PERSONAL CHILDBIRTH EXPERIENCE

It was 12:00 midnight on Wednesday, November 12, 2008.  I felt an indescribable pain in my lower abdomen.  At the time, I was in NJ and my husband, a soldier in the US Army was stationed in Fort Campbell, KY.  I told him I was going to drive myself to the hospital because “it was time.”  He told me to call him back and let him know if I would be admitted.  All I remember was the pain, sooooooo much pain.  Nine hours and a C-Section later, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. 

It was a bittersweet moment.  The sweet part was of course a healthy, new life being brought into this world.  The bitter part was being surrounded by doctor and nurses with masks and feeling all alone because my husband was 900 miles away.  No matter how alone I felt, I still had a new life to take care of.  Someone now depended on me to be there.  That made me realize that I was strong enough to do anything by myself and it taught me inner strength.  Still, I passed out soon after my son was born, because I was just so wiped out. 

About an hour later, I woke up in the recovery room to a nurse handing me the phone.  It was my husband telling me that I had to call the Red Cross and let them know I had a “LIVE BIRTH” so they could let him take leave and come to see the baby.  I call the Red Cross and then The Red Cross called the hospital to speak to a doctor to confirm that the baby was alive.  I was so out of it but I remember feeling that I needed my husband here with me, so I did what I could.      Over the next couple of days, I had visitors in the form of family and friends, but on the fourth day, my husband walked through the door and the happiness I felt was overwhelming.  You would have to go through the experience to truly know what I’m talking about.  But it was then, watching him hold our son in his arms that I felt like my family was complete.

I chose to write about childbirth in Sweden.  There, when a woman gives birth, -“it’s never viewed as anything less than an accomplishment” (www.squidoo.com).   Natural, is the most common way for woman to have a baby (www.birthingnaturally.net ).  One difference between my experience and Sweden is that I had a C-Section and there they do it naturally.  A similarity was that I view my giving childbirth as not short of an accomplishment.  I think that the same strength that mothers have to give birth to a child can be passed down to their young.

References

http://www.squidoo.com/childbirthexperience

http://www.birthingnaturally.net/directory/world/sweden.html