Video Series about Birth - Share your Birth Story

Rachel

April 21, 2015

Already submitted my story, but we just got our birth video from our photographer, so I thought I’d share that, too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtwHTWcaq18 (Contains nudity and images of birth)

Christine Frackelton

April 21, 2015

(Please feel free to edit this for clarity) 41w2d gestation, my produral/latent-stage/early/pre-labor started, after a natural induction including a cocktail of supplements prescribed by my midwives. My parents and brother came in town, and stayed for 3 days, after which my dad and brother flew back to their home towns because baby Sam was taking too long for their work schedules. I felt like I had failed to perform for them. I was exhausted from my 5-day-long stop-and-go labor, even though my contractions were very slowly causing dilation. I was disappointed that the natural birth I’d planned for might not happen, when, the night before I was to be induced with pitocin, I ate take-out chinese with a fortune cookie that read “You will soon make a new friend.” My contractions became stronger and more active immediately after that meal. I labored quietly at my hotel room near the hospital-based midwifery center until the pain was unbearable, when I woke my husband and had him drive me to meet my doula at the hospital. My doula massaged tension from my face, my husband held my weight in different positions, and my midwife knitted socks in the corner, occasionally checking me, but mostly smiling and affirming the great work I was doing. Labor slowed down after my arrival at the hospital, but everyone was patient as I got back into my groove. When I felt the urge to poop (not push), I was coached by my midwife through 2 pushing positions: one on my knees leaning over a ball, and the other in a reclined position in bed. I did not feel like I could do it, but after almost 50 minutes, I was told that my son had lots of hair on his head! “All that heartburn was worth it,” I said, and then I finished the job and held him in my arms and cried with joy, before nursing him contentedly. It was an amazing experience!

Tara Howard

April 17, 2015

I became a proud single mother to my daughter Kaitlynn on June 16th. We didn’t have the perfect the birth experience I had so carefully planned for but in the end I am certain myself and my birth team did everything we could to try to get the natural vaginal birth I wanted.

My water broke on Saturday June 14th at midnight. My doula and birth photographer came up to my house around 11am thinking the contractions would start and we would be having a baby soon. Contractions didn’t start but I kept having small Braxton hicks throughout the day. My doula and photographer came up and we decided that we would go to a baby wearing workshop to test out some wraps and carriers and then wander through the farmers market. Sunday June 15 rolls around and I still haven’t had any real contractions so at 8:00am I went into the hospital to have cervidil put in. I was monitored for an hour and then told to go home and try to get some rest since there was a good chance the cervidil would do it’s job and I would be in labour soon. Around 7:30pm that night I still was only having some sporadic contractions and nothing that really could be called productive labour. My midwife got me to come in for a second dose of cervidil at 8:30pm and it was discovered that the first dose had some how fallen out (possibly during one of my sporadic contractions while I was on the toilet). I was sent home again hopefully this time getting stronger contractions that would lead to active labour. A few hours later I was definitely feeling the contractions and went to try to get some sleep. I woke up around 1:45am Monday June 16th with crazy back to back contractions that wouldn’t let up. My doula called my midwife to explain the situation and she came over to remove the cervidil but since I was still only dilated to 2cm she left to go attend another birth. At 7am I was still contracting back to back and I was getting tired so my midwife asked if I would come into the hospital to be monitored and to get a shot of morphine and gravol. I was sent home again and told to sleep. I may have gotten a couple minutes sleep in between contractions but every contraction I got would wake me up and my doula eventually called my midwife again to come check me and see where we were at. I was checked and she said it was okay to get into the shower. My midwife checked me and said I was about 6-7cm dilated and if I wanted to I could go into the bath. I really wanted some sort of relief from all the pressure so I readily agreed and my doula and mom started to fill the bath. I had a few contractions on the toilet while I was waiting for the bath to fill and then I was was finally able to get into the bath. The water was a bit of a relief but at this point I was getting so tired and I kept falling asleep (and apparently snoring) between contractions. My second midwife showed up and I was asked to get out of the tub to check to see where I was dilated to. My midwife said I was about 9-10 cm but with a tiny lip so she tried to push it out of the way on my next contraction and I got back in the tub. I was told if I felt like pushing I could do so and so in the next few contractions I started to push. My midwife and her backup would periodically monitor the babies heartbeat with the Doppler and so far it was perfect. I wasn’t making enough progress in the tub so my midwife suggested I get out and try to push on the bed. She tried to help by pushing the cervical lip out of the way and pulling apart my pelvic bones while I was pushing. The backup midwife tried to do the same thing and eventually they just figured that my daughter was coming down crooked so I would have to go to the hospital. My mom drove me to the hospital while my midwife, doula and photographer followed behind us. I was wheeled up to the maternity floor and started pushing again. The obstetrician on call was wonderful and watched me labour through quite a few contractions before he decided that it would be best to start pitocin to strengthen and lengthen the contractions. I was given a squat bar to try a new position and a blanket tied onto the squat bar to try to give me more leverage and then went back to pushing with my legs being held my a nurse and my midwife and me holding my knees. I pushed for three hours and even though I was pushing really well and moving her down a tiny bit (my photographer did manage to get some pictures of the top of my daughters head not quite crowning before she was born) there was nothing for them to use a vacuum or forceps on to try to help me. I was falling asleep between every contraction and at one point started talking nonsense since I thought I was still in a dream. I didn’t think I could do anything any longer and kept saying “I just want to sleep, please come out baby so I can sleep.” My babies heartbeat had a few decelerations that they didn’t like so the obstetrician and my midwife decided that we should do a c-section and at this point I honestly thought thank you for suggesting that because I will collapse from exhaustion if we don’t do something else soon. I signed the papers and was wheeled into the operating room. When they got me settled onto the operating table and my mom was able to come into the room I felt a bit better. At 9:57pm my daughter was born. They got her out (turned out she was in a perfect position to come on her own and they actually had to reach in from the inside to push her up and out) but she had quite a bit of trouble breathing and they had to wisk her away to do some resuscitation measures and suction her lungs since she had swallowed a lot of fluid. Her placenta and cord were stained an awful colour and apparently she stank quite a bit herself since we must have had an underlying infection during labour possibly caused by the extended ruptured membranes. I was able to see her briefly for a minute before she was taken away for tests and to make sure she was breathing okay. I asked my mom to go with her as I was so tired I couldn’t imagine her being much help to me while they stitched me up. The anesthesiologist was fantastic and never stopped explaining what was going on, asking if I was okay and keeping me preoccupied while they finished up the surgery. I was wheeled into the birthing room again and everyone was there waiting for me. They all went home a little while later and I sat and talked to my midwife and nurse until they were able to bring me my baby just after midnight. I was able to be with her briefly but they had to take her back to be monitored over night. Around 2am I was wheeled into a new room and finally was able to sleep after 70 hours of labour. My daughter and I both ended up on antibiotics for the infection and I ended up getting an infection at my incision site. I ended up having to have my incision reopened due to a bad infection which was extremely uncomfortable. Because the site had to be reopened and they don’t close it up again after draining it took about 2 months for it to completely heal up.

No I didn’t have the home birth I wanted but I laboured and birthed without fear and will certainly try for a VBAC with my next child.

Rachel

April 16, 2015

Midwife-assisted,Out-of-hospital birth at a vacation property in the woods; baby caught by her parents (mother also happens to be a midwife). Mama Rachel, Papa Luke, and Baby Rita:
We were all surprised when my water broke 4 weeks before our due date, while I was visiting my parents who had just closed on their new condo for vacationing near their soon-to-arrive grand baby. I had felt a little bit of guilt for not doing more yoga in my pregnancy, and within a few minutes of doing some stretches on their new condo floor, I went to the bathroom and felt that unmistakable “pop!” It was still another 10 minutes or so before that sensation and a lot of wigging from my baby brought about a big gush of fluid. The little specks of white vernix on my pants confirmed this little one would be on his or her way soon.
To distract myself from the “waiting” for contractions to kick-in and build to active labor, I waded on the steps of the outdoor pool at my parents’ new condo. There were lots of kids and their parents splashing in the pool, oblivious to my early labor contractions. The thermometer creeped higher and higher; it was the hottest day of the year, and I was soaking in the sun’s rays on the big belly I loved so much.
Fortunately, my baby had been growing a few weeks ahead of schedule, so no one was worried that he or she was coming ahead of our due date. The surprisingly early labor, however, meant there were some last minute supplies to assemble, and none of our gear was at our intended place of birth, yet. My husband, Luke, and dad ran errands, like picking up a hose adapter to fill our birth tub, and before we knew it, my contractions weren’t funny anymore.
At that point, my husband and I left our two dogs with my parents at their new condo, and headed in our fully-packed van to the 40 acres of forest and cabin where we hoped to welcome our first born. The plan was that there would be many places to labor, trails to pace, a small paddling river for wading, and forest sights and smells to help ease the discomfort of labor. The sun was setting over the pine trees and corn fields as we drove to our cabin, and the contractions grew in intensity and frequency. Luke gave our midwife the update, but didn’t ask her to come, yet. As soon as we arrived to our cabin, I opened the van door and vomited all over the forest floor. I was excited to experience such an encouraging sign of active labor, and I hurried inside to avoid a buzzing swam of mosquitoes. Labor continued to build while Luke set up our birth tub, and I asked for our midwife to come. Then, we called our photographer, and the whole team was assembled. By this point, there was no stopping labor, and every time I felt myself saying “Noooo….” with a building contraction, I switched to the positive affirmations, “Yess.. yesss… This is what I wanted….”. The childbirth hypnosis relaxation prompts were playing on repeat and labor never got too difficult for my body’s own strength to endure. I couldn’t believe when I could hear the sounds that I was making, because I didn’t think I was that far along, but the midwife part of my brain registered, “Hey, that sounds like a woman in transition!”, then, “Wow, it sounds like I’m pushing.” The rest of my brain, on the other hand, was more passive and just hanging on for the ride. After less than 5 hours of active labor, and exactly 12 hours, to the minute, after my water broke, Rita Marsden was born into the hands of her mama and papa, while I was in hands and knees next to the birth tub. She was vigorously crying her entry song and didn’t take long to latch on and begin breastfeeding.

Jessica Ghigliotti

April 16, 2015

We had planned a homebirth. Everything was going great, with a fantastic, easy, healthy pregnancy. I started having strong contractions at 38+6 days, but after several hours they quit. The next day they started again, then quit. For a week I had prodromal labor, contractions coming strong every 3-5 minutes, then slowing to every 30 minutes, then back to 5. All. Week. Long. For the entire week all I did was eat and sleep ;) The day before my due date, my midwife figured out why labor couldn’t progress… Baby had turned footling breech. Her backup OB was the only person within hours who was willing to deliver breech, BUT, he was out of the country. I cried so hard, sure I was heading for a C section. As a last effort, she found an OB willing to try an ECV on a 40 week pregnancy. We headed to the hospital for the ECV, with a bag packed, knowing if it was unsuccessful we were having a c section that morning.

Incredibly, the ECV was successful! Immediately after the procedure though, baby’s heartrate dropped to the 50s. The OR was prepped and the emergency papers signed. It seemed like a c section was imminent. But the awesome OB waited, saying “Talk to your baby, mama. Tell your baby it’s okay. Tell the baby to be alright.” And within a few moments the heart rate started climbing back up! After a few hours of observation, we were officially out of the woods. We went home, cleared to have a home birth.

The evening of the next day Labor started again, and I labored quietly all night long, with contractions 10 minutes apart. Then at 5 am I started shaking and realized I was in transitional labor. I woke my husband, climbed into the tub and told him to call the midwife. I felt a sudden “pop” while he was on the phone and gasped at him “Tell her transition. Tell her water broke. Water clear.” I was vocalizing, moaning low and throaty, louder and louder. By the time the midwife walked in, I had switched to the “pushing roar” as the baby was deceasing spontaneously. Baby was born shortly after into my own hands. I pulled her from the water “It’s a girl!” By God’s grace my sweet baby was born at home, save and sound, and head first!

Longer version of the story on my blog, Birthing in Beauty http://www.birthinginbeauty.com/philomenas-birth-story-part-2/