It has been three years since I had my son in a natural, med-free hospital birth. It was 27 hours of total labor. Contractions were every three minutes (lasting a minute long) from the get go, so I got no rest once they started at two o’clock in the morning! I went to the hospital after about 18 hours thinking…
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Natural Birth: Conquered with Type 1 Diabetes, Polyhydramnios, Macrosomia, and Shoulder Dystocia
The night before Kate’s birthday, I left work early. I’d been having contractions for weeks, but something was different that night. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but knew I needed to get home and get to bed. A little background: I was getting so many contractions due to having severe polyhydramnios. I had almost double the amount of…
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The Story of Aurora
This story is hard for me to write, because while it ends with a glorious rainbow baby, it begins with an intensely bad storm. February 5, 2014, Chris and I learned that we were expecting our second child. We were surprised, but glad. I called my parents that night at Barnes Jewish Hospital, where my dad was a patient, and…
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Choosing to Have a Happy Birth
“Come on baby, eviction notice has been posted!” At 42 weeks pregnant, I feared induction or possibly a C-section. I only wanted to give birth naturally, knowing Pitocin’s negative effects on the body and the instantaneous increase in likelihood of a C-section. I didn’t want to be near a hospital. I did everything to get the little one out, thinking…
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The Homebirth of Benno
Although he was born on Friday, Benno’s birth story starts on Monday of that week. Ok, wait. That’s not true. His birth story, or at least my journey to it, actually started years before he was even conceived and this birth story feels incomplete without at least a little background on my journey to natural birth, and ultimately, the birth…
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Unassisted Home Birth
I had a very eventful, and luckily smooth, second birth and thought I could share a little picture of it. I’ve never felt as empowered as I did in this moment. My second little love decided to come a week early and fast! We had decided to do a home birth, since our previous hospital experience with our first son…
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Sweet Baby Jane: A Birth Story
Sweet baby Jane, this is how you came to be. Long before you were here, you were loved and wanted, not only by Mommy and Daddy, but by everyone in the family. I still remember when we found out I was pregnant – you were only the size of a poppy seed at the time, a tiny but very precious poppy seed. It…
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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…
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I Am Strong Because I Am FREE!!
I am strong because three months after my husband and I got married, we found out we were pregnant, and at 12 weeks, we lost the baby. I am strong because after three months of waiting to try again, we found out we were pregnant for the second time, but at six weeks, I miscarried again. I am strong because…