Introducing the newest Eastvold

Jonathan and I are pleased to announce the birth of our fourth child: Juliana Charis Pinckney Eastvold, born at 3:40am on Saturday, June 26. Her name is Juliana in honor of her late great-grandfather (Jonathan's father's father), Julius Eastvold. I did not have the privilege of meeting her namesake; he died a couple of years before I met Jonathan and his family. From what I've heard, though (and there are a lot of Julius Eastvold stories in circulation!), he was a good man, well-known and well-liked in his community and active in his Lutheran church. He spent most of his adult life farming land outside the town of Rake, Iowa, a hair south of the Minnesota border, and, along with his wife Bessie, raising his four sons. One of his grandsons now farms that land and raises his own children there, and Jonathan does some pretty good gardening in our little yard, so the Eastvold farming tradition lives on. Anyway, we're proud to be able to name one of our children after Julius Eastvold.

"Charis" is the Greek word most often translated "grace" in English versions of the Bible. It communicates the idea of God's unwarranted, overflowing, overwhelming mercy, loving-kindness, and blessing.

"Pinckney" is my middle name, as well as that of my father, who has been called Pinckney for most of his life. It's a fairly common middle name and last name in South Carolina. My father's family traces its connection to the Carolina Pinckneys to Thomas Pinckney, originally of Durham, England, who moved from the West Indies to Charleston in 1692 and started a family there. Notable members of the family have included Eliza Lucas Pinckney (known for her successful introduction of indigo to the Carolina plantation), Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Thomas Pinckney, and Charles Pinckney, who helped draft the U.S. Constitution and served four terms as governor of South Carolina. (Incidentally, a close runner-up in the baby-naming discussion was Eliza Lucas Pinckney Eastvold.) We also seek to honor my father with this choice of a middle name.

While announcing Juliana's birth, I also can't pass up the opportunity to recommend a free-standing birth center, or at least a midwife-assisted birth, as an alternative to a traditional hospital birth for women with low-risk pregnancies. I had my first three babies in traditional hospital settings (although I did hire a doula to be present when my first was born, and she was very helpful). I'm not at all opposed to hospitals; I'm extremely glad they exist, and I know there are many very good, very dedicated, and very compassionate obstetricians and labor/delivery nurses out there. Hospitals, however, are primarily designed for people who are sick. They're great places to go if you need a c-section or induction, if there have been complications during the pregnancy, if labor begins prematurely, if an ultrasound or other test has indicated an anticipated abnormality in the baby, etc. Our neighbor's daughter just brought her baby home from the NICU at the Medical University of South Carolina's hospital, after over two months and surgery to repair two holes in her heart. That family is extremely grateful for the resources MUSC was able to provide to save that baby's life and help her grow and thrive.

But women with low-risk pregnancies aren't sick. Pregnancy, labor, and delivery are normal (if painful) bodily functions. Most hospitals, as wonderful as they are when problems arise, simply aren't set up to allow a woman to labor and give birth in the most advantageous ways. At the birth center (in my case, The Charleston Birth Place), I was able to walk around and assume whatever position I wanted for laboring and giving birth. I wasn't made to stay in bed on my back, hooked up to a monitor and/or IV. I had the option of a water birth (although Juliana came too quickly for that to work out!) My midwife stayed with me the entire time, because she was not responsible for any other patients. I was allowed to bring my own food and drinks, wear my own clothes, and (after four hours) decide when I wanted to go home. The room was furnished more like a room in a bed-and-breakfast than a hospital room - a queen-sized, four-poster bed with a comfortable mattress (big enough for the whole family to take a nap in after the birth!), low lights, candles, a nice sofa, etc. The whole birth experience was very quiet and low-key - no beeping monitors or doctors and nurses running around out in the hallway. I also had my pre-natal care at the birth center, and I was impressed by both the individualized attention paid to my family and the importance the midwives placed on patient education. Every week there was a video to watch about pregnancy or childbirth or new baby care, and while I did know most of the information since I was on my fourth pregnancy, I still learned some things, and I really wish I'd had that "crash course" when I was pregnant with my first!

Amazingly enough, for all the individualized care and amenities, going the birth center route was considerably cheaper than giving birth in a hospital would have been. Hospitals have all kinds of costs they have to cover, from stocking and staffing a cafeteria, to having expensive equipment available, to the costs of the building and grounds. I would really encourage any of you who are pregnant or thinking of having a baby to look into the option of a birth center and see if there's one in your area. Ours was located pretty much right next to a hospital, so we had the added peace of mind of knowing that if an emergency arose, we'd be able to get to a place with physicians and operating rooms and all of that in less than five minutes. I want to spread the word that birth centers and midwives aren't some luxury for yuppies; they're actually cheaper than hospitals and a great option for people of all income levels. Our insurance did cover most of the expense, and I'd love to see more insurance plans cover birth centers at higher levels. I think they're a great way to lower the overall cost of maternal care in this country - and improve outcomes. Without going into great detail, I can testify that I have experienced less soreness, less fatigue, less pain, and more satisfaction with the birth and post-partum processes this time around than for any previous birth. And Juliana seems to be doing just fine, too; we took her to the pediatrician today, and she has already regained her birth weight and is healthy in other respects as well.

Having put in that plug... again, I'll remind you that I do most of my blogging now on my Wordpress blog (http://katharinepinckneyeastvold.wordpress.com), which is devoted to issues in local and state politics. When I blog on something (like this) not related to those topics, I still post it over here.

- KPE