almost exactly 4 years ago scott and i began taking bradley classes for the birth of d. we figured that since simply wanting a natural birth didn't quite work out the first time (i was begging for drugs after a few hours of having my water broken), we wanted to be more prepared.
the classes cost around $400. the babysitter for e was $40 for 8 weeks. if you do the math, that was a $720 investment to choose pain.
i've been thinking about that investment a lot lately... it paid off in the short term. d came into this world without drugs. a few years later it paid off again with p. if you divide it between d and p... it was only $360 a kid. not bad.
but the math doesn't end there.
i am also beginning to think that the bradley method is far more genius than i could have ever known at the time. you see, i find myself using his strategies years post laboring.
take today for example. i used his "focus on your happy place" strategy to make it through the bickering that occurred throughout breakfast. his "counting breaths" method worked well as d was terrorizing her sister as we played in the front yard. and yes, i used his "focus on relaxing each muscle group" while trying to get dinner on the table.
i'm beginning to wonder if bradley tried to play a little trick on all of us "naturally" inclined birthing mommas. i question if maybe, he knew that he'd have our undivided attention as we prepared for birth to REALLY give us tools that would actually help us survive later journeys in motherhood. i'm not sure they helped all that much in the birthing process, but those tricks are paying off dividends in the toddler, preschooler, elementary years (for this momma, at least).
yes. that was $720 that i would invest all over again. sure, i felt like i had reached a mountain top after each drug free birth, but i had no idea how i would feel after surviving a day like today by using those tools all over again.
i am momma! hear me roar...
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