Vegan Birth Stories

Please read our collection of birth stories. If you'd like to submit your own, please submit your story here. Vegan or vegetarian birth stories are welcome.

Byron's Birth Story

Byron Alexander Aberle
Monday, July 1, 1991 1:26 a.m.
6lbs 13oz; 20" tall

Mark and I were 17 when our baby was born. We were two kids in love who were blessed with a wonderful surprise. We spent most of the first half of my pregnancy trying to figure out the best way to raise this child. Would we be good parents since we were so young? Or would adoptive parents be better? Most of society felt that two teens could never raise a baby. One night I was lying awake thinking about my baby. I was afraid that if we gave our baby up for adoption I would have no control over his safety. I knew that if he stayed with me I was sure he would never be abused. At that point I decided I wanted him to stay with me. He was a very wanted baby.

Friday June 28:
That morning I went to the bathroom and saw that my mucous plug had fallen out. I knew that I would get to meet my baby soon. Labor should start in the next 24 hours. I didn't expect my baby to come for another two weeks even though my due date was June 30. The OB said I would be late judging from the sonogram. So I was somewhat surprised.

I told my sister-in-law, Sherri. She was really supportive. "You'll be having your baby soon!" . I was so excited. I didn't tell my mother because she tends to overdo things, and I really wanted to keep things quiet.

I went on with my day awaiting the contractions. I told Mark. Contractions started that afternoon. They were very mild. We timed them. They were 10-15 minutes apart. We walked around the neighborhood to get things going. They got to be about 9-10 min apart around bedtime. I expected that things would pick up in the night.

Saturday June 29:
I slept through the night and woke up without any contractions. I was so disappointed. What happened? Where did my labor go? As I got moving, labor started again. Still mild and back to 15 minutes apart. I spent the day with Mark. We walked around. Contractions were getting closer. At one point they were about 5 minutes apart. This was it! I could go to the hospital now and meet my baby! So I called the hospital. The nurse said to call back when they are 3 minutes apart.

Contractions still remained mild-like menstrual cramps. We walked a lot. We spent a lot of time at the nearby grocery store pacing up and down the aisles. Mark stayed over and slept on the floor. I was still living at my mom's and she had this thing about us sleeping apart since we were unmarried. Contractions got stronger. This was a good sign. I woke up quite a bit but contractions weren't as close together as they were when I went to bed.

Sunday June 30:
Today was my due date. Will I meet my baby today? Contractions were much stronger today. They were 3-5 minutes apart and a definite pattern was forming. I was so excited that things were picking up. We walked around the neighborhood and the grocery store. Later that morning contractions were 3 minutes apart. I called the hospital again. The nurse asked if they really hurt. Well yes they hurt. But do they REALLY hurt? No. Call me back when they REALLY hurt. How frustrating! Again we went on with our day.

Contractions got stronger. I had to stop and lean on Mark while breathing through each one. I could feel the heat of the sun on my back through each one. Later we went to a parade that my brother, Greg was in. It was hard to focus. Things were definitely strong. And yes, they REALLY hurt!

Around 3pm, after the parade, I told Mark to just take me to the hospital. I wasn't going to call. I was going in to either stop this labor or have this baby today. No one could argue with me about this. I was set.

At the Hospital:
I arrived and the staff was sure that I was in "false" labor. I knew I wasn't. They didn't admit me but let me stay for observation. I got into a room and got cozy. Greg came in and reminded me that things were going to hurt worse later on. Gee thanks for the encouragement!

It was a sunny day out. The sun lit up the room nicely creating a comfortable feel. Mark and I read the father's journal. Fathers from prior births would write about their feelings and experiences in this journal. It felt good to read it.

Contractions were stronger and 3 minutes apart. The nurse checked me. I was expecting 3cm. I was 4-5cm! I was half way there. Things got foggy. I remember watching television. Mark helped me focus and breathe through contractions. It was hurting and I really needed him now. The nurses checked me again and finally admitted me. I think this was around 7-9pm.

There was this really wonderful nurse. She was like a mother. It felt so good. Even though Mark was great I needed mothering. My mother was there, but she sat in the corner and barked orders. The show Life Goes On was on the television. I really loved that show. This nurse said that her daughter looked just like the daughter in the show and both were named Kelly. To this day I have the fondest feelings for the theme song because it will always remind me of laboring with Byron. It's interesting what we remember in detail during labor.

Baby was posterior. My back hurt so badly. I needed something to help with this pain. So they gave me demerol. It was supposed to take the edge off of the pain. I still felt everything. Mark was working hard keeping me focused. He would make me look into his eyes and breathe. That worked wonders. If I lost focus the pain became too much for me. The demerol made me really sleepy which made the pain worse.

The anesthesiologist came in to give me an IV---my worst fear! This man was awful. He wanted to stick me with the needle when the monitor said my contraction was over. He would tell me when it was over when I clearly felt the contraction. He was insistent that it was over and was starting to stick me. I think I finally yelled at him. Oh how I loathed him.

The demerol just wasn't helping. I kept falling asleep and waking up to contractions that were unbearable. I cried. They gave more drugs. This time a paracervical block. They came in with a very long needle (to reach my cervix). I screamed in fear while Mark turned white and almost fainted. The nurses said they couldn't worry about him, gave him smelling salts and had him sit down. He was there with me through every single contraction except this one. I was so upset that he missed this one.

At one point, I was doing so much breathing that I started to hyperventilate. Out of the blue an oxygen mask full of fresh oxygen appeared. How did they know I needed a little help breathing? How nice of them. In reality, Byron's heart rate had dropped significantly. It was most likely drug induced. His heart rate went back to normal.

The doctor came in. I felt so positive towards him. After all he had been there throughout this pregnancy. He was so cute with his little sport clothes on. He asked if I wanted my water broken to speed things up. I didn't know things needed to be sped up. I thought about it. If he did break my water would that mean labor would go faster but would hurt more? It was a tough decision. My mother, sitting in the corner barking orders, told me I needed to have my water broken. The doctor asked my mother to leave because she was causing me so much stress. I decided to let the doctor break my water. It didn't hurt. I felt a nice warm flow of water. Baby moved down rapidly and kicked around. He was so active during the pregnancy. I thought it was funny that he was still kicking. It was so cute. The nurses were wheeling in the baby warmers. I was thrilled and shocked with the reality that my baby will be here soon.

I am going to be a mother!

Pushing:
It seemed like there were a million people in the room coaching me while I pushed. I wanted to shout from my most primal spot but the nurses kept telling me I would waste energy! That made me really angry. The doctor kept telling me one more push one more push. Why did they lie to me? It wasn't one more push. I felt this immense pressure as my baby was crowning. I didn't feel the "ring of fire" though because I was numb from the episiotomy.

So I pushed.and pushed.and pushed. Finally, with one big push out came his head! Stop pushing! At 1:26 am on Monday July 1 his body wriggled out. It felt so good. My baby was here! I did it! A boy. I wasn't at all surprised. I knew in the last month of pregnancy that he was a boy even though the doctor was sure that he "didn't see a pee-pee" when he did the sonogram.

The staff cleaned up my baby boy and brought him to me. He was so tiny with so much vernix. We were both pretty tired. After such a long journey, he must be hungry. So I nursed him. It was so new to us. Mark held him for a while. I felt another contraction. Oh no! Was the placenta going to hurt as much as his head coming did? I pushed it out and what a wonderful feeling! It was like a massage after so much work.

Postpartum:
Mark took our new baby out to see our family while I was being stitched up. The nurses didn't like that he was walking around with the baby. Liability. So he came back with our little bundle. We looked at him wondering what to name him. Our names we had picked were Byron and Andrew. He definitely looked like a Byron. My brother came in, gave me a hug and said how proud he was. That felt good. Mark called his dad to let him know he was officially a grandfather and went home to get some sleep. I went to the new room and got some sleep as well.

The nurse brought Byron in to breastfeed in the middle of the night. They were taking pictures of the babies so he was all cleaned up. His hair was parted on the side and combed over. He looked so handsome! I gazed at him and felt like we were the only two in the world.

The next morning I took a shower. How refreshing! Mark returned with his mom and brothers. We spent the day with our new baby. That night we had a little couples dinner that the hospital had arranged.

The following morning it was time to go home. It was drizzling out. I stared out the window feeling melancholy. I was happy to be with my baby but it was just so bleak outside after having so much sunshine during labor. This was the day Byron was going to be circumcised. The nurse asked Mark and I if we wanted him circumcised. Neither of us knew. So we figured since Mark was, why not? We heard about the myth that newborns do not feel pain and we didn't hear any opposition. So Byron went in for his surgery. I heard a shriek I will never forget. At that point I knew this was wrong. He DID feel pain. It was too late.

My baby came back to us. I held him. It was time to go home. We spent time with our friends Jason and Paul. They had been so excited about our having a baby. We played around in the room as most normal teens would. We blew up all of the rubber gloves and filled the bathroom as we departed the hospital. Fortunately we had a nurse with a sense of humor. Byron and I were wheeled down to the car. I got in the car, looked back at the hospital and then at my newborn son. I had grown up. I am a mother. What a concept!

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