My Bradley® Births...

So you might be wondering how I got to this point in my life. Why did I choose to have natural childbirth and why did I decide to become a Bradley® teacher? It all started like this...

In my former life, circa 1998 B.C. (Before Children), I was what one might call a "planner." Not just your regular, run of the mill planner, but one of the obsessive-compulsive variety. Allow me to explain.

Six months before my husband and I even planned to start trying to conceive, I was reading books on pregnancy and childbirth. I wanted to know what I was thinking about getting myself into!

So, when the big event finally arrived, I went into my first prenatal appointment with what else – a birth plan. A little premature, maybe, but I knew what I wanted. I was every Obstetrician's worst nightmare. So it's probably a good thing I ended up switching to a Certified Nurse Midwife.

Actually, I must back track a bit here...

After three weeks of "trying," I had a scheduled annual exam with my then OB/GYN (a very prominent local OB who shall remain nameless), who, up until that point, I totally respected and trusted. When I told her we were trying and that I hadn't had a period in 60 days (and a negative pregnancy test), she proceeded to whip out her prescription pad and informed me that I was NOT going to be able to conceive without fertility drugs because I "wasn't ovulating." She was eagerly waiting, pen in hand, for me to give her the go ahead to write a prescription for Chlomid.

This is with no history, no tests, nothing. I decided I would wait, for say, LONGER THAN 3 WEEKS, and take my chances on my 'faulty' reproductive system! I left her office close to tears but I wasn't about to give up. I rushed back to work, logged onto Amazon.com and ordered "Natural Family Planning," so that I could immediately begin to chart my cycles and take my basal body temperature to determine if I was ovulating or not.

THREE DAYS LATER, I repeat, THREE DAYS LATER, (before the book even arrived), I GOT PREGNANT – and I wasn't even ovulating ;-) It must have been a Christmas miracle!

Of course, I didn't know I was pregnant for a few more weeks. Once I found out, I scheduled my first prenatal visit (with birth plan in hand) and went in to gloat. Ha, I did it and I didn't even need your stinkin' drugs!

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