Don't get me wrong, the group of coupleS we joined on our most recent hospital tour were all very nice. Almost all of them were first time parents and they were all high on their parenting philosophies. They had opinions a'plenty.
And then there was me......
Our tour guide sat our group down in a large conference room for about 45 minutes to go over the hospital procedures, which elevator to use when, and her philosophies on everything from birthing to breast feeding to creating a detailed birth plan....
This was the part of our tour where my eyes starting rolling and Mr. Berg started giving me the "act nice" look..... I get that a lot.
First was the whole natural child birth lecture. How many of you are planning a natural child birth? she asked with a glimmer in her eye. Of the 15 women in our group, 14 hands went up.
Wanna guess where mine was?
Wanna guess where mine was?
If you said Not Up- you're a winner.
I happen to be a big fan of medicated births. It's a choice I'm comfortable making and you better believe I'll be opting for another epidural with this birth.
Then she stared in on breast feeding..... Trust me, I get it. I understand it and I'm educated on it. But I have made my choice and I have my reasons for my choice. I made the choice that is right for me and my family, just like any other mother. But of course, we had to do the hand raising thing and once again, 14 hands went up.
And mine was still stationed at my side.
If looks could kill, we'd be attending my funeral right now.
I'd be fine with the looks, but when the tour guide said "I hope you change your mind before your baby is born." I wanted to murder her. There's a whole lot of reasons why women can't or don't breast feed. Some of it is outside of their control. I'm not saying my choice isn't within my control, but if it wasn't, you would've bet I would have flipped shit. I couldn't help by think of dear friend's wife who cannot breastfeed due to anatomical abnormalities, or a friend who fought breast cancer and had a double mastectomy. Both would love to be able to breast feed and cannot.
I'd be fine with the looks, but when the tour guide said "I hope you change your mind before your baby is born." I wanted to murder her. There's a whole lot of reasons why women can't or don't breast feed. Some of it is outside of their control. I'm not saying my choice isn't within my control, but if it wasn't, you would've bet I would have flipped shit. I couldn't help by think of dear friend's wife who cannot breastfeed due to anatomical abnormalities, or a friend who fought breast cancer and had a double mastectomy. Both would love to be able to breast feed and cannot.
I understand her wish to take a moment to educate, I just wish it had been done in a different manner. This left me with a rather unpleasant taste in my mouth.
Finally we get to birth plans. Our tour guide asked if everyone had put their birth plan together. I felt like the one kid in class that didn't do their homework. A wooshing sound filled the room as 14 other women whipped out their multi-page birth plans. (I later discovered this was part of their homework for their child birth classes, but still.)
Mr. Berg tapped my arm looking puzzled.
"We did that with Ryan, remember?" I whispered?
"Oh, that's that long thing we never even used, right?"
"Yes, because our answers were either It Depends on the Situation or Please Give Jessica Drugs."
"So, we really didn't have a plan?"
"No, we just decided to roll with it."
And I'm glad we did.
Yes, I am a typical Type A Personality. I like to have the details and know the facts, I also like to be aware of the multiple sides of every situation. But that doesn't mean I'm staunch in my philosophies or strict in my beliefs. Rather, I'm very much a roll with the punches. I like to take on situations as the come using the information I'd tuck away.
This was a pretty helpful when my first labor and delivery experience went to shit the minute they took my blood pressure. Any plans I originally had went out the window and we took the next 9 hours as they came, rolling with the punches. And it in the end, I still got a beautiful, healthy baby boy :)
All in all, I'm still glad I took the tour. Breast feeding comment aside, I liked our tour guide and felt she imparted a lot of valuable information to all of us.
Do my choices make me a bad mother? Not in the slightest.
My child is healthy, happy, well adjusted and kind.
I'm an active, positive and constant part of his life.
He has a strong, loving, and supportive family around him.
What more could a kid as for?
Finally we get to birth plans. Our tour guide asked if everyone had put their birth plan together. I felt like the one kid in class that didn't do their homework. A wooshing sound filled the room as 14 other women whipped out their multi-page birth plans. (I later discovered this was part of their homework for their child birth classes, but still.)
Mr. Berg tapped my arm looking puzzled.
"We did that with Ryan, remember?" I whispered?
"Oh, that's that long thing we never even used, right?"
"Yes, because our answers were either It Depends on the Situation or Please Give Jessica Drugs."
"So, we really didn't have a plan?"
"No, we just decided to roll with it."
And I'm glad we did.
Yes, I am a typical Type A Personality. I like to have the details and know the facts, I also like to be aware of the multiple sides of every situation. But that doesn't mean I'm staunch in my philosophies or strict in my beliefs. Rather, I'm very much a roll with the punches. I like to take on situations as the come using the information I'd tuck away.
This was a pretty helpful when my first labor and delivery experience went to shit the minute they took my blood pressure. Any plans I originally had went out the window and we took the next 9 hours as they came, rolling with the punches. And it in the end, I still got a beautiful, healthy baby boy :)
All in all, I'm still glad I took the tour. Breast feeding comment aside, I liked our tour guide and felt she imparted a lot of valuable information to all of us.
Do my choices make me a bad mother? Not in the slightest.
My child is healthy, happy, well adjusted and kind.
I'm an active, positive and constant part of his life.
He has a strong, loving, and supportive family around him.
What more could a kid as for?
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