While my husband was away at basic training I was raising two sons, working and going to college full time. I had made the decision to not get an epidural with my third child due to the side effects I had the previous times. I was laboring from Friday to Monday. The hospital would not admit me because I was three days…
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Surprise Breech Delivery {Home Birth}
So, 8 months ago I gave birth to my first baby – a beautiful boy, a healthy 3.6kg (8 pound), delivered breech, vaginally, at home! He wasn’t diagnosed breech by my midwives & Dr’s, his position was not easily detected by feel as his legs were up around his head & everything more or less felt the way is should. -Alanna…
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“We did it baby! It was hard, but we did it!” {Natural Birth Center Birth}
3:00 am on the morning of September 30th, I awoke to some uncomfortable cramping. I was at the breaking point in my pregnancy. I felt that I couldn’t possibly get any bigger, or any more emotional. I had disconnected with the world because I could not handle one more, “You haven’t had the baby yet?” 3:30 am: I’ll go to…
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A Mother’s Day Birth Story
On Saturday the 11th I woke up feeling pretty poorly. I didn’t feel quite right and I chalked it up to gas. I went back to bed and then woke up and took gas x, did errands and continued to have gas pains and went to bed that night and slept well. Now, looking back on the experience it was…
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Another Wonderful Natural Hospital Birth
“This is the story of the birth of my third child. It was my first time to try a natural delivery and it was the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. I had a wonderful natural hospital birth with a supportive OB, a fantastic nurse that enjoys working with moms going natural, a doula, and a birth photographer,…
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Grief And Guilt {The Birth Trauma Experience}
Trauma after the birth of a baby is a ‘special’ kind of trauma. It’s a bittersweet kind of trauma. It’s a silent kind of trauma. It’s an invisible kind of trauma. And if your baby is healthy, it is usually considered an unjustified kind of trauma. I suffered from birth trauma. It was agonising, painful, and heartbreaking. I was alone,…
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Managing Breast Milk Oversupply: the MDR method
Breast milk is amazing. It provides everything a baby needs to grow into a chubby ball of cuteness. It fights disease. It’s nutritious. It’s delicious (yes!). It’s always on hand, it requires zero preparation, and it’s close to free. But sometimes, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. Enter, OVERSUPPLY. Clad in stained pajamas, she runs to center stage…
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Loving My Body {One Scar at a Time}
My fourth baby, an attempted VBA2C, left me with my final scar of childbirth. After 3 premature deliveries, progesterone shots allowed me to carry to 38 weeks 6 days. Labour began on its own and after a stalled labour, forehead presentation and Bandels Ring I delivered by a calm and quiet c-section, the final chapter in my family’s growth. I…
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Hospital Trauma and Healing at Home: A Story of Two Births (Part I)
**Trigger Warning: This post narrates a traumatic birth.** Sarah Robertson-Barnes, former contributor to the Pregnant and/or Parenting Through Adoption/Infertility/Loss (PAIL) blog collective and writer of Little Chicken Nuggets, shares two birth stories with us. With grace and humor she here describes the challenges of being pregnant after infertility and loss, and the traumatic hospital birth of her son, HGB. Tomorrow, Sarah…