Natural Birthing Stories :)

[flatoutgallop]

Share your natural birth stories with us! (previous ones, or as they happen :P)

Please start another thread for messages or questions regarding birth stories - and keep this thread just for stories.

[L&L]

Lula’s Birth Story(4/29/08):
1am Monday: Woken up by 'cramps' and intense urges to go to the bathroom. This continues all night, although I am able to fall asleep between several times. I am not sure if I am having 'contractions', just feeling crampy.
5:30am Mon: Tell DH that I would like him to stay home, not sure what is going on, but something is....I have been up most of the night. I stay in bed until 10:30, and am able to sleep a bit more between the 'crampines'.
afternoon Mon: DH and I watch DVDs, play PS2, go for a few mile walk(I have to slow down when the 'crampy' comes).
6pm Mon: DH and I go out to dinner. I have several crampies while at the restaurant. After dinner we go on a 1 mile walk for ice cream. Come home and watch some DVDs.
10pmMon-5:30amTues: I lay in bed all night but do not sleep at all. The contractions are coming several times an hour and I am getting up for the bathroom about every hour. I let DH sleep. As each contraction begins I have a little saying I repeat: "My heart knows how to pump, my lungs know how to breath, my uterus can do this." THen I would try to relax my entire lower body and not fight the work my uterus was doing. I would visualize the muscle doing it's work and pushing the baby against my cervix.
5:30am Tues: I tell DH not to go to work. We watch a few episodes of Arrested Development(this is what we have been watching on DVD) but now I cannot lay down through the contractions...I have to get on my hands and knees on the bed.
7am Tues: I have a light breakfast and watch General Hospital on You Tube. I need to stand up for contractions. DH calls midwife to see if the regular appt we have scheduled for 3:15 can be moved up, and we get an appt for 8:30(keep in mind I am still not convinced I am 'in labor'). I ask DH to time some contractions(which I am still calling 'crampies' at this point) so we can tell teh midwife what is happening. They are alternately 6 and 12 min apart and last 40 seconds.
8:30am Tues: Midwife gives me an internal exam: I am 4 cm and 100%. She feels no bag of water and thinks I must have ruptured without knowing. She wants me to go to the hospital...I don't want to go yet. DH asks her if we can stay home a little longer since I am doing so well there so she says I can if there is still fluid detected via U/S. U/S shows no fluid so I am sent to the hospital
10 am Tues: Get to hospital, baby and contraction monitored. All is good. Doula arrives, and suggests we walk the halls. We do.
11:30 am Tues: Midwife on call arrives. She observes me, but does not do an exam. She says bc they don't know how long since water has broken she does not want me in the tub until she is sure I am progressing well. So I get in the shower. Doula and DH take turns standing by me in teh shower and encouraging me through contractions. I think I am there about an hour.
Sometime later(Doula took clock off of the wall!)Tues: Nurse keeps coming in monitor baby. I get massaged by doula btwn contractions, but WILL NOT stand to be touched during. DH holds my hand and kisses me and encourages me continuously. I cannot sit or lay down, but am desperate to bc I am so exhausted. I keep attempting to lay down...but it sucks! I am often driven by the urge to sit on the toilet, but when a contractions hits while I am on the toilet it sucks! I definitely THOUGHT about drugs at this point, but never voiced this!
3:30pmTues(I think): I am so desperate to rest. I beg for the tub. Midwife is asked if it is OK, she needs to do an exam to decide. She does and says, YES..get in the tub. My birth plan has specified that I did not wan tot know any numbers, but I found out later I was btwn 6-7cm. The tub was 20ft down the hall, and I practically ran there desperate to get there before another contraction hit!
3:45pm Tues(I think): THe tub was AWESOME. I could 'rest', the pressure was off of my legs. At first the contractions seemed to slow a bit, which worried DH, but they picked up again quickly and and within 30 minutes I told doula: "I feel like I have to push." I felt like I must be wrong, but I kept feeling it and said it again with the next contraction. Doula ran out to tell midwife. Midwife did an exam while I was in the tub and I was 10cm. She said we have to get you back to the delivery room. I was like: NO WAY AM I GETTING OUT OF THIS TUB! So DH signed a consent form saying it was OK for me to deliver in the tub. I pushed for 45 minutes. Midwife was excellent at describing how to push. Doula was encouraging me, DH was helping by making the push sound that midwife had asked me to make. Midwife said she is almost here...I said"She's coming out now?" she said yes do you want to feel her head? I could not, but DH did and said:"Llanya I felt her, she's right here!" That was great incentive for me! Then midwife said you can get her out on the next push....Well, that was all I needed to hear! I did not stop pushing during the next contraction, every time I felt like stopping I pushed harder! She came out all at once! Into the water and onto my chest! Everyone was crying! The placenta just sort of fell out. Dh cut the cord. Dh held her while I was helped into the wheelchair. She pooped meconium all over him! Then she did all over me! She nursed within a half hour.
I had really wanted a tub birth, but the hospital 'doesn't do them'. I got couldn't believe that everything on my birth plan worked out, plus something I didn't even put on the plan bc I didn't think it was possible.

The only bad part was that I tore and needed a repair. When the DR. came in to give me the lanacane so the midwife could stitch me up, I said: "If you give me that anesthesia did I still have a natural birth?" Everyone thought that was pretty funny!

That's how I got my Lula! Worth every second!!!!!
My friend Christen was my Doula, and let me tell you, she was a rock star!
DH was incredible, I am truly a lucky woman.
The midwife said that it was a birth that she will not forget.

[joey122]

I love this story. So encouraging for my water birth! Keep 'em coming!

[teachermom]

Until I got pregnant and started doing research, I never even considered a natural birth. But once I saw movies like The Business of Being Born and reading tons of books, I realized it was the best choice for me and my little one.

I attended a natural birthing class and decided to use a highly recommended team of midwives who deliver in the hospital.

I had false labor for THREE WEEKS, and then was 11 days overdue. I was scheduled to be induced due to low amniotic fluid on the 11th day, but my body happily went into labor on its own the night before. Suddenly I knew the difference between those Braxton Hicks contractions and the real thing!

I started having contractions 5 minutes apart lasting a minute each at 10pm. At 11pm, we went to the hospital. My midwife examined me and I was 4cm dilated. She wanted me to go home and labor there, but my mom was with us and she told the midwife that the women in my family tended to have quick labors and I was HIGHLY uncomfortable sitting, so the midwife told us to go down to the lobby to labor until my contractions were either too hard to stand or 2 minutes apart.

I couldn't sit, not even for a moment, because the pain was too intense. So I paced for about 3 hours in the lobby downstairs until it seemed my contractions were on top of each other.

We went back upstairs, and I was around 7cm dilated, so my m/w admitted me to a birthing room. Although I had envisioned myself using meditation, massage, visualization, aromatherapy, and music to enter into a calm state, none of that worked. Much to my chagrin, I was irritable and completely freaked out by the pain. All I could do was pace during every contraction, drink tons of water, and stay in the shower until I became a prune and had to take a break.

In fact, if it weren't for the shower and these little temporary heating pads, I don't think I could have made it. I made everyone around me be as silent as possible, nobody was allowed to touch me (it felt like a thousand needles piercing me in each place I was touched), and all my doula could do was comfort my mom and husband and reassure them that I didn't actually hate them. :P

I had an awesome nurse who'd had 3 natural home births, and I kept thinking of her (and other natural birth moms I'd read about on this board) every time I wanted the epidural.

At around 6 in the morning, it was time to push, and I tried it from a semi-seated position on the bed. I pushed and pushed for about 45 minutes, and we barely made any progress. Then I switched to a hands and knees crouching position and pushed for about 15 more minutes.

I was getting really tired and upset that we weren't making much progress. I got back on my back and DH and my doula held my legs back and I pushed some more. After about 20 more minutes, I honestly felt like I couldn't go on and I said so.

But then I heard the nurse whisper to the m/w that the baby's heartrate was falling below 100. I know they didn't intend for me to hear, but it scared the hell out of me. Suddenly I remembered that this wasn't all about me and my pain anymore. And I pushed with all I had.

After a total of 1 1/2 hours of intense pushing and a pretty big tear, Stella Rae entered the world at 7:45am! Her cord was wrapped around her neck pretty badly, which is why the pushing took so long. They had to cut the cord immediately and take her to the table to check her out, and that really bummed me out b/c I wanted the skin-to-skin contact immediately, but her safety was more important.

It was incredible. I felt absolutely high and incredibly energetic when it was all over. I'd had no IV's, I was able to move around and drink water, I could push however I wanted, and I felt absolutely powerful and in control the whole night. I will never forget it, and I'm so grateful for it!

[virginia]

Caitlyns birth, I guess my most "un-natural one":

I was 1 week late. I was dilated to just over 2, 100% effaced. OB said at every appt: I will be shocked if you dont go into labor by the weekend. On my "due date" appt. she said that again and said: if I dont see you before, just go to the hospital next thursday to be induced.

So off I went to the hospital the next week, regardless of trying sex, walking, ect. We got there at 7 and I was admitted. My OB showed up at 7:30 am, inserted the cytotec and said: I will be back in a little while to check you. This usually needs two doses to work. And she left. They monitored me for a bit then the nurse comes in and says: Ok, up you go, get to walking. So me and hubby walked the halls. About halfway through that, the contractions started getting ouchy, so we headed back, on the nurses instructions. They have me lay back down, and my OB comes back around 12:30 I guess, to check me, and break my water. After she did, she says: Your around 6 cm's, so its probably going to be a few more hours. you can get in the tub if you'd like. My mom laughs and says: I bet its not much more then 2 hours..

So, I head off to the tub, and the nurse fills it up with wonderful hot water. I get in it, 30 mins later Im telling my husband: Ok this sucks. I want something to take the edge off, I dont think I can do it. He helps me out and it takes us a good 5 minutes to walk the 20 feet back to my room, as I had to stop for every contraction.

I get to my bed, hubby tells the nurse Im wanting something for pain, she says she will call the dr. and see what I can have, and checks me. Im dilated to 9 almost 10 so instead, she calls my OB. She comes back, checks me herself and happily *I swear, she was happy about it LOL* announces that its: Too late for meds .Its time to push!

I had NO sensation to push. So I just did what they told me to do. It seems like the baby is stuck, so I hear my OB very quietly ask for the vacuum, she does the episiotomy and helps the baby come out. At 1:58 pm, Caitlyn Nichole was born. 7 lbs 10 oz.

Garretts birth:

Garrett was due Feb 24th. Again, Im dilated to like 2 1/2, 100% effaced, ready to go. On Feb 22nd, I help my hubby cut some firewood, and my back was achy most the afternoon..that night, about 10 pm, I notice Im having some contractions. So I get up and walk around, take a shower. They arent stopping, so I mention it to hubby. At midnight, they are closer together, so we let my sister know we are headed off to the hospital, and we leave. On the way there, they get OUCHY. I could barely sit, they were so ouchy. We get to the hospital, I get admitted and hooked up..and the nurses say: I dont think your in labor. We may send you home...because the monitors arent picking up the contractions that well. But we'll call your OB and have her come in.

I tell them, that trust me, they hurt and by the time the OB gets there, I can barely lay still, because they hurt. She checks me, Im dilated to 5, so she said I wasnt going anywhere. I get prepped for an IV, which wasnt fun, since the contractions HURT! lol Then the babys h/r seems to drop *I think their monitors were broken, honestly* and the OB says: You cant have any pain meds, until I know whats up with the baby and Im going to put a monitor on its head. So there I lay, however they tell me, since baby wasnt happy, in agony because I couldnt DO anything. I couldnt get on top of the contraction, so it was pretty intense. Then the next thing I know, I wanted to push. THIS time, I felt what everyone told me about. So, at 2:21 am, Garrett William was born, weighing in at 8 lbs 10.5 oz..I had a horrible tear, which hurt like heck as it healed.

Nathans birth:

So, I was having some regular contractions, at like 8:30 or so pm, on the 7th. They werent painful, just there. I mentioned it to Randy at like 10 or so, and told him to go to bed. I stayed up for awhile, then decided to lay down. About 2:30 or so, I woke up, because they were getting crampy. So I walked around, took a shower, and they were staying steady, so I figured, since I had fast labors before, that I should wake Randy up and think about going in. I woke him up at 3:30 am, we left around 4 or so. I get there, they have me get hooked up, and the contractions are every 3-4 mins. Im dilated to 3.75 or so, so they have me walk an hour. No change. THe contractions got a little ouchier, but that was it.

So they call the dr. and they decided to admit me, since we live 30 mins from the hospital. I get over there, sit in the tub for awhile and the contractions didnt do anything! My dilation, depending on who you asked, was still almost 4, but I was now effaced to like 75%. The OB came in, since my dr. was still at the other hospital. She asked me my thoughts on pitocin and breaking my water. I said Id rather not have pitocin if possible. She said if I were at 38 weeks, she'd recommend sending me home, but at 1 day before my due date, there was no point in really waiting. So I said lets break my water and see what happens, with the full understanding pitocin may be needed. They asked me again if I would want an epidural and I was adamant that I wasnt going to get one. Randy asked how many women usually do, and they said 90% there!

After that, the contractions started REALLY hurting. I sat in the tub again, I dont know for how long. I was getting way too hot, so got out and asked to be checked...5 cms. But, 90% effaced. The nurse I had, told the resident who was with me: I bet you, things will move fast now, and it will be an hour. He sort of laughed at her, but she's like: Its her 3rd baby, but we'll see. They kept telling me how awesome I was doing, since I had no pain meds and I wasnt wanting to rip anyones head off LOL Then, Nathans heart rate kept dropping really low with the harder contractions, so I had to flip on my side, which in some ways wasnt too bad, but it was making it harder to relax. Then to the other side, and they put me on oxygen. I was SUPER hot, pouring sweat. Poor Randy kept asking me what he could do, and at that point, Im not even wanting to talk but I did get him to get me a cold cloth. The nurse checked me, and I was at like 8, and she got the dr in there. At one point, she checked me DURING a contraction and I was basically dilating 1 cm with each contraction. I then hear the nurse talking about how finally the babys heart rate was happy, because if not, she was going to have me push at 9 cms, since I was stretchy. Then, I got SUPER cold, but I wasnt really able to say I was cold, because there was basically no break in the contractions at this point.

She tells me, when you want to push, go ahead. After a minute I guess, I was like: Ok and she tells the dr. she wants to push! 3 BIG pushes later, there he was!!!! The dr. goes to put him on my tummy and he pee's all over his daddys leg. Not even a minute old :lol: I didnt tear at all! I look at the clock and I ask the nurse: were you right? was it an hour? And Randy said: Yep! Maybe a few minutes past, but it was an hour! I am seriously not sore, and its weird

So Nathan arrived at 12:04 pm, weighing in at 7 lbs 5 oz and 20.5" long. He peed on his dad, then the nurse, then another nurse :lol: Apparently, my 3rd decided to NOT come fast like we expected hehe I obviously didnt need pitocin, though they did give me some afterwards. Having an IV stuck to me sucked lol I was really glad to have it taken out.

[EKZZS]

Isaac's Birth Story (not typical)

28 weeks
Woke up with a back ache. Went to work. Noticed that the back pain came in kind of "waves" every ten minutes. Thought that was odd. I drank alot of fluids and thought "Oh so this is what Braxton Hicks are like". Went to childbirth class and talked to the head of L&D. She said to go home, drink some water, and put my feet up. Pain didnt go away. I took two Tylenol PM and went to bed. Pain was persistent and I kept whining to hubby that something wasnt right. I kept feeling like I needed to poop! Spent lots on time on the toilet! We started timing the pains again, they were lasting 2-3 minutes, every 4-5 minutes apart. I suddenly felt like puking and ran to the bathroom. Didnt throw up but then felt like pooping (again!) I couldnt "go" I wiped because I felt damp and there was alot of blood. We decided to head to the ER then. It was around midnight. Got to L&D and they checked me and I was complete with bulging waters and baby was head down. HOWEVER, our hospital does not have a NICU and well, I was only 28 weeks so we had to find a bigger hospital to come get Isaac. The closest is 2 hours away. All choppers were busy so we had to wait on a ambulance. NO PUSHING until the ambulance got there. So I basically had to hold him in for 2+ hours. Once the NICU team arrived the doc broke my water and I was allowed to push. 8 minutes later Isaac Terry was born and 5:20am on July 29th. He weighed 2lb 14oz and was 13inches long. And hour later he was on his way to the hospital and I was stuck waiting for discharge. They discharged me at about 1pm the same day. No pain meds were allowed, but I went in not wanting them anyway. Especially since I was so far along, I mean I made it this far right? I still got an IV for fluids, which was sucky, I HATE needles.

[ShellStall]

My Birth story: Took place on September 10, 2008
I had just gone to the Dr. on Tuesday and had my group B strep test done. I told the Dr. I had been having some cramping off and on for the past few days but he said that it was just my uterus getting ready and that he would start checking my cervix at next weeks office visit. So I said ok, and went home.
I woke up at 2:30a.m. on Wednesday morning to of course go pee. I had some slight cramping but figured it was nothing and went back to bed. Well at 3 a.m. I was woken again by cramps. This time I thought that maybe if I went downstairs and got some water and moved around a bit that they would stop. After about a half an hour downstairs drinking water, I was still having cramps. I also still kept feeling like I had to pee so I kept going to the bathroom and trying to go but nothing. The last time I went to the bathroom around 3:30 a.m. there ended up being a bit of blood on the toilet paper so, I decided that I better go back upstairs and wake up DH.
At 3:30 a.m. I woke my DH up and told him that I was having pretty bad contractions for about a half an hour. Of course he wanted to know how far apart and how long they were….UM, I wasn’t timing them I told him. I just wanted him to call the Dr. and see what they said to do. He didn’t want to call the Dr. yet so I convinced him to call a good friend of mine (she has two kids) and get her opinion. She said that we should call the Dr. too. So finally at about 3:50 a.m. DH calls the Dr. The Doc can hear me having a contraction in the background and told us that we should just head up to the hospital and get things checked out.
Since I was only 36 weeks and 6 days, silly me hadn’t packed our labor bags yet ( I was going to do that on Thursday) ha! DH and I were packing our bags to take to the hospital and got on the road around 4:30 a.m. and made it to the hospital around 5 a.m. It took us a while to find which were the right doors to go in but we made it up to L&D. The L&D nurses thought that all was well and wanted me to fill out all our extra paperwork that wasn’t part of pre-registration….(this whole time I am having pretty bad contractions.) Close to 5:15 a.m. they finally wheeled me into a pre-admittance room to check me while they tried to get their paperwork together. There is one nurse in the room with me and DH and she is checking me while I am having a contraction and trying to crawl out of my skin!! Next thing I hear is the nurse telling DH “HIT THE RED BUTTON, BY THE PHONE! HIT THE RED BUTTON!” I am thinking this cannot be good! Next thing I know there are about 4 more nurses running in the door and they are telling me I am complete and ready to push! (so much for drugs!)
I am then wheeled down the hall and put in an actual labor room. They are trying to get me to push and put my IV in all at the same time. I pushed and pushed and finally, once the head and shoulders were out, the Dr. said “Michelle reach down and pull your baby out!” I reached down under his arms and pulled him the rest of the way out, up on to my belly. At 5:50 a.m. my little boy Cort Allan was born. I suffered a third degree tear (OUCH!!) and needed about 30 stitches.
All in all it was a wonderful experience. I wanted to try to go natural if I could. I did get a couple shots of novacaine in my bottom from the Dr. while I was pushing to help with the stretching and burning while I was pushing. I really think the shots hurt worse that the contractions! LOL! Hope you enjoyed the story.

[joey122]

I love your story, Michelle, and EVERYONE who has accomplished natural births. Thank you so much for sharing!

[katrina131h]

Benson's Birth Story Feb. 15, 2007 - My Hypnobaby :vibe:

When I found out I was pregnant I had no idea what I was going to do about labor. I was terrified of the thought of it, but the thought of an epidural terrified me as well. My friend had a natural birth and one day while over at her house I picked up a book she had on natural birthing. After reading through parts of it I decided a natural birth is what i wanted for my baby and started doing a lot of research. Finally, a decided the Hypnobabies program was what I wanted to go with. There weren't any classes anywhere in my area so I ordered the home course, and wow, can I say amazing?

I started practicing weeks before and it didn't take long for all my fears about labor and delivery to disappear. They were replaced with a very strong sense of confidence. The daily practice was so relaxing that I found myself becoming all around more relaxed about life (I still use some methods just to relax myself).

The big day came. It was Valentine's day and I woke up in the morning and had some bloody show. Thought, hmmm, maybe it is getting close, but didn't really think too much about it. I get ready for the day and head up to campus to go to a class I had in the morning. i noticed during my class that I was having contractions and they were, for the hour class, 10 minutes apart. After the class I meet up with my husband for lunch and told him to keep the phone on during the rest of his classes just in case. Then I went to work out at the gym at the school. Did my hourish workout, still having contractions consistently but not really paying attention to them. They weren't painful at all, just there. The rest of the day i continued to have more bloody show and contractions 10 minutes apart (I still don't think I'm in labor at this point). DH gets home from classes and work and we decided to go out for dinner (spicy yum!). Come home, watch a movie. Contractions now closer to 8 minutes apart. I still don't think I'm in labor.

My mom calls around ten in the evening so I ask her what labor feels like and how she knew she was in labor. She told me that she really never knew for sure until her water broke (a lot of help at that point, lol). So I decide I'm probably not in labor. The contractions were slightly crampy, but not hard to get through at all.

At twelve Dh goes to bed. I can't get to sleep (contractions still consistently 8 min apart) so I get online for awhile, sit on the birthing ball, lay on the couch wishing i could fall asleep. At this point they started to get stronger, like I start thinking, if this isn't labor, then labor is really going to be awful, but they aren't any closer. I start doing my hypnobabies techniques hoping that I can relax enough to fall asleep. At 2:30 (i'm still on the couch) I feel a pop. I stand up and run and as soon as I reach the bathroom, GUSH! Water all over the place (at this point I decided I'm in labor). I wake up DH so we can decide what to do. I didn't want to go to the hospital yet because i didn't think that I was progressed very far, but DH felt it would be better if we went, so we did.

Once my water broke the contractions were 4-5 minutes apart and a lot stronger to the point where I was thinking if I was only a couple of cm's dialated I would never make it. So we get ready and an hour later check in at the hospital. They check me and :hooray: I was 6 cm dialated. That perspective made a huge difference. For six cm's this seemed really easy. The contractions didn't seem that bad at all. So I turn on my hypnobabies and zone out for the next hour. The contractions were no big deal at all. The nurses told DH later they couldn't believe how calm I was. I just laid there with my eyes closed listening to my hypnobabies. I guess most ladies aren't that calm at that point.

I progressed about a cm an hour. It probably could have gone faster if I was up walking or something, but for some reason I just wanted to lay there. I couldn't believe how easy it was. I was 9 cm and feeling great. I was expecting it to get really hard around 8 cm's because of transition, but it didn't. I was shocked when they told me I was 9 1/2 because I was thinking I should be feeling more than this. They were really intense, but not awful and terribly painful. I could just lay there through them no big deal.

I was stuck at 9 1/2 for about an hour and a half, and this is when the hard part came. My body wanted to push, and the nurses, doctor kept on telling me I couldn't. Um, yeah, pain! Keeping myself from pushing was possibly the hardest thing I have ever done. During this point I seriously was wondering what the heck I had gotten myself into. The thought "why was I so stupid", and "I will never do this again!" crossed my mind multiple times. When they finally said I could push it felt SOOO GOOD! I can't even explain how good it felt. It was just like, finally. The contractions with pushing I had zero pain, it just felt good to push.

*Funny time out. When I started pushing it felt like I was really constipated and at one point I decided that I had a big piece of crap stuck up there and it was keeping the baby from coming out. It took me like 10 minutes to figure out that it wasn't crap, but Benson's head. :laugh:*

After about 30 min of pushing Benson was born. 8:51 a.m. 6 lbs 2 oz 20 1/2 in long :wub:. I started bawling immediately. He was so beautiful and perfect and SO worth it!

A few extra things: DH was amazing! The best birth partner I could ask for. When I decided to use Hypnobabies he was so beyond supportive. DH practiced with me consistently before the birth (there is a partner script) and I don't know how i would have made it through that last part when they wouldn't let me push without him. He would watch my body and could tell when a contraction was getting hard and would use his 'cue' that we had practiced and my body would sink back into the relaxed mode immediately. It made a world of difference. He is so amazing. I was worried that he wouldn't be able to take the program serious, since he has a hard time being serious, but he knew it was important to me so he did everything he could to help me have the birth that I wanted. He told me that I looked so relaxed through the entire time, even during the time I said it was really difficult for me. He said you wouldn't have been able to tell by watching me that I was having a hard time.

The hospital staff was SO supportive. I was worried about it because a birthing center would have been ideal, but the nearest one was over 2 hours away and I didn't feel comfortable with that. One of the first things I was asked by the nurse was what my plans were for my birth. After I told her she made sure that everyone knew. Everyone was very quiet and respectful when in the room trying to keep the calm and relaxed atmosphere. They never asked if I was feeling pain and would wait until I wasn't having a contraction to ask any questions. I was very happy with my experience.

Sorry this got so long. My Hypnobirthing was such a positive and wonderful experience. I'm excited to start again in couple of months. The only thing I plan on doing different this time is 1) use the birthing tub (the hospital has built a new women's/infant center with a birthing tub) and 2) be more active. I think that if I would have been sitting up or walking around after I got to the hospital I wouldn't have been stuck at a 9 1/2 for and hour and a half.

So that is my natural birth!! I loved it and I'm so excited to do it again! Pregnancy sucks, but labor is so awesome!

ETA: Wow, that is really long. :laugh: Wasn't planning on writing a novel. :laugh:

[ShellStall]

I love your story, Michelle, and EVERYONE who has accomplished natural births. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks!

[hbl]

Jada's birth
I had an appt. with my midwife the morning of January 19, 2007 and I was 4 cm dialated and 100% thinned out at that appt. I went to work after the appt and just felt kind of crampy all day but nothing consistant or even what I would consider contractions. I left work for the day at 4:30 pm and was laying in my bed when I got home at 5:30 pm and talking to my best friend and I told her that I just felt really crampy and I said I just wish my water would break so I would know to go to the hospital when it is time. I had just gotten those words out of my mouth when all of the sudden I heard a pop and my water broke. I called DH who was on his way home from work and I hopped in the shower and packed a few more things in my bag. I felt amazingly calm. We left the house and went to the hospital and I started feeling the contractions but they were just more uncomfortable than painful. We checked in (I was still 4 cm at check in) and got settled in our room and by then it was about 7:00 pm and the midwife arrived and checked me and I was at 7 cm. After that the contractions started getting bad and for the next hour I was just talking myself through the contractions. About 8:15 pm the nurse asked if I wanted something for pain and I really thought about it but then my midwife said she wanted to check me and when she did I was ready to push. For me pushing was not the relief feeling that alot of woman get but anything was better than the contractions. At 8:30 pm I pushed her out and they handed her to me and I just burst into tears. She was and still is so perfect to me.

[doulajenn]

I'll try to be brief.

Theo was a planned waterbirth at home. I had the worlds greatest midwife and was totally in love with the whole process.

I was in prelabor for a week. There were 3 times I called the midwife thinking that it would be the night, went to bed to get some sleep to rest up. My sister was there for the first part, but then had to depart when Theo didn't arrive. My best friend arrived, and time was running out.

I took castor oil. Nothing. I did nipple stimulation. Nothing. I did other unspeakable things. Nothing. I was inserting Evening Primerose Oil capsules for a week. I thought nothing.

Finally, on February 26th, I was concerned about Theo's decreased movement, he was a week past due, and I just needed some midwifery love. So I went in to the birth center for an NST. Theo was great, and when the midwife checked me I was already a loose 4cm dilated. We chatted, and I decided to ask her to sweep my membranes (a very non-invasive procedure where she just separates the bag of waters from the cervical and uteran wall). I did my research and found in studies that it only works in 1 in 7 women... but there are no dangers or down side so I thought - what the heck!

The contractions started pretty quickly after that. We went to lunch then to Costco to buy strawberries for birth night. Then we went home. I knew I was in labor, and the contractions were strong but quite manageable. I made spaghetti, and then started getting things ready as birth seemed more and more imminent.

So my membranes were swept at about 1:30pm. We started keeping track of the contractions at about 6:00pm, sure I was to enter into active labor. By 10:00 I had called all my labor supporters and midwife. The tub was filling and everything for the birth was laid out nicely on the table next to the tub. I would stand at the kitchen counter, leaning, swaying and gyrating and singing along to Natalie Cole (since DH couldn't find my Peggy Lee CD.)

The contractions, at about 10:00 seemed to really take off. They started to become very long, very intense and very close together. I would have less than 30 seconds between the end of one and the beginning of the other. At one point I remember panting to my husband, who seemed to have an utter lack of timing, "Do you wait until... a contraction... starts... to ask me... a question?"

By 10:30 I was laying on my side between the easy chairs and the birth tub, as it was still filling. I didn't realize it at the time, but I had entered transition. I quietly and silently worked my way through the contractions, surrounded by the beautiful women and my husband who would attend to me with great affection and love. I didn't always know who was doing what, but I always knew there was someone loving me and there for me.

At about 11:30 the pool was full enough and I was tired of waiting for it anyway and wanted to get in. It was amazing!!!! I was a little scared though because I climbed in and the first thing that happened was a major urge to push. But the midwife wasn't there yet. I told my friend, the L&D nurse, that I had an urge to push, so that she would know, and just breathed through the urges.

Soon, at about midnight, my midwife arrived. I could hear my friend give her the update of my progress and that I had been feeling "pushy." My midwife came in and talked to me and they started checking everything - blood pressure, Theo's heart rate, etc. Having her there gave me more and irresistable urges to push. I went along with them, and she and the student midwife just did their thing. I wasn't very aware of anything else at this point unless it directly pertained to me.

Very soon, I was a full time pusher. On the video I was making sounds as I gently pushed like "numma numma numma" that I have no idea where they came from. I remember being really scared to push - especially as he started to crown. My midwife saw something emerge and said "there's your baby's head, reach down and feel it" and I said "no, that's ok" and she said "yes, reach down" and I said "that's his head? Okaaay." because it didn't feel like a head.

A push or so later, she announces to me "you are having this baby butt first!" She started getting everything ready for my breech birth. I will never forget her looking at me in my eyes and I could feel her confidence in me and hardly have I ever felt so empowered and so confident in myself because of how she looked at me. She said exactly the right words to me and I simply asked her the one thing I was worried about - "will his head get stuck"? and she said he will be just fine. And I said OK and went about my work pushing with all my might. And they monitored him carefully and I pushed. And Pushed. And I pushed.

And then he peed on her. Then he pooped on her. Then she said "You just gave birth to the sweetest pair of testicles." and I laughed. An 8 1/2 pound baby, folded in half, 1/2 way out of my vagina, and my midwife can make me laugh.

And 3 minutes from the time she saw his butt, in a mighty mighty push, I pushed that head down the birth canal and out. All 15 3/4". When he arrived he laid there on my chest, breathing, and taking it all in. Not a cry was heard. He just snuggled close and wide eyed, took in his new world.

The elation and joy and amazement of that moment. I had done it. And really, even though Stella's birth was great, there was nothing that compared with the feeling that I had done something really hard, and I did it well, and I did it all on my terms. I felt the whole thing, I was utterly present through the whole thing, and just knowing how hard I worked for this baby made his arrival so much more astonishing than Stella's. Don't get me wrong at all - Stella's arrival was a singularly profound moment in my life. I met my soul mate that day, after she had been growing in me for so long. Oh what would have been the ecstasy had I had her without pain medication!

Anyway, this is about Theo's birth. All the regular things happened after that. He was weighed and measured, I breastfed him, he cried a little, the other ladies got to hold him. He ate. And again. And again. And hasn't stopped since.

Theo was not the only one born that day. An unmedicated birth advocate and birth activist was also born that day. If only every woman could birth on her terms - how different the world might be!

[courtneyandry]

DIVADLX - Your story inspires me! DH is too scared to let me birth anywhere but in a hospital for our first (whenever that may be) but I'm trying to find stories and tools to help ease him into the idea of birthing on my own terms, and hoping to find a way for it to be on OUR terms....this I hope will be a successful tool! Thank you for sharing!

Katrina - WOW! I've tried hypnosis for other things in my life, and loved the relaxed, almost sleepy feeling I always had when I was done with each session I did....I'm looking forward to experiencing that same calm, trance-like effect during child birth! Thank you for sharing!

[MrsH]

Bump

[sandersmommy]

Aw, beautiful Ladies. Thanks for sharing.

[markandamy06]

oh my goodness..beautiful stories ladies :wub: I cant wait until we have a little one

[flatoutgallop]

Share your natural birth stories with us! (previous ones, or as they happen :P)

Please start another thread for messages or questions regarding birth stories - and keep this thread just for stories.

There is no need to 'bump' this thread either. Its a sticky - it wont fall off the page.

[midgeend]

I woke up the morning I went into labor around 8:30 am, feeling crampy. I was 10 days overdue and had woken up feeling crampy other days too, so thought nothing of it, and dozed back off. I woke up again at noon (totally not normal for me to sleep in that late) When I went to the bathroom I noticed just a tiny amount of bloody show. I was sooo excited, but still hesitant in thinking I might be going into labor, since I was so late and didn't want to be disapointed. A few minutes later I lost my mucous plug.

Our dog needed a walk, so DH and I got in the car and set off to our usual hiking spot. On the hike I started feeling regular occurances of cramping in what seemed like the bottom of my uterus...I never felt the back to front sensation that so many women talk about. To me it always felt like period cramps. The contractions were coming at a speed of about every 10 mintues at this point. Funnily, we were about halfway through the hike, and bumped into a group of other people hiking - they took a look at me and said "Wow, you are REALLY pregnant" I thought, how funny, not only am I really pregnant, but I'm really in labor too!

We got some lunch on the way home, still counting contractions at about 9-10 minutes apart. I was really excited to get home and start using the contraction counter I had saved to my favorites on the computer :)

I called my mom, who we planned on having with us throughout the labor - She lives about an hour away, so DH and I hung out and watched some "Weeds" while we waited for her to arrive. Once she got here, DH went to our restaurant to tie up any loose ends, and then returned home. We finally decided that I was definitely in real labor around 5:30 when my contractions were about 6 minutes apart...we called the midwife to let her know to get ready to come over.

My contractions started getting harder and I remember that I kept having to rewind what we were watching because I wasn't able to concentrate on the show during a contraction :) Around 7:30 I felt some intense pressure, and thought perhaps I just needed to go to the bathroom. Well not quite. I felt down below to see what was going on, and my bag of water was bulging out. I remember really really not wanting to have a contraction while sitting on the toilet, I just didn't feel comfortable...but it was a good thing I did because with the next contraction, my water broke KERSPLASH!!! I felt great relief, and unlike a lot of other women, my contractions got less intense after my water broke.

My midwife's apprentice showed up around 8pm, and started the usual monitoring - checking with the doppler the baby's heartrate etc. At this point, it was just a matter of hanging out, waiting, having contractions. I was sooo comfortable, in my living room, laying down on my side on our futon, getting up and walking around the house, holding on to my husband during contractions. We started filling the tub, which was actually just a big blow up kiddie pool, and I got in. Since I was so late, and since the color of my water when it broke was a little off, my midwife didn't want me to actually give birth in the tub, since she would need to suction the baby's nose and mouth right away to make sure she didn't swallow any meconium - so after a while (didn't pay attention to the time at all) my midwife had me get out of the tub, and onto the futon. Based on my behavior, how I was handling the contractions - she was assuming I was close to 10 cm dialated. I was not checked at all for how dialated I was, as is pretty normal for midwives. My midwife told me that when I felt the need to push that I could start, so about 1/2 hour after I got out of the tub I felt like pushing. After pushing, without any progress for about 1 hour, my midwife decided to check my cervix. Turns out I was only 9 1/2 and that last 1/2 was in the way - So I had to stop pushing, which was really hard to do :( At this point I got back in the tub. My contractions were really hard at this point. I don't really remember them being painful, just intense. I got through them with moaning, and swaying, rocking. I remember my midwife wanting me to relax my legs, and me feeling like that was an impossible feat, but then just doing it. Also - everytime anyone had to use the doppler on my belly during a contraction to monitor the baby, that seemed sooo annoying. FINALLY I was feeling like I couldn't hold in anymore, that I HAD to push, I couldn't just breathe through any more contractions. So my midwife had me get out of the tub again, back onto the futon and I started the pushing.

It was great! I just remember laying on my side, DH holding my leg up, the midwifes apprentice was pushing hot compresses onto my backside to counterpressure my pushing which felt like it helped soooo much. No one told me to push push push...it was left up to me how comfortable I felt, how long I would push. My midwife instructed me that with the first push I would get her head down where the last push had gotten her, then with the 2nd and 3rd pushes I would gain progress. So with that in mind I felt the incentive to make those 2nd and 3rd pushes count. But I never felt pressure to move faster than I felt comfortable. Finally, when I got over my fear, that my vagina was ripping open (it wasn't, it just felt that way a little bit because of the firery feeling you get) I made some really good pushes, and she started crowning. My midwife had me get up on all fours, and then another good push and out came her head. The shoulders and everything else on another tiny little push and there she was! My sweet little baby. I sat back, and got to pull my little babe up into my arms. We stayed just like that for probably 45 minutes before cutting the cord. She was sooo perfect and kept making this little tiny squeaking sound. It was sooo cute.

Then DH and I got up, everything was being cleaned around us by the midwife, the midwife's apprentice, the nurse, and my mom. We went up to our bedroom, the baby on DH's chest. We finally decided to name her Ann Kathryn (Annie) and everyone fell asleep. It was the most perfect night of my life.

[MikeSteph]

WOW-- Congrats on a great birth!

[BecksAngl]

Hello there Natural Birthing Mothers. I am a student and doing a research project on Natural Childbirth. I was wondering what was your most sucessful method of a natural pain releiver? What worked the least?

Thanks for your help!

[midgeend]

Hello there Natural Birthing Mothers. I am a student and doing a research project on Natural Childbirth. I was wondering what was your most sucessful method of a natural pain releiver? What worked the least?

Thanks for your help!

Personally, I wouldn't say there is any method that "relieves" the pain....rather the techniques one can use allow the mother to work with the pain or wortk through the pain. I practiced yoga, read a few books...The Bradley Method, Spiritual Midwifery, Guide Into Motherhood, and took a class to learn all about labor, to know what to expect etc.

I would suggest you read a few of those books, in addition to any feedback you get here.

[PixieMomma]

I had my first baby at home in a small town in Northwest Arkansas, attended by three midwives. The main midwife was my husband's aunt and, as back-up, decided to hire another midwife out of Little Rock in addition to herself. The third midwife was a friend and sort of along for the ride since she was also nine months pregnant.

I went to the county health department for prenatal care, checking my iron, growth of my uterus, and the protein and sugar levels in my urine; I also visited my midwife regularly to double-check the clinic's data. My midwife recommended exercises designed to help the baby move into position as well as herbal teas which would generally help me throughout my pregnancy and labor. I only had one ultrasound, when I was about 16 weeks pregnant, just to double-check my expected due date and to see if I might have twins. One date said November 10 and the ultrasound date said November 16. I remember my midwife getting nervous because I had gone over a week and according to her practice, she wouldn't be able to deliver me if I went over my due date by two weeks.

I learned so much with my prenatal care. My midwife could actually feel through my tummy where the baby's head or butt was just by the way it moved when she gently moved it. By such skills and techniques, I developed an immense trust and respect for this woman who would guide me through the birthing process. She also lent me videos and books about several different birth experiences so that I would understand exactly what would happen.

After months of preparation, I was quite relieved to not have to pack to go to the hospital. My mother had had three of her seven children at home attended only by my father -- who is a carpenter, not a doctor. Because of my mother's experiences, I developed a faith in my body's ability to have my baby in a natural familial environment. I was 22 when my baby was born.

It was Wednesday, November 20, 1996 at about 5:30 a.m. when I began to feel the onset of my contractions. Fortunately, my husband hadn't left for work yet and I told him to call in. A little later, I had him call his aunt, the midwife, to say I wouldn't be coming in for my weekly exam since I was having contractions. She said to hang on and go ahead and come in as scheduled. As my contractions increased, I really didn't want to drive the 20 minutes to see her and had him tell her so; besides, that's one of the reasons I wanted to have a home birth...so I didn't have to ride in a car during contractions. And believe me, with my husband's driving record, we wouldn't want to wish that on any pregnant woman. Later, I changed the message on the answering machine to say "I'm sorry we can't come to the phone right now because we are having a baby." My mom happened to call some time after that and got the hint, checked my sisters out of school and came over for the "birthing party." We had invited several family members and friends to be in on the birth. It was funny however when my mom kept trying to preserve my modesty when people wanted to see what was happening. "I mean really, I'm in labor, I don't care that people see my butt! It'll probably hurt them more than it'll hurt me!"

I decided to try to eat crackers and drink red raspberry leaf tea to help keep up my strength. Good idea in theory, but it just came right back up. My midwife had arrived by now, around 10 a.m., and cheerfully said that each time I vomited that it was one more centimeter of dilation. I hadn't had much morning sickness throughout my pregnancy and wasn't too keen on feeling so god-awful sick in the midst of labor, but I respected her knowledge on the topic.

As the afternoon wore on, I tried to find a position I could tolerate. Finally I just decided to squat on the floor in front of my husband who was sitting on the birthing stool holding me steady. Meanwhile, one of my little sisters sat on the bed and kept a record of the birth with pen and paper -- since I hadn't wanted the event filmed or photographed in action. Later, it was heaps of fun to see what exactly she had written. Stuff like "I'm in the living room and nothing much is happening. Oh, she just screamed." My husband told me later that I was just zoned. I can't remember very much except intense backache and really bad cramps, contractions. One thing I do remember is my husband feeding me ice cubes. That was just like heaven. I couldn't get enough ice.

I think I stayed in this squatting position for hours. I remember the next day wondering why exactly my toes were so sore. It was because I had dug my toes into the floor while squatting during labor. Funny thing muscles are. In any normal situation no one could squat for that long a period. It was nothing while I labored to give birth.

As evening approached, my midwives decided it might speed things up if they broke my bag of waters. So that's what happened. My husband swapped places with my older sister so he could catch the baby when the time came. I began to feel very tired and actually slept through some of my contractions. My midwives checked me occasionally and I was almost completely effaced and dilated to 10 when they asked if I felt like pushing yet. "No, not really," I said sleepily, desperately wanting the event to just be over with. I remember looking into my husband's eyes, searching for support and seeing him smile nervously. I just said, "Don't you smile at me," and grinned feebly.

One funny thing that happened in the midst of my night in the spotlight was the third midwife. Remember, I told you she was nine months pregnant. Well she began to have contractions too. We all speculated on how funny it'd be if two babies were born that evening. Her’s was false labor though and her baby was born a week later.

Coaxed into pushing, I tried to no avail. They checked me again and I had a swollen lip. They began to ice it down so we could start over. It was around 7 p.m. at this time. Then I just knew I had to push and I tried but it felt so futile. I remember thinking that this baby was never gonna come out. My midwives began saying that they could see the head and there was a lot of hair. I remember thinking that they were lying to me and the baby wasn't really coming out. Then, just as these doubts began to take hold, one more contraction and I screamed and whoosh, the baby's head was out. As I screamed, my mother told me to be quiet or I was going to scare the baby. The cord was looped once around the neck, but my midwife's skillful hands took care of that. Then the entire baby was out and I knew it. It was 7:41 p.m. Everyone rushed to bundle up the baby -- since it was November and the room wasn't well-heated -- and everyone got to touch and say hello to the new little person whom we named Sarah Eleanor.

Then there was a little commotion about the place after the placenta came out. My midwives took a look at me and told me that I had torn in both directions from my vagina. They said that they could repair the back tear, but they weren't sure about the front tear. So with a little bonding time with my newborn infant sucking at my breast, we decided to visit the ER to try and stitch up the tears.

When I was examined at the ER, the female doctor on call told me that the front tear couldn't be stitched up and it was commonly called a "skid-mark." Meanwhile, she stitched up the back tear and sent me on my way. So, my little trip to the hospital was pointless, since the midwives could have done exactly the same.
All in all, my home-birth experience was very wonderful. I would not trade that experience for anything. My beautiful girl came out weighing 8 pounds even and 19 and a half inches long. No complications, no drugs, just bunches of love and support with my family and friends.

In 1999, we had our second child, in a hospital in Illinois attended by a nurse midwife. The experience was very good, especially considering how many horror stories I've heard about hospital births. My options were limited because I had moved 400 miles from my original midwife and away from my extended family. Not to mention, home births were illegal in that state.

My contractions started around 9 a.m., but I didn't check into the hospital until noon. I took my husband (duh), my mom, (who had come up to visit and wait for the baby's birth), my first daughter (who was almost 3 years old), and a close friend (to look after my first daughter). The nurse-midwife hooked me up to the EFM for 20 minutes to get an idea of how the baby was doing, then recommended I labor in their jacuzzi for a while. That was sooooooo blissful. I had a lot of back labor and the jets hit just the right spot.

I remember while having one contraction, my husband was sitting beside the tub watching me, and a large lump rose up out of my tummy (during the contraction). Curiously, he tried to poke it back down. That was SOOOOO painful that I screamed. The nurse-midwife and my mom came running into the bathroom and scolded my dopey husband for poking me during a contraction. That was pretty funny.

After a few hours, I decided to get out of the tub. They did another 20 minute EFM and checked my dilation & effacement on the delivery table and found I was nearly ready to deliver. I rolled onto my left side, and after several agonizing contractions, the nurse-midwife decided to break my water. Soon after that Tova Storm was born, 8.5 lbs & 20.5" long. No drugs and no tears (which was SOOOO fabulous!) It was around 4:30 in the afternoon, October 24, 1999. It was at that moment that I truly understood what "transition" does to you. Just when you think it'll never happen, that you simply can't take any more, the baby comes!

We are now expecting our third child, due April 18th, 2009. We’ve moved back to Arkansas and are planning another midwife-assisted homebirth using a birthing pool. My 16 week ultrasound revealed that it’s a boy. We’ll name him Ezra Shea.

[katrina131h]

Myer's birth story 3/9/09 - 6 lbs 5 oz 20 inches - Second Hypnobaby!

Monday was a pretty boring day. Midmorning I had a little bloody show, but no contractions and just once so I didn't really think anything of it. DH and I went to my appointment NST at 3:30. After being hooked up to the monitors for a half an hour and everything looking good my doctor said he would be willing to let me go until next Monday (which would have been today). He checked me and I was 3 cm and 90% effaced. He was pretty sure that I would be having the baby before then.

Since I was so against being induced he suggested we try stripping my membranes. Since I was so far progressed he thought it might be enough to tip me completely into labor. It did. My contractions started about 15 min after my membranes were stripped, just before five.

I didn't feel like making dinner, and my contractions weren't very strong so after we picked up Benson from the sitter we went out to dinner. We were done by 6:00 and at this point I was beginning to think this was actually it. So DH calls his mom and arranges a place to meet so she can take Benson. They leave by 6:30. I sit in the tub for a little while, but can't get comfortable.

I get out and time my contractions for a little while and (6-7 min apart) and sit on the birthing ball. This isn't very comfortable so I decide I need to get focused on my Hypnobabies since the contractions were getting a little more intense. I start listening to a script and 5 min later my water breaks (about 7:15). I labor on the toilet for a little while so I don't have to worry about the little gushes. I had a hard time staying relaxed and the head has stopped the water leaking so I decide to move to the bed and just focus on relaxing. I put on the labor Hypnobabies script and completely relax. I had no idea how close my contractions were I was just focusing so I could get through them.

It didn't take long before I was sort of moaning to get through the contractions. They weren't really painful just really really strong and intense and it felt better to moan. DH wasn't home yet so I glanced at the clock and it was 8:20. I expected him to be home around 8 so I was starting to get worried since we were in the middle of the years biggest snow storm (20 inches in less than 24 hours).

At this point I noticed that my legs were beginning to shake right before a contraction would start. Somewhere in my mind I registered that this was transition, but I was so relaxed and comfortable that I didn't really give it much thought. Plus I thought it was too soon to be at that point. DH got home at 8:28 and I had had 4 contractions between 8:20 and 8:28.

So the logical thing at this point would have been to just get in the car and go, but no. DH will never let me live this down, but I made him clean up Benson's toys before we left . I don't really know why. I know that I was so comfortable in bed that I didn't want to move and knew that it would be hard to stay focused on the hypnobabies if I was up and moving. DH also had no idea how far progressed I was since I was just lying in bed mostly silent and looking like I was asleep.

Finally I yelled at him that we needed to go. Getting up and going was so difficult. My contractions were right on top of each other and I couldn't stay focused moving so they were painful. It took like 10 minutes for me to get to the car. The roads were bad so the drive there was so awful and miserable. There were so many bumps in the road because of the snow that it was impossible to stay relaxed, plus I was feeling a ton of pressure. The only way I could get through the contractions was to push. Not hard, just enough to relieve some of the pressure.

We finally get to the hospital. We get into our room and it is 9:07. DH helps me change in get in bed and I was FINALLY able to relax again and it felt so good. My body just sunk right back down into my relaxed state and wow, what a difference. The next contraction came (no one is in the room with me. DH is out in the hall giving them our insurance info and such) and I felt something coming down. I yell "This baby is coming". You should have seen the nurses run, . The nurse checked me and said that I was complete and the baby was on its way. She told me to stay as relaxed as I could. Try not to push but let my body do it's thing. She wanted to keep it slow enough that the doctor could make it (he had just left L&D from delivering another baby).

Myer had another plan. The next contraction his head was out and half a push later he was completely out at 9:13. The only pushing i did was after his head was out just a little push to get his body out. My body just pushed him out on his own. I think once my body relaxed again that it just sort of let the baby come, if that makes any sense. The doctor arrived four minutes later.

The hospital was great! The staff was amazing and so supportive. I never got an IV or anything. It was such a beautiful experience. Very fast and intense and I think I like it better that way! The hardest part was getting in the car and going to the hospital. It was just impossible to focus through the bumps and my body got really tense and it was very painful, but as soon as I was able to relax I was able to regain control. Natural childbirth is amazing! :hooray: DH was almost amazing. All through the car ride he could tell I was really tense and he was using the cues to help me relax. I wasn't able to relax completely but it helped a ton! Once we got to the hospital he help me hand and just kept on telling me how amazing I was doing. I probably wouldn't have been able to do it without his support. He pushed me back on track when I felt like I was completely losing it :wub:. I love how labor can be such a partnership. It really brings us closer together.

[joey122]

I was SO looking forward to your Hypnobabies story, Katrina. It is so inspiring for my first Hypnobabies birth soon. I know it was intense for you, but he came so fast and your body did just what it was supposed to do naturally. You may not make it to the hospital next time. Congrats again!

[dustycotton]

My HypnoBabies birth story: http://www.alohabirthservices.com/donovan.htm

[MikeSteph]

It all started on Tuesday (2/10) I woke up that morning and had my bloody show, I knew for sure that I would go into labor that day. I was having contractions but nothing that was regular. I called my MW and told her and she told me to get some rest and she would call and check on me later. Well I really wasn't in the mood to rest and my DH was off for the day so we decided to tie up some loose ends. Fast forward to 11pm that night. I still hadn't taken a nap all day but I felt great. My contractions had gone away so I thought the baby wasn't going to come. My MW had called me a few times already and I told her I didn't think it would happen. She told me again to try and rest and she would talk to me @ 1am. I laughed because I thought she was wrong. I did lay down and go to sleep and low and behold at
1am woke up with intense contractions. They still were not regular so I decdied to try and sleep through them. I laid down and work up again @ 1:30am I was not going to be able to sleep through them at all. I woke up DH and told him to get our boys ready we would be leaving soon. Well he went to get the boys dress and found them already dressed and watching T.V. They had never gone to sleep because they had been waiting on me to go into labor. By this time my contractions where getting more and more intense. I decided to get in the shower I stayed in the sower for 20 mins and got out to call me MW. She was ready for me to come on in and I was ready to go in. I called my sister and dropped my youngest son(7) off at her house. My oldest son(10) had already decided he wanted to be there for the birth. My oldest finish packing my labor bag and snacks and we headed out the door. I had no contractions all the way to the birthing center. But when we arrived my water broke as I was getting out the car. It was 2:40am when I walked into the birth center and my contractions had picked up speed, with every contraction I would vomit. My MW checked me and told me I was only 4cm... I wanted to cry because I thought it would be a long night since I wasn't even close. Boy was I wrong. I labored in every position possible. I was kneeling, sitting backwards on the toilet, walking, squatting and my contractions where not letting up. They were back to back. Dh was great he keep touching all the right pressure point and everytime I told him I wanted to be transported to the hospital so I could get an epi, he would remind me that's not what I wanted. My son sat in the rocking car, looking at me like a deer in headlights. He didn't know what to do! I would smile and wink at him to let him know I was okay. My MW was on the phone trying to get an assisant in to help her but after many failed attempts decided my DH was the best assisant of all, and he was doing most of the work anyway. As I was sitting on the birthing ball I had a contraction that made me want to stop breathing. I looked at the clock and it was 3:55am. I told my MW I need to push and she said okay. Do you want to go to the tub now. I told her yes and heading toward the tub. When I got in the the tub the water felt great. I was on my hands and knees and DH was pouring water on my back. I knew it was time to push and with my next contraction I pushed and I could hear DH tell me the head is out, All I felt was pressure and burning. It seemed like it took forever for the next contraction to come but it was only a min. With that second contraction I pushed and whole baby was out. DH was right there to catch him and bring him up to my chest, I looked up at my oldest son and he had the biggest smile on his face. My little Mirence let out a cry that was so loud it shocked everyone. I was so happy I didn't tear. I looked at my new LO and he was perfect. I sat in the tub with him for about 20mins and then got out to delivery the placenta. We rested for few hours and left the birth center at 6:40am. My MW joked about how I was her best client I arived at 2:40am and was gone at 6:40am. I couldn't believe I had him so quickly and I birthed the way I wanted to! Mirence Marshawn was born Feb 11, 2009 @ 4:04 am @ 6lbs 4 oz 20in long!

[PixieMomma]

Easter weekend, I had loads of Braxton-Hicks contractions, so I was pleasantly surprised when I woke Tuesday morning, 4-14-09, to a different kind of contraction. Starting around 5 a.m. the contractions felt a bit more painful, lingering in the small of my back and across my entire belly, lasting for around 30-40 seconds and coming every 10-12 minutes. I went ahead and started getting the kids ready for school.

My husband called the midwife at 7 a.m. since the contractions were staying pretty regular. So the pressure was on. With him missing work and the midwife in the loop, I was determined to have a baby before the day’s end. I sat on the birthing ball rocked my hips in circles and watched a movie. My husband got the birthing pool and supplies together and set the water heater up higher. We were going to need a lot of hot water.

Around 10 a.m., my sister and her BF arrived to assist with the birth and take pictures. I began to get more vocal during my contractions, a low moan, and tried balling up my fists in the small of my back to help with the pressure. My husband started filling the pool at this time. The midwife called a few times, but always in between contractions, so she never heard how the contractions sounded through me. They were coming 8-9 minutes apart and lasting around 40 seconds. She kept telling me to let her know if they got to lasting 1 minute coming 5 minutes apart, so in my mind, that was my goal.

To get things moving, my husband and I went for a short walk. Then we all walked to my mom’s (a full 500 foot walk) to eat lunch. As she was cooking, Mom casually mentioned, “You know what today is, don’t you? Today’s your shower. We’re having a surprise baby shower for you.” I laughed and said, “It figures! You guys get to wait a few hours.”

In the meantime, the contractions were about 7 minutes apart and still 45 seconds long, but seemed to grow in intensity. My mom knew from my moans that it wouldn’t be too long before the baby was born. The midwife called again for an update and I reported that they were still not 5 minutes apart. We agreed that she’d wait a bit before coming out. The drive between us was about one and a half hours, but she didn’t want to stall my labor by arriving too early.

My husband and I took another walk, taking pictures of the wisteria and dogwood in full bloom. We got some awesome photos, especially with the sun shining bright through the dogwood flowers, casting shadows over my pregnant belly. In between contractions, my husband sucked on my nipples to stimulate the contractions. That did the trick. Right after taking photos of the dogwood, I felt a pop and a little gush. I was sure that my water had broken. That was at 3:30 p.m. So as we started back to the house, I stopped for another contraction, looked down and found a very tiny four leaf clover.

When we got back, we called to make sure the midwife was on the way. She’d just left. I went to the bathroom, removed my underwear, then got into the birthing pool, skirt and sports bra still on. My contractions really picked up then. I was on my hands and knees in the water and my husband put his hand on the small of my back to push against the contractions. My sister’s BF timed the contractions while my sister took pictures. I wasn’t completely aware of more than how fast the contractions seemed to pile one on top of each other. I simply knew that with each one, I could feel the baby come further and further down. I kept saying, “The midwife isn’t going to make it. She isn’t going to make it.” My husband just stuck with me, saying, “That’s alright, we can do this.”

My main coping methods became my husband’s hand on the small of my back and my face stuck in the water making motor boat bubbles and nearly drowning myself in the process. The kids came home from school and my youngest daughter declared that she wanted to get into the pool with me. I laughed and told her, “I really don’t think you do, Sweetie.” My oldest girl took one look at me and headed out to the treehouse to stay out of the way.

At some point, I said, “I just want to drown.” My mom seemed to think that was transition talking and the baby was definitely almost out. She decided to go check on my nephews who’d also just gotten off the bus. So she stepped out for a bit.

Apparently, that was enough for her to miss it all. Soon enough, the baby decided to crown. I was in the middle of a contraction and my motor boat sound immediately went high pitched with the ring of fire. I struggled to bring it back down to a low moan and gasped, “Baby, Baby!” My husband lifted my skirt in time to see his face begin to emerge. I tried hard to simply relax and let the contractions do the work. He began to press against my back side and I was afraid, so I told him, “Don’t push him back in!” He said he wasn’t pushing him back, just trying to support him to keep me from tearing. With just a few contractions, the baby was out. My husband lifted him out of the water. It was 4:20 p.m. when Ezra Shea was born.

My sister got on the phone to check where the midwife was. She was still 40 minutes away. She informed her that I’d just had the baby. The midwife said, “You’re kidding!” But then she heard the baby cry through the phone as my sister said, “Um, no, she’s holding him in her arms.”

I could go on and on, because Ezra’s birth was just the beginning. Lots of family arrived (even before the midwives). Everyone got to see the brand new baby. And we still had the baby shower!

7 lbs. 12 oz., 20.5 inches long. I am in so much awe of him. Such a beautiful miracle. I’m so thrilled. It was the most beautiful day I could have dreamed of.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/impixiethequeenofall/EzraLabor1.jpghttp://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/impixiethequeenofall/EzraShea1.jpg
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/impixiethequeenofall/EzraShea5.jpg

[midgeend]

Yay!! What a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing it!!

[Jenny]

Yeah! Congrats, mama! Beautiful birth! I thought for sure you were going to say you changed his name to Clover. :laugh:

[teachermom]

What a wonderful story!

[shigatsusan]

April 1, 40 week appt: not even a fingertip dilated
April 4 and 5: extremely grouchy; interesting sensation when urinating, as if cervix is getting pushed; dogs acted increasingly weird, staring at me, tenderfooting around me; leakage from (particularly right) breast
April 6, 12:30am: awoke with terrible indigestion/GI discomfort; DH was sick as well; unsure if feeling contractions or tummy trouble; discomfort very high up, sort of tingly and burning. Began timing contractions at 1:09am. First, 5 minutes from start to start, then 7, 9, 8, etc. No pain, but at end of contractions, twinges/tingle/burn way down low or around from back. Drifted to sleep at 4am, excited. Dreamt about a baby girl. Lulu (dog) woke me, checking on me.

Awoke at 6:30am to pretty strong but painless contractions, again, tingly/burny at peak. Excited. Nervous. Want to tell DH to stay home from work, but decide against it. Sometimes they made me feel like I wanted to have a BM, sometimes like flexing my vagina. Baby felt like it was face down (for the first time in a while…usually facing to my left). Last night, baby was very active and is active through some contractions, definitely active between them. This is it.

Went walking; ran errands.Started timing contractions again at 1:51pm, when I had my first one with a little pain. Timed them until 3:50, but went walking again in the middle (2pm); rear end pain when walking. They were about 2-3 minutes apart on the walk, but varied the rest of the afternoon. Right upper leg pain at times.

3:45 pm: bloody show with DEFINITE mucous plug. Continue to spot blood the rest of the evening. Sleep until midnight: 1 minute+ long and 3 minutes apart (sometimes two). I’m getting nervous about the continued bloody show and the intensity/frequency of contractions, needing DH to talk me through relaxing through them. We decide to get ready for the hospital. DH packs, I take a shower.

I walk the 8 blocks to the hospital, pausing for contractions, either bending over, or with my hand on the car. (Hey...thought it couldn't hurt.) DH drives alongside me, timing contractions. They are still 3 minutes apart, but only 30-40 seconds long. It’s clear DH thinks we’re not ready for the hospital yet, but I’m getting a little nervous and want to go on in. What if I’ve progressed really fast?

April 7~1:48am. We check in through the ER. The staff ask if I’m checking in for an induction and are shocked that I’m (calmly) in labor. I refuse a wheelchair and we are walked upstairs to Labor and Delivery. I pause in the hall and hold onto the railing during contractions.

The nurses look like they are in disbelief that I’m ready to check in, but decide to check me anyway. 3 cm. I’d hoped I would be farther along, but the staff seems ready to have me admitted. I’m having to start working through the contractions now, pain increasing. I just shut my eyes and breathe through them, DH using his Bradley skills, talking me through each one to help me relax and focus on deep breathing. We get in the Jacuzzi tub pretty quickly after arrival, after the nurse checks the baby’s heart rate and my vitals.

We spend an hour or so in the tub together, DH coaching me. He wants me to float; I’d rather anchor to him and the sides of the tub. He has to remind me not to grip the side with my hands and feet, to try to relax. Contractions are more intense, sometimes coming around from the back, but mostly top of my uterus to bottom. I focus on taking my breath all the way down to my diaphragm. I want ice chips and ice water desperately. I have a couple of BMs, strangely modest in front of DH.

After a couple of hours (4 am?) I get out of the tub and am shaking/shivering uncontrollably. 5 cm. We keep the lights low and put the external monitor on my belly again. Baby sounds great. (The nurses mostly left us alone, allowing us to work on our labor together, lights low, very quietly.) I vomit in the trash can a couple times, poor DH holding it for me. It’s only water. DH gets in bed with me at some point, spooning me. He drifts off between contractions at one point and I have to wake him to coach me. We use the cervix opening imagery (funnel to cylinder) and I envision the baby sea turtles cresting the waves that we saw in Mexico when I was 9 wks along. I try to float over each contraction, not fighting, trying to get out of the way of them. It works. It is wonderful to hear him coach me through. I am lost without him. Sometimes I ask him to start over the relaxation script. He uses the book sometimes, sometimes just talks me through. I can tell he’s getting increasingly nervous/excited, but he keeps his cool. I get on the birth ball some, but the contractions are too intense. I can’t decide where I want to be, how I want to lie, sit, etc. I have a couple more BMs. I’m still bleeding a bit.

I decide to get back in the tub. I get in alone while DH is getting ready. As soon as I get in, I feel a little like pushing all of a sudden, but don’t believe it could possibly be time. We tell the nurse and she asks me to get out of the tub to check me, though clearly in disbelief that I could be to the pushing stage so suddenly, as I was just 5 cm a few minutes ago. I’ve shot to 9cm (from 3 to 9 in about 4 hours). She (Beth) calls the back up OB, as our dear Jenny (midwife) is out of town.

I try to eat a breath mint. It makes me throw up and I throw the mint across the room. Vomiting causes my water to break. I notice that it looks dark/bloody, but then forget about it as the contractions are so intense. I have no idea how much time passes between contractions.

Beth brings in a squat bar to get ready for pushing. Dr. Andrews checks me at about 6:00am and gives the okay to push. I’m very focused, sort of humming, working through my intense contractions. I don’t really talk to him. He talks to DH. I hear the Dr. and Beth discussing that there was meconium in my water (this explains why it looked dark/bloody): the baby has defecated in utero; when his/her head comes out, we will have to pause in order to carefully suction his/her passageways so that the poop isn’t inhaled into the lungs on first breath. It sounds serious, but I’m not that worried about it, worrying instead to relax through each contraction. Dr. Andrews leaves (I am confused by that.)

Mom arrives right before we get going (after a 5+ hour drive through the night). We push with Beth, sometimes me squatting in the bed holding my legs back with Mom/DH, sometimes standing up in the bed and using the squat bar (Mom and DH pulling me upright, Beth below) for awhile. I feel unsure about what I’m feeling and what we’re doing. I don’t really feel the urge to push anymore, I just push because they tell me a contraction is coming/there. It’s exhausting. There is a shift change, so we lose Beth and get Alice. This makes me uncomfortable (but I will learn that this is a wonderful thing).

DH tries to talk to me between contractions. Mom strokes my hair and hands. Sometimes it’s wonderful, sometimes annoying. I have to ask them to not touch me during some contractions. I still have no idea how much time passes between contractions. Sometimes Mom and DH sit down and take a break, so it must be quite some time (they later tell me more than 7 minutes at times; I guess my body was trying to give me a break).

Alice is much younger and has a soft, encouraging demeanor and voice. We push for about 2.5 hours and get NOWHERE. I’m starting to falter, getting tired, distrusting my body. Dr. Andrews returns and beings talking “alternatives,” because the baby is still at -1 station. They include pitocin, to increase the intensity of the contractions, and an epidural, to relax me and hope the baby descends. I don’t want to do it, but I’m beginning to not believe that I can physically get the child out of me vaginally. I’m pushing, but I can tell that NOTHING is happening. No one says “c-section” out loud, but I can hear the possibility in the back of everyone’s throats. In my mind, I begin to consider doing something (I guess pitocin), though I don’t want to. DH (MY HERO!!!) refuses and continues to ask what else we can do, reiterating that we didn’t want any interventions and wanted to stick as close to our (no intervention) birth plan as possible. (LORD, we wish our midwife was here!!!) I can tell Mom and DH are getting worried, but they are not letting on to me. I’m too focused to have a sane conversation with them about it.

Dr. Andrews says he’s going to run to his office for a bit, but will be back in ½ an hour or so and we’ll reassess. We’re relieved he’s leaving.

Alice listens to DH, who continues to reiterate that we want to have our baby naturally. She suggests we try a new position, the “fire hydrant,” and that I try to work through contractions for awhile without pushing, letting my uterus work by itself to get the baby to engage. I (disbelieving and reluctant--I'm really starting to lose faith) roll onto my right side and they elevate my left leg in the stirrups, to simulate a squat while lying down.

Immediately, the contractions double, triple, quadruple in intensity. They are AMAZING(ly painful). I hear myself sort of humming through them, sometimes saying “Oh My God,” but rarely cursing or speaking. Just humming, guttural, and trying to deep breathe. I have my eyes squeezed shut, my hand over my face most of the time. It was so difficult not to push. Every now and then I would have to push, with DH and Mom helping me since the nurses had left us be again. It was excruciating. I was still having self doubt that I could physically get the baby out of me, and wondered if this unbelievable pain—rippling from my back to front, top to bottom—was going to get us anywhere. But yet I didn't ever want or consider drugs. I just worried about my physical ability to get the baby out into the world.

[shigatsusan]

After an hour on my right side, Alice came in and had me flip to the other side after checking me. Still, little to no progress. I was losing hope. DH was too, but continued to fight for our birth plan.

Between contractions, I found myself pleading with my body to fall asleep, wondering if it was all a dream, if it would ever be over, and even thinking that I felt mildly hungry, so the contractions must have still been far apart at times. Then I would imagine meeting our LO, and I was renewed. But i just wanted him/her out of me.


After about an hour on my left side, with the contractions INCREDIBLY intense, maybe more so than on my right, Alice checked me again. At last, progress! The baby had descended to +1/+2 station. I couldn’t believe it. They asked me to turn over to get pushing again, and whether I wanted to use the squat bar. I refused to budge and demanded to stay right where I was on my left side (thought I wasn’t conscious of it at the time, it kind of makes sense to deliver this way, considering it’s the side preggos are supposed to sleep on, for maximum circulation to the baby).

At this point (about 4 hours in to pushing stage at 10 cm dilated), I knew that I HAD to get this baby out of me, or they were going to start pumping me full of stuff, or worse. I didn’t care anymore about whether it felt like the baby was coming out of my vagina or my anus. I didn’t care if I ripped. I didn’t care how excruciating it was. I just knew I had to use every ounce of my energy and breath to bring the baby down my canal and out into the world.

I pushed through two contractions, taking great big breaths of life giving air and then buckling myself over, chin on my chest, burying my face in the pillow. I did not scream, but did exhale great grunts at the end of each push, before opening my body and lungs up again to inhale. Mom held my hand (and later told me she thought I’d broken it). DH held my leg and encouraged me, helping to focus through the pushing.

After the two contractions, I felt the energy in the room change. Alice said she saw a bit of hair, and asked me to stop pushing, telling us she needed to get the doctor right away. I could feel the excited electricity in the room. She called for Dr. Andrews from our room and I could tell by her voice that we had finally gotten somewhere. I didn’t want to wait on the doctor. I asked where he was, how far away—at his office, 15 minutes. I begged Alice to deliver the baby, pleaded with her. I could tell my body was ready, had done it’s job waiting, and would wait no longer. Alice could tell I meant business and urged me to wait. (I had forgotten about the meconium issue at this point.) I heard bustling in the room…Alice had called a more experienced nurse into the room, just in case I ignored her and went on and delivered the baby. (We didn’t like her. She kept trying to get me to do Lamaze-type hyperventilation breathing. We all ignored her, and kept deep breathing through the contractions.) It was all I could do not to push. I kept asking where the doctor was. I didn’t realize it (face still buried, eyes snapped shut), but the baby nurse came in at this point, they readied the suction equipment for the baby, and apparently wheeled in a table full of glistening “tools,” covered with a blue sheet. Thank God I didn’t see those, nor were they used.

Finally, Dr. Andrews arrived (20 minutes later), and we were beyond ready. DH was somehow relieved of his duty of holding my right leg up (Nurse 1). Another nurse was there trying to hold the external fetal monitor on my belly (Nurse 2). Alice was supporting Dr. Andrews (Nurse 3). Mom was still where she had been. I have no idea how many other people were in the room. And we began again. Again, I didn’t care what it felt like, I just knew I had to get the baby out. Whereas in the first couple of hours of pushing, I would let myself imagine, “okay this time, the head is going to come out,” I wouldn’t let myself have any sort of particular goal or hope with each contraction. I just wanted to push with every bit of almighty force I had in me.

I would take 2-3 deep preperatory breaths, then take in a mighty one and hold it, snapping my body forward and over, using every muscle to focus on bringing the baby out and down. DH was getting excited. His voice and motion changed, he could feel the end (or the beginning?) nearing. He was sometimes at my head/side, sometimes at the foot of the bed. (He later said he felt lost, without a leg or hand to hold, or a duty to tend to.) The baby was coming down with each push. Everyone was encouraging me, telling me how impressed they were that I had come so far without meds. I can’t remember if I faltered at this point or not. Earlier in the process I had said, “I can’t do this. I don’t think I can do this.” But now I knew I HAD to.

Dr. Andrews said that it was going to start getting really uncomfortable, so I knew the head must be coming down. I wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing, but I presumed he was “massaging” my open vagina as the head crowned. It was incredibly uncomfortable and I wanted to resist (as he said that I would want to do). I ignored that instinct and pushed even harder. It felt like the head was coming out of my vagina and my anus at the same time. Finally, I heard multiple excited, giggly voices talk about a lot of hair. DH was bouncing around. He later said he thought it was the entire head, but it was only the back/tip of the crown. Then with the next push, the head came out and my darling saw our baby’s still face, not yet having taken its first breath. I said aloud, “I just tore.” It was just a slight tingling or burning. No real pain, as indeed as my book said, the pressure of the head on the perineum acts a natural pain reliever, and numbs the tissue. I couldn’t believe the head was out. Dr. Andrews said the face looked like a boy.

Dr. Andrews told me to stop pushing with the head just out. It was the single hardest thing I’ve ever done. I still had my face buried in the pillow or eyes pinched shut. I’m not sure. He (apparently) suctioned out the nose and mouth of our baby. It seemed like an eon. Finally, he said that with the next contraction, we would need one big push to get the shoulders out. I can’t remember if I pushed once or twice, but it was excruciating, and then………our baby girl seemed to just slide right out in one big gush. A girl. A baby girl. We had a girl!!!!! Everyone was shocked that she was a she!! It was 10:55 am on the day that would change my life forever. At that point, I had pushed—or been in the pushing stage—for almost 5 hours; after doc arrived, it had been about 20-25 minutes of pushing. I sat up immediately and Dr. Andrews was still suctioning her airways out. I just stared at my grayish daughter, head full of hair, and said “Breathe, baby girl. Breathe for Momma.” He said we didn’t quite want her to yet, until he finished suctioning. And then, slowly she opened her mouth and her eyes, and began to cry. It was the most glorious noise I’ve ever heard. DH had to go on and cut the cord (despite our birth plan that called for letting it stop pulsing and turn white) so they could make sure they had cleared all the meconium. They took her to the incubator in the corner to assess her, and I was lost. I was so excited, so hyperalert, but I didn’t have my baby in my arms as expected. (I wanted to have her immediately, no clean up, to breastfeed and have skin on skin contact. In retrospect, that was really hard to give up, but I know it was for her best.) DH too, was lost. He didn’t know whether to come to me or go to her. I just kept saying, “Go to her, babe. Go see her. Go be with her.” I didn’t want her to be alone in that far corner of the room with all of those strangers hovering over her.

Before I knew it, I had my healthy baby girl in my arms, 8lb 1oz, 20 inch and STUBBORN!!! Zella Marin just stared at me with these great big dark eyes, a head full of curly hair, still matted with the stuff of life. DH cried. I was in shock. We had a few moments with her and I nursed her for the first time. She latched on as if she’d been born to breastfeed. And then they took her to assess her more intently in the nursery, despite our birth plan to keep her in the room with us at all times. Again, we knew it was for her own good, to make sure the poop hadn't reached her lungs. The nursery nurse kept saying how bad she felt taking her from me, and kept offering her face to me for extra goodbye kisses.

Dr. Andrews sewed me up (2nd degree tear) and I, Chatty Kathy at this point, asked for food and bantered with all the staff. I felt like I could have run a marathon. Okay, maybe a half marathon. Dr. Andrews warned me that the numbing shot he was going to give me before stitching me was going to hurt. “Doc, are you kidding me? I just squeezed an 8lb baby out of there with not meds. You really think you need to warn me about a shot????” I watched him sew me up. I didn't care about my vajay. I just wanted my darling back. She was back in an hour, thriving!!!

And despite the meconium, she arrived in this world so alert, ready to breastfeed, looking around. She lifted her head and turned it over repeatedly just two hours out of the womb. I have no doubt that her physical strength and vitality are in large part due to us not being medicated.

I’ve never felt to empowered, so mighty, so capable, but so honored to have been given such a glorious gift. It is an amazing feeling to have nurtured a life within you, and to then be able to give it forth, naturally, as God/Nature (whoever/whatever you believe) intended. The female body was indeed designed to do this. It is not easy. It is not comfortable. But it is possible. And it is wonderful. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

[jayne2008]

Ok so I"m sitting here bawling reading your story! It's beatiful! Congratulations momma!!!

[cmtorp]

Holy Cow. That is a wonderful story. Congrats Momma,

[julie99]

Thanks for posting such a detailed/real natural birth story! I would have been tempted to just push the baby out..... waiting 20 mins for the Dr must have been extremly hard! You have inspired me and reinstated my faith that it is possible to have an ummedicated/natural birth in a hospital.

[sandersmommy]

Wow. Absolutely beautiful.
Congratulations!

[Char74]

What a beautiful story!!! Thank you for sharing it! You should be a writer!

[Ebennet]

I want to say that I'm super excited to be able to post my story here. I definitely wanted a natural birth, but as this was my first, I wasn't really sure what to expect.

I was about 16 hrs at the hospital but I really could have stayed home longer. I arrived at a "stretchy" 3-4 cm, 100% effaced and baby at -2. I had been having contractions since the day before as well as losing my plug. I was a bit worried about how labor was going to go since I was getting back pain. After the initial fetal monitoring, I started walking around, and rocking in a glider. There was a jacuzzi tub in the room that I got into about 4 hours later. It felt amazing and really relaxed me. I was hoping that it would help to progress things along. After I got out of the tub 2 hrs later, I was 5cm, with the baby at 0 station. The contractions still weren't too bad at this point. The back pain was pretty muted coming out of the tub, and all I needed was a bit of visualization to get through them.

About 2-3 hours later, the contractions definitely started hurting more. I was doing a bit of breathing exercises to get through them as well as tapping my fingers. What I found more painful was when I would feel the baby moving after or during a ctx. I started crying and getting shaky and hurting even in between contractions. The nurse was being slow in filling up the tub- she went out to do something first. So I had DH do it and help me in. As before, the water helped immensely but I was still shaking so much. I continued doing the breathing and tapping my fingers against the tub in rhythm. Though things were painful, I was still on top of them and didn't need help to get through them. The midwife kept coming in to watch how I was handling things and asking whether I felt any pressure. After 2 hrs in the tub, she brought me out to check me. Super shaky getting out of the tub- the MW and nurse had to help me out and dry me off. Checked me and was at 8 cm. I think I stayed out for a while and tried to find a comfortable position on the bed.

I got back into the tub for a while again. In the tub, my husband had me push against his hand during each contractions while I continued the breathing and tapping. I got off rhythm occasionally, but was able to get back on. MW was there to encourage me as well. Once I got out, the ctx seemed to be slowing down. We talked about breaking my water, which she did. I was still at 8 cm at that point. Once they started picking up and the relief I got from the tub started wearing off, things definitely got more painful. We asked what we could do for the back pain, and she had me get on all 4's, rock backwards, while she applied pressure to my back. We did that a few times but it was soo painful for me that we stopped.

I got onto my back and tried some initial pushes while she held the remaining lip of my cervix open. This hurt as well. I think it was at this point that when they checked the baby's heart rate, it had gone down. I was so into the labor, that I don't remember really being worried about it. People came in, got an oxygen mask on me and an IV in. They kept after me to really slow my breathing down. It was so hard but the MW and DH were really good at breathing with me. So I started really pushing in a sitting position, holding my knees. We tried a side-lying position but it was soo painful that I couldn't push through it- that might have been the worst ctx. I stayed in the sitting position for the rest of the time. After the initial oxygen deal, I just breathed from the mask between contractions. I never felt what I imagined the "urge to push" would be. It felt better than the ctx, but I didn't think to myself "I have to push!" It was hard to get myself into each pushing session, but once I started bearing down, it felt really good. In between ctx, I remember asking the MW if the baby was coming. I just tried to breathe slowly and recover in between ctx. I remember feeling the baby's hair at one point and then later on the sensation of having the baby's head so far down that I wouldn't even be able to close my legs. I thought that was super uncomfortable.

I remember feeling the crowning, and a bit of burning, but nothing out of control. They had me do little pushes and then amazingly enough, a baby came out! They immediately brought him up on top of me chest to chest. After his first cry, he just lay on my chest taking it all in.

While the MW started stitching me up, she explained that the cord was around his neck twice as well as his arm. His head also came out sideways instead of up or down. She said if the cord wasn't as long as it was, we could've been looking at an emergency c-section. With all of that action, I ended up with 2nd degree tears and she said that my rectal sphincter was actually exposed, but not damaged. At any rate, I felt great at that point and was completely with it. I loved holding on to the baby though I do remember thinking that I'd like us both to have a bath! Holding onto the baby didn't make the repair work entirely painless! The shot was fine, but the massaging, stitching, and all the other stuff going on kept making me say "ouch! ouch!" I was also able to start BF'ing.

I was just so happy with how things went. The MW was on call and I know that that really helped things go how I wanted them. I had intermittent monitoring, no IV till the end, and they just let me do what felt good. I was also expecting that labor was going to be so much worse, that'd I'd feel out of control, in continuous pain, etc. etc. Obviously, parts were painful, but I never felt out of control, wasn't swearing like a sailor, or screaming at my husband. He really pulled through and was incredibly supportive as well. I wasn't sure how he'd do because I knew he wouldn't want to see me in pain- but he was awesome. I think these were the things that really helped me: praise and worship music on ipod throughout, the tub, breathing exercises, and then the support of DH and the MW. I also completely understand the importance of a "birth story" now. Before, even though I would think that was important, I didn't recognize how important it was. It makes me me feel wonderful to have been able to do it with no meds. And not just to be able to say that I did it, but because I felt so in control of the whole process(not foggy from meds). Hope this encourages someone to give natural birth a try!

[joey122]

I am so excited to be able to post in the Natural Birthing Room!

5/9/09—Am I in labor?

Woke up and started to clean. Thought this would be a good day to go to the gym and see if I could “provoke” my labor.  In the afternoon, headed over to the gym to get in the pool where I had taken aqua aerobics throughout my pregnancy. I told the towel guy, “I’m going to stay at the gym till I go into labor.” He said, “You’re trying to go into labor?” I said, “Yes!” I put on my Hypnobabies on my Ipod and started to listen to scripts while hanging over the edge of the pool. I thought this would be a good exercise since I planned a Hypnobabies waterbirth. Stayed for an hour and then hit the shower. There was hardly anybody there on this Saturday afternoon so I opted for the handicapped shower since I could sit down and shave for the first time (and possibly last time) for months. It was great because the gym doesn’t run out of hot water and I was in there for over an hour just relaxing as the hot water poured over me as I sat there. It was so relaxing. Eventually I headed home. DH was grabbing dinner on the way home from work so I asked for Chinese food—extra spicy. He brought it home. It wasn’t spicy. *sigh*. My due date friend called and I told her I was still having Braxton Hicks. They were weak, but still coming at somewhat regular intervals. I can tell when they start, but not really when they end. She shouts at me “You’re in labor!” I said, “No, I’m not!” She insists that I go time them on contractionmaster.com. I appease her and go and do it. They are 5 minutes apart from start to start. I still didn’t think much of it. By 9pm, they were the same. I decided to call my doula, Kerstin. She was 2 hours away at her mother’s house for Mother’s Day. I told her about the contractions. She asked if she should come home and I said no and I would keep her posted. I decided that maybe I was in early labor and to bake the nurses brownies. Afterwards, I tried to go to bed with DH. It was not happening. I was experiencing back labor and although manageable, I was not able to sleep through it. I tried my Hypnobabies scripts, but I could not focus on the scripts AT ALL. I tried to relax as much as possible, but they were still coming every 5 minutes although not that intense or very long. I came and posted in my Due Date room on APA since I was awake. I abandoned Hypnobabies at this point, but am thankful to have educated myself beyond that method to be able to not fight my labor and surrender to it.

5/10/09—Mother’s Day—Will I be a mother today?!
By 5am, I had to wake up DH to help support me. I bounced on my birthing ball and we tried to watch TV and eat. At 8am my doula called. I told her the contractions remained the same but I could not sleep through them and had been up all night. She said she was on her way home and she would call me when she got back to town. She said I might want to page my midwife. At 9:30am I paged my midwife. She called back and I told her, “I think I’m in labor.” lol. I described my contractions to her and told her I wasn’t anxious at all. She agreed I was in early labor and told me to keep her posted. The day progressed and my doula and midwife both called to check on me intermittently. The contractions remained the same. I expressed to them my concerns regarding my being up all night before. “Should I relax as much as possible or start walking to see if that does anything?” They both insisted I relax as much as possible. I would need all my energy for active labor. I tried to relax as much as I could. At 4pm I took a walk with DH and my German Shepherds around the block once…pausing for contractions. I bounced on my birth ball, did cat-cows and pelvic tilts and talked to Jenn (DIVADLX) on the phone throughout the day for support, as well. My doula called at 8:30pm and said she was coming over and would be at my house around 9:30pm. When she got here, I told her I felt the baby hiccupping on one side of my pelvis. She thought maybe he wasn’t fully properly positioned. She decided to time my contractions and have me do lunges with one leg up on the couch facing her. I did them on both sides. Within 2-3 hours my contractions had gotten closer to 3-4 minutes apart and were stronger. I paged my midwife. I described the contractions and expressed my concern to her about not having the energy to get through labor and delivery. She gave me the option of giving me a muscle relaxer to stop the contractions so I could sleep, or I could go into the hospital to get checked. I wanted to talk it over with my doula. After 5 minutes, I had decided I wanted to go to the hospital. My midwife “called it in” to the hospital that I was coming. My DH packed up the rest of our things, we called the dog sitter and left for the hospital at exactly 1am.

5/11/09—I had better be a mother today!

To add drama to the story, my DH got lost in Downtown St. Paul. We hadn’t done a dry run to the hospital and had only been to the there once for a private tour. So here I am in the throes of active labor and he is driving around lost with my doula following in the car behind. I was listening to my favorite songs on my Ipod this whole time and that held me together mostly. We pulled over in front of the fire station and my DH got out and he and my doula called the hospital for directions. I was yelling at him now. :) We were only a block away when we were lost. We pulled up to the emergency entrance and I got out. By this time I really had to concentrate on breathing through my contractions. I initially declined the wheelchair so I could walk, but quickly reconsidered since I couldn’t catch my breath. The nurse came down to take me up to triage and check me. I changed into my own labor gown (way more comfy than theirs…plus I hate feeling like I’m a sick patient). I had to lie down on the bed on my back. This was the worst 10 minutes of my whole labor and I was so crabby I had to lie there having had been mobile the whole time prior. They had to monitor the baby for 10 minutes. My contractions were pretty close together now, long, and intense...and it was ALL back labor. I knew baby was face up. In any case, she checked me and I was 7 cm dilated and paper-thin effaced. I was admitted. :) Yay! She had already sent home 2 women already. I got to my room next door and immediately my nightgown came off. Active labor is not the time for modesty. I’m not sure how anyone does it! I was naked from this point on. I got in the hospital shower. This was the best part of my whole labor. My nurse, Kathy, accommodated me in every way. I remained on all fours for most of the next 2 hours in the shower. I did change positions, but this was my favorite. I requested that with every contraction, that my doula and DH run the scalding hot shower head on my tailbone. I never felt them when they did that. I also leaned over a birthing ball in the shower, sat on a birth stool and kneeled on a kneeling pad. I had no gauge of the time that had passed by this point. My midwife had arrived by this time and praised me for laboring so well. While in the shower, they intermittently monitored me. Eventually, I decided to get out.

[joey122]

My midwife checked me and I was 9cm and fully effaced. I decided it was tub time! I threw on a robe and went next door to the birthing tub. I am pretty sure that women that praise the epidural have never experienced this type of labor bliss. The birth tub was AMAZING! It was huge so I could change positions and perfectly HOT (but not too hot, of course). I felt like I was at the spa (in between contractions). All in all, I have to say…I thought that contractions would have me thinking I was going to die…but they were really not that bad and completely manageable. I suppose we all have a threshold of pain and I had a lot of time to become accustomed to them. In any case, my contractions had slowed once I got in the tub. I was hungry. My nurse asked me what I wanted and she made me toast with jelly. She also kept me very well hydrated. :) After an hour, I could see the sun was rising on day 3 of my labor. I was getting really exhausted. My midwife asked, “Do you have the urge to push?” “No”, I said. I was just as disappointed. She asked if I wanted her to check me. I said, “Sure…I’m not busy.” :) So I got out of the tub. She checked me and I was ready to go…fully dilated 10 cm, fully effaced. By this time, my other midwife had shown up. I my midwife describe my “prodromal labor” to her. By this time, my water still had not broken so she asked me if she could break it. She was unsure if she could because his head was so low but she broke it and it slowly leaked out. Sure enough…it was meconium-stained. She asked me not to deliver in the tub. I feel like I could have insisted, but surprisingly I was indifferent. I agreed to go back to my room and deliver. So I walked back and they put me on that dang bed to monitor me and baby again. I was SO annoyed. My midwife said, “Do you feel the urge to push?” I said, “No.” 10 seconds later I yelled, “I feel the urge to push!!!!!!” My midwife said, “Okay, okay, okay!” and she started running around putting on gloves. It was funny. I pushed on that contraction and I didn’t feel very efficient. I said, “Okay…I know I wanted a water birth and now I’m not having one, but I NEVER envisioned me pushing on a bed on my back!” They said, “You can push wherever you want to!” So I got out of bed and sat on the toilet in my bathroom. My contractions were still very far apart. Pushing the baby out proved to be the most painful part for me. It was the only time I thought…”I am crazy! This kills!!!” I said, “I want to cry!” They said, “You can cry!” But most of all, 34 hours had passed and I was just plain exhausted. I thought this baby was never going to come out…I just didn’t have the energy. This was what I thought was the most amazing part of it all. My body will do what it is designed to do, regardless of whether or not I participate. My body was going to push that baby out regardless of how much sleep I didn’t get or the energy I didn’t have. I was really amazed! Still yet, I pushed with the little energy I did have. I said, “I feel like the baby is in my vagina!” Everybody laughed, “He is!”, they said. After about an hour and a half of pushing on the toilet I heard the infamous words…”Reach down and feel your baby’s head”. I felt it! They said, “Okay, you can’t birth there so walk 3 feet over here.” I walked with his little crowned head to the birth stool they had set up for me on a sheet. I sat down. One midwife supported my perineum with all her might, the other was the “catcher”. With the next contraction, his head was out. They had me pant and his little body slipped out with the same contraction. It was the greatest momentary pain—then it was gone. My doula said they left the cord attached for more blood flow. They handed him to me. I thought I was dreaming. I was elated and somewhat delirious. It had been 35 hours. Cassian (pronounced Kash-an) Glenn Mickelson was born Monday, May 11 at 8:08am. He was 7 lbs. 11 oz. and 20 and ½ inches long. DH let them cut the cord…he knew he didn’t want to.

Post-birth

They handed him to DH and attended to me and my 3rd degree tear. They numbed me and it took ½ hour to stitch me up. My midwife said she tried as hard as possible to support it, but she knew it would be challenging because my pelvis was set pretty far back so he had to come down and then forward. I also birthed with such force on the birthing stool. She thinks next time on my left side would control his descent. So much for my perineum massages. :) By this time, I was beyond exhaustion and I just wanted everyone to stop touching me. lol. After my midwife stitched me, I nursed him immediately. He latches and nurses like a champ. I thanked everyone for their participation in this event—especially my doula. I could not have done this without her. Eventually, everyone left except our favorite nurse--Phoebe. She ran a bath for me and had me get in it. She had DH wash Cash’s head and showed him how. Then she had him bring him to me and put him on my stomach in the bath. I washed the rest of him. It was so special. Then she made a bed for DH and for me and put the baby skin to skin with me and put us all to bed to sleep the afternoon away with no one bothering us. At the end of the day (well 3 days), I am so happy with how I birthed. If I knew the story beforehand, I would have done it exactly the same way. Having had this experience, I will always choose to birth naturally. And yes, I will take my Gold Star, Gold medal, and Blue Ribbon for this. :winks:

[Luna]

I guess it's about time I post my story in here. :)

I decided early on in my pregnancy I wanted a natural birth. I didn’t want drugs. I didn’t want to be “tied” to a hospital bed for hours. As the weeks progressed, I realized and made Mike realize that natural was how it was going to be, and brought up hiring a doula with him. He was reluctant the first time we discussed it, but the second time around after talking to a friend who had a less-than-ideal experience, he agreed to meet with someone my friend had talked to post-partum related to breastfeeding. Stefanie and I met and I was immediately convinced that having her with us during birth would be a good decision. I didn’t even interview anyone else.
The week of March 10th, I started feeling odd. I was dizzy and just felt “strange”. The next day after class, I took my blood pressure after running some errands and found it was high, 160/90. I didn’t call that day, but instead decided to see how I felt the next day. Not any better, I called the nurse and she instructed me to come in to get checked out. When I got there, it was 150/100, which earned me a trip to Labor and Delivery as I was swollen and there was concern I was developing pre-eclampsia. Fortunately, once I was resting, the BP went down, all the lab work looked OK and I was allowed to go home. Several days later, I went back to work with a BP monitor which after 3 hours indicated that I was running high in the blood pressure area again. That was the last day at work for my pregnancy. I was put on modified bed rest. I had to hang out at home and was allowed to go to my one class 2 times a week, but that’s it. I found that my BP would spike to 160/100 and then come back down once I was resting.
The goal at that point was to make sure baby made it to full term without complications. I knew we didn’t want a premature kiddo especially at 34 weeks, so I embraced the bed rest. Sort of. There was some complaining involved, that’s for sure. Blockbuster Online video rentals became my best friend. In my 38th week of pregnancy, the week of April 14th, I had started doing whatever I could think of to get baby to come. I walked, drank tea, hung out on a birth ball, took herbs. Nothing started labor, but I had dilated to a nice 3 cm and was 80% effaced. Cool. I went into my OB appointment on April 16th and the blood pressure was high again, 150/90. The nurse told me I’d probably end up in labor and delivery that day. When Dr. Durland came in, she told me she thought it was time to talk induction (but not for that day) and she knew that I was reluctant to do so.. She told me it could go slowly and at my pace and that Stefanie would be there and we’d make it positive and as relaxed as possible. I agreed. We were to arrive at L&D at 7:30am on the 18th. There went my plan to labor at home for as long as possible. Had I not agreed, I knew another week of appointments and worry were in my future and I figured with the crap I’d been through and the bed rest it was time and I’d waited long enough and didn’t want things to get worse.
When we left the office that day, I wasn’t sure whom I should call first. Who did we let know baby would be coming Friday or Saturday? I called Stefanie first. I asked her what plans she had on Friday, and she knew immediately we’d set a date. We discussed castor oil to get baby out. I’d heard that the stuff tasted awful. . . I had NO idea. I didn’t sleep that night. The next morning I took the castor oil and was greeted by some nice stomach cramps and diarrhea but no contractions. Bummer. That night, Mike and I ordered pizza and he went to bed early. Mike was suffering from a cold. I decided to have a beer, for the first time in 9 months. My last dinner while not a parent was beer and pizza. I was able to sleep a little as the beer relaxed me. Mike and I loaded our stuff in the car the following morning at 6 am and proceeded to First Watch for breakfast. I was told to eat a light meal, Stefanie suggested protein so I had yogurt and fruit and a muffin. I was surprised I was able to eat. We pulled up to the hospital and I just sat in the car for a few minutes. I told Mike he could go in without me and I’d just hang out in the car. My stomach was a huge knot.
We walked into the room and Stefanie was there along with a couple nurses. I was told to get undressed, while in the bathroom the soap dispenser ejected soap randomly and made me jump about 2 feet in the air. I had brought my own gown and that they’d do some monitoring until the Dr got there. Everything looked good. In fact, my BP would remain steady and low during the whole labor process. I was having light contractions on my own, and Dr. Durland came at 10:15 and broke my water. I remember the warm gush after a couple pokes inside. From then on, every time I moved, I leaked fluid. Weird. The plan was to walk in between times when I had to be monitored, so we walked. The contractions I was having before went away for the most part. Mike’s cold was getting worse and he looked and felt awful. Stefanie was there, so I wasn’t alone and we ended up sending Mike home to get some rest (there was no couch or anywhere for him to lie down in the room). By 2:30, Dr. Durland came in and I had been mulling “Pitocin” over in my head for the previous 30 minutes or so. I’d heard bad things, but we discussed starting out as lightly as possible and I agreed as it was getting late and I wasn’t super excited to be laboring through the early hours of the morning. I called Mike who got smoothies for all of us on his way back and he headed in, a little more rested than before. I was really glad he was able to rest and that I didn’t have to be alone.
When he arrived, I had started having light contractions. The pain wasn’t bad at this point, I just felt tightening in my lower back and the feeling I needed to poop. Thus began back labor. I never felt a contraction in my abdomen, it was all in my lower back, with a slight wrapping around to the front. It was not at all unlike the painful first days of my period. Back labor would mean LOTS of counter pressure and LOTS of massage in order to reduce the pain. I sat on the birth ball a lot. The bad part about the Pitocin was I lost the ability to walk the halls as they needed to monitor me constantly. I was checked an hour later and had progressed another cm. and was 90% effaced.

After this point, events get a little fuzzy. I remember the intense need to concentrate through contractions and that I needed quiet. Mike left and came back with food, which made me nauseous. I made him leave. Stefanie gave me some lavender to smell, which helped me focus again. Mike kept making remarks to make me giggle, but I just remember being annoyed that I was having to focus on anything other than my back. Our nurse switched at 7:00 (to Kelsey, and I have to admit, I was halfway expecting my stepsister to peek out from behind the curtain when I was told her name). By that point I remember I had been thinking “what have I gotten myself into” and had been thinking “DRUGS!” for a good 30 minutes as the contractions got more and more intense. I didn’t want to ask, I didn’t want them. It took a good 5-6 contractions before I was finally like “something’s got to give” as I couldn’t catch my breath. So I asked. Stefanie suggested getting in the shower, which was not allowed by Kelsey. Stefanie then suggested Stadol instead of an epidural. I remember saying “fine, just do it quickly!” Kelsey checked me and found I was 7 cm. At least it wasn’t all for nothing. The break the Stadol gave was welcome. While it didn’t last very long, the next 3 contractions were light enough that I was able to catch my breath. This was the beginning of the dreaded "transition" I'd heard so much about. Stefanie’s pretty sure that had I been allowed to labor for the next 30 minutes in the tub, I would not have needed this small amount of medication. I think she’s right.
At this point, Kelsey was unhappy with the way baby’s heartbeat looked through contractions and wanted to attach an electrode to baby’s scalp. I believe I was kneeling on the birthing ball on the bed, and refused the electrode, saying “I’ll move” instead. They raised the back of the bed up and I leaned over the back of it. It satisfied the heartbeat requirement and allowed baby to NOT have an electrode in her head. I didn’t want another wire attached to me and I didn’t want her to have the mark from being monitored. Unnecessarily. It was at this point Mike pointed out I was mooning the room and at that point modesty was out the window. I didn’t really care. Another position change to laying flat on my back was needed for checking me and I was between 8 and 9 cm. Woohoo!

[Luna]

I found my voice. I HAD to moan. I remember being alarmed at how loudly I had to moan through a contraction, feeling the vibration in my head and vibrating down my lungs seemed to make the time pass more quickly. Contractions were coming every minute or so and the back pain was so bad at this point. I remember saying “You’ve GOT to be kidding me” as one pair of contractions came back to back.

just stayed lying down, but on my side and required an immense amount of counter pressure to my low back. Mike told me later that he had his elbow supported by the entire weight of his knee pressing against my lower back. I remember he moved for a moment and a made him come back because the tightening was intense. Stefanie did this, too to give Mike a break but wasn’t as strong/powerful as he was in counter balancing the pressure in my back. There was a TON of rustling in the room, as nurses got set up for baby’s arrival. I was told the Dr. was on her way (which is a good sign, I was informed). In the commotion, there was an alarm that went off on the oxygen tank. Shrieking. Screaming. Wailing. Louder than a fire alarm, right behind my head. It was AWFUL. I was told it would last 5 seconds, but it went on and on. I was told later it lasted for longer than a minute. All of this through a contraction, which made me PANIC. I started screaming. Finally they shut it off, but that was the most intense moment for me, as I could not concentrate through the noise. I was checked about 30 mins later and was fully dilated and was told I could push. “Seriously?” I said. Then Mike’s cell phone rang. It was my mom with her impeccable timing. Mike hung up on her. I made him call her back, grabbed the phone from Mike and told her “I’m about to push” and then hung up. She has an amazing way of knowing when something is up. And she laughs now about how “off” she was for calling THEN.
Pushing. Wow. I was SO not prepared for the sheer amount of force pushing would take. I pushed through the first 2 contractions with Kelsey there, and then Dr. Durland arrived. She helped me focus where to push because I could not feel the contractions anymore. Thank God. After 3 or 4 pushes I remember asking if that was actually doing anything, because I felt no difference, but was pushing with everything I had in me. I remember them saying the head was coming down and wasn’t crowning but was RIGHT there. I remembered watching a video of this happening in a water birth (on YouTube no less), and knew that I just had to keep pushing. And push HARD. They brought a mirror over. That helped as I was able to focus on a location. After another push or 2, I could see baby’s head in the mirror. After the next push I was able to reach down and feel her head. Amazing. And then I pushed so hard I felt I was going to explode. Just when I thought it would never end, there was a TON of pressure and then burning as she crowned then extreme relief all in a blur. It happened so fast, the next thing I knew, the most beautiful sound filled the room, and I was handed a slimy, squirmy baby girl. Madilyn Helaine had arrived. April 18th, 2008 at 9:42 in the evening happens to top the category of “the most wonderful moments of my life”. I cried, I was shaking uncontrollably, the adrenaline rush I had was overwhelming but I just couldn’t let go. Madi was a healthy 7 lbs 9 oz at birth and 19 ½ inches long. I had a 2nd degree tear, partly because she came so quickly.

[teachermom]

Ah, Luna, I didn't know you were a fellow natural birth mama. You rock!

[sandersmommy]

Jessica’s Birth Story

On Monday, May 25, 2009 at 1 pm I had a midwife appointment. I was my 39 week appointment, although I was 39 weeks 4 days. Alison, my midwife came to the house like always. We did the usual appointment stuff. I weighed 120.2 pounds. I had gained 17.2 pounds so far this pregnancy. I was feeling good, but tired. Tired of people asking how I was, and if I had had you yet. For the first time I had Alison check me to see if I was dilated. I needed to know if something was happening down there! She checked and I was 5 cm. dilated! I asked her to strip my membranes, I had never been pregnant this long and I was eager to see if you were a boy or a girl and to meet you! She had me start taking black and blue cohosh and assured me that I would probably go into labor quickly and have you soon, probably the same day. The blue cohosh gave me instant, horrible heartburn. Alison said to stop taking it ASAP. I continued taking the black cohosh every ½ hour. I was feeling tired and achy, having contractions, but not strong ones. Not ones that were regular either. Within 3-4 hours of taking the cohosh I had a very severe headache and my throat was aching. I had dad call Alison about 6 pm and ask her if I should keep taking it. She advised me to stop. I took some Tylenol for the headache. Finally at about 8 pm I went to bed. I did not sleep well. Everyone in the house kept telling me that I would have the baby by morning; I knew I wasn’t in labor yet though. I just did not feel like the contractions were strong enough or regular enough to be doing anything.

I did not sleep well that night and woke up the next morning extremely tired. I kept having contractions, but they still were not regular and I could not feel the majority of them. I was feeling very frustrated. Everyone kept telling me to bounce on the birth ball and to walk. I did. It was doing nothing. I was tired. Finally I was so frustrated I cried. Daddy told me to go to the shower and relax for a while. I went to our room and took a long shower. I sat on the bedroom floor naked for a couple of hours timing the contractions I could not feel. They seemed to be coming every 4 minutes, but they were not strong. I could not even tell I was having them, unless I placed my hands on my stomach and actually concentrated. I called Alison and told her exactly what I was feeling. She came by and saw that I was very frustrated. She told me that it would be soon, according to her I just had “that look”. She told me to take a nap. She checked me again and I was still 5 cm, with bulging waters. As soon as she left I climbed into bed and slept for a couple of hours. I woke up around 4 pm and finally came out of my room. We ate supper and watched a bit of TV. I was feeling much better. You would come when you decided. It did not matter what everyone else said, and I finally got that through my head. We went to bed and I was able to get a great night’s sleep.

I woke up at 5:50 am on Wednesday, May 27 (Uncle Jesse’s birthday). I went to the bathroom. I came back to bed and at 5:54, just as I was climbing back into bed there was a small gush. I knew my water had broken. I woke up dad and at 5:56 called Alison. The boys woke up and dad woke up Aunt Christine. I sat on the bed just calmly waiting for the contractions to start and for Alison to get there. Alison came and I got into the bath tub. She listened to the heart beat and talked to me about how I was feeling. She told me that Sue would be coming to help her, but that the other woman who was going to help her was unable to come. She had me eat something since I had not eaten yet. I choose to have some applesauce. I sipped some water. I was having some contractions and knew these were real contractions, but I did not time them, it seemed irrelevant. I sat in the tub relaxing, dad was coming in and out, Alison and Sue were setting up everything they would need, and Aunt Christine was talking to them and getting organized to take some pictures. I would have a contraction and use all of my energy to concentrate on relaxing, telling myself that my body could do this and that it knew how. Alison periodically would come and kneel by the side of the tub to see how I was doing. She could tell by the way I was reacting to the contractions that things were progressing, so there was no need to check me. She told me if I felt pressure and the need to push to make sure and let her know right away. Dad would look in on me and eventually I asked him to stay by me.

After a little while longer I suddenly began to feel very nauseous and vomited. Alison and Sue both spoke about what a good sign this was and how I was almost there. Just a couple of minutes after that I told Alison that I was feeling pressure. She told me to push if I was ready. I got into a squatting position in the tub and began to push. Suddenly there was another huge gush and green liquid came out of me. Alison said, “we have green mec.” I knew that meant that you had pooped from the stress of birth. I was getting pretty nervous. I asked Alison if everything was ok and she said yes, but lets push. I started to push a bit with the next contraction. Alison got the Doppler and checked your heartbeat…It was slow, scary slow. She met my eyes and said “it is time to have this baby.” Then I started to push, as hard as I could. I knew that you needed to come out, now, even if that meant I tore because I could not be controlled with my pushing. I could feel the burn of your head and I remember telling Alison that I could not do this because I was going to tear. She said, “Kim, you have to do this, now.” I met her eyes and said “OK, Can I put my hand here and push the baby’s head down a bit.” She replied with yes, do what ever you need to. I placed my hand on the baby’s head and pushed down and also gave a huge push. Alison said the head was out, and she tried to convince the baby to turn. Evidently, though, you were pretty stubborn and it took a about a minute for her to convince you to turn to come the rest of the way out. Suddenly out you popped and she lifted you up into my arms. I had been holding myself up with my hands on the side of the tub, and later my arms and shoulders would be sore. I sat holding you, squatting in the tub. Alison and Sue encouraged me to rub you and talk to you so that you would begin to cry. You were being difficult, but eventually you cried. It felt like forever to hear that first squeak, but in reality it was only seconds. Sue said, “talk to your baby, she has heard your voice for months.” Then I remembered to look. Were you a boy or a girl?

I glanced between your legs and said, “Oh MY God, Jace it is a girl. A girl. Oh My God we had a girl.” I could not believe it was possible. I looked at dad and he was just ecstatic.

When the cord had stopped pulsing a couple of minutes later they asked who we wanted to cut the cord. I said, “get Cole.” Dad left to go get him and warned him that birth was pretty messy. He came in and was somewhat alarmed at the blood, but he took a breath and stepped forward to cut the cord. He cut, then would cut in a different spot not realizing how thick the cord was and that he would have to cut more than once in the same spot. Eventually he got it, though, and was pretty proud of himself.

They wrapped you in a warm towel and handed you to dad so that I could get out of the tub and into the bed. Dad brought you back and I began to nurse you and delivered the placenta.


Eventually we discovered that I had not torn, I did have a couple of ‘skid-marks’, but nothing major. You were a champion nurser and we were both bundled up into the bed, clean and relaxing with in just a little while.


Some facts:
Your apgars were 7 (for the one minute) and 9 (for the five minutes) because of your hesitancy to breath right away. You also had to have a tiny bit of “blow-by” oxygen after birth to help you “pink up.”

The total pushing time was 9 minutes. One minute with your head out trying to get the rest of your body out. (the longest nine minutes of my life)

The green meconium and lowered heartbeat did not end up being a cause for concern, but could have been had I not had some amazing midwifes there.

You weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces and were 20 inches long.

You were born at 7:54 am, exactly 2 hours after my water broke.

There were two bags of water. One that broke at 5:54 and the other (with the mec.) that broke while I was pushing.

I was 39 weeks 6 days pregnant at the time of your birth.

We told everyone we named you Jessica EllenMae Sanders, but right before we had to turn in the birth certificate we added to it. You are Jessica Leighla EllenMae Sanders because we love the name Leighla and had to include it. Your initials are J.L.E.M.S. Sorry.

[julie99]

So, here goes with my vbac/pit story...

I was due on June 12th and very much wanted to have a natural VBAC. Because I was delivering at a large city hospital (Denver) with an OB on site 24 hrs a day, my Drs/midwives would induce me if needed/wanted. I really didn't want to be induced, so I was fully planning on going to 42 weeks in hopes I'd go into labor naturally. On June 14 and 15th, I was having more intense BH contractions ranging from 7 - 20 minutes apart. I didn't think much of them or make a big deal to anyone around me knowing that they may or may not mean anything. I went for an ultrasound and non-stress test on June 17th, (40w5d) and discussed my intentions of doing things with the least amount of intervention and waiting it out. The dr was totally on board as long as I would come in every 48 hrs for fetal monitoring.

Then, he did the internal exam. I was 3 cm and about 50% effaced and the Dr felt the umbilical cord in front of the baby's head. His whole demeanor changed, and he was extremely concerned about a prolapsed cord (where the cord enters the birth canal before the head and once the head engages in the canal, the cord gets squished and oxygen gets cut off to the baby). So, he wanted to induce as soon as possible. Although I was bummed, I understood the small, but real, threat to my baby. So off to the hospital we went (with a quick stop at home to make sure Grandma was ok watching our 3 and 4 yr old).

We arrived at the hospital about 1:00 and I was about 4-5 cm and 70% effaced. The contractions at this point were not 'painful' but definitely were getting my attention. Even though I was in early labor, they went ahead and started me on a low dose of pit about 3pm. I was pretty anxious about this and my blood pressure shot up quite a bit. I immediately felt an increase in the intensity of the next contraction. I tried to just let go, forget about the pit, and relax. They upped the pit from 2 to 8 in the next 4 hours or so (which is not a ton... I was up to 18 with my previous children, but it was pit none the less). I sat on the birth ball (since I was attached to so many stupid monitors, I couldn't really walk anywhere) and just relaxed and concentrated on my cervix opening with every contraction. About 6:45pm, the nurse checked me at said "Wow- you’re at 8! As soon as the midwife gets here, you might start pushing!"

Although that was great news, I really wish she didn't say that. I completely lost concentration and was like, "Wow- that wasn't so hard.... now I just need to wait for the urge to push!" So the midwife shows up, she doesn't check me right away, but the nurses were changing shift at they asked me if I would mind if they stayed because I was so close. "Sure---, doesn't bother me". So the room was full of nurses /people just kind of starring at me. I felt like a watched pot. I just didn't feel this 'urge' to push that everyone talks about. After about 20 minutes, the midwife says "Julie- if you want we can break you bag of water and that might help you feel the urge to push". After thinking about it, not really wanting to have it done, but caving into the pressure of being a 'watched pot' I said ok.

So she broke my bag of water at about 7:15pm or so and said..... "Oh- there's still alot of cervix here, and you're only about 7cm. And there's meconium in the water". As you can imagine, I started to lose it. With the bag of water broke and the pit, the contractions were extremely painful. To be honest, I don't really know exactly how the next 90 minutes went. All I can remember is being in extreme pain, trying to get in different positions and not even being able to move my body because of the pain, I couldn't relax at all, and still don't remember getting this 'sudden urge to push'. At some point, I guess the midwife read my body language and checked and the baby was definitely in the birth canal and it was time to push.

I had heard so much about how this pushing phase was a welcome relief to the contractions and how many women felt that the pushing phase felt 'good' (if possible?). Well...... certainly not in my case. This was the absolute worst pain I've felt. I can't even describe it. I had all these monitors around me (because of the pit and a VBAC) and they made me so mad. The nurses kept pushing them down on my belly to keep track of the fetal heart rate and it HURT! According to my husband I about punched one of the nurses several times for trying to keep the monitors on my belly. I do remember at one point between contractions looking over at my husband saying "I'm so glad you got a vasectomy!!" I guess that got quite a few laughs from the nurses.

So after a lot of pain and screaming/yelling/grunting, I pushed my daughter out at 8:36pm- 7 pds 11 ounces and 20.5 inches long. I was so relieved to just have her out, I laid back, held her on my tummy for a bit, and just let the nurses and my DH take care of her. She had the cord wrapped around her neck 3! times and I guess the cord was abnormally long. They just kept pulling more and more of it out of me.

I delivered the placenta and then the repair work began. I tore in several places and it seemed to take the midwife forever to stitch me up...... which was in itself, very painful, too! ouch.

After everything was cleaned up, I was holding my daughter and she was so alert and awake and latched on to my breasts like a champ! Right away...... just about perfect latch. It was great. And although my vagina hurt, my throat was sore from all the yelling/grunting, and I was somewhat embarrassed at my behavior of the previous hour, I was completely happy and overall felt great. I was up and walking right away, using the bathroom, eating/drinking and nursing my baby. So different from my previous births (vaginal with an epidural and a c-section).

We left the hospital less than 24 hrs after her birth and I was apologizing to all the nurses for my behavior during the birth:laugh:! We are home now and adjusting to life with 3 kids.

Overall, I feel really good about our birth experience this time. Having experienced a vaginal with epidural birth, a cesarean birth, and a vaginal 'unmedicated' birth, I have to say , the natural one was the best overall experience........ and the MOST painful. I'm actually glad I don't have to make the decision again to have a natural birth or medicated birth (thanks to my husbands vasectomy:laugh:)[/SIZE][/SIZE]

[michimz]

Here is my story, copied from my family blog. I feel that my birth experience was very similar to the PP. From other stories I've read, unmedicated pit labor is nothing but excruciating. Well, here it is!
Born: June 15, 2009 at 3:57am
Weight: 8lbs, 2 oz
Lenght: 20.5
Hair: Black and lots of it!

As the due date, June 5, came and went, I was getting more and more anxious, and I was starting to wonder is she was ever going to come! I wanted to trust that God had a reason why he was making us wait so long, but it was getting hard.

Well, on Saturday, I found out why. Grandma and I were sitting at home, daddy was out working. I was sitting at the computer at about 1:00 when daddy called and asked me to look up an event that was going on at 2:00, something about San Miguel Tzinacapan (the village where he is from). So I tried to look it up, but I couldn't find anything on the internet, so I called the place where this was supposed to be taking place. Yep! It was true. A man named Jesse Herrera had spent 8 years in San Miguel, and was going to be doing a presentation on the traditional dances at the Mexic-Arte museum downtown. Grandma and I hurried and got ready, and we went to go see what this was all about. It was grandma, daddy, Pablo, and I. We got there a little late and as we were walking towards the presentation, Juan stopped and said, "That's me!" There on the wall was a picture of Juan when he was about 8 years old, wearing the costume of one of the traditional dances of his town, los Miguelitos. The presentation was interesting, and it was fun for Juan and Pablo to see all of the pictures. At one point during the presentation, Pablo spoke up and announced that they were from this village, and from that point on, they were the center of attention! They were like celebrities. Everybody asked them questions instead of the presenter. Afterwards, everybody wanted pictures with them, and the owner of the museum wanted their phone numbers for ideas she had about grants for purchasing costumes and other ideas. It was so special for Juan to see that picture because he doesn't have any pictures from when he was a child. It was truly a special day, and the reason why God had us wait so long! http://michelleandjuan.sampa.com/_s/a/ei/happy.gif


So anyway, later that evening, Juan went to go watch a basketball game, and Grandma and I stayed home and watched some movies. We were watching Talladega Nights when I felt some water leaking. I didn't want to get anybody excited, so I waited to see if it was the water that broke, or just something else. But it slowly kept coming, so I told my mom - but no contractions. I decided not to call Juan because I knew how anxious he would get and even though nothing was really happening. I wanted him to continue to enjoy the game. So I finished the movie, and then I took a shower, thinking it may be the last one for a while! I took my time, and did my hair and makeup. After that, I called Juan. I told him that I think my water broke, but I wasn't having contractions, so he shouldn't hurry home. He didn't listed, as I knew he wouldn't! I called the Dr. on call and she said that since I wasn't having contractions to stay home and relax and try to sleep. She said to call back after 12 hours if I didn't go into labor on my own before that. So I sat down to watch the other movie that grandma had started while I was in the shower, Don't Mess with the Zohan (some quality movie watching happened that night! haha) Juan came home with his friend who said that he was so nervous and came home as fast as he could! He was even shaking a little! I told him (again!) that I wasn't having contractions and that the Dr. said I should to go to bed. So we did. Neither of us could sleep, though. I was pretty much awake the whole night. I got up around 5am. I just couldn't sleep anymore! So grandma got up too. Daddy stayed in bed.

We decided to make breakfast, but we were out of some things, so we went to the store, first. On the way home, the Dr. called. She said that if I didn't go into labor on my own by 3:00 I was to go to the hospital to be induced at that time. So we went home and had breakfast - french toast, bacon, and fresh fruit. We got Juan up when it was ready. We decided to go to church that morning, at the church where grandma had been going to practice the piano - Manchaca United Methodist Church. There was an 11:00am service, so we went to the park to take a walk before the service, and before it got too hot. It was so hot, anyway! It was only 10:00am, and we were already dying! We walked for about an hour, and then after that, we got to the service late, which was ok because it was boring!! All the people were very nice, though! After that, we went home, got ready, and packed our bags. We went to have lunch at an asian place called Mama Fu's. I knew that they wanted me at the hospital at 3:00, but I wanted to wait till the last minute to see if she'd come on her own. Nothing.

We finished eating at 3:00 and headed over to the hospital, it was about a 45 minute drive. We got there, checked-in, and they checked me to see if my water was really broken and to see how far my cervix had progressed. The water was indeed broken, and my cervix was at 3 cm, the same as it was at my last appointment on Wednesday. Boo. So they brought me to my room, hooked up the IV, and set up the pitocin. This was around 4:00pm on Sunday. We just hung out in the room for a while. I think there was a basketball game on, so daddy was content. Lakers vs. Magic. If I'm not mistaken, this was the winning game of the season for the Lakers. Daddy was going for Magic. Amber, Pablo, and Yeshua came over for a little while. I still wasn't having any painful contractions, but I was tired, and wasn't much paying attention to what was going on in the room. I was just trying to rest because I knew I had a long night ahead of me. Around 10:00pm I started feeling uncomfortable, like period cramps. I was also pretty crabby. I didn't like the nurse, she was very pushy and very picky about that stupid heart monitor. She was always trying to encourage me to move around, but everytime I moved, even to go to the bathroom, the heart monitor would lose it's place and she would get upset. I hated being tied down, but I hated dealing with her more, so I tried to stay put as much as possible. Laying in bed was not what I had imagined for myself, but neither was the pitocin. I have no recolection of time after this point, but the pain escaleted pretty quickly. They started the pit at a 4, and the highest it got was a 9, and at one point they lowered it back down to a 5.

It's hard to describe a sequence of events at this point, I just remembergeneral things. These contractions were by far the most painful thing I have ever experience in my life. To get through them, I just had to tell myself that they wouldn't last forever and that they were bringing me closer to having my baby. I ahd to moan and groan a bit, too. Eventually, I was just saying / crying that I couldnt' do it anymore, and that I didn't want to. I fell asleep between each contraction, and I kept my eyes closed the whole time. I didn't want to look at anybody.

At one point, they check my cervix again. They didn't check regularly because of the risk of infection after the water breaks. I didn't know how long it had been, but it seemed like forever. 5 cm. What?!?! All that work and only 2 more cms, 5 left?? I felt like I couldn't go on. I had read, and they were telling me, that the hardes part was done, it goes faster after this point. I knew that, but in the moment, it doesn't feel like it. I asked for pain medication. I didn't want to hurt anymore. It felt like my insides were tearing apart. I knew, though, and tried to tell myself, that pain meds can slow things down. Juan was also telling me how much I would regret this, and how he knew I could do it. As my mom was about to call the nurse, I told here nevermind. I was going to push through. I was mostly sitting up in the bed, and laying back in between contractions. My mom and Juan were so helpful. Juan would hug me through them, and they both encouraged me with their words. I couldn't ahve done it without them.

[michimz]

After a while, the nurse came in and encouraged me - several times - to get up and stand with Juan, to get things moving faster. I knew she was right, but for some reason I resisted. I didn't want to think about anything. But eventuallyI did. I stood up with my arms around Juan like a slow dance during the contractions, then I sat down on the bed and fell asleep in between. This went of for a good while. Then, after a while of this, I found myself grunting harder with contractions, and wanting to squat and poop. So she checked me again. She said I had a lip left, which was like 1/2 cm left. She said getting on hands and knees and light "practice pushes" usually got rid of it. So I got on the bed on my hands and knees, but I was not in the mood for any practicing! i was pushing with all my might. Then the midwife came in, I was fully dialated, it was time to push.

I got back on my back with the back of the bed upright. I pushed with all my might everytime I felt the need to, but I was so exhausted that all I could think about was laying down to take a nap. That was obviously not an option. I would lay back and rest until I could muster up some energy to push, and I would give it all I had. The midwife splashed olive oil on me and that felt good. I guess she was masaging too, but I couldn't tell. I was getting very discouraged and tired. I felt like my pusher weren't getting anywhere. But somehow I kept going, and that went on for a while. Soon, everybody started getting excited, I guess they could see the head. For some reason, instead of feeling motivated by this, it scared me. I'm not sure what I was afraid of, but I was definately feeling fear. Maybe of the pain, maybe of actrally having a baby!They told me to reach down and touch her head. I didn't want to. They had to tell me several times before I actually did, and when I did, it was beautiful - a tiny, wrinkly, hairy head! I still felt like my pusher weren't going anywhere, but everybody kept saying I was so close. Finally her head came out and the midwife told me to stop pushing. I couldn't see what was going on. Then I pushed again and she was out! They put her to my chest and she was coughing up fluids. She was so beautiful! Her face was purple, and her nose was smashed from being in the birth canal. She had pooped on her way out, too. Suddenly I didn't hate the nurse anymore, and I gave her a big hug.

I found out laterthat her cord had been around her neck. The nurse could tell by the rhythm of her heartbeat. I don't know at what point she could tell, but I guess that's why she was so concerned with that stupid heart monitor! It was worth every second. The pain was terrible, and I'm still recovering, but holding her as she sleeps in my arms makes it all worth it! I love her so much!

[AnnaC]

Hayden's Birth Story.

I went into labor at 11 PM on Friday, May 30th. Thad and I were up watching a movie, and I was laying on the floor rubbing my aching back. I asked Thad to give me a back massage, and as he did I started to feel a cramp-like pain in my stomach. I was concerned for a moment that Maybe he or I had been putting too much pressure on my belly as I was laying on the floor. I asked Thad to stop, and I got up and went to the bathroom. While I was in the bathroom, I lost my mucous plug. I came out and told Thad, trying not to get too excited. I knew in my head that it could still be several days before labor actually started, but I had a feeling that this was it. We turned the movie back on, and as we were watching, I started to have contractions. They were more painful than the Braxton-Hicks contractions that I had experienced before. I started timing them, and they were coming about 10 minutes apart. When the movie ended, I decided to get some sleep, just in case I really was in labor. I went in the bedroom and laid down, but the contractions were just too distracting and painful for me to be able to get any sleep. I came back in the living room where Thad had turned on another movie (Friday is movie night for us). We watched the movie for a while, and Thad eventually fell asleep. I rested but didn’t ever go to sleep. Around 4 AM, I woke Thad up. The contractions were starting to get pretty intense, and I didn’t want to be alone. I tried eating a couple of goldfish to keep my strength up, but they just made me nauseous.



Around 5 AM, we decided to call the midwife. She was already at the hospital with another patient, so I didn’t wake her up. She advised me to take a shower to see how my labor would react. She said that if I was really in labor that the contractions would strengthen in the shower, and if I was not that they would likely stop. She said that we could come to the hospital if I felt like I needed to, but otherwise she would call me back at 7 and see how I was doing.



I got in the shower, and things definitely intensified. The contractions got more painful, and it seemed like they were only 3 or 4 minutes apart while I was in there. I didn’t have my phone in the shower, so I couldn’t say for sure, but it definitely seemed like they were coming faster. I got out of the shower and told Thad what was going on, and we decided that it was time to go to the hospital. I didn’t want to wait for things to get any worse as we had about a 30 minute drive to the hospital. I was already dreading the thought of being confined in a seat for that long, and I didn’t want to wait for the contractions to get worse.



I started getting my bag ready- I had packed it earlier, but I just had to put in a couple of last minute things like my phone, sweatpants, etc. At this point, I was feeling completely fine between contractions. It was like a race to get things packed and ready between each contraction, because once a contraction hit I was not able to move during it. I almost started to wonder between each contraction if I was actually in labor because I felt so great. But then I would get another contraction and realize, yes, I am actually in labor!!!



We got everything packed into the car and ready to go. On the way to the hospital we stopped at the Kolache Factory and got some breakfast. It seemed like Thad was inside forever! I had a couple of contractions while he was inside and I was starting to get pretty uncomfortable. The contractions were pretty painful at this point. We also called Thad’s family and my friend Tara, who was coming to take pictures.

We made it to the hospital and parked in the parking garage. We both walked all the way in, taking a skybridge over the street, taking an elevator down to the main floor, walking to another elevator and then taking that up to the correct floor. Of course we had to stop several times whenever I would have a contraction. Several people asked if I wanted a wheelchair or if I was ok. I didn’t want a wheelchair though- I wanted to walk up there by myself. And I made it! By the time we made it up to the room I got to sit on the bed for a few minutes and rest. The midwife came in and asked me some questions about how the labor was going so far. Then she said that she was going to check and see how far I was dialated. I started to get nervous. What if I was not dialated at all??? What if all of the pain sofar was for nothing??? But she checked and said I was at 5 cm! I was excited about that. If everything was going perfectly I would have expected to be at about 5 cm. That also means that we went to the hospital at the perfect time- not too early or too late.



Tara showed up around this time and started getting her camera out and taking some pictures. I was surprised at how quickly she got there. I was so glad to have her there- she is like a sister to me and it gave me peace of mind to have another person I knew there supporting me. She was also able to take some priceless photos of Hayden being born. I am so thankful to have them.

My midwife’s name was Titi. She was awesome. When I got to the hospital she listened to the baby’s heartbeat to make sure that everything was ok, and then she took me off the monitor and had me sit on the birth ball and lean over the bed. I liked that position a lot. She showed Thad how to sit behind me and rub my back whenever I had a contraction. She also told me that it was ok to push a little during each contraction if I wanted to- not pushing like I was going to actually push the baby out right then but more like working with each contraction. That actually really helped.

Titi kept encouraging me to switch positions. She would have me stand and lean over the bed, or lay on the bad, or squat on the bed. It was so awesome to have her there because I didn’t have to think about all of those details. She was the one orchestrating everything, and I just had to follow her lead.

After a couple of hours of contractions, Titi checked me again. I don’t remember how many cm I was at that point. I just remember that it hurt. I hated getting checked. That was the worst part of the entire labor. After that, she advised me to get in the bathtub for a little while. They ran the warm water, and I got in. That was wonderful. It was so relaxing. I think I almost fell asleep between contractions. I was so tired since I had not gotten any sleep the night before. It is funny though because even though I was relaxing between contractions, the contractions were getting a lot stronger. It was while I was in the tub that I was wondering if I was really going to make it. The contractions were getting really painful. Honestly, I was scared. I didn’t know how long I could handle that kind of pain. After 3 or 4 contractions, Titi came in and said that it was time for me to get out. I was enjoying the relaxing part, but I trusted her and got out. When I told her about how the contractions were intensifying, and how I was getting nervous, she said that was ok. She said it meant that I was going through transition.



I had a few more contractions on the bed, and then Titi told me to go and sit on the toilet for a few minutes. I’m not completely sure why she wanted me to do that. I don’t know if she thought I just needed a scenery change or if there was a medical reason, too. She said after a couple of contractions in the bathroom, you can come back to the bed and we will have this baby!!! I started to get a little excited. She said a couple, but I think I was on the toilet for 5 or 6 contractions. I started to get impatient, but then she said it was time to get back on the bed.

[AnnaC]

I came back out of the bathroom and got on the bed, and she said that she wanted to check one more time just to make sure I was complete before I started pushing. Honestly, that was the worst part of the entire experience. I don’t know why it hurt so bad, but it did. It felt like someone had a red-hot knife up inside of me and they were twisting it around, slicing me and burning me at the same time. And it felt like she had her fingers up there for forever!!! I screamed a little at one point, and she snapped at me and said, “Now you don’t need to scream.” That was the only time I actually screamed during the whole labor and delivery. Finally I asked her how much longer. She said, “Just two more seconds, sweetie.” Without even realizing what I was doing, I counted out loud, “One, Two.” And she kept her word- it was over by the time I was done counting. Both Titi and Thad laughed. It was funny, but it also shows how intensely focused I was and had to be by this point. The pain was so strong that all I could focus on was managing the pain and making it through. I counted as a way to tell myself that it was going to be over soon, and I could last those extra two seconds. I was also so focused on what I was doing that I had no regard for anyone else’s feelings at that point. In normal life I never would have counted out loud like that- how rude! But it didn’t even cross my mind that I might hurt Titi’s feelings until I heard both of them laughing. I was only focused on my body and doing whatever I had to to get the baby out.



It is very interesting how during labor, you return to your instincts. I am so glad that I had Thad there with me, encouraging me. I don’t think I would have made it without him. For example, during one contraction, he told me that I was doing awesome, and that the contraction was almost over. I literally clung to those words to help me make it through the contraction. Just hearing “its almost over” made me believe that it was. And if the contraction was almost over, then surely I could make it. I had him keep telling me that over and over. I’m sure he felt stupid saying “its almost over” or “you’re doing awesome” but I really needed to hear it. That is what made me believe that I could make it.

After checking me, Titi said that I was 9 ½ cm dialated, and that it was ok to start pushing. She talked me through how it would go, how I should hold my legs and to push in my bottom, etc. So I started pushing. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. I pushed for over an hour, almost 2 hours. At first, it seemed like nothing was happening. I asked Titi about it, and she said that the baby’s head was in the birth canal, and that the head needed to be compressed a little to be able to fit out. So I was pushing for quite a long time with that in mind. It was hard work. I started again to wonder if I could make it. I was praying that I would be able to do this. I could hear Thad praying for me too. I didn’t have the energy to ask Thad to say encouraging words to me, so I just started saying, “I can do this. I can do this.” Thad got the picture and started cheering me on again. I’m sure he felt silly but I needed to hear it. You know, you read about how encouragement can help someone be able to achieve something, and how saying positive words can have such an impact on things. It sounds silly sometimes. But when I was in labor, it was like my mind and body went back to their most primitive instincts, and all I needed was to hear, “You can do it.” I really can’t explain how much that helped me.



Pain medicine did cross my mind at this point, but I didn’t think about that for long either. I had come so far without meds, and I wanted to make it all the way. Plus I knew that if I was pushing already, then it was too late for an epidural anyway, so there was no point in even thinking about it.



I pushed for what seemed like forever. I kept asking Titi, “Is it supposed to take this long?” She said “Yes, you’re doing great.” She actually kept commenting during the whole labor that I was such a great patient- so calm and not freaking out. I guess that’s why she snapped at me when I screamed. She wanted me to stay calm- it helps if you are calm and relaxed.



Finally Titi said, “I can see the head!!! She started getting all excited, and so did Thad when he looked. They had wheeled in the mirror at this point, and I looked and saw about an inch of head. I was mad! I couldn’t believe they were getting all excited about one tiny little piece of head! Didn’t they know how big the head was and that I still had to push it out?!?!? I was pushing so hard at this point. I would pull my legs back and push with all of my might. Then Titi would tell me just to push a little bit harder. At first I thought she was crazy- I was pushing as hard as I could!!! But then I got honest with myself and realized that I really could give just a little bit more. So I dug deep and used all the willpower I had to push just a little bit harder. It was amazing because when I did that, Thad and Titi went crazy!!! They started freaking out like I was the most awesome person in the world. That cheering made it worth it. Each contraction, I knew I wasn’t pushing hard enough until I heard them start to cheer. And when I did push that hard, Titi said that was when I was actually making progress. So that was encouraging.



They did give me an oxygen mask at one point. The contractions were coming so fast, and I was pushing so hard, that I think I might have passed out if they had not given me the oxygen. I was only getting like 60 seconds between contractions. At first the mask was kind of scary- I get claustrophobic easily and I don’t like things over my face. But I just convinced myself that the mask was helping me, and that I could ignore it, and then I was ok.



Finally I got to the point where there was a good amount of her head out. Titi asked me if I wanted to touch it. I did, and it was awesome!!! I had been pushing so long that it didn’t really seem like I was ever going to get a baby out of all this work. But then I saw the nurse dong a bunch of stuff over in the corner. And then she wheeled in the plastic baby bed. That’s when it really hit me. I thought, “if the nurse is wheeling in the baby bed then there must really be a baby about to come out!” That’s when I started getting excited. They had the mirror up so that I could see what was going on, and with each contraction I could see more and more of her head. I started to feel what they call the “ring of fire”. I could tell that even when I stopped pushing between contractions the head was staying there. It was kind of awkward feeling. Everyone always talks about how bad it burns when the head is right there, but I didn’t think it was that bad. Yes, it stung, but compared to the contractions it was more of an uncomfortable feeling, not pain.



Finally Titi said that the next contraction was going to be the last one, and that when she told me to I was supposed to stop pushing and just breathe. So that’s what happened. About halfway through the next contraction she told me to stop. I could see in the mirror that the head was halfway out, and was about to pop out! Titi guided the head out, and then she called Thad down there to help catch her. She guided the shoulders out, too (that hurt too- almost as much as the head only quicker). Then Thad grabbed her and they both helped pull her the rest of the way out!!! It was so awesome because I got to watch in the mirror and feel her come out of my body at the same time!


After she was out, I was so exhausted that I just lay back on the bed. They laid Hayden onto my stomach and I just lay there and held her. I was too tired to even lift my head up and look at her. I tried but I could not even hold my head up! I asked Thad to hold my head up so that I could get a look at her. I think he did for a minute, but then he was busy crying and admiring her. I asked, “Is it really a girl?” Everyone laughed and Thad said, “Yes, it’s really a girl.” I don’t know why that was such a silly question- I only had one ultrasound at 18 weeks. I was so tired and so happy. I just lay back on the bed and felt her warmth on my belly. I remember I could feel her little bottom- so little and so real!


The placenta came out a few minutes later. I actually whined about it hurting for a minute, but then I realized that was nothing compared to a baby and I shut up. The placenta was a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be. That surprised me. I did tear a little bit. It was only a surface tear though, and I only needed 3 or 4 stitches.

[AnnaC]

The nurse wanted to take Hayden from me to take her weight and length, but Titi told her to wait. They cleaned her off a little and wrapped her in a blanket while she was still on my belly. That was nice. As I was laying there, I started to shake all over. It was weird feeling, very unnerving. At first I thought maybe something was wrong with me- I couldn’t stop shaking all over. Thad asked Titi about it and she said it was just from the hormones changing. The nurse brought me a warm blanket and that helped a lot. Thad also asked his dad to get some juice and he brought me a vitamin water to drink.


Hayden was so alert when she came out. Her eyes were open right away, and she was looking all around the room. One of my favorite pictures is of me holding her shortly after the birth- my eyes are closed and hers are open and looking around.


Well, that is the end of the actual birth story. Hayden Elise was born at 1:38 PM, May 31st 2008. She weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 19 ¾ inches long. We stayed in the hospital overnight, and left the next evening. Everyone was advising us to stay, but we finally got the ok from Titi to leave once she found out we were going to have help at home.



I am so glad to have had a natural childbirth. It was the hardest thing I have ever done, both mentally and physically. It was also the most rewarding. I had such a feeling of accomplishment afterward. And I received the greatest prize anyone could ever get- a beautiful child! We love her so much and are so blessed to be the parents of a beautiful, wonderful little girl.

[raspberry]

I woke up Tuesday July 1st, 2008 at 8:30 am-little did I know, that was my last day of sleeping in for a long time. I was 40 weeks and 4 days pregnant, but who’s counting. At my 39-week appointment, my midwife said I was 2-3 cm’s and fully effaced and she could feel the baby’s head. He was locked and loaded-ready to go!
My husband, Tim, was expecting to go into work late that morning, so we decided to DTD. Well, almost immediately afterward I began having period like cramps. I teased him that he better have enjoyed “it” because he had a long wait ahead of him. I was having more cramps but nothing too painful at all. I got my birthing ball out and sat on it while I talked on the phone to a friend of mine. At this point I told Tim he better not go anywhere. I thought I had plenty of time; this was my first baby after all. My bag was packed and I was all ready to go. But I knew we had a 1-hour drive ahead of us, our birthing center was an hour north of our town. Our town does have a birthing center but for better insurance coverage we had chosen a birthing center located 1 hour away. This was a bit of a concern for me, but we had talked to my midwife about the timing and when to arrive etc. I called my midwife and told her I was cramping-she told me to call her when the contractions were closer together. The plan had always been to labor at home for as long as possible.
I had taken Hypnobirthing classes offered through our birthing center and for weeks I had been listening to the “daily affirmations” (Stuart Smalley anyone?!) on CD and I found them comforting…”each contraction brings me closer to my baby” “ my baby is in the perfect position for birth” “I give my body and labor over to my baby”
While I never was able to achieve true self-hypnosis (I would either start laughing or strain to hear the drip of the faucet at the neighbors house) the CD’s did help me to relax and reassure myself that I could give birth un-medicated. At about 10:30 am I got into the pool and the water felt incredibly soothing. By now true contractions were starting-it was painful but bearable. I just kept thinking how excited I was to meet my son after 9 long months. My dear sweet husband was running around getting all our stuff into the car. Tim apparently was concerned about my water breaking in the car-something that must have concerned him in our birthing classes. He put a big plastic bag and two huge beach towels on the front seat in preparation. At 11:00 am my contractions starting coming a lot closer together-they had been about 7-10 minutes apart-now they were 4 minutes apart and gaining in intensity. I called my midwife, I was starting to get a little anxious and nervous about making the 1-hour drive. There is no way I wanted to get out of the pool and sit in the car and drive on the interstate for 1 hour. While on the phone with my midwife my contractions were now 3 minutes apart and I was having a hard time talking. I told her I didn’t think I could make it to her birthing center. I think she must have been able to tell that in my voice. She said she would meet me at the birthing center in our town, which is about 20 minutes away. I couldn’t believe my labor was happening so fast!

[raspberry]

I dreaded getting out the water and I was right-the contractions hurt more once out of the water. The car ride there was difficult, but thank God we didn’t have far to drive. During each contraction I was grabbing hold of the shoulder strap and moaning. The moaning did help. It’s funny the things you think of while in labor. I remember reading that Katie Holmes had a silent birth-or so I read in Star Magazine. Well forget that idea! The moaning felt good while having a contraction.
We arrived at the birthing center at 11:30am-since my midwife was still on route-a birthing coach (Phyllis) met us at the birthing center. I think she must have thought this was a typical first birth-we had hours to wait. Tim let her know that I was further along in my labor than she thought. I had to wait in the car while Tim and Phyllis got the room ready-turn on the A/C and start the water for the birthing tub. Finally I was in the birthing room-a nice comfy room with soft green walls. While Tim filled the tub-Phyllis helped me onto a birthing ball. Phyllis told me I was scrunching up my face too much during contractions-that it would help if she squeezed my hands. Believe it or not but it did help. During each contraction she would squeeze my hands and I was able to relax my face and concentrate on breathing. For some reason during each contraction I had a tendency to hold my breath. I knew the baby needed oxygen-but man it was hard sometimes to remember to breath. My midwife, Sam, and a birthing assistant, Nicole, arrived at noon.
Now I am normally the most modest person, in my bag I had packed a sports bra and a sarong to wear while in labor. Well, once I was in labor all modesty went out the window. When Sam asked to check me, I literally threw my clothes off. I didn’t care who saw me naked at all. It was the furthest thing from my mind. Sam checked me and asked if I had felt the urge to push? Well I did feel like I needed to pee. She said that was the pressure of the baby’s head. Sam told me I was already at 10 cm’s-I couldn’t believe it!
Tim had put my Hypnobirthing CD’s in the player and they were on repeat. It helped me so much to hear my daily affirmations. Knowing that each contraction brought me closer to meeting my son.
I still hadn’t gotten into the tub-I had spent the time waiting for Sam on the birthing ball. Knowing how good the pool had felt I was ready for the water.
But Sam said getting on the toilet would help bring the baby’s head down further. So I got onto the toilet-I sat backwards with my hips open wide.
While I was pregnant it had always been a secret fear of mine that I would labor for hours and then because of my baby’s enormous head I would require a c-section. This is what happened to my sister-in-law. There was no reason to think this, just an irrational fear. At no point during my pregnancy did my midwife tell me “your kid’s head is huge and you will need a c-section”
But during my Hypnobirthing classes-which focus on positive thinking only, I had tried to push the fear aside. The first day of Hypnobirthing class-our instructor gave us a pin to wear “Positive birth stories only-my baby is listening”
So here I sat naked on the toilet…hips open wide…resting my head on a towel on the toilet tank…moaning during contractions…my daily affirmations playing softly in the background…I asked Sam “are my hips wide enough to have my baby” she smiled and said “you were born to give birth” I felt comforted until a little voice inside my head said “your hips are as wide as Texas, girl”
Haha, I started laughing and apologized to everybody in the room for having to listen to my daily affirmations CD’s on repeat-at least the woman had a soothing voice. They assured me it was all good.
The birthing assistant Nicole was helping me to do some practice pushes. I knew it was going to be hard work-but I had yet to find out just how hard. Sam was checking the baby’s heart rate and he sounded great.
At 1:00pm it was finally time to move into the tub. The warm water felt so good! During my contractions, Tim would squeeze my hands, and in between I would rock back and forth and rotate my hips. I was picturing my baby getting into the perfect position. Sam told me to keep my hips open and allow
gravity to help out here. Sam had to put an oxygen mask on me at this point. I didn’t like it, I felt claustrophobic, but I knew the baby needed all the oxygen. I started pushing. It actually felt good to push during a contraction. It gave me something to focus on. In between I was getting my breath. Tim was on the other side of the tub holding my hands while I squatted in the tub. My hips were aching a bit, but I knew I had to keep this position.

[raspberry]

Sam was sitting on the edge of the tub with the Doppler-ready for support and guidance if needed. Nicole and Phyllis were also there for support. Phyllis asked if I wanted any video or pictures taken at this time. I said no, wait until the baby is being born. I do kind of regret that now. But at the time I was naked and moaning and I didn’t want that on video. Heck, we didn’t even videotape our wedding-so I figured why video the birth.
It was hard work pushing. A few times I screamed while pushing-it was such hard work. Sam said try low moans and groans instead, and it did help. Sam put a mirror in the tub and she and Tim could see the baby’s head. He had dark hair! It felt good knowing that I was making progress. I reached down and felt his head, but I was a little disappointed that all I felt was little bit of his head. I felt like I had pushed for so long-how much longer would I have to push? Sam kept checking the baby’s heart rate and he was doing great. During contractions I was looking at Tim and pushing with all my strength, Tim was encouraging and telling me how good I was doing. It helped so much.
Finally, during a resting time I reached down and I could feel more of his head. Yes! finally, soon he would be here. A few more pushes and his head was out. I looked down into the water and I could see his head-a full head of dark hair. Sam reached down and checked, she told me to push slowly the baby had his hand in his mouth. Of course he did-at every ultrasound he was always sucking on his hands. It was so hard to control my pushes; I wanted him out so badly. The pressure was incredible. But the water made it much more bearable. One more push and the baby turned his head and another push and he was out. I felt immediate relief! The baby slipped into the water. Tim was still supporting me, holding my hands. After 1-½ hours of pushing, in the squatting position, my legs, knees and hips were so sore. I finally relaxed and sat back in the tub, while Sam brought the baby up out of the water onto my chest. I kept saying, “he’s here, I can’t believe he’s here”. I started crying, looking at Tim, snuggling our baby. Sam wrapped a towel around the baby and put a little hat on him. The baby was facing Tim and he was looking all around. Once the cord stopped pulsating, Sam showed Tim how to cut it. My sweet baby boy had found his hand again and was sucking his hand while on my chest. I delivered my placenta. It looked different than I had imagined. Sam asked if I wanted to keep it-the look on my face said it all. I thanked the placenta for all its hard work, and that was it.

I got into bed while Nicole took the baby’s stats and cleaned him off a little bit. I had a tear that Sam had to stitch; the baby’s elbow had caused me to tear. But I didn’t even feel a thing. In fact, I felt great. I have never experienced so much love and joy in my entire life. I was finally a mother!
Tim made me a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, I hadn’t eaten anything all day long and I was starving. Nicole brought the baby to me and helped me latch him on. He found the booby and latched on right away.

Tim and I still hadn’t decided on the first name…it was between Gilbert and James. We had gone back and forth. We finally decided on Gilbert James Denton England. It’s a blend of family names. Gilbert was Tim’s grandfather; James is Tim’s middle name and Denton in memory of my mother, Denton was her maiden name.
After 5 ½ hours of labor, Gilly was born at 2:26pm July 1, 2008; he weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces and was 20 ½ inches long.
For the next 6 hours, Tim and I snuggled with our new son. At 8:30 pm that night we drove home to introduce our son to our family.



* I cannot believe my baby is 1 year old next week. Time sure flies when are you having fun!

[youngmom2008]

Well I did it!!! And it was completely not what I expected and I was extremely lucky in so many ways.

It all started Sat. July 25th. We had planned on driving out to a small mountain town for the day. My due date was July 27th, but since she was my first baby, I assumed I would be late. However, I had been cramping in my sleep all night and by 6am, I could no longer sleep through the pain. It was just enough pain to make me wonder if I was in early labor. It mostly just frustrated me because I wanted to sleep and couldn't stand the pain when laying down. I mentioned to my mother that I was in pain with contractions, but I didn't ever say "I think I'm in labor", I didn't want to make a big deal of it, if it was nothing. My mom rushed out to buy some supplies for the hospital and by about 11 we started timing contractions. I still felt like this wasn't the real deal. The contractions were manageable. I just kept walking around and around. The pain I felt was at the top of my legs, if I stretched out my legs that felt really good.

I tried my birthing ball, it just made the pain worse. So I kept walking and stretching. My mom called the hospital and they said to come in when contractions were 5 mins apart for an hour. So from about 1:30-2 they seemed to be pretty regular. Still manageable, that I didn't think this was really it! In between contractions I was fine, laughing and talking, but during I instilled a "no talking to me rule". They were painful, but nothing I couldn't deal with.

So we arrived at the hospital at 3. I was placed in a room to be checked and SURPRISE SURPRISE!!! While she was checking the nurse at first said "We will have you walk the halls for an hour" and then she felt me more and said "OMG WOW...change of plans! You are being admited right to a room, you are 7-8 cm!!" I was shocked b/c a) I wasn't in so much pain b) I had been terrified I was only going to be 1-2cm and that they would send me home and I was so tired by then. The whole way to the hospital I kept saying "i hope I dont get sent home!" Silly me. I would have had the baby on the living room floor if we had waited any longer.

So we went to the room, she put a heplock (sp?) in me, which I was fine with. I loved this nurse, she was SOOOOOOOOOOO great. Really encouraging, really nice. She asked me only once if I wanted drugs. I said no. she said "ok, you know there are other ways to labor." She kinda snuck the comment in which had me believe she is pronatural labor, but maybe was afraid to bring it up. The L&D department at this hospital is gorgegous. Full birthing suites, dimmed lighting in the halls, looks more like a hotel. They had a soaking tub I wanted to try to labor in, but first I wanted to walk the halls, since walking felt so good to me. My contractions were intense, but totally manageable and not so close together. I walked for a bit, and then decided the tub might be nice. The nurse and the dr kept making comments about how calm I was and how great I was doing. Their encouragement was really motivating.

So the dr checked me since I wanted to go in the tub. She started laughing and said "sorry, you can't. You are 9.5 cm, you will be pushing really soon" I was soooooo frickin shocked b/c I had read so many horrible things about transition and here I was in it, still smiling, talking, etc. So I went into the shower with my mom. She sprayed the water jet on the top of my legs by my vagina, because this is where all my pain was. (I just had this sensation down there that I needed to stretch and walk.) So I stood in the shower kinda marching in place, stretching, etc. The nurse was saying "I can't believe how you are taking this. you are in transition and smiling." The shower felt great. Really took away the pain during contractions.

They all really started laughing when they wanted me to come out and do some practice pushes. I said "ok but hold on" (I had to fix my hair! It was in my face :) ) So the nurse said "hold on dr. she's doing her hair" :)

I did a few practice pushes. Not feeling the urge. So I waited around a bit to feel the urge. Finally started to feel it. they raised up the back of the bed and I got on my knees, leaning against the bed, and facing the wall. The nurse was SO great, supporting me in whatever I wanted to do. So was the dr.

This is when I started losing it. :crazy: I can say this with 100% certainty. I HATE PUSHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had always read that pushing was a relief. God no, not for me, it was terrible. I felt weak, nauseous, broke out into a sweat, my body was shaking, I had the same terrible pain in the top of my legs that I can't even describe, it was almost nauseating the pain in my legs. I pushed on my knees for awhile. At this point I was SO done with this and started to feel desperate. (The nurse commented that it was like my body finally realized it had gone through transition and all the feelings were coming at once.) I either wanted to push the baby back up or just have them cut her out of me. (god a c-section never sounded so good). Hehe, I also peed a lake all over the bed, I must have forgotten to pee the last hour I was in the shower. I kept peeing and peeing and peeing.

My water hadn't broke yet and the dr. could see that the sack was bulging and blocking the baby's head from descending further. She asked if I wanted her to pop it. I said GOD YES GET HER OUT OF ME!!!!! So she popped the water, it gushed all over my leg. I wanted to try the squat bar. Haha, yeah right! I did one push on there, it was so intense I couldn't handle it. By this point I was feeling really weak up on my knees and decided to turn around and just leaned against the raised back of the bed. The dr removed the end of the bed. My mom and the nurse held up my legs. I was really losing it, I was almost crying at some points.

They kept telling me to push through the burning. It was the burning but also the pain at the top of my legs that was so difficult to handle. I couldn't concentrate on pushing with my leg pain. My mom and the nurse moved my legs around, that helped a lot. Originally, I had wanted to watch in a mirror. They kept asking me if I wanted to look, I couldnt, I said "No I dont care!" It took too much energy to open my eyes. So everyone was telling me encouraging things like "oh we see the head, she has dark hair! just a few more pushes!" etc etc. At one point, when I was out of control the nurse got in my face and said "YOU HAVE to do this" That helped so much to organize me and make me just push through and ignore the pain.

On the video you can hear me say "GET her OUT OF me!!!!" And the nurse says (not unkindly) "Well if you want her out, you have to push her out" :) I was yelling and at one point bellowed like some kind of animal and I do believe I droped the f-bomb. (which the nurse found hilarious.)

I dont know how long I pushed, I estimate an hour. Finally her whole head popped out and I have never been so relieved in my life. I was of course happy to see her, but so d*mn glad b/c I knew my pain would be over as soon as I pushed out the shoulders. They put her on my naked chest. I instantly went from pain to joy that my baby was finally in my arms. She was quite blue so they took her over to check. Which was fine with me, I needed a moment to collect myself and marvel at what I had done. The nurse said to me "wow you are really made to have babies"

I kept talking to no one in particular, "That was SO hard. I can't believe I did that!" I must have said that ad nauseum. And yay! I had no tearing, just 1 skid mark.

I have to say that I think I was extremely lucky in that my birth was SO fast. I went to the hospital at 3pm in not much pain, was already in transition and by 6:04 pm I had my baby in my arms. And I was so lucky in that I had an amazing nurse who was sooo nice and so supportive of anything I wanted to do. (The dr was great too, let me do whatever I wanted.) Everything happened the way I wanted it to. Everyone at the hospital was great. I couldn't have asked for a better experience.

oops, I think this was super long. :laugh: But I love talking about it, and my family has heard enough about it. :)

[LittleBlackBug]

That's a great story, youngmom!! So happy that it went so quick!

[PixieMomma]

WOOHOO! You rock!

[joey122]

LOVE your story! You did it! I'm so proud of you!!!

[courtneyandry]

WOWEE! AWESOME! I'm really impressed :) I hope I make it through transition in the same fashion (one can only hope! haha)

[Jaylene23]

Frankie’s Birth story took place on July 9th 2006 (I know I know it was awhile ago):

I woke up the morning of July 8th and went to the bathroom and lost what I thought to be my mucus plug, it was a golf ball sized clear ball of mucus. So I knew it would hopefully be soon that I would go into labor. I was on the schedule to go into work to be the supervisor for the 3 hour shift we had on Saturday morning but I just did not feel up to it, so I called in.
That day was pretty normal got up and got DH and DD breakfast and started the weekend laundry, even went out to do errands and grocery shopping, came home vacuumed the house (both floors including the carpeted stairs) and then took a afternoon nap with DD, woke up feeling great. Dh had to go out of town with my MIL and FIL and would be back home around 9:30 that night, so he left around 4pm so it was just DD and me. So we watched a movie and did our hair and then headed over to my mom and dad’s house to visit after our visit and dinner we headed to our favorite walking park “river front park” we had been going every night for the last 4 to 6 weeks and would just walk around their walking path for about an hour and then head home, well the park was slammed packed so DD and me headed over to another park about 5 mins away that is a very hilly park. So I strapped DD in her stroller and we went on a longer walk than usual, this walk consisting of 2 medium sized hills and 1 huge soap box derby steep hill. After our walk we drove over to 7-11 and got a SLURPEE and headed home. When we got there it was about 8:30pm so I gave DD a bath and let her watch some TV while I jumped in the shower. When I got out DH was home so we put DD to bed. We stayed up talking for a while and then got into bed around 10:30pm.
I woke up at 1:30am thinking I had peed the bed so I ran into the bathroom and sat down on the toilet the second I sat down a HUGE gush of water came out and I realized that my water had broken. So I strapped on a pad and went into the bedroom and told DH my water broke and he responded “just make sure to clean it up before you get another glass”. So I just laughed and went down stairs to call my midwives office as DH continued sleeping. The on call nurse asked if I had any contractions and I informed her that I had not and she ok I will call you back around 8am before my shift gets over and see how you are doing, if contractions have not started we will bring you and get them started. So I just got back in bed. Around 2:15am I started feeling contractions and man were they strong and long!!! They were about 1 min long but would only come very 10 mins or so. So I tried to sleep through them around 4am they just became to unbearable to sleep through so I went down stairs and turned the TV on and paced with every contractions and writing down the times. Around 5 am DH came down stairs and said what’s going on and I was like Babe I am in labor and explained to him what all had gone on and he goes then let’s get to the hospital, I wanted to wait since my labor with DD was 12 hours long and most of it was in the hospital, I just wanted to labor at home as long as possible. So he sat downstairs with me helping me time the contractions. I called my mom (also my coach and also my dad and sister would be watching DD for us) around 5:30am and told her what was going on and she said well just call me when you are going in. 15 mins later I called her back and said we are on our way to your house see you in 20. DH turned on the truck (which is lifted and did not have the baby car seat in it, I had asked him to turn on the car but no we ended up taking the truck) and put our sleeping DD in the truck he came to help hoist me into his truck.
We got to the birthing center at 6:30am and were checked in by 6:50 (by the way the check in nurse didn’t seem to think I was in labor even though I couldn’t sit from all the pressure down there and the intense contractions every 2 mins because she kept getting irritated with me because I wouldn’t sit down and focus on every word she said) the labor & delivery nurse came out and took one look at me and said skip the scale let’s get you to a room and see how far you are. Once I was changed and onto the bed my wonderful midwife came in (all the while DH and my mom are discussing what he is going to go and pick up for breakfast after they check me and tell me how far along I am) she checked me and took one look at my DH and mom and said breakfast is going to have to wait she is 10 CM and crowning it’s time to have a baby. 10 mins later at 7:05am, Francisco Adam Jr was on my chest weighing 7lbs 3 oz and was 18 ¾ inches long.
I was so happy, no tears, rips or cuts and no pain meds what so ever!!! Plus a very fast labor!!
DD was also a no tear, rip or cuts and no pain meds delivery as well, but her labor was 12 hours long so not so fast.

I didn’t even have time for an IV (oh darn)
The nurse I had spoke with when my water broke called my cell phone at 8:15am and asked how things were going and I said well I gave birth an hour ago so things are great now and she was so shocked.

[queenj919]

see, this is exactly why I want a natural birth. You remembered details after all this time!

[anonsouthernbell]

Sunday, August 16 I started to lose my mucus plug throughout the day and I had a general feeling that maybe this would soon be it. I attempted to go to sleep at a somewhat decent time as I figured that if labor did start I would need my energy, but I was so itchy from my pregnancy-induced rash that this was an impossibility. Finally, around 1:30-2:00 I decided to take a bath to get some relief. I got out of the tub around 3 and finally fell asleep right around 3:30. Around 4:20 am I woke up as I started to feel what felt like massive amounts of discharge coming out through my underwear. I realized that my water was probably breaking and quickly woke up dh. I asked him for some towels and told him what I thought was happening but he was in denial and kept on saying that it couldn’t be it. I took my temperature and it was within my normal range, my water was clear and I felt my son move and so I knew that everything was okay. I knew from my Bradley classes that it was essential for me to try and get some sleep since there was going to be a long rode ahead and I would need my energy. I was able to sleep a little here and there but between my water coming out and itchiness I kept on waking up. Whenever I went to the bathroom more fluid would come out but otherwise it was not continuous. I wondered if maybe our son’s head was blocking the rest from coming out. At 6:46 am we called my mother-in-law and let her know what was going on and she prayed over Cass and I that we would have a smooth delivery.

At this point my contractions were not regular and I still doubted whether or not they were actually contractions as I didn’t feel them in my back and they didn’t wrap around my stomach. Instead I felt them low in my pelvis and they felt more like menstrual cramps. I had had problems sleeping before this and was getting ready to take a walk to help labor progress but at 7:10 when we spoke with the midwife on call, Melissa suggested that we sleep instead of walking. Miraculously Cass and I were able to fall asleep and I would wake up about every ten minutes or so during a strong contraction. (It was great that we were able to get some extra sleep this way and that I was able to sleep right through the more “minor” contractions at this time). DH used the contraction master website to keep track and at this time my intense contractions were not regular as they varied between 7, 9, 10 and 11 minutes apart. I would wake dh up when I awoke and he would help me get through the contractions using the visualization that we had practiced. During some of the contractions I would tell him that I didn’t relax enough and I that I thought that I had fought it a little bit. He would reassure me that I was doing great. During the really tough contractions I would make horse noises as suggested in Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Childbirth. I labored for a little bit on my hands and knees over my exercise ball but mostly during this time I labored on my side on the sofa. We attempted to get a hold of our doula, Lee, but we were unable to. We called the supervisor of the program and did not receive a response from him/her either. We didn’t hear back from Lee until much later in the day and only then to find out that she didn’t get off of work until 7:30 pm. (She ended up coming to the birth center right around 9:00 when it was time to push).

My contractions started to become more regular and when I got up to go to the bathroom I had some of my bloody show. DH called Melissa and at 11:41 am we got the go ahead for me to get in the tub. During this period of time we continued to check my temperature every few hours and it continued to be normal. I don’t remember why but at some point I got out of the tub. I discovered during this time period that I liked standing and leaning over the railing during contractions. DH would come and massage my lower back, which felt great and made it easier for me to relax. My contractions were shorter in duration (from beginning to peak) but they were becoming more and more intense. Although they were not lasting a minute in length to the peak of the contraction, my midwife had told dh that we would know when it was time to go. Finally at 3:19 dh called Melissa and told her that I wanted to come in. She told him that she would get the tub ready and see us in a little while. At this point my contractions were about 3 minutes apart and lasting about 30-45 seconds. Before leaving I had an especially painful contraction for which I bent over the railing. Jake, our big black cat, was so sweet and came to check and comfort me. He circled my legs and reached up to me with his paws almost as if he was trying to take my pain away.

We got in the car about 3:40 and the trip to the birth center was awful. Being forced to sit through the contractions was the worst feeling. I kept telling dh that I was fighting the contractions to which he would just tell me to relax. I told him that I couldn’t while I was sitting in the car. At the traffic lights I begged him to let me get out of the car, but dh said no as he didn’t want me to get hurt. We finally arrived at the birth center a little after 4pm. When we started walking toward the door I became upset as I was scared that we were going to get sent home while at the same time I was scared about pushing. I told my midwife when I saw her that I was a little emotional and I cried for about a minute. She said that it was okay and gave me a hug. We went in the room and she did an internal and to my surprise I was 7 cm dilated and 90% effaced – so we were definitely staying.

It took a long time to fill up the tub in order to get it to the right temperature as the water had to be between 98 and 100 degrees. In the meantime dh was helping me get through the contractions by rubbing my back or cupping my face in his hands while tickling/rubbing my check and jaw gently. I spent this time at first sitting on a birthing ball and leaning on his lap and later standing during the contractions. We communicated really well during labor with me telling him what I needed and him meeting my needs beautifully. The nurse also gave me a great suggestion about rubbing the sides of my belly during the contractions, which gave me something to do with my hands and really helped to relax me. I finally was able to get in the tub, which I found relaxing but I kept thinking that I would feel better if I could just go to the bathroom or pass some gas. I was convinced that this was the problem.

I got out of the tub at one point to go to the bathroom and I still had pains even when I was not contracting. The midwife thought that maybe the baby was on a nerve and she suggested that I walk the hall and go up and down the stairs sideways to try and move the baby into a better position. This served to make the contractions much more intense and frequent. DH was a big help in motivating me to continue to do the stairs as well as helping me relax during the contractions. After one set he convinced me to do ½ of another set of stairs by going to the landing. I gave in and did another full set of stairs. During this time the nurses switched and when I came back up to the room I had my vitals checked. This was one of my least favorite parts during labor as I hated sitting as it was super painful. I tried to lay down and relax as Melissa would be up soon to check my dilation. This proved to be horrible as the pain of the contractions was very intense. Finally, I said can I get back in the tub because I can’t wait anymore. Melissa then came up and checked me right around 8pm and said that I was 9 ½ cm dilated. She offered to break the rest of my bag of waters. I was unsure if I wanted this done as I was afraid that it would make my contractions more intense. She said that it was whatever I wanted. I said that I would let her know. I got up to go to the bathroom while Melissa and the nurse adjusted the temperature in the tub. DH followed me into the bathroom and started to tell me to stop pushing as I was grunting on the toilet. I told him that I was trying to get the gas out. DH called Melissa over and I told her that I was 99% sure that my problem was related to gas pains to which she replied that she was 99% sure that it was related to the baby. I then got back in the tub but I didn’t have as much relief as I thought that I would have. DH continued to reassure and comfort me during this time. I kept on “telling on myself” when I would sporadically push for a second. I couldn’t help myself and I wanted to get checked to see if I was fully dilated but at the same time I didn’t want to get out and lay on the bed. When it was only DH and I in the room I yelled and said, “I want to push! I want to push!” Shortly after this point the nurse and midwife came in the room and something like a wave came over my body and I really pushed. I heard a pop and the rest of my water broke. Melissa checked the water and saw that it was full of vernix but no meconium. I started pushing around 9pm. At one point Melissa told me to push even though I did not have a contraction. I did not know anything was wrong until I heard it in dh’s voice. The baby’s heartbeat had gone down to 80 bpm. After he moved past the part in my pelvis that was constricting him his heartbeat returned to normal and he was fine.

I felt like pushing was going to go on forever and I didn’t want to push for two hours. In retrospect I should have changed positions or pushed the way that I was taught during my Bradley classes, but at the time I just wanted to push the baby out. During this time, I propped myself up on my hands and pulled my legs back. With each pushing contraction I made a conscious effort to spread my legs as far apart as possible so as to allow maximum space in my pelvis.

[anonsouthernbell]

At one point I said, “Can’t you just take this baby out?” To which Melissa replied, “that’s not what you want or you wouldn’t have chosen to give birth here.” I continued to work through my pushing contractions but I was disappointed that I did not have a break from the pain during the contractions, which made it impossible for me to fully relax. My doula, Lee, massaged my neck during this time which felt great and helped to distract me between contractions. I had heard that pushing was going to feel great, which wasn’t my experience. It did however, feel good to be able to “actively” contribute to bringing my baby out. I started to feel the ring of fire several times and I thought that I must be close. At one point my midwife told me to feel his head, which was still inside of me. That was such a neat feeling as it confirmed to me that meeting my son was just around the corner. I also knew that this was almost over as my midwife asked me to slide down to the other part of the tub. Shortly thereafter my son’s head came out and I was told to wait. I then asked if I could push him out and she told me no to reach down and grab my baby. It took me a second to register what she had said and so Melissa started to grab him and I quickly took over. At 10:25 my beautiful baby boy, Matthew Isaiah was born. I will never forget how his skin felt. I didn’t know this at the time but Matthew was born compound presentation (with his right hand next to his eye). His little hand and arm actually shot out before his head did. Melissa kept on checking to see if the cord was pulsing and when it stopped dh actually surprised me by cutting the cord. I had a slight second degree tear as well as a torn labia and tear in some other part but it was all worthwhile seeing my beautiful and precious son.

[LittleBlackBug]

At around 6am on Thursday, September 17th I woke up as I couldn’t get comfortable in bed and decided that I could just nap later. Once I was up and eating breakfast I realized that it could possibly be some type of pressure wave / contraction. They were different than the type that I had had earlier in the week. These were more achy where the other ones were more wave like from top to bottom. I tried to ignore them as I knew they could mean little and there was the possibility that they could go away completely. Later in the morning when Matt woke up I mentioned that there was a little something going on, but that we shouldn’t think about it as things could change at any time. We went about our day with a walk for Dakota, our Lab Shar Pei mix and a walk to our appointment with our midwife. At our 41 week appointment we talked about the following week and the options we would have to get things moving so Baby would arrive before 42 weeks. I also told her that I was feeling something but that there wasn’t any consistency and that they were very mild. After our appointment we went home and did a few things before heading off to Costco to pick up some items we needed before Baby arrived. The trip was fairly uneventful with the exception of some more pressure waves / contractions and my body deciding that it needed to clean itself out. I also enjoyed the samples that they had throughout the store. We went back home where we had some lunch and the pressure waves / contractions continued. They had a little more intensity but were still quite inconsistent. I would lay down on the couch to rest and get comfortable and started doing some word finds to keep my mind off things. At around 4pm Matt called our midwife to let her know things were starting to get regular with pressure waves being between 3 and 9 minutes apart and 15 – 30 seconds long. They would increase and decrease in time between pressure waves. I also had the awesome time of throwing up at one point, something my midwife told me meant 1 centimeter of dilation, a good thing in my mind, but not fun. Our midwife suggested taking a nap and resting as I would need the energy later and she also told us to call once things were closer together, more like 5 minutes or less apart and 45 – 90 seconds long. By 7 or 7:30pm the pressure waves were coming more and more regularly but were still only 30 seconds long. I was starting to wonder how I would ever make it through the birthing if it were to go for several more hours with the same spacing in time. We had studied Hypnobabies birthing for the last half of the pregnancy with both me and Matt studying the materials. Thankfully Matt was with me as his birth partner portion was extremely helpful as it allowed me to breathe through the pressure waves / contractions. When he would step away I could feel the pain and pressure, but if he was there it was so much better. The pressure waves / contractions were about 1 – 2 minutes apart at this point, close enough that I was having a hard time resting between them. I was also starting to wonder how women ever made it through labor when things were happening like they were but only longer. I kept telling Matt that it felt like I had to take a poop and that there was so much pressure on my bottom. I continued to feel like I needed to push and they were pushing without my help. To this point we had none of our birthing supplies set up. I had planned to labor and birth in a birth tub, but that was still in the back yard and the hose wasn’t even close to being connected. I told Matt that we really needed to get the bed ready so that we at least had one place to birth if the tub wasn’t ready. We stripped the bead and he continued getting it ready with the shower curtains and clean sheets on top, all the while I was having pressure waves / contractions and needed him to help me through them. Our midwife called us around 8 or 8:30pm to see how things were and Matt told her that I was feeling pressure and that the pressure waves / contractions were pretty close together but not very long in duration. She told us she was headed over and would be there soon. Not long after I decided that I needed to poop again or at least had the sensation to. In my mind, I knew that the “poop” feeling was really more and could mean that baby was close, but didn’t realize how close things were. I decided to go sit on the toilet to see if I could get anything out but as I sat down I realized what the feeling was that was rubbing on the shorts I was wearing, it was my bag of water bulging out of me. I called Matt over and told him what I was feeling and he looked and saw the bag of water and the baby’s head inside of it. He also happened to be on the phone with our midwife and described what he saw. I was squatting somewhat and in one pressure wave / contraction the entire head came out. Our midwife told Matt to have me lay down and as I walked towards the bed the next pressure wave / contraction hit my water broke and Baby came shooting out and onto the floor. Matt quickly dropped the phone with our midwife on it and grabbed Baby off the floor. I turned and noticed that the umbilical cord was detached from the pressure of Baby coming out. I grabbed my bath towel off the wall and gave it to Matt as he was embracing Baby to keep it warm. I dashed to the bed where he quickly brought baby over so that I could keep Baby warm. At this point our midwife and intern midwife were pulling up to our house and came flying in. They immediately started tying off the umbilical cord and checking over baby and helping deliver the placenta (I had completely forgotten about this part!). Zi’s color wasn’t the best and our midwives decided that washing her wouldn’t be a good idea as it would lower her body temperatures. She was also given oxygen to help her out. Matt and I settled into bed with Zi wrapped up tight to keep her warm as our amazing midwives began cleaning up the bathroom and hallway. They also brought us food in bed; I can’t tell you how nice this was! We were able to stay together as a family in bed enjoying our new baby while everything else around us was being done. Our midwives decided that it would be best if they spent the night so they could check Zi’s vitals after such a tremendous delivery. They came in every hour and checked on her and at 4am noticed that her respiratory numbers were lower than where they should have been. Our midwife suggested that we go in to the hospital as she wasn’t comfortable with us being home all day if her numbers were low. Matt and I discussed it and after about an hour and the respiratory numbers still low, we decided to head in to the hospital. At 6am we headed out to Denver Health Medical Center, not the first trip we had planned for Zi, but one we thought was necessary.

[LittleBlackBug]

When we arrived at the hospital we were greeted by a quiet pediatric section with no other patients. The entire staff in the ER was so kind and gentle with Zi. They put her on the monitors and began evaluating her. Our midwife was amazing and stayed with us through the morning, helping to answer the questions they had. One of the more difficult parts was when they put an IV in her arm, including a large IV board. Matt was kind enough to stay with her as I couldn’t bear to see her go through that. Around mid afternoon they finally decided to move us up to the NICU for observation. Once up in NICU we were able to start to work on breastfeeding, something Zi seemed to be a pro with, but Mom needed a little work, especially with her nipples. With the help of nipple shields, we were able to get a successful latch and get Zi on her way to a good afternoon snack. They eventually moved us to our own room on the NICU floor and Matt and I started to settle in for what was to be a couple days of observation. At around one in the morning on Saturday one of the resident doctors came by and told us that her blood work came back with a bacteria growth and that they wanted to start a seven day antibiotic treatment. Matt was up and decided that we really didn’t have much choice as it would be difficult to get rid of without. Poor Zi was continually being poked and prodded and listened to, something that she would have liked to have done without, especially all of the monitors they had connected to her. Matt and I took turns sleeping on the pull out chair and rocking our little girl throughout the night and during the day. Thankfully on Sunday afternoon they were able to get us a room on the Mom and Baby floor where there were two beds and where Zi would be able to stay with us without being connected to any monitors. Each day was more of the same: IV’s at 1am, 9am and 5pm as well as vitals taken throughout the day and check-ups from the pediatrician and the resident doctors. My Mom was able to fly up the day after Zi was born so Matt and I were able to take a couple quick trips home to clean up and refresh without having to put Zi in the nursery. On Tuesday the pediatrician came in and told us they thought we could probably go home, but once they ran it by the infectious disease specialist, they came back and told us we had to wait out the full seven day antibiotic treatment as the specialist wanted to be sure the infection was gone. I was extremely sad that we wouldn’t be able to take our little girl home and that she would have to endure another three days of treatment, but it was what would be best for her. They originally thought the infection was Group B Strep since I hadn’t gotten tested, but once the culture grew out it was diagnosed as Enterococcus Faecalis Bacteremia, something they really have no clue about how she got it. Throughout the week the nurses kept their fingers crossed as they would run her IV, hoping that it would hold out. It was done twice in the same arm and later in the week they couldn’t get the IV in anywhere and asked if we would allow it in her head, which we were. I knew it would be easier for them to get and whatever we needed to do for Zi, we would do. Finally, finally, finally on Friday, September 25th, they gave us the all clear to head home after her last IV at 5pm. Once the last IV went through, we waited for permission to take the IV out of her head, something I don’t really care to see her go through ever again. We had them cut the tape off as it kept pulling her little hair and she kept crying. After all was calm and we were cleared, we were on our way, something a full week in the making. It was so good to be able to bring Zi back to her home where she was born a week prior, a place much calmer and comfortable compared the hospital.

All in all I wouldn’t change a thing. I loved laboring at home, being in a place where Matt and I were both comfortable. We did the research; we prepared our minds and our home. We loved our midwife and trusted her and her intern. Zi came quickly, but perfect. I’m very thankful that our midwife was concerned enough to have us head to the hospital. I’m content knowing we did what we needed to do to make sure our baby would be healthy. We don’t know what would have happened if things would have been different and we hadn’t had such a quick birth and we hadn’t gone to the hospital. Everything happens for a reason and we would do it again in a heartbeat.

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[misfit]

Aw, great story! Congrats on Baby Zi! Sorry about the trip to the hospital but it sounds like you had a great midwife.

[flatoutgallop]

:D thats such an awesome story LBB!!

[adlibby]

My new LO was born on Apr 15, 09. I did give birth in hospital (family birth center). I chose this over HB because I had had a persistant Complete Placenta Previa that only migrated off of my cervix at around 36/37 weeks and it was still pretty close (just about 3cm) so there was some risk of a PP hemorrhage.

I did not want any interventions but was unsure that I could get through it without pain meds because of my last birth (baby presented "sunny-side-up" which caused back labour). Last time I had the support of DH and he had a really hard time coping with my pain and pushed an epi as soon as he saw me suffering... The epidural certainly stopped the pain, but it made me really out of it. To this day DH has to fill in the blanks because I remember very little after receiving the epidural. I wanted so badly to remember everything about this birth.

I knew that to have the kind of birth that I wanted, I would need the positive presence of a coach that would be able to help both myself and DH through the event. Not only did DH have to watch DD, but he passes out when seeing blood and needles. So he and I both agreed that a doula would be a worthwhile expense.

My doula arrived a little after I checked in with ruptured membrane (broken water) and ctx were coming every 5-7 min. My doc met with us and agreed to no internals, only occasional fetal monitoring (external and for 5 mins at a time), no needles and no nurses.

My doula massaged my bad back and encouraged me to walk until that wasn't possible, then sit on the ball until that wasn't comfortable. I then stood and rocked during ctx until active labour began. She then helped me get into the shower to labour to about 9cm. Oh man, that was the sweetest shower I have ever had, lol. I still cannot believe how helpful the water is, I can totally see why so many mommas labour in a tub! Before we told the nurses that I was there, the doula and I experimented with a few positions before deciding that I was most comfortable lying down. So I laid down, doc came in, I pushed for two sets of three and had a beautiful baby boy and only one little tear!

Meanwhile, I felt so confident and able to handle each ctn because my doula uttered a few soft words every so often, "this is a good ctn, just imagine how it is softening your cervix and bringing your baby closer to your arms...". I used to crack jokes at that kind of stuff but after hearing it in the moment can honestly say that it was really helpful. And my DH was way happier too- he could see how much more calm and confident and focused I was. In fact things went so well that he let our two year old stay through the birth! We had agreed that they would leave as soon as it looked like the ctx were painful so that she would not see me in pain- something she would not understand. As it was, I was able to breathe through every ctn without real visible stress- the nurses and even my doula were surprised when I breathed and never screamed or even moaned. When it came time to push, everyone was so positive (a cue from doula I believe) that I heard a little echo when I stopped to rest, "Push mommy, Push!!". I was so "with it" that I even laughed!

Overall, I know that my doula was instrumental in helping to keep me focused and positive throughout the experience which in turn made it even better for my family as well.

Thanks for letting me share.

:)

[LisaJ2224]

Saeryn’s Birth Story

On Friday, December 18th, I went to work as usual. We had been walking every day, but we took that morning off. We figured we had the whole winter break to make up for it.

When I got to work, I noticed my back was bothering me a little. Nothing seriously, painful..just lower back pain. It felt like a pulled muscle in places, so I tried to figure out what had done to cause it, while also wondering if I was in early labor. It wasn’t consistent enough to think about for two long, so I stopped thinking about it and went about my day.

After work, we went to the Holiday party for work. DH was slightly crabby, so I figured it would be a good idea. I was tired, but we hung out with our co-workers until about 8:30-ish, then picked up a pizza for the older kids and went home. DH wasn’t too happy about it, because he wanted to stay a bit longer, but I really just wanted to go home. We picked up pizza for the older two kiddos, who were having friends over, and got things settled. Once they were all in their rooms, we went to bed. Since DH was a bit tipsy, and I was all for getting things going, we DTD. About 5 seconds after we finished, I felt and heard a sharp “pop”, and a gush. I thought maybe it was urine…my bladder was crazy at that point, but when I went to the bathroom, I was bleeding bright red. I had no idea that wasn’t normal and made the mistake of consulting Dr. Google, which freaked me out, and DH, too! We called my ex husband, who came over for the kids. DH called the parents of our children’s guests, who were very supportive of having EX H here. At that point, the contractions were getting intense…I knew it was the real deal at that point…no mistake. I took a shower, washed my hair, and we scrambled to repack the bag that we had slowly unpacked after our false alarm two weeks before. EX H told DH to get me outta there, because he could see I was in a nesting frenzy. Off we went.

When we got to L&D, the triage nurse was not so great. DH kept repeating that we had planned a med-free birth, and she wasn’t all that supportive. She told me my PH strip was negative for fluid and she would have to swab. She proceeded to explain to me what a speculum was (not even joking). Once she left, I begged DH to take me home. I figured I would call one of our paramedic friends if I needed to. At that point, DH knew we should stay, because he could tell I was completely irrational, but he was upset, too. When the nasty nurse came back to tell us that the only fluid present was semen, and that I was only a loose 2 cm, so only in early labor, we hoped she would send us home. At that point we had asked her to call the MW three times, and she had argued with us all three times that the MW wasn’t on call.

Finally, after they did an U/S and determined I WAS leaking fluid, they admitted me, and I was given an L&D nurse who was ok. They started my antibiotics, and I was so upset at that point that I forgot to have them do a hep lock. She agreed to let me walk and to shower if I wanted to…at that point I was exhausted, the stress of it all had slowed my contractions, so I opted to sleep. DH and I climbed into the delivery bed, which I think annoyed her, too. Once he was asleep she would ask me every so often if I needed “something”. I was really scared that they weren’t going to let me have the birth I had worked so very hard for. She left and I cried myself to sleep.

After awhile, some time later (time really does lose meaning, just like they say), I woke up in pain. At that point the contractions were every 1-4, and peaking in the 100-110 range on the monitor. I woke DH up and told him I needed him. I decided to get out of the bed and try walking. I took a contraction on my hands and knees, and a few on the ball. My nurse was going off shift and we were told the new one was coming in. She checked me before she left, at about 8:15…I was at a 3.5. By then we were tired, sore, weary, and over it. I kept telling DH that without the support of my nurse I wasn’t sure I could do it. I was getting sick in between contractions, but not vomiting because they wouldn’t let me have anything. I asked DH to tell the nurse who was leaving that I really needed a natural-friendly nurse. They assured him that we would be happy. And we were.

Nancy first came to find us in the bathroom down the hall where I had taken a few contractions on the potty. I knew this was the real deal because I needed help to get back to the room. I kept thinking I was going to pass out. DH asked Nancy if I could please have some juice, and to my surprise, for the first time, someone listened to us. She worked a miracle. I drank two or three containers of juice, which gave me the energy I needed to work. As I went into the bathroom of my room (contractions felt best sitting in there) Nancy asked DH about our birth plan. He was very wary but shared it with her, and from that moment on, we knew she was going to be our angel. I called out for DH and he came in. My water gushed and things got really intense. My body was pushing on its own at that point, and DH, having been a great Bradley student, noticed right away what was happening. I told DH I needed something to take the edge off, and he reminded me that I had worked hard to not take pain meds and look how far I had come? I kept wanting to beg. I remember that, but I couldn’t get say it…I know now that I was in transition. I went into myself at that point, and just stared through DH during contractions, which upset him a little, but I knew if I opened my mouth, it would be to ask for meds. I remembered what Tracy had taught us in Bradley class, that only had to take one contraction at a time, and that I would get to rest a bit in between. I kept thinking "just one more and I will ask for meds if it is too horrible". I took each contraction one by one like that, all the way to delivery. Also, I didn't want to be touched much or spoken to, just held. I wasn't expecting that, even though we had gone over what would likely happen in class. DH kept telling me I was doing a great job, that our baby was coming soon, and that in a few hours I would be holding her. I couldn’t answer; was afraid if I did I would ask for meds and I didn’t want them. I did the typical things women do in transition…I wanted to go home, I wanted to have the baby later, I wanted meds. At that point, Nancy came in and asked if I wanted to get into the bed to be checked, and to my great shock, it was exactly what I wanted. DH helped me take a few contractions in the bed on my side. I began to vocalize and let myself moan with the contractions, which helped, for some reason, and then Nancy checked me. I was surprised and relieved to be at a 9 and gaining. The next contraction sent me to ten, and I was ready to push. Nancy told me to do what felt good, to push to comfort. The OB on call was delivering a baby at another hospital, and at that point, we found out that our MW had never been called. Thank God my nurse and the baby’s nurse, Jo, knew what to do. I pushed for maybe 4 contractions, and it burned…they cal it a ring of fire for a reason. Now, it felt good to have something to do to help ease the intense cramping of the contractions, but I other than that, pushing didn’t feel so good…it burned. My Perineum was being supported by both nurses, but because I had two previous epis, it was rigid and wasn’t cooperating. At that point, the MW called and said she was in the parking lot…Nancy told Jo to tell her that we were having a baby. And about a minute after that, at 9:19 am, we did, with the two nurses delivering my daughter. I broke some blood vessels and had a tiny tear, but she came into the world unmedicated, as planned.
Saeryn Noelle was born, having much hair, and with the cord around her neck once. Her apgars were 9 and 9, and they handed her to me immediately. She was awake, alert, and my voice calmed her. Michael kept saying…”we did it…look what you did..she is perfect; I am so, so proud of you.” I held her for awhile while the cord stopped pulsating, and then DH cut us apart. I held her for awhile after that, just marveling at what we had done together. Barbara, my MW, got there and was appalled that no one had called and at what had happened to us on arrival…we didn’t care at that point; it was all worth it to have Nancy at the end. They suctioned the fluid and checked her out while I was delivering the placenta; I was shaking so badly I was afraid I might drop her.…then they gave her back and I held her and nursed her. They gave me the hour to bond that I requested and delayed the bath, etc., until I was ready. Michael gave Saeryn her first bath.

Going unmedicated was hard, but I would do it again…it was amazing to me that I could feel every second of it, and that I can remember every single detail. I loved the alertness of Saeryn, and how she didn’t seem sleepy like my son, and was far more alert even, than DD#1 was (no epi but did have IV meds with her). People keep asking me how I could have done it without the meds. I wish I could bottle what I felt when it was all over, or explain how much you really do forget the pain and how incredible it feels afterward, but I have a hard time finding the words and I truly believe that everyone should have the birth THEY want…and I don’t want to seem pushy or come across as being snooty...the funny thing is that I have a very low tolerance for pain and there are moments when I wonder how I did it...but I am so glad that I did. I am so grateful to my DH and to Bradley...and to Nancy, who really made all the difference.

[Sakura]

Lisa, I love this story. :wub: Beautiful story. And I love your daughter's name.

[PixieMomma]

Congratulations!!! You did wonderfully, especially with such a bad nurse to start off with. Your daughter's name is lovely, too. I love the "high" that natural childbirth gives. It can last for weeks!

[Cowgirl2213]

With the birth of my first daughter Kiara on Friday Feb 13th, 2004 I only used Nubane in the IV. I enjoyed giving birth though it was a long process since I pushed for 2 1/2 hours. My DH,Mom, MIL nad Grandma in law (who were all there) said the next time I should get the epidural.

Fast forward 2 1/2 years to June 2nd 2006. Our town was having thier Fireman's festival. My DH was at work til 10pm so I wlaked Kiara down 2 blocks to the parade route where I met up with a couple of my friends. Kiara of course had to have every piece of candy so I spent an hour and half bending over and sitting up to get said candy. At the end of the parade my friends said to call me when I went into labor. I figured it was going to be awhile I was still 5 days til my due date and I went 5 days over with Kiara. So we walk home. Kiara wanted to play a game on the computer so she sat on my lap and played we played Dora. Then I felt my first contraction at 9:00pm. At first I thought it was jsut a BH I waited til 9:45 and the contractions continued to be 5 min apart I called my midwife (who said later she didn't beleive I was in labor becasue I was talking fine) I decided to wait at home til DH got home. I called DH and he said he was going to finish his shift. I called the in laws to come watch Kiara. By the time they got there I couldn't talk through the contractions anymore. DH got home at 10:15pm then insisted he neededto shower first ( he worked at a steel mill) he showered and we left about 10:45pm. On our way there is a set of train tracks we lived in this town for 6 years and that was THE ONLY TIME I have ever seen a **** train on those tracks! We get to the hosiptal and DH lets me out at the front doors only to find out they are locked an we need to go around the back so I am trying to yell across the parking lot for him to come back and get me. We drive around the back and my Mom is waiting for me. I walk inside where they make me sit in a wheelchair I am kinda out of it by this time. The get me in the room I stand up and my water broke everywhere! I started apoligizing for making a mess. The nurse hands me a gown nad tells me to put it on in the bathroom. DH comes in to help me and while he is tying the gown while I am leanign against the wall I feel the urge to push to which I respond "not yet it can't be happening yet" I wadlle out and get in the bed and ask for the epidural (only becasue everyone said I should) they siad they needed to check me. So they do and I ask again "there's not enough time" they tell me. So I ask if I cna have nubane again they say "there's not enough time" I ask for a tylenol (at this point there are like 5 nurses in my room and the midwife) and again I hear "there's not enough time" I sit up a little and say what do you mean "there's not enough time"? The midwife looks at me and says the baby is coming now so start puching at the next contraction! In 4 pushes Serenity Rain was born wailing like a fire engine! They never even ad time to put the IV in me so my midwife made me promise to drink a lot of water.

[JeweloftheSun]

Sorry about how long and mundane this is... I didn't want to forget anything! :eyeroll:

I've had 4 hospital deliveries, 4 inductions (2 pitocin, 2 cytotec), 4 infant resuscitations, 3 intrathecals, 1 epidural, 2 vacuum extractions, 1 shoulder dystocia.
All I wanted was a natural, normal birth. Baby number 5 would be it come hell or high water.
1/29 is my girlfriends birthday, 1/31 is mine and another girlfriends daughters. On Saturday 1/30, I had plans to attend a bowling birthday party for my gf's daughter, then go out to dinner with a group of us for my and my other friends birthday.

B-day party was @ 1pm. I started contracting a bit after a couple of frames, but this was really nothing new and didn't feel much stronger than usual either. We were done with the party @ 4 pm and I was supposed to meet the girls @ 5pm so I took off to run some quick errands before my husband dropped me off. We stopped to drop off some clothes at the Goodwill, and when I got back in the van I felt a little "wetness". At first I thought, wow... that's a lot of mucous, but then it happened again. Now it was, "Did my water just break?".I told me husband, "I think my water just broke". We discussed whether we should stop at appleby's, or my mom's or just go home. Somewhere in this conversation I had a contraction that was MUCH stronger, and said yes, yes it was def. my water. We decided to stop at my mom's so I could get some pants, or a towel or something... then headed home. It was about 5 pm.

Once we got home, my husband started setting up the pool. The hot water didn't last long, so it was a process. During this time we made up the bed, I tried to help, but ctx. were picking up fairly quick and I had to stop often, although still okay between contractions. I called my mw to let her know that my water broke, I was in labor and I'd call her when I was further along. (I read on the L&D record later that this was 6:40 pm) I told her it's probably be around midnight. My shortest labor before this was 7 1/2 hours.
My husband also at some point went out to the barn and grabbed two ropes. He knotted them together, and hung them from the ceiling on a hook previously used for a johnny jumper. He also turned down the lights, and put candles around the house. I really was surprised afterwards by how awesome he did thinking about what would be calming for me as well as convienent for him (ice water in a pan for washcloths, etc).
I was mostly walking, then stopping with a contraction to sway. A couple of times I sat on my labor ball, and also kneeled on the ground with my chest on the ball, swaying. (I wish I got some pics of me in labor because when I was doing this my four year old came up and started rubbing my lower back, I’m sure it was uber cute!) At some point I found that rope, which pretty much became my post. It's right in front of our computer stand, so my bum sort of rested against the table of the stand. I would just rock back and forth against the table holding onto the rope. I told Michael to call Linda now (7:30-7:45). I'm sure right in here is when I began doing a lot of deep moaning and blowing like a horse with my mouth.

@ 8:05 (according to L&D record) my midwife AND my girlfriends I was supposed to meet for dinner showed up. I saw my friends show up but not the MW, although they had a bunch of stuff and I asked "Are you moving in?". My one friend said, "No this is your midwife's stuff, she'll be in in a minute". For some reason I thought she was lying, and I laughed. (I think I thought she was joking that they stopped at her house or something.) After the next contraction or two I saw Linda and was surprised at how she entered the house AND walked right passed me without even seeing her!
I asked her to check heart tones, which were 140’s with an accelleration right at that moment. I felt good at this point that everything was going to go great and I had nothing to worry about.
Somewhere around 8:30 ish, I told Michael he had to get the pool done b/c I was REALLY ready to get in. He added some cold water since it was about 115 degrees, and I got in. It was heaven!! (for about 5 minutes) It seemed like immediately the contractions felt soooo much better, and at this point they were pretty much right on top of eachother. I would have to guess I might have had a 15-30 second break from the end of one to the beginning of the other, at best. The water felt so warm I wanted my whole body under, but had to kind of lie down to do that. I would roll from side to side with each contraction, and probably looked like a fish flopping around in the water.
I’m thinking around 8:45 ish, I sort of lost it. My mantra quickly became “oh God, oh God, oh God”, with a little bit of “I don’t know, I don’t know” mixed in. Linda had to remind how to breathe a couple of times, which was helpful. I’m assuming around 8:50 I was able to “sleep”, for a full 2-3 minutes. Probably because of this break, when I started to move again Linda asked, “Are you going to push?”, I answered “I don’t know” and then immediately followed that up with a significant grunt. Linda asked me if I wanted to be checked, just to be sure I was complete and I said yes, although thinking back, it probably wasn’t necessary. This was my one and only vaginal exam.
Pushing felt soooo good. The pain was pretty much gone when I was pushing, until I felt the familiar burning of my perineum stretching. I reached down and felt the top of my babies head. My husband was going to “catch” so he was there too. It was soo cool, feeling the head come out just a smidgen more with every little push. When she was at a full crown, my contractions paused again. I did ask “Is that okay that it’s just kind of hanging out?” --not sure why I asked that though, I am an OB nurse and DO know it is okay… guess it just shows that the cognitive part of my brain was in the off position. With my next contraction I let go of her head and pushed, my husband supported her as she slid out and assisted her to my belly @ 8:59 pm.
She had a second of just looking around without breathing and then let out the loudest cry I’ve heard in a while. My mom started asking “what is it? Is it a girl? It’s a girl isn’t it??” After 4 boys, there wasn’t anyone in my family that was pretending they didn’t care whether it was a boy or a girl, there were a lot of fingers crossed for a girl. Michael lifted a leg and said “it’s a girl!”
I had her to breast before the 5 minute apgar. My kids were immediately around me, as excited as can be.
The cord was clamped and cut at 9:26 pm by my mom. I got out of the pool, walked to the bed and delivered the placenta in a chux pad. I then got dressed, and came back out to the livingroom to feed my little girl.
Words cannot express the joy I felt and am still feeling after my homebirth. I loved every second of it. It was so nice to not have strangers be the first people to touch my baby. It was wonderful to have the lights dimmed and candles lit. No shots, no warmers, no fetal monitoring, no vaginal exams, no being stuck in one place or one position, no pitocin during or after delivery, no iv…. Everything was so different than every other one of my deliveries, so natural and so perfect. My husband was/is as ecstatic as I am. He’s said more than once, “too bad everyone can’t experience this”.

[Luna]

wonderful story. :wub:

[LittleBlackBug]

JeweloftheSun, that is one beautiful birth story! Sounds like everyone enjoyed the awesomeness of your home birth!

[misfit]

What a great birth story!!!

[courtneyandry]

It sounds like heaven! I'm so excited you FINALLY got the birth you always wanted - and needed - So happy for you!!!

[LisaJ2224]

I love these stories. :) I am happy to say I am still on that natural high and have not had any of the PPD I had with the other two. A little weepy here and there, but nothing like last time.

Court, your story will be here soon!!!!

[Jenny0802]

At 7:00 am on Friday Feb 12, I woke up to use the bathroom. On the way there I leaked a little and wondering if I had wet my pants. I went to the bathroom and when I was done peeing, more liquid kept coming out. There was no gush, just a trickle, and then it stopped. I thought, Is this it? I was 37 weeks 6 days, so I felt a little unprepared for it to be happening so soon. I decided to go lie down for 10 minutes and then stand up again to see if there was more. I was freaking out during those 10 minutes. I was not ready. We had just been snowed in for seven days (two blizzards, 24” then 8”), so actually it was ideal. We were well rested, finally dug out, and had the rest of the weekend off. I got up again, and more fluid. So I woke DH. He was so calm. He proceeded to tell me a dream he was having about his old teacher/principal and how they were arguing about how math was not important in the real world. I was still in denial, so I wanted to wait 10 minutes again. I did, and still more fluid, so I called labor and delivery. They said to eat breakfast, take a shower, and come on in. Since I was GBS positive, I had to go to the hospital soon after my water broke to get a dose of penicillin. Staying home and laboring there was not an option after the water broke.

Well, I was still in denial, or just second guessing the fact that it had broken, because I wasn’t gushing or anything. I called L&D back and they said to put toilet paper in my underwear, walk around for 10 minutes, and see if it was wet. It was, so we proceeded to get ready to go. We hadn’t set up the car seat, I hadn’t really finished packing. It took a while to get organized, but I wasn’t having contractions, so it was not a big deal. DH got everything in the car, and we stopped outside the apartment to take my photo by the beautiful snow.

The ride there was unremarkable. I didn’t think I was having contractions, but realized later that the mild “poop” feelings were contractions. I guess I was just excited and in denial.
We parked in the “stork” parking and went up to L&D. The doctor on call checked to see if my water had broken, which it had. He declared I was 1-2cm dilated. I gushed fluid on the floor. It was gross. We were admitted around 9:30am. We got set up in a room so I could be monitored and get my first dose of penicillin. While being monitored, the nurse told me when I was having contractions, and that helped me put two and two together about what I was feeling. They reviewed our birth plan, and encouraged me to walk around a while.

By noon, I was feeling the contractions with more pain, but could walk and talk through them. DH was amazing, and helped me through each one. At this point, they were still very mild. I was getting monitored for 10 minutes every hour, and the baby was fine. DH was watching Extreme Logging while I was in bed getting monitored. What a random show.

I had my 38 week appointment with my doctor scheduled at 11am that day. He was able to come up from the clinic around noon. He wanted to check me himself. I really wanted minimal checks, so he said after this one, I could decide when to get checked. I was still only 2cm dilated. I was disappointed, but the pain was not that bad, and was still very excited that our baby was coming. Dr. E said not to expect the baby until the next morning, and went back to the clinic. He was done with clinic at 6pm, but promised to come back during the night if needed to deliver the baby. We resolved ourselves to a long day.

From noon to two was mostly boring. The contractions were getting closer together, more painful. I was learning the best way to cope with the pain, but it was still very tolerable. The best way for me was kneeling on all fours, or on my knees leaning on the yoga ball. The floor was very sandy from all the snow, so I remember that being kind of gross.

From 2pm to 4pm, things started getting serious. The contractions were painful and very close together. I looked at the clock a lot. I was losing faith that I could do it without any painkillers. I couldn’t imagine taking this type of pain until the morning, when they expected the baby to arrive. The nurse kept suggesting getting checked, which I refused. I was sure they would check me and I would be 4cm or something, and get really disappointed and frustrated. The shifts changed at 3pm, and we got a new nurse who was phenomenal. I was on all fours on the bed, trying to cope with the contractions.

Meanwhile, they were trying to do the monitoring for ten minutes or so. He said it was fine for me to be on all fours on the bed, but I think it made the monitoring hard for him. It was difficult to get those things to stick in the right place. But evidently the baby was great, so there were no concerns. The pain was really severe. There were more than a few times where I said I could not do it. If I thought DH wasn’t paying attention to me, I would shout for him. I felt like a primitive animal. I’m not sure what kinds of noises I was making, but I was definitely making sounds, although not too loud.

Finally, at 4pm, DH was getting concerned. He thought the contractions were really close together and that I should get checked. I agreed, and they paged Dr. E. I said to myself, If I am only at 4cm, I am getting the drugs. I couldn’t handle that type of pain for much longer. He came up to check me. I had to lie on my back, which was the worst thing ever, until he started checking me, which was even worse. I yelled at him, Why are you hurting me? What are you DOING to me?!? Poor man. I don’t know why I was taking it out on him. DH said later the look on the doctor’s face was priceless when he realized in four hours I had dilated from 2cm to 8.5cm. I kept saying how I couldn’t do it. The doctor said, Well, it is too late for drugs. Good! I said, Tell me it’s too late. It was easier to handle the pain when I knew I had no other options but to get it over with. Since I still had a ways to go before pushing, the doctor went back downstairs.

Well, about five minutes after the doctor left, I was ready to push. I don’t know if they ever checked me again, or just went with it and got everything ready for the delivery. DH said everything happened so fast. They paged Dr. E to get back up to L&D, they got the table ready, the set up the squat bar. I had wanted to push on my hands and knees since that was how I had been laboring, but they encouraged the squat bar, so gravity could help. It was awesome.

Everything now I remember as a blur. I pushed for about 20-25 minutes, through four or five contractions. Interestingly, after reading so much about trusting my body about when to push, I couldn’t really tell when to do it. The nurse Adam realized this and started coaching me through the contractions. I think I could only feel them when they got really intense, and definitely got the urge then, but it was very sporadic. Again, I felt like this primal animal. I was moaning and writhing over the bar. Occasionally I would lie down in between contractions to give my legs a break, but lying down kept spurring on another contraction. Lying down was the worst. The doctor told me, Jenny, you have a very small vagina, and I think I am going to have to do an episiotomy. Not a great thing to tell a laboring woman, that she has a small vagina! They brought the mirror over and I could see her head coming down. It was very white. I asked if she had hair (I really wanted her to have a full head of black hair; I’m not sure why). The doctor said, Minimal hair. I made them take the mirror away. I didn’t want to watch. I regret that now. I didn’t see her emerge and I am sad I missed that part of her delivery.

Strangely, I had read so much about one’s modesty going away. My modesty for my lower extremities was definitely gone! But I didn’t want anyone looking at my face. DH said I kept saying, Don’t look at me! The doctor had to clear aside a cervical lip (?) which hurt badly, but from then on I just pushed. I kept saying I felt like I was pooping. I thought I might throw up, but I didn’t. I think that was from pushing so hard. The nurse counted well for me. DH tried to help with counting, but he didn’t realize when I began pushing on my own, and would start counting when I had already been pushing for a while. The nurse (with much more experience) was attuned to me and was able to help me push at the right times. Finally she came out. I saw her lying there on the table with the white umbilical cord. She looked fine so they put her on my chest. It was amazing. She had blondish hair, and very little of it, and a scrunchy face. The doctor delivered the placenta soon after. It was very strange looking, and enormous! The doctor thought he might have to use Pitocin to slow the bleeding, but I guess it slowed on its own. After holding her for a few minutes, they took her to weigh and wipe down while the doctor started to repair me. He injected me with lidocane (?) to numb the area for the repair. It was a second degree tear, and it took what seemed like forever to repair. Even though he had numbed the area, it was still very uncomfortable, and I could see this weird C-shaped needle he was using. They gave her back right away with Apgars of nine.

Anna Maureen was born at 4:29 on Feb 12, 2010. Nine and a half hours of labor, only six hours with any pain. She was 20 inches and 7lb 15oz.

I am so amazed at my body’s ability. I know there is no award for doing it without medication, but I am really proud of myself. I know in my heart I would have given up and gotten the drugs if I had progressed more slowly with that amount of pain, but I think the intensity of the pain would have been less if I had progressed more slowly. So it’s hard to say what I would have done. All I know is that I did it!

[AmandaAK]

Finally getting around to posting this, though I've had it written for some time. Let me first say that I am not a writer so please excuse the sloppiness :crazy: But I so enjoyed reading other birth stories and thought I should share mine in return to hopefully impower others.

I prepared using the Hypnobabies home study course and loved it. I didn't always study every day, but I believed in what I was doing.. even if I felt dorky explaining it to others. Here goes!

Alexis Marie's Birth Story
Thursday, March 4th 11:30pm. The day before her Guess Day. DH (Brent) and I had just finished a game of backgammon when I felt my first real pressure wave. Went to bed and after an hour decided I couldn't sleep. Got up and timed them around 15mins apart and 1 min long. Around 2am I decided to hop in the shower, by now I'm pretty certain this is early labor and we'd be having the baby today. I was calm, but annoyed that I was going into labor after zero sleep.

After my shower I put my Birthing Day Affirmation script on and spent the next 2 hours pacing around the kitchen and resting on the couch. Pressure waves were strong, but bearable. At 4am I decided to go back in the shower and at 4:30 woke up Brent and told him to get ready. I stayed in the shower until he was ready and at 5:30am we left for the hospital.

The ride was not nearly as uncomfortable as I thought it would be and we were checked into the triage room around 6am. I had been listening to my Birthday day affirmation in one ear the entire time. I was still only 3cm, but 100% effaced and at 0 station. I was hoping for better. The nurse was apparently shocked when I told her I was at a 0 for pain, even after a 7min pressure wave. They called my midwife, Patti, and we decided to go ahead and admit me and I'd walk the halls to help get things going.

I spent the next 4 hours either walking the halls, in the shower, or laying perfectly still in bed while they monitored the baby and ran my IV antibiotics for gbs. By now I'm listening to my Easy First Stage over and over again on speakers. The shower's were amazing and the time went by so quickly. At 11am my midwife Patti came in to check on me. I was only 4-5cm and baby was nice and low. Again, I was hoping for better. I realized than that we might be here for a while. Pattie offered to break my water, but we declined and decided to wait a few more hours and see how things progressed.

I think we walked one more round about the maternity ward and then I was back on the bed for my second round of antibiotics. Once that was over I had to go back in the shower as my pressure waves were starting to get stronger. Our L&D nurse Rebecca was so wonderful and monitored me from in the shower so I didn't have to lay in bed.

By 1pm I could tell pressure waves were picking up. A little after 1:30 I crawled back in bed and focused on staying very calm and still. I found myself laying on my side and was really focused on my breathing, picturing my cervix as being soft and flexible. At 2pm they really started picking up and I was fighting the urge to push. In my mind I thought there was no way I could be complete (10cm) and that I still had a long way to go. Brent was so wonderful giving me my peace cues and stroking my forehead. He reminded me that I did not want drugs and that I could do this. They weren't painful so much as breathtaking and I would gasp and tense up and that made them seem painful. I wish I listened to my body and not fought the urge to push.
At 2:15 I told Brent to, "Go get Patti". He told me later that he had been timing the pressure waves and they were 2 mins apart and he was just getting ready to go get her when I said that. Apparently the nurses just outside our door thought he was nuts when he told them we were ready to have the baby now and if they could please get Patti for us. They sent in our lovely nurse who checked me after an intense pressure wave. I guess her look was priceless too and she said she'd be back with Patti. 10mins later they began wheeling everything and getting set up, at least that's what I was told. I was very centered on my body at this point and had given up fighting the urge to push. Sometime while they set up their things my water broke and I felt like a huge tital wave had exploded out of me. DH gets a kick out of this, because apprently no one remembers it like this. Honestly I thought I splashed my midwife! Thank goodness Brent was there to keep my calm and help me relax after each wave. Patti was wonderful as well and never told me to push. She just spoke softly and told me to listen to my body and do whatever felt naturally. Somewhere during all of this Brent had changed the script to "Push your Baby Out" and that's exactly what I did. Still laying on my side I lifted my upper leg and began to push. It felt wonderful! I even pushed in-between waves to help prevent tearing. I remember Patti telling me I could reach down and feel the baby's head. That was amazing! Three or Four wave later her head was out and two more after that Alexis was born! Patti never tugged her out, just allowed me to fully push her out and immediately laid her on my stomach. It wasn't until than that I opened my eyes and saw my baby girl's face for the first time. She was just perfect and the nurses allowed me to hold her skin to skin with a blanket while they did her apgar tests and cleared her nose.

We stayed that was for 45mins while I pushed out the placenta. I think that was more work than pushing Alexis out since I opted not to get the pitocin. I was very enamored with our new little one and she was so alert I had to really focus on pushing. I received a small tear in the back and 2 tiny skid marks up front that took just a few stitches.

It was the most amazing experience of my life and I wouldn't change a thing about it. Hypnobabies was phenomenal and I feel so empowered by what I've accomplished.

[AmandaAK]

Jenny you progressed like I did and I was scared to get checked, because I could not handle hearing that I wasn't 10cm yet!

[Jenny0802]

Great story! Congratulations!

[LittleBlackBug]

What a wonderful birth story Amanda!!! I felt the same way you did about Hypnobabies, it was amazing. Your new little girl is beautiful!!

[AmandaAK]

Sarah I remember reading your birth story and thinking, "okay, I could have this baby at home and it would all be just fine :laugh: You're story was amazing! Even my DH was impressed. Course he told me later wasn't sold on the hypnobabies until he saw it in action :laugh: Now he brags about it. If we ever change our minds and have another I will be using hypnobabies at home!

[misfit]

*Edited 10/31/10 with complete version*
Elliott’s Birth Story

I had been having contractions off and on, almost nightly since about 35.5 weeks. They varied in intensity, sometimes nothing more than braxton hicks contractions. I needed to make it to 36.5 weeks to have my homebirth. At 36 weeks, I was 3-4 centimeters dialated and 80% effaced. Neither of my midwife, Sheryl, and I expected to make it much longer. By the time I hit 39 weeks I was miserable, and disappointed. It was officially the longest I had ever been pregnant and I had fully expected him to arrive prior. I was 5 centimeters dialated at my 39 week appointment and so I just kept waiting.

The day before he was born I fell asleep with Sam when I put him to bed at 8pm. I was just so exhausted. When I awoke later, I moved to my own bed. I slept very lightly and every couple hours got up to use the bathroom. Every time I woke I had labor on the brain. At 4:30a on June 11, 2010 I awoke for the final time because I was uncomfortable and decided to get on the computer. As soon I sat down I decided to get something to eat and as I headed into the kitchen my first contraction hit. I grabbed a slice of bread and headed to the shower. Another contraction hit only a few minutes after the first one so I jumped out to go wake Chris up and have him time the contractions. I munched on my slice of bread while I showered, Chris recording the time each contraction started. They were 2-3 minutes apart! I had Chris bring me my phone and I immediately called Sheryl around 5am. No answer. I called our doula- no answer. 15 minutes passed and I called Sheryl again and she finally answered. She was on her way as soon as she got dressed. Since she was at home that put her at 2 hours away.

I kept trying to find comfortable positions to work through the contractions. Walking made the intensity and frequency of the contractions increase so I was most comfortable in stationary positions. I sat on the birthing ball, got on my hands and knees on the floor, hugged a pillow while kneeling on the floor, leaning on the couch cushions. I even took another shower. For awhile I leaned against Chris while propped up in bed. About 6:15am I had bloody show. Riley, our lab, needed to go stay at the clinic for boarding and the initial plan was to take her but that soon went out the window because there was no way I could sit in a car or walk much. I called a co-worker to pick her up about 6:45. My co-worker later told me that she was surprised at how “talkative” I still was. Shortly after she left, the intense rectal pressure and nausea picked up. I’m pretty sure this was transition. I decided to take another shower.

After my third shower I didn’t bother getting dressed. I laid on a towel in bed on my right side, moaning through contractions. I had words of encouragement posted throughout the house and read the one nearest my bed over and over. I kept trying to visualize riding a wave or climbing a mountain, but it got to the point that the rectal pressure was so intense I couldn’t focus. Sometimes I had to yell and sometimes just “mmmmm” was enough to get through the contraction. The nausea and pressure continued to intensify but I never vomited. Around 7:15 I kept hoping Sheryl would arrive soon as I wasn’t sure how much longer I could go. Not long before she had called to check in saying she was only an hour away. At that point some contractions were 1-2 minutes apart though some still came every 3-4 minutes. I did a couple practice pushes on my side during a couple contractions to see if the intensity let up. It did a little, but I held off on pushing. Sheryl finally arrived at 7:45 and began to set up. She checked his heart rate with the doppler when she got there and then checked me. I was complete at 10 centimeters and ready to push. I kept apologizing because nothing was really set up. Chris had started to set up the living room by putting plastic on the couches but I needed him for support so he was unable to finish.

She checked his heart rate during a contraction and then gave me the go ahead to start pushing. I don’t recall how many pushes or when I started, but it wasn’t long at all. At 8:02 my water broke and at 8:04a our baby boy entered the world! I was in shock. It was only minutes later that our doula called and Chris informed her that he had just arrived. Chris cut the cord once it stopped pulsating. We took a few pictures of him while I held him wrapped in a towel while she sutured up my second degree tear. Then I delivered the placenta at 8:15. While holding him we debated on what to name him. Then it was time for me to take my fourth shower of the morning. I was still undecided- it was initially between Elliott Kael and Jace Andrew, but then other names kept racing through my mind. I couldn’t decide! I think part of it was due to the shock. Chris finally picked- Elliott Kael Bennett.

Once I finished my shower, I got dressed and headed out to the living room to start our very first breastfeeding session. He latched on great. Sheryl commented that when she spoke with me on the phone that I was coping so well that it was hard to believe I was so close to having a baby! He was 8 lbs, 14 oz. 21.5 inches long with a head circumference of 36 centimeters. My dad and sister came up not much later with Sam just as Sheryl was leaving. Sam was unsure what to do with Elliott, but gave him two kisses and then just ignored him. He then went back downstairs with my dad and sister so we could rest. Grandma Wava stopped by to visit and then later my dad returned with my grandpa.

If the midwife would have arrived sooner, Elliott may have arrived 30-60 minutes prior to when he actually did. My active labor phase was 3.5 hours long. I also wish we would have been able to take more pictures during the labor and birth. Everything just was so fast. I loved my homebirth and would gladly do it again.

[AnnaC]

Just thought I'd add mine here too. :) The link to it anyway- I don't want to bog this thread down with all the pics.


Tristan Ezekiel's homebirth with pics:
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/forums/showthread.php?t=237401

[AmandaAK]

Awesome birth stories Katie and Anna! :wub: Makes me want to do it all over again!

[Jenny0802]

Awesome birth stories Katie and Anna! :wub: Makes me want to do it all over again!

I know, isn't it awesome!?!?! I can't WAIT to give birth again!

[PixieMomma]

Okay, he took his time, but boy does this guy know how to make an entrance!!!

At 42 weeks, 2 days pregnant, I woke at 2:49 a.m., March 12, 2011 to what was finally "real" contractions after having had weeks and weeks of painful but sporadic Braxton-Hicks. I had already cried, “Wolf,” twice from the pressure of being past my EDD. It wasn’t long before I realized the contractions were coming 3-5 minutes apart. As this didn't happen with my last birth (which had fooled my midwife into thinking I wasn't very far into labor and she actually missed the delivery), I waited a little over an hour before I was sure she should be called. In the meantime, my husband and I began to set up the birth pool and attempted to wake up our girls so they could help with the preparations. I gave my oldest daughter the camera and asked her to take pictures. As a result, several pictures of the clock were taken as well as a bowl of ice. Go figure. So I called my sister to come over to be the photographer and my oldest went back to bed.

Around 6 a.m. I got into the birth pool. The contractions seemed to be so strong that I debated getting in. I didn’t want labor to go so fast that the midwives would miss it again. But just a few minutes after I got into the water, the first of my three midwives arrived. I had been having very consistent regular and strong contractions until I got into the pool. Then, things seemed to slow down which worried me. My sister assured me that things would pick up again and that my perception of time was wonky since I was in labor anyway. And boy, did things pick up. With my previous births, I’d had some back labor. With this labor, I discovered the true meaning of back labor. It was impossibly intense.

As I was having trouble staying on top of my contractions, an interesting coping method emerged. In addition to my husband applying counter pressure to my back with his right hand, I kissed, licked and bit his left bicep and forearm. He had pretty bad morning breath at the time so I really wasn’t into kissing his mouth.

Things were getting very hard to deal with and I started feeling the need to vomit, so they gave me a bucket and I threw up all my vitamin water I’d been sipping on to stay hydrated. I did this three or four times. I absolutely hate throwing up! There were a few times that I just shivered and my teeth chattered uncontrollably. I figured I was probably in transition at the time and tried to be optimistic that soon the baby would be born.

As the moments went by, the contractions kept getting stronger and I kept thinking about how I'd been able to handle the contractions so much better with my last birth, so I felt there was definitely something different going on with this baby. After an hour or two of pretty painful back labor, I felt I needed to be checked because I just couldn't feel the baby descending or any real pressure to push. I was at 7 cm. Not bad, but there was something else that concerned the midwife. She didn't feel a smooth head. Instead, she thought she felt a mouth and nose. She thought the baby was actually trying to suck her finger through the amniotic sac, too. A face presentation.

None of the midwives had attended a face presentation birth before. They told me it was very rare. They only knew one midwife who had attended one and she had been a midwife for 30 years. I remembered seeing a picture in a book with just such a presentation so I knew it could still be done, as freaky as it looked, but I knew it was going to hurt. My fear level rose significantly. Not fearful of the pain per se, but of the possibility of having to transfer to the hospital.

I got out of the birth pool so they could do a better check to be sure of his presentation. The baby was still pretty high, so I was put on the couch into the "child's pose" yoga position to keep pressure off my cervix. Then I was to try to rotate my hips to get the baby to move around. Pillows were even stacked under my knees to try to keep my pelvis high. In the meantime, the three midwives stepped outside to call their colleagues to get other perspectives of what “tricks” they could try to get the baby to tilt his head down. When they came in, I could tell they were whispering about me. I was getting scared. I felt that a hospital transfer was imminent. I kept talking to the baby, asking him to put his head down and make it easier for me all the while rocking and rotating my hips trying to wiggle him around. Labor IN the tub was pretty bad, but OUT of it was so much worse. I kept saying such negative things like, “I’m going to die” and “I’m splitting open.” No real screaming, just a lot of whining and weeping. I just didn’t want to be in labor anymore. After several minutes of dealing with these craptastic contractions in that strange position, I was checked again. The baby’s face was still there, but my cervix was completely gone; I was fully dilated.

I heard conspiratorial whispering that made me all the more fearful of a hospital transfer. It turns out, the midwives were discussing trying the birth stool and they started setting it up for me.

I started to cry; I wanted to get back in the pool. I was just breaking down. Things weren’t going smoothly. My fears kept getting in the way. But I kept doing the rotations and I kept talking to the baby, begging him to shift into a better spot. Then I started to feel intense pressure. Suddenly, my water broke in a huge wet explosion. Imagine a water cannon. Since the birth stool was set up, the midwives attempted to get me off the couch. However, I was in the middle of a big contraction and just could not move. Soon enough, I felt my body involuntarily pushing with the contractions. It felt like the uncontrollable urge to vomit, only downward instead. I prayed that relief would be quick. I knew that all the pain would end as soon as he was born so I was really looking forward to that. It just didn’t seem to be happening fast enough for me though.

I felt myself stretch and I knew he was crowning, albeit a face first crown. “Soon,” I thought, “soon it would be over and I could rest.” I waited for another contraction to help push him out and started yelling, “Out, out, out!” The head was completely out, but his body was still in. I was getting pretty impatient. What probably only took minutes felt like eternity to me; soon enough the rest of his body slipped out of me with more water gushing behind him. He cried instantly, letting me know he was just fine.

My husband took hold of him and I managed to turn over to sit down as he was laid in my lap. I was overwhelmingly relieved as I held onto the strange new life I’d just given birth to. My husband and I finally announced the name we’d chosen (and kept secret from everyone).

Adin Tobias
Born: 3-12-2011, 8:14 a.m.
Weight: 8 lbs. 6 oz.
Length: 21 in.
Head: 14.5 in.
Gestation: 42 weeks, 2 days
Labor: 5.5 hours

And, amazingly, I didn’t even tear for which I am very thankful as I was totally expecting to, given the circumstances. It was only later, as I was visited by each of my midwives that I discovered exactly how serious the baby’s presentation was. Apparently, breech babies are easier to deliver than a facial presentation. One of the midwives said it’s almost impossible; most of the time the baby won’t descend and has to be delivered via c-section. I am very happy my body worked so well doing what it was made to do, in spite of the crazy way my son chose to be born. I’m especially thankful for the angels that watched over us the morning Adin was born.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn181/impixiethequeenofall/smAdinTobias4.jpg

[mariahpoo2]

Thank you for sharing. That was truly amazing!

[lukeskristie]

How Layden made his grand entrance...
(Born August 22,2010, EDD: September 14, 2010)



Things started probably on Friday. I had SO many errands to run that I did a lot of walking around, but felt great! It's when I got home and started cleaning that things seemed different. I kept going to the bathroom to either have very little come out or nothing at all and I felt like the baby was going to "fall out" every time. I had constant mid and lower dull back pain but was not feeling much for contractions. Anyways, I called after-hours and my midwife happened to be on-call. Told her what I was feeling and about my day and she said I could either come down to the hospital to be monitored or wait it out. I decided to stay since I was not feeling regular contractions and baby was moving as normal.



Saturday...Had the urge to clean the entire day! Things HAD to be done and I was literally on-top of everyone in the house to get cleaning. Had to have a meeting with my ex over some legal issues and was anticipating that to be stressful. It turned out to be a waste of time and irked me into an uncomfortable feeling. Shortly after arriving at home I was having irregular contractions and baby was doing the jig so thought things were fine enough to get some much needed grocery shopping done.



As the afternoon turned into evening I just was feeling "off" but since the house was not to my liking I continued to clean and pack last minute items in our hospital bag. While getting Lukas ready for bed, I suddenly realized that "off" feeling were contractions that were coming pretty regular. So at 9:10pm I started timing them and told Luke that if they were 5 minutes apart for an hour it would be time to go and see what's up. So I counted...every 5 minutes on the nose the contractions came...for the hour. At 10:20 pm I Called the after-hours and the midwife called back and asked how I felt and what I wanted to do. The contractions continued to be 5 minutes apart and I told her since we live 35 minutes away that we would come down to the hospital.After I got off the phone, I made lunch for everyone in the crock-pot, just in case I was not going to be coming home, finished up some other cleaning and decided I wanted to try to take a nap cause I was so worn-out and kinda sore. Told Luke that when they get bad enough I would know it would be time to go.



Around 1:15 am a contraction woke me out of sleep and that was that, time to go! We got dressed, got the truck packed, woke up my daughter to tell her we were leaving since she wanted to stay home and watch Lukas, woke up my other son since he wanted to come with us and we were off to the hospital....



Around 2:20, after being hooked up to the monitor, the midwife came in and checked me and I was at 3-4cm and suggested I walk for an hour an she would check me to see if there was any progress. At that time the contractions ranged from 3-8 minutes, not so regular. So we (son, husband and my very good friend Donna) walked around and around L&D for an hour. The midwife got tied up with another patient, so she would not be able to check me until 545am so we decided to walk until she was ready. Finally she came in after 6 am and I was a solid 4 with some room and asked if I wanted to leave to get breakfast and come back or stay and wait it out. We opted to stay so she set it up for me to get in a room and I sent my friend Donna home since her and Luke we going on over 24 hours no sleep (I had a little nap). I told her we would call when I got to 6 cm and she would come back.



It didn't take long to get into a room and I was having some pretty hefty contractions, but able to breathe through em. The shift change took place at 7 so the next midwife, which I liked SO MUCH BETTER than the last came in and introduced herself and decided to check me since she noticed I was having some good contractions and was handling them pretty good. She said I was at 6! So we discussed how I wanted things to go down...I requested a mirror to watch the birth and she suggested breaking my water at 8cm--which is exactly what I had told Luke I wanted her to do so this was great that we were on the same page. She noticed I didn't have the IV and was not concerned. She had her nurse go ahead and get everything ready for delivery and baby and while she was doing this the contractions started coming a little closer and a little more intense--nothing I could not handle since I was gripping the sides of the bed like I was about to break it in half. The nurse left the room to get the mirror and we sent my son to the waiting room and all of the sudden I felt something wet and thought that was weird that my water actually broke on it's own so asked Luke to check and he said it was blood and went to find the nurse while I pressed the nurse button like crazy. Both the midwife and nurse came back immediately and looked and assured me that this was normal and she said she needed to get ready now and asked if I needed to use the bathroom and I did so got a little cleaned up, walked through the contractions, they got the bed ready, had their gowns on and all the tools out and the mirror out. She said she wanted to check me and she did and I was at 8cm. We decided to wait for my friend and about 2 minutes after being checked she walked in and at 837am she broke my water and holy cow the next contraction I thought I was going to die! I immediately got sick to my stomach, and I was on fire! Someone got me some wet washcloths for my face but it was not enough. Then the next one came...whoa! I told her I was ready to push and she checked me and said I was complete and could start whenever...and one very long push, 5 minutes after she broke my water, I looked up in time from all of my screaming, into the mirror to see my son come into the world and be placed on my chest, 842am.



BTW, he had an extremely long cord and I even watched the placenta come out a few minutes later. I got the birth I wanted.

[pants]

so happy i can finally post in this tread :hooray:

I have the full birth story ready it's pretty long (about 3 pages in word). If anyone is interested Just PM me your e-mail and i'll send it to ya. :)
Micah Salvatore C****
Born into this world at home
May 25, 2011 at 4:38 a.m.
7 lbs 6 oz and 20 inches in length

I will post a lengthy birth story later. But basically as soon as I laid my head on my pillow at 10:30 last night I felt the baby make a HUGE movement down and felt a pop. IT HURT..so I got up and I didn't have a gush of water but I was leaking enough to fill a pad. Contractions started around 10:45 and they were about 5 minutes apart about 60-90 seconds in length already. I woke DH at 11:30 and told him to call the midwife. I was having lots of bloody show and my contractions were starting to get closer. By 12 they were 3 minutes apart and intense and I dry heaved a lot (I knew I was in transition already) but I knew I could do this. DH got birth pool ready. MW showed around 12:30 an checked and i Was 9 CM already!!!!! The rest of my water broke on it's own and i got into the birth tub around 1am. Labored in there until about 2. Got out and started pushing. I was complete and my body wanted to bear down. I pushed for about 2 1/2 hours and he made his entrance with me on the bed lying on my left side. DS holding my foot up, my mom and ISAIAH (because he slept through most of it) watching. Once he came out I cried. MY DH was AWESOME as a labor coach. I have a new appreciation for him and his love for me.

I'll write more details later about the entire experience as I know it will help the vbac/hbac moms. But basically to all the HBAC or VBAC momma's you will get to a point in the pushing where you start to doubt yourself. Hang on because the end is near!!! YOU CAN DO THIS...

Total labor time for me 6 hours from start to finish. HE scored an 8 on apgar and nursed well. He's sleeping. I have so much energy right now i can scream. A little sore..and i tore 1st degree

[lovely]

I'm so excited I get to post my story in here:hooray:

Kian Riley’s Birth Story- sorry it's so long.

It all started around 2pm on Thanksgiving, November 24th, 2011. We had just finished eating Thanksgiving dinner at my moms’ house. They weren’t timeable at all, but they were strong and I thought they were just strong Braxton hicks. They continued through dinner with Patrick’s parents and they were definitely getting stronger.

I texted Janna, my midwife to let her know that I was still contracting. And she was getting ready to head out to eat Thanksgiving dinner with her family, so I kept her updated. About 8pm I told her that I was still having contractions and that I would like for her to come check me on Thursday night instead of at our appointment on Saturday. She came over and told me that I was 5cm dilated. I was in shock because I was only 3cm on Monday and I didn’t really think that the contractions I were feeling were doing anything.

So between Janna, Patrick and I we decided to help get things moving along a bit and she swept my membranes. She went home and told me to call her if they started picking up and getting stronger. After about an hour I noticed that they were really starting to come more regularly and really getting stronger.

At about 11pm I started timing them and they were about 6 minutes apart and they were lasting for about a minute at least. Called and talked to Janna again at about 11:30pm and she said to time them for another 15 minutes and update her. So come midnight I called Janna back telling her that the contractions were 4.5 minutes apart and lasting anywhere between a minute and a minute and a half. She said it was time to head to the birth center. So we left the house at 12:30am and headed to the center!

We arrived at the center around 1am and Janna and the other midwife, Peggy, started getting everything ready while I chilled out and labored on the exercise ball. Around 2am Janna checked me and said that I was 6cm but could stretch to 8. Got back on the exercise ball for another hour and got checked again at 3am and was 8cm. We decided to break my water. They started filling up the tub for me to labor in and it was amazing!

By this time, I was really having to breath through the contractions. They were getting stronger and closer together. Around 3:30am I had a contraction and really felt like I needed to push, so out of the tub I went and got situated on the birth stool. Which I think is an amazing piece of equipment, haha. As the midwives were setting up everything for delivery I was standing there suffering through very very strong contractions.

Finally I got on the stool, Patrick sitting on the bed behind me and Janna on the floor in front of me putting hot compresses on me, which felt heavenly. She checked to make sure everything was where it should be and she told me to go ahead and push with my next contraction. So I did…and we could see a scalp! With the second contraction out came his head. My midwife was fabulous with coaching me through breathing through that contraction and a couple breaths and another push and out was his head. After the head, his whole body just slid out. I had no tearing and I didn't even have a ring of fire:shocker: It was truly an amazing experience and I still can't believe I did it!

Time of birth was 3:54am. His cord was 41 inches long and wrapped around his neck twice but it wasn’t a problem at all. He was 6 pounds 7.5 ounces. He is 19 ½ inches long. Head circumference is 13 inches. His apgar scores were 8-10-10, which is fantastic.

I so much in love!! And I couldn't have asked for a better experience

[Jenny0802]

On Friday, I had a serious frenzy of nesting! I cleaned the house for about four hours in the morning, got Anna from school, and played a concert in Woodbridge that night. The biggest full moon of the year was due the next evening and I hoped between that and the nesting I would go into labor soon! That morning, May 5th, 2012, I woke around 1am to use the bathroom. I felt as if I urinated in the toilet before I meant to, which was strange. My underwear was a little wet, too. I went back to bed and thought, Well, if it is my water, I’ll know soon enough, and I should try and get more sleep. Of course, I was too full of adrenaline for that to happen! I felt the baby moving all around, and then suddenly, as I was lying down, two big gushes came out, enough to wet my pants but not the bed. Exactly how labor started with Anna! I knew this was it! I banged on the floor with my heel (Greg was sleeping downstairs due to my snoring) and started getting ready. Rob, our neighbor, came over to sleep in the guest room since Anna was sleeping. He and his wife, Liz, kept Anna for the next day until Aunt Katie arrived.
We arrived at the hospital around 2am. My doctor was on a retreat for work, so we saw another. She was nice, but kept talking about, IF I go into labor, this and that, and if I don’t progress, we’ll have to use Pitocin after 6 hours. It clearly stated in my birth plan that I didn’t want any of that, so I was surprised she kept bringing it up. The six hour time frame really freaked me out. By then I was having some very mild contractions.
We got a room (luckily! They had to turn people away later that night!) and got set up. We forgot the cord blood kit, so Greg went back home to get it. I walked around a lot, squatted, swayed my hips, and tried to get the labor moving along. I was being monitored for 15 minutes of every hour, and the contractions always slowed down during the monitoring. We had the same nurse as with Anna! Kamilla was very nice and did a great job.
Meanwhile, I was very frustrated that labor seemed to be slow. I had got it in my head that this labor would be faster than Anna’s. The hours until about 5 or 6am consisted of mild intermittent contractions and me being frustrated. Then, things started picking up. I felt the pain in my back more than I remember with Anna. I was breathing and relaxing, and felt like I was doing really well. Greg was applying counter-pressure and I was figuring out what felt good and what didn’t. At this point I was mostly standing and leaning against a table during the contraction, or kneeling over my labor ball. I was in significant pain and thought I must be progressing well. They offered to check me at any point. I almost didn’t want to know. I told Greg, “When they check me, if I’m anything lower than 9cm I don’t want to know.” But then curiosity got the better of me, and I was only 5-6cm. I don’t think I’ve ever been more disappointed in my life. I just lay over my ball and wept. I’m not sure what time it was at this point. At that point it crossed my mind that the epidural would be so nice, but it really wasn’t an option. The anathesiologist had totally solidified my decision not to get one when he went on and on about spinal headaches and risks of paralysis. Anyway, I felt really defeated. The nurses kept saying,, “5cm is great! You’re halfway there!” but that is totally not true. The first couple of cm don’t count, in my view. They were very encouraging and assured me that it would go quick from here out.
So I moved to my knees, kneeling against a couch with my head and forehead on the couch. It was maybe 7 or 8am. Greg put a cold pack on my neck and a pillow under my knees. I had a lot of water and juice, and as I labored, I urinated on myself quite a bit! I couldn’t believe it. The midwife said that was the baby descending against my bladder. It was pretty funny at the time to look down and see the pillow getting soaked. Gross! Greg was holding my hands during each contraction and I was pulling against them with all my might. There was NO WAY I could relax through each contraction at this point. I was being a huge crybaby, crying between contractions and saying how I couldn’t do it, labor sucked, I was never doing this again, etc. I think since I knew that when you felt like you couldn’t go on, you were almost done… so I was projecting the feeling of not being able to go on in the hopes it meant I was almost done. If that makes sense. But as each contraction went on, I tried to remember that each one was bringing me closer to the baby, and just to take one at a time. It worked about half of the time, the other half I just cried and complained.
The midwife who was to deliver me was Col. Speers. She was great. At one point when I said I didn’t want to be doing this, she said, “Okay! Let’s all go to Dunkin’ Donuts.” Haha! She was very laid back and low key, which is exactly what I wanted. It probably turned out better that my normal doctor didn’t make it.
As I was in the throes of labor, I felt like pushing. They told me not to push (they had checked again and I was 7cm) so I used a breathing technique a doula had showed me, one long in and short bursts out. So one long breath out but in short bursts. It really worked. I still groaned and pushed from time to time, but the breathing helped control it. I’m not sure how long this went on, maybe one hour. At one point I asked if I needed to move to the bed to push, and the midwife said, “I don’t care, you can have this baby on the floor if you want!” Awesome. But I moved to the bed. They put it all the way up so it was in an L shape, and I kneeled facing the back with my butt out. I was completely naked at this point. They explained that after I had the baby, they would hand her to me between my legs.
I had read about contractions changing after transition to “pushing” contractions. I hadn’t experienced this with Anna because I think I pushed during transition with her. I just needed the pain to be over. But I was determined not to do that this time. It’s so amazing how I felt when it was time to push. Everything changed and I was calm and relaxed. The pain was basically gone. I was even laughing a little. I also didn’t want to tear again, so I wanted to push her out slowly. After the first contraction, she came out a little but slipped back in. I was upset about that. But the next one, she got out to her eyebrows. I waited with her like that for a few minutes. Then, she got out to her shoulders. They said, “She has Dad’s coloring,” and I thought, so much for ever having a baby that looks like me! Then I felt someone pulling on her. I had seen this video of a doctor pulling a baby’s head and how it can damage them, so I said, “Don’t pull on her!” and the midwife said, “You need to push this shoulder out NOW.” I wonder if they thought her collarbone might break; she was a big baby. So I pushed her out the rest of the way. Such relief!!!!! They handed her to me through my legs and she was just perfect. They helped me to turn around so I could sit on the bed. I tried to get her to nurse right away. I tried to push out the placenta but my body was done. She looked and it was just sitting in my vagina, so once I knew that I was able to just squeeze it out. I had a tiny 1st degree tear which required no stitches.
Elizabeth Kathleen, born 933am, May 5 2012, 9lb 1oz.