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Today starts a week-long mini series of birth stories! I think you will find each story unique–some with a touch of humor–and I hope that you will reminisce with us if you are a mother or learn along the way if you are not!
On Friday, I’ll put up a linky for any bloggers to link up their birth stories! If you aren’t a blogger, I welcome you to remember your birth stories along with us all week via the comments or on our Facebook page!
In 2008, I knew next to nothing about birth–even up until the time my water broke and I went to the hospital to give birth to my firstborn daughter, who turned 4 in June!
Back then, I was working full-time as an English as a Second Language teacher and Spanish interpretor, and I simply didn’t have the time to do much research. Oh, I did ask other moms about their experiences, and I did check one book out from the library–but none of my friends had had a natural labor, and the one book I checked out was all about the various pain medications you could take to ensure a “pain-free” labor.
Here I am in the triage room…oblivious of what was to come!
The only problem? I wanted a natural labor. It’s something I truly desired. My mom had had drug-free labors with me and both my siblings, and I thought I could do the same.
But when my water broke around 1:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 12, 2008, my husband and I rushed to the hospital. I was group B strep positive, and the OB I was seeing had instructed me that if my water were to break, I needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible.
I now know that I could have waited–at least a little time–to see if labor would start on its own. Instead, I jumped in the shower, and my husband and I swiftly made it down the interstate to the hospital 45 minutes away. I think he even turned on the blinkers. 
We laughed and chatted nervously the entire way there…and I felt not a thing.
As soon as we arrived to the triage room, the nurse checked me for dilation. Nothing–absolutely nothing. I wasn’t dilated at ALL, and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t effaced much either. “You’re in for a long night,” she chuckled. It was super encouraging. NOT!
After the epidural…laboring flat on my back and chatting on my cell phone.
The nurse wheeled me to a room and immediately hooked me up to pitocin. “Wait, I don’t want to be induced,” I said.
“Oh, this isn’t an induction…this is an augmentation,” she countered. “We’re just helping your laboring process along.”
I wasn’t given an option to say no. And my husband and I didn’t know that we could even refuse at that point. After a few minutes of the pitocin in my system, I started feeling sharp pains like knives in my back. I was sitting in the hospital bed, unable to get up and move about. (They also hooked me up to IV antibiotics since I was GBS positive and a catheter since I wouldn’t be able to get up and empty my bladder.) I never once felt a contraction in my front. The contractions felt very mechanical.
At this point, the pain was getting very intense, and I didn’t know how to cope. My husband and I asked our nurse to teach us some breathing exercises. I may have been hooked up to pitocin, antibiotics and a catheter already, but I surely wasn’t going to get an epidural! It wouldn’t be that long until she was ready to come, I thought.
Holding my sweet firstborn for the very first time!!
The nurse taught us what she knew of Lamaze breathing. To this day, I have no idea if these breathing exercises were correct or not. I just remember doing 7 “he he he he he he hes” and 1 big “who” at the end. My husband held his fingers up and counted. But as the day progressed, the contractions kept getting more and more intense–and there was barely a rest break in between them.
After about 7-8 hours of this, I asked to be checked for dilation. I wanted to know if we were getting anywhere. At that point, I was between a 1 and a 2.
This came as an utter discouragement to me. I knew I needed to get to a 10, but confined to the bed, I didn’t know how in the world I was going to get there without some relief. I was also unable to eat or drink anything but ice chips, and I was getting very fatigued.
“I don’t want an epidural, but can you give me something to just ‘take the edge off’?” I asked the nurse.
My firstborn sleeping on my chest…
She brought in stadol. “Will this make me loopy?” I asked. “I want to be in my right mind when the baby comes.” I knew that it doesn’t take much for me to feel overcome by medications. I avoid even tylenol if I can.
“Oh no, it won’t do a thing,” the nurse said as she gave me the medicine.
Within minutes I was hallucinating that I was in a forest with trees covered in red berries. I recounted what I “saw” to my husband. While I was still in “la la land,” the nurse asked me if I wanted the epidural. At this point I was probably the closest to drunk I’ve been, so I agreed. And, honestly, it’s probably good that I was drugged up because it took some of my fears away from having that gigantic needle inserted into my spine.
Honestly, looking back, with all I had already endured and not being able to employ any natural pain relief techniques (whether from ignorance or just from mere confinement), I’m glad I had the epidural at that point. After it was in, my husband and I both took naps. We needed that rest for me to be able to push the baby out–and achieve a vaginal delivery.
The rest of the labor was pretty boring I guess. I rested, I texted friends, I posted on Facebook. Then, about 14 hours after my water had broken, I felt the urge to push.
I pushed for an entire 2 hours. At one point I thought I overheard the staff mention a C-section. But, boy, I was determined to push my baby girl out! I could feel the urge to push, but I could feel no contractions/pain because of the epidural. Therefore, I pushed many times when I shouldn’t have.
At the very end, the doctor began to give me an episiotomy (which I had requested she not do on my birth plan…but I think the nurses and doctors never even read it). Once she started the episiotomy, I tore the rest of the way–resulting in a 4th-degree tear, the worst tear you can have.
But, in the end, they handed me the most beautiful little redheaded baby girl I had ever seen. She cried but quieted down when she heard my husband call her name.
I held her and I cried. I was a mother. The Lord had brought me through an incredibly difficult labor.
And although I wished it had been natural, I knew He had planned her birth long before time, and this first birth would make me all the more eager to truly educate myself before my second.
What was your first birth like? What did you learn through it?
*For more information on how to achieve a natural birth in a hospital setting, I recommend the eBook, Unbound Birth.*
Be sure to come back each day this week to read more unique birth stories–and come link up your own on Friday!
Find our entire natural pregnancy and birthing series on the Series page!
I’m linking up with: The Better Mom, Growing Home, Deep Roots at Home, Time-Warp Wife, Raising Homemakers, Women Living Well, Fellowship Friday
*I have included affiliate links in this post.
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Your first story sounds almost identical to mine – except my water broke at 7am.
I knew NOTHING. This time I feel a bit more prepared.
Thanks for sharing, Erin. And you’re right – once you hold that baby, everything else just fades away.
Stacy @Stacy Makes Cents recently posted..Chocolate Zucchini Bread
I hope you have the birth of your dreams with the Bean!
My first (and only birth so far) went amazingly well, considering I was in a hospital! We took Bradley classes, which I think helped immensely in us being able to achieve the birth we wanted. Though my pregnancy was physically easy, I did battle high blood pressure and gestational diabetes (borderline) near the end. I was worried about induction, but the Lord blessed and I went into labor on my own at 39 weeks. After laboring at home as long as we felt comfortable, when contractions were about 4 – 5 minutes apart and lasting almost a minute, we headed out for the 35 minute drive to the hospital. Got there, was monitored in triage, finally checked after about 7 – 8 hours of natural labor (not too hard though!) and was dilated to a 5! I got a room at that point, and then was hooked up to IV antibiotics for GBS. I walked and walked and walked. Nurses were respectful, and appeared to have read our birth plan. When I was checked again, I was a 7. Soon after that I entered transition, and started to feel like I couldn’t cope with the pain anymore (especially when they were monitoring me on the bed–wow, that made me really feel for women that try to go all natural while lying down!). Anyway,finally got to pushing stage, pushed for 40 minutes. I was in quite a bit of pain, couldn’t quite figure out how to push effectively without hyperventilating, but I finally got the hang of it. Baby’s heart rate dipped and the midwife urged me to “push him out now”. Because of that, I did get a second degree tear, which I am sure I could have avoided had I not been so rushed to get his whole body out right away! They put him on my chest and I remember being so happy, relieved and amazed at the tiny being on my chest! What a miracle birth is, no matter how it happens!
How appropriate I should see this blog today, the day my oldest child started preschool. I’ve already blubbered so many times about this day, and looking back on how it all started, I can’t believe how much he’s grown up. I can’t imagine my life without him. I don’t know if I will have time today to post his birth story, but I plan to be back soon to add ours!
Thank you all for sharing your birth stories!
What a blessing it is to have a relatively uneventful first birth…even if you were counting berries in the forest!
Mindy @ New Equus – A New Creation recently posted..I’ve finally made it to the big time!
Your birth story sounds a lot like most of my friends. However, half of theirs ended in c-sections
I was 20 years old when my daughter was born and I knew NOTHING. I am sure I didn’t even read a book (except maybe baby names). I went to the hospital to be induced at 39 +5. My water was immediately broken bc i was 2cm, and pitocin started. After 2 contractions I called for the epidural, and 3 attempts later it was placed. I was cathed, a fetal scalp electrode on her head, and an internal monitor and we were ready to go. 16 hours later (50 min of pushing) my baby was out and on the warmer. I held her 50 minutes later- not sure why….
When we found out we were pregnant with our third we had no doubt about another homebirth! Now that we are due with #4 anyday we are ready and set for another beautiful birth in our master bedroom 
The kids think its neat that they were born here too! My daughter is being raised knowing about birth and the labor process and ALL medical intereventions that go along with it. I dont want her suprised like I was!
After that I entered nursing school, and started work on a labor and delivery floor when I found out I was pregnant with my second. After learning what I had and seeing first hand what REALLY happens behind the nurses desk I decided to do a home birth. It went beautifully! 15 hours of labor (very slow/easy labor) and 2 pushes and my boy was born in the water
Wow, I can’t believe the nurse told you that the meds wouldn’t affect you! She was clearly mistaken, lol
And yes, ultimately, what’s important is holding the precious miracle in your arms! Hoping you are able to do that soon with #3 
Anne @ Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy recently posted..August-September Menu Plan (Menu Plan Monday 8-20-12}
First, I must say I love reading your blog! Reading your birthing story along with those of others makes me feel much more confident in my belief that 21st Century medicine is not necessary to have children. I already believed that or else people would not have pro-created for this long but it is reassuring to know that there are many people even in the U.S. who choose and are able to have a natural birth instead of having to fall for current medicine and doctors telling women how to labor and deliver.
Thank you!
My first child’s birth story started out very similar to yours: water breaking but not contractions and we rushed off to the hospital because that was what we were “supposed to do.” Although I ideally wanted a med-free birth, I’m a wimp and thought I probably wouldn’t be able to handle it (I also have a history of pelvic muscle pain that I knew would exacerbate the pain of pushing – that’s what I was most afraid of). We gone to a birthing class and I’d read a lot of info, so I was semi-prepared (as much as you can for your first and without having seen a real birth before). They didn’t give me pitocin but I was given a suppository of some sort to soften my cervix so that contractions would begin. They did and I labored for 12 hours before giving into an epidural at 4am. I regret that now. Then I stayed on my back or side just like you did. I regret that too. Why did no one tell me to get up on my feet and rock my hips? My baby never descended down the birth canal and I plateaued at 8cm dilation, so they opted for a c-section….something I DID NOT WANT EVER. Yes, my daughter’s head is quite large and it is possible that she would not have fitted through the birth canal, but I will never know if it had worked if I had gotten up and let gravity takes it’s course. My c-section itself was a horrible experience – I had to be put under general anesthesia (so I didn’t meet my daughter for an hour after her delivery…after my whole family saw her in the nursery window), I had burning horrific pain where the incision was and even morphine didn’t cover it up, and overall recovery took months. I didn’t bond well with my daughter at first and we had many nursing issues…perhaps because of the c-section, I’ll never know.
I have had two subsequent natural vaginal deliveries in the same hospital. I learned my lesson the next two times around: standing up through my contractions and rocking my hips seem to do it for me. I tore pretty bad on the first one (3rd degree…I can’t even imagine your 4th degree tear – you poor dear!) and it took over six months to heal because of granulating tissue and whatnot. Honestly, that part was worth than the recovery from the c-section minus the first few days. And I still had various nursing issues with both my boys as well. Honestly, I’m not obsessed with natural births like some women are, but I do think they are best for baby and mama and plus they’re a lot cheaper! ;o)