A woman will never forget the moment she became a mother, for me that moment was 6, almost 7 years ago. I can hardly believe I am saying that, I have an almost 7 year old, what?

Then a short 9 months later after my son was born I became pregnant with our daughter Julia and she was born 9 months later to the day.  They both share the 29th of the month’s they we born- they’re exactly 18 months apart.

At that time my husband & I were both graduating with degrees. I graduated with my bachelors 2 weeks before Julia was born and he graduated with his doctorate when she was about 3 months old. The next few years were spent raising 2 kiddos very close in age, going to playdates, MOPS, doing preschool activities, with tons of tears and laughter.

Then we opened up our wellness office after waiting on God to give us the right opportunity. I worked in the office for the first year, with kids in tow! We experienced pregnancy losses during that time and my heart was broken. Although it was a hard season, it was all part of the motherhood journey God planned for me! 

I had a deep desire to have more children and yet it didn’t seem like having more biological children was in the Lord’s plan’s for us, so I decided to consider adoption. And it wasn’t until then, that I was able to lay down my desires, that I became pregnant once again.

I struggled with trusting God that this baby would be healthy or that I would even carry the baby to term especially in the beginning of pregnancy, but I did, I carried the baby to 40 week and 3 days. We planned to birth at home with a midwife, I had everything prepared and was READY to meet this baby we had prayed for!

The Sunday before baby London was born

So now I’d like to share with you London Everleigh’s birth story.

Part 1:

On a very late Tuesday night when I was 2 days past my “due date” I was anxious and ready to meet our baby but not enough to try any natural inducing remedies like castor oil, quite yet. However, a friend did tell me that “what got the baby in, helps get the baby out” so we decided to try that which (I believe) kick-started my labor.

A little while later at around 1:00am when I was in bed watching home-birth videos on YouTube (I liked this one), I felt a contraction, I thought “hum, I think something is happening.” I decided to go to bed just in case so I could get some rest. I felt a couple more before I fell asleep.

I woke up a couple of hours later and felt regular contractions so I decided to download a contraction tracker app. I went downstairs to grab a snack for some energy I might need later. I got some turkey, cheese and crackers and a large glass of ice cold water. I brought my food to bed and told my husband that I was having some contractions and eating a snack, which he doesn’t remember me telling him.

I ate my snack then laid down. It was around 3:30-4 in the morning and there was no going back to sleep. I kept tabs on my contractions for a while, they seemed to keep coming so I opened the iPhone app. And although they weren’t “bad” enough for me to realize this was true labor, I did need to take a few deep breaths when I was having a contraction. There were none of the obvious signs of labor, like losing the plug or water breaking, which those things never happened with my other two either so I was still wondering if this was me going into labor or just really intense braxton hicks.

I texted my midwife Lisa “No show or water broke but *think* something might be happening. Drinking some water and had a snack. Been timing contractions for about an hour. No sure if they are real or prodromal (false labor)” at 4:57am.

I also text’d this picture but she was unable to receive it so I sent her all the details going on, where I was feeling something, what it was feeling like, how long and in-between. In short, strong movement/tightness in between contractions and intense contractions that were 2-3 minutes apart lasting for about 30-40 seconds. That had been happening for an hour, not getting closer together but consistently.

At 5:56am after she told me to try to get some sleep, I told her I couldn’t rest, she asked me if I wanted her to come to check me. Here’s the conversation:

I didn’t reply around the time when she asked if I wanted her to come because the contractions had gotten very intense. Instead of just breathing through them, I was whimpering and moaning. Trying not to be too loud as my kids and mom were sleeping in a near by room. My husband and I had previously decided we didn’t want the kids in the home during the birth.

My “Yes come!” text was really…. YES, COME! Hurry, hurry, hurry, I think this baby is coming soon!

Next is part two… coming soon!

The post The Birth Story of London Everleigh {Part One} appeared first on Day2Day Joys.

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Written by Karli, Contributing Writer

Around 4AM on Saturday, January 11, I woke up to contractions around 10-12 minutes apart. Not unbearable, I got up and took a shower, then came back to bed and laid back down to try and get some rest. Around 8, Matt woke up, and I told him I thought today might be the day! We were excited but also knew that it could be a while, as early labor can last quite a while. We also text my family to tell them to be ready!

Contractions stayed consistent all day- around 10 minutes apart- so we also went out to dinner with Matt’s family. After dinner that night, we headed to Target to do some last minute shopping, then parted ways with our parents with a “see you some time tonight”, assuming that labor would intensify with the night hours and that our little girl would be born tomorrow. We went to bed that night with packed bags and anxious hearts!

By around 5AM on January 12th, my contractions had intensified to about 1 minute long, 6 minutes apart, and stayed that way for about three hours. They were incredibly painful- I was nauseous and couldn’t eat or drink anything. Between each contraction I would fall back to sleep- we were waiting for them to get just a bit closer together before we called the birth center and got on our way- but we alerted our family that the time was near. And then- out of nowhere- the contractions spaced out. A LOT. Suddenly it would be fifteen minutes between, then ten, then half an hour- still painful, just spaced apart. We didn’t know what to think. So we slept as much as we could and waited for things to progress.

This irregularity continued well into the afternoon. Meanwhile, I felt terrible, had awful diarrhea (a typical early labor sign) and couldn’t eat anything. Around 4 or 5, at the encouragement of Matt and my mom, I called the birth center and explained how things had gone throughout the morning, only to be told that it was just ‘false labor’ and that I should try to lay down, eat, etc to get the contractions to stop. Not only was this really frustrating (all I’d been doing all day was laying around, and I was to nauseous to eat) but it just didn’t feel right.

I followed the midwife’s advice and choked down half a sandwich and tried to relax. Pretty soon, things started to change- suddenly I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes, but they were only lasting 30 or 45 seconds. I had Matt call the midwife, who told me to get into the bathtub and stay in for an hour, to hopefully even out my contractions. She said that it sounded like my uterus was tired- who can blame it, it had already been working for 36 hours!

My time in the bathtub was not fun. At all. Contractions spaced to 5min apart, and started lasting longer. They would make me feel like I needed to go to the bathroom, so I painfully got in and out of the tub several times, soaking everything in my path. I would shake uncontrollably when I would get out. Finally, Matt called the midwife and she told us to come in. It was time to get the show on the road!

Matt’s parents packed up our car while he helped me get dressed and dry. He lined the front seat of our car with trash bags (my water still hadn’t broken) and we were on our way. We made what usually is an hour’s drive in about 40 minutes- and boy, was it a rough drive. Contractions every 3-4 minutes in the front seat of a car? I don’t recommend it.

We arrived at the birth center around 10:30 pm to find Linda, a midwife whom I had only met two days before. She took a urine sample and concluded that I was severely dehydrated and undernourished- my body was basically breaking down muscle for calories. She left to get a bag of fluids and I immediately started throwing up. I pretty much puked for the next 5 hours- through 3 bags of fluids and two different anti nausea medications.

Those hours were absolutely horrible. Because of my dehydration, the pain of the contractions was magnified, and I was throwing up between almost every one. Matt alternated between holding a trash can for me and rubbing oils into my back to help with the pain. The cycle was unrelenting and I began to doubt my ability to continue.

Finally, around 3:30 am, Linda suggested taking a low-dose sedative that would allow me to sleep for an hour or so and regain some strength to finish labor. At this point, she checked me and told me that I was about 4.5cm dilated, and that I would likely stay that was while I slept. I am so thankful that this was an option- it honestly saved our labor.

I woke up around 5:30 and got myself to the bathroom, only to have a very strong contraction. I knew immediately- I needed to push. I yelled for Matt to get the midwife (now Susannah, as there had been a shift change while we were resting)- both of whom looked at me like I was crazy- I shouldn’t have progressed during that time at all! But I knew- when your body tells you to push, you can’t do anything else. Sure enough, when Susannah checked me, I was fully dilated.

There was just one problem- there was no nurse in the building at the time. Knowing how close to delivering I was, and that she would need an extra set of trained hands, Susannah told me that I was only 9 cm dilated and that I couldn’t push yet- while she frantically changed into scrubs and called for a nurse to come in. Cue the most miserable 45 minutes of the night- trying not to push when that’s what your body is doing. It’s nearly impossible. It’s painful and frustrating and feels so wrong. I pretty much sobbed into Matt’s shoulder during each contraction. Finally, when I knew I couldn’t continue like that anymore, Matt and Susannah went and filled the jacuzzi tub. It was time!

I honestly didn’t mind pushing- it wasn’t comfortable, but at least it was a task, with an end goal, and I had something to DO besides just try to get through it- like the rest of labor! I started pushing around 6:30, and my water FINALLY broke, in the tub, at about 6:50. At 7, the nurse finally arrived- just in time!

It was an amazing feeling of relief when Matt told me that her head was out- what he didn’t tell me was that it was purple! Susannah checked for the umbilical cord but couldn’t feel it, and on the next push, we assumed that her body would be born. But it wasn’t. Something wasn’t right!

Susannah quickly realized what the problem was- our girl’s shoulders didn’t fully rotate and they were stuck in my pelvis, and pinching the umbilical cord. This left her without oxygen, so we needed to get her out quickly! Without explaining this all to me (there was no time) she and Matt pulled me up in the tub and had me push once standing, which didn’t work either. Finally, they yelled that we needed to get on the bed. I was half carried/half drug to the next room- with Halle’s head hanging out of me- sopping wet and thrown on the bed and told to give as hard of a push as I could. I’ll never know what she did, but somehow Susannah maneuvered her shoulders down and Hallelujah Dawn Von Herbulis was born- 7:10 am, 51 hours after my first contraction.

She was immediately placed on my belly but was dark purple and unresponsive. Susannah and the nurse quickly began rubbing her with warm towels and gave her some quick oxygen, and very shortly she let out a great cry. I heard her make noise fairly quickly, so it wasn’t until after her birth was explained to me that I really understood the gravity of the situation. If it wasn’t for the quick work of the staff of the birth center, we might have lost our girl. I am so grateful for their knowledge and assertiveness.

Honestly, the moments after her birth are a huge blur- between the drama of the birth itself, then the hurry to birth the placenta, and how extremely exhausted I was, I had trouble keeping myself awake and really comprehending what was happening for the first 15 minutes or so. Slowly, as I rested in the bed, I was able to fully appreciate the moment- she was here! In my arms, and so perfect.

Looking back on our birth, nothing went as planned. The labor pattern was so irregular that we didn’t know what to expect. I got very sick because of being in labor for so long. I basically slept through what is traditionally though of as ‘active labor’. We had wanted Matt to catch Halle, but clearly that couldn’t have happened- same with delaying cord clamping and having a peaceful, gentle water birth. But just because things didn’t go as planned doesn’t mean they didn’t go as they should’ve. We have no regrets about our birthing experience and we are so thankful for the education we received that prepared us to handle the unexpected!

How long were your births? Was your birth fast or like a marathon?

The post The Marathon {Hallelujah’s Birth Story} appeared first on Day2Day Joys.

Related posts:

The Birth Story of London Everleigh {Part One} The Most Precious Valentine’s Day Gift {A Natural Birth Story} Amanda’s VBAC Birth Story

Written by Kari @ Living Strong Health & Wellness, Contributing Writer

After having my daughter, my first child, in a hospital – I knew I didn’t want to go through that experience again. I knew without a doubt that God did not create His daughters to bring children into the world in the way I had experienced. Although I came home with a beautiful and healthy little girl, the experience left me lacking respect for the medical industry.

Without focusing on all that happened with the birth of my first child, I will say that it made me consider other options for baby #2! This time around I chose to go with a local midwifery/birth center that was absolutely amazing!

Once I began my time at the birth center – it was amazing. Every visit was wonderful, personal and so comforting. The rooms were decorated in beautiful colors and they had hutches with tons of books in each room – such a cozy and inviting feeling. The midwives were wonderful and I can’t say enough about them to show my gratitude!

Fast forward to my 39 week check-up on a Wednesday when I was feeling like my son was going to slide right out any moment. I don’t say that jokingly at all – it truly felt like he would just come out any minute. I walked funny, it felt weird to sit and I could tell it was close. I had my check-up and found out that I was already at 6 cm, 80% effaced and my son was already at a station 1 (which means he only had 2 more stations to go before coming out) – hence me walking funny!

{photo taken from internet back in 2009 – I don’t recall the source}

I wasn’t having any contractions though, but the midwife said he’d be here by the weekend, so I went home excited to know that I would be meeting my baby boy soon – even though I was a week early.

That night I started having mild contractions and those continued for two days. Of course I thought they were pretty intense – not having ever felt them with the birth of my first child. I remember calling my mom and she would tell me that I wasn’t in hard labor. Then I’d call the midwife and she said the same thing. Ugh.

After two days of having contractions every couple minutes, they had me come in to get checked again. I was 6 1/2 cm now and he was getting lower, but nothing was progressing. The decided to sweep my membranes to help this along a bit. The contractions continued and grew more intense and that night I had called the midwife and she suggested I try to naturally start the labor process. The reason was – my body had been having pretty good contractions for two days and she was concerned that by the time I went into hard labor – I wouldn’t physically have the strength in my uterus to contract enough to help my baby out, which would force me to the hospital and possibly an epidural. I didn’t want that.

So – out of all the options, I chose castor oil. This causes the bowels to contract and release as well as the uterus. I took my serving of castor oil around 11:30pm while in a warm bath. About 1/2 hour later – all my contractions stopped.
This was a little frustrating, but decided to get some sleep while I could. I awoke at 5:00am still not having any contractions, called my dad to tell them we still hadn’t gone to the birth center (my parents were watching our daughter) and I laid back down. About 5 minutes later I had electricity shoot through my body and it was like nothing I had ever felt before. This was it.

We headed to the birth center and went into the Aspen Room and worked through my contractions. I was free to walk, sit, squat, lay down – whatever I wanted to do in order to be comfortable. My husband was right by my side being the best comforter I could ask for. At about 7:45am I decided to get in the birthing tub since the contractions were a bit intense and it helped ease the intensity of each contraction. Once I felt a burning, the midwife checked and told me his head was out, so I just needed to push a couple times and he’d be all the way out. I breathed right, mustered up strength and pushed. Nothing. Three times I did this and now I was in pain. I got up a bit to move positions and I came out of the water a bit and I was not allowed to get back in since my baby had breathed oxygen, so they got me out and laid me on the floor.

A couple other midwives who were there heard me expressing my pain (aka screaming) and they both came in, one of them felt my abdomen and gave a big, but gentle push on the side of my stomach. My little guy came out in a flash at 8:19am – about 3 hours and 15 minutes after going into hard labor. She told me his shoulder was stuck in my pelvic bone (he nestled himself snug over the prior week or two), so every time I pushed, I was causing myself pain and putting stress on my baby.
As I laid there feeling a physical relief and thinking how great it felt, I heard the midwife, nurse and my husband conversing and I realized that my baby was not breathing and they had to resuscitate him. We had prayed over my pregnancy and our baby for over 9 months and I knew that I would go home with my healthy little boy, so I had a peace over me knowing that God’s Word would manifest and my son would live and not die.

After 5 pumps of oxygen, I heard the sweetest cry in the world and they placed him on my chest and he immediately started nursing! I remember looking at him with so much love in my heart – I couldn’t contain it. We remained at the birth center for 7 hours while they took care of some concerns with me, but my little guy was thriving at 8lbs 2ozs and already had a love for nursing! Being able to sit in a comfy bed surrounded by pine furniture on a snowy Valentine’s Day holding my newborn was an amazing feeling!

God was with us throughout the entire process and He brought peace, comfort, grace and life to my husband, me and my child. I’m forever grateful that I brought home my little boy with big blue eyes and am happy to say he celebrated his 5th birthday a couple weeks ago on Valentine’s Day! The most precious valentine’s gift I’ve ever received!

“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).”
John 10:10 (AMP)

 Have you had a natural birth experience that forever changed your life?

The post The Most Precious Valentine’s Day Gift {A Natural Birth Story} appeared first on Day2Day Joys.

Related posts:

Top 7 Benefits to Co-Sleeping with Your Baby The Birth Story of London Everleigh {Part One} Amanda’s VBAC Birth Story