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.

Helen's Birth Story

On Wednesday evening (3/1/00) I began having contractions. I told Nick I thought I might be in labor. We talked at dinner (of black beans, rice and extra hot ro-tel tomatoes--mistake!) about our "plan" if this was true. I basically ignored the contractions and didn't pay attention to their timing at all, just so as not to be disappointed or distracted, if I really weren't in labor. I might remind you that I had a bad cold or some respiratory infection, that wasn't letting me breath very well.

They continued to intensify and catch my attention. They also clearly became regular. I started to time them on and off, just to get an idea of what was going on, and they did seem to be regular, in frequency and duration. By 11 or midnight, they were 10 minutes apart and much, much harder to ignore. I tried to drift off to sleep, and may have, just a little, but the contractions were 10 minutes apart, lasting up to a minute by 12:30 or 1, and required me to move around for relief. By 2:30 -3 am, they were five minutes apart and lasting 1.5 minutes, stuck it out, knowing that "this was it", I was no longer smiling.... and Nick started to leave voice mails and emails for people at work to cover his lectures and other obligations. Nick started packing the car, and gathering our snacks and drinks. We called the Doctor about 6, and the OB on call said it sounded like we should be on our way. Shortly after 6 we left for the hospital, the sun was coming up and I was in pain, but happy that this would (I thought) soon be over. Surely, we'd have our baby by lunch time.

Upon being checked in at the hospital, I was checked and monitered, and found out that I was only 4 cm, 90% effaced. Though we had in our birth plan that we would go home if I was less than 5 cm, we all decided that it would be better if I stayed. On the way to my room, I felt something strange, looked down while gripping the wall during a contraction and saw my mucous plug. Lovely.

We avoided being checked internally as we wanted to hold out as long as possible to avoid disappointment. Finally we gave in about 6 hours later, thinking surely, some progress must have been made, and I could be reinvigorated, but preparing for the posibility of nothing or at least not much. Well, nooooo, still 4 cm. I decided that even though it may slow things down, I'd get in the jacuzzi, as that also might relax me enough, to make some progress, thinking if I could rest, we could then try nipple stimulation, or thumb sucking to make things more intense in a little while after I'd rested. Well, the tub was awesome, and gave great relief. I stayed in for a couple hours, but didn't feel I could deal with things getting more intense just yet, so I decided to let nature take it's course. This was the last time I ate during the labor, and it was around 3 or 3:30 pm. All the while the baby was tolerating labor better than I was, and her vitals were great throughout.

The delivery nurse, who was great, thought she needed to cheat a little from our birth plan and hook me up to the moniters for a while to help me rest. I did this, but resting WAS hard. A few hours passed and they checked me, I had to be getting somewhere! The doctor and nurse were impressed with the intensity and frequency of the contractions on the monitor. Well, if I recall correctly, on the next check I had progressed, but only to an "almost 6". This is still discouraging after so long, at this point, I've been having regular contractions for about 24 hours. Nick was ordered to take a break and get some dinner delivered, it was after 9pm, and the cafeteria was closed. As I lay in bed much, much too tired, with excruciatingly intense contractions, to be up and about anymore, I told Nick my concern that if I didn't have any drugs that I'd be too tired and the baby would get stressed, and I wouldn't be able to deal with the delivery when (and if!) the time ever came--my biggest fear was to have gone through so many hours, and have to have an emergency c-section. He did his Bradley coach darndest, told me I was doing a great job, how proud he was of me, and that I was almost there, reminding me that I was talking like I was in transition. Well, I belived him, new he was supposed to say this and continued to stick it out a little more. I was starting to get a low gutteral groan with intense pressure around my rectum. The nurse and doctor thought for sure that this meant good things, and strongly urged an internal check. We conceded, because at this point we NEEDED to know. Well, unfortunately, I was stalling at a good six, but not a seven, but though I wasn't pushing, that urge was there prematurely, and my low groaning was serving to push on the cervix, and was causing it to swell. This was NOT good. We pow-wowed again, Nick pow-wowed privately with the nurse, and came back, and we talked again, he seriously this time, about the epidural. We both decided that it was the best route, at this time, if another check showed no progress. It didn't, and they notified anesethesiology. Meanwhile, they had to pump what seemed like two HUGE bags of saline into me before this could all happen, and it seemed to take forever, it was really "only" an hour and a half. They FINALLY got ready to put it in, of course I had a contraction as they placed the needle, and I was dissapointed to know that this would now take at least another 15 minutes to take effect. Eventually it did, I didn't think it was all that comfortable, I had been expecting complete relief, but between some of the funny feelings it gives you, and still being able to tell when the contractions were coming, I couldn't really sleep, but could zone out here and there. I ordered Nick to pull out his bed and sleep, he thought he couldn't but he crashed.

Well, and hour and a half of epidural goes by and they check me. No progress. I didn't want to wake Nick, but discussed the options with the doctor and I decided to let her administer a very low dose of pitocin and see what that did. On the next check, nothing, they upped it slightly, and that was all that was needed. I was 10, but had a lip of cervix left. The doctor ironed it out or something, and I was ready to go.

Lights came on, Nick woke up, things were moved around, and I was told that I could start to push, albeit directed when I got another contraction. My contractions slowed and became less intense, I think because I was so tired, but about 2 hours and 20 minutes later, at 3:03, Friday morning, March 3rd, Helen was born. She cried pretty much right off the bat, was mucousy, a little blue, but she had apgars of 8 and then 9.

Overall, I would recommend the Bradley Method to anyone wanting to have a drug-free birth. If I had had a more reasonable labor, I know we could have done it with the tools we were taught as a couple. We of course, weren't counting on this prodromal labor. It just came to a point that what we were aiming for, a drug free birth that was best for the baby, crossed a line, and that what was best for mom, then became what was best for baby. We were glad we did what we did, made the choices we made, and aren't disappointed in the least in the outcome. Granted, I'm tired and exhausted, and I wasn't able to discuss it without weeping for days, but even during that time, I knew we did the right thing.

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