Archives of Birth Stories

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Laboring Through a Movie
-Tehsa, North Carolina

My first baby was delivered by C-section and I experienced complications as a result. My doctor and I decided that I would try for a VBAC with my second child.

When the time came, I went to the hospital, was admitted and then my doctor arrived. While we were waiting for my labor to fully progress, my doctor and my husband got caught up watching The Man Who Broke A Thousand Chains on TV. My doctor took a stool, pushed it in between my legs (which were in stirrups) and sat there for the entire movie. He checked my progress during every other commercial. It seemed my husband and doctor were more fascinated by the movie than my labor. I thought it must have been my doctor's favorite film.

Thankfully, I had been given an epidural so I was able to accept that my husband and doctor forgot that this day was supposed to be all about me and my baby.

After having my doctor in my room for more than 18 hours, I finally gave birth to my daughter vaginally and with no problems at all.

My doctor told me later the real reason he stayed so long. He wanted to make sure that nothing went wrong with the labor and hoped I would feel more comfortable with him by my side. He admitted that The Man Who Broke A Thousand Chains was not his favorite movie after all.

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Pushing with Law & Order
-Crystale, Indiana

With my second child I was scheduled for an induction. I arrived at the hospital at 7:00a.m. and spent the majority of the day just waiting around. By the late afternoon I was given the epidural, felt no pain and was quite content to just lie there and watch episode after episode of my favorite show, Law & Order. The last, and most interesting, episode of the series came on just as my doctor announced that I was fully dilated. My husband had to remind me and my nurse, who was also watching the show, that we were trying to deliver a baby. We kept forgetting to count.

My daughter is now 14 months old and she really loves the theme music from Law & Order!

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Wetting the Nurse's Face
-Becky, Montana

I gave birth to my sixth child with all five of my daughters and husband present. When I felt it was time for the baby to come, I told the nurse. I could feel a building pressure down below. The nurse put my legs up in the stirrups to prepare me for the birth. She said, "This is going to a feel a little cold," as she prepared to apply antiseptic. Suddenly my water broke in a fast and furious gush. I looked up to see that the liquid had splashed all over the nurse's face and gown. Everyone present thought it was the funniest thing and started laughing hysterically.

Only after my sixth daughter was born could I find humor in my wetting the nurse's face.

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Unknown Pregnancy: It Really Can Happen!
-Meredith, Virginia

I never thought it was possible to not know you were pregnant, until the day I gave birth to my son. I thought that maybe if a woman was very overweight she may not notice an expanding belly. I'm 5'5”, fairly slim and my body hardly changed during my unknown pregnancy. The baby didn't move (that I noticed), I had no morning sickness, no tell-tale signs of pregnancy and I had a normal period throughout. I was by myself, at home, when I went into labor. At first I thought that I was just really sick. Only about an hour before my son was born did I realize I was going to have a baby. It was the scariest and most traumatizing experience of my life, but I gave birth to a healthy 5lb., 15oz. baby boy. God does work in mysterious ways!!

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No Time for a Music Recital
-Anonymous, Iowa

The birth of my third child went pretty much like the first two...at first. I was induced, given an epidural and then labor stalled at four centimeters. My doctor broke my water to get labor moving along again around 6 p.m. My doctor's child was in a musical recital that he wanted to attend that night, but he promised he'd return in plenty of time to delivery my baby.

I was checked by the attending doctor at 7 p.m. and she said she thought I was a good four hours away from delivering. Suddenly, just ten minutes later, I was feeling a constant, breathtaking pain. I began to focus on a design on the wall and took slow, steady breaths. My husband got up and asked if I wanted some ice chips. I couldn't look at him or answer, because I felt that if I did, I wouldn't be able to control the pain. The nurse checked my progress. Her eyes got wide as she quickly pulled on a gown an d pressed the button on the wall to tell the nurses' station to send in a doctor, stat. The on-call doctor came rushing in, trying not to fall as she pulled on her scrubs. “The head is almost out,” the nurse said. I pushed two times and the doctor caught my son, just in time, at 7:15 p.m.

Just a few minutes later, my regular doctor checked in at the nurses' station and asked how I was. The nurses replied, “Fine, with a new son.” I guess he didn't believe them until he peered in the nursery. There was my son. Then he came into the room with a smile and said, “I guess next time I won't have time for a concert.”

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