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Tag Archives: birth

My First Birth Story, Part 3

01 Sunday May 2016

Posted by ericakatherine in Birth, Me, Parenting, Pregnancy, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

baby, birth, birth story, breastfeeding, cesarean, family, HBAC, hospital, induction, midwife, nurse, OB, OR, pitocin, pregnancy, surgery, vagina, VBAC

Part III; The Axe Forgets, the Tree Remembers

After all the preparation, the classes, the research. None of it mattered. My body didn’t respond to any of the induction tactics, and I was going to have to have a cesarean. At that moment in time, I was crushed. Every one from the hospital was being positive and reminding me that soon I was going to meet my baby and how exciting that was, so I played along. I put on a smile and agreed. Continue reading →

My First Birth Story, Part 2

30 Saturday Apr 2016

Posted by ericakatherine in Birth, Me, Parenting, Pregnancy, Uncategorized

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birth, birth story, cervidil, cesarean, contractions, doula, failure to progress, hospital, induction, interventions, IV, labor, labor and delivery, midwife, nurse, OB, pitocin, pregnancy

Part II; Freedom is Control in Your Own Life

Over our final dinner as a family of two, my husband made the suggestion/joke that we should go rouge. I considered it. The underlying fear of what happens if I become the “bad” patient and don’t go in as scheduled won out over my desire to just wait it out.

We arrived at the hospital, and after a bit of a wait, were checked into a room. Then out came the attachments; I had a blood pressure band on my right arm, IV in my left arm, and both a contraction monitor and an electronic fetal monitor wrapped around my belly. My intention was to still have as natural of a labor as possible, but it was going to be a challenge to move around with all these machines and wires. Continue reading →

My First Birth Story, Part 1

29 Friday Apr 2016

Posted by ericakatherine in Birth, Me, Parenting

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birth, birth story, cervidil, cesarean, epidural, hospital, induction, interventions, IV, midwife, OB, pitocin, pregnancy, pregnant, TENS, The Business of Being Born, therapy

Part I; If You Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail?

Preparing for my second birth, I was advised to seek therapy regarding my first birth. It was an experience that left a mark on me, and changed me as a person. I knew therapy was a good idea, and that I was going to be pushed to face the memories of that day. One of my homework assignments from my therapist was to finally write the boy’s birth story. Though it was hard for me to do, and I procrastinated and pushed back, I did it. With April being Cesarean Awareness Month, I thought it’d be a good time to finally share the story on my blog. Continue reading →

The Birth Bubble

07 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by ericakatherine in Birth, Me, Pregnancy

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

birth, birth bubble, cesarean, gestate, HBAC, home, hospital, positivity, pregnancy, support, VBAC

You may have noticed I haven’t posted in a while…or maybe you haven’t. Either way it’s been too long, so I’m back. I’ve had a baby and have tons of thoughts and experiences I’d like to share.

The first thing I’d like to share is why I went so long without posting. I’m sure it’s partially obvious that after my 30 weeks pregnant post, that I would at some point be having a baby. Originally I promised a 40 weeks pregnant post, but when I reached that point in my pregnancy I didn’t want to bring attention to myself.  I had stepped into my birth bubble.

By the time a woman has reached 38 weeks she has been asked numerous times “when is that baby going to come out?” or received the infamous “you look like you’re about to pop” comments. I didn’t enjoy it during my first pregnancy, so I knew I needed to avoid the comments however possible in my second.

I didn’t post to Facebook about how uncomfortable I was, or how I had yet again gone past my due date. I didn’t want friends and family texting me every day asking if there were any updates (because people, when the baby comes you will hear about it). I wanted to be left alone, to continue in my pursuit to gestate in peace.

There was also another reason I didn’t want to share too much as I reached the end of my pregnancy. I had a birth planned that stepped outside our societal norms, and I didn’t have any interest in hearing anyones opinion about it. I was planning a home birth; I did a lot of research, assembled an outstanding birth team, and worked really hard to prepare as best I could to have the birth I desired. There was no room in my world for naysayers.

My first birth experience was not what I had hoped for, and I was unprepared for the unexpected. I was pushed into doing things I didn’t want because of the protocol of my providers and the hospital. I ended up with a cesarean that I didn’t want, wasn’t sure I needed, and it was physically and psychologically damaging. I knew before the surgeon cut me open that I was not planning on returning to a hospital for my next birth.

The birth bubble is a term I learned from a Facebook group dedicated to mamas that have had cesareans and were looking to have vaginal births in the future (VBAC). You’d be amazed at the negativity so many of these women faced; from their doctors, their family, their friends, and some even from their spouses. People are so quick to tell you it’s not possible (so you should just schedule your repeat cesarean now), or that it’s not safe (you’re going to kill your baby and/or yourself) when they don’t have evidence on their side to back their scare tactics.

Attempting a vaginal birth when you believe your body is broken is not easy. It requires nothing but positivity and support. Enter the birth bubble. I spoke with friends and family openly about my intention to have a vaginal birth at home (HBAC), and anyone that had doubts, I would assure them I had done my research and had a team of people supporting me that had the appropriate experience for this endeavor. Anyone that I didn’t think could offer me the positive energy I needed, I didn’t tell or engage with.

Ultimately, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of support I received. If anyone did have any real doubts about what I was doing, I didn’t hear about it. And spoiler alert, I did have a VBAC, and though it didn’t go as I had pictured, it was everything I needed it to be. I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and I couldn’t be more proud of myself, and my definitely not broken body.Toddler_Baby

 

 

30 Weeks…and Counting

30 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by ericakatherine in Me, Pregnancy

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

30 weeks pregnant, aversions, baby, belly, belly pics, birth, cravings, cute, exercise, Kill Bill, movement, nausea, Ninja, pregnancy, pregnant, sugar, symptoms, The Karate Kid, weight

Why hello there! I hope I still have some readers left considering I’ve been completely MIA for a month or so. I have the best of intentions of writing more, but then life gets in the way… or I’m taking a nap. What can I say? I’m 30 weeks pregnant now AND I FEEL IT.

I’m sure you’ve been anxiously awaiting my pregnancy update since my last one was at the 20 week mark, so here’s what I’ve been feeling!

Symptoms I’m tired, my hips ache, my lower back hurts, my vagina is being punched from the inside and I STILL HAVE NAUSEA. If I eat, it goes away…

Cravings I’m still craving sugar, but in no particular form. Sometimes its popsicles, sometimes its Sundae Cones, sometimes its cake. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told I should avoid sugar, but this kiddo wants her sweets.

Aversions No real aversions to speak of. Like I said my nausea comes from being hungry, so once I eat my cake (or drink my protein shake like a good preggo), I usually feel better.

Weight The last time I stepped on a scale I had gained 9 pounds, and that was about a week ago. I do make sure I do it first thing in the morning (and after I’ve pooped, because well, every little bit counts right?).

Exercise I have to say, I’ve been a rockstar this pregnancy compared to last time. I was running up until 25 weeks (now I’m walking 2-3 days a week), I still go to spin class, yoga class and I can still squat my three sets 85lbs, in addition to my other weight lifting activities (I have given doing dead lifts a break till post baby).

Belly My belly is definitely one of a preggo. I’ve actually been called “cute” this pregnancy, which makes my day considering at this point in my previous pregnancy all the comments were about how I looked like I was about to pop or that I must be having twins. I will take cute any fucking day over that shit.

Movement I am growing a ninja. I kid you not, I considered naming her Beatrix after Uma Thurman’s character in Kill Bill. The hubby wants to name her Danielle to be the girl version of Daniel, The Karate Kid. The good part is, her big brother is a brut so she’ll handle life with him just fine.

Belly Pics- Weeks 23, 25, 27 and 29 (23 is on the right, 29 on the left)

Belly Pics- Weeks 23, 25, 27 and 29 (23 is on the right, 29 on the left)

And since I’m pregnant, and soon to be giving birth, pardon me while many of my posts from here on out are about those topics… that is, if I even write any posts. If I don’t, I will be sure to get the baby pics up soon after her birthday!

Sometimes I Want to Move to Another Country

03 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by ericakatherine in Me, Travel

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Tags

ADD, Americans, birth, breastfeeding, common core, Europe, feminism, FMLA, GMO, health, homeschool, maternity, parenting, patenity, pharmacuticals, school, sex, standardized tests, US

During these last few weeks of the winter I start to get antsy. The cold and being indoors too much starts to get to me and I begin to daydream more than normal. And when I say daydream, I mean online shop. As you know I’m on a shopping pause for now, but that doesn’t stop me from online window shopping. To keep myself in check I like to go big; houses, vacations, and cars. Since they would take a big commitment, I know I can’t do much damage to my budget when online browsing for any of these big ticket items.

The latest itch I have is to move abroad, somewhere in Europe. The husband and I have talked about it before, with each conversation filled with wheres and hows. I’m not quite sure how to go about it, or what we’d do for income, or how hard it would be to be so far from family. What propels me to constantly research and think about all those questions are the lifestyle differences between Europe and the US. Continue reading →

Talk Radio Got Me All Fired Up.

30 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by ericakatherine in Birth, Pregnancy

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Tags

birth, c-sections, callers, cesareans, convenience, emergency, father, pregnant girlfriend, radio, Richard Sherman, sports talk, super bowl, team

Today I was driving home from my work appointments and listening to the local sports talk radio show. It’s a few days before the Super Bowl, and it seems all have moved on from “Deflate Gate” so a new topic needed to headline the next talking segment. Superstar Richard Sherman, the cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks has a pregnant girlfriend, and that bitch has the nerve to be due Super Bowl weekend. The question posed to the audience was “what would Sherman do, play or be present for the birth?”. Continue reading →

My Son’s Birthday Brings Mixed Emotions

07 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by ericakatherine in Birth, Me

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

40 weeks, baby factory, birth, birthday, breastfeeding, c-section, care provider, celebrate, cesarean, education, emotions, epidural, happy birthday, hospitals, intervention, knowledge, labor, midwife, natural birth, party, pitocin, pregnancy, sadness, toddler, vaginal

This past weekend my son turned two. We had a nice party in the backyard with family, friends and other little kids running, crawling and jumping around. It’s so much fun to celebrate the day this amazing little person came into our lives and completely changed how we see the world.

In addition to wishing my son “happy birthday” some of my friends also wished me a “happy birthing day”. I of course appreciate the acknowledgement of my role that day, except I wasn’t able to receive the well wishes the way they intended. Instead I can’t help but note to them I didn’t really “birth him”, he was cut out of me.

Continue reading →

This is About More Than Just Hair

05 Friday Sep 2014

Posted by ericakatherine in Birth, Hair, Pregnancy, Uncategorized

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birth, doctors, education, hair, hospitals, ICAN, Improving Birth, research, routine care, support, women

Ladies, you know that moment in time that you’ve been rocking the same hair color and style for years, and you finally decide “this is it, I’m doing something new!”? What’s next? Research!

You start pulling pictures from magazines (or Pinterest) with the color and the style you want. You might even go online and upload a picture of your face so some app can show you what you will look like with a fire engine red bob .

Next, you’ll take all of this information to your hair stylist with whom you’ve had a standing appointment with every other month for the last 6 years. It took a while to develop a trust with them, that they won’t let you go the wrong direction, but now you’re ready to show them the plan for your new ‘do and hope that they’ll be on board.

Once all is said and done, you’ll either love your hair or re-think how much wine you’ve been drinking at night. But it’s hair, and it grows back again…. it’s not something that you live with the repercussions of every day for the rest of your life.

Women spend a lot of time and energy women doing research and preparing for changes that will effect the way they look.  They aren’t however, putting in the same time and energy on researching their pregnancies and birth options.

This week (September 1-8) is Empowered Birth Awareness Week, and I want you to know that.

I want you to know because even if you have had your kids, maybe you have a sister, best friend or daughter that someday will have a baby, and will want to know more.

I want you to know that because maybe sister/best friend/daughter had a birth that left them feeling mistreated. Or maybe they weren’t allowed to birth the way they wanted, because they were coerced with fear instead of factual information.

I want you to know that because women all over our country are not educating themselves about their bodies and about their birth options. Women are walking into doctors offices and hospitals having done no research about what is fact vs what is fear.

I want you to know that it is important to support women, and fuel a desire for education and information, not just say “doctor knows best”. Yes, doctors know a lot, but they are not YOU. They are not the one’s that will live with the decisions made throughout the birth process, day in and day out for the rest of their lives.

I’m not here to go on about epidurals or episiotomies; I’m saying this to remind you that birth is more important than your hair. Routine care is just that, routine. You are an individual, and deserve to be treated on an individual basis. This has to start with caring enough to research and educate yourself on your options (or support your BF/sister/daughter).

Below are some links that can get the informational ball rolling. If you ever want more information, or help finding it, please contact me!

Improving Birth: http://www.improvingbirth.org

ICAN (International Cesarean Awareness Network): www.ican-online.org/

Coalition for Improving Maternity Services: www.motherfriendly.org/

 

 

Recent Posts

  • My VBAC Birth Story
  • WTF Wednesday: Why Won’t You Sleep?
  • My First Birth Story, Part 3
  • My First Birth Story, Part 2
  • My First Birth Story, Part 1

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