So I'd like to share my birth story with my second baby girl. My birth plan was to have an all natural birth with no pain management. So on Monday 1/25/16 I had my 39 week appointment (I was 39w1d) so they called me to come in early if possible and to bring my hospital bag just incase. I did just that after getting my toddler up, dressed and fed. Thankfully my mother in law stayed with me over the weekend and that Monday during the first winter storm and she could take me to my appointment. We loaded up my toddler and bag and headed to my appointment. (11:30am)
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Weighing 6lbs 8oz, our baby girl arrived with no assistance at 15.36 on 28th October 2015.
My waters broke at 00.30 on 27th October (her due date), I was shaking with shock! Something I really hadn't expected, I only expected excitement. I was shivering like crazy and my teeth were chattering as my husband put his arms around me. We called the midwife and they suggested we come in to be checked in the morning and to get some sleep... we didn't sleep at all! We stayed up talking about what was to come, we were finally going to meet our baby! 9 days past my due date, I woke up at midnight to some mild abdominal cramping. After weeks of false labor though, I was reluctant to believe that this may lead to anything productive. In fact, I had almost resigned myself to the induced delivery which my midwife had already scheduled me for on the following Tuesday. I was ready to say goodbye to my dream of an unmedicated, birth-center birth. As the waves continued into the morning though, I became hesitantly hopeful. I hadn't slept all night.
To say I did not have a normal pregnancy would be an understatement. I was due to have Roslyn on January 24th and had a very high risk pregnancy. I was told throughout my pregnancy that when I would go into labor I would be under strict monitoring as I had a single umbilical cord artery and polyhydramnios both of which put me at increased risks for multiple complications. I also knew from my ultrasounds that my baby would need surgery immediately after birth and would have to go straight to the NICU. I remember feeling sad I would not have a normal birthing experience but also felt the strict monitoring would keep me and my baby safe throughout our delivery. I guess things never really go as planned or how they say they will though!
At some point in my pregnancy, I fell in love with my daughter. I remember being pregnant, sitting in her rocking chair, my sweet baby girl in my belly. She didn’t have a name yet, but she was my sweet, sweet girl. I remember reading her books and feeling an overwhelming amount of love for her. Tears would fill my eyes when I thought about meeting her and holding her for the first time, though in my mind, I was already her mommy.
I've always wanted to be a mother. Heck, I played with baby dolls until I was in the 8th grade! My husband and I had always talked about children, so after only two months of marriage we decided to started trying. We got pregnant immediately. Then rolled in the comments "Well you didn't waste any time!" and "What's the rush?!". We had been together 4 years and were in our mid-to-late 20s, we knew what we were getting into and we were beyond excited.
I had a perfectly routine pregnancy. I wasn't nauseous, didn't gain a whole lot of weight, and had no major issues. When it came to birth, I didn't have an exact plan and was pretty open to different options. Delivering natural was the original plan, but if the pain was too much I wasn't opposed to an epidural. After all this was my first child and I had never experienced labor before. I am 56 years old. I have three adult children. I am a grandmother. My birth stories span an eight year period between 1985 and 1993. During that time I became a birth educator and doula. Experiencing a childbirth class opened my eyes to the possibility of birth as inclusive, as a partnership, and as a journey between a woman, her body, spirit and the team caring for her. My experiences are varied and they all had a hand in creating the mama I became to my children, and in shaping the woman who holds strong beliefs about pregnancy, labor and birth.
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