Congrats!

[Sky Bones]

Congrats to DL and Yellow on Dragon Baby 2.0! Is that what we're officially calling her?

[Katya]

Hooray! (If I remember correctly, she's getting her own "Baby" prefix - Niffler Baby or Yellow Baby or something along those lines.)

[Fredjikrang]

Yay! Congrats!

[Werf_Must]

congrats!!

[Emiliana]

Congrats, DL and Yellow! Pictures soon? Please?

[TheAnswerIs42]

Congrats! I hope everything went well! (We'll see how soon they get around to reading any of this . . .)

[Marduk]

I dunno, she's been on facebook, and that's usually when I check this place...

[Dragon Lady]

I've been here a time or two to just check up on things, but it's much harder to update on here from my iPod than it is to update Facebook. So Facebook has been winning out. But I have a minute on my computer, so I figured I'd update a bit.

Everything went really well. I did a home birth. They were going to try some natural induction methods (I had dilated to a 6, was 100% effaced and baby was at a +1… all without me having any idea. So we decided to try to help baby along naturally so that my sister could actually be there. And it worked! 10+ hour drive and she was still there for labor!) and were all gathered at my house, prepping to start, when my water broke on its own. Which was totally unexpected, but awesome. It took 2.5 hours from water breaking to baby in arms. Everything went as planned, which was wonderful. She was 8 lbs. 5 oz. and 21" long. Any other questions? I'm not sure entirely what to say here… So instead, here's a picture! (Taken with a radioactive camera. Ummm…. yeah.)

[Fredjikrang]

Awww!

[krebscout]

Congratulations, y'all! I like the name a lot, too.

[Imogen]

Cute baby! Not all newborns are that attractive. She could be a baby model!

[Dragon Lady]

Just in case anyone is curious, I blogged the birth story. It's ridiculously long (did you expect anything different from me) and has details and pictures (fair warning for the squeamish). If anyone here wants to read it and doesn't have my blog or have me friended on Facebook (where I posted the link), PM me and I'll shoot you the URL.

[Portia]

Just in case anyone is curious, I blogged the birth story. It's ridiculously long (did you expect anything different from me) and has details and pictures (fair warning for the squeamish). If anyone here wants to read it and doesn't have my blog or have me friended on Facebook (where I posted the link), PM me and I'll shoot you the URL.

I'm a deeply conventional person who is congenitally mistrustful of anything crunchy, mystical, New Age, or DIY, and should I reproduce, I'm much more likely to be the stroller-using, public- or private-schooling, traditional-naming person, rather than one to go for slings, homeschool, nature or cr8ive names, etc. I have to say, though, that I was pleasantly surprised at the story of your home birth, and ti struck me as a lot more sane and rational than a lot of hospital births.

I'm amazed that you had such a positive experience and that your husband, midwife, and doula were able to make it a relatively peaceful and survivable experience for you and the kid. I do think it's true that so much of pain is mental: take the example of WWII soldiers with limbs blown off, vitals hanging out, who subjectively did not feel pain because their brains were sending them "survive and get through this situation" messages, and probably releasing huge amounts of dopamine. Eighty percent of them (in this specific battle) refused pain relievers.*

I'd always pictured myself as the "Good God, pass me the laudanum!" sort of hysterical woman in (putative) childbirth, but your blog post has made me consider another perspective. I still support evidence-based medicine (for instance, put me firmly in the pro-vaccine camp), but your blog post has made me consider another perspective. I think there simply haven't been enough voices like yours out there to show how a less-medicalized birth could be possible.

Congratulations on your new child! January is an excellent birth month.

*citation: The Brain that Changes Itself

[TheBlackSheep]

Very similar reaction here. Thanks, DL.

[Dragon Lady]

Heh. Thanks guys. That makes me feel good. And while I am more crunchy than most, I'm not extreme (I don't think, anyway) and hope I don't come off as extreme. The things I do I hope are logical and reasonable. So I'm glad that I could offer you a perspective that is different, but not crazy.

And really, I needed to hear something like this today, because my girls are sure making me crazy. But a totally different kind of crazy.

[Eirene]

Yeah, Niffler Baby's birth sounded pretty much ideal! It was very cool to read about it. So glad it all went well!

[krebscout]

I'm much more likely to be the stroller-using, public- or private-schooling, traditional-naming person, rather than one to go for slings, homeschool, nature or cr8ive names, etc.

Are slings...weird? I've never gotten that impression. They're a lot more efficient in many situations.

[Katya]

I'm much more likely to be the stroller-using, public- or private-schooling, traditional-naming person, rather than one to go for slings, homeschool, nature or cr8ive names, etc.

Are slings...weird? I've never gotten that impression. They're a lot more efficient in many situations.

Likewise. I don't associate them with homeschooling or home birthing or "natural" anything . . .

[Dragon Lady]

Well, baby wearing is very much part of the crunchy movement. I think Portia isn't talking so much about wearing your baby periodically, like when you go on a walk or whatever, but wearing your baby lots. While you're doing everything around the house, etc. I'm not huge into baby wearing, but mostly because I'm lazy. I did make myself a wrap though and use it on occasion. But the idea is that you should wear your baby as much as possible. There are even wraps that let you nurse your baby while wearing her.

[TheAnswerIs42]

DL is right on. I have a SIL especially that believes that you show how much you love your baby by never setting her down unless you are forced to put her in a car seat. She has many, many wraps, and still never leaves the house without one (including to the pool) despite the fact that her youngest turns 3 in June. I personally prefer my kids less clingy than hers are, but to each their own. She has converted most of my in-laws to the wraps now.

And DL, thanks for the link! I could relate to a lot of your experience - especially when you mentioned being nervous coming into things. That's where I'm at right now. in my head, I know that after my previous Hypnobirthing experiences I loved it so much I was trying to convert everyone I knew, but somehow this time around I keep watching my belly grow bigger and feeling more like I'm chugging up the hill to a scary roller coaster. I need to find more time to listen to the scripts and practice. But a lot of your descriptions - from contractions being intense instead of pain to the wish towards the end to be done NOW - are exactly what I experienced. I just wish I could say I am excited to give birth!

For those adept at stalking, i was actually blogging about Hypnobirthing the other day,and the lessons I've taken from it that I think apply to everything in life. I would get into that here, but . . . it was a long blog post. I guess if anyone is curious and can't find me, they can PM me.