Pregnant in America

This guy put together this documentary with his pregnant wife. He said it was important for him to take care of his wife and so that’s why he wanted to investigate. I see how sweet it is for the coolness of the film to have an actual pregnant woman filming the interviews with her husband, but how about doing the investigating BEFORE we get pregnant? And, how about we don’t drag our pregnant wife around to interview women who have had horrific birthing experiences?

Ok, enough of that. I appreciate his intent. He means well. I wish I could have had a water birth. No, wait, I just wish I could take a hot bath. That’s really all I want….. I would have loved options when it came to delivering by babies. That would be cool to have candles and a long cloth swing that hangs from the ceiling and I could hold onto it while I deliver the baby while in an upright position. That option would have been cool…. I had a Wonderful birthing experience when it came to both my babies. They were both in different hospitals, with different doctors, in different states. They were both pretty awesome, though. With Charlie, I was a week early, went into the hospital on my own. After I got my epidural, they gave me a little bit of Pitocin and I started pushing about a half hour later. A few pushes later, she was out. With Theo, I was induced and pushing was pain-free and he came out with one push. He even peed on me when I held him. My nurses were wonderful and I didn’t even mind the two med students in the room. I don’t mind performing, we all know that. But, really, I’m so thankful for the wonderful experiences I had. Breastfeeding was normal and recovery time was minimal. I realize not all hospital experiences are this wonderful. I just want to use this opportunity to speak on behalf of the woman and families who have positive hospital experiences. I feel very thankful for the hospital and staff who delivered our babies and I thank my doctor for being a part of my positive experience. Gotta appreciate a man who says, “push very lightly and slowly so you don’t tear.”

This whole documentary focuses on how hospitals and pharmaceutical companies want to make money off of pregnant woman and their babies and obstetricians are only surgeons who do c-sections because they are quicker and predictable. People make money because they have a product or service that other people are willing to pay for. The epidural is well worth its price tag. It’s so unfortunate that the side effects for these options are terrifying and fatal. However…. this is just the beginning. Then you have vaccines, and then you have processed foods, then you have preschools and then you have more scary things than anyone could imagine. At the end of the day, we just do the best we can. We make the best decisions that we can make. Above else, we love. The end of the documentary, and where it all begins and ends, is with love. We love and we love and we love. We do it all out of love and want to give it and we want to receive it. We have a family to love and be loved. We make the best of what we have. Funny thing is, spending 9 months worrying about a home birth vs. hospital, breastfeeding vs. bottle fed, epidural vs. natural, won’t matter one bit when you’re knee deep in Play-doh, while double pumping, while watching a documentary on Pregnancy in America, while eating, while thinking about how mad the documentary makes you, while hoping the infant doesn’t wake up, while hearing the almost 4 year-old yell from the bathroom, “Mom! Can you wipe my butt?”

If my next baby has to be delivered through a water birth just so I can have a few hours to sit in a hot tub, then sign me up.