My Natural Childbirth

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This editorial series, Stork Stories, is brought to you by Des Moines Moms Blog and MercyOne. All 8 original articles from the Stork Stories series can be found here.

natural childbirth baby boyEven before I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to have a natural childbirth.

I know some women are terrified by this idea and can’t imagine having a baby without an epidural. There’s nothing wrong with that. I fully respect a woman’s choice and desire to have intervention in childbirth. It’s just not what I wanted. (Please hear me when I say that I’m not judging you or thinking any less of you as a woman or a mom if you chose to have a medicated childbirth. That is your choice and I completely respect that!)

My mom had 3 babies through natural birth. I don’t know if it was more common in the 80s, but that’s how she did it, so maybe I just assumed that’s how I would deliver my babies. She never sugarcoated labor but she also didn’t freak me out talking about how hard it was.

Delivering babies is something women’s bodies were made to do. Women have been doing it for centuries, so why should it be any different in the 21st Century?

I remember scribbling this quote in my birth class notebook and I love it to this day:

There is a secret in our culture, and it’s not that birth is painful, it’s that women are strong. –Laura Stavoe Harm

It is something that I have carried with me since having children. Through the sleepless nights and moments of motherhood when I feel I’ve reached a breaking point. When I have no idea what I’m supposed to say or how I’m supposed to raise these little humans. I remember this: I am strong. I can do this. I am a mom. 

Childbirth Class

My husband was onboard with me having a natural childbirth. But we knew we needed help. Friends recommended a child birth class with Amy Brooks Murphy. I can’t recommend this class enough, even if you don’t want to have a natural childbirth! Amy teaches about the Bradley Method that focuses on natural childbirth and women trusting their bodies. She empowers couples to know their options when it comes to having a baby and walks you through the labor process. More than anything she encouraged and inspired us.

As first-time parents, we had a very detailed birth plan (I’m a firstborn, Type A, what can I say?) People told us that once you’re in labor, birth plans go out the window, but in my mind, if it was written down, that’s how it would happen. Thankfully, we were able to follow our plan fairly closely. I know that doesn’t always happen.

Going into Labor

Fast forward to my delivery day.

The days and weeks leading up to my delivery dragged by. I was born 3 ½ weeks early, so of course I hoped I would deliver early. My due date was a Monday. All weekend we did everything we could think of to get labor started. I went to bed Sunday night disappointed that I’d show up at work in the morning and everyone say what no pregnant woman wants to hear, you’re still here?

Around midnight I started feeling some cramping and decided to find an app on my phone to time contractions. By 1 am they were coming every 7 or 8 minutes, so I woke up my husband. I took a shower and started doing laps around the house. I wanted to get things started!

The contractions were consistent through the night, but they were still at least 5 minutes apart and my water had not broken. We talked to our midwife over the phone and she said we could labor at home. She told us we could come into the office in the morning and get checked there rather than going to the hospital.

The midwife hooked me up to some monitors and confirmed that I was in labor. But I was only 2 centimeters dilated. She sent us home to labor some more before going to the hospital.

We headed home and I tried to eat a little and rest. By 2 pm I was getting more uncomfortable and was ready to go to the hospital and see how much progress I’d made.

Going to the Hospital

We checked into the hospital around 3 pm. By this point I’d been in labor close to 14 hours and was only 4 cm dilated. I was exhausted and discouraged. I was running on very little sleep and I knew I still had a long way to go. Even though I wanted a natural childbirth, I was starting to doubt if it was possible.

I remember sitting in triage in tears, talking to my husband and my nurse. At that point, I was ready to throw in the towel and get an epidural. My husband calmed me down and said if I really wanted one, I could, but he thought I could do it. I just needed to rest a little. I am so thankful he believed in me in that moment!

We got checked into our room and because I tested positive for Group Strep B I had to be hooked up to an IV. I got in the jet tub to see if that helped. It didn’t. The midwife suggest4ed breaking my water to help me dilate and bring on stronger contractions. I said yes, anything to make progress!

I agreed to having a little fentanyl, to help me rest a little before it was time to push. At first I felt like that was cheating, technically it wasn’t an unmedicated childbirth, but I didn’t have an epidural.

I was able to rest for an hour or so with the fentanyl and my husband ran to get something to eat. When he got back the contractions were starting to feel like they were on top of each other. I could barely catch my breath before another one started. I was dilated to an 8. It was almost time to push!

Natural Childbirth

By this point I was completely exhausted, but so close to meeting my baby boy. I remember my husband cheering me on. Looking back, it was an out of body experience. I was so focused on what I was doing, how my body was naturally responding to each contraction, pushing this life out into the world. I didn’t know what I was doing, but instinctively my body was doing it perfectly.

The only word I can use to describe birth is miraculous. Thankfully I only had to push for 45 minutes and then at 8:58 pm, nearly 21 hours after I went into labor, our son, made his appearance.

In our birthing class, Amy said the love that makes a baby is the love that brings it into the world. It’s so true. Experiencing the birth of our son together was a powerful and sacred moment in our marriage.

Empowering Women

My friends joke when I say that women are warriors, but it’s true! It is absolutely incredible what our bodies can do! Childbirth is an amazing miracle that never ceases to leave me humbled at how God so perfectly orchestrated every part of the process.

Now I have 3 beautiful, healthy, growing children. I was blessed to have been able to deliver each of them naturally (and thankfully, the other two deliveries were much faster!)

Birth is not something to fear. You were made for this mama! No matter how you became a mom, naturally, with an epidural or c-section, or through adoption, know this: You are strong!

stork stories MercyOne

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