Archives of Birth Stories

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Baby on Cue
-Patricia, Oklahoma

I recently told my mother that I might be pregnant. She congratulated me and then shared one of her peculiar birth stories with me.

When she went into labor with my younger sister, she stood at the front desk of the E.R. and quietly told the nurse that she was in labor and needed to see a doctor. She had given birth to three children already and knew what it felt like. The nurse looked at her, with hands on hips, and told her to go home because she wasn't in labor.

She went home and 30 minutes later she had to go back in. The same nurse was waiting for her at the front desk. She was convinced that my mother was not in labor. Apparently she wasn't acting at all like a woman having contractions. It just could not be. This time my mother refused to leave until she was examined.

The nurse checked her and got quite a surprise. She was dilated to 7cm. Slightly embarrassed for being so wrong, the nurse called for a doctor and they moved her into a delivery room.

Then there was a knock on the door. It was a crew of college students doing experimental videotaping. They asked if they could videotape the delivery. The nurse asked my mother if it was okay with her. About to push and beyond the point of caring, my mother said yes, as long as they were quiet. As if on cue, as soon as the tape began to roll my sister was born with just a few pushes.

My mother never found out the names of the students or what college they belonged to. She was too busy hugging and kissing her new baby to notice them leave. So, somewhere in some college my sister's birth is documented on videotape.

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Husband, MIA
-Eva, Tennessee

About a week and-a-half before my son was due, we were invited to a Mexican Fiesta at a neighbor's house on a Sunday evening. All day I'd been feeling a little iffy, but I made nachos and then rested on the sofa. I told my hubby, Joe, that I was having some contractions and wasn't sure we would make it to the party. I went to the bathroom and when I came out, he was gone. I figured he was putting the car seat in the car like I'd been nagging him to do, or at least something baby-related. I went back to the couch and practiced my Lamaze breathing during the contractions.

About an hour later (Joe still MIA), I decided to call the doctor's office. They said it sounded as if I was having real contractions, so I should wait an hour and if I was still feeling the same, I should come in. I headed back to the couch. Then I called the neighbors and told them we would not be coming to the party, but I would send Joe over with our dish—if I could find him! Joe was still MIA. Didn't he care that I could possibly be in labor here?!

I called for him for a few minutes more and then began my search. With each room I entered, I had to pause and do my breathing while having a contraction. He was nowhere in the house. I finally found him outside, dirty and sweaty, weeding the garden. Aren't women supposed to do the nesting before the birth? I told him to get cleaned up because we were probably going to the hospital sometime soon.

I started to feel worse. My pain was now pretty constant, not coming in waves that I could time. I called my doula and doctor. I was told to come in to be checked.

On the drive to the hospital I started feeling a lot worse and still had pretty constant pain. I threatened Joe with his life if he hit another pothole. He missed the next big one, but then pulled into the wrong parking garage, which meant four extra speed bumps. UGH! I let him live, but only because I needed him to drive me to the actual garage.

At 6pm I was finally hooked up to all the proper monitors. I was having contractions every two minutes and they were lasting about 1.5 minutes, which explains why I couldn't tell when they started and stopped. They pretty much just blended. I was only 2 cm dilated, though, so it looked like a long night ahead.

My doula got there soon after we did and we were given a room. Contractions continued and gradually intensified until my water broke. Then they suddenly hurt quite a bit and I was only at 6 cm. Joe decided he needed a Coke and headed off to the soda machine down the hall. Over an hour later (which means over 30 contractions with no husband in sight!), I asked my doula if she knew where my husband was. This was getting freaking ridiculous!

My natural labor ideas went out the window and I called for the epidural. I thought I heard the anesthesiologist coming down the hall, but it was Joe, who casually waltzed in. I placed a death grip on his arm and told him there was no way he was getting away again. It took FOREVER for the anesthesiologist to get there. By the time he arrived I was at 8.5 cm and probably could have made it without, but had the epidural anyway.

Labor slowed down immensely with the epidural, so Joe and the doula got some sleep. A few hours later they were woken up for the pushing and my beautiful boy arrived at 7 o’clock in the morning.

I later found out that on the way to the soda machine Joe had discovered a computer with Internet access. After about five months of my nagging him to help find a name for our baby, he decided that while I was in labor he'd look at some name sites and see what he could find! MEN!!!

I'm now pregnant with #2 and if Joe wants a soda, he'd better bring it taped to his forehead, because he's not leaving my side during labor. Not for one second!

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Sleeping Delivery
-Anonymous, Kentucky

I don't have much of a birth story to report. I actually slept through the labor and only awoke when my son started to crown. Whoops! I got to the hospital as fast as I could. On the way I think I must have been sitting on my baby's head, because his head was a little flat on top for the first few months. Don’t worry; he's fine now!

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