I am currently collecting birth stories from Ascension Mamas! Please contact me if you would like to put your birth story on this page to help others who may be in the same boat.
Milo's Birth Story
My plan with Milo was to have a natural childbirth at a birth center called the Sanctuary that unfortunately no longer exists. I saw four rotating midwives my whole pregnancy, and did not see a doctor once. My plan was to go into labor naturally, and rely 100% on my intuition and believing in my body's ability to just do it somehow. My mother had given birth to three of us in a different natural birth center. She had no drugs, no hospital, only midwives and she was quite revolutionary at that time. My mother had no problems or complications, and I knew I would be able to do it too.
The day before my due date, I did everything to bring on labor. I walked so far that I impressed myself and ate pineapple and spicy food for dinner. I was woken up with contractions around 2am on what the midwife had targeted as my due date the 28th of September. I tried to go back to sleep, but the consistent (though painless) contractions were keeping me from sleeping very well. I got up and went about my day. Did laundry and walked the dog, then walked along the marina with my husband to a cafe where I was meeting my family for lunch. We had a nice lunch. I didn't mention that I was having contractions because I felt like it could be false labor, and I didn't want to jinx it. We got back home after lunch, and I felt exhausted after having not slept well the night before because of the contractions. I napped for 2-3 hours on Jesse's side of the bed. I woke up around 5pm. I stood up out of bed and heard a pop and then a gush of water!
My water had broken, and I was so excited I couldn't believe it! I was also very happy that it didn't happen on Jesse's side of the bed, because I really think that would have bothered him. I called down to Jesse from over the railing, "My water broke!" He couldn't believe it either. At this point, contractions started getting painful. I called the midwife to tell her labor was progressing, and she told me that there was another person, Rachel, in labor at the birth center at the moment. She told me that it may be possible that I would have to give birth at home. I was not planning for this prospect, but also fine with it. Luckily, Rachel had her baby girl and we were able to get into the birth suite at some point before midnight. The drive was excruciating but not that far, and there was no traffic at that time of night.
We got there, and I was in agony. Monica could feel that the baby was not fully turned, and gave me positions to lie in in order to get him into the right position. I was out of my mind with pain. They filled up the tub, and I went back and forth between the tub and the shower in an altered state of mind. The only thing that made me feel better was the water and music, a Pandora station that Jesse had made me. A lot of Beatles and Paul Simon (not a big surprise) took me out of my body and I just focused on the music. It seemed like forever, that the baby would never be born, that I would just be in pain forever. I didn't want anybody to touch me or say anything to me or make any suggestions. It escalated until with every contraction, I thought, "I can't do this, I need the drugs...but I could never make it to the hospital...somehow I have to do this." I can't lie, it was intense. It was real. I screamed like an animal. I fully went into animal mode.
Finally the sun was rising. I felt the urge to push. At this point, I had no concept of time. I think it may have been over an hour of pushing. I got out of the tub and on to the floor. They put an oxygen mask on me, told me to breathe deeply, and the baby needed oxygen. They listened to his heart and said, "Your baby is giving us signs that he needs to be born now." I pushed with all my might, and baby Milo was born perfectly healthy, but with a cone head and blue eyes after 29 hours of labor, at 7:01 am on the 29th of September. The song "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" was playing when he came out (I have loved that song since high school) and it was in the fourth and last part of the song that he was born.,..the part of the song which is so distinctly joyful.
The day before my due date, I did everything to bring on labor. I walked so far that I impressed myself and ate pineapple and spicy food for dinner. I was woken up with contractions around 2am on what the midwife had targeted as my due date the 28th of September. I tried to go back to sleep, but the consistent (though painless) contractions were keeping me from sleeping very well. I got up and went about my day. Did laundry and walked the dog, then walked along the marina with my husband to a cafe where I was meeting my family for lunch. We had a nice lunch. I didn't mention that I was having contractions because I felt like it could be false labor, and I didn't want to jinx it. We got back home after lunch, and I felt exhausted after having not slept well the night before because of the contractions. I napped for 2-3 hours on Jesse's side of the bed. I woke up around 5pm. I stood up out of bed and heard a pop and then a gush of water!
My water had broken, and I was so excited I couldn't believe it! I was also very happy that it didn't happen on Jesse's side of the bed, because I really think that would have bothered him. I called down to Jesse from over the railing, "My water broke!" He couldn't believe it either. At this point, contractions started getting painful. I called the midwife to tell her labor was progressing, and she told me that there was another person, Rachel, in labor at the birth center at the moment. She told me that it may be possible that I would have to give birth at home. I was not planning for this prospect, but also fine with it. Luckily, Rachel had her baby girl and we were able to get into the birth suite at some point before midnight. The drive was excruciating but not that far, and there was no traffic at that time of night.
We got there, and I was in agony. Monica could feel that the baby was not fully turned, and gave me positions to lie in in order to get him into the right position. I was out of my mind with pain. They filled up the tub, and I went back and forth between the tub and the shower in an altered state of mind. The only thing that made me feel better was the water and music, a Pandora station that Jesse had made me. A lot of Beatles and Paul Simon (not a big surprise) took me out of my body and I just focused on the music. It seemed like forever, that the baby would never be born, that I would just be in pain forever. I didn't want anybody to touch me or say anything to me or make any suggestions. It escalated until with every contraction, I thought, "I can't do this, I need the drugs...but I could never make it to the hospital...somehow I have to do this." I can't lie, it was intense. It was real. I screamed like an animal. I fully went into animal mode.
Finally the sun was rising. I felt the urge to push. At this point, I had no concept of time. I think it may have been over an hour of pushing. I got out of the tub and on to the floor. They put an oxygen mask on me, told me to breathe deeply, and the baby needed oxygen. They listened to his heart and said, "Your baby is giving us signs that he needs to be born now." I pushed with all my might, and baby Milo was born perfectly healthy, but with a cone head and blue eyes after 29 hours of labor, at 7:01 am on the 29th of September. The song "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" was playing when he came out (I have loved that song since high school) and it was in the fourth and last part of the song that he was born.,..the part of the song which is so distinctly joyful.
Maisy's Birth Story
My due date was June 6, but I had a really strong intuition that I would give birth to Maisy on June 2nd or 4th. I am very used to following and trusting my intuition. Well how it ended up unfolding reminded me that intuition can be wrong when the subject is something in which you have a strong emotional attachment to outcome. June 2nd came and went and there was no action. On June 3rd, I woke up with really strong Braxton Hicks contractions that seemed to be escalating. I went to my 39 week midwife appointment and expected that the baby would come over the weekend. On the way home from my appointment, I rushed getting home and ended up feeling anxiety in the form of adrenaline pumping and feeling panicked. My contractions seemed to slow down after this. The next morning I was still having consistent Braxton Hicks, so I figured labor was still coming on. We sent Milo to Nana's house, and Jesse and I started walking. We walked around for the whole weekend at increasingly steep inclines. But labor had stalled out.
From then on, I thought it would start up again any minute. Jesse and I discussed in depth whether there were any emotional hinderances. We found some and talked through them. My due date came and went. Another week passed. My iron resolve to trust divine timing began breaking down. I got scared that baby wouldn't come before 42 weeks, which is the cut off point for midwife led home births. I wanted to take castor oil. I called my midwife in a panic on June 12. We decided that I would take castor oil after my membrane sweep at my 41 week appointment on Tuesday.
However, on Monday, Maisy had a different plan. I was exactly 41 weeks pregnant. I noticed contractions starting at 6:30 am on Monday morning. I didn't want to be the "girl who cried labor", so I waited until they were getting pretty intense and only 4-5 minutes apart by 11 am. Nana came over and got Milo again, and Jesse set everything up including the birth tub. The midwives, Monica and Molly, and their student came and set up camp at the dining room table. My friend Sara came over and held down the fort with Jesse. Jesse checked on me periodically, but I was already in the animal zone and nobody could help me with contractions. I wanted to be alone. I lost all sense of time. Intense contractions hit me like huge waves over and over.
I labored alone in the tub for a while, and finally Monica came in to check me. I was 8-9 cm dilated. As soon as I stood up after being checked, my water exploded. After that, things progressed quickly. I walked through a couple more contractions and then got back into the tub. Shortly after this, I had the urge to push. This was at 4:20pm. When I first started pushing, everything was good with baby. But after a few contractions, I felt an extreme feeling of fear. Simultaneously, the baby's heart rate was decreasing during contractions. The midwives said that the baby needed to be born now, and panic crossed their faces too. They got me out of the tub and onto the bed, they both told me emphatically to push as hard as I can. I pushed with all my might, but baby was not coming down the birth canal and her heart rate was decreasing. They asked if they could cut me (give me an episiotomy), I agreed. Even though I did not have any pain medicine, I couldn't even feel the cut because all my pain sensors were already fully engaged. They gave me oxygen, and told me to push with all my might. Then, miraculously, Maisy came out with a squishing sound, bright pink and crying immediately. I ended up with a fourth degree tear and episiotomy, but this is rare in midwife led home births. The first thing I remember the midwife, Molly, saying to me was "She's a stargazer", because she had come out facing sunny side up. How true that is, I thought. Babies are supposed to be born face down, and the sunny side up position made the birth much more difficult, but of course my little one had to be a "stargazer". Maisy made her appearance after 10 hours of labor at 4:37 pm on June 13. The song "Land Down Under" by Men at Work was playing, which is synchronistic too, as that song was #1 on the charts on the day that I was born in January of 1983.
From then on, I thought it would start up again any minute. Jesse and I discussed in depth whether there were any emotional hinderances. We found some and talked through them. My due date came and went. Another week passed. My iron resolve to trust divine timing began breaking down. I got scared that baby wouldn't come before 42 weeks, which is the cut off point for midwife led home births. I wanted to take castor oil. I called my midwife in a panic on June 12. We decided that I would take castor oil after my membrane sweep at my 41 week appointment on Tuesday.
However, on Monday, Maisy had a different plan. I was exactly 41 weeks pregnant. I noticed contractions starting at 6:30 am on Monday morning. I didn't want to be the "girl who cried labor", so I waited until they were getting pretty intense and only 4-5 minutes apart by 11 am. Nana came over and got Milo again, and Jesse set everything up including the birth tub. The midwives, Monica and Molly, and their student came and set up camp at the dining room table. My friend Sara came over and held down the fort with Jesse. Jesse checked on me periodically, but I was already in the animal zone and nobody could help me with contractions. I wanted to be alone. I lost all sense of time. Intense contractions hit me like huge waves over and over.
I labored alone in the tub for a while, and finally Monica came in to check me. I was 8-9 cm dilated. As soon as I stood up after being checked, my water exploded. After that, things progressed quickly. I walked through a couple more contractions and then got back into the tub. Shortly after this, I had the urge to push. This was at 4:20pm. When I first started pushing, everything was good with baby. But after a few contractions, I felt an extreme feeling of fear. Simultaneously, the baby's heart rate was decreasing during contractions. The midwives said that the baby needed to be born now, and panic crossed their faces too. They got me out of the tub and onto the bed, they both told me emphatically to push as hard as I can. I pushed with all my might, but baby was not coming down the birth canal and her heart rate was decreasing. They asked if they could cut me (give me an episiotomy), I agreed. Even though I did not have any pain medicine, I couldn't even feel the cut because all my pain sensors were already fully engaged. They gave me oxygen, and told me to push with all my might. Then, miraculously, Maisy came out with a squishing sound, bright pink and crying immediately. I ended up with a fourth degree tear and episiotomy, but this is rare in midwife led home births. The first thing I remember the midwife, Molly, saying to me was "She's a stargazer", because she had come out facing sunny side up. How true that is, I thought. Babies are supposed to be born face down, and the sunny side up position made the birth much more difficult, but of course my little one had to be a "stargazer". Maisy made her appearance after 10 hours of labor at 4:37 pm on June 13. The song "Land Down Under" by Men at Work was playing, which is synchronistic too, as that song was #1 on the charts on the day that I was born in January of 1983.