January
11, 2009 will always be a memorable moment for me. I was asleep on the couch at
my parent's house and rolled over to get comfortable. I had a sudden urge to
use the bathroom so I rolled onto the floor because my belly was too big to
just sit up and stand up. While heading to the bathroom fluids started to run
down my legs. I started running because I thought I was using the bathroom on
myself and my mommy’s rug. All I could think was that my mommy was going to
kill me. As I was using the bathroom I couldn’t cut off my urine flow. I called
my uncle’s girlfriend at 2:20am and she was headed back to Laurel, MS from the
night club. She told me that my water had broken and I needed to alert my
parents. While trying to get out the bathroom I was slipping and sliding all
over the floor because my mom’s bathroom floor was tile and water was
everywhere. While trying to clean up my water, my little sister heard the
commotion and went to get my parents. My mom came flying through the house
fussing at me because I was trying to clean up the water instead of getting in
the car. I got up took another bath and my dad put my bags in the truck. While
still fussing my mom was going ninety to nothing driving to the hospital. The
nurses met me at the door of the hospital with a wheelchair and prepared me a
room because I was six days early. They hooked me to the machines and asked me
how I felt. I told them I felt fine and the nurse said that I should be feeling
my contractions because they were five minutes apart but I wasn’t feeling them.
The doctor checked me and I had not dilated at all. He told me I wouldn’t give
birth until 8:00pm. My husband came running in because my uncle’s girlfriend
wen to his job at the Waffle House and got him from work saying that it was
time. The smell of food on his clothes was making me nausea so I told him to go
baths and change clothes because we had a long day ahead of us. The heart
monitor kept losing my baby’s heartbeat so while I was watching the Sci-fi
Channel, the nurse kept relocating the monitor. At 12:00pm the nurse came to
relocate the monitor and could see my baby’s head. She called the doctor and
when he came in he said it was time to push. I was watching “Wrong Turn 3” and
the doctor noticed I was calm and collective so he asked me to push and explain
to him what I was watching. At 12:29pm my son was born weighing 6lbs 7ozs and
the doctor and I was still watching the horror movie while my mom was breathing
like she gave birth. My husband made it back to the hospital fifteen minutes
later and was upset because he missed everything. I asked him what happened he
said that he dried off and set down to put on some lotion and fell asleep. My
son was healthy and bright eyed. I will always remember giving birth to my only
son because he is my miracle and God sent. I have leukemia and high blood
pressure, so I was never supposed to be able to have a child with seventy-five
percent chance of me getting severely ill. I didn’t find out I was pregnant
until I was seven and a half months. After crying and freaking out I started
making sure that my bodily intake and daily activities was beneficial for the
growth of my fetus.
I researched labor and delivery in
England. Midwives are the highest rated providers outside of the United States.
They feel that having a home birth is the best atmosphere for babies to be
delivered with a loving and caring midwife. This option is not provided in the
United States in some places because hospitals feel like it is safer to have a
baby where medical assistance is available right away if needed. When I first
found out that I was pregnant I was living in Georgia. I was given the option
to choose between a tub birth or bed birth. I chose water birth in the birthing
tub. Regardless of what method I choose I still had to do the birthing at a
hospital. I moved back home to Mississippi a few weeks before my son was born.
At that point I lost my water tub birthing option because it was not offered as
an option in Mississippi. I was upset because I didn’t understand why every
mother should have an option to have the birthing of her choice and shouldn’t
have to be in certain areas of the world to get exactly what she wants.
Reference
Block,
J. (2007). Childbirth In England – It’s Shocking. Retrieved on May 11, 2014
from
