Yes, I DO deserve a medal for natural childbirth

I'm on a childbirth site forum. There was a post a while back about people writing about their birth experiences. I won't bore you with mine (in this post) but some woman commented that she had an epidural and LOVED IT. And then she went on about how women who had their babies naturally felt self-righteous and acted like they deserved a fucking medal for going without meds. 

Yes, I DO deserve a medal for natural childbirth. I also deserve a trophy, a certificate of honor, a Heisman, World Cup, and a fucking Nobel Peace Prize. I also deserve a Pulitzer for this blog post, damn it! 

See, women who have never had a child naturally feel some guilt and possible have some sort of inferiority complex. They feel inadequate as women because birthin' babies is what a woman's body was designed to do. Now don't get all women's lib on me. These are the facts, Jack. There is one indisputable fact here, and it is that women have a uterus. Babies grow in a uterus. Of course, women can do many other things in life, but you can't argue with nature. 

So anyway, back to the point. I don't come from a place of ignorance when I say this, because I had a medicated birth with my oldest. It was by far the WORST of my 3 births. 2 of which were without meds. I was young and uninformed about childbirth. When I got older and studied up on the actual process when I was pregnant with my 2nd, I found out how much harm I was doing to my baby's tiny little body with all those drugs. My motherly NEED to make sure my baby was safe outweighed any fear I had of the unknown of natural childbirth. 

With my 2nd and 3rd pregnancies I went to class for 12 weeks. I studied, and learned. I practiced exercises and mentally prepared for this journey of child birth. It's not like I got pregnant and then decided I would just go squat in a corner like some 3rd world villager. I worked for this birth. I earned it. And let me tell you this; it was hard work, but not terrible. It was beautiful. I have never run a marathon, but I can only imagine the sense of pride is comparable after all that work and dedication.

It wasn't a breeze by any means, but it required focus. I earned my prize of a healthy baby girl and boy. They weren't all drugged up and dopey when they were handed to me. I wasn't paralyzed from the waste down or too out of it to even know what happened. I was there and present in body and mind. I felt good and healthy and I was able to get up and walk soon after. 

I am proud of me. I did it by myself. I did what nature had planned for my babies and I. I never felt like more of a complete woman as I did when going through that. So anyone who wants to say that natural mommas don't deserve any credit, fuck them. When you have walked in my shoes and done what I've done, then you can talk. Until then, shut it. We all know that you're afraid of the pain, and that's ok. But don't judge those who have overcome the fear and come out on the other side, stronger.