The Final Post (aka When Things Don't Go As Planned...)

My sweet baby J; 7 lbs 3 oz and perfect in every way!

 
"If I have a fever, or my water breaks too early, I may have to transport to the hospital.  But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

That's what I wrote in my last post about being beta strep positive.  And my water broke (9 days before my due date!).  And labor didn't start.  Until I got to the hospital.  Then, it was 45 minutes and my sweet baby J was here!

My water broke about midnight, and I called my midwife right away, not knowing if labor was going to kick in NOW or what.  Her and her assistant headed right over.  When labor didn't start immediately, they settled in for a night on my couch.  11 hours later, with labor still no where in sight, we started talking transport to the hospital because of my GBS+ status.  I felt like crap at this point.  I was throwing up (something that I've never had in labor before, but is common apparently) and felt completely drained.  Then my hubby brought me a Sprite and the barfing stopped.  I was able to regain my energy at this point, made myself a chocolate-cashew-date-banana shake, and started walking and trying to get labor to start.  We decided to give it a few more hours.

Finally, 14 hours after my water broke, we decided it was time to transport.  Why was I transporting? To get Pitocin so my labor would start, and antibiotics in an IV because that's what they would do because of my GBS+ status.  Turns out I got neither.  I felt contractions starting (I had had a few already, but nothing consistent), and, as I stood at the top of the stairs, hospital bag in hand, thought for a brief moment that maybe we should wait 30 more minutes. 

Hindsight is 20/20.  
Oh well.  

(And here's a tip for ya home birthers: have a hospital bag ready, just in case.  This wasn't an emergency situation, and I had the luxury of taking a few minutes to pack a bag.  But if there was an emergency, you'd want something ready for your hubby to grab for you.  I had NO idea what to bring- it's been 8 1/2 years since I last went to the hospital to birth- and my midwife's assistant had to tell me.)

Instead we went to the hospital, where I felt contractions getting stronger and stronger.  By the time I was sitting on the delivery table, I told the nurse this is going to happen fast- I guessed in 45 minutes we'd have a baby.  Turns out is was 43 minutes, my midwife later told me. So they got an IV in me and gave me one dose of antibiotics literally while I was pushing baby J out- so the antibiotics were useless for the whole GBS thing.  

And now I was stuck in the hospital.  'Cause here's the thing I HATE about hospitals: once you're in, you're not coming out 'till they say so.  You are their prisoner.

Okay, maybe that's being dramatic.  But it is kinda true.  A few nice surprises about this hospital stay though, was that right after J was born, they put her on me for skin-to-skin contact, the hospital staff really seemed to believe in that, which is cool, because so do midwives and homebirthers. They also asked if I wanted the baby bathed (I said no, I wanted the vernix- the waxy coating babies have on their skin when they're born- to absorb in her skin, and she'd have her first bath at home), they asked if I was taking the placenta home ("yes"- and no one batted an eyelash), and the food was actually REALLY good. ('Cause really, it's all about the food.) 

After the birth, the nurse brought us up to postpartum and told me that that was a really cool delivery to  see.  My midwife commented to me later that the doctor who delivered me (that's a generous term- she showed up and caught a baby.  I did the work, mind you!), had a resident with her and that resident got a unique experience- catching a baby with the mother on hands and knees position, a natural, unmedicated birth.  Apparently that's something hospital personnel don't get to see a whole lot of (us natural minded folk seem to be heading home more and more for our births- home birth is up 20% from previous years, though it is still a very small percentage of overall births).  So, that was cool to be part of someone else's education I guess.

But still, I am a little sad I didn't just stay home.  But at the same time, it's not the most important thing.  I have an adorable, healthy new baby girl- straight from heaven!- and that's what really matters.

My sweet baby J~ what it's all about

So let's step back and gain some perspective, people. 

 If you were to go into, say, a kindergarten class, you wouldn't be able to tell which kids were born at home, which by C-section, which were organically fed wheat grass for their first year, which were raised on chocolate.  You wouldn't be able to tell which ones were nursed, which were formula-fed, which ones had organic, free-range, farm-raised crib sheets.   
 What you would see is which ones were loved at home, which ones received positive discipline, which ones were spoiled, which ones were rude, which ones were considerate of others. 

The birth experience is important- it's important to me how I bring my children into the world. And it is special, powerful, and spiritual. But sometimes things don't go as planned.  And that's a-okay.  'Cause raising these little monkeys and showing love to them and teaching them how to be good people is WAY more important and frankly, way harder, than the way they are brought into the world. 

And besides, I still got to eat my placenta.

  

P.S. FYI, I still continue my postpartum care with my awesome midwife, by the way.  Once we got to the hospital, she has to legally take the role of doula and can't actively participate in my care.  But once I was home, it's back to being my midwife. She has already been to my house for two visits to check me and baby, will come once more to my house this week, and then I'll have my last appointment with her somewhere between 4 and 6 weeks postpartum. 

And I want to point out that she and her assistant were with me a total of 16 hours- 14 at my house, starting at midnight, then 2 more during transport/delivery/afterwards. That's pretty amazing prenatal care, people.  Find me an OB/GYN that will do that!

My baby started seeing my pediatrician today, and that continues as normal as it would for any baby, regardless of where he or she is born. She got her first PKU testing in the hospital (which would have happened at home anyway), and my midwife does the second PKU screening later this week.  And I know it's called Newborn Metabolic Screening now and not PKU screening, but it's just easier to say.  It actually tests for something like 35 metabolic disorders. Don't skip that test, people. In the end, I decided to go with the Vitamin K shot and antibiotic cream in her eyes.  But the cream only has to be on the eyes for a minute, so I wiped it off just in time for her to start looking around at us.  And no one at the hospital seemed to care that I was passing on the Hep vaccine that they like to give babies at birth.  I just explained she'd get it later at my pediatrician's office (which she will...in a few months).

And in other randomness, the placenta lady told me that out of the 184 placentas she's processed, mine was the largest! A person usually gets 95 large-capsule pills, I got 156.  Whoa! I have no idea why this would be, since I'm not a large person, and my baby was 7 lbs 3 oz- nothing crazy.  But a fun fact, nonetheless. 

P.P.S. And Good-bye! Now this blog will sit in cyberspace, waiting to be read by anyone contemplating a home birth or by their family members who are freaked out by the idea and want a little more info on how a home birth or having a midwife works.  Ciao!

Are these girls excited to meet their new sister or what??

 

GBS+ and Homebirth: Compatible

Well, my beta strep test came back positive.  I've never been positive with any of my pregnancies before, but, considering that beta strep is a bacterium that 30% of the adult population has at one time or another, it's not hugely surprising.

Beta strep is a bacteria that is part of the natural bacterial flora of your body, it's usually harmless to you.  But it can be passed to your baby during birth.  This can cause complications, some very serious.  The good news is that even for GBS+ moms, the odds of passing it to your baby are extraordinarily low.  Like, crazy low (see the previous post).  So I'm not stressing about it.  Basically, I and my midwife will be monitoring the baby's temperature every 4 hours for the first week of life to make sure she's alright.  After that, we're in the clear.  There is late-onset GBS infection that can affect babies until 3 months old, but that seems to be unrelated to having GBS at birth. 

I scoured PubMed for loads of studies on this, and the scientific literature isn't clear on what's best to do to minimize transport of beta strep from a mom to her baby.  In the hospital, standard practice is to give GBS+ moms antibiotics through an IV for a minimum of 4 hours before the baby is born.  If I was delivering in a hospital, that wouldn't work- there's no way I'd be there 4 hours before my baby is born.  It'd be more like 40 minutes.  In that case, they'd take a blood sample of the baby after he or she is born and test it for C-reactive protein, an indication of an infection.  If the baby's levels of C-reactive protein indicate infection, he or she will then be treated with antibiotics.

Reading the studies made it clear that the medical community itself is not united on this. 
Many studies showed that IV antibiotics didn't do anything to prevent GBS in babies, and in fact, left the baby more vulnerable to other infections and to antibiotic-resistant superbugs (now that's scary!).  Some studies did show an effect.  And again, late-onset GBS is completely unrelated to whether or not a mom gets an IV of antibiotics.  The studies WERE clear on that. 

Also, beta strep (GBS) is something that a woman (or man) can have one day, and gone the next.  So testing at 36 weeks is not necessarily indicative of whether or not I'll have it during my actual delivery.  I read a few things saying that Europe doesn't even screen for GBS (but I have to research that a bit more, that may be heresay).  Several studies- in peer-reviewed scientific journals, people, not Self Magazine- questioned the veracity of screening and treating mothers for GBS the way we do.  The antiobiotic-resistant strains of bacterium developing in recent years is causing many in the medical community to question the practice of pumping every GBS+ mom with antibiotics.

There are a few important signs that I will have to pay attention too, however, that will put my baby more at risk for having a GBS related problem.  If my water breaks too early (like 16 hours or something before labor starts), if I have a fever during labor, or if my midwife performs lots of cervical exams during labor I will be putting my baby more at risk to contract the bacteria.  

My midwife already agreed she wouldn't check me (I haven't been checked before or during labor in either of my last two pregnancies and deliveries, so no biggie).  If I have a fever, or my water breaks too early, I may have to transport to the hospital.  But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

If the baby does develop a temperature in that first week of life, we'll take her into the hospital and she'll be treated with antibiotics.

I asked my midwife if she's ever had any other GBS+ moms, she said oh yes- lots.  Had any of them had GBS problems with their babies? No, she said.  In fact, she's only ever had one baby that had GBS, and that baby was a planned hospital birth to a mom who had tested negative.  See, it can be gone one day, and there the next.  My midwife's apprentice told me she had been GBS+.  So it's not unusual, and even though it CAN be serious, the likelihood of it being so are so slim, and the treatment options in the hospital not really being an option for a fast-birther like me, that I'm not stressing over it.  I also firmly believe that my baby is in God's hands, and faith plays a major role in my decision making process in all aspects of my life, including having my babies. 

p.s. Camping was awesome- I slept like a baby. Seriously, better than I have been at home! 
Also, I have almost 20 freezer meals prepped and in my freezer! AND I'm 38 weeks! SO CLOSE!!!!

36 Week Home Visit & Beta Strep Testing and.....Camping, anyone?

Well, I had my home visit yesterday!  My midwife and her apprentice came (and didn't have any problems finding my house- yeah!).  I gave them a tour of my house, told them where I was planning on birthing, got the info to order my birth kit, and did my beta-strep test.  So this is for real, folks.

Beta strep tests for the presence of a bacteria that, if present at birth, could not be so great for your baby.  It can cause sepsis, pneumonia or meningitis in your newborn. So if you're positive and delivering with a doctor, they will probably give you antibiotics every 4 hours or so during labor.  This isn't a sure-fire fix, either. A recent study said that antibiotics don't help protect the baby from beta strep, but other studies have said they do, and some antibiotics appear to be more effective than others. But some moms have had unpleasant reactions to these treatments.   So...do some research and definitely talk with your provider about your concerns and treatment options if you are positive.

If I am positive, then I will be treated with more natural options: oral garlic/Echinacea, and some others.  And, if transporting to the hospital becomes necessary, whether or not I am beta strep positive will be important for the hospital staff to know. I have never been positive before with any of my babies.  

Many women have beta strep present, some with symptoms themselves, some without, and the stats of it hurting your baby (even if you are positive) are mind-numbingly low, but because the effects on your newborn can be serious, it's important to be tested and develop a plan with your provider if that test is positive. Having a home birth does NOT mean that I (or my midwife) ignore all the amazing medical knowledge available today.  Beta-strep testing, PKU testing on baby, ultrasounds, thorough prenatal appointments....these things are important.  But they don't have to take place in a medical setting with the narrow medical viewpoint that many doctors have.  In other words, there's more than one way to skin a cat. (No, I would never skin a cat....I have one and I love him! It's just a saying, people!) 

Some Beta Strep Stats:

neonatal infection rate: 0.18% (that means 1.8 babies for every 1,000 live births)

neonatal infection rate of babies born to mothers who are asymptomatic, but are known to have beta strep: 0.68%

neonatal infection rate of babies born to mothers with beta strep and have symptoms:  4.68%

Even if you're negative, there's still a risk of you developing it between your test and delivery.  Newborn infection rate of mothers who tested negative is 0.05% (1 in 2,000)

So you can see that there's no magic bullet here for Beta Strep, not even for babies born in a hospital with an IV full of antibiotics being pumped into mom.  But the odds of your baby being harmed by it are very, very low, so don't let it keep you up at night. Your squished bladder and insomnia-causing hormones are doing that already.

Anyhoo, so I ordered my birth kit! The birth kit is a basically a box of supplies your midwife has put together that you order to have ready for the birth.  It includes things like disposable gloves, water tub liners for water births, peri bottles, etc.  It generally costs between $40 and $70.  Mine was $55.  Ordering the birth kit is super exciting for me-it's another reminder to how close I am!

So this weekend I am going camping. For 5 days.  I am not sure how this is going to go....sleeping is my main concern.  I figure that if I can't sleep, we'll just come home.  But I love camping, so I hope my cot, 5 pillows, and memory foam pad will get me through.  I've gone camping while pregnant before, but never this late in the game.....so I'll let you know how it goes!

Also, I've been freezing meals like crazy! This week I did 10!  I definitely feel the "nesting" instinct and feel like it's time to get ready for baby, and to prep my family to survive with a low-functioning mom for a few weeks (although, they would argue they are already doing that...).  Freezing meals will be a huge help in getting through what I call the "survival period"- those first 4-6 weeks.  My babies have all started sleeping through the night between 6 and 9 weeks, so I am excited to again have sweet slumber in my future!

See how my mind is just glazing over these last few weeks of pregnancy and the labor and delivery? I am just so ready to have my baby, hold her, and welcome her to our family!

I Can Do Hard Things....Right????

So, I'm not super great at this blogging stuff. Posting regularly is apparently too hard. But, you know, EVERYTHING at this stage of pregnancy is super hard.  Making meals for my kids, who are bottomless pits of hunger, trying to keep my home in some form of decency, and trying to keep up on a bit of exercise takes everything out of me.  Every day.  Good-bye, make-up.  See you later, hobbies.  Maybe one day we'll meet again.  Right now it's just down to the basics.  Like sleep. 

Sleeping at this stage is SO hard (I'm 34 weeks).  In previous pregnancies, I didn't reach this stage of sleeping awfulness until more like 36 or 37 weeks. So this stinks.  Not only is it hard to get comfortable, but let me paint you a picture of my sleeping challenge: 

1) varicose veins- I can't lay on one side very long before that leg starts to feel dead and aches. 
2) restless legs syndrome- when I'm not preggo and this happens (which is waaaayyy less often than when I am pregnant), sleeping on my tummy nixes it in the bud. You can see why that's not an option at this point.
3) sleeping on my back doesn't work because at this stage, you're not supposed to because of the pressure of the baby on your that one artery which name I can't remember.  And when I try, I get dizzy.
4) hormones & insomnia-  the hormones that are surging through my body cause insomnia for me.  So even when I do manage to get comfy, or find a position that works for my legs, some nights I'll just lie there- exhausted, but wide awake.  Plus, every morning I wake up at about 5:30 or 6. Not on purpose.  Not because of my other kids, who have (almost) all been blessed with my not-a-morning-person genes.  If you know me, you know that mornings aren't my strong point.  My kids' school starts at 9 am.  And they were late this past year. A lot. Because mom sleeps in.  (I know, I need to work on that). 
5) pee breaks- lots and lots of 'em
6)  aches-  in my lower right back I get this deep pain that hurts. It usually develops at night.  If I wake up in the night with it, I have to reach for my Miracle Ball and position it in a way that'll work out the knot that is there in my muscles.  Drives me crazy. 

So, you see that this gets complicated? Most nights I start out with about 7 pillows, and I prop myself up so I'm mostly sitting up (think hospital bed), then I prop up my legs to help my varicose veins. If I'm blessed to actually fall asleep, I will awake soon after to pee, or just because it's hard to stay asleep (again, thanks, hormones). Sometime during the night I'll usually reconfigure my entire pillow set up and do this weird belly-side position that works sometimes.  Needless to say, I am tired.  All the time. And I am tired of being tired.  

A friend, who was expecting her fourth, asked me if four kids were really hard.  I said, "Not as hard as having three and being pregnant is."  Yes, I am looking forward to the birth of this child not only because I can't wait to meet her, hold her, kiss her, put cute dresses on her, and love her, but because life will actually begin to get easier.  My energy will slowly be going up, not down, I will slowly be getting more fit, not less, and the hormones will begin to be flushed from my body (albeit, in a pool of sweat that I will wake up in every morning for the first few weeks, but I don't care. Bring it.)  At this point, all this sounds like paradise.

And when life gets easier for Mom, life gets better for everyone else, too.  I try to nap every afternoon so I can have some level of energy to make it through the dinner/bedtime routine.  I put my three year old down for her nap, then I go down. My older kids have strict instructions to NOT wake me unless someone is bleeding or there's a fire.  And that's not a joke, you can ask my kids. Hubby comes home from work and never really knows what to expect- if I got a nap, dinner is probably nearly on the table, and the house may have a chance at being semi-clean.  If I didn't, he has to morph into Superman and do dinner, be upbeat for the kids, and try to coordinate them to do some cleaning up.  So, needless to say, we're ALL excited for me not to be pregnant anymore!!!!

I realize this was kind of a whiny post.  Just trying to keep it real. On the up side, I had a midwife appointment yesterday and now my next appointment is my HOME VISIT!!! Whoo-oo!! That means I'm SO CLOSE! AT 36 weeks, your midwife will come do your appointment at your house.  This ensures she knows where you live. My midwife will also do the beta-strep test then. (I'll talk about that more after my next appointment.)   There's no point in a midwife doing a home visit before 36 weeks, because if you were to go into labor before then, you'd be having a hospital birth.  You must be a minimum of 36 weeks to have your baby at home, that's pretty standard among all the midwives I've known.  Before that time, your baby is very likely to need some TLC from sophisticated medical equipment, so off to the hospital you will go if your labor starts before then. 

Blessed sleep and energy, oh how I miss you. Can't wait until we meet again!

Glucose Tolerance Test & Iron levels

At my last appointment it was time to see if I'm at risk for gestational diabetes.  With my last two pregnancies, I've opted out of this awful-tasting, near torture test.  For those unfamiliar with it, it's a terrible tasting drink you drink then they measure your glucose levels in your blood a few hours later.  It doesn't sound that bad, but to me, it was.  

Anyhoo, it's not a terribly accurate test.  In fact, most pregnant women whose blood sugar levels measure high after this test do not, in fact, have gestational diabetes.  But gestational diabetes can be serious, and so it's good to get an idea of how your body is doing metabolizing sugar.

My midwife asked me if I wanted to take it two appointments ago, and I said NO!!! So instead, she does a finger prick test and measures my blood sugar with a glucometer (like a regular diabetic does many times a day).  She had asked me to eat 1.5 hours before I came, then not eat until after our appointment.  Easy peesy.  From the same finger prick, another drop of blood was squeezed out to measure my iron levels.  I was perfect on my glucose (meaning low- no high blood sugar here!) but my iron was low.  My midwife gave me some samples of Floradix, a liquid iron/herbal supplement that's easy on the tummy.  I really like it so far.

I wasn't terribly surprised about my low-ish iron levels.  It's something I've struggled with before, pregnant and not.  We don't eat a lot of meat in our house, and I take a prenatal without iron.  Iron supplements make me feel sick for an entire day after I take them.  Floradix hasn't, though.  I do eat many iron-rich foods, such as legumes, black beans, spinach, etc.  But since I'm in my third trimester, we will be eating more meat in our house.  Iron is just too important in the third trimester to my baby, and my iron levels will be crucial to me after delivery. (I talk about why in this post). So I want to do all I can to try to up my iron levels.  If that means changing my eating habits for a few months, so be it.  I also make this iron tonic syrup from a recipe in my favorite pregnancy book.  It's awesome and gentle on tummies! 

I don't mean we're going to be raving carnivores.  But we meat about once a week or less, and red meat hardly ever, so we'll probably be eating meat 3-4 times a week now, with red meat being one of those.  My hubby was pretty excited when I told him we'd be eating more meat for a few months, as were my steak-loving daughters.

But you don't have to eat meat to get enough iron.  Studies repeatedly show that vegetarians and non-vegetarians have similar iron levels.  But iron is also complicated.  Non-heme iron, from legumes and other non-animal sources is absorbed MUCH less efficiently than heme iron, which is found in animal flesh.  An interesting twist to this is that if your body's iron stores are low, your body will increase it's absorption of non-heme iron (or if your stores are high, it will absorb less non-heme iron), whereas for heme iron, the absorption rate stays the same independent of your body's iron stores. Pretty cool, huh?

There are also a few tricks you can use to increase your absorption of iron.  Vitamin C and carotenoids (think orange and red fruits and veggies and egg yolks) increase the absorption of iron.  In meat, there is an unidentified factor that increases absorption.  Conversely, calcium inhibits iron absorption.  So when I drink my Calcium/Magnesium drink (which I do for nighttime leg cramps and restless leg syndrome) I do it at night, whereas I take my Floradix in the morning.  If I took them at the same time, I'd be lessening the effectiveness of each.   

Iron stores take time to build up in ones' body, so that is another reason why I'm going to increase my consumption of meat.  It seems to be a bit more effective in a shorter time frame.  If I had been smarter, I would have been paying better attention to my iron levels throughout my pregnancy and then could've gotten away with sticking to primarily veggie and legume sources of iron.  My stores would still have built up, but it might have taken longer- which would have been fine if I had been on it. 

So if you're a strict vegetarian, don't despair and think you have to eat meat to up your iron.  You definitely don't.  But my iron has been low for awhile now, so I am willing to change my habits to see if I can change it for the better.  Don't be so stuck in a certain lifestyle that you're not willing to try something that will help you.  For example, if you're puking your guts out from morning sickness, try some chicken noodle soup and saltines.  You may be a strict vegan, but if that's what soothes your tummy, it's worth it.  Or maybe you don't eat anything that's not whole grain. Saltines are simple carbs with not much to offer nutritionally, but they just might get you through a few hours without throwing up.  So try them.  You can embrace your eating lifestyle again when you are feeling better. 

Do I vaccinate?

I'm not trying to start a fight here.  You may totally disagree with me, and that's okay.  I know many people (homebirthers and others) who do not vaccinate their children.  And they are my friends.  My children play with their children.  But I choose to vaccinate my children. I believe in it passionately.  I honestly think vaccines are one of the greatest modern blessing we have available to us, and I'd be remiss not to embrace it.  Imagine how many mothers in history would have scrambled at the chance to protect their children from the numerous diseases that are a distant memory to our modern world.  Diseases that snuffed out the lives of millions of children. For centuries.  And all we have to do is get our children a little shot. Presto, worries gone, child protected.  Seriously one of the greatest, most amazing wonderful things about living in these modern times. 

When my 5-year old stepped on an old, rusty nail last summer it was a huge relief to call my pediatrician and ask what should I do? She checked her shot record and told me not to worry, her tetanus was up to date.  Just clean it well and it should heal fine.  Instant stop to my freak-out, all because my child had her shots.  

But many people assume that, because I have my babies at home, I don't vaccinate them. True, they don't receive those first few shots at birth that a hospital-born baby would receive (which, by the way, you CAN opt out of, but nurses and doctors may treat you like scum for doing so).  But I'm nursing, so they have my antibodies available to them and are thus protected.  I nurse about 6 months before my supply runs out and I have to start formula. But my babies receive their first vaccine before that.  The first time I take them to the pediatrician is somewhere in the 3-5 month range, for a well-check and to get started on vaccines.  I only get them one shot at a time, which usually is more than one vaccine because so many of them are combined nowadays.  But just one poke in their fat little leg is good for me.

I've never had raised eyebrows or condescending tones from my pediatrician about having my babies at home or the fact that they are usually a bit behind the immunization schedule.  Or sometimes a lot behind. But hey, my kiddos are all up to date by the time they are kindergarteners and off to school, so who cares.  The only reason my kids ever go to the doctor is for shots- they just don't get sick very often.  And when they do, I turn to my herbs and oils and that works for everything from fevers to earaches for my kids.  So remembering to take my kids in for their vaccines is a major victory for me, since who thinks about the doctor when everyone is healthy? But somehow, despite how behind I may be in getting their well-checks, the schedule always seems to pan out and my pediatrician has never had a problem with it.

When I do take them in, I acknowledge to my doctor that my kids' shots are behind schedule, so, I ask, by looking at their immunization record, what shot should they get next?  And my pediatrician will say, "Oh, let's do such-and-such today, and such-and-such next time."  I don't march into their office armed with "knowledge" I read online about this or that vaccine.  Recognize that your pediatrician is a smart person and knows what they are doing (or change pediatricians!).  Showing them that respect will ensure that you don't receive those dreaded condescending tones or raised eyebrows.  

And autism is present in my family. My brother has it.  A nephew has it.  But the science just doesn't support activist's claims about vaccines and autism.  Many people have many different reasons for not vaccinating their kids, but the alleged link with autism should NOT be one of them- because study after study has said there is no link. 

Last Sunday I was listening to an elderly lady at my church giving a talk.  She spoke of having polio when she was 12. She talked about how their town lost many, many people to polio during that particular outbreak.  And I couldn't help thinking, Wow. All I have to do is get my kids a shot.  A simple, easy, fast, shot.  And I've never had to give polio or whooping cough or anything else a second thought.  What a blessing. How could I not embrace it?  

...and a few thoughts about other "pokes" your baby gets at birth: 

 {Vitamin K Tangent}  The Vitamin K shot (which is not a vaccine) is given to your baby in the case they will need surgery.  It enables their blood to clot, preventing them from bleeding to death on the operating table.  On the 8th day of life, your baby begins to make their own Vitamin K, and no longer needs a shot after that day.  So for the vast majority of babies, it's an entirely unnecessary shot.  In the case that your baby does need a life-saving surgery in that first week and didn't get the shot, no problemo- they still have effective medicines they will give your baby to enable their blood to clot. So....really, I don't see the point of a Vitamin K shot as a standard procedure for every healthy baby.  So, even though my midwife can give this shot to my baby at home, I opt out of it. I simply don't see the need for it.

{PKU Tangent} Also not a vaccine, but is one of the things your baby will get directly after being born. It's a quick prick-of-the-heel for your baby, and absolutely CRUCIAL. My babies get it.  Every baby NEEDS it.  If your baby has this rare metabolic disorder, you need to know ASAP! Just want to make sure people know we homebirthers aren't THAT crazy- the PKU test is an essential, folks. Wherever you choose to have your baby. 

A quick note on birth certificates & SS cards

A few days ago a friend sent me a link from California Families for Access to Midwives, asking if I've ever had trouble getting my baby's social security card or birth certificate after a homebirth.  I scrolled through other readers' responses, and it seems as though many people have.  I never have.  I also don't live in California, and the state you live in will dictate much of the experience you will have in obtaining these crucial documents for your baby.

Getting my babies' birth certificates was super easy- my midwife submitted the paperwork and later I requested a copy of the certificate from the county recorder's office.  In fact, I thought it was better than the hospital way of doing it, where you *HAVE* to have your baby's name written in stone before you leave the hospital so they can process the birth certificate paperwork.  It's nice to have a few days to get to know your new baby, straight from Heaven, and play with the names that have been your favorites and see which one is hers or his.  My baby's social security cards came in the mail- so problemo.  Easy peasy, didn't have to do a thing.  But I live in Nevada, a pretty awesome state when it comes to things like taxes and red tape. (And not so awesome when it comes to things like education and health care- hence, homebirthing here is pretty common in some parts of the state.)

Do some research, talk to your midwife.  She will be intimately acquainted with the paperwork process after you birth your baby and be able to tell you what to expect.  Each state has different laws governing midwives who deliver at home, and you should know what your state requires.  California, for example, prohibits midwives from delivering breech babies.  (Super lame, right?) But that's the law.  Other states require midwives to operate under an OB/GYN.  If, for whatever reason, they don't have a doctor undersigning their practice, they are technically practicing illegally.  (California recently did away with this law for MOST midwives, but not all.)  Regardless of my (or yours, or the midwives') opinions about these laws, you should know them and find a midwife who abides by them.  Afterall, having a baby shouldn't be a legal issue!

Even if you live in a state where it will be more difficult than my experience, don't get too hung up on it.  Your baby WILL get a birth certificate and social security card.  I promise. They are a living, breathing person, and whether you have to wait longer, get paperwork from your pediatrician rather than your midwife, or make a few extra phone calls, they absolutely will get these essential documents.  Your baby is not the first, nor the last, baby in your state to be born at home.  So keep it in perspective and don't stress! Save your stress for parenting, not pregnancy!

Here's a great link to get you started researching midwifery in your state: 

 http://cfmidwifery.org/states/