Mary Lynn Rajskub on Preparing for Labor
Submitted by Mary Lynn Rajskub
I tried to have a home birth. But it became a problem because when I was preparing for labor, I didn't start out planning it that way. Most of my pregnancy, I went to my traditional OB/GYN without even really thinking about it. Now, I had nothing against my doctor, but he and I hadn't really built a relationship. Then during a normal prenatal visit, two weeks before my due date, he said out of nowhere, "He's not getting any smaller. So let's schedule a C-section, because I'm leaving town." My boyfriend and I were just completely shell-shocked. There wasn't anything wrong with my baby, so what gives? I literally just walked out.
But at 38 weeks pregnant, what was I going to do? When you're that far along, it's almost impossible to find someone who'll take you. Still, I made up my mind that I was going to have a homebirth and I began preparing for labor at my house. We rushed and met a doula, and I took a hypnotherapy class, as a method of learning to breathe and find a focal point, that sort of thing. We had talked to the teacher and she helped me meet a midwife who agreed to deliver the baby.
But after all that preparing for a home labor, things didn't go as planned. I labored at home for 24 hours, and I just wasn't making any progress. My baby was stuck in my birth canal and I just couldn't push anymore. So I ended up being rushed to the hospital. And guess what? The doctor on call was the SAME doctor who I'd fired just two weeks before! Talk about awkward! So, there I was, having an emergency C-section with the doctor I'd severed ties with, the midwife, the doula, and my boyfriend. I went through the pain of the C-section but also all that labor beforehand. But for some reason, that's what my body wanted to do.
Maybe I should've realized earlier on what kind of birth I wanted. Still, even if I had planned a home birth and prepared for a natural labor from the beginning, it doesn't mean I wouldn't have ended up in the hospital, right? I don't regret my decision at all, and I know I was really lucky. But honestly, I knew I took it to both extremes, and I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle. What do you think?
Besides being a mom, actress Mary Lynn Rajskub is best known as Chloe on 24.
What else is on Mary's mind? Check out her thoughts on her Baby Separation Problem.
But at 38 weeks pregnant, what was I going to do? When you're that far along, it's almost impossible to find someone who'll take you. Still, I made up my mind that I was going to have a homebirth and I began preparing for labor at my house. We rushed and met a doula, and I took a hypnotherapy class, as a method of learning to breathe and find a focal point, that sort of thing. We had talked to the teacher and she helped me meet a midwife who agreed to deliver the baby.
But after all that preparing for a home labor, things didn't go as planned. I labored at home for 24 hours, and I just wasn't making any progress. My baby was stuck in my birth canal and I just couldn't push anymore. So I ended up being rushed to the hospital. And guess what? The doctor on call was the SAME doctor who I'd fired just two weeks before! Talk about awkward! So, there I was, having an emergency C-section with the doctor I'd severed ties with, the midwife, the doula, and my boyfriend. I went through the pain of the C-section but also all that labor beforehand. But for some reason, that's what my body wanted to do.
Maybe I should've realized earlier on what kind of birth I wanted. Still, even if I had planned a home birth and prepared for a natural labor from the beginning, it doesn't mean I wouldn't have ended up in the hospital, right? I don't regret my decision at all, and I know I was really lucky. But honestly, I knew I took it to both extremes, and I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle. What do you think?
Besides being a mom, actress Mary Lynn Rajskub is best known as Chloe on 24.
What else is on Mary's mind? Check out her thoughts on her Baby Separation Problem.
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