Harlee Anne was born Tuesday June 9th 2009 at 1:33pm. 6lbs, 9oz 19.5 inches long. Apgar scores of 9 each time.
I woke up at 6:30am and had mild contractions. Thought-eh, here we go again-this had been going on for days. Immediately I sat on my exercise/birth ball and made large circles with my hips and when the contractions got painful I bounced up and down-hard (let’s shake that baby down!) I yelled and cried and let it out but got through them. I remembered my Hypnobabies scripts and “imagined my baby sliding quickly and easily down the birth canal.”
At 9:30am I figured I better get a shower in case this was it. After my shower I woke up my husband (he was mad I had let him sleep for three hrs, but hey he’s a grump in the morning. I still have no clue how he slept through all my yelling!) He began timing them and got excited. I remained reserved (yes I’m pessimistic) that it just would fizzle. He timed them for 20 minutes each hour-they just got closer. He got really excited and was running all over frazzled, packing last minute items. I had to remind him to feed our pets about four times.
As many times as I have been pregnant and given birth in 10 years, it would surprise most people that we planned our sixth. Our others were not planned and happened out of God’s plan, instead. We went through the motions of purchasing the fertility monitors and basal thermometers- I joined the charting websites and forums and for a whole month did everything exactly as it was written to do, and then some. And then my period came.
“Forget it.” I thought to myself. Trying to conceive made the whole practice so robotic and unromantic. You start to look at the sexual intimacy as a tool all of a sudden whereas it just came naturally, before. The next month my best friend was undergoing a major immune system transplant while he battled testicular cancer so I went up to help him while he was in the hospital. There are so many similarities between a cancer patient and a birthing mother in a hospital setting, it really put things in perspective on that level. And the thing is- a birthing mom by default, is not sick needing treatment, she is undergoing a transformation.
I don’t even know where to begin. Things flowed so smoothly that it’s hard to call any point a starting point. A week before I started labor I lost my mucus plug. I’d been downing red raspberry leaf tea and doing evening primrose oil nightly for a few weeks. I was gently getting to know my cervix during that time, and was so pleased when I started to feel changes down there. The mucus plug and then the bloody show the following night really excited me, not because it meant labor was terribly close but because I had never had signs like these with Ray.
I battled a few days between anxiety over when things would start, and how much I was doing (and not doing) to help things along. My body gave me gentle reminders; on days when I was not very active I would have the most show and practice labor, the following day if all was quiet and I tried taking walks and upping my activity things stayed quiet. After a few days fighting my brain and reminding myself that labor would come with NO HELP from me, I settled down and relaxed. If my body didn’t seem to be getting “busy”, I would take it as a day of rest and relax.
*This birth story is told from the point of view of the father’s Aunt, who was also their doula*
My journey began on August 1st when Amanda and Jonathan called to ask if I would be their doula. I was completely taken by surprise! Being a doula for family is not “a right,” it is an honor. Most people choose not to have a doula who is related to them, simply because it is just not comfortable. Birth is a very intimate time in a couple’s lives, and I truly understand the importance of having those around you who make you feel comfortable. (I just never dreamed that when they asked themselves who would make them comfortable during birth, they thought of me!) In the end, I was completely blessed to be present for the birth of my great nephew!
September 23rd at 2:48am: The phone rings, and it’s Jonathan. I answered the phone “you’re right on time!”. He giggled a little and let me know that Amanda was having contractions a minute long and it had been that way for a few hours. I had a feeling that the phone would ring that night – so much so that I went to bed at 9:30 P.M. (an unheard of time for me!). I told my family I had a feeling I would be getting a call at 3 or 4 in the morning.
I had been having prodromal labor (labor that starts and stops, often referred to as “false labor” however there is nothing false about it) for about 2 weeks. On Thursday August 6, I started having contractions at 10pm. They were nothing terrible and pretty easy to breathe through but strong enough that I wasn’t able to sleep. I was up all night with these contractions that were not getting stronger or closer together. I was ready to chalk it up to prodromal labor.
When Josh and Jack woke up in the morning, I was still awake from the night before. I was pretty tired but unable to sleep through these contractions. Josh suggested we take a walk and see if they picked up. We walked and they started to slow down. I was pretty discouraged at this point but thought if it is meant to happen, it will.
I knew from the moment I found out I was pregnant that I wanted a completely natural birth. I was due on November 26th but had a feeling early on in my pregnancy that I would have him earlier than that. I had read somewhere that a more accurate due date is to count 5 months from the first time you feel baby kick. I felt him kick on the 16th of June so that’s the day I picked (Nov. 16th)
I had an appt. on the morning of the 16th and my Dr. checked me to find out I was dilated 1/2 cm and 50% effaced. She said that it was pretty normal and it would still be a little while before baby came. I left and went on with my day. I walked everyday of my pregnancy and that didn’t change the closer I got to my due date so as usual, I went out for a 2 mile walk at around 1:30.
I had a very easy pregnancy – felt great throughout all of it and gained about 30-35 lbs overall (I was slightly overweight to begin with).
At 37 weeks, I thought I would be pregnant forever (don’t we all feel that way?) but then I hit 38 weeks and I realized I would be having a baby very soon.
I worked on Feb. 12, 13 and then there was a Valentine’s Day snowstorm so I stayed home that day. I went into work on Feb. 15 to have my work baby shower! I told everyone that I would not be coming back (they thought I was a silly first time mom).
I went for my dr’s appt on Feb. 16 and my dr (who never gave me much information other than “looks good”) told me that I would have a baby by Monday. I was a little shocked that she was so sure but, hey, she does this a lot.
Charlotte Sofia made her arrival 3 days late on Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 5:15 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and measured 19 ½ inches long. Here is my story:
I had an OB appointment on June 29th (my due date), and the doctor informed me I was 2cm and 75% effaced. He said we would induce on July 7th if the baby did not come on her own. I was determined NOT to be induced, so I continued with walking and bouncing on my exercise ball, while also taking Evening Primrose Oil and drinking Red Raspberry leaf tea.
The morning of July 1st, I was so distraught about not having the baby yet that I called my best friend up in tears, begging her to walk around the mall with me! We walked for about an hour and I came home in the early afternoon and did more exercises/stretching. I started feeling some mild cramping around midnight and by 3:00 am was feeling mild contractions. I woke my husband around 6:00 am and told him “we are having this baby today”! I let him go back to sleep and I laid on the couch & timed my contractions for the next couple of hours.
So it all started about 12:45am on September 18, 2009, early Friday morning. Woke up wondering why I was peeing myself then came out of my prego sleep stupor and realized that it probably wasn’t pee… So I ran to our bedroom (sleeping on the couch the past few weeks) and woke up George. We agreed to call our midwife, Sherry and let her know. She came over about 1:45am, checked my vitals and as I got up from a reclined position, the infamous “gush” arrived and I quickly waddled to the bathroom.
We all agreed to try to get a good night’s sleep for the inevitable labor heading my way. Sleep was ok but contractions had no doubt begun. Very much like I had been told, they felt like strong menstrual cramps though much more rhythmical.
3rd of August, Monday: I attended an appointment with my midwife to discuss induction since I was 9 days past my due date (original due date 25th July 2009). I asked her if, induced, would I be still able to have a waterbirth as I had done with Lily. She stated that she didn’t see why not, especially since I had had a waterbirth before with Lily and there were no complications with my pregnancy.
The appointment for induction was scheduled for 8AM the next morning at the birthing centre.
I didn’t sleep well the night before. It wasn’t how I had wanted things to go – the word induction lit all kinds of warning signals in my mind. And although it was more ‘planned’ than a spontaneous labour, it felt open now for interventions, and those were something I had always desired to avoid.
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:
 The Doula Book: How A Trained Labor Companion Can Help You Have A Shorter, Easier, And Healthier Birth |  Childbirth without Fear: The Principles and Practice of Natural Childbirth |
