It’s been 32 hours and I still can’t believe that a) I have a baby and b) I made it through labor alive! Over the course of the pregnancy I hadn’t thought much about how much pain a natural child birth would bring and boy am I glad I didn’t. If I had thought about it I might have not made it through it. I’m going to try and remember the details but some things are a little

I had been having contractions every night since 37 weeks. They would come and go, irregular, but would make me wonder "was this it??" and I would get my hopes up, only to wake up in the middle of the night to no contractions :/ Elijah (5 years old) was born at 37 weeks, and Jeremiah (3 years old) was 39 weeks, so I was SO sure I'd go early. Well, around 38.5 weeks I went into labor. I called my midwife

To my beautiful daughter,Four months later, I have finally sat down to write the story of your birth; you are a handful!The funniest thing I will remember about your birth is the night before I went into labor with you. Daddy and I spent the previous day at the pool since it was the Fourth of July long weekend. Daddy had dove into the pool and ruptured his eardrum, but we spent the day there anyway.

by Sarah Beth NelsonMy due date was December 10. I had stopped working (substitute teaching) at the beginning of December and was just awaiting the birth of my baby. On December 6, around 8:30 in the morning I got up to use the bathroom. I got back into bed knowing that I wasn’t going back to sleep, but just wanting to lie there for a few more minutes. I was talking to John (my husband) when

Dear Elena, The story of your birth begins many months before you actually began your journey out into the world. When I was about 5 months pregnant with you, your Abba and I enrolled in a 12-week Bradley Childbirth class. Although my parents had taken Bradley classes with me 30 years ago, I wasn’t particularly committed to a drug-free birth, even though that’s Bradley’s thing. I

After a few extra days, our precious little girl is here. Lillianna Marie Banguilan was born at 6:53 am on 10/23/09 in our home. She weighs 9 lbs 9 oz and is 20.5" long. At the moment, she is sleeping peacefully in her swing and Nanay and Jaiden are at the Taste of Suwanee Festival (so it's a little quiet). I thought I would take this moment and write down some details before I forget so here is my

Saturday, June 20th, I was feeling radiant. Hot and exhausted. But Radiant all the same! I took my 5 year old daughter to a birthday party, at which nearly everyone asked when the baby was due (of course). I responded to almost everyone who asked~ “ last Wednesday, but I’m having the baby tomorrow.” I was ready. It just seemed right that the baby should come. My best friend had been

The morning is full of hope, and this morning especially so. On Thursday, June 11, 2009, I awoke knowing that by the end of the day, I would be holding my new baby. I had spent an hour or two in and out of sleep with waves of contractions. When I got out of bed it was just after 4:00 a.m., so I told David to keep sleeping, and I went downstairs. I warmed up a rose and neroli aromatherapy oil. I had

Born June 9th, 2009 at 7:24am7 lbs 5 ozs and 22 inches longBorn to Marcos, Sita, Caitlin, Isis and Aspen.June 8 we finally get some early morning signs that the baby is on it's way. Even though there were no contractions/pressure waves yet my body was definitely telling me that Lyric was getting ready.Marcos stayed home with me, and cooked me a huge breakfast. Then we took a nice walk and came home

I lay down to take a nap with Arkady around 4 o'clock. While he was sleeping and nursing I felt some fluid and wondered if I could be leaking amniotic fluid. The leaking continued until I was positive it was amniotic fluid. I cherished snuggling with my first born so much as I began to realize that these were are last moments together before another precious child was added to our family.After Arkady

Before you read this very candid account of Benjamin’s birth, you should know that it was the most wonderful, amazing experience of my life. I’m honest about the pain in my story, but readers should know that I would do it again in a heartbeat. On 11/10, 5-7 days before my EDD, I woke up at 3:17 a.m. for my usual “wee hour of the morning” trip to the potty. I realized as I returned

The births of my three children were some of the most memorable moments of my life. I had my third child at home with Birthing Right Midwifery. Here is how the story goes.On a Thursday, which was 11 days after my due date, I had been having periodic contractions. They didn’t seem like anything more than what I had been feeling for weeks. Coming close to 2 weeks overdue, I was also over-ready

The connection between mother and daughter cannot be described in words, you can try, but only nature knows the secret of this beautiful connection. July 17th, would be the day that would connect me, my daughter and granddaughter forever. We would be guided by instincts and love. My daughter Jody was 11 days overdue, according to the calendar, but nature and God had a plan. Thursday, July 17th, Jody

On Saturday March 15 I woke up around 9am with some mild cramps. I went to the bathroom and quickly realized I had the “bloody show” that initiates going into labor. I told Carlos and we then called our midwife Claudia to confirm what we thought. We decided to call our cramps or contractions “waves” as it seemed a softer and friendlier word. Our midwife had instructed us to

My husband Shawn is studying to be a chiropractor and he is the one that first introduced me to the idea of homebirth. I remember thinking that he was crazy!! I mean who would have their baby at home when there were two perfectly functional hospitals within 10 miles of them? Why would anyone take that kind of risk? I would not even consider it. I knew I wanted a drug free birth, but I planned to have

I woke up the morning of Friday December 14th, 8 days after Callan’s due date and decided it would be a fantastic day to have a baby. It was beautiful outside, warm and sunny, and a crisp perfect day. I had spent the past two days inside feeling big and hormonal and wanting to be a recluse. It was nice to wake up energetic and inspired. So I decided to throw on clothes and walk and walk and walk

Cameron Bogan Jacobs was born on October 1, 2007 at 41 weeks and 3 days gestation. He was 8 lbs., 15 oz. and 22" long. He arrived peacefully at 11:40 pm in the privacy and comfort of our own bedroom. Here is the story... I'll start with December 2006. Conception, although unplanned, happened. No more details needed there! In January 2007 I did a pregnancy test after being late, and low and behold,

Here's my birth story (or as best I can remember it).  Pull up a chair, it is long.***********************************On Thursday (9/6/07) morning we had a cleaning lady come to the house, a gift from my dad. I planned a bit of a day of pampering for myself in order to get out of her way. At 9:45 I had an appointment with my chiropractor. She adjusted my hips and pubic bone (ooh, feels good) and

It was at the end of July and I was a week away from my due date. That afternoon I was at the vet with my 13 year-old invalid dog Boo, trying to figure out a way to help her be as comfortable as possible in her last days (I had decided to hold off on helping her let go of this life until after my baby had come—I hadn’t wanted to experience the grief of her loss while I was carrying my child).

Perfect. That is the only word I can think of to describe my pregnancy and birth. Ryan and I got married 18 December 2005, and by the beginning of January, I wanted to be pregnant NOW. Only problem was that I wasn’t scheduled to graduate until May 2007, a year and a half away. I started reading books, most of which came from my mom, and charting my cycles to prepare for (and to prevent for the

It was July 21st, my estimated due date, but I felt like I was overdue. I was huge, it was hot, and since my first child came two weeks early, I was expecting this one a little early too. I was also expecting this baby to come quickly and it seemed that everyone I interacted with thought that would be the case. I knew that it would take the midwife around two hours to get to my house and if my labor

Now that Iris is four months old, perhaps it is time for me to finish writing her birth story. I started writing this two months ago. It's a challenge, as it feels like I'm stealing time from her in getting it written, but already I fear I'm forgetting things, so negligent or not, here I go... Wednesday (June 27) began with my by-then standard flurry of nesting activity. Already suspecting that today

Lord, your will be done….BUT, if I have any say in the matter, I’d REALLY like to have this baby tomorrow.That was my whispered prayer Thursday night. Never mind the fact the whole house had been sick all week, and never mind the fact I still had last minute things to do to prepare for this baby. I was ready.Around noon Friday, I remember flipping through channels while Ray, our two year

(This birth story was written by Lyllea’s 8 year old brother, Colin, and printed here exactly as written by him.)The day my sistor was born. Lillea I love you. I was at school lirning about pennies and adding them together. enthen the ofes cold me for dis misel on the iner com. enthen my teacher saide get yor book bag, and yellow folder, and egenda. I pakt up and I went for dis missle. I was

by Susan H. Stempel The Birth of Seth EdwardThe phone rang early that morning. It was Alix. She was in the early stages of her third pregnancy and we were all a little on edge because she miscarried a year ago. Her first pregnancy produced our now eight year-old Noah.“Mom, I’m thinking about having a home birth this time. You know, using a midwife. But I would only do it if every thing

This is not a birth story that I thought would be mine. When I became pregnant with our second child, I assumed I would have a hospital birth, as I did with our first. It was not a good experience, but I had not allowed myself to consider other options. After a previous early miscarriage, I was on pins and needles for the first trimester and wanted to see if this would be a go. The blessed second trimester

On Monday Oct 9th around 1:30am I awoke because it felt like I had wet myself. I went to the bathroom and there was a lot more fluid than usual but not enough to make me think my water had broken because I always thought it would be like a gush of fluid. I changed my undies and pantyliner and went back to bed. A few minutes later I had leaked again and this time felt like this must mean something.

As an only child of an only child (my mother), I didn’t have much exposure to babies or birth in my early life. Both my mother and grandmother gave birth under anesthesia so when I was first pregnant and the Nurse at the OB/GYN asked if I would like a natural birth I thought she meant do I want to be awake. It’s funny to think back to that now - like another life. My first child was born

For about 2 weeks I'd been having contractions that would look like a regular pattern was forming, but would never progress. They were doing some good work for me, but I felt like something was needing to be done before the baby would come. So, on the date I was due, I meditated on my baby and myself and said, "I really want you to come now, what do we have to do?" They answer was, not have a lot of

Born Sunday, October 9, 2005 at 1:11am. Weighing 7 pounds 8 ounces, 20 ¼” long, 13 ½” head, 13 ¾” chest.On Thursday and Friday I was trying to fill the days. I thought my baby would have already been born and I was ready. Michael came home on Friday and wanted to know what the vibe was he was picking up from me. I said, “I’m bored – I want to

My "Labor" Day! Thought I would share my birth story for those of you who like to read stuff like that :)It's hard to tell when my labor actually started. We had a difficult time figuring that out for the birth paperwork afterwards because for two days I had some strong contractions that felt like "something"...I could tell they weren't Braxton Hicks because they kept me awake at night but were not

Lila Marie was born at home June 27 at 5:11pm at 39w 1d gestation. She weighed 8 lbs, 8 oz and was 21 inches long.Early Labor: Sunday, June 26With no signs of impending labor in the preceding days and weeks, I awoke Sunday and began my day as usual. My due date was in one week, but to try and thwart my impatience, I had mentally prepared to be a 42-weeker. A trip to the bathroom around noon revealed

Jacob's Birth Story: Believing God!We welcomed a 7 lb 13 oz baby on Sunday, March 20th at 2:48 in the morning. However, I would like to back up a little bit and tell some truths about my pregnancy in order to fulfill the title of this story.  Prenatal:Once I found out I was pregnant, knowing there is no birth centers in Atlanta, I decided on a home birth. After talking with several local doulas,

The Birth of Charles Grey! When I look at my son today, two weeks since his birth, I feel such gratitude. I thank God for entrusting me with such a precious soul. I thank God for giving me the intuition to trust my body more than drugs and machines, I thank the amazing women my intuition brought me to- Claudia, Debbie, and Ruth for all their love, understanding, and for believing in me. I thank my

The entire pregnancy I prayed to God that I would get a good night sleep before I went into labor (as for my first labor, with Savannah I was up allll night and very tired). Well my prayers were answered!! I woke up at about 6:00 AM on January 10, with very mild contraction coming and going every 15-20 minutes...I could deal with that, I didn’t wake my husband yet although he heard my every move.