My Natural Birth Story

Hello,

My name is Vanessa and I’m 28 years old and I decided to go all natural with the birth of my second son Jason. Having no maternity coverage my husband and I felt like our life came crashing down on us. We didn’t know what to do or how were going to go about having this baby. We didn’t qualify for any assistance through the government so we started to look into Home Births. This by no means was our first choice, but as we began to learn about the benefits of having a baby naturally, it seemed to be the right choice.

What made our final decision was watching a movie that was produced by Ricky Lake called “The Business of Being Born”. After watching that movie and others I was totally on board for having my birth at home. Especially after finding out how much it would cost if we wanted to have it at a hospital versus a home birth. My husband found Seven Cities Midwifery Care online and after meeting the midwives and the students, I felt that this was the place for me.

The birth of my first son Justin Jr. was at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center and I had an epidural and the process was a little overwhelming. I stayed at home for the first stage of labor and when I arrived at the hospital I was 4cm dilated and was asked if I wanted an epidural right away. Being a first time mom I said yes because at the time I believed in the Epidural. I didn’t want to suffer and most of all I was afraid of the process. All said and done I had my son in 12 hours total from the time I labored at home until I arrived at the hospital. My son Justin did make his first bowel movement while I labored with him and I had a small vaginal tear. Other than that it was an okay delivery.

Now onto my son Jason’s birth. Due to me having an abnormal menstrual cycles and me not really paying any attention to my start or end date, I was unsure about when the birth of my son was going to arrive. I knew I ended my cycle around the 28th of August so with the help of my midwives they estimated that he should arrive around the 1st of June. But when I went to see my OGBYN for my yearly physical she said that I was a lot further than I think, so that had me in total shock. She guessed two weeks earlier so I was excited about May the 15th.

As the months flew by all of my visits at Seven Cities went well. No complications at all and I was very happy. But when May 15th came and went I was totally bummed out. My family and friends were stressing me out asking me all the time when was he coming, therefore that had me all upset and questioning my own body. With the encouragement of Terri and Jenny I was reassured that everything was fine and I was actually on track and wasn’t late. So June 1st became my due date as they originally planned.  May 29th was my last appointment and I was assured that I should have this baby at any time, and sure enough I began to labor at 10am on May 30th and I knew it was the real thing because I had brownish bloody show and was losing my mucus plug.

I phoned Jenny and told her the good news and that she should be prepared for a birth sometime that day. I had a contraction with her on the phone and she timed me and said that it sounded like it was a sure thing as well and to get a lot of rest before the hard part kicked in.

I knew what labor felt like up until 4 cm with my first son and was unsure what active labor past 4 cm felt like. So for the next few hours at home my husband and I labored together. At around 5pm Jenny called me again and asked how things were going. I had no idea what to tell her because I knew labor was painful but I actually was managing the pain very well. I was in the tub when she called but while I was in the tub and on the phone with Jenny I knew that things was picking up and my contractions were getting stronger and I had the urge to bear down a few times but failed to tell her that because I thought I still had hours to go. But thankfully she could tell by the sound of my voice that I was getting close and she made a very wise decision to come right away.

As soon as she arrived she spoke with us and I asked her if she could check me because it felt like I had to use the bathroom. “Again another sign that the baby was coming” I was in total denial and so was my husband. As soon as she checked me she realized that I was 10 cm, fully dilated and my water was about to break because it was bulging out. No sooner as she checked me and I stood up to prep the bed my water broke all over the floor and bed. Panic began so set in a little because I still thought I had time and Jenny was saying “No, you’re ready to go”. I didn’t plan out how I was going to give birth because I was just going to let my body tell me where to go and what to do. So I stayed down at the foot of my bed and my husband holding my hands as the pushing began.

I did not have to hold my breath and count to 10 because my body pushed for me. All I did was go along with the flow. Within a matter of about 3 or four pushes the baby was out!! Talk about super-fast, this wasn’t what I was expecting at all. Watching all those home birth video’s had me thinking that I was going to be moaning or screaming while I was pushing, but not at all. I was in total control and very proud of me for doing something that is so Taboo in our society.

I just wanted to share my story with you ladies and to encourage others that they can do it too. I’ve learned a lot about myself though this journey and I’m very proud of the decision that we made to have our baby at home. I am now such an advocate of natural birth, whether it is at home or a hospital.

Thank You Seven Cities Midwifery Care for all your love and support during our journey. You guys are family now. We Love You!!!

Olszen Family.