HW34- Some Initial Thoughts on Birth

In contrast to the former Illness and Dying unit, in which I had many connections and stories to tell and things to say, I know absolutely nothing about birth. I have never given birth, nor have I ever caused anyone else to give birth (not that I know of at least). In any case, I am disappointed that I won't be here for the unit, especially because Andy says this is his favorite one to teach and also because I feel like this is new territory. I really WANT to know about birth and its intricacies and controversies, so hopefully one day I will fully understand the significance and symbolism of such a monumental chapter in life, and maybe one day know what it means to be a father. I've heard stories about my own birth (and my brother's), and from what I've heard, it's a very stressful and invigorating experience. I also got a sense of how different two births can be, and what can go wrong in the process.

When my mother had my brother (this could be the start of a really cool rap but I digress...) she had one of the hands down worst experiences of her life. Josh was premature, AND needed to be given birth by c-section. In addition, my mom was not expected to survive the ordeal (which is a frightening thought to me... where would I be?) and was pretty much scarred from the experience. HOWEVER... 5 years later when she had me everything played out nicely, and this positive experience changed her attitude entirely, calming her down. Needless to say we both turned out perfectly fine (generally) and grew up to be talented and well-doing kids.

Obviously I have many questions about birth, . Probably the most general of questions would be, 'what does it feel like to give birth?', as in what will I feel when I become a father? Will there be this big swirl of emotion and crashing waves of joy? Will I feel the weight of responsibility on my shoulders at a sudden moment? Will I have one of those moments where I look around and don't understand anything? Will I cry? Will I laugh? Will I be there? My next major question is what do imagine my child to be like? I think one of the major topics of interest we will explore this unit will be how people have this fetish for making their children 'perfect' or 'just like me', when there are unfortunate stories of how families, relationships and lives can be destroyed when a deformed or disabled child is birthed. I am very interested in this particular aspect, especially because we neglected to investigate mental illness in the last unit.

One more thing (for my thinking/writing team).

It appears I will not have ANY computer access in the Bahamas. I am dearly interested in this unit, and It would be AWESOME if one of you guys could send me letters summarizing what we covered in class. I would really appreciate it, because even in a tropical paradise I really don't want to miss this, and I'm sure Andy would count it as part of Open Honors or something. Kc or Eloise (or anyone who wants to for that matter), if you are interested please talk to me and I can give you a mailing address.