I am. Never in my life have I been anywhere close to being a hippie, but I am totally a pregnancy hippie.
Reason 1 - I want a totally natural childbirth. If I can make it through the whole thing without even an IV, I'll be happy. I fully understand and accept that things rarely go as planned in labor and delivery, but a girl can dream, right?
One of my main concerns with an epidural is the fact that I have a history of lower back problems. Two herniated discs to be exact. These issues could be aggravated by an epidural and end with me barely being able to walk for an unknown amount of time.
Also, its very common for an epi to slow down labor. Who in their right mind would do something that would make that process longer!?!?!? Seriously, just get that Sea Monkey out of me please!
And to all the Debbie Downers who say "you don't get a trophy for having a natural birth" (please imagine that statement with a thoroughly obnoxious, nasal voice) eff you! For one, I'll get a faster recovery. I'll also get to rest assured knowing I did what I thought was right. And, just to be a brat, I plan on telling The Sailor if I succeed at pushing this baby out sans-intervention, I want a fucking trophy. Screw you Debbie Downers!
Number two hippie attribute - I will do everything in my power to solely breastfeed. To me, this is a no-brainer. First of all, its freaking free. Why spend money on something your body is made to manufacture? Secondly, it burns mega calories. Have I mentioned how fat I feel already? I'm gonna do anything in my power to lose weight post-pregnancy. It also encourages your uterus to shrink. Again making you thinner faster. Come hell or high water, I will do everything in my power to breastfeed.
Number three reason I'm a pregnancy hippie (and this is a big one) - I plan on cloth diapering. Now, get the images of rags held together with safety pins out of your head - cloth diapering has come a long way. They're actually super cute now, which is one of the reasons I plan to use them, lol. And, they're WAY cheaper than disposables. Yes, there's a bigger initial investment, but over the course of a baby's diaper wearing years the average family will save over $2,000! And, to cut back on that initial cost I want to try and sew some of my own diapers (which makes me an uber hippie). And finally, they're not only better for the environment, they're better for baby! Babies are actually less likely to get any sort of diaper rash with cloth than with disposables.
So, there you have it. I'm a total pregnancy hippie. Are there any other hippies out there, or do you all just think I'm a total nutter?
Until next time...
I just found you on the weddingbee! I love it! "Pregnancy Hippy..." :) I've had epidurals and I completely agree with you! They have given me perminant nerve damage. I agree with everything else too. :) Nice to meet you!
ReplyDelete(For some reason Blogger wouldn't let me post a comment signed in. Hmmm weird. lol)
I'm with you on everything...although I don't agree with the Debbie Downer comment but to each her own! :) I cloth diaper and love it. I had some serious breastfeeding struggles but you can push through. I desperately wanted a natural childbirth since I also have chronic low back pain due to years and years of sports including playing in college, things didn't go how I planned. I will try again with the next one, but the back labor with this one and lack of sleep was too much for me. I was scared of the epidural but my labor was less than 10 hours and I only pushed for less than 30 minutes and I had no problems with recovery or anything. There are positive stories out there!
ReplyDeleteBTW I wasn't trying to encourage the epidural, just saying there are negative stories and positive stories about all kinds of births. :)
ReplyDeleteAWESOME!!! I love your no-apologies attitude to your plans for birth and parenting. I know I felt like I constantly had to justify my decisions, which is kind of awful while pregnant and as a new mom. Go for it and don't look back.
ReplyDeleteThere is no trophy for natural labor, and it doesn't make you better than anyone else. But, it is hard work regardless and there is a sense of achievement if you are able to make it through. I aimed to go natural, but had to roll with the punches when I was induced 10 days late with a 10lb 9oz baby. Hopefully next time I'll be all natural. I highly recommend a midwife if you can, but I don't know how the military health system works. A doula might be another option to help you advocate for yourself during labor and to help you through labor naturally if you are not in a natural-birth friendly hospital.
Breastfeeding is awesome. I'd check to see if there are any la leche league meetings you can attend before birth and try to find an international board certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) to have on hand if you have any issues. There is a big difference between an IBCLC and one who is not certified. The nurses at my hospital were "trained in lactation" but were not overly helpful and all gave me contradictory information, so the LLL meetings and a local IBCLC were very helpful.
Cloth diapers are easy and cute and healthy and eco-friendly. I LOVE to hear about people deciding to try cloth. The wash routine isn't that bad (although ask me again when we are on solids... lol) and I love seeing Logan in a cloth diaper. check out diaperswappers.com for info and a great for sale/trade board.
Diana,
ReplyDeleteSolids aren't so bad! In fact, I don't have a diaper sprayer. I use liners and dunking with both work WAY better than I could have even thought!
I wanted a natural childbirth but didn't get one. My water broke first and then nothing happened for 24 hours. No contractions. Nothing. After 35 hours they started pitocin and I made it 8 hours on the stuff before begging for an epidural. It did wear off at 7cm and I had to go the last two hours without it. Next time I think I'm going to skip the doctor and go for a midwife.
ReplyDeleteI did breastfeed for almost 15 months. Best decision ever. I had problems in the beginning but I kept telling myself that I was not spending $22 a can for formula. I pumped like a mad women until we got our latching issues under control.
Oh! And I did cloth diaper too. Well half way. Only because I basically got a years supplies of diapers at my baby shower. So it was half and half. If you keep breastfeeding through your cloth diaper days, you won't have to deal with solids. My daughter didn't have solids until she was about 13 months? And by that time we were potty training. So no stinky poo for me!
P.s. I ordered all of my cloth diapers from http://www.fuzzibunz.com/
ReplyDeleteIt's expensive to start out because you need at least 12-14 a day for a breastfeeding baby unless you plan (and you won't be able to really) on doing laundry all day. Start buying them now!
I love it! And I don't think you are nutso! I think you are hilarious and I am glad you are saying how you feel. And by God, if you give birth naturally, I will personally mail you a trophy.
ReplyDeleteLove it! I'm not sure if I could convince my husband to use cloth diapers but you know as well as I do that I can win the "well you aren't home enough to decide anyways" argument ;) I hope we get some baby dust the next time he comes home!
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