get to enjoy my pregnancy the way that I thought I
would but I was still thankful for the ending result.
Let’s fast forward to
the morning of March 8, 2010. I got up at 4am to get dressed because my
C-section was scheduled for eight o’clock. My mom and my boyfriend’s sister
accompanied me to the hospital, where my boyfriend and his mother met us. I was
so nervous for so many reasons. I was afraid of the IV, the catheter, the
needle that had to go in my back. After I got checked and went to my room, the
nurses got me prepped for surgery and then the waiting game began. It was about
7:15am when the nurses came to get me to take me to the operating room. I said
my goodbyes to everyone and then I was on my way to the operating room. When we
got to the operating room my heart starting to race even more I started
thinking to myself “This is real I am really going to have another baby”. Once
on the table was told to lean forward so the anesthesiologist could give a
needle to numb me from the waist down, one of the perks of being awoke during a
C-section. My doctor came in and greeted me as he always did, to give you a visual
he is could be Richard Gere’s twin brother.
As the medicine began
to work I started make me feel sick. My child’s father held my hand as I
released my insides to a pan. Once I pulled myself together and the doctors
made sure I was numb from the waist down, the sheet went up and I knew it was
show time. The doctor and nurses talked as they cleansed my stomach and cut the
incision that I already had. In no time my doctor was saying “There she is” as
the nurses cooed along with him. At exactly 8:05 I gave birth to the most
precious thing in the world to me, my baby girl. The nurses wrapped her up and
put her next to my face my face I can remember smiling and saying “Hey little
girl”. After we introduced ourselves the nurses told her father to follow them as
they took my baby to the nursery to get cleaned up.
My doctor then began
the process of closing my incision, which took a while because my doctor
somehow made the incision to wide. He ended up taking out some extra fat so all
was well. Once I came out of recovery I went back into my room, and enjoyed my
family and friends. The nurses brought my daughter in right after I got in my
room, from then on my life with my daughter has been amazing and I am looking
forward to many years to come being her mother.
I choose to talk
about the birth of my daughter because it was the first time I have birth to a
child that survived, a child that I could hold in my arms and give kisses to. The
birth of my daughter changed me forever. It gave me a reason to live, a reason
to stop crying because my son wasn’t here. Even though he never leaves my mind.
I choose to share the story of her birth because it inspired me to be the woman
that I am today. I feel that birth has an impact on child development because
some of the things that can happen at birth can have a huge on impact on a
child’s development. For instance if the cords get tangled, or the baby goes
into distress, or even if the mom has other complications. All of these things
could cause issues with the child could affect them personally or affect the
parent in a sense of them being able to raise the child. I choose to research
how the women in the rural parts of Africa give birth to their children. To my surprise
most women give birth at home with the help of family and friends, sometimes mid
wives help. They give birth at home simply because they don’t have funds for transportation
to the hospital and for the hospital bill itself. In some cases they are no medically
professionals to assist them. However since their medical system is steadily
improving they are still urged to go to hospital just in case something goes
wrong. An obstetrician who
is used to carrying out natural childbirth in Kenya is better placed to provide
you with unbiased advice as you go through the pregnancy (http://withbabysolutions.com/childbirth-kenya-natural-childbirth/).
Being that I live in the U.S. having my child in a medical setting was almost
understood when I found out I was pregnant. Even though like the women in Kenya
I had other choices. Women in Kenya have the same access to childcare as I do
but it I some cases they are not being educated on how much their health care
system is changing. They have OBGYN’s and mid wives just like we do in the U.S.
Like me they also have C-section almost at much higher rates though. Please
click on the following link to see the video of the woman in Kenya having her
baby at home on the floor, https://youtu.be/8XKrIeMRNAA I gained a lot from this comparison. I didn’t know that better health care
was on the rise in Africa.
References
Hello Leah - what a heartwarming story of the birth of your daughter. Losing your son is a heartbreak I cannot imagine, though he must have been in your heart and mind the day his sister was born. The attached video of the birth in Kenya is so vastly different than a birth in America - she seemed so calm and self assured as her baby entered the world. If I was about to give birth on a floor with only a fellow woman to help, I do not think I would have been as calm. I imagine her calmness helped ease her baby into the world. Very touching blog post. May I ask how old your daughter is now?
ReplyDeleteHello Melody thank you for your warm kind words. My daughter is 5 she will be 6 on Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely cannot imagine losing a child. I am so sorry you had to go through that. Thank you so much for sharing this story with all of us. I am so glad that you had the love and support of your family while giving birth to your daughter. I know how difficult it can be without it. It makes things much easier when you have people surrounding you who love you unconditionally. I can only imagine the experience of losing a child is absolutely heartbreaking. Not having my husband home for the birth of my daughter was a roller coaster of emotions in itself.
ReplyDeleteDo you plan on having any other children? It took me three years to decide to have my second child.