Crib Sheets, Renovations + New Birth Plans

Crib sheets at last! And it really was the simplest thing to turn these 2 yard cuts of fabric into fitted crib sheets. I followed my Quilter's Crib Sheet tutorial to refresh my memory and used elastic that was conveniently on hand. 

These pale colored prints should pop against the peach walls I'm planning for baby girl's nursery. Fabrics are all from Bobbie Lou's Fabric Factory: Miniments in raw, All Paths in clear and Bed of Daisies.

Remember that we are adding onto our house right now? Our current master will become the new nursery after 1. we can move out of it into the newly built master and 2. we complete some repairs on the emptied space. The contractors have nearly finished their work on the addition, so my husband has started painting. He'll be doing all the finishing on weekends and evenings: floors, trim, installing the master bathroom, lights, etc.  Still we think we'll be in the master before we bring baby home about 10 weeks from now. Then baby can live with us in the new master until Brandon can complete repairs on the new nursery. Phew! All that to say, I've decided crib sheets are all I'm going to sew for baby in advance. It's not too motivating to make things without a room ready. 

But how do you like those windows? This is my first photoshoot in my new sewing room, which is part of the addition. We enlarged my sewing space and separated it from the rest of the house, so it's not part of our entry anymore. I was super excited to include skylights in this room to bring light specifically to the area where my design wall will be placed. Crossing fingers I can photograph my works in process right on the wall! Right now I have to move around my design wall in search of decent light, scattering pieces that fall off the wall as I go!

When the sewing room is done, you can bet I'll be sharing pictures. In fact, maybe you'll be visiting someday! The room is also designed to host weekend workshops for 8 students!!!

Now... about my birth plans. I've been wanting to share some things with you, but it's such a complicated topic. What follows are a bunch of personal opinions very much influenced by my experiences. Please don't be offended! I respect those who disagree. I just wish to share how my own perspectives have changed on this topic.

On Monday my mom and I drove two hours to a hospital in Charleston, where I plan to deliver baby. Until now I've been receiving maternity care at a local OB, but we haven't been comfortable with their general lack of caution and disregard for testing recommended by a MFM, in view of my birth history.  Currently, I plan to deliver via induction at the hospital in Charleston so that I don't go into labor two hours away at home.  Now more than ever we understand it is essential to be able to trust one's medical team. We trust the team in Charleston, which is nationally ranked for obstetrics and aggressive about evidenced-based care. It's a completely different birth plan and a radically different birth paradigm as compared to my previous three births.

My perspective on maternity care is so different than it was prior to Eleni's traumatic birth! Before Eleni, I gave birth naturally at home to both Aria and Liam under the care of midwives. Those experiences were very positive and mostly uncomplicated. You can read about my original birth perspectives in this post.

Eleni's severe birth injury and ultimate death were due largely to medical negligence. She was born by induction in a hospital, but my maternity care was done by a home birth midwife and an overseeing OB, as required by South Carolina law. I've had lots of time and many medical experts help me understand what happened. For me, understanding what happened and how it could have been prevented were very important for emotional healing. Even before we decided to have another child, I began to reconsider my views on home birth. Would I still recommend it to a friend? To my daughter? It was a hot topic with my local friends, many of whom had wonderful home births themselves.

First, I have concluded that out-of-hospital midwife care in the United States is very different than that offered in some other developed countries. Many studies evaluating the safety of home birth and/or midwife care are conducted in European countries with excellent results... and very different medical systems. Here in the U.S. laws impacting out-of-hospital birth vary radically from state to state.  In addition there are very few areas where home birth midwives are well-integrated with the support of local OB teams and hospitals. In our country there is much antagonism between the camps. This, in my opinion, translates to less accurate risk assessment and poor care in the event of emergencies. Women and midwives fear giving up their control to the ruling hospital/OB systems by asking for assistance, and may take unnecessary risks to maintain autonomy.

I believe we in the U.S. should rely solely on U.S. studies of home birth safety. The studies that I see are mixed, with some showing there is not an increased risk to mom/baby and others showing there is double the risk. The mixed results could be due to the differences in local law and care networks. I will tell you that there are more midwife attended and planned out-of-hospital birthers in the Facebook community called Hope for HIE, which is for babies like Eleni. More by far than is average for the United States. That was something I noticed right away and recently confirmed via poll.

So, where have I landed? I guess you can tell.  When I chose home birth before, I did so mostly to improve my birth experience and protect my baby from unnecessary interventions. Now I prioritize a healthy baby so very, very far above either of those concerns that I would not only refuse to deliver out-of-hospital, I would also choose a hospital with an excellent NICU, just in case. The way I see it, unnecessary interventions associated with hospital birth are generally detrimental to an enjoyable birth experience or physically damaging in the short term only. Compared to the possibility of preventing a lifetime of suffering or all-out death via interventions that turn out to be necessary.... give me an unnecessary c-section and a live baby any day over a preventable birth injury. In short, I believe doctors do have to do unnecessary interventions, including c-sections, to save as many babies as is possible. And that's what I want, when it comes to birth.

With this baby, we will opt for an induction to guarantee the chance to deliver in an excellent hospital with top-notch staff. I'm still hoping for a mostly drug-free natural birth, but mostly I'm hoping for a healthy baby. 

And, my friends?  Not a one of them would have another home birth in our state after what happened to Eleni.  Granted, all of us are extremely impacted by her singular story, but that's how we make most decisions in life - informed by data, but shaped even more by the people we love.