Today’s post is brought to us by our co-host Grace. Grace is a wife, homeschooling mom, doula, pastor’s kid, and writer. She currently resides in southern Oregon with her husband and three gorgeous children, where they enjoy walks in the woods, wading in the river, reading good books, and attending a diverse and compassionate church.

You can find Grace over at My Divine Blessings where she blogs about special needs, family, pregnancy, christianity and many other things.

Remember the Joy 

by Grace

Today is my oldest daughter’s seventh birthday. Like most mothers, when my child’s birthday comes around, I can’t help but think about her birth. In this case, I’m remembering thirty-six hours of labor, nine of which were on Pitocin, without an epidural. My doula training came after this birth, though I did have some training in natural birthing pain management techniques in my birth class during pregnancy. But I learned in my doula training that if a woman is stressed, anxious, or under pressure, she may stall in labor and prevent dilation. I could go into more detail, but as this is a parenting post (and not a lecture on birth physiology), I will spare you those details. Suffice it to say, those thirty-six hours of labor were full of stress, anxiety, and pressure. I did not progress for those thirty-six hours, until the last fifteen minutes, because of this.

I believe it is the same with parenting. If we are under constant pressure to perform and be the best parent, you will not progress. The stress will cause you to stall. If you are always anxious about your child’s behavior and actions, you will not be open to receive blessings and new experiences.k

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