Warning: Please proceed with caution if you are grossed out by the blunt talk of the bodily functions and fluids that occur during the birthing process.
Sunday, November 9, 2025, has recently become the best day of my life. It is the day that we got to welcome our sweet baby boy into the world!
I had no intention of going into labor so soon. I was not prepared. I had plans for that day as well as later in the week. Everyone always says that first-time moms always go late. Their labors always take forever. I am here to tell you that it is not true, and you should not count on it like I did. Luckily, I had prepared extensively for an unmedicated birth ahead of time, and my subconscious seemed to know it was almost time, making me nest like crazy the week prior.
First Stage: Labor
November 9, 2025 0230
I got up to go to the bathroom for my usual potty break, and when I got back in bed, I was experiencing what felt like period cramps. When I got up to try to go to the bathroom again, I had a lot of cervical mucus, streaked with blood. I had the thought that might have been at least part of my mucus plug, but didn’t put much stock on it. I know that you can lose it and grow a new one if it isn’t time yet. When I got back in bed, my cramps were a consistent 8 minutes apart. After a while, it occurred to me that they were probably contractions.
As a side note, contractions were not what I was expecting. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for weeks, and they were always at the top of my uterus. Real contractions were only ever low. I had been having some mild, period-like cramps for a week or so, and it only occurred to me after delivery that those might have been real contractions. It could have just been cramps, too, who knows.
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I got up to go to the bathroom again and lost a big chunk of mucus. This was a harder, brownish lump. I don’t know if it was officially the rest or not because I continued to have a heavy discharge of bloody mucus throughout the rest of labor.
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My husband’s alarm goes off for work, and I get up with him to get a snack and walk around to see if the contractions will stop if I do so. This only serves to increase their frequency to every 6 minutes.
Over the next several hours, we go through all the tests to see if it is real labor or not. I ate, drank, took a bath, lay down and tried to nap, and went on a walk. At this point, it is about 0830, contractions are 4 minutes apart, and I am forced to conclude that I am actually in labor. I canceled my plans to get together with some friends before church and do my best to keep busy. I did some laundry, cleaned random things, and baked some bread.
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Contractions have intensified and require my full attention to relax through. They are about 4 minutes apart and last a minute. We try some various positions, and I find sitting on the ball most comfortable. I try to eat, but feel very nauseous and really don’t want to.
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At this point, contractions are 3 minutes apart, lasting about 75 seconds, with some of them double peaking. We are debating whether to go to the hospital or not. I really wanted to spend as little time there as possible, but I wanted to make it at least to the emergency room before the baby arrived. I was praying for a sign that it was time to go. My husband recommended a position change, and as I was moving, I felt like I had sprung a leak. I went to the bathroom and sure enough I had. We decided to go to the hospital.
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We got to the hospital and into a triage room, where they checked on the baby and did a cervical exam as well as a test to see if my water had actually broken. Sure enough, it had, but I was only 4 cm. I was so upset. At this point, I am so tired I can’t keep my eyes open. Part of me really wants to go back home, but part of me feels like I am almost done despite the 4 cm evaluation. We decide to stay, but get left in the triage room for about 2 hours because we don’t want to agree to EFM. We eventually relent and agree to the initial 20 minutes and then only 5 minutes twice an hour.
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After this, I lose all concept of time. We get into the labor and delivery room, and they do the initial 20 minutes of monitoring. During this time, I am struck by the overwhelming urge to vomit. While doing so, my water breaks the rest of the way. Once that happens, the contractions start to hurt much more, and I feel the need to go to the bathroom. I think if I had the energy to, I would have been excited by this fact because I know that often means it is nearing time to push. I decide to try to go anyway, with no success.
At this point, I am sweating profusely. My husband recommends leaning over the birthing ball. While doing so, the need to push starts to grow. I wait till it is unbearable before announcing it. The doctor checked me and said that I don’t actually have to because I am only 6 cm. I feel like it is pretty common knowledge that their telling you not to push when you have to is basically pointless. I am pushing with each contraction, leaking various fluids everywhere (both amniotic and urine).
This is the first time I contemplate medication. I am at the point where I don’t know if I can do it, or for how much longer.
They get me up on the bed, leaning over the top of it. The nurses all leave and I tell my husband that I need to push. In the back of my mind is the thought that we will be having this baby without medical assistance. He goes to the door and calls out. The nurses and doctor come back in and check me again. Now I am declared fully dilated and ready to push.
Second Stage: Delivery
I have no clue what time it was at this point or how long it took to push him out. It didn’t seem like a very long time. Ten minutes, maybe? I remember that I did not enjoy pushing much. I started off on my side, but by the end I was on my back. One of the nurses kept telling me to keep my eyes open. I don’t think my eyes had been open since arriving at the hospital.
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The sweetest little baby boy is born into the world at precisely 8 pounds and 19.5 inches long.
Third Stage: Placenta
This part is also a bit of a blur. I was not paying much attention to anything other than the baby I was now holding. I know that they stitched up a tear inside my vagina, and learned that I had varicose veins inside there as well. They were concerned about how much I was bleeding, so I ended up getting a shot of Pitocin in my leg. At some point, I pushed my placenta out, and my husband cut the cord.
Shoutout
I know I didn’t mention him much, but I could not have done this without my wonderful husband’s help. He was so great throughout the whole process, reminding me to drink and relax. Rubbing my back through contractions. He is the greatest coach I could have ever asked for.
I hope you enjoyed reading about the birth of my baby boy, and it inspired you to be able to deliver your own baby without medication. I want to assure you that there was a lot of preparation that went into this, primarily through studying the Bradley Method. Which I would highly recommend it to anyone who is pregnant or going to have a baby at any time in the future.
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