Gabriel- Nebraska Home Birth in a Rural Area with a Non-Nurse Midwife
{This story was submitted by Gabriel's mom, Kendra.}
My story starts out as me being a young single nineteen-year-old who just graduated high school in the summer of 2007 when I found out I was pregnant. I was completely terrified and didn't know what I was going to do after that. But thanks to my loving parents- they let me move back home and helped support me and my soon to-be-son- I had a great sense of relief. I had decided to raise him alone just because it was a bad situation with his biological father who was not supportive at all.
I had always known I wanted to have my babies at home with a midwife. My mother had had my little sister at a birthing center and my little brother at home with a midwife. I was 7.5 months along before I got in contact with a friend who gave me the number of the wonderful midwife who helped me bring my little son into the world.
She came to my home a couple times before he was born just to check and make sure baby and I were right on schedule. I worked full-time until three days before he was born, but had started to feel sick the last couple days (he was three days overdue so that might of had something to do with it).
So that beautiful Saturday morning I woke up to contractions at about 4:00 and called my midwife at 6:00. It took four hours for her to arrive, which was the only thing that made me a little nervous. The contractions weren't that bad before she got there, so I just rested and ate some food and waited for her to come. For the next 6 hours I went from the tub, the edge of the bed, or walking around and slowly made great progress toward that end goal.
Finally, at about 6 that night, I finally felt like I needed to push, but I had a cervical lip which my midwife gently helped me over come. My contractions toward the end slowed down to about five or six minutes apart while I got past the cervical lip, which took about an hour. Once the lip was gone, it was the most glorious thing when I heard I could push. I pushed for 30 minutes on a small birthing stool and sometime during that time my water broke.
At 7:35 that night I gave birth to the most beautiful little person I’d ever seen, when our eyes met I knew I was starting a wonderful new life as the mother of this precious child. I did have some minor tearing and bleeding which my midwife knew how to take care of with several natural remedies.
I had been saving my money for a long time and thankfully had enough to completely pay for everything myself. It was absolutely amazing to be able to stay home and not have to travel or go anywhere during those first few weeks. And the sense of being in your own home safe and sound around people that love you, with a midwife that knew exactly what she was doing was awesome. I just feel so blessed to be able to say I wouldn't change a single thing about my son's birth; it was perfect in every way. Only that next time I will have a loving husband to share it with.
Most people think I’m completely crazy when I tell them I was a young nineteen-year-old who gave birth at home in her parents’ bedroom. But I knew my son and I were in very capable hands and that my midwife had everything under control. I just hope my story inspires other soon to be mothers to know that everyone has the strength, willpower and confidence to be able to deliver their babies the natural, God-given way. It’s the most beautiful process in the world and every mother should have a wonderful experience.
To learn more about story submission, or to read more birth stories please click here.
My story starts out as me being a young single nineteen-year-old who just graduated high school in the summer of 2007 when I found out I was pregnant. I was completely terrified and didn't know what I was going to do after that. But thanks to my loving parents- they let me move back home and helped support me and my soon to-be-son- I had a great sense of relief. I had decided to raise him alone just because it was a bad situation with his biological father who was not supportive at all.
I had always known I wanted to have my babies at home with a midwife. My mother had had my little sister at a birthing center and my little brother at home with a midwife. I was 7.5 months along before I got in contact with a friend who gave me the number of the wonderful midwife who helped me bring my little son into the world.
She came to my home a couple times before he was born just to check and make sure baby and I were right on schedule. I worked full-time until three days before he was born, but had started to feel sick the last couple days (he was three days overdue so that might of had something to do with it).
So that beautiful Saturday morning I woke up to contractions at about 4:00 and called my midwife at 6:00. It took four hours for her to arrive, which was the only thing that made me a little nervous. The contractions weren't that bad before she got there, so I just rested and ate some food and waited for her to come. For the next 6 hours I went from the tub, the edge of the bed, or walking around and slowly made great progress toward that end goal.
Finally, at about 6 that night, I finally felt like I needed to push, but I had a cervical lip which my midwife gently helped me over come. My contractions toward the end slowed down to about five or six minutes apart while I got past the cervical lip, which took about an hour. Once the lip was gone, it was the most glorious thing when I heard I could push. I pushed for 30 minutes on a small birthing stool and sometime during that time my water broke.
At 7:35 that night I gave birth to the most beautiful little person I’d ever seen, when our eyes met I knew I was starting a wonderful new life as the mother of this precious child. I did have some minor tearing and bleeding which my midwife knew how to take care of with several natural remedies.
I had been saving my money for a long time and thankfully had enough to completely pay for everything myself. It was absolutely amazing to be able to stay home and not have to travel or go anywhere during those first few weeks. And the sense of being in your own home safe and sound around people that love you, with a midwife that knew exactly what she was doing was awesome. I just feel so blessed to be able to say I wouldn't change a single thing about my son's birth; it was perfect in every way. Only that next time I will have a loving husband to share it with.
Most people think I’m completely crazy when I tell them I was a young nineteen-year-old who gave birth at home in her parents’ bedroom. But I knew my son and I were in very capable hands and that my midwife had everything under control. I just hope my story inspires other soon to be mothers to know that everyone has the strength, willpower and confidence to be able to deliver their babies the natural, God-given way. It’s the most beautiful process in the world and every mother should have a wonderful experience.
To learn more about story submission, or to read more birth stories please click here.
