Twins Born Naturally in the Hospital

My Perfect Natural Twin Birth

I have no doubt that I have experienced the most miraculous and perfect thing that I ever will in my entire life! My twin's birth was amazing on so many levels and I want to share my story :)

I chose to use the Hypnobabies method to be able to birth my twins naturally. I didn't always want a natural birth, ESPECIALLY once I found out I would have to push two babies out... I was like,

But I am a huge fan of doing things naturally and wholistic stuff, and I kept having the thought come to my mind, "why would Heavenly Father make our bodies perfectly but then require it to do something that everyone thinks is impossible to bear?" So I decided not to give up quite yet and educate myself on birth. 

Through my dear friend Rachel and some spiritual promptings, I stumbled upon a Hypnobabies class taught by Talya Matheson. Hypnobabies teaches self hypnosis to re-wire the way we view birthing to a very positive thing and it teaches deep relaxation and how to use hyono-anesthesia. It also teaches very detailed and accurate information on the birth process and what our bodies can do! I soaked up every ounce of information like a sponge...it was exactly what I wanted to hear and it felt good! By the end of the course, I was craving a natural birth and had so much confidence in myself and my body! Thank you Talya! 

I finished the classes and had about a month to practice my techniques and get my birth team together. I hired Talya as my Doula and Jordan stayed by my side with all of my decisions. I was so excited to see what my birth story would be like! So without further ado..

Thursday started off as a normal day... Sleepy, uncomfortable, and excited that I was one day further. I was 35 weeks and a few days. I had a doctors appointment to go to that I went to with my mom. The doctor said that the babies looked really good! Both head down and cooperating completely. He even made the comment, "they could be born tomorrow and probably be just fine!" Heh heh... 

We went to lunch right after and while we were eating I noticed I felt a little crampy. I had had these feelings before and they didn't hurt at all and they didn't seem to be coming and going... Just kind of a general feeling. I usually felt that way when the babies were growing and my uterus was stretching so I just figured they were getting bigger. 

That night I had a huge dinner packed with protein and carbs and I had the thought, "this would be a good meal to eat right before I went into my birthing time" heh heh... 

After dinner I was supposed to go to a wedding reception with Jordan but I felt a huge desire to sleep and a prompting to listen to my body, so I fell asleep and Jordan went to the reception. I slept for about 3 hours, woke up at 9:00 pm, and waddled myself to the bathroom. While on the toilet I felt a big shuffle come from the babies followed by a slow and somewhat constant trickle. I thought, "um? That was not pee... Wait..." Yyyyyep my water broke and I knew it! I sat there wondering why I hadn't felt any pressure waves and if they would start. In the mean time I just sat there and texted Jordan. I knew that would result in some sort of hyper-reactive tornado that is Jordan, but I needed him home because I was a little bit in shock. I also texted Talya, my doula, to let her know things were starting. Then i called my mom for some comfort before Jordan got home. 

I was still just sitting there when Jordan got home. Sure enough I was bombarded with excited questions... "Are you sure?" "Why is so much coming out?" "Are you ok?" "What do I do?" "CALL THE DOULA" haha... I reminded him what we learned in class and that this is normal and calmed him down a little. I called Talya anyways and she suggested to lay down and get some rest  before things started picking up and to send Jordan to get some pads so I didn't soak the bed. Haha.. Jordan knew what pads were from being a husband, but I had to explain that I needed the big obsorbant kind this time. He ran out the door and came back with the biggest pads I had ever seen!! They were just short of being a diaper.. I laughed and told him thank you.. But they ended up being just what I needed. 

We hadn't packed our hospital bags yet and I hadn't felt any pressure waves so I figured I should get that ready before I got some rest. I was very calm but Jordan waaaaas not. He went into what he calls "survival mode" and ran around the house packing anything and everything he saw that might come in handy later..this included tuna fish cans and a can opener...(an obvious necessity for birth). It was while I was packing that I felt my first real pressure wave! I kind of excitedly just stood there and felt it. I had been wondering for 35 weeks what this would feel like! It felt like a really big fast cramp...ish. I was glad things were moving! 

 I kept packing and they kept coming until I finally realized the pressure waves were coming faster than they should if I was in my early birthing time. I started tracking them and they were already about 6 minutes apart and lasting 30 seconds to a minute. At 10:40 I texted my doula and let her know that things wet picking up and I didn't think I could sleep through the waves. She encouraged me to listen to my body and get into hypnosis. I tried laying down to listen to my cd but man my body did not want to lay down! I decided to sit on my birthing ball and listen to my deepening track (a cd that talks you into deep hypnosis). Ten minutes later I realized the waves were pretty intense and I couldn't talk through them. I wasn't completely able to tap into my hypnosis tools because things were moving so fast so I was getting anxious for Talya to come over but I figured I still had like 15 hours left of labor so I didn't ask her to come yet. Ten minutes later though I texted her that I was having a hard time relaxing on my own and she called me and talked me through a few pressure waves. Her voice was so calming and she said everything I needed to hear to remember my hypnosis tools I had been practicing. I was able to be very relaxed after listening to her prompts. Where was Jordan during all of this? On a packing rant... He even came in to ask me if he could run to walmart to buy a head mount for his GoPro and some canned soup... I gave him an exasperated and curious look and said, "no I need you here" and he kicked in and sat with me till Talya got there.

Talya got to our place at about 11:30 or 11:45. I heard Jordan greet her at the door and directed her right upstairs to where I was. I could tell he was really relieved she was there and so was I! 

I spent the next little while awkwardly waddling around trying to find a position that my body would agree with while Talya made me feel very calm and relaxed. At about midnight I threw up and boy did that feel good! When I was throwing up, I remember thinking, "don't people usually throw up when they are in transition?" I still really didn't think I was that far yet.... Talya soon pointed out that my pressure waves were every two minutes now and asked if I would like to go to the hospital yet. I agreed and we made our way to the cars. I went with Talya so she could continue to help me and Jordan followed behind us. We ran lots of red lights and I realized Talya thought I was pretty close to having the babies! But as we got closer to the hospital I experienced some pressure waves that were different from the rest... I don't know how to describe them except for very productive feeling.. And then I finally knew that I was definitely close! 

We pulled up to the ER entrance and a nurse rushed out with a wheelchair to greet us. I didn't hear her, but Talya told me later that she told the nurse I was ready to push! She rushed us up to the Labor and Delivery unit and turned us over to those nurses. The L&D nurses must not have thought I was that close because they were not acting rushed at all. They asked us a few questions and then sent me to triage and they told me to put on my gown and then get in the bed where they will check to see how dialated I was. I just did as I was told, but as soon as I went to change into my gown I felt a huge overwhelming need to push my baby out! I told Jordan and he proceeded to run back and forth between the bathroom where I was to the nurses desk outside yelling, "CAN I GET SOME HELP?" Finally the nurses felt some urgency and walked me over to one of the delivery rooms. Somehow I got changed into the gown and in the bed and the doctor who was on call checked my dilation and announced I was complete....no duh... I got rely excited when he said that though because the only pelvic exam I had was the last one :) and I was so so excited to meet my babies! 

I was pushing during all of this with each pressure wave and the doctor told me not to push until we got to the operating room.... Uuummmm FYI it is impossible not to push... But he is a man and could not possibly understand, so I forgive him for making the comment. (We had to go to the operating room because of hospital policy that every mom with multiples has to deliver in there) Pushing felt so so so good! I loved actively working with my body rather than trying to relax and let it do it's thing. 

We finally made it in there and I chose to push on my knees. Talya was not allowed on the OR so it was just me and Jordan working together. This is something I will cherish for the rest of forever :) he held me and said little prayers with me and told me how amazing I was doing. 

I was pushing for 40 minutes. Those were arguably the best 40 minutes of my life. It was a little weird because there were so many nurses in the OR watching me... I looked around at one point and saw a small crowd of nurse faces watching me from a window... I didn't know what to do so I just smiled at them. They didn't know what to do either and awkwardly smiled back. I was in the zone for most of it though and wasn't aware of my surroundings at all. Jordan said lots of nurses in the room were talking to each other about how well I was handling everything. I felt no pain but felt every sensation from from both babies coming down and crowning to both babies slipping into this life. I pushed my baby boy out first :) it. Was. Amazing! I did it!! I was so happy and proud of myself and feeling him come out was surreal! I was facing backwards so I had to turn around and sit normally to hold him :) he was softly crying and so beautiful! The doctor let his cord pulse a little bit before he had to clamp it and get things ready for baby girl to come out. I handed him to Jordan and then assumed the normal "pushing" position so the doctor could see what baby girl was doing. She was a little angel and was still head down. The doctor suggested we break her sac so she would continue to come down quickly. I was against the idea for a second but I felt very at peace with it and agreed. I didn't have time to get back on my knees because she was coming! After 9 minutes and two pushes she was here! I could see her and she was blue but she quickly took a breath and pinked right up. She was very quiet and just enjoyed me telling her how much I loved her. A piece of my placenta wouldn't come out so there was a bit of craziness while they got that out... But eventually I got both babies in my arms, kisses from Jordan, and the happiest feeling I can't even describe. I still can't believe I did it :) we finally left the cold operating room and went back to the regular room where I got both of my babies to latch and nurse at the same time! Our family was finally together and everything was perfect.  

I owe a lot of this to my hypnobabies training. I spent months re-training my brain and practicing hypnosis. Also Talya was amazing to have! I don't think I will have a baby without her... And Jordan... I might cry.. You were so supportive and helped me be so strong! I love you! 

I am so humbled I was able to be a part of Heavenly Father's plan and participate in the power of His creation. I feel very close to heaven as we work together raising these two little angels :) 

Crysta's Five Births

MY FIVE BIRTHS

I have never written a birth story of my five children. So here it goes in one big lump! I do not claim to be an expert on birthing. I am simply a woman who learned a little bit with each birth how amazing birth can be. I have always been hesitant to share my opinion on birth and share my stories. It seems like whenever I do, I lose friends or I offend someone. So I usually keep my mouth shut. Well, I then realized I would have never met my midwife, Chris Miller and experienced three awesome home births if my friend Dannika would have kept her mouth shut. Women need to know about their options so I might as well share.

My first pregnancy was awesome! I am one of those girls that have been blessed with easy pregnancies. Please don’t hate me  However; I do make up for it in gaining a good 50 lbs. each time. It is pretty cool that I have lost 250 lbs. over these past ten years. Not the fun part of pregnancy. Anyway, I knew nothing about birth or how I wanted things to go. All I knew is I wanted the best doctor and best hospital. That is what we want for our kids- the best right? I really didn’t know many options. Everyone I knew has doctors and had babies at the hospital. My aunt just had a baby so I called her and asked her who she recommended. I went with him. I met with him, I liked him ok. Never really felt like we were that connected but my pregnancy was going so well I didn’t care. I did learn about labor and delivery and I really wanted to have a natural birth. My reasoning was simple, “If women have done this since Eve, then I can do it.” When I told my doctor, he basically made me feel like, “Yea, yea, I have heard this before.” I researched and I knew I wanted things to happen on their own. My “due date” came and my doctor started to stress me out. “ Your baby is getting big, the water is running low, etc.” It took a lot of convincing for him to not start me. I really felt great and I knew deep down that I was fine. Well, he would not let me go longer than 12 days over. So 12 days came and went and he freaked me out enough to start me. Let me just say this, the term “due date” needs to go! Some babies are fully developed at 37 weeks and some take a little longer to cook. The baby will come when it is ready. With the rest of my babies it became, “The baby will come at the end of December” or whatever month not a specific day. Having this set day in your head can start to play games with you those last few weeks. Not to mention being off a little bit on any cycle days can mean that you might be starting these babies when they really are not ready to be born. So many important things are happening to your baby those last few days and also so many things need to happen to the mom’s body to get things happening. We carry these babies for 9 months really what are a few more days??

Okay second issue, “Your baby is GINORMOUS!” I love this one. My doctor was scaring me with how big my baby is getting and would it fit? Ultrasounds are not accurate. The measurements are a big estimate and so far with all five children have been way off. Also, our bodies are made to have babies. God made us to have babies ladies! All 5 of mine have been “above average” and they all came out!

Another thing that frustrated me was him checking me at every visit. When I was 36 weeks I was dilated to a 4 and 75% effaced. Wow! My doctor kept telling me how any day I was going to have this baby. Every visit he would say, “I bet the next time I see you will be in the hospital.” It left me feeling really disappointed every time I came back to my next appointment. I came to find out that these numbers for dilation and progression are so different for every women and every pregnancy. During this pregnancy things were happening for an entire month, and then with my 4th child I was a 0 when I started labor and 3 hours later had a baby!

Okay so I got started at 8 a.m. things progressed pretty steadily. I had an awesome husband that kept the nurses in line and he knew what I wanted. I had a quite a few different nurses which were annoying because I felt like we had to explain what we wanted over and over. In the end hours of labor I ended up with an awesome encouraging nurse. When I said, “I didn’t think I could do it anymore” (which is a point I get to with each labor) she told me to take it one contraction at a time and how great I was doing. She was awesome. Things were intense when the Dr. got there and he had me get up on the bed (not where I wanted to go) and I pushed my guts out. I popped vessels in my eyes and I wanted her out. She was born at 4:20 p.m. She was 7 lbs. 14 oz. (the Dr. said she was going to be way over 8 lbs.) I remember being annoyed at my doctor who came in 15 minutes before delivery and in between contractions I caught a glimpse of him looking out the window not really involved with the birth at all. It really annoyed me. He held my baby up for me to see and then handed her to the nurses to do their thing. I couldn’t get her fast enough. I did not put her down. I would not let the nurses take her. They insisted on taking her for a bath. So I said I was going with her. They were a little surprised when I hopped out of bed and followed her down the hall. I felt great! With all of my deliveries I am on a high for the first week. All kinds of good endorphins kick in. For being started, I think things went pretty good but I knew that I wanted a few things different for my next birth.

Baby #2

Baby #2 was a little bit of a surprise for us. We knew we wanted more children though so we were excited. We lived in Wisconsin and I found an awesome D.O. who was very supportive of natural childbirth. I could tell he loved what he did and I enjoyed our visits. Again, I had another great pregnancy. I carried this one about 41 weeks and went into labor at about 2 a.m. We drove to the hospital and right when I walked in, my water broke. Not just a little trickle this was full on explosion. I felt bad for the janitor. We walked up to labor and delivery, they saw the wet pants and called the doctor. He came right away and he was great. He stayed in my room for most of the labor and was very encouraging. Our son was born at 9:11 a.m. and he let me hold him right on my chest. We let the cord finish pulsing and then the nurses wanted to do their thing. They let me keep him in the room the entire time. Our son was 9 lbs. 10 oz. 21” long and healthy. . . We had a great experience, but again the endorphins kicked in and I really just wanted to go home.

Baby #3

We moved back to UT and I lived next to a great friend, Dannika Gunn. She is the reason I am sharing these stories because she shared her stories with me. She told me about her homebirths and how great they were and how awesome her midwife, Chris Miller was. I was very intrigued by all this and started researching and reading all about homebirth. It took about a year to get pregnant with our 3rd. We met Chris and right away knew that she was the perfect midwife and that this is the kind of birth we wanted. This pregnancy was a little bit harder for me. I had hurt my back about a year before getting pregnant, which contributed to having back issues with this one. I was not as active as I had been with the other two and I swear that made this pregnancy harder. Still, I really couldn’t complain, things went smoothly. The final month I had a lot of false labor and that was crazy. Thinking it was the real deal and then it would just end abruptly. I loved Chris. She was so intuitive and helpful. There was never any telling me what to do. “This is your birth, your baby, it is up to you” was what I heard all the time from her. Whatever I wanted to know she provided information and answers but ultimately she respected what I wanted. This baby came a few days before 40 weeks. It was a little unexpected because I had gone longer with the others.

We got home from a BBQ and I got the kids to bed and then we started a movie. I watched the movie on my birthing ball and had contractions throughout the night. I was still a little unsure because of the previous false alarms but it got intense so we called Chris and my mom over. Leah was 6 and Ben was almost 4 and I really wanted them to watch the birth. I know some might think that is weird but it was something I felt very strongly about. I had read them books about birth and we watched videos of birth. I prepared them for it and I felt like they could decide if they wanted to watch or not. My mom came to be in charge of the kids. If they did get a little freaked out or if they were bothering me she could take them downstairs or home. Chris arrived about 1 a.m. I was very vocal with this one. I remember it was raining and I opened my window and was moaning out the window. My neighbors probably were wondering what was going on at the PoVey’s??

I had planned on doing a water birth. Jared had filled up the tub, but when Chris asked if I wanted to get in I just thought I would be too hot. I was hot and and didn’t want to be more hot. I also was hanging on Jared for each contraction and just wasn’t sure about what I wanted. My mom woke up the kids, Ben said, “Wake me up when the baby’s here” and went back to bed. Leah was so excited; she was so sweet and helpful. She was my little doula. She encouraged me when things got tough. She said, “You are doing so good mom, our baby is almost here.” She brought me water. It ended up being one of my best memories of that birth, was her being there. The pushing phase hit and I crawled up on my bed (which is funny because at the hospital that was the last place I wanted to go). I pushed for about ten minutes and we had another beautiful boy. He was 8 lbs. 14 oz. and 22” long. It was awesome! I held him for quite a while and he nursed right away. Leah got to cut the cord and Chris let us be with him for about an hour. Then she weighed him and checked him out. She showed us the placenta, which fascinated Leah. It was great just being together in my room. My mom took the kids home with her. Jared and I were home and I felt great!

Baby#4

Okay surprise #2! Another unexpected pregnancy test  We were going to have 4 kids?? We were excited. I was excited to see Chris again every month. This pregnancy was by far the easiest. I ran until my 7 month and I felt amazing. Then came the last month . . . I got a cough . . . then I got bronchitis and then it turned into pneumonia. It was awful! I didn’t sleep for an entire month. I coughed so hard I bruised my ribs and I was in so much pain. It got bad enough that I took some medicine. That might not seem like such a big deal to some, but it was to me. Taking medicine is something I don’t even do when I am not pregnant! I was desperate! The doctor gave me a breathing treatment and I took some codeine cough syrup so I could maybe get some sleep. I really hate to take drugs (and I swear this is why my baby girl has some immune issues but that is another story) I know that sometimes you have got to do what you got to do but it never sat well with me. Anyway, the medicine was not helping so I stopped taking it.

Our baby was due at the beginning of August. When it gat close for me to have this baby, Chris was worried about me. She said I might need to consider delivering at the hospital. She wasn’t worried about the baby, but she worried if I would have enough oxygen and strength to have a safe labor and delivery. I love my midwife. She is so great and smart. I love that she knows when things are out of her hands. There is a time and a place for hospitals and interventions. So after she told me this news, I was determined more than ever to get rid of this cough and get better. I called a lady that does hypnotizing. That is not what she called it, but that is what I felt like it was. She did these relaxation techniques with me over the phone. Basically, we were visually and mentally getting this pneumonia out of my body. I did this Friday and Saturday and felt like I had my energy back Sunday. Whatever voodoo she did, it worked! I still had an awful cough but I was getting sleep and getting some energy back and was ready to have this baby. Monday, was August 9th and I really wanted to have her birthday be 8-9-10. All day there was no action but a lot of pressure. We had a BBQ up in Morgan and I wore my swimsuit to scare everyone. I had a lot of pressure but not one contraction at the party. I was sad! Her cool birthday was not going to happen. About 9 p.m. we got in the car to come home. The minute I got in the car, the contractions started. The drive home they were about every 10 minutes and then they got to be every 5. Maybe we could pull the birthday off after all?? We got home and got the kids to bed. I told them tonight might be the night. Ben, again said, to wake him up when the baby was here. Isaac wanted to watch but he fell asleep. Leah was up and ready to help. Things were happening fast. This time I had a little team come over. My mom and my good friend Naomi were going to help with the kids and my sister was going to take some video. Chris came over and got things set up.

Birth is a very spiritual thing for me. I am not at all saying if you don’t have a natural birth it is not spiritual. I know for most women it is. Even with my first birth, I had a very spiritual experience where I felt close to Christ and I knew that he knew I could do this. He made my body to have children. He did not make women capable of giving birth and then sometime in the 1940’s or whenever they started making birth a “medical” process rather that a “natural” process change a woman’s body and make it incapable. We were made to do this. It is not easy and that is where I turn to our Savior and I picture him. I also, thought of women all over the world, ancestors, every woman out there doing this and it gave me strength and confidence. There is a lot of symbolism with birth and my beliefs that I won’t get into but it makes me proud to be a woman!

This labor was the most “in tune” I had been in. I felt every single stage of labor. I knew where my baby was. When she was turning. When she was moving down. Everything. It was awesome. It was definitely my most quiet labor and I was in my own little world. I didn’t know who was around me. I couldn’t hear anything. It was a neat feeling! I labored a lot on my left side lying on my bed. When it was time to push, I got up and got in the pool and pushed her out in about 5 pushes. She had the cord wrapped around her neck, which my midwife says is a great place for it to be! She was perfect and I held her on my chest. She hardly made a sound. Isaac and Leah watched their sister be born! It was a great birth. Oh and she barely missed her cool birthday. She was born at 12:20 a.m. Bummer! She weighed 8 lbs. and was 21” long.

Baby#5

We had four kids. What was one more right? I was done having kids. We had two boys, two girls. Our family was complete. I started training for my marathon, so I could finally be part of the “Marathon Club.” Jared and I were excited to maybe start planning some trips we wanted to take, etc. Well, we had one more up there wanting to join our crazy clan. Good thing I love being pregnant  I kept running. I would be about 12 weeks along when I did my marathon. I injured my knee playing indoor soccer when I was about 10 weeks and so my marathon was a bummer. My knee could only handle about 13 miles of running so I had to quit. I did the Ragnar Race a few months later. I was slow but I did it. I had a great pregnancy. I stayed active and was healthy. I had my ultrasound when I was about 22 weeks. When I went to see Chris, she said she got the results from the ultrasound and that I had placenta previa, which is when your placenta covers your cervix. She went on to explain that there was a chance I would have to have a c-section. I was really sad. I had enjoyed home birth so much. Again, I was so grateful for a great midwife who knew her “stuff.” She said the placenta is unlikely to move. However, sometimes the baby’s head, as it grows can move it out of the way. So I continued to have a great pregnancy and I had to wait, wait until the delivery was closer and we could confirm where the placenta was. I did start to research C-sections and prepare myself for it. I was nervous, but maybe humbled and grateful for this medical intervention. It does save lives. This is when women used to die and bleed out. This is when intervention is needed. I learned all I could, but I still felt like things were going to work out and so did my midwife. I did some more crazy visualization. No laughing, but every night I would visualize my placenta moving a little higher. I talked to my placenta. I told it to move out of the way! Pregnant women do crazy things! I went again at 38 weeks to see where it was . . . it moved! I really should stop calling this visualizing stuff crazy because it kept working. Anyway, I was excited. At the same time I was kind of disappointed. Even though I know a natural vaginal birth is the best thing for my baby, I was kind of excited to avoid the pain! Okay, I had to refocus and get in my right state of mind and gear up for this birth. I was very unsure of my dates on this one. Between the ultrasound guesses and my guesses, he was due around Christmas. December was a rocky one. I had sick kids. I had false labor again where the midwife and doula were called, pool was filled and ready to go and then it just ended. UUUGGGHH!! I got extremely ill with the stomach flu. It sent me into labor a few times. I was done. I called my midwife and said I couldn’t do this anymore. I needed to go to the hospital and get started. Luckily her and my husband kindly talked me out of it. She said, “You can go and have your baby and try to take care of your baby while you are sick” or “You can hang in there, get better, and have a baby and take care of him while you are healthy.” I stuck it out, but man the stomach flu, dry heaving, diarrhea, mixed in with contractions-that was rough! Anyway, I got through that ordeal and was glad I let my baby continue to grow!

I thought, no, I KNEW this baby was coming early. I had the false labor, constant contractions, lots of pressure, little bit of water leaking out- he was coming soon! We were going to have a Christmas baby . . . so much for intuition. Christmas came and went. In fact, I swear he crawled up higher. I lost the pressure, contractions stopped, nothing! Well, I guess we will shoot for a New Year’s baby. New Year’s came and went also. I guess he had some things to finish up in there!

I have never been a planner. Even with my births, I know what I want and with each one I have learned more and more. Still, I haven’t been the best about writing down a birth plan or having my house spick and span when the time is near. I have just let things happen. This pregnancy, I decided I was going to have a doula, maybe do candles, have pictures, do my hair cute, etc. I don’t know if it is because we are for sure done having kids (snip, snip) or what but I was going all out. Well, the weekend came and I was sad my baby had not come. My kids were going back to school. I couldn’t believe I didn’t have a baby yet. Friday, my husband decided to throw his back out. It was a bad one. Like crawling- on- the –floor- to- the- bathroom-bad back . “Okay baby not a good time to come now. I need take care of your dad.” Well, at least Jared could walk by Sunday, but still he was useless. And I need him. I practically hang all 200 lbs. of my body on his neck through contractions. Well, January 7th at about 5 a.m. Monday morning- bam! Contraction hits hard. These contractions were not messing around. Forget a warm up; I guess we did that all December. They are 2 minutes apart from the get go. Jared calls Anjie- my doula, my friend- Naomi, and my mom and says to come over. Things were moving quickly. Then he called Chris. She is in Logan at another birth. This is definitely not going as planned  The way things were going we knew it was happening soon. I admit, I freaked out a little bit. With my other births I always felt like things were good, I could have done them on my own if I had too. However, this one I was worried I might need a little assistance, because I knew he was going to be big. Chris called her student midwife, Tina who I had met before and I really liked. I felt good about her coming but it was all a bit of a whirl wind. Not the most in control I have been. So much for having cute hair  Leah was filling up the pool and being a great helper. Jared was trying, but still pretty useless. I kept thinking, “Really baby boy I have been expecting and ready for you all month and you are picking now??” I had labored walking around leaning on my kitchen table and then I knew I was in transition. No midwife here yet. I was nervous. I went and lay on my bed and closed my legs. That hurt. That is not what my body wanted to do. But I really wanted Tina to be there. Tina walked in at 6:30 I was relieved but in a lot of pain. She started setting things up around me, because I was showing signs of pushing. I had a break in contractions and without saying anything to anyone I walked in to the front room and got in the pool. I got on my knees and rested my arms on the pool. I had never delivered in that position but that is what my body was telling me to do. My water broke immediately and three pushes later, and a little assistance from the midwife with his head, I had my baby boy! This guy came out chomping on his hand- he was ready to go to town. I held him on my chest. The cord pulsed for a long time on this one. We hung out in the water for a while. Then I showered off and nursed him in my bed. Later we weighed him- 10 lbs. 6 oz. 23” long. He was a husky little guy.

There you have it five beautiful children. Five beautiful births. Not perfect but perfect for each one. I learned a little more with each one I had. I was blessed with a little intuition from the beginning that I knew I could do this. Women need to know they can deliver babies. They are made to do it. Birth is a natural process. They need to listen to their bodies and not depend on doctors. Most doctors have never seen natural child birth and are not trained to do natural childbirth. They are trained for the medical interventions, which is great when we need them. Except, 90% of births are uncomplicated and when left alone we don’t need them. Empowerment is a great thing. So trust yourself, do your research. Do what is best for you and your baby.

Reflections from a Mother

Here are some thoughts from a mother thinking back to her first home birth, fifth delivery (sixth baby).  Have you ever wondered how home births are different from hospital births?

This story had me balling. Having given birth to a special needs child, the mother's thoughts echoed many I had had. A place few understand. I honestly could not read every word. The pictures are profound.

You Have a Choice

Actively involved in your birth verses Passive and Submissive

Birth Story of Clarissa

This birth story can teach women so many things, like not rushing to the hospital, not staying in the bed, trying new positions, and using other comfort measures for pain relief. It also shows the power of having support and immediate mother/baby bonding.

It is my sister's story and I am so happy for her. The baby is so cute! Thank you, Kristel, for sharing your story!!


Clarissa was born Saturday, August 15th at 7:37pm.
She weighed 6lb 10oz and was 20.5 inches long.

I woke up Saturday morning with contractions, I tried to ignore them. I was afraid I was having false labor because I was two weeks early. Meanwhile, I was hoping and praying that I would have the baby. Collin let me sleep in and made a big breakfast, which was the only thing I ate all day. Then he headed out the door for the day. All I had told him, was that my Braxton Hicks were getting stronger. I cleaned the house, ironed, did laundry, dishes, took a bath... anything I could think of to pass the time.

By 2, I tried to take a nap. I could not sleep because the contractions were consistently every 10 min. I finally started packing. Collin got home around 4:30. I told him I thought I was going to have the baby today. He looked at me a little puzzled, but just said 'sounds good to me'. By 5, my pains were getting much more intense and were every 5 minutes or so. I had to stop what I was doing and focus on breathing. Collin would put counter pressure on my hips, which helped a lot. After feeding the girls dinner, we finally called a neighbor. She came and got the girls about 6:15.

We headed to the hospital. I was so afraid they would tell me to go home. As Collin turned into the parking lot I said, 'no, I don't want to go!' So he turned the car around. Just then, I had another contraction and quickly changed my mind saying, 'okay, we better get in there!' By the time they got me settled and checked in, I was already at 7 or 8 centimeters dilated. I was so relieved. They immediately set things up for the baby to be born. We called mom and dad to come get the girls.
My doctor was gone, so I had requested the midwife to come. My nurse was actually studying to be a midwife too, so I was pleasantly surprised with the help and support they gave me. I spent most of the last 30 minutes standing up and on the birthing ball. (The first 30 minutes was laying on the bed answering all the questions.) Collin was supporting me and the nurse was doing counter pressure on my hips. It was actually very comfortable. When I was ready to push, I climbed in the bed on my hands and knees and delivered the baby that way.

It was the first time I have been able to immediately hold the baby to my skin. She was so quiet and content, no screaming. They did not take her away for a couple hours. I just nursed her.

My parents had driven down, picked up the girls, their bags, and car seats then come to the hospital and baby had already been born. The girls each had a turn holding their new baby sister. Then they headed home with Grandma and Grandpa until Thursday. (Thanks a million mom and dad!!) Collin has also worked from home all week. It has been nice having so much time with Collin and the baby. I am not sure I am ready to take care of four kids on my own!!!

What a DIFFERENCE!!!

Cesarean vs. VBAC: A Dramatic Difference from Alexandra Orchard on Vimeo.

Birth Story of Milo

I've had a difficult time wanting to write this story - or knowing HOW to write it. I don't even know WHEN the "birth" story started. I felt like I'd been in labor for at least a week before Milo was born, and by the time I knew for certain that it was the "real deal," it felt like a bad joke. That said, everything went well once things really began to happen, and I shouldn't have any complaints. I had a list of things that I wanted in my birth:

a healthy baby
a natural birth (no IV or drugs)
John
my doctor
to make it to the hospital in good time (not too early or too late)
I got all of those things!

I've gone back and forth about what to include in this birth story, and I've decided to error on the side of telling too much, rather than to pick and choose what to include. So this will be long (it's already long!),but it felt long at the time, so maybe it's appropriate. Today I'm going to post the preliminary stuff, and then later, I'll post the actual BIRTH story. :) Feel free to skip all of it if you want to. :)

With this being my 5th baby, I felt a lot of braxton hicks contractions - starting back in November, and getting progressively worse until in March I was going a little nuts. After 36 weeks, the contractions got a lot stronger, more often, and more regular. On Friday, April 3rd, the contractions were strong and 3 minutes apart. I felt awful - nauseous, light headed, sick . . . after agonizing about what to do, John and I decided to go to the hospital to find out what was going on. It didn't seem too likely that I was in active labor, but with contractions that close together, we didn't want to risk having the baby in the car or something.

Greg came up to stay with our kids,and we arrived at the hospital around 11:30 pm. Once I was in bed and hooked up to the monitors, the contractions slowed down in both frequency and intensity. After an hours' observation, the nurse said we could go home, or walk around, shower, etc. to try to get things to pick up again. We were tired, so we went home, fully expecting to be back soon. (My cervix hadn't dilated during that hour, but it had gotten much softer, so our nurse was optimistic that we'd be back in the next day or two at most. Although I know these things are unpredictable,I held onto the hope that she was right.)

She wasn't. I continued to have fairly regular and strong contractions (up to my due date), but they didn't progress.

The next Wednesday (April 8th) was my due date, and I had my 40 week appointment that morning. My doctor was leaving for spring break with her family early in the morning on the 10th, so I knew I had less than 48 hours to have my baby if I wanted her there. And I did. I'm generally opposed to induction, and I really like to just let things happen, but the previous weeks' fake-outs/practice and the desire to have the baby before my doctor left won out, so I asked her to strip my membranes. The theory is that if your body is ready,stripping the membranes can help start labor - that's what happened with Ruby, so I was hopeful that it would once again get things moving. If my body was not ready to have the baby, stripping the membranes wouldn't do anything.It seemed like a safe move.

I came home from my appointment and took Ruby and Jonah on a nice long walk. During our walk, the contractions were really intense, and 5 minutes apart. We came home for a break, and the contractions slowed down and got weaker. We walked to the school to get Maxwell. Once again, the contractions kicked in. And once again, after we got home,they slowed way down.

After lunch, Ruby and I went out to walk, AGAIN. This time the contractions were quite painful,and at least 5 minutes apart - many coming closer together. The wind was blowing, it was cold, and I was tired, so we came home - only to have things slow down again!

That afternoon, I helped the kids practice piano and do their reading. We walked to piano lessons and back a couple of times (with strong contractions each time). We made popcorn balls. I sewed four burp cloths and made dinner. Finally,around 6 pm, my contractions seemed to stay strong when I was not walking, but by this point, it seemed like a cruel joke.

After dinner, I sat down and read a book while John put the kids to bed, I took a shower, and then watched a movie with John. The entire time I was wondering if I should be paying attention to the contractions, or if it was another false alarm. At 10 pm, we started to get ready for bed, and debated whether or not to call Greg. Eventually, I gave him a call. I explained that I wasn't too optimistic, but there was a chance that labor would get serious that night and we'd need him to watch the kids. I asked if he'd rather spend the night, or just come up in the unlikely chance that John and I decided to go to the hospital. Greg said he'd just come up and spend the night. Shortly after I got off the phone with Greg, my contractions became more painful, and I started to feel sick. By the time Greg arrived, I'd decided that we'd better go to the hospital. I gathered my things together, and we'd set out - just like we had almost a week earlier.

When we got to the hospital (at about 11:30 pm), they quickly got us into a room (my reputation for quick births preceded us because a nurse we'd had before was working). Our doctor was called, and she told them to do a 20 minute test strip, to let me move around after that, and that she would be over soon. When she arrived, she had the nurse set the room up so they'd be ready when I was. Ruby, Jonah, and Maxwell were all born less than 2 hours after we arrived at the hospital, and my doctor seemed confident that this labor would follow the pattern set by my last two births. On the other hand, I was worried that we'd spend the night with everyone waiting and waiting for me to have the baby, and that he wouldn't be born for HOURS.

At about 12:45, I asked to be checked because the contractions were very strong. I'm always hesitant to be checked because the news can either be encouraging, or very depressing. Luckily, I had progressed to a 7, so I was encouraged, although still not confident that things would move quickly. My doctor and a nursing student stayed in the room with John and I after that. It was nice to have people to visit with between contractions, although it was kind of strange to have everyone quiet down while I was having a contraction. A little while later, I began to feel pressure (not quite an urge to push, but close to it) during contractions. After a few contractions like that, I asked to be checked again, and was found to be complete. The urge to push was still not overwhelming, and I was worn out emotionally, if not physically, so I asked my doctor to break my bag of waters to speed things up a little. After a few more contractions, she broke my water, and said I could push whenever I felt like it. I pushed on the next contraction, but it was so weak no one could tell I'd done it! Argh!

I pushed harder on the next contraction, and the next,and the next, and I started to wonder what was going on! The last 3 babies had all been born in just a couple of pushes, and I couldn't figure out what was taking so long.It turns out that Milo wasn't in the right position,so as I pushed, he was rotating into position before he could be born. (I wonder if breaking the bag of water made him drop down before he rotated all the way. If so, it was my own fault that I had to push so much longer.) The pushing was really hard and really scary. I always forget how painful and scary pushing is for me.

It's so strange to be the one in labor. No one else can feel what you're feeling, and even though John and my doctor are there, I feel pretty alone.Birthing my baby is something I have to do - no one can do it for me, and besides the baby, everyone else is mostly spectating. This time, the difference between the experience that the others had was markedly different from what I was experiencing. I managed to not scream out loud, so the nurses, my doctor, and even John thought that I was doing really well. I LOOKED calm, in control, and focused as I pushed. What I remember is totally different. I was scared silly, in a ton of pain, and felt like I was freaking out. It just hurt too badly to open my mouth to yell or scream or cry or even to open my eyes to see the birth (I always plan to watch the birth, and I've never been able to keep my eyes open). I remember thinking of how much it hurt, and how long it was taking, and just wanting it to be over and for him to be OUT. It felt more like chaos than calm to me.

Eventually, my pushing and his rotating did their job,and Milo was born! John helped to catch, and I managed to open my eyes to see my baby (and to ask for my camera so I could get a picture of John holding our newborn).

Once the cord stopped pulsing, John cut it, and I got a chance to hold our baby. He was hungry! Milo was basically born rooting. :) He was quickly cleaned up and weighed

(we were all a little shocked at his size - my biggest baby), and then I got to hold and feed him while the doctor finished taking care of me.
Milo hardly cried at all, which worried me, but his color was good and no one else was concerned. He was born at 1:17 am. Great timing. Just as my doctor finished with me, she headed over to another hospital to deliver another baby. :)
To read Jenny's blog and see beautiful pictures of Milo click HERE.

Good Article

Look here.

Birth Plans

Here is an interesting opinion about birth plans. Some things I think are important when writing a birth plan are:

• Be brief. If a nurse sees a 6 page plan, she can't spend the time to read it.
• Go over it with your provider long before your due date and have them sign it as approved. Then when something becomes an issue and you're in no mood to argue for what you want, you can say, "my doctor approved it." I had a nurse call my doctor once about something I had on my plan because she didn't believe me. He told her over the phone that he indeed had okayed it. She quit talking to me about it.
  
• Organize it simply. As in, labor; delivery;in case of c-section...etc.
• Be kind, not demanding. I have learned that becoming friendly with nurses, treating them with respect for what they do, and complimenting them for the good things they do for you helps them want to HELP YOU MORE! Do you go out of your way for someone who is bossing you around or talking down to you? There are many great nurses. Treat them kindly.
• Bring several copies. Also, I have found that having it copied on a different color paper helps make it easier to find. Really, who has time to be sifting through the bag.
• Be practical. Like the referred to article points out, you can't ask for no IV and an epidural.
  
• Remember where you are. Understand that hospitals have a lot of liability. If you want a home birth, it is HARD to attain that in the hospital.
• Do your research. Educate yourself. Know your options. Knowledge is power. Ignorance is not bliss.