I love reading and sharing birth stories written from the birthing person’s perspective, paired with the images from my perspective. Please enjoy her journey and leave some kind words for this family in the comments below.

Story's Birthday

I'm one of those people who is absolutely obsessed with birth, and I was long before I ever even gave birth myself. I like to say I've been preparing for birth since I was 9 years old when I got to witness the birth of my brother. I remember watching "A Baby Story" on TLC with my pregnant step-mom thinking how incredible birth was.

Leading up to my birth, I made it my mission to educate myself and prepare my body as much as I could for an unmedicated birth. I like to say I over prepared with acupuncture, Hypno-birthing, chiropractic care, listening to a million birth stories and watching a birth video every night.

Knowing that many first time moms go late, I mentally prepared to go well over my due date. I told people I was due at the beginning of August, when in fact I was due July 27th. And then, four days early, my water broke when I got up to use the bathroom at 4am. The adrenaline took over my body and I got really shaky and scared. After a few hours, contractions still hadn’t started. My husband and I went into Seasons to get a good look at our baby, check fluid levels and talk about next steps. It had been six hours since my water broke and my midwife thought castor oil could be a good tool to get contractions started, and man was she right.

Seasons Midwifery and Birth Center Thornton Colorado Birth Photographer Doula

At 12:30pm I had a sandwich followed by a castor oil root beer float... yum. My husband and I laid down to watch a movie and rest. I dozed off until I felt my stomach tightening here and there but I didn't say anything right away as it didn't hurt at all. At 2pm, I had my first real contraction and the castor oil seemed to be working perfectly. I was laboring at home with my husband and felt like my rhythm was off. I pictured laboring at home so much before my birth and it wasn't how I pictured it. I was anxious and nervous, and I knew I needed to do something to get in a better rhythm. At some point, my saving grace, Lindsey arrived. She walked in during a contraction and immediately put down all her stuff and got to work. She squeezed my hips and put me into many positions that I didn't enjoy, but I'm sure they helped. Once she was there, I felt a new sense of calmness and comfort. I was able to relax, let go and allow my contractions to come.

Black and White Image of Birthing person in birthing pool surrounded by husband mother and midwife and doula

Although I didn't want to think about the time, I was very aware that we were approaching rush hour on a Friday night. We had a 15 mile drive up the interstate and giving birth in the car is something I feared greatly. I remember asking Lindsey when we could go to the birth center, and she told me she wanted me to have two "oh fuck" contractions before we left. Then immediately following her comment, I had two "oh fuck" contractions back to back.

We loaded in the car and left for the birth center at 5pm (the heat of Denver rush hour). As soon as I got in the car, I started my way through transition, which I'd always heard about. My husband made the mistake of asking me about traffic on our drive, man did he regret that. I was on all fours in the backseat howling and rocking from side to side. As part of my birth preparation, I listened to a lot of birth affirmation tracks. For some reason in the car the only thing that could get me through my contractions was SCREAMING birth affirmations. While my husband battled traffic, I was in the back howling, "each contraction brings me closer to my baby" and "I grew this baby, I can birth this baby." I would never recommend transitioning in the car, but this was how my story unfolded.

When we arrived at the birth center we continued laboring while we waited for the tub to fill up. Then my mom arrived and I was so happy to have her in the room supporting me. Even through all the pain and contractions, my mom never stopped smiling. After what felt like forever, I was able to get into the tub, but it wasn't the release I was expecting. It felt good, but I was still in a lot of pain. At one point, I told my midwife I felt I needed to push and she told me to try it and see how it felt. I looked to her almost as if asking for permission. I had never been checked this entire time and I don't think I realized how close I was to meeting my baby. I remembered my hypnobirthing class where we learned to "breath" our baby out. I tried a few times of "breathing" my baby out and that just wasn't working. I realized then that I needed to actively push, and push hard!

After about 45 minutes of pushing, I pushed our baby into the water at 7:54pm. Being able to yell out the gender of our baby boy is one of my favorite memories. Followed by my husband getting to finally share his name after 9 months of keeping it a secret. Story James Hardman joined our family after 5 hours and 54 minutes of labor on July 23rd. It was the best day of my entire life. My care team of the Seasons ladies, Lindsey, my mom and husband was everything I could have ever dreamed of. Birth was magical and I can't wait to do it again someday.