Positive Birth Story as a First Time Mom

I never really understood just how powerful giving birth could be, until I had my first baby. In this blog post about my positive birth story, I plan on taking readers through my pregnancy journey.

Next, I will share some of the ways that I prepared myself for labor. Additionally, I will describe some of the tools I used so that I was able to achieve a natural, vaginal birth. Also, I plan on explaining where I chose to give birth and why.

I hope that by sharing my positive birth story, I can give some inspiration and courage to first time moms, and(or), experienced moms!

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or medical professional. I am just sharing what worked for me personally. If you are in doubt or wanting to learn more about something, do your own research and speak with your health care provider.

How My Positive Birth Story Started

I found out that I was pregnant a little over a month after I got married in October of 2021. I will never forget taking the pregnancy test and watching it turn positive before my eyes! Before I took the pregnancy test, I had a feeling that I might be pregnant. And I was right!

I told my husband right away that I was pregnant because I was so excited and I knew that he would be too. Originally, I was going to wait until his birthday to surprise him, but I didn’t want to wait that long.

Additionally, it was only a matter of time before I started to really feel pregnant. My top three pregnancy symptoms were nausea, headaches, and heartburn. During my first trimester, I really struggled with nausea, especially when I first woke up. So I would carry Ziplock bags around in case I couldn’t make it to the bathroom in time. This was especially helpful, because at the time I was still working 5 days a week.

Also, the headaches that I had mostly happened in the first trimester as well. And, for me, the worst combination of symptoms would be when I felt nauseous and had a headache. Thankfully, those symptoms pretty much cleared up by the second trimester.

Next, the main symptom that I delt with, heartburn, happened, but not until the late second trimester and early third trimester.

Overall, I actually enjoyed being pregnant. Like many other women who’ve experienced pregnancy, my favorite part is feeling all of those baby kicks! Especially after a long day when you feel exhausted, those baby kicks feel extra encouraging.

How I prepared myself so that I got my positive birth story

Research

First, I did lots of research about how I wanted to have my baby. There are good local hospitals, but to me, I didn’t think that a hospital would be my best option. I wanted the place were I gave birth to be somewhere comfortable and familiar. So I decided that I either wanted a homebirth or a birth at a birth center. I’ll explain more about my choice later.

Taking a class

Then, I took a class with a local doula who helped me to understand different comfort measures. This class was all about equipping women with tools to cope with while in labor as well as what others could do to assist. For me, this class really opened my eyes to just how much us laboring women can control while in labor, and I am so glad that I took the birth class! To elaborate, even the simplest comfort measures can make all the difference in how relaxed and smoothly we move from one contraction to the next.

In addition, having comfort measures in place, such as moving into different positions, getting into a birthing tub, having your partner press on different pressure points on your back, etc. all help to make you more comfortable and less tense. I found that the less tense that I was during labor, the more quickly I would progress.

Reading/watching positive birth stories

Next, I would read and watch positive birth stories. Watching any type of positive birth story, whether a hospital birth, a home birth, or a birth center birth, helped to inspire me and make me less anxious.

Eating dates and drinking red raspberry leaf tea

Also, I ate lots of dates and drank red raspberry leaf tea in the third trimester. Dates are a good source of folate, iron, and vitamin k. Typically I would make a smoothy with the dates or I would eat them plain. Additionally, studies suggest that dates can also help decrease labor time too! To find out more about dates, click here.

In addition to the dates, I drank red raspberry leaf tea everyday. I would make my tea at night and let it sit overnight, so that the next day I had a strong couple cups of the tea. Studies have shown that red raspberry leaf tea helps to reduce labor interventions and complications. If you would like to find out more on red raspberry leaf tea, click here.

Here are two brands of red raspberry tea that I really like! Both of these teas taste great, are good quality, and affordable.

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https://amzn.to/47jeEsV

Reading books

I also read a great Christian book about preparing for birth, Made For This. This book, written by a Catholic author, is a wonderful read for any Christian women. It has a holistic perspective of birth, which I love, and covers everything from preparing spiritually to healing from the loss of a baby.

Another book that I recommend is Fertile Ground: A Pilgrimage through Pregnancy. This book was written by an Orthodox doula and goes over the all of the common experiences of pregnancy, as well as postpartum, and ties it all back to scripture and the teachings of the Holy Orthodox Church. Again even if you aren’t Orthodox, this book could still benefit you tremendously!

Doing the Miles Circuit

When I was exactly 42 weeks along, I started to feel a bit anxious about having the baby. I had already tried a natural induction process that my midwives set up. This induction process consisted of long walks for 30 minutes, drinking a tincture, drinking castor oil, taking a bath, and pumping. However, this induction process that the midwives provided me with didn’t work. So I decided to try the Miles Circuit.

The Miles Circuit is a way to get the baby into a good position, which can sometimes lead to labor. This circuit consists of three steps and takes about 90 minutes to complete. For more information on the Miles Circuit, click here.

Labor: more on how I was able to achieve my positive birth story

I ended up going into labor at 42 weeks past my estimated due date. I honestly think that doing the Miles Circuit is what helped me kick start labor, because I did the circuit when I was exactly 42 weeks along and ended up going into labor late that night.

My contractions started out pretty mild. I didn’t do any contraction timing when they started, but I was able to at least get a little bit of rest before they started to get very uncomfortable. At about 3 A.M. the next morning, my contractions were pretty intense. So, we called one of our midwives and drove 10 minutes into town to the birthing center.

Positions that helped me to cope with contractions

After we arrived at the birthing center, we called my doula and my mom. Then, I spent the next 24 plus hours laboring. I remember doing many different positions to help ease the discomfort. Some of these positions included:

Laying on my side on the bed with one leg elevated

Squatting

Lunging

Additionally, I sat/laid in the birthing tub for a bit too, but then I had to get out because my contractions were slowing down while I was in there. And another tool that I used to cope, was squeezing a comb so that I would somewhat distract myself from the intensity of the contractions. The comb squeezing technique helped a little. Lastly, one of my favorite tools was the double hip squeeze. In case you aren’t familiar with what the double hip squeeze is, it’s where someone stands behind you and places their hands on both sides of your hips. Then, your assistant or partner squeezes your hips together when you feel a contraction. The double hip squeeze is supposed to help counter some of the pressure that you may feel during the contractions

Discouragement

Ultimately, I started to feel very discouraged. I was in labor for over 12 hours and I didn’t seem to be progressing very much. I kept having the midwife and student midwife check my cervix, so that I could have an idea of where I was at in the labor process. Consequently, I decided that I wanted the midwife to rupture my membranes, aka manually break my waters.

After my membranes were ruptured, labor finally started to speed up. Because of the intensity and my exhaustion, I remember asking for something to relieve the pain! Now, of course, I am so happy I went to the birthing center and had my natural birth, but at the time I was desperate for some relief. Consequently, my midwives gave me a tincture for the pain and my doula rubbed CBD oil on my back. The tincture and oil did seem to help a little, but perhaps not as much as I would have liked it to at the time.

Finally, I started to feel the urge to use the bathroom. Then, I sat backwards on the toilet for a while and then moved into the shower. Being in the shower with the water running felt so nice! In fact, I stayed in the shower even after I started pushing.

Finally time to push

Next, I was feeling a strong urge to push. I remember someone shutting the shower water off and the next thing I knew, I was squatting on the floor of the shower pushing. Also, I would like to add that one thing that seemed to work really well for me was pushing only when I felt a strong urge to push. So, that’s what I did.

Eventually, my midwives asked me to leave the shower because there wasn’t much room for them to be there for when the baby was born. At that point, part of my daughter’s head was already crowning and I waddled into the kitchenette of the birth center. The kitchenette is between the bathroom and the bedroom, so I was trying to make it to the bedroom. However, I didn’t make it that far. I got another urge to push, so I quickly squatted down and pushed about two more times. That’s when Juliana was born!

Juliana’s Grand Entrance

Juliana was born at 4:13 in the morning with slate blue eyes and lots of brown hair. She was so calm, alert, and beautiful. Juliana was very healthy and weighed 8 pounds, 13 ounces. In addition, I didn’t tear at all, so that was a plus! After, I had just had Juliana, I did skin to skin right away and we delayed the cord clamping as well. I remember feeling a massive adrenaline rush after I had Juliana, and all I wanted to do was just sit there and admire her.

Sorry, it’s a little blurry, but I wanted to share this picture because that’s the moment when we met Juliana!

My overall experience at the birth center, which helped with my positive birth story

Initially, I chose the birth center to have my baby at because of how I felt while I went there for my prenatal visits. The birth center has a very relaxing feel to it and at the time we lived in a house that needed a lot of work. Even though we had a house that I could give birth in, it didn’t quite feel like a home. On the other hand, the birth center, felt comfortable and it was already equipped with everything that was needed to give birth. That’s why I decided to go with the birth center.

I feel so thankful and blessed for the positive birthing experience that I had! Even though I had a long labor, and back labor on top of it, I ended up with a healthy baby and I felt at peace. I knew all along that I would be in good hands with my midwives and doula, and I was right! Additionally, I owe my positive birth experience to God and the most holy Theotokos, the mother of God, who was interceding for me. God granted me not only the gift of a precious little girl, but also a sense of love that I had never felt before; the love a mother feels for her child! In conclusion, that’s how I was able to achieve my positive birth story.

Shop this blog post

Again here are some of my favorite red raspberry leaf teas!

https://amzn.to/3s1U0O3

https://amzn.to/47fnw2Z

And here are some wonderful pregnancy reads!

Made For This

Fertile Ground: A Pilgrimage through Pregnancy

Where have you given birth at? Feel free to share your birth story in the comments! I would love to read it!

Also check out, The Best Nursing Friendly Dresses to Wear for Easy Breastfeeding!