Finally...Little Man's Birth Story

danaekristen · June 2012

I haven't been on here in a long time and still haven't completed my novel of a birth story, but I wanted to go ahead share my short version in hopes that someone might benefit from reading it.

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Having a natural, empowered birth has been a dream of mine for quite some time. I so desperately longed for that experience with my firstborn, but circumstances made it next to impossible. In the end I still had a perfect, beautiful little 10lb 7oz girl without a c-section, and for that I am grateful.

3 months ago, I gave birth to our second child, a little boy without any interventions or pain medication. I can't even begin to describe how amazing it feels to have delivered our little guy naturally and to have conquered that goal despite some unpleasant odds.

***Short(ish) Version: I woke up to contractions around 1am. Water broke at 2am. Contractions were very sporadic and varied in length and strength. Because of this, I was put on a time schedule before I would have to be transferred to the hospital and given pitocin. (Something I wanted to avoid at all costs.) After trying several natural induction/augmentation methods, several times (for 14 or so hours) I finally got into full labor around 4:45pm. Up until this point, I was only 3cm dilated and the midwife held off checking me as long as she could. At 8pm if no changes were made, I would have no choice but to transfer to the hospital.

While checking me, the midwife looked up and said "you aren't going to believe this... "You're at 8cm, maybe 9!" With this news, the "pain" didn't seem so bad anymore. She asked me if I wanted to get in the tub and after clarifying that it would not stall labor, I said "YES!" Just as soon as I got in the tub, I felt my body push. I held off as much as I could until the midwife told me to go with it. 2-3 minutes later, my baby was in my arms. 9lb 12oz and 23 inches long.

Looking back, I think the hardest part was the mind game of the 14 hours where I wasn't in full labor and remembering how my first labor went. But my hubby, baby, and I did it!

I will share the full story when I complete it, because the journey was one of the coolest and craziest I've experienced, but feel free to ask questions if you'd like!