Sunday, February 27, 2011

HW . 36

1.When I talked to my aunt and what she went through when giving birth to my cousin the reason on why she wanted kids was to be able to have someone to call her own and to love, raise and take care of. But after having one kid she personally would never do it again and doesn’t plan on having any more kids. While she was pregnant she was miserable the whole time because her hair started to fall out, she started getting acne on her face was sick all the time and when she was in the hospital actually pushing the baby out the only thing she was feeling was joy and relief and anger. Joy because she gave birth to healthy baby but relief that it was finally over and she doesn’t have to live this process over ever again. But she was angry because the Dr. and her husband were watching the basketball game instead of helping her. To prepare for the birth of her daughter my aunt started reading baby books, talked to the dr. more, changed her diet to healthier foods, and started taking La maze classes. She thought everything was helpful when it all came down to it except for the breathing classes because when you’re actually on the bed about to give birth those breathing techniques are the last thing on your mind because you’re worried more about getting the baby out then how you should be breathing.

·         My aunt’s pregnancy is one that you wouldn’t see on TV or see advertised as the beauty of being pregnant. On TV you see people talking about how there’s a certain glow to you and you look relaxed and your skin is clear and all the typical things your feet hurt, back hurt, and weird cravings which doesn’t sound so bad. They don’t factor in the people like my aunt who was sick all the time and started losing her hair and had acne all over. After hearing that I don’t know if I want to have a kid now if I’m going to go through all of that. This also shows how our culture takes everything and try to sugar coat it and make it seem like it’s the best thing in the world, they don’t factor in or show that it might be different for everyone. I want to know is what actually in a baby book what is in there that they talk about that suppose to help you? Because it seems like knowing how to change a diaper or feeding a baby should be things that women is born with knowing as they get older and the time comes.


2.While talking to my mother she told me how she had planned to have kids, because she worked with children for about 10 years already and always wanted to have kids of her own. The first time she got pregnant though she had a miscarriage her nephews wedding reception in South Carolina.  Was sad when found it she miscarriage and started crying but also mad and blamed everyone for it because she was already upset about driving all the way to South Carolina, when she didn’t want to in the first place. But what helped her to get over it is when she talked to friends of the family the Lazars and one of them told her “ it just wasn’t meant to be, if the baby was born something probably would have been wrong ,it happened for a reason“. Today you’re able to choose the traits of your child and practically customize them if my mom had the chance to do that for me she says she wouldn’t, but if she found out that there was some genetic disorder she would try and change that but that’s it. When it came to labor and how it feels my mom said that no one can really tell you what it actually feels like because it’s the most intense pain you can deal with. She also would never get pregnant again but once it’s over its gone you don’t think about it anymore, but she would of gotten pregnant younger around 28 or 30. If my mom was to have an unplanned pregnancy she would still keep it, and adoption and abortion never crossed her mind. The same as my aunt my mother went to the dr. more tried to eat better and took La maze classes which she feel didn’t help either because breathing is the last thing on your mind when giving birth. While pregnant the most she was affected by it was that she put on weight. Chose to give birth in a hospital because there’s a Dr. and she didn’t want to take any drugs such as epidural because she wanted to be as natural as possible and read somewhere that the epidural can cause the baby to be loopy which isn’t safe when there so young .

·         After talking to my mom I now feel less against having kids because hopefully I’ll be affected by birth just like she was and just gain a little weight which I can deal with compared to the other things some women go through.  This has helped me to understand birth better because I always wondered what it feels like to give birth some people say you don’t feel pain you feel pressure, or that it is painful but now seeing that its different for everyone but its intense so you can’t really be prepared for the feeling of giving birth which I now know. Just like my mom I don’t want to take any kind of drugs, even epidural which is suppose to be a good drug that’s helps  you when actually it can cause damage to your child but you don’t hear about that in the media. After talking to my mom and aunt I don’t know personally if I would choose to have a hospital birth or an in-home in a tub because with my aunt the Dr. wasn’t even paying attention to her. With my mom the Dr. waited until the last minute to tell her that she’s going to have to have a C section and had to go through the pain of trying to push it out which wasn’t helpful if she ended up having a C section.  I would also like to know what other things are the Dr.’s giving pregnant patients or telling them to do that are suppose to help them but really can be harmful for some people? 
3. I talked to someone who watched someone giving birth and what they went through. They told me how their step mom became more cautious of herself by staying away certain products so she wouldn't inhale it and cause harm to the baby. She also became less active because of the pregnancy. I was also told that his mom chose to give birth in a hospital because home birth wasn't even a option. Just like my mom his step mom had a c- section to and the pregnancy didn't affect her that much but she became a little moody.  
                            After talking to this person I seen that there's a lot of rules that you have to go by so that you'll have a healthy baby and so that you wont become ill. I would feel very paranoid about trying to remember every day things that your used to doing but now you cant because it'll possibly harm the baby.

2 comments:

  1. I think that the distinction between wanting a child and not really wanting one is essential in understanding the way the child is raised and how it will grow up. The fact that you mentioned how your uncle and the doctor were watching basketball instead of paying 100% attention to your aunt is an interesting idea to introduce because of how it puts the difference between gender roles into context. I also began to wonder how gender roles during pregnancy have evolved over time.

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  2. Kristin I thought your blog was pretty good and it was interesting that the doctor and your uncle were watching the basketball game instead of helping your aunt out with the baby. It amazes me that your aunt wanted to read books about the baby and raising the baby. Its also interesting that you say that people think they have a glow because of the baby but your aunt didn't. I don't agree with that comment either I don't understand how there is a glow to someone.

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