Birth Stories

Isabella

I have five children, three of which were born in hospitals while the other two were born unassisted at home. With my first child I did everything the doctor said. I went to every prenatal visit, read the book ‘What To Expect When Expecting’ and (believe it or not) didn’t ask many questions. I was a first time mother and trusted my doctor to tell me everything I needed to know. I wanted to have her without any medications because I just thought that it was safer for me and her. I was induced six days after my estimated due date. I went into the hospital at 6AM and got my pitocin to start my contractions. I didn’t want an epidural but what I didn’t know and understand was that once I was given pitocin I was forcing my body to do something it wasn’t ready to do. The contractions were strong and hard and I couldn’t bare the pain. So I begged for the epidural. It was administered and I was pain free. The nurses would check me, then when it was time the doctor came in, the nurses told me to push because I couldn’t feel anything. The doctor cut me to deliver the baby easier. She was born, I was able to breastfeed and thank God we were both healthy.

Alivia

My second daughter was also born in a hospital. We went to a different hospital for Alivia’s delivery because my first doctor had retired. My pregnancy was basically the same as the first. Not a lot of questions just going with the flow of the system. I was five days overdue with her. This time I wanted to wait until I went into labor on my own but my doctor insisted it wasn’t safe and wanted to induce. So I did. This time I knew I was getting the epidural just as soon as I could after I was given the pitocin. But it didn’t work so well for the second birth. I had sharp and intense pain shooting down my right leg while the epidural was being administered. After that feeling had subsided and I was ready to start pushing I felt an overwhelming chill. My teeth were actually chattering! The doctor came in and the nurses told me when to push. Even though I had an epidural I could still feel a lot of painful pressure. Unlike my first doctor, this one let me tear instead of cutting me, which I believe was just as bad. My daughter was born, she was healthy and I was recovering. Breastfeeding was quickly established and all was well.

Joshua

My first boy. Same hospital and doctor as with my second daughter. This time I was determined to go naturally, no induction. It was a normal pregnancy but by now I had grown more knowledgable in my health and actively avoided all medications, and unnecessary interventions. We had also been praying, researching, and deeply studying the modern medical system. I felt this time things were going to be different, I was experienced, and I had more knowledge of what was going to happen and what I wanted to happen. I was around 40 weeks pregnant when a test had come back that I had an infection, nothing serious but my doctor prescribed an antibiotic. When I picked them up from the pharmacy, I quickly read about it. In bold print it clearly stated ‘Do Not Take if between 38 and 42 weeks pregnant’. So I called my doctor and she called in a different antibiotic. This one seemed to check out. I took them twice a day for first day, and the next day I went to take one and I dropped it. I picked it up and tried to take it again, but again it fell! This happened a third time. I had an awful feeling in my stomach. I felt the Lord was trying to tell me something. I told my husband that if it was okay with him I wasn’t going to take anymore of the antibiotics. The infection cleared up on its own and all was well.

The time of my due date came and passed. We waited and waited. My doctor was not happy but we were determined to wait. Two weeks past my due date and my doctor insisted it was completely unhealthy to wait any longer. So again I was scheduled for an induction. I did not want this but felt pressured by my doctor, who said that I was putting my baby’s life in danger if I didn’t do it. I was admitted to the hospital around 10am. I was given the pitocin and was waiting on the contractions to begin so I could get my epidural. No progress was being made. I dilated to three inches and stopped. My doctor came in and checked me, saying it was time to break my water to move along the labor. She took out a long skinny stick with a hook on the end to break my water. She tried and was unable to reach the water and actually ended up breaking the stick! she called for the nurse to get another one. At this point I was wishing I’d just stayed home. She climbed up into the bed with me to get a better grip and finally broke my water.

I soon started having very painful contractions and begged for my epidural. She wanted to wait because she didn’t think I was ready yet and she had another woman giving birth in the delivery room. I insisted I needed it now and finally it was administered. I could still feel the pain. Very intense pain. They upped the epidural but I wasn’t given much relief. It was time. They did not have time to transport me to the next room so they broke down the bed so I could deliver where I was. I was smothering. I begged for them to let me sit up and take off some of the monitors that were making me uncomfortable. I was panicking. Everything was happening so fast, everyone was running around like they didn’t know what was going on and no one was prepared. I pushed and pushed and pushed. I was giving up. My husband got behind me in the bed to offer more support. I begged to get up, and take off the cords. I was told sternly no, everything had to stay. This was my body, my baby, and my birth experience, why did I have to beg to be comfortable? Finally my baby boy was born. He was healthy and I was healthy. I had again been allowed to tear. Just like my two previous deliveries, I had stitches, I had hemorrhoids, and a lot of bleeding and swelling, but I was alive and my baby was alive. So I should be thankful, right?

Once the delivery was over and my stay at the hospital had come to an end we were home. My daughters embraced their new baby brother and loved him right away. Two days later I received a phone call from his pediatrician. She said hello and quickly asked how Joshua was doing. She asked about his smell and literally said to me “Your son may die”. I was speechless and passed the phone to my husband. He took the phone and began to talk to her. She explained about a blood test that was done on my son with results showing that he had a condition called Isovalericacidemia which ment that he might die or be mentally handicapped. This was Thursday and she insisted that she would make an appointment with a specialist two hours away, and that I should stop breastfeeding him immediately. Thankfully my husband stayed calm and told her we would pray about it and retest on Monday. She wasn’t happy with his decision but agreed. We prayed and prayed and prayed for the next few days. He had none of the symptoms she said he should have. On Monday we took him in to be retested. The results were perfect and he was perfectly healthy. My husband did a lot of research and came to the conclusion that it was the antibiotic I was given at the end of my pregnancy that passed through my baby’s system to throw off his test. Had we listened to the doctor my son would not have been breastfed, he would have been fed with special formula and given medication for a condition he did not have. Which would have made him very unhealthy and could have even killed him or caused him to be mentally handicapped. From that point on we were very cautious with the modern medical system.

Thomas

Two years later we were pregnant again. I could not feel joy for this blessing; just fear. I could not go back to the hospital. I feared that they would kill me or my baby this time. I couldn’t do it, but what was I to do? A midwife, I would hire a midwife and have my baby at home. Sadly midwives are not allowed to attend homebirths in Kentucky. So I made an appointment to meet with a midwife in West Virginia that was willing to travel to Kentucky to attend my homebirth. We met and although she was kind and knowledgable I decided just to go unassisted. I knew I needed to trust the Lord and rely on Him completely to have a successful birth. So my journey then began. I read everything I needed to know about delivering a baby without a doctor. I read real birth stories both good and bad; however there wasn’t a lot of bad stories. Most were very relaxing and comforting. My husband and I became CPR certified and felt confident that we could handle an emergency situation. We discussed everything we could think of and at what point we would transfer to the nearest hospital which was fifteen minutes away. I did all of my own prenatal care, monitoring his heart rate and movement. I was very aware of my diet and vitamins. I was healthy and considered low risk. I was ready.

Again I went past my due date. Ten days past due this time. Then all of a sudden I started having contractions, at least that’s what I thought it was since I had never felt a natural contraction. They were mild and very tolerable. I was teaching the girls and my husband had taken my son to the store. I dismissed the girls from their studies and called my husband to tell him what I was feeling. I told him to just finish up quickly because I wasn’t sure how long it would be or if it was the real thing. A few minutes later the contractions had intensified so I called him back, told him to pick up something quick to fix for dinner because it might be the real thing. A few minutes later after another contraction I called him again and told him just to hurry. Twenty minutes later he came through the door. I told him to unpack the groceries and I was going to take a shower to relieve some of the pain. He came in to check on me and I had him to time my contractions. They were coming on hard and strong. He stopped timing because it was so close I should be having the baby soon, real soon! I got out of the shower, had a few more contractions, and I told my husband I didn’t know when to push. In the hospital the nurses always told me when to push and for how long. Although this was my fourth baby, I had never experienced true labor. He told me to just wait on my body and push only when I felt I needed to. So that’s what I did. I barely had to push, it was like I was just breathing my baby out. I pushed hard when I felt a strong urge and my water broke, again I pushed and out came the head. I took a moment to breath and catch my breathe and began to push again, delivering the body. It was amazing. I felt wonderful. My baby boy was beautiful and healthy. I was healthy. I delivered the placenta while I breastfed my baby. We waited on cutting the cord as we had discovered that delayed cord clamping was much healthier for the baby. After about twenty minutes we cut the cord and cleaned us both up. I felt great. I didn’t tear. I had no hemorrhoids and I had only minimal bleeding. I took a shower while my husband tended to the baby. No strangers, just the two of us, in our own home. After my shower I ate, and relaxed with my children and our new baby boy. Everything was perfect. My recovery was perfect. This is the moment I felt I had been robbed of with my first three children. I didn’t know what I was missing . Why didn’t someone tell me this was possible?

Isaiah  

Here we go again. Two years later I was blessed with another pregnancy. After the experience I had with my last pregnancy and the three before that, the decision to have another homebirth was obvious. No doctor, no midwife, just me, my husband, and my children allowing the Lord to lead us. Could he bless us again with a perfect pregnancy and a healthy delivery? I felt ashamed to find myself pondering such a question. Of course he could. We forget that for thousands of years women have been birthing babies. God designed our bodies so perfectly and uniquely that a womans body just knows how to grow and deliver a healthy baby. Given a healthy diet, the baby will thrive.

My pregnancy was great. I had minimal morning sickness which passed after the first trimester. I was active throughout my entire pregnancy. Which having four young children to care for in a homestead life with gardening, and raising animals, there’s always a lot of work to be done. So the time came. By this pregnancy I had stopped really looking for an estimated due date. I knew the month the baby should arrive but I’ve learned that waiting on the due date would just make me anxious. It was late one night and I knew that the time was getting close. Throughout the day I thought I had been having some mild contractions. Very light, so I wasn’t sure. I went to lay down after putting the children to bed and as soon as I laid down I felt a strong contraction. So I got up and went to the living room. I told my husband he could rest and I would let him know when I needed him. So just a few minutes later I was having strong hard contractions, I needed him. I made my way slowly to the bathroom as that’s where I had my last birth and I was most comfortable and it was easier for the clean up. In between contractions my husband prepared the room. He gathered our essential oils, put down plastic with large absorbent pads on top. I continued to have strong contractions. I held around my husband’s neck and swayed from side to side then I would sit on the toilet as that position would relieve a lot of the pressure on my bottom and allowed me to relax a bit between contractions. This went on for a couple of hours but didn’t seem that long. Finally I sat back on the toilet and felt the famous ring of fire and I lunged forward on my knees because I didn’t want to deliver in the toilet. He was out but still in his sack. My water hadn’t broke yet. He looked as though he had a pantyhose covering his face and body. It peeled away easily. The amazing thing about that was that about a week prior I had just read an article about another baby being born in the sack, which is called en caul. I looked at the pictures and was interested. I believe the Lord directed me to that article so I would not be frightened when I experienced it for myself. God is so amazing!

So there he was, the contractions were a bit stronger than with Thomas but tolerable. I didn’t tear, swelling was minimal, and bleeding was minimal. We delivered the placenta while I nursed my beautiful baby boy then cut the cord once it stopped pulsating. I showered while my husband cleaned up the baby and the bathroom, then I rested with my children and our new baby. Again I truly believe this is the way God intended birth to be, natural and relaxing. Yes, its painful but not nearly as painful as what is experienced with a hospital birth. In the hospital you may be able to skip the pain of birth with an epidural but you still have to experience the pain of the recovering.