Jaxon’s Bradley Method Birthing Center Birth
In: Birthing Center Births, Bradley Births, Change of Plans BirthsI woke up on Saturday morning (June 27th) at 5:30, having to use the bathroom, as usual. But, when I rolled over and sat up to get out of bed I got a wet surprise and thought that maybe I had peed myself since it was kind of a small gush. So I grabbed a towel out of the laundry basket and continued to the bathroom to do my business and then came back to bed. I put a towel down where it was wet and soon after I laid back down i started getting cramps down low in my belly.
My DH (Jason) got up to go to the bathroom a few minutes later and when he came back I told him that I thought I might have had an “accident” but that now I was having some weird cramping. He asked if it was my water and I told him I didn’t know, that it wasn’t like what I would have expected my water breaking to have been. I thought it was supposed to be like a flooding gush, but that I was now having the cramps.
Ruby’s Hypnobabies Birthing Center Water Birth
In: Birthing Center Births, Hypnotic Births, Water BirthsMy “guess date” was October 6th, and I expected that I would be a week late, just like I was with our son. I planned to work through the end of September. My husband Josh and I had finished our Hypnobabies course a couple of weeks earlier, and we were anxious to put the technique to work. We planned to birth with a midwife at her small one bed birth center.
On Monday (September 28th) I had some mild contractions during the work day. They felt like strong braxton hicks so I didn’t think much about it. Around seven o’clock we started timing them. They weren’t strong, but we wanted to test my husband’s iPhone contraction timing application. They were 15-30 min apart at that point.
At 8:30 I decided to do a fear clearing hypnosis session. The contractions were getting stronger, and I was starting to have flashbacks from my son’s 32 hour labor. I needed to get my fear under control. It helped a lot and I calmed down.
November 13th 2008 at 11:40 PM I gave birth to our second daughter, Isla Elizabeth. She was born at home in our family room. Once labor actually started it was only about 4 hours start to finish ! She weighed 7lb 4oz and was 21 inches long. For those unfamiliar with her name, it is pronounced EYE-la, (like Island, the S is silent) and is of Scottish origin. Her middle name is after my auntie. Here is her story.
Things started off slowly this time. I was 40weeks and 3 days pregnant and was ready to be done. After spending the evening walking with my daughter Addison on my mom’s treadmill, I had about 24 hours of pre-labor contractions… not super painful or anything but not effective and never closer than about 6 minutes apart. They produced some bloody show, and I was very excited! I thought that I would have a baby for sure by morning.
I was 20 years old when our first daughter was born. Having grown up with a mother who was a birthing coach and a childbirth educator as well as a home birther, had given me a wonderful background and shaped my ideas of how birth was supposed to work. I had known from the time I got married that when the time came, I would give birth naturally, out of hospital and I was going to allow my body to work the way it was created. To birth my child.
I had every faith that I would be successful! I saw a wonderful midwife for my prentatal care, and she helped me to acheive a healthy, low risk pregnancy in preparation for my birth. I believe that if you give your body the tools it needs to create a healthy baby and pregnancy, that you can also trust it to deliver this baby with an innate wisdom that you cannot even comprehend. This mindset has never faltered and has helped to carry me through my wonderful birth experiences.
I am so so SO happy to announce a completely drug-free VBA3C after inverted T (incision)!!
I had been having prodromal labor off and on for the last week. I was having contractions every 4 minutes Sat evening but they didn’t seem to be going anywhere or getting any more intense so I just dismissed it as more of the same. I slept pretty well, except for the usual 6 or so trips to the bathroom, until about 5:45 when I woke up to a small gush. I figured a contraction just caused me to wet myself and was honestly so tired I was just going to ignore it. Then another little gush and I realized what was happening so I jumped up and raced to the toilet and as soon as I sat down, a big gush came.
I was actually pretty perturbed. I did not want to labor without my water! I woke my hubby and called our doula and another friend who were going to help us.
Contractions (and when I say contractions I am not referring to the Braxton Hicks that I had been experiencing for weeks prior to labor. Also I would like to clarify that the word contraction can not accurately describe what labor feels like. My uterus was “contracting” but to my body as a whole the sensation could best be described as gripping waves of intensity) first began a little before noon.
I stepped out of the car and felt an unusually strong one – distinctly different than what I had felt before. Nigel urged me to continue walking as we checked out houses for sale. About every twenty or thirty minutes another wave came over me and I had to pause. I spent this first hour of labor just marveling at how different these sensations were and casually wondering if perhaps today was to be a birthing day.
I tried so many things to go into labor in my last month of prodromal labor, it’s hard to say if any of it had an effect on when I went into labor or not, but I’m sure none of it hurt… I went to L&D at 36 weeks with early labor contractions, traceable and consistent but non-progressive. This was to go on for 5 weeks, every evening. Once I approached 38 weeks, I walked daily, squatted for positioning, took early primrose, then borage oil nightly for my last month, and from 40-41 weeks I had acupuncture, castor oil twice, b&b cohosh tincture and chiropractic adjusting.
I was 41 weeks, 1 day when the magic finally happened. I had been at 3cm, 50%, 0 station at my last appt. The day I went into labor was the day after the new moon. I woke up Thursday morning at 1:30am with what I knew were far more intense contractions than the ones I had been having with all my early labor over the last 5 weeks. These ones were immediately taking my breath away. Already I had to focus on just breathing, because it felt this natural reaction of wanting to hold my breath because they were so strong.
I went in for my apt on the 20th (Tues) and was 3cm at 80% so Alisa (the best midwife ever) stripped my membranes. That night I started having light contractions…all night. So Wed we went for 3 yes 3 walks. Once in the AM around the hood with hubby then at the park with hubby and Raena (BFF/Doula) and then the track at the HS I graduated from, the I went to go get checked 3 and 80 still…not enough to break my water and start real contractions.
I was ordered to rest on Thursday, so I sat at home and rested ALL day with small contractions. Then Friday came and so did regular contractions. I had them 3-5min apart lasting 60-90sec all day, because we just went about it as if was a regular day. Shopping going to Chick-Fil-A where Raena met us. Her hubby took our kids after we let them play. I had contractions until 11PM when they just stopped. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Marley was born at the Austin Area Birthing Center in Austin, TX using the Bradley Method. Marley was positioned “sunnyside up” and we worked for days with the hard labor. It started late in the evening March 7. The next day, my husband’s birthday, we were sure he would be born. We tried walking, I walked about 2.5 miles to and from the state capital. I did fine on the way there but on the way back I was in pain. I remained in pain for days. I was in hard labor for two full days at home. Every 5 to 10 minutes I was doubled over in pain.
Finally on March 11, things started to progress. We arrived at the birthing center at about 9:30 am. When we got there, our midwife was so kind and encouraging. Soon after arriving I got into the tub. Due to my long labor I had stopped eating and taking fluids and our midwife really started to get stern with me about drinking fluids. After a while my mother came in and rubbed my back while I labored in the tub. During this time my husband took a short nap. He had gone days without sleep while I labored at home.
It’s Friday, August 22nd, 2008, and I am a lumbering giant of a woman. I have enjoyed this second pregnancy, filled with wonder and awe and excitement, but now, after 40 full weeks of wonder and awe and excitement, I am tired.
I almost decline an invitation to Todd and Lucy’s barbecue at their Laguna Beach home. Today, I’ve noticed copious amounts of mucus and an increase in Braxton-Hicks. But not wanting to miss a summer evening hanging out with some of our best friends from college, my husband Patrick and I decide I can manage one more night out. We get to their house, and within the hour, Julia and Jared and their kids arrive from Arizona. The kids play well together while the women make beach plans for the next day and the men play Guitar Hero.
As we pack up to leave at 10 p.m., Julia speculates on my condition. “I don’t know if we’ll see you guys tomorrow—you’ll probably go into labor tonight.”
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.
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