Monday, December 29, 2008

:: The Business of Being Born::


As some of you may or may not know, Cory and I have decided to have a home birth with a Certified Nurse Midwife this go around. And no, I promise we have not turned into some ultra granola hippy couple. There are a ton of reasons as to why we feel that, for our family, this is the best option. I won't go into it on here, but we really do feel it will be the best route for what we want out of our birth experience. Let me just say that it was not a decision we entered into lightly. As many of you know, the practice of home birth with midwives are pretty rare in our country. In fact, it was just legalized here in South Dakota last year after a long hard fight by a lot of people. 


We have prayed and prayed and PRAYED for wisdom and direction with the birth of Teagan. We knew we wanted a different experience this time. Whether that meant a hospital birth with less interventions, the use of a midwife or something else... we wanted to make sure every option was explored. After our regular OB (who we LOVED) moved to New Zealand half way through this pregnancy, we felt the Lord was really opening the door for us to explore the option of midwifery. I was amazed to find out how few people are aware of the practice here in the States. All my overseas friends have midwives, and to be honest, they find it quite strange that we Americans don't use them! Needless to say, after meeting with who is now our midwife, we finally feel a complete and total peace with our birth plan and are quite excited to experience a natural birth process this go around. 


All this being said, we wanted to ask you all to walk with us in prayer as we get ready to meet our little lady. I love that on the list of 'things we need' our midwife listed 'prayer chain'. So here we are, asking you all to cover us in prayer. Pray for the process of Labor. Pray for the birth. Pray for health and strength for both Teagan and I. Pray for Cory and his role in the process. (He plans on catching the baby! Yeah... pray he doesn't pass out.) Pray for Cian as he gets ready to be a big brother and for that whole transition. Pray for our midwife, Jeanne and for wisdom and direction in decisions that will be made. Pray for a QUICK labor and for my recovery time. It's a crazy thought to be thinking about what we'll be experiencing in just a few short weeks... but we are SO excited about the process and to meet our little gal. 


If anyone is interested, there's this fantastic documentary out called 'The Business of Being Born'.  Click HERE to watch the trailer. It's directed by Abby Epstein with Ricki Lake (yes, THAT Ricki Lake) as the executive producer.  For low risk, healthy mothers it shows alternative options for the typical hospital birthing route. I'm a big fan of informed parenting, so just getting another viewpoint on the topic is refreshing. It's hilarious and informative and just an all around good documentary. A little warning before you see it. There IS some nudity and language here and there (women giving birth... yeah, it's sort of a given). But I do highly recommend it for men and women, pregnant or thinking about having babies. I have it, so if any of you want to borrow it... let me know. 


I also want to add that by posting this I'm not advocating home birth for everyone... and I'm definitely not anti-hospital. But I really do think families should be aware of the fact that they do have options when it comes to the birth of their little ones. 


 Ok... thats my schpeal. Love you all!!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

more power to you. we're really pumped for ya'll! how exciting. consider yourself prayed for (at least by us).

Jenny said...

YAY we loved LOVED our home birth - and ours was VBAC, so more people thought we were nutso! ;-) I hope you have a great experience, as well. We will definitely be praying!

Jenny said...

Oh, and read "Active Birth" it is awesome!

kate said...

yay. i am excited to read this post. it is something i have been thinking about too. a few friends of mine have recently done this & recommend it. i am excited for you. i will have lots of questions when its our turn. you are in our thoughts & prayers.

Shannon said...

Jason and Gwyn: Thanks guys!! We're super thankful for meeting you both and for your friendship.

Jenny: I'll definitely check out that book. Thanks for the recommendation! I'm so glad you had a fantastic home birth experience... it's reassuring to hear stories about others who have done it. =)

Kate: Try to get your hands on the documentary. I think you and Noah both will find it interesting as you start thinking about having a family. I'm excited for your turn. You'll be an amazing momma. Yay! =)

Anonymous said...

I think you are awesome, I wish I had the option, but it will be fun to hear about your experience. I am so proud of you, you are such a wonderful mommy. I am so excited to share in the experience with you and our little ladies:) We will be praying for you every step of the way. Destri and the crew

Shannon said...

Thanks, Destri!! You have been an amazing friend... I'm SO stoked that we'll be having our little gals so close together! We'll definitely be praying for you too. =)

Tammie and Kevin said...

We are so excited about the whole thing. We are praying for the whole team and all that is before you and Cory. Cian will be great big brother.
Can't wait to hear the stories of the birthing experience of Teagan. Can't wait to meet her and Cory will definitely be right there by your side taking it all in with you. What a experience.
WE LOVE YOU ALL AND CAN'T WAIT FOR THE ARRIVAL!!!

Shannon said...

We love you too, Tammie!! Thanks for all the support and prayers. I'll have Cory get you a copy of the dvd. =)

Anonymous said...

Shan, i am soooo happy you guys are doing this!!! you won't regret it a bit. i am a HUGE supporter and participant of completely natural childbirth and am so glad to hear when people realize that they have a choice--to give birth the way God intended it! don't get me wrong, i am grateful for contemporary medicine and the use of c-sections, pain medication, etc. when medically necessary. but a lot of the time in this country its WAY overused and a lot of Dr's make you think you have to have it, and well, you just don't. so i'm proud of you!! can't wait to hear your story and to see your beautiful girl. luv you!!