An interview with pregnant mom, Kelly

This is the first post in our new interview series with our current and past students. Kelly was gracious enough to answer our questions and put herself out there. Please show her some love and support for being brave!  xoxo  ~Deena

Mom’s name: Kelly
Partner’s name: Robert
Estimated due date: End of October
Care Provider: Midwife
Birth Location: Home birth

1. What is your favorite thing about being pregnant?

This may sound shallow, but my favorite thing about pregnancy is that I feel totally confident in my skin. I struggled with body image issues for years and it has only been in the past 5 years or so that I have come to accept my body the way it is and try not to judge myself too harshly. Being pregnant is great because I am allowed to have a great big belly and it’s beautiful and smooth! Of course, I also adore feeling my baby move inside my belly and get to feel all the little kicks and rolls 🙂

2. Tell us a bit about how you see your vision for your birth.

My vision for the birth of this baby is ever-changing. In my heart of hearts, the most things that I long for in birthing my new son or daughter are joy and peace, and a total and complete lack of fear. I have many fears, like every pregnant woman, and I try very hard to acknowledge them through talking, birth art, or prayer and then deal with them so that they can’t come back to trip me up during labor. On a more physical level, I would very much like to have a water birth (I was not able to with my first born – I was in the water pushing for so long that I got cold and shivery and had to get out) and sometimes I see the faces of all the people who really and truly love me and support me in this birth popping up over the sides of the birthing pool and smiling silently as I bring this new life into the world. Sometimes, I see myself delivering my baby in the middle of the night in my bathtub, either alone or with my 3 year old attending 🙂 Weird that he’s the one I see and want to “help” with the birth in that particular vision but I think it may be just because with him there is only love and joy, and no fear.

3. What’s your top self-care tip to handle those no-so-fun moments of pregnancy?

Breathing. I am not a very detail-oriented person but one of the things that stands out to me in my labor with my first born was when the midwife said something to the effect of “only you can oxygenate your baby” (please forgive that mediocre translation – I was living abroad when my son was born and the OB and assistant who were attending the birth did not speak to me in English). And it brought me back to the place where I realized “Oh yeah! This is the whole reason I am having this baby at home with all this pain – because I know it is the best thing I can do to start off my son’s life right!” So now with this pregnancy, I am taking a step back each time I start to get stressed and take some deep breaths – often pulling from the techniques I have learned from the Tues/Thurs night yoga classes. What is even more fun is that I have taught my almost 3 year old these techniques too and he actually reminds me to take a deep breath when he can see that I am getting upset! 🙂

4. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

To not be annoyed when people, well intentioned and loving people, try to give me “advice” on something that they know little or nothing about, just because my birth choices have taken me down a road less traveled by the majority of the United States.

5. Why did you choose Shining Light Prenatal Education for your classes?

Shining Light Prenatal Education is really the only prenatal education center in Pittsburgh that offers a wide range of classes and that supports home birth as a viable option for a healthy low-risk pregnancy. I have felt comfortable here since my first phone conversation with Deena and I don’t hesitate to recommend her classes to any pregnant woman regardless of how she wants to birth her baby.

6. What’s the best part about coming to class here?

The community of women who teach and who are students here. I stay after yoga class almost every night that I come discussing birth and life with the other women and the teachers. In my personal opinion, too many women just go through the motions when they are pregnant and complain about how difficult it is and how they would never even consider a natural childbirth without ever bothering to read about how different interventions can affect mother and baby. It is like a breath of fresh air to be around people who agree that birth is a natural and normal process, and understand that the positive effect of a natural birth on mother and baby is not a negligible benefit.