Whats Good SteemIt Family!!
It's been awhile and I missed y'all, but I been away starting a family of my own. Say hello to Aja!
On December 21st (1st day of winter solstice), @denisetherealtor and I had our 1st child,
Aja Nazanin.
There was a lot I wanted to share along the way, but this being my first little one I always found myself caught in the moment and not posting much. And generally I'm a pretty private individual...it just felt like I should share this experience because it speaks to the natural lifestyle I promote and try to live on a daily basis.
Natural births are becoming more & more uncommon and are viewed as difficult or hard to manage nowadays. This is very unfortunate for generations to come. C-sections and epidurals are all but forced onto women when they go into labor.
Many aren't aware that these tactics are primarily used to rush labor and earn hospitals more money. I won't go too deep into this but there is plenty of info out there. Check out "The Business of Being Born" documentary if time permits...and soon, it gets harder and harder to find on the web...
Once we got the news we both made the commitment to do everything naturally. That means our diet, cleaning products, cosmetics, etc. were predominantly natural/organic. This also meant no prenatal vitamins, even though everyone had something to say about being vegetarian and not taking them.
I never took it any way though...most are confined in their way of thinking so I expected some negative input from family and friends, them not knowing the study, consultation and other preparedness measures we took. I know the criticism partly came from a genuine place so I just used those moments to inform the uninformed. The most important thing to me after the health of my child was letting other couples know this was very doable with some commitment to a natural lifestyle, even if just for the duration of the pregnancy.
A few things we did to ensure the pregnancy and birth were successful were :
* hire a Doula for duration of pregnancy
* consult and get supplementation from a Master Herbalist
This made the process very comforting knowing that we had experienced individuals to contact whenever we had questions or concerns. It also helped being part of a network where it was easy to find reputable individuals for the services I needed.
When it came time for Aja to arrive we were well prepared. We found a hospital that catered to natural births, water or regular. Also, any nurses and doctors had to consent to our "Birthing Plan" (do's and dont's) if they were to assist with the labor at all. We had already decided we wanted to do a water birth so that's the route we took.
The labor itself went great (easy for me to say lol) and she came out 7lbs 9oz. Denise was strong through it all and toughed it out for her family. She deserves the world for that. It was crazy I actually pulled her out and cut the umbilical cord myself. The baby was in great health and scored a 9/10 on the Apgar Scale (newborn health rating) which is well above average.
It was also very interesting to see that the more knowledgeable we showed ourselves to be, the less the doctors/nurses questioned our decisions. It kind of boils down to showing you are informed and responsible enough to handle your own affairs. We also didn't do ANY vaccinations. Surprisingly, these doctors were comfortable with that and even said they weren't worried about it BECAUSE of all the measures we were taking. With that being said, if you're not going out of your way to live a somewhat of a holistic lifestyle (no formula feeding, plant based diet, etc.), it might be a good idea to go through with vaccinations and other hospital recommended measures just to be on the safe side.
Like I said, I just want others to know natural births are the way to go if you're willing to make some sacrifices. Aja had her 1st doctor visit recently and everything still looks great.
Please let me know your opinions on vaccinations, C-sections, epidurals, and the like. And definitely feel free to ask any questions about the experience.
I missed your post @opinizeunltd! Congrats with your newborn girl! She looks super cute and your wife too :-). About vaccins: I live in the Netherlands and I believe 95% of the Dutch people are vaccinated. We don't have so many vaccines here, we use the most important once like Hepatitis B, Polio, pertussis, measles,etc. So just the big, main diseases. The first shot will be when the baby is 8 weeks, so not like in America when they are just born. I heard in America they have till 60 shots? that's a lot. We have I believe only 12-14 shots in total. I am vaccinated and our entire family is vaccinated. We are all healthy so far. So I think America and the Netherlands have different amount of shots. The Dutch recommend natural birth without any medication/ and the Dutch recommend also to vaccinate your child. Every country is different I guess. Good luck with your choices! :-)
Thanks a million!
& yea you're right..pretty sure it varies place to place
But yea they almost try to force them on you in the US and its so damn many of em
Very inspirational post comrade. Congrats on your new bundle of joy! Beautiful addition to the definition of you & @Denisetherealtor
Its only right a new lil princess to add to the list of @PrestigiousKids
Preciate that comrade! U already know she got coins put up on her @prestigiouskids tip!!
What a gorgeous baby! Congrats. Giving birth, and watching someone give birth is a crazy experience, I love it! And your lady is absolutely stunning!! I have never vaccinated my now 5 year old and she's the healthiest kid ever. I would never tell anyone what to do regarding vaccinating though because it's a tough choice as a parent. But ever day I meet someone trying to un-do what vaccines has done to their child and it's really hard to watch. Not every kid will get sick from them but it's a personal choice I guess! One of many parenting choices that only you know the answer to. Congrats again!!
Thanks a million sis! Yea its definitely a slippery slope when sharing this kind of info with people. You don't want to let folks make their own decision because its very specific to each individual situation. Like you said, it can be hard to watch. All we can do is share to the best of our ability.
Man congrats!!! I almost missed being able to give you an upvote.
Preciate the support bro!! Yea its a blessing...thats y i kind of fell off with my usual posting
Trying to get back in the swing of things now
Congrats on your new beauty..and congrats onstanding stong in your beliefs I am a trained doula..so I know all about the hospital scene and there "trip" there is power in knowledge...and yay..for no vaccinations!! what a wonderful and powerful start in a beautiful life..Injoy your new role..your new life your new love*
I appreciate that queen!
& you're a doula, thats dope I really commend u for that...after seeing what yall bring to the table I cant think of a more under-appreciated field of work...if I do have more kids working w/ a doula is a must
Congratulations again man! I can't imagine being up close and personal during the birth let alone cutting the cord myself lol
lmao preciate it man!
yea that shit was intense
This post has received a 0.39 % upvote from @drotto thanks to: @banjo.