Hw 36

Interview 1:
Face to face

I was finally FAT!!!!! I’m a skinny lady and I had wanted a baby my entire life and I was finally pregnant after trying for a couple of years. I had always weighed 83 pounds and now there was a baby inside me and I weighed 115. I could eat anything I wanted. The last two months it had been hard to get off the bed. I had to roll off and I could only sleep on my back. My feet were swollen and my snow boots barely fit. I was always so busy because of work, preparing for the baby and packing for a new apartment. I never stopped. I made sure before the baby arrived I had his room set up. When I realized I was having a baby I began reading countless baby books and I was going to Lamaze classes. The night it all happened I went to the bathroom at around midnight and my water broke. I couldn’t have had more then an hour of sleep that night. It was not painful at first. I felt no contractions so I woke my husband up and told him to call my doctor. Since I was not in immediate pain I cleaned the water on the bathroom floor. Who knew when I would return from the hospital? The doctor told me to go the emergency room where he would meet us. Once we got there my contractions were still not happening at the full extent so they put me in a room until the contractions got stronger. I was both happy and nervous waiting for my baby; it was indescribable. The doctor came in ten minutes later and told me there was problem and I would have to have a c-section immediately. I was nervous about the baby’s health but the doctor said it would be fine and nothing was wrong with the baby. He kept apologizing to me over and over again before the c-section because most women want a natural birth but I didn’t mind. I was happy I was not going to be in any pain. My baby came right out and the whole process only took two hours or so, it was great.

This mother always wanted to have a baby and loved having one just like so many other women. She also loved the fact that she was fat and could eat whatever she wanted because in our society women want to be skinny so people will accept them and look at them as pretty. Unlike most mothers this mom was okay not going through a natural birthing process. She didn’t need to feel the pain of a natural birth and was not worried about the local anesthesia.


Interview 2:
Face to Face

It was my second child so I knew the drill. I was getting fat and I had no worries because I had made a plan. I lived in a small house so we split my first son’s room in half so each child would have their own room. It took a lot of work but my husband got it done. Most of the furnishings a baby needs we saved from my first son so we didn’t buy much. My mother in law kept reminding me everything to do just like she did with my first son. It got to me just like the last time but I didn’t ever say anything. My doctor told me my baby would be due on the twenty-second of September. But by September 30th when my baby hadn’t come the doctor induced me. It took a long time for my water to break and my contractions to start. Then there were complications and I required a c-section. I was delighted I would not be going through a natural birth for a second time. The first time was a great experience but this pain is not something you want to go through a second time.

Mom number two brought up that a natural birth was painful just as many moms describe the process and when having a second child she didn’t want to bare the pain again. Since this mom had a child before she was fully prepared before this baby arrived at home.


Interview 3:
Phone call.

I found out I was having twins. For the next couple of months I was getting used to the idea of not just being the parent of one child but two children. We bought plenty of diapers and started to get the nursery stocked on all the goods. During the first trimester I was healthy except for my fatigue. During my second trimester, I got some energy back and started showing but I also started swelling up. My ankles and legs were huge by my 5th month and I was starting to get really uncomfortable. At 32 weeks I went in for routine steroid shots to mature the baby’s lungs in case they came early. When they put me on the monitor they noticed I was having contractions!!!!!!! I couldn’t believe it. I couldn't feel them but I guess they were big enough to be concerned about, so they checked me and I was 3 centimeters dilated and my son's head was at 0 station. Basically he was ready to come out and I didn't even know it! My doctor decided to get me on magnesium to try and stop my labor. It worked. At 34 weeks, 4 days I started having only what I can describe as the worst heartburn I have ever had. It felt like someone had poured acid in my stomach. Then after two days of this, I told my husband that I didn't think I could take it anymore; my water broke while I was lying there in bed. I started getting the real contractions about 15 minutes later when we were being admitted at the hospital. I had no idea they would be that painful. It was like the pain shifted from the heartburn to my upper stomach to my low menstrual-like cramping, which felt totally different than the pain I had experienced the last two days. The labor pains were like menstrual cramps times 100. It started off bearable but after a couple hours, I couldn't take it anymore and I was only dilated to a 3. I got my epidural after 4 hours of contractions. I pushed as the doctor instructed me to. My boy came out first and then my girl. It really was not that hard.

This mother didn’t feel her first contractions, which were 2 weeks early. Her baby was coming out and the doctors thought it was appropriate to stop it. When her water broke she felt what contractions are supposed to feel like. She had intense pain until she was able to get an epidural, which a lot of mothers get to relive some of the pain.


Interview 4:
Phone call

On Christmas morning I was exactly 36 weeks pregnant. I had everything ready for our baby. I don't know why but my husband and I were both up at six in the morning. My five other kids were still sleeping. So my husband and I decided to have sex. It was eight now and we were downstairs opening presents when I felt some cramping. I thought it was nothing so we continued opening gifts. When it was about nine I started having heavy cramps. I went to the bathroom and my water broke just as I walked in. I called my husband to the bathroom and he was shocked. My husband is a pediatrician and he checked me and saw I was ten centimeters. He was helping me up the stairs (so we could go to our bed) and I felt the urge to push. He told me to just hold it and we had three more steps to go. I got into my bed and I let out a yell. My husband told me he could see the head. One more push and the baby's head was out. Apparently the shoulders were in an awkward position so it made it extra hard for me to push the baby out. When the baby finally came we were both so happy to see it was a girl. Out of six we finally had a girl!

I could not believe this mother did not feel contractions until she reached about eight centimeters. From all the stories I have heard at three centimeters the pain is almost unbearable. It might be that she had given birth to five kids but it would still hurt I think. The sex she had that morning is probably the reason that her pregnancy was induced.

I want to explore more in depth what a woman actually experiences during labor.

Hw 35

In my opinion, an interview is something that must be done face to face to understand what a person is trying to convey in their answers. However, throughout my five interviews with friends ranging in age from 15 to 18 years old I didn’t always have that luxury and it showed in their responses. In my interviews I started with a prompt that I hoped would insure well thought out answers. My opening began, “When I ask a question, take the first answer that comes to mind and hold it. Then let the other responses you are thinking about come to the surface of your brain and put those thoughts together and give me a response.”

The first part of my interviews consisted of a series of six general questions that interested me. I received a great deal of similar answers when asking the individuals about teen pregnancy T.V. shows, their views on birth, and what they knew about the pregnancy process. When I asked if it was a parent’s obligation to make sure that their child had a better life than they did I received the same answer, which was surprising to me. In each interview the person stated that it was not the parent’s job to make sure that their child had a better life than they did. This baffled me because I believe the opposite and could not understand why they thought this way. My friend, Molly, said the only thing that allowed me to somewhat understand what they all thought. “It’s not a parent’s job to make their child have a better life; but to support their child in what they want to do no matter what.” This comment allowed me to understand that as long as your child is doing what they love they will have a great life.

The second part of my interview was having my friends think about birth in depth. I described a scenario that would change their lives and asked them to imagine whatever I said as if it was happening to them. I told each of them they were pregnant and I was the first one to inform them and, if this was the case, would any of their answers change. This question, no matter if asked face-to-face, typed or described though video chat did I sense I got an honest response. Both Jasmin, whom I video chatted, and Anna, whom I interviewed face-to-face, looked down at their bellies and thought about what I had just said. Of course, neither could possibly have an honest response unless they were actually pregnant. But Jasmin said she would keep the baby and not change her mind. Anna said she thought about what it would feel like to have a life inside her but she realized that the baby would not have a good life and neither would she. She kept her ideas the same. Meaghan said she would change her belief and ideas if this happened to her. Before, she didn’t think that having a baby could hurt a mother mentally but at her age she knows that it could have serious a impact on her and her baby’s future. Molly would keep the baby because of her religious background. Stephanie was undecided whether she would keep her baby; but given the situation she would most likely not keep it because of her age and all the responsibilities a mother must face.

From these interviews I learned a lot about what my generation thinks about birth. I thought that my ideas and beliefs about birth might change but they didn’t and that’s okay with me.

Hw 34

In the United States, society looks at birth as both a good and a bad thing. When a teenager gets pregnant, society considers it a bad thing because we feel that a teenager is not fully developed to supply the necessary nutrition to the fetus and is not psychologically prepared to raise a child. As well, society thinks that most teenagers don’t have money to support their child because they’re still in school and don’t have a full time job. Alternatively birth is viewed at as a good thing in society when people are thought of as old enough to make conscious decisions about their life. At this age, society believes that they know the full responsibilities that having a baby entails and have planned financially for it.

A baby can be kept for many reasons. It could be planned, kept because of religious reasons or a family’s personal values. In the general, babies are looked at as gifts from god. But when a baby is unplanned and will not have the support of a good home is it right to bring them in to the world? If sex was forced on a woman and her values say to keep it should she? These questions, ask whether a baby is always a gift.


What type of physiological effect does having a baby have on a woman?

How does teen pregnancy T.V. shows effect teens?

How does a woman’s organs shape around the baby?

After the water breaks, why can’t a woman push the baby right out?