Pregnant in America

I found this trailer while doing some late-night surfing on the Pin. I can't wait for this documentary to come out, it looks amazing! I think it should be required viewing for all women! It comes at the perfect time too, on a night when I've been sitting up thinking about things I wish had been different with K's birth.

Near the end of my pregnancy, I'd been dealing with a lot of itching. Turns out it was due to Cholestasis, which affects the flow of bile in the gallbladder. Because of this, I was not allowed to go to term. Within a week of receiving the diagnosis, an induction was scheduled, and my hopes of a natural waterbirth had all but vanished.

Thankfully my body did start to progress really well once my water was broken, and I never needed pitocin. My midwife Ellie, from Back Cove Midwives, was wonderful, and she allowed me to have my water birth.

Regardless, I still feel like I was robbed. I want nothing more than to be able to go into labor naturally, and progress at home. If I lived closer to a birth center or hospital, I would love to be able to home birth. But because of a silly liver problem, that only happens during pregnancy, I may never be able to experience that. And depending on which study you look at, the recurrence rate is anywhere from 40 to 80% in subsequent pregnancies.

I shouldn't feel bad, really... I *was* still able to have him somewhat naturally, with no pain medication, and in a tub like I really wanted. I didn't have to have a cesarean, and I am so thankful for that. I just wish that some day, when we have our next child, I can go into labor the way nature intended, not forcefully by medication and a pointed stick.