The Sylvesters

I know, I know! I never thought that I would be the type to even consider doing a homebirth, and a water one at that, but it looks like we're leaning toward that direction.

So let me start from the beginning: this whole idea began because I don't have health insurance yet (due to my immigration paperwork taking forever to be processed) so one of my midwives (yes, midwife! more about that in a second) asked if we would consider doing a homebirth, to which I immediately replied, "Uhh...I don't think so." I mean, what if something goes terribly wrong and we can't get to the hospital in time? And what about the magical pain reliever called the Epidural? Could I or would I even want to try to have an all-natural birth? This conversation took place a few weeks ago. But a couple days after our appointment I started to really consider it. Midwives here in Ontario are super popular and I would say more the norm for pregnant women than OB/GYNs, where in my experience being from the States, midwives were more for the uh, should I say, "granola-hippie" types. And here's an amazing thing, the government of Ontario funds midwifery care here, so even without insurance, I am receiving their services free of charge (excluding blood work, ultrasounds, and lab fees). Midwives here work with doctors in the hospital and they are also certified to do births at home as well with low-risk, healthy moms/babies at no cost! I am a patient of a midwifery center here where I am being looked after by a team of 3 midwives.

In addition to prayer, I have also been doing a lot of reading and research on this whole issue and there are definitely passionate believers in both camps. At this point, I love the idea of doing a homebirth: having the freedom to move around however I want, being able to be in a shower and bath, feeling comfortable and relaxed in my own environment, not rushed to give birth quickly with the threat of being unnecessarily induced, giving birth in the most comfortable and efficient position (i.e. not on my back), saving ourselves money, etc., etc.

But then there's this other part of me that thinks, what if in that rare instance, something does go wrong where every second matters and something happens to Baby Girl? Or what if I kick myself in the midst of labor wondering why I cut myself off from access to drugs? So I'm not quite sure what to do!

I share all this because I would love to hear any feedback/insight/birth stories that you think would be helpful for me to hear. After watching "The Business of Being Born" I definitely see much more pros in doing a homebirth if you and your baby are healthy and low-risk for any health issues but that doesn't necessarily mean that I am now anti-hospital or anti-drugs or anti-doctors.

I also share this because we would love it if you could pray for us, asking God to give us wisdom to know what the best thing is for us to do for our family. We want to make an informed and confident decision while also clinging to the fact that God is sovereign and that we can put our trust and faith in Him for everything, including the birth of our little girl.

We are attending a homebirth class in a couple of weeks so hopefully that will give us more insight into the whole thing, will keep you all posted!