Jack's Birth Story

As a ridiculously stubborn perfectionist I felt like the only right way to give birth to my son was naturally at home surrounded by loving doulas and family members. However, my insurance covered our hospital birth so well that we decided to try a natural birth at our local hospital. I prepared myself the best I could for the momentous arrival of our son by taking Bradley method classes and by praying that all would go smoothly when the time finally came. And it did come, the night I decided to eat a. In-N-Out burger and go to bed at midnight. I awoke 4 hours later on October 29, 2008 (one of 2 due dates given to us by our dr) with contractions. I tried to sleep through them but I was too excited so my husband and I decided to make he most of my contractions by going for a walk, sitting on a birthing ball while rocking back and forth (difficult when you're 9 months pregnant) and eating to keep up my energy. I knew that I needed a change of scenery to keep my sanity so we walked at the mall, around the park, anywhere we could just get out into new surroundings. At 5 pm I finally got a stop watch and realized that my contractions were close enough that I should head to the hospital. We called our family and my close friend who was acting as my doula and started off. Unfortunately, the hospital wasn't ready for us; all the beds were full and the medical staff actually suggested that we leave and go to another hospital! We decided to wait it out though and got a bed after walking the corridor for about an hour. I was dilated 4 cm (which I found disappointing after being in labor for 14 hours) and was put onto an IV drip (which I made a big fuss about). Labor continued slow and steady for another 6 hours with my walking around my room, jumping in the shower and rocking back and forth on my hands and knees to help the contractions along. At 12:03 am on October 31 ( our other due date) Jack was born. It took 20 hours of natural labor to bring him into the world and it was the most amazin experience of my life. I felt every aspect of pregnancy, from 20 weeks of intense morning sickness to 20 hours of contractions and through it I learned the amazing power of the human body and the love of a mama for her baby. We are gearing up to celebrate Jack's second birthday and are pregnant with our second blessing. I can't wait to try another natural birth so I can hold my baby in my arms!