I am so thankful to all of the submissions I received for this Why I am Grateful for my Birth(s) blog carnival. I have found no matter what a woman can learn something and be grateful for something in every birth experience no matter how difficult or wonderful. Enjoy these quips and please go to their blogs to read in completeness.
Tiffany Miller of Birth In Joy says in an excerpt from her post The Most Important Piece, “I am thankful that Mom believed in my ability to breastfeed my new baby, even though it hurt at first. She never told me that I had so severely damaged her nipples, as she tried to learn with no support whatsoever during my own newborn days. Nary an ounce of bitterness did she carry from that time. She knew and accepted that my path was my own, and supported me completely.” She goes on to further outline how the mentoring and support of her mother paved her way.
How grateful she is for all four natural births and her mother’s unwavering assistance. Assistance and presence she could never imagine doing without. Just beautiful and shows how important in our lives are the ones who came before.
Kristen Oganowski of Birthing Beautiful Ideas in her post Your Births Brought Me Here writes this gorgeous, tear inspiring letter to her two children about what amazing changes they spurned in her own life, in the very life that they would come to know. Without one birth, would the other have come along the way it did?
Here is an excerpt: “When you both were born, I called myself: Graduate student (unhappily). Teacher (happily). Feminist (always). Mother (timidly). Today I call myself: Doula (happily). Birth and breastfeeding advocate (unflinchingly). Blogger (smirkingly). Writer (finally). Feminist (permanently). Mother (confidently). Graduate student (temporarily). Your births brought me here, to this place where I am (finally) content and impassioned. All wrapped up with a Love, Mom.
Our next post is by Sheridan Ripley of Enjoy Birth. She writes very plainly about how grateful she is for varied experiences that give her insight to what other women experience and that she is better able to support them.
Here is a peek.
- If I had only amazing natural birth experiences would I have judged those moms who choose epidurals?
- If I had only vaginal births would I have understood and fought so hard for VBAC moms?
- If I only had easy times creating that nursing relationship with my boys, would I have been as supportive of my moms struggling with nursing?
Very poignant and open…..
We come to Bess Bedell of MommasMakeMilk.Com came to a place of self-awareness, peace and a fierceness to help others in her experiences. Like others her heart grew and expanded with her own knowledge and walk. A strength and confidence awoke in her to the benefit of so many coming after.
My two births birthed a new women. A mature women who has opinions, knowledge, experience and a passion in life. If I had not had my c-section I may never had given VBAC a second though. The lack of VBAC support and availability would probably never have entered my radar. My second birth showed me that success and perfection are not the same but both are wonderful and I can be happy for and embrace a mother and her experience even if it wasn’t a completely natural, completely med-free birth. Both of my experience have prepared me for the future. My future of birthing, and next time I plan on birthing at home, and my future of educating and supporting pregnant and birthing mothers.
And lastly my own blog post entry. I know I rarely speak of my own births in any detail unless it is one on one. As a community member, advocate, doula, educator, I strive NEVER to be an intervention on a woman. Today I decided to give a small window into my own experiences and why I am grateful. Please read and comment freely – Grateful For My Births.
Thank you so much to those who submitted posts. The openness of other women allow all of us to learn, grow and share as we are meant to within a healthy society. We are not there yet, but I have a hope that through this sort of connection, we are healing some brokenness.
In reading all these posts, not one is the same, not in tone or style, but every woman was changed positively in the end.
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