I am, I love, I leave...

I know....my body was “beautifully and wonderfully made”
I believe...birth is safe
I fought....postpartum depression
I am angered....by trigger happy OBs and vbac bans
I love....each of my children
I need....someone to cry with
I take.....to heart all the birth stories I’ve been privileged to hear
I hear....mothers who are demanding change
I drink...a toast to the glory of birth
I hate.....the phrase “you should be grateful”
I use.....my blog to rage against the birth machine
I want......the midwifery model to be the standard of care in the United States
I like......Ron Paul
I feel.....like I’m not being heard
I wear.....a long, thin, purple scar on my lower abdomen
I left....the woman I was on a cold steel table 3 years ago
I hope....my two pregnant sisters avoid the knife
I dream.... of a day when birth is honored and respected
I drive....a minivan with an “ICAN VBAC” bumper sticker on it
I think.....therefore I push
I wish.... women knew how much they were being abused by modern maternity “care”
I am....a young mother with a fading physical scar and an everlasting emotional scar
I regret.........I regret
I care...about mothers and babies
I said.... “an OB cut me so every year around this time I feel the need to spill my guts"
I wonder....if women will ever realize that they’re not broken
I cry...when a mother tells me she was cut
I lose....the ability to see straight whenever I read “my doctor won’t let me…”

I leave...my sisters and daughters with a legacy of trust in birth, informed choices, and

love