Inspiration

Birth Stories

Joseph Anthony

Joseph Anthony was born on April 30, 2007 at 12:40am. He weighed 8lbs / 9 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. Here is his birth story:

This was my second child and I decided to have Joseph at home with a midwife. On 4-29-07 I woke up with mild cramping and what I thought to be strong Braxton Hicks contractions. I shrugged it off and continued with my day. I played with my 2 year old son out in the yard most of the day and just relaxed. I started feeling cramping in my lower back around 2 pm and rocked out some of the contractions in the back yard by moving my hips in circles and figure 8's. (This was taught to me in Prenatal Yoga and it sure felt good to do!). I was having to breathe through them around 7 pm because they started picking up in intensity while I watched my husband give our son a bath. They weren't painful, just lots of pressure and cramping. At 8 pm we put our son to bed. I then decided to take a shower and drink a 1/2 glass of wine to see if the contractions would go away. I kept thinking this was false labor because I felt so good still. The contractions didn't go away. I decided to call my doula and midwife when a contraction brought me to my knees around 9 pm. My doula was there by 10 pm, and my midwife arrived shortly after 11 pm.

When my midwife got there she checked my and I was 7cm! I couldn't believe it! I continued rocking out contractions by standing up and moving my hips in circles. Occasionally I would go down to my knees and rock with my arms and head draped over the couch cushions. At 11:30 pm the tub was filled and I got in. The warm water over my belly felt sooooooo good! I splashed water over my belly during contractions. The room was dark except for a few candles. It was so relaxing and magical. The contractions were very intense but surprisingly manageable in the water. Soon I felt the urge to push. My midwife told me I pushed for 20 minutes. At 12:40 am Joseph entered the world into the warm water. I picked him up out of the water and held his warm soft body close to me. He was so alert and not crying. He just looked around and was so calm. I couldn't have asked for a better birth. This was so perfect and I had such an awesome birthing team - my husband, doula, and midwife there for me, helping me. And my two year old son slept through the whole birth!

Tuesday 4:30 class

read more birth stories >>