HW 37 Comments on Birth & Pregnancy Stories.

Harry,
I thought that your post was very interesting because you wrote about some events during pregnancy that are uncommon and unusual but could still happen. For example being born during a winter storm played a big part in your birth. This made me realize that there are an infinite number of inputs that can affect the output of your birth. One small event, such as a storm can change an entire birth. It made me wonder what our births would be like if one small factor was changed. Would your birth be different if it was a hot summer day?


Dean

Dean,
I liked your analysis on the preperation of having a child although you could've expanded on the questions in your interviews because it sounds a little redundant. None the less i like your question in bold, but maybe you could've also asked "How do mothers in other countries prepare for birth? What does this say about American mothers?"

Harry

HW 36 - Pregnancy & Birth Stories

In my first interview i interviewed my Dad, although i was not his first child and have heard the story of my birth before i decided to gain more knowledge on that particular story anyway. I was born on February 16th 1994; "Getting pregnant and having a child was a big decision for us mainly because my wife was 40 and i was 56. My wife had some minor complications with her pregnancy as she was bed ridden months prior which was difficult". I was born during a winter storm and the hospital i was being taken to was uptown on the upper east side while we lived downtown in the lower west side so it made things more complicated (plus the elevators were broken in the building). When my mom got to the hospital she just made it, and after all this my dad described the experience as "scary and exciting".

This made me think of pregnancy and birth in our society as being one that is (exactly as i thought) random but expected. My mother may have been given a due date but when her time was expected, mother nature had other plans. This interview helped me understand that pregnancy and birth in our society is random yet expected, but also limits birthmothers to what they can and cant do in times of pregnancy. In my mothers case, she had to stay in bed during most of the pregnancy.

Besides hospitals, where is the second most "popular" place pregnancy takes place?

For my next interview i interviewed my neighbor, who had a child recently. She described her experience of pregnancy to me as "fun, limiting and scary". I asked her what about it was "limiting". She told me that during her pregnancy, she was told not to eat certain foods that could cause harm to the baby. "I always had to remain healthy, yet i was still gaining weight from the baby" she said. "It was a lot of work, but it was worth it the end". Three months ago her son was born, and attention came from everywhere including strangers "People were coming up to me on the street asking me how long till i was expected to have the baby but i also had a lot of support from friends and family, some that i haven't been in contact with from a little while now so the extra support helped me and motivated me."

This interview helped me realize how big of a role pregnancy and birth plays in society today. People will go out of their way to show support for your baby more than any other time in your life (maybe besides your wedding) and it also goes to show how much we really care about other people's lives and decisions even if we have no relation to them at all.

Is there a science to why random people are attracted to a woman's pregnant

stomach?

For my last interview i decided to interview a long time family friend, who's child is 18. She said that the story of her pregnancy can be described in one sentence: "Painful and stressful, but more than worth it in the end". Her daughter is an honor student with amazing grades and is planing on going to Dartmouth. "I would have been very satisfied with having a child no matter what they did (as long as it didn't involve selling illegal drugs or committing crimes) but it feels even better to know i raised to my child to be who she is now and i hope to have enough strength to continue to raise her to follow through with her dreams and succeed even though i know that since she has made it this far, she's grown up enough to carry her own". When she was pregnant, she had slight doubts after her last attempt ended in a miscarriage which was very emotional. "People showed me support but they didn't really know what was going to happen, no one was. I wasn't ready for another disappointment but i kept telling myself through all my doubts that this time it would actually happen.''

This interview helped me come to the conclusion that not only when the mother gives birth is slightly unexpected, but as well as if the birth will even take place. After doing further research, i found out that most miscarriages happen randomly and can even be incurable.

What is the percentage of women in the U.S that have miscarriages?

HW 35 - Other Peoples' Perspectives 1

Pregnancy, having the baby, then becoming the parent. Birth can be a beautiful thing when it finally occurs, ugly in the beginning usually but most parents find births to be a positive outcome for the experience they gain from it as well as the child, thanking the parent in the long run for life and experience. For this assignment, i decided to interview one of my friends, my half-brother and my second cousin.

My friend jay told me he believes that pregnancy is an interesting topic. He told me it is one thing to commit to the idea of having a baby, but another thing to commit to the nine month struggle with stress and pain producing one. This lead him to think of how interesting it must be to watch your child grow up and compare and contrast the similarities of behavior between you and your child. I agreed with his ideas.

My half brother Virgil told me he believes babies can be a beautiful to have. He has had experience watching friends older than him experience raising a child. He said that although at first the process was difficult, most of his friends overall enjoyed the experience of raising a child after 11-13 years (even though they knew there was a lot more to experience with the child). He imagines himself going through the same process once he has reached his 30s. "Although i believe having a child and settling down at a point in a persons life is a typical american perspective, it was meant to be that way"-My Half Brother. I somewhat agree with him, i plan to settle down at one point as well, but not till later in life (40's)

My second cousin thought similarly about becoming a parent. This would be that becoming a parent is something that most people should experience in their lifetime. "Just as long as you are between age twenty to fifty you should take advantage of the opportunity you were given in life to have children"-My second Cousin. She believes that having a child is like a second life relived through your child's eyes, a second chance to fix things through a different you. She also added that even if your child cannot do everything better at what you screwed up on younger that unless your child becomes a stripper or severe drug addict, you should take pride in your children and never let them get hurt. I agreed with my cousins statements completely. You only have one life, and one time to become a parent.

HW 34 - Some Initial Thoughts On Birth

Birth is a very celebrated event. Birth can happen expectantly but randomly and it is usually a very slow and emotional process (by this i mean that your expected DOB is not always when the birth will occur). Typically birth is thought to be carried out in a hospital where doctors can assist the birth, but other people have different methods they use during birth.

Metaphorically and literally, birth is a beautiful thing. If you have ever witnessed a woman giving birth, it is clear that the process is painful and at times ugly but when the birth is complete people celebrate the occasion. I believe that birth should be celebrated but only people who are close to the person giving birth should be allowed to witness it. I believe this because it is a dominant social practice of birth and since it is what i've been taught all my life i choose to believe that it is morally right.

QUESTIONS:

1. Do typical books and learning programs to get your child to become smarter while still in the womb really work and how? What does this have to do with how our minds think consciously and unconsciously?

2. What are all the elements of a decision to give a child away for adoption after birth?

3. How important is birth in america compared to birth in other societies?

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