Faye Phillips would just as soon her pregnancy end with a drug-free, vaginal delivery.
But halfway through her "Childbirth Preparation" course, the 23-year-old Sweet Home woman remains open to whatever meds or surgical procedures her physician thinks are necessary to bring labor to a successful conclusion.
"I don't want to go into it saying I'm not going to have any pain medicine," she said Tuesday, a day after the third of Childbirth Preparation's six weekly sessions. "Because I really don't know. I'm just going to go into it with an open mind.
"I've heard so many different things," Faye said. "I've heard a lot of times that you're crazy if you don't get an epidural, and I've also heard you really don't need one if you do the breathing techniques. I'm just sort of confused, so I'll stay open and kind of roll with it."
Faye and her husband Josiah, a 25-year-old youth pastor at Community Chapel in Sweet Home, are expecting their first child Jan. 8 (they call their baby Taylor, a name they like for either gender).
Their first session of Childbirth Preparation — taught at Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital, where their baby will be born, by longtime nurse and instructor Martha Briese — was Nov. 8.
The couple missed the second session due a family commitment, but arrived for class early Monday to see a film that had been shown to the students the day they were absent.
"We watched a video on the stages of labor; that was really interesting," Faye said. "It also showed a couple births, which was interesting, and kind of scary."
Monday's class was devoted to labor's various stages and how Faye and the other expectant moms would, with the help of their "coaches" — i.e., a husband, boyfriend, etc. — deal with them.
"My role as a coach is really important," Josiah said. "I need to know when Faye should breathe, how to do the breathing techniques, when to relax and prepare for the contractions. I need to be there mentally and be right there."
In addition to giving massages designed to alleviate Faye's labor discomfort, Josiah has been instructed in the power of positive thinking.
"When a contraction is starting, I need to say stuff that prepares for her the contraction, encouraging stuff — ‘You're going to make it, you're doing great, you're almost done' — stuff like that," Josiah said.
"One thing that hit me is helping her imagine a happy place, a place she likes being. I'm going to have her imagine me and her and Taylor walking on the beach, to take her away from the pain so she can focus on something else. They also talk about bringing a picture from home to use as a focal point to take your mind off the pain."
Faye, of course, will rely on the mental and breathing techniques — until which point they are not by themselves sufficient.
"I don't want to go into it saying I'm not going to have any pain medication, because I really don't know," she said. "I'm just going to go into it with an open mind, and if I feel like I need something, I'm not going to say I can't have it. Next week (in class) we'll be getting into making a labor plan."
"Whatever she wants is what we'll do," Josiah said. "I want her to be comfortable. It's her decision, totally. If we have to use drugs, it's no big deal."
A bigger deal would be a C-section, but Faye understands what conceivably may need to be done.
"Obviously, the thought of surgery is scary," she said. "But definitely whatever is safest for the baby is what I'll do."
This is the sixth story in a series. The others ran Sept. 15 and 28, Oct. 14 and 27, and Nov. 12, also on the People page.
This is cache, read story here
