Jessica

Beautiful picture Jessica!   ❤

Bff Jessica is a professional photographer in my home state of MI! Check out her website here:

http://www.jessicamehuphotography.com/

Is a belt

http://www.isabelt.com/

 Seriously, this belt is the best thing EV-VER! ~Kelli of BSOD

 **I didn't get a chance to shout out Brani's birth story yesterday so I'm rerunning it today.  I also added her next birth story.  Brandi is AWESOME!! ***

 

Brandi's birth of Chase and Carson

 

Brandi's birth of Chase

I awoke on Monday, October 30th at 4:30 am to make one of my many usual trips to the bathroom, only to discover my water had broken. I was just 3 days shy of my estimated due date. With excitement, I jumped up, put a towel between my legs, waddled into our bedroom & woke my fiancée. With disbelief, and still being half asleep, he told me to come back to bed. I yelled, "Look!" as I removed the towel to show him. He frantically put his pants on, grabbed my bags & started loading the car!

I made the call to my midwife, Jill, and told her that my water broke. She advised me to go back to bed, try to get some sleep & wait on my contractions to get 5 minutes apart. I was too anxious to sleep, so I just stayed up & waited on actual labor to start...hours passed, nothing.

Since I was so young, (I had just turned 18 two months prior) and this was my first baby, I decided to go ahead to the birth center when they opened up at 9; she checked me & tested me for amniotic fluid. I was 3 centimeters dilated. Throughout the day I walked, ate, drank, rocked on the birthing ball & even did pelvic rocks. Still, not much labor progression or contractions. With the clock ticking, my midwife decided to try a few herbs, to hopefully speed things along. I even tried an enema & Castro oil, which only gave me horrible diarrhea. I think I was just physically, mentally & emotionally exhausted. So, I "gave up" & took a nap.

I was reaching the 24-hour period, and I could hear my midwife discussing the possibility of infection & that they may have to transport me to the hospital as I was closing my eyes. Soon, I was woken by an intense contraction & I knew this was it! I woke my snoozing boyfriend, and told him, "It's time." We made a few laps down the birth center hall, and my contractions started coming quickly & grew stronger with each passing surge. I held on to him, and moaned & swayed with the rhythm.

As I was laboring, my midwife prepared the birthing tub for me, and I began to lose myself. With her gentle, comforting touch & encouraging words, I made it through each one; I was now 9 centimeters! I started spontaneously pushing, and got an over-whelming urge, so I knew it was time for the tub. I got undressed, and emerged myself into the warm, relaxing water. I was finally able to cope, as the soothing jets massaged my back & sides of my stomach.

With each push, my baby made his way down my birth canal & I literally felt like I was having an outer-body experience. I felt as if I was somehow connected to all the women before me, like a primal, instinctive urge just consumed my every being. I felt a strong sense of God's presence, as if He was in the room with me, holding my hand. It was the most amazing, indescribable feeling & I just let my hormones take over. Pushing was a relief, it actually felt good, to an extent.

About 30 minutes later, his head began to crown, as I "pushed the pain out." I reached down & could feel him, which gave me the strength to give birth to him. He was right there. With one more contraction, I pushed his shoulders & body out, and my midwife lay him on my chest & he began to cry. It was the sweetest little cry I had ever heard! Holding him & looking him, it was just so surreal. This was the little miracle that had been growing inside of me for 9 long months, and now, he's finally here!

We began to cry tears of joy. A few minutes later, Travis cut the umbilical cord & I expelled the placenta. They dried me off, cleaned me up & helped me into the bed. I then offered him my breast, as he literally crawled to it & we fell asleep together. 26 hours of labor later, and I did it- Me!

Chase Andrew  was born on Halloween 2006 @ 5:27 am, and weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz & was 19 1/2 inches long. I could never begin to imagine how this experience would change my whole outlook on the beauty & nature of birth giving, and breastfeeding...I am now a soon-to-be certified birth doula & aspiring future midwife. <3

 

 Just 5 hours old.

 

Brandi's birth of Carson

Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 09:30AM

On Tuesday, May 5th at 4:30 am, I awoke to some pretty uncomfortable contractions. I was 38 weeks pregnant that day. I tried to sleep through them, but they kept me awake, so I knew that this would be the day that I delivered our second son!I got up & decided to take a nice, warm shower. I felt a lot of pain & pressure in my back, radiating with a downward motion in my uterus.

A week before, our house had caught on fire, so we were staying with my sister & her husband, who was planning on being with me again during this birth. After I got dressed & blow-dried my hair, I met her husband, Scotty, getting ready to go to work. I told him to tell Laura that I was in labor. She got up, hurried in there & checked on me. I think it scared him, because he had never had a child of his own & was afraid I would have the baby at their house!

My contractions were coming about every 7 minutes, so I called my midwife, who was sick & she told me to wait until they came a little closer together, and that Nancy  would be the midwife who would assist me in my birth. It was about 6:30 am at that time, so I ate some breakfast & dosed off afterward. My contractions had stopped, so I figured it must have been false labor & was disappointed.

After my husband & son woke up, we got ready to go eat lunch & walk around Wal-Mart, and get a few last minute items. I started noticing that I was losing my mucus plug & was urinating frequently, and I started having that persistent back pain again. Just before we got to Wal-Mart, I called my midwife again & let her know that I was still very uncomfortable. She instructed me to come on to the birth center to get checked out. I called my aunt, dropped off our son & headed to my midwife.

I was 5 centimeters dilated, to my surprise & was informed that I would 'have this baby tonight!' So, we unpacked our bags from the car & began our walking routine. I took a break, since I had done a fair amount of walking at the mall the day before & started rocking across the birthing ball. My back hurt so bad, my midwife tried to turn him, because he was facing sideways. Unfortunately, it didn't work, so I asked her to please break my amniotic sac, in hopes that it would speed up my labor & relieve some of the pressure in my back. It certainly made contractions more regular & intense, but I was still holding back mentally.

I was expecting one of the assistant nurses to photograph my labor & birth, and was told that she wouldn't be able to make it until after 9! Labor was steadily progressing, and finally, Sharlene walked in the room! Within just minutes, I was in hard, active labor. I wanted another water birth, so after they came every 2 minutes, my midwife started preparing the birthing tub. After I got in, things slowed down again & I was stuck at 8 centimeters. I was in such excruciating pain, and just could not find a comfortable position, with my back labor. The midwife suggested that I get out of the tub, and finally I complied & she helped me sit on the toilet.

The first contraction I had out of the tub, and on the toilet, I began to push! My midwife & nurses ran to my side, and helped me into the bed. I draped myself over the birthing ball, while my husband massaged my back & pushed with all I had! As his head descended, my midwife unwrapped the cord from around his neck & with one more push, I gave birth to him & felt instant relief! I began to cry, as they handed him to me & lay him upon my chest. He was so beautiful!

Although this birth was more intense, it was all worth it & I literally forgot about the pain I had just endured! He was a little bruised, with blood shot eyes, but he was finally here! I would do it all over again! He was a vigorous nursling, and I knew from that very moment that we would have a very special breastfeeding relationship & bond. I couldn't wait for him to meet his 2 & 1/2 year old big brother! Carson Alexander was born on May 5th, 2009 (National Midwives Day) @ 10:50 pm, weighing 6 lbs. 13 oz. & was 18 1/2 inches long. <3

Carson a few hours old

 

 

 

 

Photographer Lynn O'Connor

of Digitally LOCO

www.digitallyloco.com
digitallyloco.zenfolio.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Onekama-MI/Digitally-LOCO/65372099240

Pamela French the genious behind

Pami Pocket

 

The Pami Pocket was conceived & created by Pamela French, who was determined to create a stylish way to carry your cell phone, credit cards and cash! 

 

Nicola's Birth of Benjamin

 

Used with permission from Nicola's Blog.  Please read Benjamin's full story here:

http://ourbeautifulbenjamin.blogspot.com/

 

To assist in fundraising please click the link below. Thank you. 

http://ourbeautifulbenjamin.blogspot.com/p/fundraising_16.html

Our Beautiful Benjamin

Benjamin was just 27 hours old when we lost him. Perhaps the strangest part of our story is that we knew he was going to die before he was even born. Benjamin was diagnosed with Patau Syndrome when I was 22 weeks pregnant - a syndrome simply not compatible with life. My hope is that my blog may bring comfort to someone who has lost a child or help someone who might be faced with a difficult decision like we were. Here is the story of my beautiful little man...

Monday, 17 January 2011

Benjamin's Arrival

As the pending arrival of the baby drew closer, I became more and more anxious.  Part of me wanted to never go into labour because I knew exactly what was ahead.  The other part of me wanted it to happen so that I could begin to move on from this nightmare.

Benjamin went 4 days over his due date and when we arrived at the hospital, the Midwive told me that they'd been expecting me for some time.  I don't think they thought that Benjamin would make it this far.  The Midwife was right, Mother Nature was extremely kind and Benjamin was born very quickly with just gas and air.  Under normal circumstances, I guess it was the kind of delivery any woman could wish for.

When Benjamin was born, he didn't make a sound.  There was no miracle like my parents had hoped for, it was exactly as the Doctors had said.  They handed me our beautiful baby boy and Lee and I just cried.  He may not have been physically perfect but to us, he was perfect in every way.  I had never doubted that we had done the right thing but at that instant, I knew that we had given our beautiful baby a chance.  Although his time on this earth was short, it was priceless and precious time.  Benjamin met his Mummy and Daddy, his big Sister, his Grandparents and his Uncle Stuart.  Our little boy has a name, an identity and a family that he got to meet and be loved by.

Meeting Mummy & Daddy x

My Mummy & Me x

Meeting my Big Sister & Making Memories x

   

The next 27 hours were like nothing I've ever experienced or want to experience ever again.  All we did was cuddle our beautiful son  Throughout the course of the 27 hours, Benjamin kept having breathing apnoeas.  When he had the first one, we thought we'd lost him.  It was the worst feeling ever.  He would stop breathing completely and then what seemed like an age later, but was probably only seconds, he would gasp and start breathing again.  We became accustomed to this eventually as it became quite a regular occurence but each time it happened we seemed to hold our own breaths in the anticipation that he wasn't going to start breathing again.  Our beautiful little boy opened his eyes and looked at us.  It was amazing to see him looking into our eyes and it helped to ease our pain.  I know that he knew he was loved.

After about 4 hours, the Doctors decided that we needed to feed Benjamin.  As he had a cleft lip and palate, I wasn't able to feed him myself and he couldn't have a special feeding bottle either, so we had to take him up to the Special Care Baby Unit where he had a feeding tube inserted.  We went up with him - we were too scared that something might happen if we left him for even a minute.  The Doctors decided to administer morphine just to ensure he wasn't in any pain - he wasn't showing any signs of discomfort but I guess they wanted to act on the side of caution just in case.

The hours that followed were just spent cuddling and loving our little boy.  We got to do some of the normal things that new parents do - we changed his nappy and dressed him.  We took some photos and did some camcordering and tried to make some memories in the short time that we had.  It was hard to smile for the family photo but I knew that in the months and years to come, I wouldn't always feel as desperately sad as I did at that moment and it was important to have something to look back at.

Benajmin kept going and at one point, we even talked to the Doctors about the posibility of taking him home.  I think it was just wishful thinking on our part if I'm honest but the longer he kept going, the more I think we thought he may defy the odds and keep going for weeks.  In hindsight, we were probably crazy to even think it but I guess we just wanted to take our baby home like any other normal couple.

In the early hours of the morning on the 22nd of July 2009, our beautiful baby boy passed away peacefully as we cradled him in our arms.

Our Precious Angel

My Rock! x

Beautiful belly picture of the day comes from BFF Rachael

Today's Friend of the show is

Fearless Pregnancy

Wisdom and Reassurance from

a Doctor, a Midwife and a Mom

*************************************************************

Today's featured birth story is actually an "unbirth" story.  

This is Terry's story of her Ectopic pregnancy

Terry's Story:

           After trying for almost a year, my husband and I found ourselves pregnant.  We did a home pregnancy test but it was not a "for sure" positive result.

          About three weeks after I did the test, I was home alone and started having some back pains.  This wasn't something unusual for me; I had a lot of back pain since my first C-section.  They started early, about 8:00 a.m. and steadily got worse.  By about 10:30 a.m. it became a stabbing pain, I didn't even think about it being something serious.  I took some Tylenol and tried to lie down.  Suddenly I started to feel even worse; the pain was almost unbearable.  My husband was gone out of town for the day, and I had no way of getting a hold of him.  At about 11:00 a.m.; I started to spot.  I decided that I was probably having a miscarriage.  Since I couldn't get a hold of anyone, I decided to drive myself to the hospital.

          On my way in the car, I started to vomit violently.  The pain was still getting worse, and I realized that I couldn't drive.  Lisa (my friend) got my message and she took me to the hospital.  I vomited a few more times on the way, and the pain didn't stop at all.  I was crying and so scared.

          We got to the hospital and the pain was still bad but shortly after it stopped.  I mean it just suddenly stopped.  After a long wait, a doctor came in and examined me; he didn't come back for quite a while.  When he did return, he told me he was sure that this was an ectopic pregnancy and I would have to have surgery right away.  He wanted me to have an ultrasound immediately, so I went to do that.

          Later, my husband got there and the doctor confirmed that it was indeed an ectopic pregnancy and he had already called in a surgeon for me.  I was bleeding internally and I had to go to surgery immediately.  I was just stunned.

          I had to be put to sleep for the surgery, but it was over fast.  What a rotten day this had been.  I woke up with mild back pains, and by late afternoon, I was coming out of surgery.

          While they were inside for the surgery, they noticed that I had large amounts of adhesions from my C-section and were able to cut those away.  They told me later that those might very well have been the cause of my back pains since they started after I had the C-section.

          It was fairly nonintrusive surgery, so I wasn't in a lot of pain and it didn't take long to recover.  I was back to work in two days later.  After trying so long to get pregnant, this was a tragic loss, but we were determined not to let this experience get us down.  Happily, we were able to conceive after a few months.

Mark Jordan: http://www.bellyartphotos.com/

One of my favorite belly pictures!  

Thank you Jamie!

Photo Credit by Angeli Lissarragure Hagen of www.lissarragueimages.com

She took this picture for operation Love Reunited www.oplove.org An organization that provides photography for deploying and returning soldiers.  Seriously, I'm weeping this is so amazing!

http://hellomynameissammy.tumblr.com/

http://loveofatravelingsoldier.tumblr.com/post/16839194577

http://maureencassidyphotography.com/blog/category/pregnancy/page/2/

 http://growingweakly.tumblr.com/

http://www.etsy.com/listing/57977717/the-new-acu-boutique-bow-with-crochet

Jaime Lyn 

http://www.wallababy.com/

 

 Kathy’s Birth of Sasha

Like most birth stories, this one begins long before Sasha came into the world, even before her conception.  My first daughter, Hannah, was born at 40 weeks, 4 days, into water at the local Birth Centre after a 5 hour spontaneous labour.  I felt very happy with Hannah’s birth, very proud of my ability to labour and birth without any drugs, and satisfied with my choice of birth location and care providers.  I didn’t enjoy my stay in the postnatal ward in the hospital after Hannah’s birth – in particular, the hospital food, the noise and disruption of being in a busy hospital, the constant visitors and interruptions and yet the feeling of being quite alone and isolated.  I felt like a little cog in a big, impersonal machine, even though the staff was friendly and generally helpful.  Several months after Hannah’s birth, I found myself reflecting and thinking about her birth often, and wanted to be able to talk to other women about their birth experiences.  I wanted to share what had been a life-changing event for me with others and to learn more about pregnancy and childbirth.  I didn’t feel traumatized or upset about the birth, I just needed an avenue to share with other women about pregnancy and birth.

Through my yoga group, and with the encouragement of a friend, I attended my first Birth Matters meeting and was instantly hooked!  Here was the place where I could talk about my birth experience, hear of other women’s experiences and get to learn so much about pregnancy and birth through talking about research, media articles and hearing of the experiences and expertise of midwives.  I began attending meetings regularly, wrote up Hannah’s birth story, and started to devour all the Birth Matters library had to offer.  I discovered there was a whole other world of books on pregnancy and birth beyond What to Expect When You’re Expecting and Up the Duff, and that these ‘mainstream’ books often didn’t have a lot to offer in terms of evidence-based research and support for women who wished to avoid unnecessary interventions.  I read some more scholarly texts, like Guide to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth, which summed up all the latest research results, and In Pursuit of the Birth Machine, which discussed how pregnancy and childbirth has become so medicalised without improving outcomes for women or babies and my eyes were opened up even more.  I began to question the policies and practices that the hospital system imposed upon me in my pregnancy and birth, even within the ‘low intervention’ approach of the Birth Centre.  I started to realize that there was often a large gap between what the research evidence demonstrated and what hospital policy was.  I understood that even for an educated woman who thought she knew quite a bit about pregnancy and birth, it was very difficult to argue against hospital policy, and that I was only given the amount of information on procedures, practices and tests that the hospital staff felt I needed to know and that this was a long way from being genuine informed consent.

In all of my research, I began to hear more about homebirth and independent midwives.  Up until this time, I had naively thought that homebirth was only for people who were ‘hippies’ or for those who were more interested in an experience than in the safe birth of their baby.  I had never even known that homebirth was an option when I was pregnant with Hannah and the only person I knew who had homebirthed was a woman with a tattoo – confirming my exceedingly stereotyped and judgmental beliefs.  A member of Birth Matters gave me a pile of research articles about homebirth and I read them all and showed them to my husband, R.  I talked to independent midwives about how they worked, talked to women who chose homebirth, and started attending Homebirth Network SA meetings regularly.  I read dozens of birth stories (home and hospital births alike) on the internet.  I also joined Joyous Birth (www.joyousbirth.info/forums), an internet homebirth community and read more and talked more about homebirth and the research evidence about it.  Both my husband and I have postgraduate degrees in the social sciences, so examining scientific studies and following the research evidence is very important to us.  For me, the information I gained here was what I needed to feel comfortable about choosing a new path for my next pregnancy and birth.  I became, and remain, convinced that homebirth is at least as safe as hospital, and probably even safer for healthy women and healthy babies.

And so, R and I conceived Sasha and another wonderful pregnancy began.  From the first moments of knowing I was pregnant, this was a different journey of trusting that my pregnancy and growing baby were normal unless there was evidence to the contrary.  My belly popped out very quickly, and I began talking to women who had chosen independent midwives as their care provider in their births to help me choose the right midwife for me.  In talking to others, I learnt that as well as getting the ‘right fit’ with your midwife with regards to your views on intervention, tests, and so on, you also had to get a ‘fit’ in terms of your personality.  The relationship you have with your midwife is vitally important, and every woman I talked to felt that their midwife was their ‘midwife for life’, forever to be an integral part of their family history.  I had met Wendy long before I became pregnant, and had felt instinctively that she would be the midwife for me.  At around 13 weeks, I ‘formally’ rang her and started asking her the questions that were important to me – about transfer rates and outcomes, interventions, tests and ‘routine’ procedures, and what would, in her view, rule out a safe homebirth.  After that discussion, I felt completely satisfied that what I knew to be true from the research was how Wendy practiced.

Being cared for by an independent midwife in pregnancy highlighted for me what was lacking in my care in my first pregnancy.  I got premium, one-on-one care from a midwife I had already come to know, and who knew Hannah and R.  Wendy visited me in my home, for at least an hour each appointment, and she answered all my questions with honesty, expertise and a positive attitude.  I was able to (and did!) contact her 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to ask questions as various issues, minor ailments and concerns came up through the pregnancy.  She lent me books on pregnancy and childbirth, and knew the research on testing in pregnancy so I was able to make genuinely informed consent with regard to ultrasounds, iron tests, blood sugar tests, amniocentesis, etc.  This time around, I chose not to have any routine testing at all because the research evidence is clear that, in the absence of signs that the pregnancy is not normal, routine testing does not improve outcomes for mothers or babies.  At each visit, Wendy would have a feel of my tummy to assess the baby’s growth and position, and listen to the heartbeat with the Pinard and we would talk about what she discovered.  There was always complete openness about these examinations and never the feeling that Wendy knew more about my baby and my pregnancy than I did – there was no sense that I wasn’t ‘qualified’ to know what she knew (in stark contrast with how I’ve heard other women describe their relationship with their care provider).  We were on this journey together, my family and my midwife.

Even though I’d been through one drug-free vaginal birth, I still had some of the usual concerns about how I’d cope with the pain of contractions again, and about how my labour would progress.  As my last labour had been much quicker than most first labours, I also felt quite a bit of trepidation that this labour would be ‘too quick,’ as I’d heard lots of women describe very fast labours as being quite overwhelming and frightening in their intensity.  I had also noticed that I could feel ‘more’ baby on the low right of my abdomen than on my left side – just as I had with Hannah, and Wendy felt confident that this baby had a hand up next to its face, just as Hannah did.  I had felt that Hannah’s nuchal hand had contributed a lot to the pain I’d experienced late in the first stage of my labour, and so I felt some anxiety about facing that pain again.  To deal with my fears, I prepared my support team for the birth: R, Wendy, Mi (my sister, main support for Hannah who may be present at the birth), H (my other sister, to take photographs), my Mum (a further, practical support for me), and a midwifery student (to allow her to observe the work of an independent midwife at my antenatal visits, birth and postnatal visits).  Although this might seem a lot of people, it was the same number as had been present at Hannah’s birth, and I had felt very comfortable with my family members and others there.  The midwifery student I met through Birth Matters, and I agreed to her unofficially and secretly ‘following through’ with me in my pregnancy, as midwifery students are prevented from officially following through women who choose to birth at home due to concerns at the universities about independent midwives being uninsured.  I feel very strongly that student midwives, who are being trained to be the experts in normal birth, should be able to formally follow through women who have chosen care providers who are most likely to ensure they get normal birth.

With my birth team organised, I set about writing my birth plan.  There were a few things I wanted to do differently this time, and some things I wanted to repeat.  Most important of all was that I birth at home as long as it remained safe, that I birth in water again, and that I catch my baby as it was born.  I also wrote up a transfer plan in the event that we had to go to hospital.  I met with my support team and went through my birth plan, and had their unflinching support.  I had thought long and hard about my birth plan, and while I knew that events don’t always go as you expect, I knew that I had people around me who I could trust to protect and work towards getting what I wanted.

In spite of me organising my birth support team, over the final weeks of my pregnancy, several people had to step down – my sister H moved for her final university work placement and knew she’d be unlikely to get over to the mainland for the birth, and my midwifery student was unable to follow me through due to unexpected changes in her family circumstances.  My Mum would also be travelling from interstate for the birth (due to arrive on my due date), so I also knew that it was possible she wouldn’t be present.  As the weeks rolled on though, I didn’t feel any concern about having less people to support me.  I felt that it was all meant to be, and that I didn’t need to do anything to ‘replace’ those who wouldn’t be able to be there.

At 35 weeks, I held a MotherBaby Blessing with a number of friends, asking them to bring a candle, a bead for a necklace, and a blessing for my birth.  The day was blissful, with a friend painting a lotus flower in henna on my pregnant belly, and I was so touched by the creativity and effort people put into their choice of candle, bead and blessing.  I made up my birth necklace and bracelet, and planned to write up all my blessings onto large cards to look at during my labour.  I also had a long list of things to do in my final weeks of pregnancy pinned up on the fridge, fully expecting that my labour wouldn’t start until at least 40 weeks, or even later given that I wouldn’t be under any pressure to be induced (in contrast to my last pregnancy).

On Friday, 26th October 2007, I was at 37 weeks, 2 days gestation.  I was feeling good, with lots and lots of Braxton Hicks contractions each day, just as I had experienced every day for the previous 5 months or so.  I had a full day of activities planned with Hannah and got home from all of that in the late afternoon.  I pegged out the last load of newborn clothes on the clothesline, watched some TV with Hannah and thought about having a nap on the couch.  R came home from work at 4.45pm, an hour earlier than usual and we chatted in the lounge.  At 4.55pm, I suddenly felt a strange sensation in my lower abdomen, a pinging/twanging sensation and I thought “That feels weird, I wonder if that’s my waters breaking?”, and then GUSH…down my legs flowed warm, clear liquid.  I asked R for a towel, placed it between my legs and then we both said “This isn’t meant to happen yet!!”  As I squelched off to the toilet, I grabbed the cordless phone and rang Wendy.  “How are you?” asked Wendy.  “Damp!” I replied.  I sat on the toilet as I talked to Wendy.  She told me that 60% of women go into labour within 12 hours, and 90% of women begin labour within 24 hours of their membranes rupturing.  I wasn’t having any contractions, so Wendy said that she’d see me tomorrow if my labour hadn’t begun before then.  I ended the phone call, pooed, and R started setting up the birth pool.  I phoned M, who was finishing work in the city, and told her I’d let her know when my labour began but to be ‘on alert’.  I moved about the house, changed my clothes and got a few bits and pieces together for the birth.  I was having strong, painless, Braxton Hicks contractions, and wondered when my labour might start.

At 5.20pm, I had to go to the toilet again to poo, and I thought that the colour of the amniotic fluid I was leaking was slightly tinged with green.  I knew this wasn’t necessarily anything to worry about, but I rang Wendy again and asked her to come around to listen to baby.  Wendy said she’d be there in 40 minutes.  I felt my first contraction a few minutes later – strong enough to make noise through, but very manageable and fairly brief.  R had got the birth pool set up, but we realised we didn’t have the hose attachment for our tap.  I got three pots of water onto the stove to boil and R rang M to ask her to stop at Bunnings to pick up a hose attachment as well as some batteries for our cameras.  During their 3 minute conversation, I had two contractions and M could hear the familiar sounds of my labour beginning.

Hannah was very excited about all the goings on, and was telling R she would get in the pool now, and when she wasn’t doing that, she was asking me “Mummy, whatcha doin’?”  I told her the baby was coming soon, and kept on moving about the house, getting a drink, finding some nappies, putting on lip balm, pinning back my hair etc.  My contractions were quite erratic, coming 6 minutes, 2 minutes, 4 minutes apart and I don’t think any lasted longer than about 40 seconds.  I managed them by leaning forward and making a long “HAAAA, HAAA” sound and rocking from side to side.  I took deep breaths during each contraction to make sure my baby got plenty of oxygen, something I hadn’t managed to do well in my last labour as I’d felt quite overwhelmed by the feeling of the contractions.  The sensations this time were quite bearable, and I was pretty sure I was in early labour.  I stripped off my clothes as I was feeling hot, leaving just a folded towel in my knickers.  I was upstairs by myself at this time, and took a moment to talk to the baby and tell it that we would work together to bring it safely into the world.

As it approached 6.00pm, I decided to run the bath.  I debated with myself about doing this so early, worrying that I might use up the hot water before we started filling the pool, but I rationalised that the hot water system would have enough time to refill before the pool was needed.  As the bath filled, I went to the toilet again and decided that I might just have a feel inside my vagina to see what was happening.  I’d never felt comfortable with that idea during my labour with Hannah and had felt that I needed an ‘expert’ to tell me what was happening in my body, but this time, I felt completely comfortable.  At the full stretch of my fingers, I could feel the edge of my cervix, and the head of my baby, soft and wrinkly and about the size of an apricot.  I wasn’t sure if I was fully dilated or not, but could tell that my cervix had obviously dilated a lot and my labour was much further along than I had suspected.

I didn’t feel any concerns about my labour progressing quickly, particularly as the contractions were so bearable.  I got into the bath as it filled, sitting cross legged, then lying on my side for a contraction.  I then turned around, kneeling in the water and resting up on my elbows on the edge of the bath.  With the next contraction I suddenly felt this enormous, unstoppable urge to PUUUUUUSSSSSHHHH, and could do nothing but surrender to its intensity.  I let out a shriek as I pushed hard (and pooed some more) and heard Hannah run out of the bathroom.  This was the only contraction where I felt that I ‘lost it’ and felt overwhelmed by the sensations in my body.  I reached into my vagina and felt that my baby’s head had moved down about halfway into my vagina, and I could now feel a kiwi fruit amount of head under my fingers.

R ran up the stairs on hearing the noise I was making and asked me what I needed.  He went up and down the stairs in response to my requests for my water bottle, some of my candles, a bucket for the placenta etc.  Wendy rang to let us know she was stuck at the railway lines and was on her way – she could hear me in the background and knew she’d have to hurry!  I wasn’t feeling afraid of giving birth without Wendy there, and never felt a moment of panic or fear for my baby’s safety, but I knew that I wanted the emotional support of a woman who had birthed before.  I wanted to say to someone that “this was hard” and to hear someone say truthfully “I know it is”.

Wendy arrived at 6.15pm and as she came up the stairs, R asked if she thought I was fully dilated; Wendy looked at me in the bath and said she could see the baby’s head!  I agreed to Wendy having a feel of the baby’s head, and then she started adding more warm water into the bath to get the level higher for my baby’s birth.  Wendy asked if I wanted anything, and I said I wanted my poo out of the bath.  Wendy replied that babies love this environment, and I shouldn’t let it worry me.  I put my head on her shoulder and swore a few times, expressing the intensity of the sensation of pressure on my perineum.  I initially felt I wanted some counter pressure on my perineum from a flannel, but changed my mind within a few seconds as I wanted to keep my hand on my baby’s head as it was born.  I gave small, grunty pushes as I felt I needed to, and felt more and more of my baby being born under my hand; the top of her head, her ears, her face, her shoulders, then her tummy and then all of her warm, wriggling body slipped into my hands and I lifted her up out of the water onto my chest.  What a joyous moment!  I was stunned, in shock, relieved, excited, overwhelmed and amazed.  My baby was born, into my hands, in my home, and after only one hour of labour (6.23pm for those playing along at home!).

I gently turned my baby over and saw that I had given birth to a second beautiful daughter, Sasha.  Hannah and R had witnessed the birth, and Hannah immediately asked to get into the bath with me and her new baby sister.  As she splashed about, R took some photographs and Wendy supplied me with homeopathic remedies.  M arrived 10 minutes after Sasha was born, bringing her son S with her (as it happened, that day was S’s 3rd birthday!).  M was very disappointed she’d missed the birth, especially as she’d put a great deal of effort and thought into how she’d support Hannah during my labour.

I cuddled and welcomed Sasha in the bath for 20 minutes, experiencing strong, aching afterpains.  As the bath cooled, I got out and onto my bed which had been lined with old towels and plastic sheets.  The afterpains were unpleasant, and (frustratingly) lasted longer than my labour pains, but I didn’t want to interfere with the birth of my placenta in order to ease them, especially as I wasn’t bleeding at all.  I laid Sasha on my tummy and let her crawl up to my breast and self-attach.  She began breastfeeding as if she’d always done it, and I rested as my family moved around the bedroom and Wendy began writing up her notes.  As the afterpains continued, Wendy suggested I try squatting to birth the placenta and ease the pains, so I squatted over a bucket next to the bed and gave two big pushes to birth the placenta, 45 minutes after Sasha’s birth.  I had wanted to keep Sasha attached to the placenta until her cord had stopped pulsating, and was prepared to not cut the cord at all (allowing the cord and placenta to dry up over 3-5 days; a lotus birth), but we chose to cut her cord 14 hours after her birth as I found carrying her placenta around with her was impractical and meant I couldn’t cuddle her like I wanted.

I had a warm shower to wash Sasha’s meconium poo off me (like mother, like daughter!) and then Wendy examined my perineum – I had no tears (even though Sasha did have her hand up next to her face as she was born), a minor graze, and no bleeding at all.  Sasha weighed 3.68kgs, or 8 pounds 2 ounces, was 49cms long, and had a 34.5cm head circumference.  M’s partner arrived soon after, and entertained S and Hannah with PlaySchool and balloons downstairs, and then organised dinner for us all to share.  Everything felt so normal and personal and yet extraordinary and universal.

My experience of Sasha’s birth was everything I dreamed of in that I birthed safely at home, in water, and caught my daughter myself.  While my labour was much earlier and quicker than I expected, it was wonderfully relaxed, bearable and safe.  Sasha’s birth has given me enormous additional confidence in my body and its ability to grow and birth a baby perfectly.

 

 

Tags: homebirth, home birth, home water birth, natural birth, midwife birth stories, positive birth stories, inspiring birth stories, birth stories with pictures, water birth, home childbirth stories, home child birth stories, birth pictures

 

Photographer Mark Jordan

Photographer Mark Jordan!

Thank you so much for sharing your AMAZING work!

Check out both of Marks Websites:

http://www.bellyartphotos.com/

And http://www.markjordanphoto.com/

Mark is on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/MarkJordanPhotography Make sure you press his like button and tell him Birth Stories on Demand sent you ☺

 

 

Click on the picture to see Mark's blog and read how the bellies were created:

 

 

Alicia’s Birth of a Daughter

 

Our beautiful second daughter was born Sept. 13, 2010.  I have been trying to find the time to sit down and type this for over a month now.  We used the Hypnobabies home study course for our first birth as well with wonderful success, though she was posterior and it was a long birthing, I told everyone how much I looked forward to the birthing experience again.

This time was even more incredible than the first. In part, I think because I was better prepared and more informed about posterior positioning and with the assistance of a chiropractor and "head down facing back" imagery and affirmations, we were successful in avoiding the posterior birth.

I began to experience Braxton Hicks with this pregnancy at 5 months and over the last month, they became very frequent. Several times they were regular for 5 - 6 hours at a time, but then did not progress, so up until only a few hours before Anna's birth I was not convinced that it was actually time.  My pressure waves began around 1 PM while I was in a meeting at work. (I work at a hospital system in the oncology clinic directly across the street from labor and delivery.)  After a few pressure waves, I began to pay attention and time them. They were lasting a minute and coming about every 10  minutes.  By the end of the meeting at 2 PM they were more like 7 minutes apart and slightly more recognizable as possibly "the real thing."

At this point I went to my quiet office and did some birthing affirmation scripts in my head.  I mentally put my light switch in the center position and decided to go on with my day.  I still believed that the pressure waves may stop, as they did with my first birth, and so I was hesitant to get too excited too quickly. At 3 PM I went into another meeting with one other colleague of mine – we were to discuss the plan for my maternity leave :)  At this point I began writing down the time of each pressure wave all while having conversation with my co-worker.  After about 20 minutes she said to me "Wait, are you having contractions right now?!" When I replied yes, and that they were now 3-5 minutes apart, I believe her response was, " Are you freaking kidding me right now?" I felt so calm and in control and was not experiencing any pain that  I am not sure she actually believed me.

It was about 3:45 when I decided that we probably needed to wrap up the meeting so that I could walk across the street and check in at the hospital.  I called my husband, who was at work, and found my mom who works in the same building.  She walked with me to the labor and delivery floor.  When I arrived in the triage area I very calmly said – "I think I am ready to have a baby tonight." The registrar looked at me like I was nuts.  I am sure she was thinking that I was nowhere near birth.  After getting registered they took me back and did an internal check, for which I was very easily able to put my light switch in the off position and felt no discomfort– despite the apologies of the nurse who was concerned about hurting me.  I was 4cm and 80% effaced.  She asked me to walk for an hour and then we would check again to be sure things were progressing.  During that time I was able to comfortably walk the halls with my mom while my light switch was in the center position stopping only occasionally to concentrate.  My husband arrived and we returned to triage for another check.  At this time I was 5 cm and 90% effaced, so I was admitted around 6:30.

The doctor arrived around 7 and my bag of waters was bulging, so we made the decision to rupture it. Knowing that this worked very well for me with my first birth, I was comfortable doing it again.  At this point I had a hep-locked IV and was still able to move comfortably around the room.  At about 7:30 the pressure waves picked up in intensity, but were still very manageable with the use of a birthing ball and my peace cues.  I had the "Easy First Stage" CD playing in the room.  I encouraged my husband to go get some dinner because after all – I could be awhile.  Again, the nursing staff looked questioningly at us, but he went quickly across the street to get a sandwich and I got into the bath.  After being in the bath about 15 minutes my husband returned and I knew it was time to get out.  The pressure waves began to get very intense and I was really concentrating and using my peace ques.  I thought that I was probably in transition as I was feeling nauseated and light headed.  I had him help me out of the tub and back into bed.  This process progressed through three or so pressure waves.  When I was finally in bed, I asked him to get the nurse because I felt like things were changing.

The nurse came in to check me again and I was 8 cm and dilating quickly.  She immediately called my doctor, who was supposedly only 12 minutes away.  It was 8:30 At this point. I think I began to lose focus briefly through the next two pressure waves. I was worried the doctor was not there and I needed my husband to remind me to relax and go deeper. As he counted me down, I had to put my light switch off for the pressure waves as I was feeling intense pressure and told the nurse that I felt the baby was coming now! Still no doctor.  At this point there were two other nurses in the room with my husband and I and they helped me to roll onto my back.  Almost instantly my legs fell apart, and if I could only explain the look on their faces – total shock.  They told me I was doing great and to keep breathing and maybe the doctor would make it.  "Do you want to feel the head?" one nurse asked.  As I reached down, I was shocked to realize that my sweet baby's head was already half way out! I had no idea – I knew that the pressure was intense and her birth was near but I was so calm and in control that I didn't even know she was already making her way into this world.  I rubbed her little head for about a minute when she just slipped seamlessly out of my body with no discomfort at all at 8:50 PM

The nurses did a beautiful job placing her right up on my chest and patiently waiting for the cord to stop pulsing when they let my husband cut the cord and they took pictures for us, the first pictures we were actually able to take because everything happened so quickly.  Still no doctor.  We were able to snuggle and enjoy each other for another 5 minutes when my doctor finally arrived, so disappointed that she missed the birth.  She did, however, stay to deliver the placenta.  The doctor and nursing staff continued to comment on how in control I seemed and they could hardly believe it.

I think my husband and I were a bit in shock.  My first birth was 18 hours.  I totally believe that because I was able to have a baby in the anterior position and use my Hypnobabies this was a fast, easy, and comfortable birthing.  I did not have any tears or even any swelling.  The nursing staff was totally amazed at how quickly I was up out of bed.  My nurse even commented that in her 6 years as a labor and delivery nurse she had never gotten anyone out of bed so quickly or easily before.  Two days after she was born we were out for a walk and feeling better than I had felt in months! Thank you, Hypnobabies, for 2 incredible birthing experiences.  I thought for sure we would be done after 2 children, but who knows – we may decide to go for three!

Take a peek below at our list!  Remember that books make excellent gifts and many of the authors here will sign a book for you!  Heck, if the author is signing it then you may as well get TWO books and keep one for yourself!  

It's Author Weekend at Birth Stories on Demand!

Support Your Local Authors ❤

Birth Stories on Demand Presents:

From Woman to Mother

Stories of Labor and Childbirth 

Kelli Stapleton

http://www.birthstoriesondemand.com/our-store/

Joyce Brewer Kendrick

Use What You Know

A Business Idea Guide for Moms

http://mommytalkshow.com/business-idea-guide-for-moms/

Author Lisa Darnell

and her book

My Mommy's Water Balloon

http://www.facebook.com/MyMommysWaterBalloon?sk=wall&filter=2

 Christy Waterhouse

Author of 

Z is for Zucchini

http://theebabylady.com/book/

 Micky Marie Morrison and her book

Baby Weight

http://www.babyweightfitness.com/

 

 

Sommer Poquette

Author of:

http://sommerpoquette.com/

http://www.suehallmd.com/home.html

Dr. Sue Hall author of:

For the Love of Babies:

One Doctor's Stories About Life in the Neonatal ICU

Going to the Motherland

things to know for your journey

Sarah Blight

http://yourbabybooty.com/

In Stitches

Dr. Anthony Youn

http://www.dryoun.com/in-the-media/dr-youns-book-in-stitches

Birth, It's Positive!

Gretchen Arnold and Jill R. Johnson

www.lulu.com/product/paperback/birth-its-positive/6532163

Kelli Stapleton of BSOD

Fearless Pregnancy

Dr. Stuart Fischbein, Victoria Clayton, and Joyce Weckl

http://fearlesspregnancy.net/

Big Daddy Autism

F. Lewis Stark

http://bigdaddyautism.com/

Heidi Murkoff and her

"What to Expect" series of books.

http://www.whattoexpect.com/what-to-expect/landing-page.aspx

Justice Publishing

http://justicepublishinginc.blogspot.com/

Mommy's Lap

Jill Chase 

Fight Less, Love More

Laurie Puhn

http://www.lauriepuhn.com/

Near Mamas Heart

Colleen Newman

http://www.mybabyandmore.com/NearMamasHeart.html

Elizabeth Pantley and her "no-cry" Solution Books

http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth/

Kelli Stapleton of BSOD

Cameras For Kids

John Crippen

http://www.camerasforkids.info/