Women labor in love everyday. It is a beautiful gift from above and the stories shared are absolutely amazing. In this series, mothers all over the world share their stories about their labor experiences and advice for expecting moms.
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This is a guest post by Leah from MooreMadness-MooreLove.
It all started 4 days after my due date. It was 3:30 am and I woke up with some intense period cramps. Well, heck… that didn’t make sense! Uh oh! Labor!!! So, because I had suffered from insomnia throughout the end of my pregnancy, I had no problem leaping out of bed and running a bath.
Just like a lot of other mother-to-be’s, I had done countless hours of research on everything pregnancy, labor and so much more. So, I had read plenty of times that if you think that you’re in labor, you should take a warm bath and if the contractions stop, its a false alarm. So, after about 20 minutes in the tub, I began to feel a little better so I headed back to bed and tried to relax. Nope! They came back just a few minutes later. They definitely weren’t as strong but oh, they were there!
As they got stronger, I took out my phone and began to time the contractions. My plan was to try to stay home as long as I could because I knew that being in the hospital would make me very anxious. So I wanted to relax at home as long as possible. (Quick side note: I didn’t make a birth plan. I didn’t want any pressure when it came to my labor/delivery. I personally, wanted nature to run its course.)
It wasn’t until about 10:30 am until I called my doctor and headed over to the hospital. Because we had previously lived in North Carolina, I made Ian practice the drive to the hospital ever since we found out where I would deliver in California. But, the nerves got the best of us and we got lost!! Not super lost, but still lost, nonetheless.
We arrived in one piece and getting admitted was a breeze. And then it was waiting time… waiting… and pain…. and waiting…. Actually, I’ll be honest, I really didn’t wait that long before I got the epidural. Pain really isn’t my thing. You know how they say that epidurals only work COMPLETELY 97% of the time? Well, I was somewhere in that 3%…. I was instructed to turn on one side and then turn to the other after so many minutes and that would, hopefully, distribute the “happy drugs” as evenly as possible. But…. if I was on my left side, I would have excruciating pain on my right side and visa versa. And if I was on my back…. game over!! The pain was unlike anything I could ever even explain!
Finally 8 o’clock rolled around and it was ready to push! Like I said, my labor wasn’t too eventful other than, you know, the excruciating pain. Anywho… my water still hadn’t broke so the doctor was on her way to break it and when she lifted up the blanket…. well it was too late. In the five minutes it took for her to get there, pop, it broke on its own… finally! Now it was definitely time to push!
Long story short, everyone got into position and a few minutes later I heard my doctor say, “now, no matter what you do, do not push!” Weird.. I thought that was what I was supposed to do! Apparently Jaxon had wrapped the umbilical cord around his neck two times and tied it in a knot! Only my son… I swear… A NICU doctor was paged and thankfully my doctor is amazing and she was able to slip her fingers between the cord and his neck and free him. One more push and he was here! And the tears of joy were running strong!
I didn’t get to hold him right away so that the NICU doctor could give him a quick look (which I was bummed about but i totally understood and was just grateful he was there to make sure Jaxon was ok) After he got a clean bill of health, they handed him over and I thought I was happy right when he flew out (I literally mean “flew” by the way… I didn’t include those parts because they are pretty graphic but he literally FLEW out!!) but right when he was nestled in my arms, I lost my mind. He was the most perfect, healthy (thankfully!!) and beautiful little boy I had ever seen.
“Words cannot express the joy of new life.” (Hermann Hesse)
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5 Questions to Help Moms Labor in Love
- Did you receive an epidural or pain medications? Yes.. but that darn 3%….
- How did you deal with your contractions? Before they got too unbearable, I actually did my makeup in the hospital bed. But once they were getting really bad, I enjoyed talking to my fiancé and the hospital staff. Doctors have always fascinated me so being able to pick some brains, helped distract me.
- What would you have done differently or will do differently next time? Even though I’m pretty sure I’m the “one and done” type, if I ever were to have another baby, I would try to labor at home a little longer.
- Funniest memory: Definitely getting lost on the way to the hospital!
- Tip(s) for new moms: Enjoy it! Enjoy the labor! Enjoy the pushing! It sounds silly but you never know if that’s the last time you’ll ever go through that amazing experience ever again.
My name is Leah and I’m a young single mom from Southern California and I own MooreMadness-MooreLove.com. MMML is a vegan mom blog full of tasty recipes and awesome advice for parents. Also, we have a clothing store on our site too with fashionable women’s T-shirts, tanks and adorable baby onesies.
xoxo Leah
Enjoy this Labor in Love story? Check back next Monday where we meet Carli and hear more about her experience laboring in love.
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Having your first is definitely a wild ride. You’re right to cherish every moment, because it’s definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. There’s nothing so terrible and amazing all at once. Laboring at home for as long as possible is great advice. Movement is also key in reducing labor pains. Walking around, changing positions, bouncing on a birth ball; all of those really helped me with the birth of my youngest son. Congratulations!!!!