Comments on: Sharing my birth stories

By: Allison Kuznia

Allison Kuznia — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 23:20:33 +0000

Thank you so much for sharing your birth stories! I’ve had four homebirths, and then an induced-miscarriage at a hospital. Thanks for getting the word out about homebirths. Home is a nice place to be for a birth.

By: Tami

Tami — Thu, 07 May 2020 07:36:58 +0000

My pregnancy, even though high-risk, was wonderful.

My birthing experience was horrific.

I wish I had done things similarly to the way you did.

Dr. Sear’s book was my bible.

I breast fed my son until he was 11 1/2 months old.

And nows he’s 21 and 6’7″ tall…lol.

My Sam is named after his great-great-great grandfather, Ulysses S. (Samuel) Grant.

By: Elizabeth Wilson

Elizabeth Wilson — Fri, 17 Apr 2020 05:19:09 +0000

Thank you for sharing. I had all three of my sons at home as well. There are a lot of misconceptions about home birth out there, so I’m glad you are helping shed some light. My boys were all big 9+ pounds each with my last one over 10. Our bodies are amazing and can handle a lot. It was incredible to just let my body tell me to push and stop. My husband helping deliver our babies instead of be on the side. I feel very fortunate to have those experiences. You’re right about a certain strength and empowerment. I hadn’t heard about acupuncture for pregnancy and birthing so thanks for teaching me something new as well.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 13:26:06 +0000

I was reading your post and it got me thinking about childbirth and women’s health issues. My daughter had a her daughter at home with the aid of a midwife and a doula. She found it to be a very rewarding and intimate experience. She has gone on to study the eastern medicine’s approach to women’s health. I thought that you and maybe some of your followers might be interested in checking out her site and information at moonessence.life. She has done video consults with clients both inside and outside of the U.S.

By: unecatastrophe

unecatastrophe — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 17:54:33 +0000

Thanks for sharing these intimate moments and experiences with us!! I always thought to give birth to my kids naturally, but my chance to this was taken away by a serious heart situation of me. So my son was a premie (in hindsight: a great thing for my body!) and had to be delivered by c-section (or that would’ve been my last experience on earth…), under general anesthetic so without conscience or my husband there !! So my tiny baby was in the incubator and I couldn’t move to see him at first and I got a post-natal breakdown on top! It was SO not how I planned it to be…! But my baby son did awesome, the strenghth and will to get home and the “kangoorooing“ and the special care nevertheless made it a very special and intense experience in the end.
When my daughter was born I already experienced a miscarriage but strangely never has a single doubt through pregnancy that it would all work out with her. She only came 3 weeks early and as I had to have a c-section again at least I was awake and could see abd nurture my baby directly afterwards. That was so much more than the first time that I really experienced it very intimate and intense even under these circumstances.
I heard people pitying me for all this trouble, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat as it is the most unique, natural, overwhelming experience and completed me!

By: Julianne Pattershall

Julianne Pattershall — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 20:52:53 +0000

Thank you for your story, your children are beautiful. I have two wonderful boys who are my whole world but getting them was no easy task. I had had a sever uterine infection and was told while dating my husband that we would never be able to have children. I was crushed but we decided to put it in God’s hands and try anyway.
When I was pregnant with my oldest it seemed like one thing after another went wrong. At 12 weeks gestation we lost his twin and I had to take two weeks off of work as they feared I would lose him too. At 7 months pregnant my mom, who was my best friend also, threw me a baby shower; the very next day she passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack. At this point I was put on bed rest and spent the next two months crying and watching Disney movies. I continuously had early labor stopped until my Blondie bear came 3 weeks early after 25 hours of labor and my midwife showing up drunk. He was a big baby but had weak lungs and spent 9 days in NICU. I was iffy on whether we wanted more children but he was always lonely and eventually my husband and I decided to try for another baby. Two miscarriages later and I got pregnant with my special little bit.
Being pregnant with a 2-3 year old is no easy task and again I started having a lot of trouble with trying to stop early labor. By 7 months I was again put on bed rest which turned out to be impossible with my 3 year old climbing the walls. By mid December I was in constant “inactive” labor which just means you have tons of contractions but no dilation. After three weeks of that hell I was checked at my doctor’s office and was 6 cm dilated and told to get to the hospital. I live in MA and a blizzard was just starting that day so it took two hours for my babysitter to get to us and an hour and a half for me to drive two exits on the highway to get to the hospital. When I got there they were about to do a shift change and the midwife who was present wanted to go home and tried to refuse to admit me. After saying that there was no way I was leaving unless she wanted to be held responsible if I delivered on the side of the highway in a blizzard she changed her tune and checked if the next shift would take me. Just a few hours later my itty bitty little guy was born. He was over a month early but perfectly healthy. He has Autism but is the sweetest child ever.
My boys are now 9 and 6, and though I am forever grateful for them, my birth experiences were so awful I ended up getting my tubes tied as I know I can’t do it again.

By: Karen Avgerakis

Karen Avgerakis — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 21:12:37 +0000

I had my daughter after 10 years of infertility treatments and 2 miscarriages. Due to my 37 years of age, I was considered high risk. My body did not provide enough hormones to maintain a pregnancy on it’s own so for the entire pregnancy, I gave myself four injections a day. My amazing husband learned to give me the injections too! He was by my side each and every step of the way. I had my daughter in the hospital and was on a Pitocin drip. I did not want an epidural but wanted to try and have her naturally. After 24 hours and 1 minute of labor my daughter was born healthy and everything I could have dreamed of. We are blessed beyond measure. She is our only child and is 20 years old now. She brings us joy and so much love each day.Thank-you for allowing me to share.

By: Raghda

Raghda — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 13:28:29 +0000

I am not married or a mom but your story make me cry, moms are heroes, and my own mother is a real heroes love all mothers

By: Kim Jacobs

Kim Jacobs — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 10:44:19 +0000

Furstly, thank you for sharing your experiences with childbirth! Every woman, every birth is unique. My first child was born 43 years ago, ironically on the date in between your eldest and youngest (18th March). My second (and yongest) was born in 1980 so he is turning 40 this year.

Things were very different back then. Home births were frowned upon and my two were born is Maternity Hospitals, with midwifes. Both were born minutes before the doctor arrived. I was very young when my first came along, and quite naive about the whole experience so pretty much handed control over to those who, I thought at the time, knew what they were doing. My first birth was actually quite traumatising in that I needed an epesiotomy and the midwife wouldn’t do it, but then had to or I was going to tear. She literally caught my daughter as she was about to shoot off the end of the table! I had such a bad experience trying to establish breastfeeding that I gave up and bottle fed, and when my son was born I didn’t even attempt to do it. That’s something I regret to this day. I wish I had been more empowered, more supported and more knowledgable as women are today.

I was more relaxed when my son was born, and felt like I had more say in the matter. I had no pain medication and a relatively short labour. I felt more in control and it was a much calmer experience. With my first I had a 72 hour labour, with my second it was less than 12 hours from whoa to go.

Regardless of the process, it’s ultimately what you do next with your kids that shapes them into caring humans. I hope yours grow up to be half as thoughtful, kind and loving as mine!
xoxoxo

By: Sabrina Travers

Sabrina Travers — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 10:07:32 +0000

First, thank you for sharing your experiences. Second I have two girls of my own. I had no idea what to expect with my first and was not in tune with my body like I am now. I have a difficult ending to my pregnancy, ending up on bed rest with gestational hypertension. I was induced a week early cause it wasn’t improving
It was a long 24 hours between the pain and the anesthesiologist messed up the epidural and dropped my blood pressure and the babies heart rate. I was very close to a c section which I didn’t need once they took the epidural out, everything resolved. I birthed her naturally pushing for an hour, then the hospital stay was a horrible experience. I didn’t get to bring her home for a week and it triggered PPD/PPA badly. I battled it for a year when I found out I was pregnant with my second daughter. Her pregnancy went great, her delivery completely opposite of my first. I armed myself with a new OB and different hospital who were completely amazing and supportive of whatever my birth plan was. I told them it was to to get my baby out safely, that’s it. She was born within a few hours with only 3 pushes. My body healed quicker, I was more active with her pregnancy. My girls are now 3 and 5. Part of me wants another but my husband had a vasectomy done, we’re done. But I still mourn it a little. Thank you for being so personal and sharing your stories of your kids births. I for one appreciate it and I’m sure many more do.