Guest Mama :: Creating a Birth Plan

Happy Tuesday mamas!

Here's what you do:
1. Write a post about ANYTHING baby {or pregnancy} related.
2. Add my button to your post.
3. Link your post with the link-up tool found at the end of all of my posts.
EASY PEASY! 

I'm really excited about today's guest post, because I think having a birth plan is an important part of pregnancy and childbirth. I shared my birth plan with Kenley and while things didn't go exactly as planned I was so happy I wrote it. Whether you print it out and bring it to the hospital or just use it as a way to brainstorm what you want for your birth and discuss those desires with your hubby - I think it's time well spent. I used mine as a way to share what I wanted with Jason and my doctor so that they could advocate for me when I wasn't thinking entirely clearly, so pretty much from first contraction on. 

Melissa has some GREAT information on things to consider including in your birth plan, so enjoy! 

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Hi everyone! I’m excited to be here at Mama and Mou to share what I’ve learned through my birth experiences. My name is Melissa Woods, and I am a blogger at Welcome to the Woods. I blog for the homemaker in you; my posts include DIY projects, financial advice, and parenting tips. I hope you enjoy this post and stop by to check out my blog!

After having two children and two very different birth experiences, I thought I would share 5 things I think are beneficial to include in your birth plan. I know everyone has different ideas about birth, so these are just coming from my opinion, experience, and research.

1. Delayed cord clamping
Delayed cord clamping involves the umbilical cord staying attached to baby and placenta staying intact immediately after birth for about 5 minutes. This benefits the baby by allowing fluids (especially blood) that were being shared between baby and placenta to drain back into the baby's body. Delayed cord clamping eases the transition into the world. This video does a wonderful job explaining why it is a good idea to delay cord clamping:

From personal experience, my first child (girl), who we allowed the doctor to do standard immediate cord clamping for, developed jaundice. My second child (boy), who we did delayed cord clamping with, did not.

2. Exercise  
Listen, I know some people opt to get an epidural or other pain medication at the start of labor and this does not allow them to get up to move around, but hear me out. Standing, swaying, walking, balancing on a birthing ball and other exercise during labor drastically improves pain and helps the labor progress faster. Sitting on a bed is not the best position for labor. You are putting weight on your bottom, right where the baby is trying to come out! When you stand, gravity helps you to handle the feeling of baby's descent. If you still want to get an epidural, my advice would be to hold out until you can't anymore. It will expedite your labor greatly.
From personal experience, my first I labored sitting on a hospital bed the whole time until the pain was so unbearable I got an epidural. Labor was 5 hours long. With my second, I stood and swayed and walked and knelt and moved the entire labor and it provided so much relief (along with my doula offering massage) that I did not use any pain killers. Labor was 3 hours long.

3. Immediate skin-to-skin contact 
  Most doctors place baby on Mom's tummy right after delivery. This is great, but take it one step further and have the first thing your baby feels be your soft familiar smelling skin. All a newborn wants the first seconds is to be close to its mother. Don't put things between you like clothes or blankets. Spend baby's first hour just holding, cuddling, and feeding. Immediate skin-to-skin contact has been shown to increase chances of successful breastfeeding, encourage Mom's milk production, help baby stabilize breathing and nervous system functions, and strengthen the mother-infant bond. It is used as therapy for premature babies, but ALL newborns can reap the benefits of skin-to-skin. And don't be self conscious about having an exposed belly during labor; the people in a delivery room have seen it all.

From personal experience, my first was set on my tummy briefly, then whisked away to be bathed and swaddled. We tried breastfeeding about an hour after delivery and it went okay. She was groggy from the epidural and wasn't orientated to the outside of my body. She was never a great eater and then developed jaundice; breastfeeding was a real struggle the first month. With my second, as soon as he came out, we were skin to skin. Within twenty minutes he wiggled himself to my breast and started feeding. Our first feeding was phenomenal and he's been a great eater ever since.

4. Opposition to an Episiotomy  
An episiotomy is a surgical slit your physician makes on your perineum (the space between your vagina and anus) to facilitate baby coming out near the end of delivery. They are not considered standard practice, but they used to be and unfortunately some physicians still regularly perform them. The reason this is unfortunate is because episiotomies are difficult to heal from, can easily get infected or tear dramatically, cause more severe tearing in future births, etc, etc. Ultimately, episiotomies are something that should be avoided unless necessary. It sounds bad, but there are practitioners out there who will perform an episiotomy just to speed things along. My first born was delivered by a physician with this mentality. Write it in your birth plan and talk to your provider about what circumstances might warrant an episiotomy. Natural vaginal tearing is almost always more preferable.

From personal experience, with my first I did not have a birth plan and did not even know what an episiotomy was. During the pushing phase, I felt a slice and suddenly my daughter fell out. I was mostly numb from the epidural when I was sewn up. I had no idea why my episiotomy was performed, except that my physician rushed off to deliver another baby a few minutes after mine. With my second, I had told them I did not want an episiotomy. I knew the physician thought about it because he double checked with my doula at the last second saying, "No episiotomy, right?" I had very minor tearing and healed wonderfully in four, not six weeks.
 

5. A Doula
This one I didn't learned until going through labor once. With my first, I had complete faith in myself and trust that my support person (hubby) were a dynamic team ready to take on labor. My labor and delivery with my first was not a poor experience, but there were many things that would have went better if I had a doula. A doula is a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth. My doula was phenomenal at helping me through every stage of labor and delivery. My experience with my second made me see the huge benefits of having someone knowledgeable advocate for you during one of the most difficult and precious times of your life. Please consider hiring a doula, and if you're in central MN, contact the wonderful doula I used via doulamatch.net or on facebook.
Photo credit NV Photography, courtesy of www.thegreatletdown.com

From personal experience, my first birth experience was a blur because I had a vague plan. When bad things happened, no one was there to offer solutions. During labor with my first, I did not breathe deeply, I was not in optimal birthing positions, I did not manage my pain, I gave in to a medicated birth that I didn't want, I experienced periodic deafness, and I was disappointed with the choices made during the labor process on my behalf and that of the staff. Having a doula along with my second, all of those things were turned around, plus I had a coach, an emotional rock, a masseuse to manage the pain, and a knowledgeable advocate for the medical circumstances that arise which you just can't foresee. I felt elated, empowered, strong, and so proud after my delivery experience with my second, all because I had a doula.
These are just a few of the many choices moms are faced with when having a baby. This is not intended to be medical advice; I am not a medical professional. Do your own research, write down a birth plan, and consider including these five things.

Thanks for reading and thank you to Kristin for having me at Mama and Mou. Visit my blog http://www.welcome-to-the-woods.com to see more!

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To submit a birth story or guest post - email me at mamaandmou@gmail.com

Lyla's Birth Story {08.19.12}

I am so excited about today's birth story! Angela is one of my favorite mama bloggers and her little lady Lyla is just too stinkin' cute. I admire Angela so much for the incredible natural birth that she had! As you all know I wanted a natural birth so bad and when it came down it, I just couldn't do it. So, I have MAD respect for the mamas, like Angela, out there are who are able to do it naturally. 

Enjoy!

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Lyla's Birth Story: A Natural Perspective

Ok. I have to warn you right now. The following post, written by someone else at one time would have been quite revolting to me. However, our birth story is just too important to me not to share.

So, stop reading now if you do not want the gory details of birth. ;)

It's a long one. (And I've even shortened it as my"personal" birth story was 8 pages typed. YIKES.)

I went into this pregnancy hoping for a natural childbirth. Which for me meant that I wanted to deliver drug-free and with the least amount of interventions possible (e.g. being induced, c-section, etc.) At first, it was something I wanted but was okay if it didn't happen. Then, we took a 12 week course called The Bradley Method, and I became fully committed half-way through the class. I was motivated and determined to make this happen. And both Gabe and I were VERY educated and VERY prepared by the time I went into labor.

As of Tuesday {08.14.13}, I had been checked at the doctor. Although I was dilated to 1 1/2-2 cm and 70% effaced, my doctor told me, "You are definitely not having your baby this week." I was still carrying way too high.

Ha.

Friday, after completing my first week back to school, I lost my mucus plug. And people kept commenting on how I must have dropped overnight. Didn't think much of it.

Saturday morning (38 1/2 weeks pregnant), I woke up to my alarm around 7:00 a.m. Gabe was just getting off the night shift and going to bed. I went to my favorite exercise swim class. During swim, I had two pretty significant contractions. I'd been having Braxton Hicks contractions the entire last half of my pregnancy, but these two were completely different. I had to stop what I was doing and sort of focus on them. Still didn't think much of it.

Felt pretty crampy and sick all morning, sort of flu-like. This made me a little concerned because in class we had learned how one major sign of early labor is feeling like you had the flu. But I ate breakfast. Got a phone call from one of my best friends in Atlanta. Had 3 contractions during this conversation. Laughed about it and told her, "How crazy if I go into labor today...but that's obviously not going to happen because I KNOW I'm having this baby late".

Things continued to be sporadic like this all early afternoon. A contraction here and a contraction there. Then 2:00 p.m. hit. Things started to get a bit more intense. Contractions were coming on stronger, and it finally crossed my mind that this really could be it. I remembered from class to continue on like any normal day during early labor. So, I decided to let Gabe sleep...because if I was in labor I was going to need him bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. We had work to do.

So, to pass the time, I went to my parents. Within an hour, I'd had 5 contractions. Strong, intense, and I couldn't talk through them. But I could walk through them.

At this point, I was still in denial. I truly thought I was experiencing "false labor". I think I was freaked out because I'd had several friends who went to the hospital too early due to false labor. But my mom thought otherwise. She encouraged me to start timing contractions.

So although I began labor early Saturday morning, I consider around 3:00 to be when things got real. Labor was in full force. The contractions were painful, intense, and were following a pattern. I had one every 20 minutes. Then by 5:00, I decided to head home to wake my husband because I was at 10 minutes apart.

I woke Gabe up by saying, "Well, I'm pretty sure you're going to meet your daughter tonight." He groggily looked at me...and I'm not so sure he took me seriously. Contractions kept getting stronger and closer together. We had a birthday party that night, and I still got ready to go. I mean, if I was going to be in labor for a super long time, I figured I should have fun, right?

Wrong.

I decided last-minute we should just go get pizza. Like a last meal, just the two of us. But we made it about 1/2 block down the neighborhood street and I yelled at Gabe to STOP THE CAR. I contracted. Then, I looked at him and told him there was no way we were going to get pizza. So he dropped me back of at home and went and picked one up. I scarfed down 3 pieces in between contractions.

By 7:00 p.m., I hit the "serious" emotional signpost (Bradley Method term meaning you are heading into active labor). My contractions were now anywhere from 3-5 minutes apart. Very painful. Some absolutely intolerable. I was rating them between a 6 and a 9 on the pain scale. But Gabe helped me relax through them. We spent about an hour in our living room. Right on a chair with pillows. He was timing with his iphone and recording in a little black notebook. I asked him if he thought I was having false labor, and he just looked at me and said, "Well, you're not due for another week and a half, so let's just wait this out." Thanks for the support, babe.

I told him if this was false labor, then I wasn't doing "real labor".  Just wouldn't happen.

An hour passed. Now, I was contracting anywhere from 1-3 minutes apart. We moved throughout the house. We tried to go for a walk, but couldn't make it out the door. We spent much of this time "dancing" (where we both stand and I lean on Gabe to contract). I got on the exercise ball. I got on my hands and knees on our bed and on the floor. Nothing felt good at this point.

Another hour passed. Some of my contractions were right on top of each other - no break in between. We debated whether to go to the hospital. You are typically supposed to go if you've contracted for an hour straight every 3-5 minutes. This had been going on over 2 hours now.

Gabe decided to call Wendy, our Bradley instructor, just to pick her brain. She coached me through 2 consecutive contractions. She told Gabe this was definitely NOT false labor. This was it! She advised us to try the bathtub, but if this pattern continued for another 30 minutes, we needed to head to the hospital asap.

I got in the tub. It felt amazing in between contractions. But that was only 1 minute reprieve at this point. Actual contractions were unbearable. So, we decided to go to the hospital. Gabe ran around the house like a mad man...because he hadn't packed his hospital bag like I'd been telling him to do for weeks. But he had to stop what he was doing about every minute to come and help me contract. I'm sure it was quite the sight to see.

As he loaded stuff in the car, I contracted on my hands and knees...in the front seat. He ran back inside to grab a few more things. Later, we would find out, in the chaos of everything, he left my purse on the front porch. All.night.long.

I contracted 7 times in the car on the 12 minute car ride. Not fun at all. Then, while waiting to be checked in (even though I had filled out the pre-admission paperwork), I contracted 4 or 5 times. I even went to the hospital bathroom to just keep moving. I ended up contracting on my hands and knees...on a public bathroom floor. Ugh.

We got to our room. Right in the middle of the nurse change-over. This was the biggest blessing ever because we ended up with Nettie. Most amazing nurse of all time. She was so supportive all night. It was about 10:15 p.m. She checked me. She yelled, "You're a 6, Girl!" We fully believe that at this moment, the hospital staff knew I meant business and completely respected our wishes for a natural birth.

My mom arrived and was the best little delivery/support person ever. She provided water and ice chips for me. She would rub my leg from time to time and tell me "you're almost there", but I would ask her not to talk or touch me. Sorry mom! :( And I know, even though Gabe was doing the coaching, my mom was standing there praying her heart out for her own baby who was in desperate pain.

After about one hour, I felt like I was starting to lose my mind. But I was dilated to a 7, which meant I was progressing.  I really believe I was progressing because I was able to "relax" through contractions. It's amazing what the whole relaxation technique can do. Nettie the nurse told me that even during my strongest contractions, my blood pressure was lower than she'd seen and sometimes she couldn't even tell I was in pain...even though the monitor was jumping off the scale. I assured her I was absolutely in pain, just trying to relax through it.

It's funny. We brought our "bag of tricks" to help us get through labor: rolling pin, tennis balls, towels, for massages, etc. and we never used one. At one point, I asked Gabe to turn on some music, he did. And I immediately told him to turn it off. We stuck to two positions pretty much all night: me sitting on the edge of the bed with my hands on Gabe's thighs (who sat directly across from me), and then switching places with him to be in a chair and he on the edge of the bed. The thought of lying on my back (which is how most people labor) made me want to die. The only times I had to lie on my back is when they had to check me. And it was by far the most excruciating part of labor. I would get up immediately when they were done. I HATED being on my back.

Then the resident came in to check me. Still a dang 7. And my bag of waters was "bulging" and completely intact. My heart sank. I grabbed Gabe's face and told him I wanted an epidural. Yep. I said it. More than once. But he and my mom reminded me that is not what I wanted and that I was almost there. So, I pushed through it. And an hour later, I was an 8!!!

This is when things got really dark and grim for me. (However, this is a sign that you're almost there!) I began to completely lose control of my body. I was shaking uncontrollably, and I felt the desperate urge to push and/or go to the bathroom. Nettie wouldn't even let me go to the bathroom on the toilet for fear I would push out a baby. The problem? I still had 2 cm to go, and she kept telling me, "Angela, you CANNOT push". Little did I know I was in the transition phase of labor (by FAR the worst, most awful part for me). I swore I would not yell or make weird noises while laboring. HA! I had absolutely no control. Some contractions forced me to scream, push (against Nettie's and the resident's orders), and groan so loudly. One time, I contracted so hard, I fell out of the chair onto the floor. During contractions, I can remember apologizing to everyone in the room for "being so dramatic." The residents all kept saying, "Are you kidding me? We NEVER see this. You are doing amazing." But I still felt so embarrassed for all my noise.

This continued for what seemed like an eternity (3 hours in reality). And I later found out that this is unusual as an average transition time is 1 to 1 1/2 hours. My body kept pushing, and the doctors did everything they could to make me not push. Sorry. No control there. After what seemed like days later, the resident came in to check me. I heard him say something about being "AC" - Almost Complete. This means that I was a 9 1/2. One half cm to go...are you kidding me? I told him to just stretch my cervix to get to a 10. He smiled and said he couldn't do that.

I think at this point I told everyone I was done. I just wasn't doing this anymore, and I'm leaving! But Gabe and mom cheered me on and reminded me the baby was almost here. Everyone said I was doing such a good job, but I kept telling them I wasn't doing a good job. At the time, I felt like everyone was just saying I was almost there just to make me feel better. But I really was almost there.

I somehow made it through transition. And I was finally a 10. Ready to ACTUALLY push. I did this with my mom and Gabe holding my legs up to my chest during contractions while I pushed. I pushed HARD for an hour. I have to admit. I thought this would be the "I'm in the clear" part. I had focused so much on the first part of labor, I was totally not prepared for how hard pushing was.

At one point, the resident said, "She has a FULL head of hair". I got so excited - "So, you can see the head?" He told me yes. I told him he was lying. He told me to feel it. I got scared to feel anything. But he encouraged me to, and I felt my baby's head. And that's all I needed. I pushed with all my might. And my water FINALLY broke.

But the look on the doctor's faces told me this wasn't a good thing. My baby had a bowel movement. This can be very dangerous. So, they told me I would not be able to do skin-to-skin immediately (this was my #1 on my birth plan). I began to cry. Gabe and mom encouraged me this was the best thing. To make sure baby was safe. So, I kept pushing.

After an hour, the doctor told Gabe that baby's head was too big and I was about to have a really bad tear. So, I got an episiotomy. Something I did not want to do. However, now, I am SO happy with that decision.

After the episiotomy and a few intense pushes that made me feel like I was going to explode, there she was. Our baby. Our sweet little angel.

To be honest, I was so exhausted. So relieved. I had given every ounce of myself. And I just remember being amazed the baby was out. And that we created her. But then they took her away. And I just watched from my bed. Exhausted and emotional. I didn't even realize (which turned out to be a good thing), that the umbilical chord was wrapped around baby. Another reason why they had to take her from me.

After about 2 minutes of checking her out, they brought her to me. And we did skin-to-skin for one hour. She immediately crawled (literally) to my breast to nurse. It was amazing. I was in awe of her. And I never wanted to let her go. So I didn't. This hour was so peaceful and calm and intimate. I truly felt like I was in a dream. And then they transferred us to my recovery room. Baby girl didn't sleep for 12 hours. She was so alert, so with it. She couldn't wait to explore the new world around her.

I will probably never, ever experience something as mentally, physically, and emotionally trying as natural childbirth. Ever. So, now that it has been 5 days, and I've had time to process...would I do it all over again? Absolutely. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. And yes, I will try to do it with Baby # 2. It was a beautiful experience, and I am SO happy I did it. And what I experienced with Gabe is something unexplainable. The teamwork, determination, and encouragement bonded us in a way that can never be broken. And now we have a perfectly healthy and beautiful baby girl that is part of US. And I'm not gonna lie. I feel like a champion. 

You can follow Angela at Ruby Red Slippers.

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to submit your birth story, email me at mamaandmou@gmail.com

My Birth Story {written by my mama ♥}

Today is my 29th birthday. Today is the first day of the last year of my 20's. 1 year from today I'll be 30.
WHAT IN THE HECK?

I've heard the story of how I was born a million times, but when my mom offered to write my birth story I was all about it! It was so fun getting this story from my mom and hearing some details I don't think I've heard before. So sit back and enjoy as my mom recaps what she remembers about what was surely the best day of her life.

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Labor and delivery has not really changed much since I had my babies in the 80’s.

It still hurts, you are worried about ten fingers and ten toes, you can have an epidural, relaxants or nothing at all.  What has changed are these gender reveal parties.  I didn’t even have an ultrasound with Kristin so her gender was kept a secret to us all.

I had a pretty uneventful pregnancy for the most part, other than the fact that I was growing a human in my belly.  When I was about six months along my ob-gyn, who I had been seeing for years, passed away suddenly from a heart attack.  How could I do this without Dr. Henry?   I was heartbroken over the loss but had to start seeing another doctor from the practice.  In walks Dr. Hardy to console me and that was it, another wonderful doctor.  Little did I know that actually having Dr. Hardy on call when I was ready to deliver was a crap shoot.

My due date was December 5^th 1984 which came and went with nothing happening.  As with most first time mamas, I thought that everything I felt had to be a contraction and the mystery of it made me crazy.  I did what other mothers told me to do; walk, have sex, drink a glass of wine, go up and down stairs and jump around a bit.  None of which got anything started but I did enjoy that glass of wine!

After my due date had come and gone, Dr. Hardy suggested inducing labor as he was concerned about my measurements and the possibility of me being able to deliver an 8 lb baby. I checked into St. Luke’s Hospital (which was in the heart of downtown Denver) that’s my mom’s nice way of saying “the ghetto” on Monday, December 10^th at 6:00 pm.  This was not the hospital I had planned on, but at that time inducing a pregnancy was considered "high risk" so I was moved to a different hospital and I was not happy about the change or the pitocin. I was over being pregnant and wanted to meet my baby so I had no choice but to accept it.  I was all comfortable in my hospital bed and hooked up to the IV but unfortunately my nurse forgot to start the pitocin.  I am laying there thinking “this labor thing is a piece of cake.”  Well it was without the pitocin!  My night nurse figured out the error and finally started the labor inducing drug.  The pitocin started uncomfortable contractions but I wasn't yet in active labor.

By Tuesday morning on December 11th, I was still having contractions but they weren’t all that bad.  I was a little tired but ready to push when called upon to do so. That evening comes along and my water was still intact and my nurses were very surprised to still see me there.  This kid was not going to come until she felt like it.  When Kris was little and I would ask her what the holdup was she would always say “I was playing Go Fish”.

It was right around midnight, I was alone in my room watching The Gong Show and good God this is finally what labor feels like!  By morning my best friend, Sherri, and Kristin’s dad, Tom, were with me and trying to be helpful. They kept telling me to breathe and I can remember thinking, “easy for you to say.”  I was hurting so bad I would hold my breath during the contractions and I was not prepared for back labor!  I began to beg for an epidural which I should have done a long time ago, but it was too late.  I did receive a nice relaxant which chilled me ever so slightly and then my doctor said "this baby is coming." I still remember his voice as he said those beautiful words.

I was a former gymnast and had abs to die for when I got pregnant, I figured I should have been able to pop the baby out in one push.  Not-so-much. After several hours of pushing the doctor wanted to do a C-section as Kristin’s neck was tilted in the birth canal.  I was hell bent on delivering this child and did not want a C-Section unless absolutely necessary.   I was exhausted and my eye lids were swollen but surprisingly my baby doll was not in distress.  I was moved to the delivery room which was basically a sterile cold place, nothing like the birthing rooms we have today. The rest is a bit of a blur but I remember her cry, holding her for the first time and feeling nothing but relief.

My perfect baby girl, Kristin Nicole, arrived at 3:41 pm on 12/12/84.  The mama love was instant and my life was forever changed.  A feeling Kris now knows herself.

to submit your birth story, email me at mamaandmou@gmail.com


And one more thing before I go and start drinking birthday martinis...I am guest blogging over at Confessions of a Northern Belle today!

It's my buddy Caitlin's due date so I'm sharing my experience/wisdom on "Waiting for Baby". 
GO CHECK IT OUT! 

The Business of Being Born

In one of my many preggo-related e-mails with Danielle, she brought up the movie "The Business of Being Born" which one of her friends had recommended. I immediately got on google and was sucked in instantly by this preview: 

As you know, I have decided to try for an all-natural childbirth. I didn't make this choice because I want to try and be a hero or even because of findings that natural is better for you and your baby. I always thought I wanted a medicated birth and I don't for one milli-second judge someone who decides to go that route. After reading a bunch of books and articles online I just decided that natural was better for me {and frankly, most of that decision comes from being more scared of a needle in my back than the pain of childbirth}. After watching this movie it was absolutely confirmed that I want an all natural childbirth and will do whatever I can to make sure that happens {again, I know things don't always go as planned}.

I really found everything about this movie super interesting, but the main thing that stood out was the sort of vicious cycle of using medication. For example....you get Pitocin to speed up labor which causes your contractions to be more intense and more painful pushing you to want an Epidural but because the Epidural numbs you, you don't feel the contractions or have the urge to push so labor slows down leading to an increase in Pitocin...and this cycle continues on and on until soon you are exhausted and have all this medicine in you and aren't making progress so they take you in for a C-section. Obviously, this isn't always the case...but it makes sense. They give you 10 different things to solve 10 different issues, but it seems the combination just makes everything worse.

After watching The Business of Being Born I found that the producers (Ricki Lake) had made a sort of sequel of episodes covering different topics in more detail.

One thing that really stuck with me from the "More" episodes was that your whole pregnancy you're told all the foods and medications and habits that are bad for you...no Advil, no deli meat, no alcohol, etc. etc. etc. but then all of a sudden when it's time to give birth they want to load you up with medication. I thought that was an amazing point! 

I could go on and on for hours about these movies but I won't bore you. I will say that I highly recommend this movie to anyone who is, has been or eventually wants to be pregnant. I found the whole thing so fascinating. Jason watched it with me too and also found it interesting, not to the extent that I did, but I think it's good for the boys to see.