Testimonials: The Masons
Below are my two birth stories. I have included the birth story of my first child, which was a hospital birth, for two reasons. First, to compare both experiences with one another. Secondly, dissatisfaction with my hospital birth was what led me to desire a natural birth with a midwife.
Joshua Mark's Birth at the Hospital
During my first pregnancy, I did what I thought everyone else did. I went to an OB-GYN at the hospital and knew nothing about midwives except that they encourage natural childbirth. I did not want to even consider having a natural childbirth because I feared the pain too much. If someone would have suggested natural childbirth or homebirth to me at that time, I would have thought that they were crazy. I knew long before I was pregnant that when the time came, I was definitely getting the epidural, and as quickly as possible!
Since I was planning to get the epidural as soon as I got to the hospital, I didn't bother practicing things like labor positions, and didn't even know about relaxation techniques. When I went into labor and got to the hospital, the doctor checked me and I was dilated to 4. I was sent up to Labor and Delivery. The nurse had me get into a gown an lay on the bed. I was given a catheter, strapped with fetal and contraction monitors, and the doctor broke my water. The anesthesiologist came and administered the epidural, which was not fun.
The labor went by fairly quickly until I got to the pushing stage. I could not feel anything because of the epidural, and you need to feel what your body is telling you to do in order to push the baby out. It took about 3½ hours of pushing, two failed vacuum extraction attempts, and an episiotomy before Joshua was born, and I was very thankful that I did not end up with a c-section, which they would have done had it taken any longer. I eventually got to hold and nurse the baby and we had about an hour with him before they took him away to the nursery.
The postpartum period was the worst part. Healing from the episiotomy was painful and difficult, especially with a new baby to care for, and nurses were constantly in and out of the room, day and night during my stay at the hospital. It was very stressful.
I was not satisfied with the hospital experience that I had, so I planned to look at different options the next time. I was very thankful that I had a healthy baby, but I regretted that he was not born in a safer and gentler way.
John Michael's Birth at Home
When I found out that I was pregnant with John, I started doing some research on out-of-hospital birth. I spent a lot of time online and hearing stories from other women that I knew who had had home or birth center births with a midwife. I watched The Business of Being Born and Pregnant in America, and bought some good books. I was soon convinced that natural birth was the best way for my child to come into the world, and my chances of having a successful natural birth greatly increased by being out of the hospital. After doing a bit of searching, I found Donnellyn online.
Donnellyn did a great job helping my husband and I prepare for labor. I was nervous about the pain, but gradually became more and more confident in my body's ability to get through it. The more I learned about God's design for childbirth, and that even pain has a purpose, the more I trusted Him to help me. I knew that, though it may be difficult, natural childbirth was the only way that I wanted to have this baby, unless I absolutely needed to do it a different way for his sake.
I got into the bathtub and was too focused on the contractions to be comforted by the warm water. My mom had come in about this time. During one of the contractions I started to feel the urge to push. Since I didn't think that it was time to push yet I tried to fight off the urge. I did this during two or three more contractions and had a very difficult time with them. Mark noticed that my moaning went from being a comforting, low moan to being high-pitched and panicked. Eventually I just kept repeating the word “no,” as if saying “no” would somehow help me. My worried husband would lovingly remind me to relax, and I tried, but I couldn't do it easily. Finally, the only thing that I could do to communicate that I had the urge to push was to moan “Puuuuush, puuuuush!”
“Is she saying she needs to push?,” Sue asked. Donnellyn and Camille, who were in the bedroom, probably also thinking it would be a while longer, suddenly became alert and ran into the bathroom. I confirmed that I needed to push by moaning, “ Puuuuush! Pleeeease...pleeeease!”
“If your body is telling you to push, then push!,” said Sue. Words cannot express the relief that I felt at that moment. I began pushing, the pain stopped, and it felt so good! About 25 minutes later, at 4:04 in the morning, John was born. Mark pulled him out of the water and laid him on my chest. He cried for the first time and then we just stared at each other for a while.
This was the most amazing thing that I had ever experienced! Although it was difficult for a short time, labor was not anything like I had thought it would be. I expected it to be much worse than it was. I can't begin to describe the joy that I felt the moment that John was born. It was truly a unique and wonderful moment that only could have been experienced through a natural and pure labor.
For me, having a natural childbirth with a midwife was not just a choice, it was a conviction. The knowledge that it was the safest and gentlest way for my child to come into the world caused me to not think only of myself and my fear of pain, but of my baby and his well being. It gave me courage to do it for him. It was so incredible, and I honestly look forward to doing it again, Lord willing!
