I think that one thing mothers have in common is that they all love to tell the stories of their babies’ births. Whether the birth was beautiful and sweet or traumatic and scary, the birth of a baby is a huge event, something a mother will never forget.
And a shout out to the dads who are right there to hold their woman’s hand and witness the birth of their baby. It’s unforgettable, right? U N F O R G E T T A B L E. My husband was such a comfort and strength to me as I brought our 10 kids into the world. And watching him cradle our little ones in his strong arms made me more in love with him. 🥰
I have too many birth stories to share today, so I’ll talk about our first 4 in this post.
Birth Story #1
My husband and I knew we wanted kids, and we were ready for them to come right away. That made it hard for us when months went by with no pregnancy. At one point my period was late I got hopeful, but the pregnancy test was negative. That was discouraging. I later realized I’d thrown off my cycle by pushing myself too hard on a hike. Ugh! Even though we had a lot of fun together, it was a long year and a half trying and waiting to get pregnant. I feel for those couples who wait for a baby for longer than we did.
We were so excited when we finally got a positive pregnancy test! I was going to college and substitute teaching, so I had things to keep me busy, but our coming baby was in my mind for the whole 9 months. The last month felt the longest. Since my mom had several babies early, I thought I might too, so we were literally waiting for that baby the whole month of September. We walked and walked and went four-wheeling and whatever we could think of to try to get contractions coming, but that didn’t work.
When it got close to the due date and Baby wasn’t coming, the doctor scheduled an induction. I didn’t feel good about that, though, so I called and cancelled it. When she heard I’d cancelled it she called back and was like, Hey, you can’t just cancel this, we have to get that baby out because over-due babies might have this and that thing go wrong. So we compromised and pushed the induction back five days.
When the day came, Hubby and I went to the hospital at 8am. They gave me stuff to soften my cervix and told us to walk around. We went walking outside and got in trouble for it. We were new to their birthing rules; we didn’t know any better. 🤷♀️
Come late afternoon I was getting some strong contractions, and they got me on the bed and started some pitocin. I hadn’t decided if I wanted an epidural or not, but when the contractions got really uncomfortable I asked for something to take the edge off. Whatever they gave me (I can’t remember now, and I’ve never been good with names of unfamiliar things) knocked me out but didn’t take away the pain. I’d be dead asleep, then writhing in pain, then dead asleep again. I hated that! When I could finally stay awake enough to say something I was like, Get me off this stuff! Anything’s better than this!
So I went for the epidural. They gave me enough to take away the pain but not the pressure so I could feel to push. Soon it was time to push, and after about 15 minutes of pushing, at 11:50pm on the last day of September, we had a brand new baby boy! He let out a big “Wa!” Then he opened his eyes and quietly looked around the room. 💙💙💙 We were in love!
Birth Story #2
We didn’t have to try to get pregnant with our second baby, who would be born about 2 years after the first. My mind wasn’t nearly as overwhelmed with the thought of her birth since I had a toddler to keep me busy during that pregnancy. I was also doing my student teaching and graduating, and Hubby got a promotion which had him commuting and hour and a half. Once I was done with school we moved. And we anticipated her birth with joy.
A few mornings before her due date I lost my mucus plug. That was new! I had a big surge of energy that day. I cleaned the house and went for a run. About 2 am the next morning I woke up to a very sharp contraction! It wasn’t long before they were coming regularly, so Hubby took our toddler to his sister who lived down the street at the time. I wasn’t sure when it would be time to go. The contractions were really strong, but they weren’t 5 minutes apart yet, which is what I was waiting for. Then I went to get a snack, and my water broke! Instead of a snack, we went to the hospital.
That time they started the pitocin and the epidural right away. I was glad for the epidural because the contractions with her felt so sharp, but it definitely slowed down the process and made me more numb than I liked. I asked them to turn it off. The sun came up before I got fully dilated. When it came to push, I only had to push 3 times for us to meet our baby girl! Her eyes were swollen shut, and when she cried her mouth opened wide. So adorable! 🧡🧡🧡
Birth Story #3
Two little ones to take care of was definitely harder than one. The first time I had two crying while Daddy was at work, I felt completely overwhelmed. I just had to learn that one can be ok crying for a minute while the other one gets taken care of. I wrote about this topic in Juggling your Baby and Toddler. Still, when we found out we were expecting again, we were only excited! #3 would be born about 19 months after #2. And with 2 little ones keeping me busy, the third pregnancy seemed to fly by. I know I was very blessed to have such healthy pregnancies!
I was able to be patient all the way up to the last week of that pregnancy – week 41. I just felt so uncomfortable and I just wanted that baby out! I went in for a check up when she was 7 days overdue and they said I was dilated to a 2. I was discouraged and I cried. They sent me for an ultrasound to make sure all was well before they scheduled me for induction. That was the first time I had a 3D ultrasound and it was so fun to see her cute little face! They told me to head to the hospital at 11pm to be induced. My mom came to stay with our littles, who I tucked in bed before we left.
I was excited when we got to the hospital because I was starting to have hard contractions! Then as I changed into my hospital gown my water broke! With what felt like the routine they started the pitocin and the epidural. That time the epidural was stronger than the time before. At one point the monitor lost the baby’s heartbeat for a half a minute, and that was scary. They turned me on my side and we found it again. Whew! Soon I got fully dilated, pushed for a short time and out came baby #3, another sweet girl. 💜💜💜
Birth Story #4
Life was busy with three little kids and were loving our little angel, but things weren’t easy. When #3 was about 9 months old, I felt like all I did was potty-train, nurse the baby, and chase our busy 4-year-old. At some point I realized I had post-partum depression, and I turned to my Hubby for help. I’ll save that story for another time, but what it leads up to is that when I stopped nursing and knew I could get pregnant again, I didn’t want it to happen.
I had never felt good about birth control pills, so that was out of the question, but I was watching my cycle to put off the next baby. Long story short, that didn’t work. I found myself pregnant and mad about it. After grouching about it for several days, I went to the doctor for a check up that included an ultrasound to see how far along I was. When I saw that little baby in there, my heart was touched, and I felt better about things.
That pregnancy had a couple small complications. I had placenta previa early in the pregnancy and the doctor advised that I limit housework and lifting and things. We were blessed that one of my sisters was able to come stay with us for a few weeks to help out. We were even more blessed that the placenta moved to a safer location within a couple months. A little later in that pregnancy they said my fluid level was too high, so they watched that really close. It turned out not to be a problem, and I enjoyed seeing our baby in the extra ultrasounds.
When it got to her due date and she wasn’t coming, I asked to be induced. She was due about a week and a half before Christmas, and I really wanted her birth to be over so both of us could be home by then. We got scheduled to be induced on the 18th of December. We went in about 3:00 in the afternoon and they gave me gel to soften my cervix and told us to walk. Luckily they told us where we could walk so we didn’t get in trouble that time. 😆
We walked and walked and walked and walked. Seriously, I was more tired of walking than I was of the occasional hard contraction that came. And the pain of those contractions mostly came to my legs, which made me want to squat while I walked. My hubby said I was “duck walking” and that I only walked like that when there were people in the hallways. 🤣🤣 Sorry, Honey! Thanks for sticking it out with me!
Early in the morning they determined it was time to start me on pitocin. I was already hungry, and I wouldn’t be able to eat. I hoped it would go quickly… but it didn’t. I think that was the longest night of my life. I dozed off a little in between contractions, but I didn’t really sleep. I don’t remember if Hubby tried to sleep at all…
When it was about noon on the 19th I started having really intense contractions. I asked for an epidural and they said it had taken so long to get me to that point that they didn’t want to slow it down with an epidural. Well, guess what? It was too late. Things got more intense quickly, and soon I was pushing out little #4. The contrast between the intense contractions and the relief when she was born was amazing. That was one of the happiest moments of my life. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that the epidurals from before had affected the way I felt after birth, but when I could feel more after the 4th birth, I loved it. And there was “the glorious cry”, to quote my sister-in-law, and the precious moments of meeting our beautiful baby girl. 💗💗💗
Some might think that your love as a person or a parent has limits, but with each birth our love has multiplied. Each of these individuals are so precious to us. Each baby is a big deal and well worth all the effort we make for them.
Thanks for taking the time to read some of my favorite stories! For more birth stories, read birth stories part 2, or c-section with baby #8.
