The Birth Of My First Child, Tyler
The Birth of My First Child: When I was pregnant with my son, Tyler, I was preparing to be a single mom. I went to all the appointments and faced all the challenges of being single and pregnant. Thankfully, I received a lot of support from my family and friends. I felt great. No "bad" pregnancy sickness at all. At the time, I was working 40 hours a week retail. Always on my feet. I came home from work, and relaxed for a little while. As soon as I went to bed, my water broke. It was off to the hospital with mom at almost 11:00 at night. Needless to say, I was bearly 2 centimeters dilated. By 6:00 am, I was only 3-4 cent. Things where moving slow. Thats when the Pitocin started. What an exciting day. Nothing was on TV. I was so bored.. The pain was bad and I didn't really know what I could do. My insurance did not cover and epidural. I didn't want drugs because I don't like the feeling, but I got the drugs anyhow. Anything was worth trying. Things did not progress much and by 7:00 I was only 4 centimeters dilated and the doctor stated they would most likely perform a c-section. I was terrified. I finally received my epidural because it was "Medically Necessary"and things began to speed up. It took one hour to get the epidural and one more for me to get to 10 cent. I was finally ready to push and feeling great. I was ready to push a few times and meet my son. An hour and a half of pushing later, my son was born. 6 lbs 4 ozs. They let me hold him for a few minutes and took him up to Newborn Intensive Care Unit. I asked why and they stated I had been tested positive months earlier for Strep B and they had to give him antibiotics just in case. I didn't get to see him again till the next morning. It was a fight to get someone to take me upstairs to see him. That afternoon they already started to check me out. My son had to stay for 4 days just to make sure, but he was fine. I came home and roughed being a single mom. I faced depression and confussion. He is now the little man in my life. I would never have changed having him, but I learned a lot from his birth.

The Birth Of My Second Child, Gabrielle
The Birth of My Second Child: The birth of my daughter was a complete diferent experience. When my son was 2, I met my husband. He was the loving man who came into our lives and became the loving father to Tyler. Just when things seemed perfect, along came Gabrielle and made everything complete.My second and his first born. Pregnancy was wonderful with her, but I sure knew I was pregnant. All the signs and symptoms. We shared the entire pregnancy as a family.This time we decided to get a Doula through the hospital. She would show up when I was in labor and help us out. We really didn't know what to expect. As with my first child, I chose to work up until the end. I was getting a little tired of being pregnant when my due date came and went. I had been 25% effaced then 30% then back to 25%(How's that possible??) and only a finger tip dilated for over a month. I came home for lunch one day, around 4:00pm, and my water broke. I ran to the toliet with the phone to call the doctor and work while my husband took a shower. It seemed like forever. We took our time and drove to the hospital down the street. I figured on a long labor like the one with my son. When the nurses first checked me I was already 3 centimeters. I couldn't believe it.I didn't even have any pain. I kept telling my self it was nothing and I just ignored the pain. They called the doula and she was wonderful. She rubbed my feet, back, and spoke very calmly with me. She made sure I knew what was going on and the nurses knew what I wanted. It was wonderful. I don't think I stopped smiling for the first 4 hours. I really didn't feel pain until around 8:00pm. The nurses offered me pain medications which I declined. I wanted to be aware for my labor. The doctor came in to check me and I was already 6 centimeters. Wow!This was to easy. My doula was wonderful. She supported me in everyway possible. It was a joy having her working with my husband and helping him cope as well as myself. The contractions finally got to much for me and I chose to have an epidural and waited a while for the doctor. When he finally arrived I sat up so he could get everything in place. I could have had that baby right then, but the nurse told me just to sit still and said it was normal pressure and I was nowhere near the pushing part. When the doctor finished I still felt a lot of pressure. They said I shouldn't have and gave me more in the epidural. But it really didn't help much. We began to breath and when the nurse checked I was 10 centimeters and about to give birth. The doctor came in and kept telling me not to push it was too fast. Well, 3 pushes later, my daughter Gabrielle was born. My big girl at 8 lbs 6 oz. Wow. This time I made sure I arranged to have my daughter room-in with me. Things where wonderful and such a different experience. Our family was so thankful to have our doula with us at that special moment. She touched my life in such a way and I finally realized what I wanted to do. I wanted her job. To share in the miracle of life with families and to help them succeed and have the childbirth experience they deserved.




The Birth Of My Third Child, Joelle


I was home all night with contractions that came and went irregular. They really hurt in my lower back so I spent the whole night in the shower...or waiting for hot water...and the rest of the time I had to try and sleep on my hands and knees. Well, around 5:30 my contractions began to come one on top of another and I decided to
go ahead and go to the hospital. As soon as we got to the hospital my contractions stopped hurting. I was 5-6 and 90 % when I arrived at 6:45. Well, the nurses went ahead and gave me my antibiotics for my
heart and some saline...and then they left a hep lock. My doula came in at 8:00 and we began to walk around the hospital laughing and joking. Im not kidding every nurse was laughing at me and in shock
that I wasnt feeling a thing. My midwife called and had the nurses break my water at almost around 10:00 and I was 7 cm. I was in shock since I really wasnt in any pain. As soon as they broke my water I decided to go ahead and relax a little in bed since I had been up all night. My doula, my husband and myself all tried different pressure points to start some regular contractions. It was funny how when you really are in labor they do work quite well. I mean ...right away. So my midwife came in and gave me lots of juice to drink and told me if I wanted to go to the tub I could. So finally we got a room and I sat in a warm jacuzzi for an hour. My doula and hubby held the shower head over my back and stomach and we all just relaxed. It was so nice. I could never imagine I would be someone who would tell you I
had almost no pain through labor...but I was practically pain free the entire time. The water worked wonders. Well, when my back started
hurting again I turned onto my knees and started some faster breating. My midwife asked if I had the urge to push . All I remember was laughing at her and telling her ...I dont know what youre talking about with this urge to push. I never had it. So she
told me if I wanted I could try once...well...that was it. Right away I understood what she meant. Yes...I finally felt that ring of fire everyone always talks about. And her head was crowning right away. My husband and midwife had a time getting me out of the tub before I would push again in the doorway. So I finally understood what they
meant. Well, my husband carried me over to the bed...which I dont know how he did it...and her head was just about out. My midwife helped me ease her out slowly and my husband delivered her.
Wow...could you imagine...he was so proud. No tears...no stiches...NO DRUGS...yeahhh....It was the best experience of my life. Right away I was fine. I could never imagine I could have this easy of a birth. I think it was all due to the tub. Well, everyone is good now and I went home the next day. Joelle  was 8 lbs 2 oz and 20 inches born at 11:58 am.