I had heard that you have to have a birth plan. I spent so much time thinking up my ideal birth. I read books on it, took birth classes, researched online, listened to podcasts and asked everyone and their mother what their birth story was. I looked at birth affirmations, listened to the hypnobirthing CD each night while I slept, and took prenatal yoga classes and dreamt of the birth position that I would give birth to my baby boy in. My goal was to have a positive birth and completely natural, drug-free, birth.

I kept getting curious as to what it would feel like when I was in labor, so I started asking people how they knew, but almost everyone said, “Oh, you’ll know!”

For me, that wasn’t the case. This is my birth story…the condensed, censored, version. I will not be using any words to scare you, as I learned in hypnobirthing.

I noticed some spotting the night before my birth and called my doula. She said it was normal. All night that night, I was feeling a sensation in my lower region. My midwife had checked that area to see if I was dilating the week before, and I felt this same sensation after, so I just ignored it…all night. In the morning, I started making grunting sounds and my husband asked if I was okay. I said I was fine, but was just going to put a cold towel between my legs…no biggy! The next thing I know, I had an intense feeling, as though I had to go numero dos, but when I went to go, nothing would come out. I had my hubby bring me prunes and things still were not moving. I was also starting to bleed a little. The feelings I was experiencing were getting intense and I said I wanted to sit in our bathtub because I was feeling sensations at both ends. The bath helped a bit and we decided to call our midwife. She said everything I was feeling was normal and asked what my plans were for the day. I didn’t have too much on the agenda, except to get free ice cream with my friend, who was also expecting. The midwife said to take it easy today and do some self-care. I thought that was a good idea, as the feelings became more intense. The next thing I know, I started breathing like my prenatal yoga teachers said we should breathe in labor and how I learned to breathe in my hypnobirthing book. I couldn’t be in labor though. This did NOT feel like people told me it would. I wanted to sit down, but couldn’t. I decided to try getting on all fours, but that would not work either, and wait, I STILL HAD TO POOP! I went to the toilet and water started dripping down my leg and it wasn’t yellow, but it had black in it. Meconium! I thought, something is wrong with me, but it’s not labor. My husband called the midwife and she heard my sounds in the background and said, “Oh, she’s in labor!” My husband told me to get ready to go to the hospital and get in the car. I said I wasn’t moving. My mother in law was staying with us and she told me, I was in labor and it was time to have that baby! The drive there was the fastest/longest drive ever. My husband did breathing exercises with me in the car and I used the hypnobirthing techniques. I felt the sun coming through the window and imagined being on the beach. I thought I could feel the baby coming out of me, but thought it was must be my imagination. When we arrived at the hospital, they immediately put me in a wheelchair and took me to triage. They checked my dilation and said, the head is coming out. The next thing I know they said to push like I was having a bowel movement. (Sounds like my morning thus far) In three pushes, my beautiful baby boy was out and in only six minutes, so they tell me.

As my midwife put it, my birth wasn’t beautiful, but boy was it powerful. I think that about sums it up! I feel thankful for all of my preparation, but I’ve learned that it is one thing we cannot predict. I think all of my preparation helped me with this incredibly fast birth and am so blessed to have our healthy baby boy. I have listed all the ways I have prepared below. I’d love to hear how your birth was in the comments below.

Books I read:

• HypnoBirthing, Fourth Edition: The natural approach to safer, easier, more comfortable birthing - The Mongan Method, 4th Edition
• The Mama Natural Week-by-Week Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth
• Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth

Classes I took:

• Hypnobirthing of Connecticut
• Riverside Medical Group Prenatal Classes

Prenatal Yoga teachers:

• Laurie Goldstein
• Kimberleigh Weiss-Lewitt

Podcasts:

• Healthy Births Happy Babies
• Fear Free Childbirth

I would love to hear about your birth story or how you prepared. Feel free to e-mail me at lifepoints.us@gmail.com or write in the comments below.

• Parenthood