Adrienne Christina by Rebecca
As a medical student, I think I was at both an advantage and disadvantage about the entire process of pregnancy and motherhood. I knew the technical stuff, but later came to learn that what they teach us as future doctors is sometimes about what is convenient and secure for doctors and not necessarily about what is best for mom and baby if they have no preexisting medical conditions. During my ob/gyn and pediatric rotations, even though I was in a public hospital (where women were given good medical care, but no emotional care), I knew giving birth in a private hospital here in Mexico wouldn't be much different, except prettier facilities. So I had resigned myself to just being prepared for a bad, frustrating experience and knowing I would just have to endure it.
But praise the Lord though, He wanted this process to be a gift to me, John and Adrienne. Through a couple of my classmates we found Plentitud, a wonderful group of doctors and midwives that believe in a dignified, peaceful and natural birth. And I learned that natural birth doesn't mean choosing a "painful" birth. The first time I met Joni over the phone, I told her that I just assumed it was standard for the mom to receive drugs for childbirth and that I would need them too. But after an hour on the phone with her, I was inspired to give birth and not scared or "grossed out."
My parents arrived here in Guadalajara to anticipate the birth on Nov 21 and by December 2nd, my poor mom had had enough anxiety and decided it was better for her to return home and take care of some things and hop on the soonest flight the minute I went into labor. Well, you know what that means...after a long wait and much anxiety on my part (and starting to think that I'd never get to meet my daughter!), I finally started having real contractions early in the morning hours of the 3rd.
