An eternal 12 days after my due date, which contained both moments of patience and absolute cry-my-face-off, hormonal battiness, a complete lunar eclipse, two stretch-and-sweeps, two ultrasounds, and the looming likeliness of medical induction, it was finally starting to look like I was in labour. I had been having short, manageable contractions about 15 to 20 minutes apart for the…
-
-
Rueger’s Birth: Learning to Give Into the Power of a Woman’s Body
First of all, I’m writing this on his second birthday. His birth is rather fresh in my memory even though so much time has passed. At about six AM on New Year’s Day, 2014, I started having mild contractions five to ten minutes apart. He was due on December 31, so it was exciting to think this might be the…
-
Natural Birth In Our RV Home
On December 19, after 12 hours of labor and 4 rough hours of that was pushing, I finally gave birth in our 28 foot long RV home. Our third and last child! I had intended to birth him in the inflatable tub we purchased and set up. Even though it was full of warm water and beckoning for me to…
-
Willamena’s Birth
Adoptive mother Davney Nowak shares the birth story of her first biological daughter – an inspiring natural childbirth at a birth center. I married my high school sweetheart. Every life choice we made was made with our future children in mind. We got married at 22, and immediately started to try to start our family. I had always been birth- and baby-obsessed. I…
-
One Woman’s Successful Frank Breech Vaginal Hospital Birth
Let me rewind a little bit…At 37 weeks, we found out via ultrasound that Everett was frank breech. We tried everything we could to turn him. Everything was totally unsuccessful in turning him. He was stubborn and comfortable in his breech position. Typically, a breech baby these days means a c-section. But I was being told by my midwives that I…
-
Medication-Free Hospital Birth
Elizabeth Turner shares the story of her empowering medication-free hospital birth. Since having my daughter Avery two years ago, I spent a great deal of time thinking of how I would have changed my birth experience. Watching my sisters birth their daughters after me, and numerous friends do the same, I had come up with a small list of things I…
-
Birth Without Fear Is Wording It Perfectly
Submitted by Brenna. Birth without fear is wording it perfectly. I gave birth to my son 10 days ago. I told myself going into the entire experience, “Don’t be afraid. God made our bodies to do this. You’re stronger than you know!” 31+ hours of active excruciating labor, throwing up the entire time with back labor 1/2 way through. But, I was…
-
Empowering VBAC from Dad’s POV
Part II of a beautiful VBAC story, as told by Elspeth Ridout McCormick’s husband. Elspeth had been having contractions all month, really. They would come in the evenings, mostly, and then they would stop around bedtime. This Friday, though, the contractions didn’t stop. Elspeth had them throughout dinner, and as the night got a little later we started to wonder…
-
Empowering VBAC from Mom’s POV
A beautiful VBAC birth story, as told by Elspeth Ridout McCormick. Like all VBAC stories, the story of my daughter’s birth really starts with her big brother’s birth. In 2012, we were expecting our first child. We took Bradley classes, practiced relaxation techniques, followed the Bradley diet, and took yoga classes and nightly walks to stay fit. My water broke…