Written by Courtney @ A + Life (originally published in April of 2015)

My Natural Birth Plans

I don’t have plans to take these to the hospital with me. I’m not going to be the girl who shows up with a bullet point, high lighted, step by step birth plan….. mostly because my plans are “hands off, please”. But, that’s easy enough to say, and not necessary to be printed out on a piece of paper.

I remember when I got pregnant with my first daughter, Abigail. Even though it had taken us a year to get pregnant with her, I was still fairly blissfully naive when it came to all things baby. First time parent, ah quite youthful, and just a bit uninformed. It was well into my 6th month or so, I was almost in third tri, when I was in Virginia to be a bridesmaid for one of my very best friends. We all got to talking about labor and delivery, and up to that point, I had planned to do whatever my Dr. told me and OBVIOUSLY get the epidural. Mostly, because I just hadn’t given it much thought. But the more we talked, and more and more of the women shared their stories about home birth, zero interventions, refusing induction and epidurals, the more I got to thinking….perhaps I should do some research myself?

Keep in mind that this was 2010, so it was basically the technological dark ages.

I got my hands on a copy of Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth and it completely revolutionized the way I thought about childbirth. From that point on, I knew that I was going to have a intervention free delivery and made all of my plans based off of that choice.

And if the years of praying and waiting for our second gift, Mabel, and the years of being a mama and taking care of a little one have done anything for me, it has been this: the pendulum of “crunch factor” has way swung and I only continue to up the ante on myself as I have choices.

The first time I read Ina May I totally, totally got her points. They made absolute sense to me, but I was like, DANG these people are weird as all get out. But rereading it this time around? I’m like, how can I get to “The Farm”(her “commune” for those of you who aren’t familiar with her) and live in a cabin and give birth there. Like, today. So, as I’ve said, it’s fairly obvious to see that I’ve continued down the all natural road and have no plans of putting the brakes on it anytime soon.

So, here is what I am already doing:

(This is all from consultations and advice from my naturopath)

• Prenatal + Iron
• Vitamin B Supplement
• Vitamin D Supplement
• Probiotic
• Tons of water
• Sitting on the birthing ball for a few minutes every evening
• Rereading my birthing books(bonus if it’s while I’m on the birthing ball!)
• Drinking Red Raspberry Leaf Tea
• And I’m starting to select birth affirmations and bible verses to start meditating on to prepare my heart and mind for labor and delivery.

The Plans For Me: 

• Refusal of all pre-labor cervical checks
• Refuse any and all induction- obviously, to a reasonable extent. My first daughter, Abigail came on her due date, so I have no reason to think that this should be an issue. But, I’m perfectly ready to go up to 42 weeks if Mabel needs it.
• Once labor begins, labor at home for as long as possible. On the birthing ball, in the tub, eating and drinking, staying calm and composed.
• Once labor progresses to the point where we think it is wise to head to the hospital, then we will head that way.
• Once at the hospital, no IV(will concede to a heplock), no constant fetal monitoring(if possible), and laboring how it feels best.
• And that is basically it! I ended up wanting to push while reclining, that felt the most comfortable to me and my water didn’t break until completion so those were two non-issues last time that I hope will be the same again.

I mostly just want to be left to labor with Jim, my Mom, and my good friend who is a doula.

For Mabel: 

To me, this is the section with the biggest changes from my previous delivery. I didn’t do a ton of research as far as what baby goes through and what the standard procedures are in the hospital after baby is born with Abigail. Obviously, it all turned out just fine, but there are certainly things I want to do differently this time around.

After Mabel is delivered, if all is well:

• I want her to be immediately placed on my chest for skin to skin and nursing.
• Delayed cord clamping
• Delayed bath
• Refusal of eye ointment
• Delaying the Hep B shot until a later pediatrician appointment
• Requesting that any and all checks, vitamin K shot, or other things be delayed until after the first nursing session or while she is on my chest.
• If possible, not use pitocin to expel the placenta and let it deliver when it is ready.
• And of course, keeping Mabel in the room with us at all times. Jim can go with her if they need to take her anywhere.

I’ve had a few different talks with my OB about my plans and she has been nothing but sweet and understanding about my ideas. Thankfully, I am a 100% low risk, textbook patient, so there isn’t any reason to worry much about how things will go. She also delivered Abigail and is aware of my previous labor and delivery, which I think helps keep our communication open. The hospital where I had Abigail has since closed it’s birthing center, but a brand new hospital just opened in March, so I should be using all new state of the art equipment and have been told that their birthing rooms are very similar to my previous experience(labor, deliver, recover all in the same room + room in with baby).

As my OB and I talked through my “plans” she just suggested that anything I say to the nurses about my desires to preface it with “Dr. B and I have already discussed this and she is aware of my wishes” or if she is present, just have Jim or my doula remind her of my plans(such as delayed cord clamping) so that we can achieve a great birth together.

So, at this point, in these last few weeks of waiting, I’m really just trying to prepare my heart and mind for what is coming. With Abigail, I was fiercely determined. And not so much nervous. This time, I feel anxious and scared because I can remember it hurting so badly. But, I know that it is what is best for me and for Mabel and I’m happy to choose it and do it the same way as I did with Abigail. I just need to get my head in the game before hand!

One verse that has particularly stood out to me that I have been memorizing in preparation for her delivery is a verse that showed up during this semester’s ladies bible study(we’re studying 1st and 2nd Thessalonians):

“We give thanks to God always for you all, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brethren beloved by God, that He has chosen you.” 1 Thessalonians 1: 2-4

Did you have a birth plan? What did it look like? 

The post Natural Labor And Delivery Plans appeared first on Day2Day Joys.

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In parts one and two, I shared how London Everleigh arrived via planned homebirth with a midwife.

It’s an amazing story (to me) of waiting on God, learning to trust Him more and more and having the courage to bring her into this world the way I had planned and get to experience it. Although I know that’s not always the case even if you had planned a homebirth, like my friend Sarah, but not matter what, a baby’s birth is a miraculous thing. 

In honor of London’s 1st Birthday, here’s the rest of the story…

Part three is all about the rest the day and week she arrived. 

I was laying in bed, undressed with a towel to cover me, still in awe that our baby was here and I birthed her at home, I just couldn’t believe it.

I just held her and just looked at her. So perfect. 

Shortly after I birthed the placenta, which I think was a piece of cake compared to birthing London.

Lisa, my midwife opened a bottle of organic pineapple juice that was in my birth-kit and told me to drink up. 

My mom arrived a few minutes later. She couldn’t believe she missed everything. She told us that when she got back she just dilly dallied around down stairs because it seemed quiet, so she decided to come upstairs, and lo and behold, the baby was born. 

The midwife began cleaning up some of the mess while I just held her. I had her latch to start nursing, which only lasted for a few moments. Oh so precious moments. 

My husband wasn’t in the room, being the busybody he is, decided it was a good time to sweep the leaves off of the roof, the only way I knew was because I could hear him. Earlier I had asked someone to open the window while I was laboring in the bed.

In retrospect I am now thinking, I wonder what our neighbor must have thought if he heard me when I was pushing the baby out.

Lisa, my mom & I just adored London. My mom had my camera I had purchased a few days earlier taking some snapshots. Lisa did some routine newborn checks. And kept reminding me to keep drinking the juice. By law she had to ask me if I wanted to vitamin k shot which we declined.

My husband arrived back into the room, it was time to cut the cord. We delayed cutting the cord until it completely stopped pulsing, you can read some benefits of that here. 

It was time to weigh her, she weighed in at 8 lbs 1 oz. She was the biggest baby of our three. 

Lisa instructed my mom to make me some eggs and toast. She brought it up to me, I ate it up quickly, giving birth is hard work.

I nursed London again, then Lisa helped me to the shower where I cleaned up. After, everyone left the room so I could just rest in bed. I couldn’t nap since I was so excited, so I just rested my body. I just starred at her for a long while. My midwife came a checked on me again, then left to be back the next morning. 

My mom decided it would be fun to go get some cupcakes for the kids with strawberry filling, for an “it’s a girl” reveal before she went to pick them up from school a little early. 

Still up stairs, I heard them arrive. They came up the stairs with their Dad and Mamaw and I got my phone ready to capture the moment, here is what happened:

Watch the video here. 

They were soooo excited. After, we all went downstairs to watch Lincoln and Julia bite into the cupcakes. She’s a GIRL!!!

It was time for Big Brother & Big Sister to hold sweet baby London. 

I ate some leftover food from the previous night’s crockpot dinner then went upstairs with London to nurse her and take a real nap. I was able to nap for a couple of hours. 

I went back downstairs and enjoyed the evening with the family. My husband ordered take-out from one of my favorite steakhouse’s, their Mac-n-cheese is to die for.

After the kids went to bed, my husband made a fire. Then he held London and adjusted her for the first time. Daddy is a wellness chiropractor. We all just continued to admire and be thankful for London and rest on the couch and before we knew it, it was time to head to bed. 

Later that week we enjoyed wonderful meals from friends, sweet gifts from patients and time as a family of 5. London got her newborn pictures, her first visit to our office and got over jaundice via the sunlight. 

I cannot believe she is ONE today!!! 

Happy Birthday my sweet baby girl! 

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

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I know, I know, I am very “fashionably late” with the 2nd part of London’s birth story. But better late then never right?? London is only 8 months as of today If you haven’t read part 1 yet, click on over to read the first part. 

Now back to the birth story: 

A little bit before my “Yes come!” text to my midwife that I told you about in part one of this story was when I realized this baby IS coming today, I could not wait to meet him or her. We never found out the gender because we had decided to be surprised at birth.

I had been thinking about all the details in-between the contractions, not birth details per-se but about the kids and how they should be leaving with my mom and where they should go since it wasn’t quite time to bring them to their homeschool co-op yet. I planned all the details: go wake up mom at 7:15am, they can get ready, get their stuff and she can bring them to Panera, a local bakery/eatery first then to school.

So 7:15 seemed to come hurriedly. It took all I had to walk to my daughter’s room where my mom had been sleeping. I got there, bent over and told her I think today is the day, get up and go! She tried to ask me a few questions and I remember just saying something like “I don’t know, I need to go lay down, come in here if you need me” while hurrying back to my bed.

I think it was around 20 minutes later they came inside the room to say goodbye. By then I was moaning loudly, I thought but when they came in I tried to be quiet. I remember thinking… I love you now get out (I wasn’t wanting to be mean, I just didn’t know if I could handle talking) 

Right after they left, my husband and I discussed if we should start a bath. I had never had a homebirth before so I didn’t know the timeline of procedures I thought maybe were supposed to happen. All I knew was that this was intense, wondering how long I’d be enduring this pain. I said, yes, go ahead and start the bath, thinking it might help. 

While still laying in my bed, I felt something wet come out, I thought my had broke so I told my husband while waddling over to the toilet. I wiped and saw the bloody show a woman normally gets before labor. I then got into the bathtub. We have a pretty large tub so the water was only a few inches full. Before all of this happened I’d pictured myself sitting in the tub with my back against a cushion I had purchased, but no, that’s not at all how it played out. I was on my knees, bent over, clinging tightly to the water faucet. 

Sometime while in the bathtub the midwife arrived. We didn’t know it at the time, but she had been knocking for 10 minutes outside before my husband let her in, we never heard her in all the commotion. 

Upon arriving, just from seeing me in whatever stage of labor I was in, she knew it was game-time. While I was trying not to freak out, hold my cool, go through natural birth- whatever you’d like to call it, my midwife and husband got prepared as much as they could. 

She checked me and said I was 8cm and that the water sack was right there, and said if she broke it, it would help, I said ok.  The same thing had to happen with my other 2 so I knew it was the best idea.  I think pretty much after that I must have fully dilated fully within 1-2 minutes. 

I’d like to say that Lisa, my midwife was an extremely awesome coach. When I was groaning in the tub, she was saying “sing your song” which helped me to realized that it was ok to be vocal (or scream).  Right away,  I felt the urge to push so I did. After doing this a few times, I had emptied my bowels. I know, gross right? 

Lisa told me I have 2 choices since it would not be healthy for the baby to be birthed into the icky water: 1) get out of the tub and go to the bed (which was not prepared with all of the stuff I had prepared for my birth kit) or 2) stand up. In my mind, there was no way I was walking to the bed with baby about to come out. 

So I stood. And pushed.  And not sure how many times but I thought I was going to die at some point. I really thought this was going to kill me. For real. Then I think my husband said the head is right there. Lisa told me to stop pushing for a second- don’t remember why. And then once she told me to push again, I did and the baby came out. She quickly grabbed her and handed her up to me. And I could barely hold her. I was thinking and might have said, is it a boy or girl. I believe they answered but it all the excitement I didn’t hear them. 

Lisa helped me walk to the bed where I caught my breathe and energy. I looked at the baby in awe and asked again, boy or girl.

She’s a girl!!!! 

I soaked everything up. Shortly after my mom arrived and found out she missed all the action. 

Next is part three… which has all the postpartum stuff and fun pictures! (here is part 1 if you missed it)

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

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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… here!

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.

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