HUSBAND & WIFE

Last night I read a stunning birth story and I just had to share it with you all. It's quite long, and filled with stunning pictures (not gory ones) so, instead of posting it here like normal, I'm going to send you over to Courtney Jane's great blog to check it out. I love her writing, and have been known to lose 4 hours in a single evening poring over her blog archives! This story truly took my breath away. For their conviction in birthing the way they wanted, but mostly for the tangible love, strength and trust between this husband and wife.

Here's the story...

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Sarah
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 Image by Jed Wells

TWO BIRTH STORIES IN ONE

Here's a fantastic double-whammy story for you, you'll want to make a cuppa and enjoy this one. Kelly sent us the tale of her two births... amazingly her son & daughter share a birthday, 3 years apart! Kelly said about her stories, "I feel like I've shared them a hundred times, but I've never tried to put them down on paper before. It feels good to finally get that bit of family history completed". 
If you've been thinking of writing a birth story, go ahead! Capture that piece of your own family's history. We'd love to share it here too.
Sarah
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Image by Lusi

I was 24 when I discovered I was pregnant.  My boyfriend Roger and I had been together for almost 5 years, and as scared as I was I instantly wanted this baby fiercely, and with all my heart.  Telling Roger was the scariest thing I'd ever done, I had no idea how he would react.  Neither of us are what you could call 'baby lovers', we'd never ever talked about having kids,  and if we stayed together until our dying days I could never envision the two of us deciding to have kids, it just didn't fit our lifestyle.  But I knew that even if he was unwilling to be a Dad, I was going to be a Mom.  Facing that conversation was heart rending, would he leave me?  Would he insist on an abortion? (I'm pro-choice, but this was already out of the question for me). It took a few days for the news to really sink in, but in the end he felt the same way I did.  Neither of us felt prepared to become parents, I was a full time bar-tender at the time, he was a student and playing in several rock bands, but we both wanted this baby.  Our baby.   

PLAN SCHMAN

Brandy sent us what she calls her "crazy birth story"... it's not at all what she'd planned but Baby Ethan had other ideas. I love stories like this - such an adventure! 

Enjoy,

Sarah

x

 
Wow Baby Ethan is finally here!!! But boy oh boy did he come in such an adventurous way!! Its his way......forget about all the planning we did as it all went out the window. I wanted a cute lil birth story...oh I'll go into labor at work.....I am an RN (registered nurse), walk...or get wheeled hehe...down to OB triage, and wahla.....have a nice & simple delivery...hehe. Boy were we in for a treat!

So it all started 8/4/2011.....it was an emotional ride in to work as I was thinking about and really missing my Dad (he passed away in March of this year 2011).

So I get to work and I am trucking a long.....then around 11pm I started feeling like I was having menstrual cramping...I have not had these types of cramping throughout my preganancy so I was a little concerned. I started asking everyone is this normal...what is going on? Contractions...was the answer. TMI but throughout the night I noticed brown discharge....oh no probably my mucous plug. I started keeping track of my contractions....they weren't too bad. My co worker and manager was like you want to go to Ob Triage? Me being stubborn and wanting to finish my shift said no...I'm ok...if it gets worse then I will.

So I finished my shift!! I was pretty happy about that. My co workers kept telling me you should go to OB traige just to make sure. So I finally said yea I should just to be safe. So sweet one of my co workers didn't want me to be alone as I waited for Steve to come so she walked with me and stayed with me in Ob Triage until Steve came. And kind of funny Steve wasn't going to come...as we have had two OB triage visits in the past and it resulted in nothing...so he was a lil hesitant to miss work and come sit with me. Boy was he glad he didn't do that! I don't think I would have let him either! LOL

So in OB triage when I first got there I was 2cm dilated and 80% effaced, but Baby Ethan's head was super low....I think she said I was at a station O. She didn't have to go in far as compared to my Tuesday OB appt they did have to go up pretty far...hehe. The nurse was like Wow his head is right there! Thats a good sign. But she called the dr and since I was planning on a natural birth the dr said I could go home, labor at home, but once contractions get stronger where I am in a lot of pain...then to head back in. The nurse gave me a second option of walking around for an hour and then getting rechecked. I opted for that!

An hour passes by and hubby & I go back to OB triage and BOO!! I'ms till 2cm dilated and 80% effaced. So home we went. Thankfully hubby did not go into work, but he stayed home with me and just in case got the car seat put in car, finish packing our bags, and attended to me. He is such a good hubby and coach.

I got home and my contractions were coming and coming and getting stronger. I laid on the couch, I sat on the toliet lol....doesn't it feel like you need to go to the bathroom hehe.....I laid in our bed...but nothing was helping with the pain! Finally I went into our tub and just laid there all day with the shower on me as well. Boy did that help!! Also being tired from working an overnight made me pretty drowsy and so I wasn't able to keep track of my contractions until it was too late. I was in there from like 11a to 4p.......then all of a sudden I felt a gush!

Oh no my water probably broke! Steve was a little frantic at this point....he was like ok baby we got to go...I can't deliver a baby....boy is that some foreshadowing...hehe. I tried to get up but I couldn't.....I had an urge to push probably 3-4 times. And finally I was like ok....yea we need to go to hospital STAT! I finally got out of the tub....hubby dried me off and clothed me.

We walked outside our bedroom door and another challenge came upon us....THE STAIRS!!!! Oh no I looked down and I told Steve I can't.....I can't. I would step down then come back up....I did it 2x. I kept saying I feel something down there. Steve checked and he was like its just the sac just the sac....no head. Are you sure?! Are you sure!? Hehe. Then as I stepped back up away from the carpet....so happy I did that....I had a huge urge to push and poor Baby Ethan comes right out and happens to fall right on to a lil area rug that is pretty cushioned onto the ground!

OMG!!!! I was completely freaking out and crying at that point...Steve was so good and he immediately picked Baby Ethan up and wrapped him in a towel and I grabbed Baby Ethan and was like OMG airway.....get me suction...even though now that I think back....his airway was good at that time but you know when you watch the movies of deliveries they suction the baby, stimulate, etc and of course as a Nurse airway is #1 priority. That was my 1st reaction get me suction. Steve runs downstairs and brings me a turkey baster....oh goodness. We try to suction Baby Ethan but not much came out. But I guess right when he came out Steve said he was crying then stopped when he got picked up and held. I don't remember any crying so thats why I was freaking out. But with me I just remember Baby Ethan being so content and just in my arms yawning and so nonchalant about the whole thing. At this time 911 was called they said to lay me down.....I walked over to the guest room as our bed was way too high for me to climb into. At this point there was blood everywhere upstairs and down my legs. I laid down and we put Baby EThan on me and initaited Kangaroo care and got him on my breast. EMT, firefighters, and the police came to our house within 2-3 minutes and they started on their assessments. They got me downstairs, onto the gurney, and then into the Ambulance. I just remember I kept saying take me to Good Sam, take me to Good Sam and I kept asking I need to bank my cord blood and tissue. We were en route to Good Sam, but they got concerned with the placenta still being in me and Baby Ethan's blood sugar. Usually they work on adults so having a blood sugar of 48 they were in a panic state......but come to find out that is normal for newborns from what they L&D nurses told me. They tried to start an IV in Baby Ethan's umbilical cord and in his lil hand but no luck. And they kept massaging my tummy and that was so so painful!!! They opted to take us to the closest hospital as they didn't want to chance anything....so off to Chandler Regional we were.

Got to Chandler Regional.....I'm half naked, covered in blood, and Baby Ethan is on my breast and I am getting wheeled into the ED and everyone is looking at me....at that point all modesty went out the window. They kept saying go to L&D...L&D. So off we went.....felt like forever!!

Got to L&D.....they took Baby Ethan to the warmer.....they hooked me up to Pitocin the Dr came and I had to deliver the placenta....oh the joy of that. It was like giving birth again!!! Finally it all came out and I felt so much better! I just remember shaking and shivering after it came out. I guess Hubby says that happens after placenta is delivered in a book he read. hehe.

So they did the Apgar Scoring with Baby Ethan and he was a 10 with them and with the firefighters and EMT he was also a 10 throughout. Thank goodness! Everything was good!!!

Baby Ethan arrived or should I say fell into this world at 4:28pm weighing in at 6lbs even!! And 19 (1/4) long! And to top it off he arrived on my mom's birthday.......before all this craziness when I was in OB triage I sent a text to all my sisters, "I am in OB Triage....contractions since 11p....been at work.....maybe this daddy's present to mom."

How sweet is that....my parents wanted a boy so bad....they tried 5x...and always a girl. And now they have their sweet little Boy.....Baby Ethan Tommy Orona.

32 MINUTE LABOUR!!!

Wow, check out this story of a super speedy birth - Laura's labour was only 32 minutes from first contraction to the the time her baby arrived!

Thanks to Jill at Au Natural Baby for sharing the link.

x

On Monday, September 26th, I was 40 weeks and 1 day pregnant and I was not happy about it! (I am not a very patient person!) I had an appointment scheduled with the midwives at Central Utah Clinic Women’s Center and I went to the appointment bound and determined to have my membranes stripped (ANYTHING to get this labor going!). Claudia was so great when I met with her. She could tell I was very frustrated with still being pregnant and was very sympathetic. But she was also very professional in expressing her feelings about stripping membranes. She really helped diffuse my frustration. She said that maybe we should just do a quick vaginal check to see where things were and then, if I still felt that nothing was happening and I really wanted it, she would strip them for me. So she did the exam and I was dialated to 5 1/2cm and 80% efaced and Claudia said my cervix was “as soft as butter”! But the baby was still fairly high up, and I hadn’t really been having any surges or practice surges, so I decided to not have her strip my membranes and we headed home with the advice to not wait very long to go to the hospital once surges really did start.

As I went about my day I became more and more certain that this baby was not going to come that day and that I was going to be pregnant forever! (I know, I’m a little on the dramatic side!) I had maybe two or three practice surges all day and they were very mild. So after a trip to the grocery store at 9:30 at night to refill the fridge I got ready for bed. I wasn’t feeling very well, a little nauseous and tired, so Ben and I just watched TV for a little while and then we both fell asleep shortly before midnight. At about 1:00 in the morning I woke up with a VERY strong surge. I breathed through it and thought “wow, that was out of nowhere!” I dozed back off, but woke up again very shortly after that with another surge. I breathed through it again and felt like I should probably get up and go to the bathroom and see if these were real surges or not.

As I rolled over in bed I felt a sudden warm gush. I was wide awake at this point! I went to the bathroom and got cleaned up and immediately felt another strong surge. I left the bathroom, grabbed my phone (which had the contraction timer on it) and headed out towards the living room to time my surges. I sent Laura Curtis a quick text telling her that my water broke and I was feeling strong surges and that I would keep her posted. I began timing and quickly realized that these surges were definitely coming very regularly and very close together. I timed through two contractions (that were each about 1 minute long) and realized that they were coming at less than two minutes apart.

I waddled back to the bedroom and woke Ben up. As he rolled over I started having another surge and began to breath through it. He looked at me and asked, “Are you okay?” I shook my head vigorously while doing my surge breathing (talking at this point was totally out of the question!) and then he asked, “Are we having a baby?” I nodded my head just as vigorously. He jumped out of bed and came to my side. He stood there and scratched my back and reminded me to breathe and relax until that surge was done.

I went to get my suitcase to finish packing, he grabbed his phone and said “who do we need to call” as another surge started. He rubbed my back again and did light touch massage on my arm and I remember him looking at me with a look that said, “should these surges be that close together already?” When that one finally let up we both went out to the kitchen where the number for the on-call midwife was. He called the midwives and I called Laura and as she answered the phone, I began to have another surge. She talked me through it until it started to subside, but before I could really catch my breath another one started! I just handed the phone to Ben and leaned against the counter and circled my hips and did some vocalizing while trying to breath and stay relaxed. Ben came around the counter and held me in his arms. I reached up around his neck and we swayed together while Ben was talking to Laura. She asked him if I felt like I needed to push or like I was going to have a bowel movement, he asked me and I said no, but the next surge came a few seconds later and I said, “YES!” At this point I just remember feeling so much pressure and I just wanted to relieve it somehow, so I headed to the living room where my birthing ball was, but I only made it about 5 steps when I dropped to my hands and knees and pulled my underwear off…I could feel the baby right there. Ben had followed me while still talking to Laura and I remember him saying, “Um I can see the baby’s head!” Laura told him to hang up and call 911, so he did.

As he was on the phone the baby started coming out even more. I could feel the burn on my perineum and was trying to just blow it away and slow down the baby’s decent, but the baby had other plans!! Ben put the phone on speaker and reached up to support the baby’s head as it was coming and one surge later, he received the baby!! I rolled over and he handed the baby to me and I brought him straight to my chest. Ben jumped up and flashed the porch lights for the police officers that had just pulled into the cul-de-sac. They came in to the scene of a naked woman on the floor with a baby on her chest and a man in his underwear.

Ben got some towels and a blanket for me and the baby. I remember the police officer asking the dispatcher what the time of birth was. It was 1:32! The whole thing from the first surge to the birth of the baby was 32 minutes!! The police officers asked if we had a shoelace or string to tie off the umbilical cord, but when we didn’t have something right there, he just said, “You know, the ambulance is close enough, we’ll just leave it until they come with their kit and they can clamp it.” We were so grateful! We had wanted to leave the cord attached for as long as possible and were concerned that the staff at the hospital wouldn’t let us leave it for as long as we wanted. But by the time the EMT’s got there, the cord had completely stopped pulsing and had totally drained. It was an answer to a silently uttered prayer. They clamped and cut the cord. I was able to stand up and get myself on the stretcher.

I had not delivered the placenta yet and they wanted to take me and the baby to the hospital to make sure everything was okay and to have the midwife deliver the placenta. As I rode away in the ambulance holding my precious little Owen on my chest, I was overwhelmed with love and gratitude and amazement. 

I remember most the feeling of calm that was in the room as I was giving birth. There was no fear. My husband and I both were so calm. It was such a personal, bonding experience. I was so thankful for the HypnoBirthing classes that had taught me what to expect. The whole thing was so fast that I didn’t get a chance to use the deep relaxation and the calm breathing. I didn’t get to try any different laboring positions or listen to the soft music that Ben had spent HOURS preparing for me. However, I knew that I was prepared. I knew that I could do this. And I knew that Ben could do this. I remember him saying over and over to me while I was breathing and birthing, “You can do this. You are amazing. You know how to do this. You are ready. You can do this!” Because of Hypnobirthing, I knew how to breath through my surges. I knew what to expect from my body and I knew that my body was made for this and I could do this! So, though my birth was nothing like how I had “planned”, it turned out to be perfect! Oh, and in case you were wondering, it took me longer to write up this birth story than it did to actually give birth!

Top photo from www.sxc.hu

A BABY'S TOUCH

Tonight on television I watched this incredible story. It brought me to tears and I had to share it with you immediately...
Go and hug your baby/child/bump/spouse/partner/parent/sibling right now and tell them how much you love them!
Sarah
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The powerful and emotional story of Yoshi and Emma De Silva and the healing power of a baby's touch.

About three weeks after giving birth, Emma was hit by a car as she took her newborn for a walk. Yoshi was told his wife would either die or live with brain injuries for the rest of her life. But what they didn't count on, was the extraordinary connection between mother and child.

From the Sunday Night current affairs programme, Channel 7, Australia.

"JUST LET YOUR BODY DO IT..."

Surrender. It's a common thread in the most amazing birth stories I read... from women who let their body do its thing and don't fear or fight the pain.
This story, by Jodi at Che and Fidel, is just stunning. Her mental and physical preparation for the arrival of baby Poet and the way she stays in tune with her body through the whole labour and birth is really lovely. And she writes so beautifully too! 
Enjoy,
Sarah
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All photos taken by Jodi's talented partner, Daniel

THE GROWING AND BIRTHING OF POET WINTER

It rained in October 2010. On and off the clouds grew heavy and eventually they let go. In October 2010 my parsley and mint were thriving in their terracotta pots.

She was conceived in the spring time while the rain drops fell.

Daniel wasn't convinced until I placed three pregnancy tests in front him. Two blue lines on each. I was quite certain of my dates and so I wrote, in white chalk, on our kitchen wall: 18th of July 2011. I'm the biggest sceptic of 'estimated due dates'. I don't really believe in them. But she proved me wrong. On the 18th of July 2011, just after lunch, she began her journey.

She grew within me for exactly 40 weeks. But I had dreamed of a little dark haired girl long before she was conceived. And I felt like I was preparing for her birth for many years before she entered my mind.

In my first labour, with her big brother, Che, I was shocked by the intensity and unprepared for the pain. I laboured for a good 31 hours, resisting each contraction, fighting every wave. Subsequently it hurt and although labour was strong, I stayed at 3cm for hours and hours and hours. It wasn't until I lay on the bed, curled up in the foetal position, waiting for an epidural, that I fully dilated within 40 minutes and held my first born shortly after.

It was a positive experience but not an enjoyable one.

I had prepared many women for their own birth journeys in my pre-natal classes. Week in, week out, I encouraged them to open their mouths, breathe deep, fall into the contraction and surrender to the journey. Teaching while pregnant was new to me. I had to remind myself to listen to my self, listen to those words. I was preparing too, getting closer to the transition of birth.

In the last few weeks of pregnancy I wondered whether I had prepared enough. Daniel and I spoke one night about surrender. "Just let your body do it, because it's going to do it anyway."

BEAUTIFUL BIRTH VIDEO

I just love the emotion coming from Dad in this video, it gets me every time. This is from a great website I found recently...her name is Ceci Jane and she does a lot of birth photography and cinematography.

A good friend of mine is a photographer, she has a business called Hatched Photography where she does stunning newborn photos. She's offered to photograph my upcoming birth for me. I'm so excited - I didn't get any great pics from my last 2 births (you can read our previous post on birth photography here) so I'm looking forward to having my third and final birth documented!

Enjoy,

Michelle

Romy's Birth Story from Ceci Jane on Vimeo.

A PEACEFUL BIRTH

I have never seen a birth as peaceful as this one! I couldn't take my eyes away as baby Oliver's arrival gets nearer but still Claire is quiet and calm. It's so different to what people imagine or are told about childbirth, and to what many of us experience!

Claire shares her birth video and story today. She runs Auckland HypnoBirthing, for more information on this philosophy check out her website. We'll also be featuring a guest post from Claire about HypnoBirth so if you have any questions you'd like to ask her, post them below and we'll pass them on! I'm so curious myself, the term "hypno" just makes me think of a magic show... but as you'll see in Claire's video, it's far from an embarrassing spectacle like those performances.

Enjoy!
Sarah
x 




Oliver's Water / HypnoBirth

My ‘due date’ came and went, I felt like a little girl waiting for Christmas. Finally, 13 days past the day that he was due, Oliver was born. Here is his birth story.
I had been experiencing pre-labour warm-ups (Braxton Hicks) for several days, I knew that this was my body warming up for the birth and this gave me a sense of confidence that my body knew exactly what to do to let my baby out. On this particular night, I went to bed feeling just the same as I did any other night. However at 2am I awoke with a strong tightening in my pelvic and abdominal area, which was much stronger than I had been previously experiencing. To be honest I didn’t really believe at first that I was in labour so I just put my breathing and relaxation techniques to practice as I had been doing during the pre- labour warm-ups. After about an hour of these tighenings I realised that this must be it, so I woke Jeremy up. We thought that we better time them and to my delight they were coming at fairly regular intervals, this was definitely it! I continued to go within my birthing body and handed the process over to my body and baby. The only thing I consciously thought about was remaining deeply relaxed and breathing. I was aware of everything that was going on and I felt very in touch with my body, I loved feeling my baby kicking around between surges. We called the midwife and made the trip into Birthcare so we could beat the rush hour traffic. I thought that I actually still had a long time to go and wondered if we would even be sent home, as the surges were so easy to manage and I was actually quite enjoying them. I listened to Jeremy’s recording of the Rainbow Relaxation on my iPod on the way there and made sure my body stayed loose and limp. I was amazed by how easy the surges were to breath through during our trip in the car, as it certainly wasn’t that easy making the transition in the car during the birth of my first baby. 
At 7am we arrived at Birthcare and walked into the birthing room I felt very emotional and wanted to cry, tears rolled down my cheeks, but I reminded myself to remain relaxed. I wasn’t sure why I wanted to cry at the time, but in hindsight I realise it was because Oliver was not far away. I got in the pool and continued to relax, breathing deeply through each surge. Jeremy was right by my side, to totally support me every step of the way, and helping me go deeper into relaxation, I felt so safe and loved. The surges were very strong and powerful, however I took complete trust in my body and just let it do what it needed to do. After only being in the pool for about 45 minutes Oliver was born at 8am. He had the cord wrapped tightly around his body and his neck twice. Our midwife was amazing and moved quickly to untangle it. She said that if it wasn’t such a fast birth then things would have gone quite differently as Oliver would have become very distressed. I am so grateful that I was so relaxed and able to allow Oliver to descend as quickly as he needed to. 
Thanks to a drug free birth, I was able to enjoy being fully alert and clear headed, able to walk and move around easily. I believe that the time spent doing massage was well worth it, as my perineum remained intact. After the birth I did not need any pain meds, as I was able to continue to put the HypnoBirthing tools to practice.
As soon as Oliver was born, the tight bond and love that Jeremy and I built with him throughout my pregnancy, by doing various HypnoBirthing exercises, was very present and it grows stronger every day. Oliver’s birth was everything I visualised and imagined. It couldn't have been more perfect. I am left with amazing memories and feelings of elation and joy whenever I think about it. 
Oliver is so chilled out, he feeds and sleeps very well and from very early on we got the most beautiful smiles, which continue to get bigger and brighter everyday. For me, the adjustment to life with a toddler and newborn has been so much easier than I anticipated and I find myself able to remain calm when things are all go. HypnoBirthing has given me confidence in the power of my mind. I now feel like I can achieve anything that I desire! I am very passionate about HypnoBirthing and I am dedicated to share my knowledge and experience with as many parents as I can, so that they too may be able to experience birth in a calm and peaceful state as nature intends.

WASN'T HE WORTH IT?

A beautiful birth story from Steph, and yes indeed he was worth it - what a cutie! Although I'm very curious Steph - as to why you spent the car ride to hospital with a bowl of fruit salad on your lap?! :)

Enjoy

x

It all started at 11am on Saturday, 19^th December, 2009. The day before my due date! I was sitting in the living room chatting to my friend on Facebook when I got the first proper contraction! It came all the way from the back and lasted a lot longer than the Braxton Hicks contractions I had been having for the few months prior. I messaged my friend and she asked me to describe the feeling. She then told me, YUP you’re having your baby. She was mum to two month old Emily so could remember the feeling very well!

I logged off and went to the bedroom to tell Steve (my hubby) that I was in labour. He was enjoying a nice lie-in after a stressful pre-Christmas rush at work. He woke up promptly, thinking I was about to give birth. We’d been practising our escape route for weeks! The contraction subsided and we watched the clock...10 minutes passed and still nothing! OK, maybe it was a false alarm after all; I never thought our baby would arrive on time or early.

So we got ready for the day and showered, had a wee bite to eat, and headed out to the video store (we were in the draw to win a new plasma TV and it was being drawn at 1pm). I had a few niggles between 11am and 12.30pm, but by the time we arrived at the video store I was clutching my tummy and breathing slowly. I was having another one and boy were they getting strong! Steve suggested we go home and relax, but before we did this I told him we had to go shopping...typical eh! I realised baby was on the way, but I knew that Steve was TOTALLY unprepared for Christmas and there was no way he was leaving me at home with a newborn in those first few days! So off to the shops we went. Another few contractions later and we were all done. I was ready for home and I was ready to call my midwife. Surely this can’t go on much longer.

I text my midwife and told her I thought the baby was coming. We had made a pact that I wasn’t to go in to labour until my due date as she was visiting friends out of town. In a perfect world I would have stuck to our pact, but I wasn’t in charge of this, my baby was! My midwife told me to hang in there and to start timing the contractions. When they got closer together she’d come around to see how far along we were.

The next few hours were a blur. All I can remember is sucking on ice blocks and chewing on pieces of pineapple and strawberry; jumping in and out of the shower because one moment I was too hot, the next too cold; and calling my Mum at 3am UK time to tell her the baby was coming. It was hard not having my Mum here but so nice having her on the other end of the telephone, she just went silent when I had a contraction and talked me through it between them. Steve was an angel rubbing my back, running my baths and showers, and feeding me pieces of fruit.

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER

So...here is the reason we've been a bit slow with the blog lately. I'm pregnant with number three! We're very excited, and a little nervous too. I've also been very very sick - uggh, remind me why I'm doing this again? Combine that with the fact that Sarah and her family have all had nasty coughs/colds AND moved house...and there you have it, a slightly neglected little blog!!

I thought I'd share with you the video I took of my husband and I telling our girls our family is about to expand. Mila (5 years old) has been asking for another baby for quite some time, and is so excited. Rosa (2.5 years old) really hasn't much idea about what's going on, but is totally caught up in the excitement of it all.
Enjoy
Michelle x

Three is the magic number! from Michelle Sokolich on Vimeo.

THE UNDERVALUED THERAPEUTIC POWER OF REST

This is oh so important to remember, and something I definitely struggle with.  When Rosa was only a week old a friend dropped a meal round and commented that I had the tidiest house she'd ever seen for having a newborn baby.  I'm still trying to find the fine line between feeling happier because my house is tidy, and letting myself rest!
So when I read this article from Gloria Lemay I knew it would be great to post here, as a reminder to us all!
Enjoy, and have a restful day!
x

Image from Bella Vita

I developed very sore nipples when my youngest daughter (now 28 years old) was about 8 months old. I was working as a midwife at the time and I was completely perplexed and dismayed to be having sore nipples for, what I thought was, no reason at all. I called the La Leche League to see if they had any ideas about cause or cure and the first response on the other end of the phone was “Have you been getting your rest?” Oh, how I hated those words. . . I wanted a much fancier diagnosis than “you’re tired, dear”. The truth was that I’d just come off a very long birth and had been up two nights in a row. I was rushing around trying to pull my own household together and do postpartum care for the new family, too. That LaLeche League Leader gave me such a gift by causing me to pause and see that I wasn’t taking care of myself and my nipples were a first alert that things were falling apart.
I notice that my clients have the same dismayed reaction when I bring up rest. Isn’t there another way? Isn’t it possible to have those 3 birthday parties I have scheduled for my 4 year old? Can’t I pick someone up at the airport, go to the library and cook dinner for six in my first week after giving birth? Whaaaaaaaaa.

We live in a culture that has no value or respect for rest. If you’re resting, you’re lazy and incorrigible. We have been raised on Tampax ads that say “Go play tennis, golf and volleyball when you’re having your moon time. An active woman is an attractive woman.” I love the Orthodox Jewish practice of giving women a bed of their own from when their period starts to 12 days later and arranging a complete day of rest from all household duties on Saturday. We would all be well advised to adopt these customs.

Some of the problems that are cured by rest in bed:
-breast problems of all kinds in nursing mothers
-heavy or prolonged vaginal bleeding in post partum or perimenopause
-general crabbiness or depression

For building up milk production, go to bed with the baby for 24 hours. Mother should wear only panties, baby only a diaper. A tray with fluids, magazines and flowers beside the bed for the mother and all diaper changing needs for the baby close at hand. Another adult woman in the house brings meals to the mother. After 24 hours of this bed rest, the milk will be abundant. (I’ve had one client who said it didn’t work. When I went through what she had done, it turned out that instead of following these instructions exactly, she went to her cousin’s place for the day and lay on her couch.) No, no, no. The naked skin and privacy are a big part of this “Babymoon” formula. Don’t modify.

Probably, when you read this, you thought “This would be a luxury for a new mother.” It’s actually very basic and pays huge dividends for the family and larger community. Some cultures understand this and make sure the new mother is given a 40 day period of rest/care when she has a baby.


I hear many dramatic stories from midwives and nurses about women who had to be operated on after giving birth because they were bleeding heavily and had “retained pieces of placenta” or “retained clots”. My personal experience is that ALL post birth bleeding is remedied by resting in bed. The lochia is red for the first two days, changes to pink and serumy around the third day, and then proceeds to being brownish and quite smelly for about two weeks. If it turns red again after going through the pink and brownish stages, it means the mother is doing too much. She needs to follow the “BabyMoon” lie-in instructions above. Remember, THIS IS NOT A LUXURY, IT’S BASIC. The family needs to be told that, if they don’t help the mother to rest in bed, they will end up visiting her in hospital.

We need to give up the notion of supermom. Do whatever it takes to get your rest time after the birth and then you will be back to your busy life sooner. When women have homebirths, they usually feel so well that they want to get up and “prove” to the world that they can do anything. Be mindful of the Zen maxim “If you have something to prove, you have nothing to discover.” The really smart women don’t even get dressed for weeks after the birth. If you’re all perky in a track suit, people will expect you to run . . . therefore, find the nastiest old nightie possible and wear that to convince family and friends that you need their assistance.

If you can’t figure out how to ask for help in the early weeks with a new baby, photocopy 20 copies of this list and hand out freely.

Rest, high protein meals, and lots of skin to skin time in bed with baby . . . these are the basics of getting motherhood off to a good start.

MOM, ARE YOU HAVING BIRTH?

A lovely story from Amanda at Boho Birth.  I can totally relate to the highly addictive euphoria you get when you've just given birth and are holding your baby in your arms.  There's nothing quite like it.  It's almost enough to make you want more and more babies - till your youngest turns 2.5...
Enjoy x

This last pregnancy was going to be a breeze...this was my fourth baby after all, I had home birthed, I was a HypnoBirthing practitioner, was in a traditional midwifery program, and I had been working as a doula for the past few years...so I knew pregnancy and birth and I trusted the process. I remember feeling sorry for women who thought of birth as a painful event that one had to "get through" in order to meet their babies. I was above all that fearful-of-birth business....at least until I hit the eighth month and realized that I had to do it again!

The fear crept in and stayed awhile... I remember at night, waking up to the feeling like I needed to escape my body, but I couldn't move. And sometimes it felt like I wasn't able to breathe.
The more fear I felt, the more positive (and some not so positive) birth stories I read, and the more abdominal breathing I did. I practiced my HypnoBirthing daily and listened to positive birth affirmation CDs while driving my minivan filled with MY children. That's right, the three previous children I had already birthed quite fearlessly. Why now?

I think the fear came from: 1) the thought of being out of control, and not being able to surrender, 2) I've given birth before, so I know its intensity, and 3), attending births during my pregnancy gave me a whole new perspective on the variations of how birth can go.
I had had three empowering births, and I had gotten all those lovely endorphins and oxytocin to help me feel euphoric and totally blissed out and bonded to my babies. I remembered those parts so well, and when we were planning on having a fourth, all I thought of was that highly addictive euphoria at the end!


I liken it to a druggie (hello birth junkies!) who will do anything to get that feeling from the next hit. We forget the "sensations" a little while after birth since we are totally high on LOVE!
So I continued on my journey embracing the birthing process for what it was, and practiced surrendering. I did it over and over and over again...since its easy to stop surrendering. I learned how to focus on the now, while being thankful to God for the opportunity to take part in another birth, which He made me able to do. My biofeedback sessions were amazing and gave me some incredible tools for life, not just birth. I also had chiropractic adjustments once a week, massage therapy and acupuncture. I was mostly ready.

0 TO 9.5 WITH NO REAL PAIN

This is a truly inspirational story.  Melanie's fourth birth, and the one where she says she finally worked out the pain can be controlled by the power of the mind.  When a contraction came on she pretended that from the neck down wasn't attached to her body...and it really worked for her as she got to 9.5 cm's before she felt any real pain!!

Enjoy x

Image via Lovely Nest

My first labour and birth was long and painful (I learnt with each labour how to manage the pain better) I was young, didn’t have a clue what I was doing and my daughter was 10p 3oz, the OB biffed the forceps aside and proceeded to pull her out with his leg in the table and his hands inside me under her armpits, Adelaide was born, thank goodness that was over! I told myself I would never have another birth like that again, and I didn’t.

The births of my second and third daughters, Stevie-Anne and Marcie, were straight forward hospital births, no drama just sluggish and slow to start with and when ‘labour’ kicked in I would go off to the hospital, walk in the doors, get settled in a room and by then labour had slowed down to a near stop, frustrating but I guess that’s part of having to transfer from where I was most comfortable with. After my third was born my midwife at the time said ‘you could have had her at home’ we both chuckled and she carried on doing what she was doing.

My husband and I had just decided I was to go train to become a Nurse, however, that very week we found out I was having our fourth child.  Finding out I was pregnant for the fourth time was a surprise, another child was on the menu but my passion for Nursing was strong and I was ready, that of course, was put on the back burner while I focused a few more years on being a stay at home mum.

My midwife this time was my sister’s mother-in-law, I loved how calm and relaxed she was with my sisters labours and wanted to have a turn myself! Passionate about homebirths, my midwife said there wasn’t any reason why I couldn’t do it at home.  OK! Homebirth it is then!

It didn’t take me long to get my head around a homebirth, I knew I could do it and I also knew it would be one of the biggest achievements of my life if I did. I almost brainwashed myself throughout my pregnancy in how my labour was going to go, how I was going to manage the pain and that it was going to go well end of story. I can remember only once at the end of my pregnancy when my midwife turned up with the homebirth kit that I had a teeny tiny split second of doubt, that didn’t last long as there was no way I was going to the hospital this time.

IT'S BETTER TO BE TOGETHER

This story is a bit different to what we usually share here on Birth Stories. We like to post positive stories, because most people like to scare pregnant mothers with horror stories which is not cool.

Stella's story is beautiful and incredibly emotional, but comes with a gentle warning from us that it's not all positive - they had a fright when baby Eleanor swallowed meconium during the labour and needed to be taken away and put in an incubator to assist her breathing.

However, we want to share this with you because what Stella was inspired to do following her experience is very positive indeed. After feeling traumatized by being left alone in hospital, separated from her newborn baby for many hours and without her partner because he was sent home, Stella launched "It's Better To Be Together". It's a movement that encourages hospitals to allow partners to stay with their families following childbirth - whether the birth took place in a birthing unit or hospital. Isn't that wonderful? Doesn't it seem so simple and obvious that we need our partners by our sides, especially after a difficult birth? Follow the link to "like" her Facebook page and stay updated.

I also love that Stella was brave enough to put these emotions into words and write her birth story. It's so important and cathartic to process these feelings. And the beauty of sharing them is that they, in turn, can go on to help someone else heal from their own birth trauma. I know I found writing my birth story incredibly healing and every single story I post on this blog continues to inspire and reassure me for next time.

So Stella, thanks for sharing and for turning your own experience into something positive for other families in the same situation.


Sarah
x

I want to write about something that's been on my mind quite a bit lately - perhaps because my blossom has recently turned one, or perhaps because we are starting to think about when we would like to have our second.  It keeps taking me back to Eleanor's birth, and a whole bundle of strange mixed feelings that I rarely delve into.  This in part is because of those constant reminders of 'what I have now', which is a happy healthy baby who has absolutely flourished, right from day one.  Those reminders generally come from me, I mean, why linger on the past, when you have this precious bundle in front of you?  I have also found this sentiment is frequently reflected back to me when I do bring up those feelings I still have about her birth - and so - it is easier just to leave be.

The thing is though, there is a part of me that wells up at the smallest reminder of how I felt for one long (eternally long) moment in time.  Even now, as I write.  If those memories catch me at the wrong time, well, it's hard.  And I can't help but think that if they create such an immediate reaction, then maybe, maybe they are not best forgotten.  I don't really know anymore, but I know that I feel a strong impulse to write, and share.  To unburden. Maybe one or two of you have experienced similar, and can share your thoughts...  I hope so.

INDUCTION BOOKED, BUT HER BODY KNEW BETTER

Here's a lovely story from Kelly - the birth of her son Hendrik. I love that Kelly went into labour naturally just hours before she was due to be induced, funny how that happens sometimes isn't it? 

Enjoy,

x

Hi Ladies,

My name is Kelly, I am 30 years old and have 4 children. I am writing to you from Sydney, Australia. I love reading the stories on your website and am often brought to tears by many of them. Childbirth is such an amazing and surreal experience that completely transforms your whole life. Not only for us mothers, but often for the fathers as well. I have finished having babies now, but it makes me sad every time I realise I will never have that experience again. I would like to share 2 of my birth stories with you. As I mentioned, I have 4 children - a 10 year old girl, 2 year old boy and 3 month old twin girls. I don’t remember a lot of my first birth, as I was very young and not really in a great place in my life. It was also a very long time ago and the memory, unfortunately does fade a little after time. So I would love to share with you, the birth of my son Hendrik and the birth of my twin girls Willow and Bonnie.

I will start with Hendrik. He is my second child, and first for my now husband, Pat. As it had been more than 8 years since I had my first, it was almost like the first time again. I felt just as excited, nervous, unsure (and all the other emotions you feel when expecting your first baby). My due date was 18th April. I worked up until mid March in a job where I was on my feet all day, everyday. Towards the end of the pregnancy, I was really struggling to carry this boy, and by 39 weeks, I was BEGGING to be induced as I just felt that I could not last another, possibly 2 to 3 weeks. Of course, they refused. It was best for the baby to stay in as long as possible. I understood that, but in the end, I burst into tears and told the doctor that I felt it was unfair that they didn’t care about the “incubator” at all! Clearly, by this point, I was at my wits end. My feet and legs were swollen and I had feet jammed behind my ribs and resting nicely on my lungs, he liked to lay with his legs stretched out. I did not think I could ever be more uncomfortable. I was proven wrong, when less than 2 years later, I was in the same position, with TWINS! (That’s another story though.)  Not only was it the discomfort but the worry I had, that Pat needed to fly to NZ the following week for his sister’s wedding, I didn’t want him to miss it and I didn’t want us to worry that if he did go, he could possibly miss the birth! 

SLOW TO START BUT QUICK TO FINISH

Wow, nothing cuter then a little bundle of baby.  Aleesha blogs over at Life is a Highway, and this is her third baby - you can read her first birth story here, and her second here.  Little Axel was not so little (4.11kgs!) but yet another example of a big baby and no tearing, love hearing that!

If you go by my dates, my due date was 12th March 2011, if you go by scans, my due date was 18th March 2011… so I figured, I must have been due somewhere in between… so imagine my disappointment when March 18th came and went, and I was still pregnant.

Wednesday 23rd March I had to head up to Auckland hospital for CTG monitoring and to clarify which date the doctors were going to work on for induction – I was, at this stage pretty scared they would go by the 12th as that made me 11 days overdue all ready, so I may have been admitted for induction immediately totally destroying all hopes of a natural, drug free, water birth at Birth Care.

The CTG showed that I was having regular tightenings, but I had yet to feel a thing… It also showed that all was well with bubs… So off for a scan with the doctor, who was very happy with everything, and was happy to let me go another 7 days before induction… YAY a reprieve… albeit a small one… I still had to get this baby out by 7.30pm Wednesday 30th March 2011.

Friday 25th March, and my midwife met me and my mum at Birth Care so she could monitor me and bubs with a CTG and do a Stretch ‘n’ Sweep {which by the way I had already had 4 previous ones starting at 38 weeks with no success yet}… While on the CTG monitor, I started to have tightenings that I could feel… they were coming every 3-7 minutes, so not regular, but definitely doing something.  Midwife gave me a stretch ‘n’ sweep, I was already 4cm dilated, but cervix was still 2cm thick and a little posterior… baby had also turned posterior which I wasn’t too happy about having delivered one posterior and one anterior baby before, I knew which I preferred and posterior was NOT it.  Midwife however was very confident that today would be the day my baby was born.

Mum and I headed off for a spot of shopping to keep me active, and to hopefully encourage baby to turn.  Tightenings turned into full contractions, but never regulated… still swinging between 3 and 7mins apart and only lasting 30-45sec. By 8pm I contacted my midwife and told her I wanted to see her to see if any progress had been made as I was starting to tire out… so off to Birth Care traipsed me, Ian, my mum and my sister… the contractions by this stage were 3-5mins apart, but still only lasting 45-50sec… however, this being baby number 3, I was taking no chances.

ONE DAY OF PAIN FOR A LIFETIME OF HAPPINESS

I really enjoyed reading this story.  Georgie describes her experience so well, and we're glad she was inspired by this blog when she was searching for birth stories of super heroic women!
Read on...
x

Like most first times mothers, I went into this whole pregnancy situation with a little bit of fear, mainly of the unknown but also the responsibility that comes with motherhood. My way of dealing with this was to trawl the internet for birth stories of super heroic woman who laughed in the face of labour and birthed their child with ease. Turned out this idealism was just in my head and the closest I got was this wonderful website, where I proceeded to read every story that had been posted. It gave me hope that birth could have a happy spin, rather than all the horror stories other mothers enjoy telling pregnant women, especially first time mums like me.

I loved being pregnant, it was my niche, my calling in life. It made me feel beautiful, kind of like a butterfly opening its wings for the first time, I felt feminine and very grown up. My husband and I would lazy on the couch during the weekends watching my stomach jump to the rhythm of the baby’s hic ups. ‘I bet you it’s a girl’ I would say, ‘I’m sure of it’. I said this many times during the nine months, I’m not sure why but it was my instinct and no one could change my mind. I was drawn to the pink clothes like a moth to the light; Glen would frown at me and tell me not to buy it. I still manage to sneak some pink stuff into my hospital bag, just in case!

Just as we all expected the 40 week mark came and went, with no sign that this baby would ever emerge from it’s warm cocoon. Patiently Glen and I waited for some sign or inkling, I cleaned the shower today, am I nesting? Will labour start soon? Maybe tonight? I would think every night before bed.  We waited patiently for our day to arrive but week 41 and went and I started to get a little desperate! That evening we headed out for a brisk walk around the harbour to help get the ball rolling as they say. I started to feel crampy after coming home from the walk and decided to head to bed early.

I slept like a log until 3.00am when I was woken by my full bladder and headed to the loo, I noticed my contractions were now coming every five minutes and rather uncomfortable all ready. There was no way I was heading back to bed with all the excitement and the emotion I was feeling, so I decided I would flick the computer on and ask Dr Google a few more questions about labour. Today was the day! I felt overwhelmed with anticipation and nervousness about what this day would bring and all the things that were to come. I laboured on for a few more hours until I decided to wake Glen and tell him he won’t be going to work today, ‘Why not?’ he said, ‘Were having a baby today, duh!’. The sun came up and we both plodded around the house for much of the morning, every 5 minutes I would stop and sway for a while and then come right, Glen would ask if I was ok.

TWO IN A ROW

Bronwyn is a regular reader of our blog, and thought it time to contribute her own birth stories!  So we have two in a row for you to read today...
Enjoy x

Photo by Irene Suchocki

After a complication-free, dream pregnancy, I got to 40+1 on Monday 12 October 2008, and had my midwife appointment – she suggested I could try some acupuncture, if I wanted. So I thought yeah, nothing to lose – she stuck some needles in my hands, feet and one in my back, and we sat there chatting away for 20 minutes. No problems.

Went home, nothing happening for the rest of Monday or Tuesday. On Wednesday, I got up to go to the loo at 5:30am, and had a show – rang the midwife to tell her, and she asked what my plans were for that day – I said I’d been planning to do grocery shopping, and she told me to go ahead, that that would help bring on labour. So off I went, did my groceries. No problem. No niggles or anything (up until this point, I hadn’t even had as much as a mild Braxton Hicks). Hubby was at work, but rang me on the hour, every hour, to check how I was – whether I’d started having contractions yet. I don’t think he got any work done that day! But I was fine – it just felt like the previous 40 weeks had!

5:30pm on Wednesday (40+3), I got the first of my contractions – quite mild and nothing to be alarmed over. Silly me though hadn’t thought to have any sleeps during the day though, and as the contractions continued to get stronger throughout the night, I didn’t get any sleep. I spent most of the night sitting at the computer playing Spider Solitaire! Hubby was in bed – I made him go and have sleep. Woke him up at about 4:30am, because the contractions were getting quite strong by then (well, they felt strong to me! They were still about 7 minutes apart at this stage).

So, he got up and ran me a bath (I asked him to put some bubbles in, but he picked up the wrong bottle, and ended up putting moisturiser into the bath water! Made for nice smooth water, anyway!). I got in the bath, and that certainly helped ease some of the discomfort. Rang my midwife, at 6am or so, and she came round at 7am. She did a S&S at that point – said I was 3-4cm at that stage. Told me to stay at home a bit longer, and meet her up at the hospital at 10am, unless things progressed quicker.

MAKING BETTER BABIES

Photo by Natalie Norton 

If you're the kind of person who doesn't want to be told there are more things you should/shouldn't do during pregnancy then DON'T READ THIS!  I know it can be total overload at times, and none of us need the extra guilt!   But if you're interested in pre-conception nutrition (it's a subject I'm fascinated about) then check out this article featuring my favourite naturopaths at Motherwell.

Enjoy,
Michelle x

BABY AS ART

Stunning newborn photos from Baby as Art.  Too too cute, I can practically feel myself ovulating when I look at them!!
Michelle x