Oct 06, 2011 23:28
For the last five months, my husband and I have been trying to start our family. While doing this, we've had discussions on a lot of things involving the health and well-being of any child we bring into the world, and these conversations have made me realize something. I have a very complex view of the world and how to raise my child within it.
I believe in the strength of a woman's body. When I do get pregnant, I plan to give birth at home or in a birthing center, with a midwife. I am relatively low-risk when it comes to giving birth, barring my depression. I plan to discuss my options with my midwife when I become pregnant, and do my best to deliver my child in a healthy and safe environment.
I believe in the usefulness of modern medicine. If, God forbid, something happens when I am in labor, I believe that having a back-up OB/GYN to perform a Caesarian is both important and a needed part of giving birth responsibly. I do not plan on killing my child for a Cause, and there are times (approximately 7% of births, according to WHO) when medical intervention is necessary in childbirth. I am grateful we live in a world where C-sections, epidurals, induced labor, and medical interventions exist for times when they are needed.
I believe in the importance of inoculation. Smallpox is gone from our world because of the mass inoculation of the world during the 50s, 60s, and 70s. We have the ability to vaccinate against polio, measles, rubella, mumps, and all manner of horrendous diseases. I also believe that it is of the utmost importance that we use the power of inoculation. Yes, there are risks when it comes to vaccines. The risks are greater when you allow your child to catch these horrible diseases. Those who quote the dangers of Mercury in vaccines do not realize that 1) the human body contains mercury naturally, and 2) vaccines have not been made with mercury (Thimerosal) since at least the early 90s. Those who quote vaccines as the cause of autism have not done their research on the disease itself, as it first presents signs at the same age you inoculate your child for MMR. I have met children who developed autism despite their parents not inoculating for fear of that precise difficulty. The reason we still have polio in our world is because, thanks to the personal choice to inoculate your child or not, we will never be able to eradicate another health risk.
I believe in the phrase "kids will be kids." Children diagnosed with ADHD at the age of three are not ADHD; they are being three-year-olds, overstimulated by the amazingness that is life. Children bored in school are not being taught the way they learn, and medicating them into a stupor will not help them or their grades.
I believe that mental illnesses are not the end of the world. I will never understand why TV portrays mental illness as the worst thing in the world. It is an illness that affects the brain, like bronchitis affects the lungs, diabetes affects the pancreas and body function, and cancer affects your way of life. Mental illnesses can be chronic or acute, like clinical depression or PTSD. But if treated like any other illness, any of these can be lived with. Just like any other illness.
I believe in the power of modern medicine. My husband and I both have diagnosed and confirmed mental disorders. He is bipolar; I have anxiety and depression. I acknowledge that the medication we take for these issues is a lifesaver, and allows us to have a normal life. If, when my child is of an age, they are diagnosed with a similar disorder, we will choose therapy and, if needed, medication to help them live a normal life.
I believe in denouncing the agenda of Big Pharma. Medication is a tool to help combat the realities of disease, regardless of what the disease is. Medication should not be used to correct every little thing that's wrong, from prescribing antidepressants to deal with a death in the family to ADHD medication for a child just being a child. Medication should be affordable, and also should be used sparingly. If one medication does not work, stop using it. Don't throw other medications after it to get rid of the side effects.
I believe that sexuality and existance are not binary. There are men and women in the world. There are intersexed individuals. There is the genderqueer, the bisexual, the homosexual, the pansexual, the heterosexual, the asexual. There is the transgendered. There is the cisgendered. There are the polygamous. There are the monogomous. There are the swingers, there are the loners. There are the kinky and the vanilla. There are more lifestyles out there without a name to them. And all of them have a place in the world. Even if I don't know what that place consists of.
I believe there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. And I believe all of it deserves thought, consideration, and the chance to be heard without instant rejection, because it is outside the realm of my experience. My Savior sat with the lowest of the low and the highest of the high, communed with them, shared their food, heard their stories, smiled at their laughter.
At the very least, I can strive to do the same.
living for me,
life,
babies,
deep thoughts,
health,
love,
family,
journaling,
therapy,
marriage,
living,
husband