How do you do it? How do you start to write about one of the most empowering times of your life without cheapening it or making it seem cheesy or a fantasy and unattainable to others who will travel the same road? I’m going to try.
In retrospect, I was feeling euphoric that weekend, walking outside was nice, and checking out this lizard that was crossing my path as I went to check the mail alone made me smile in this way that I knew something was up. I wasn’t going to give into it just yet, but subconsciously I knew. On Monday, August 21st, around 2 pm I was in the kitchen making some food for Aiden and myself, I felt a gush of fluid. Luckily I had on a cloth pad as I usually do because of a bout with incontinence. I went to the bathroom and peed, came back washed my hands, prepped the food some more and it happened again.
Things started the exact same way this time as they did with my first son, only difference being it was a couple weeks earlier in pregnancy. My water broke on Tuesday morning. I woke up around 3am and felt a bit damp, but figured it was just sweat since our place is hideously hot. Around 4:30am, my husband came to bed. We talked for a few minutes and I thought I felt something. I thought maybe I was losing my plug, so I went to the washroom and realized that I was getting gushes of fluid. I really hadn’t expected things to start this way and had been taking vitamin c for most of the pregnancy to try to avoid it, but was hopeful that labour would start in a few hours.
During the day on Tuesday, I would get an occasional contraction, but never more than about 1 an hour, sometimes I wouldn’t get one for several hours. Wednesday was more of the same, although I was getting one almost every hour. There were even a few that were closer together than that. I kind of lost it on Wednesday night. Between the leaking and the fear that I was looking at a repeat cesarean because labour would never start (which I know was completely irrational, but I was tired and desperate for it to start). I lost it so bad I seriously considered going to the hospital. My husband very bluntly asked me would I rather leak or be cut open again? That quickly brought me back down.
Jack’s birth story begins with Hemi’s birth story. I have always been a fan of trusting my body, so I innately prefer a natural childbirth over a medicated childbirth. With Hemi, I did not take any natural childbirth classes or read any natural childbirth books, just the took the childbirth class suggested and read the literature supplied by my doctor… beyond that, I was just going to trust my body and the process that millions of women in time have done successfully.
This method does not work well if you want a natural childbirth in a hospital. With Hemi I arrived too early to the hospital and “failed to progress” according to their schedule. As a result of my naiveté, all my fear and self-doubt buttons were pushed. I consented to four procedures (including an epidural) before Hemi was born.
In hindsight, and after reviewing the medical literature, none of these procedures were medically necessary to producing a healthy outcome. They were just things the hospital could bill insurance for.
Well, it didn’t go quite as expected. Not quite sure what I expected, but it wasn’t this.
My first, born at 39+5weeks, was a long (35 hour), drawn-out process that involved waters breaking, contractions stopping, pitocin drips, 13 hours of hard labour, Dr talking c-section, and about a half hour of active pushing.
This one… just a wee bit different.
The prior Saturday, started feeling contractions that were rather strange. There wasn’t so much any tightening, as just a surge of energy that started in my belly, and flowed up into my sinuses making me light-headed.
That night, during my many trips to the potty, I lost my mucus plug. Figured things should really get going soon.
Not so much.
I had prodromal labor for months with him so it was nothing new when the contractions started at 8pm. I tried to sleep and for the first time they didn’t stop, but got a little stronger. I got up, took a shower and begged him to let me sleep a little. They slowed to about every 15min and I got a few (restless) hours in.
I had an appointment at 9am to strip my membranes and try to keep things going. Thankfully, by 9am, I was in hard labor. I had been sitting at 5cm for weeks so when I let her check me I was happy to find I was 7cm already!
I woke at 4am with mild cramping, went to the restroom and then back to bed. When dh’s alarm went off for him to go to work at 5, I told him I was having contractions but it was still early and sent him to work. By 6:30 they were pretty strong and I called my sis to bring me into town (we were living an hour from the birth center) I got there about 9am, my midwife checked me and I was only 3ish cm. She sent me out to go walk and get food, dh and I decided to get a hotel room so I could try to rest.
We went back at 3pm and was still only 3cm, she sent me out again. Back to the hotel room where I was in and out of the shower, sitting on the toilet, moaning pretty strongly.
At 7pm Kris thought we should head back over there, she checked me again and I was still only 3cm. She had planned on sending me out again but thought I should try getting in the tub for some pain relief (7:30pm). Within 5 min of getting in, my water broke and I was an instant 5cm.
My fraternal twin boys were born at 36.3 weeks. They weighed 5.1lbs and 4.11 lbs.
They wanted to induce me because they thought baby A wasn’t growing anymore (they were wrong, they were off by 2 lbs and he was the biggest one). I went to the hospital. They hooked up the IV. They were going to put in the cervidel (without checking me first), they opened it and as they were checking to put it in…”Oops your 3 cm already”. So they had a $900 opened cervidel they cant use. it was a teaching hospital and now that I look back things could have gone better.
I really wanted an epidural this time. I didn’t have one with my oldest son and knew what it was like to give natural child birth. I didn’t want to go through that again. They wanted to break my water at 4 cm. I told them I wanted and epi before they broke my water because I KNEW that once they did, the contractions would get horrible and I would go fast. They of course didn’t listen and told me to wait 45 min after water broke to get the epi.
So they weren’t Braxton Hicks after all!! LOL!! So it all started Sunday night, I started having “Braxton HIcks” then on Monday too. I had a doctors apt Monday afternoon and I asked my doctor to check me b/c I was now 36 weeks, she said nope, we start checking at 37 weeks and those are just braxton hicks. So I was disappointed and went home.
Over the next two days I went to work (I sit in a room with one other pregnant woman and 3 mothers) and so I shared with them each hour or so my “pressure pains” I was feeling. Everyone laughed as I kept saying I was going to go natural, and bring my make up to the hospital!! LOL!! But we all knew I still had at least 3 more weeks.
On Wednesday after lunch I began to just time my braxton hicks just to see…they were 20 minutes apart. I only timed them for about an hour because after all this was false labor. I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Then Wednesday night, I didn’t really get too much sleep, I moaned in my sleep to deal with those BH!! Thursday morning, I woke up, got in the shower was going to go to work, when “something Happened”…I was loosing my “plug”. So I decided to stay home and go into work late because I wasn’t sure what to think.
Scott didn’t wait for Jon to get home from his deployment, but I’m totally ok with that. Aside from labor taking MUCH longer than I’d expected, it was a wonderful experience that I have (mostly) only fond memories of. The length of my labor surprised me b/c my first baby arrived in just under 5 hours, but this baby took 12 1/2 hours. . . here’s my birth story though. . .
Around 7:15 the night before Easter I started having contractions, but figured they were just more braxton hicks b/c I get them ALL the time. I took my son on a walk hoping it might turn them into something more or make them go away. . . they kept building, but nothing too bad. I got my son his bath and put him to bed, got his Easter basket out, and did some laundry and dishes. I figured if I WAS in labor, I didn’t wanna come home to a stinky, dirty house.
I had been having contractions for a couple of weeks, but I refused to time them. I figure I really could care less how far apart they are unless I am in labor. At my 38 week appointment I was dilated to a 1 but still thick mucus & the baby was floating. Dr Spoon originally wanted to strip my membranes this week but couldn’t plus since it was a couple of days till Thanksgiving we both weren’t in a hurry.
39 week appointment I was dilated to a 1-2, 50 effaced & baby was at a -1/-2 station. I had my membranes stripped and… nothing happened. I walked my 1.5 miles each day & got some contractions but nothing to interesting. Dr Spoon set up my induction appointment for Wednesday 10th @ 1PM.
It was really difficult because I had a time table to have the baby. I really wanted to go into labor on my own and have the baby without medication. I knew that if I had to be induced my chances of no medical interventions would most likely not happen.
About this website
Birth is inspiring, amazing, and empowering. This website shares a collection of real natural birth experiences from you, the readers. Births the way nature intended. No pitocin. No epidural. Just the beauty (and intensity!) of the human body at work. Whether you've had one natural birth, five natural births, or are considering natural birth in the future, our hope is you will find courage and joy in these stories. Enjoy.
Recommended Reading:
 Birthing from Within: An Extra-Ordinary Guide to Childbirth Preparation |  HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method: A natural approach to a safe, easier, more comfortable birthing |
