Birth Stories

Ready or not, here he comes! Regardless of whether or not you had a written plan for your lil one's birth, when baby's ready to come, there's little mom can do to stop him!

Such was the case for Rabita Sarkar of Harrison, NJ, who thought she was feeling false labor pains and decided to use them as an opportunity to do a trial run to test her route to the hospital. Soon after boarding the PATH commuter train into New York City, the contractions turned real and within minutes, the expectant mama gave birth to a son — while sitting on the train! She said:

He decided to come and that was it. Nothing could stop him. Nothing could keep him inside for longer. I don’t think anybody could actually dream of such a delivery.

We've heard of plenty of women who didn't know they were pregnant until they were in labor, and I've even had a friend who gave birth in her car outside of the hospital entrance, but were you so surprised by your labor that you gave birth in a strange place? If so, tell us!

Source: Flickr User Remy Sharp

Live from New York, it's . . . Live Childbirth! Marni Kotak is a performance artist who is due to give birth later this month. Nothing too remarkable about that, except that her birth plan involves a live audience. The birth will be the culminating event of the month-long exhibit The Birth of Baby X, in which visitors to the gallery-cum-delivery room will witness Kotak preparing for and eventually giving birth. The Birth of Baby X is just the beginning of Baby X's career as art project fodder for mama. Kotak plans to continue the Baby X project with a new conceptual work, Raising Baby X, "in which she re-contextualizes the everyday act of raising a child into a work of performance art, reaching out to collectors, private investors and foundations for their support."

As bizarre as it may sound, Kotak's exhibit really isn't even all that unique, just an extreme example of the larger trend toward public birthing. This past weekend, Nancy Salgueiro joined the thousands of other women who chose to share their births with the world via YouTube. Granted, not all women who make their birth available to anyone with an Internet connection are doing it for artistic glory. Salgueiro is a natural birth coach and wanted to share her experience as an education tool.

What do you think? High art or the ultimate overshare?


Photo courtesy of Microscope Gallery

This post was submitted by dtcakes77 in the Birth Stories group.

At 20 weeks we found out we were having a boy. We were so excited, we already had a girl who was 2-years-old.  However there was something wrong in the sonogram and they sent my husband and I, with our daughter to a children's cardiologist to look at the enlarged atrium they uncovered. We were so nervous. After six hours trying to get a fetal ECHO, the doctor came in and believed that it was a coarctation of the aorta. It was a common procedure for the heart surgeon to fix. Every month I went for a follow-up with them and for growth and weight. I also had my regular OB/GYN appointments. I felt pretty positive that things would be OK.

It was the day before Easter. I was 33 weeks. I just came back from a 1-year-old birthday party. I decided to take my daughter to my mother-in-law's with me so I could help prepare dinner for the following day. While stuffing artichokes I started to feel cramps, but thought nothing about it. I figured it was Braxton Hicks. This went on for about an hour before my husband told me to call the doctor. He told me to come in to the hospital, he was on call, to get checked out. The hospital that I was suppose to deliver in, was 15 min away and a children's hospital. He figured he would give me a shot and I would be on my way. 

However that didn't happen. I was already 3 cm dilated. I was told that they were going to give me a drug to try and stop the labor for three days, and they were going to give me two shots in the butt to help the baby's lungs. We knew we had to get over to the other hospital just in case. Although the staff kept on assuring me that even if the baby needs care, this was a really good hospital with some of the same rotating doctors, and if needed, the baby could be transported without a problem.  I wanted to be with my child and not be in a different hospital. Thank goodness for my doctor who already called EMS to transfer me since the baby and I were stable. I labored through the whole transport with myself only being monitored, which at that time I didn't think anything of.

Keep reading to see the rest of this baby's birth story.

A person's story starts before he or she is born. Heritage, conception, and pregnancy aside, there's an amazing tale to be told of how each baby enters the world. While Labor Day is dedicated to the achievements of American workers, few people work harder than today's moms. Before our lil ones even utter the word mama, we labor (or enter the operating room) to bring our children to life. In honor of Labor Day, we're sharing some of our community members' birth stories. To celebrate the holiday, share yours with us too!

The Culmination

Get the Baby Out Now!

Long Labor, Short Delivery

Share your child's story in our Birth Stories group over in the LilSugar Community.

A person's story starts before he or she is born. Heritage, conception, and pregnancy aside, there's an amazing tale to be told of how each baby enters the world. Quackii submitted her birth story in the LilSugar Community. Here's an excerpt.

My first and only pregnancy was easy (as I would say). Yes, I had my nights where they were frustrating, had tremendous heartburn, and for that I had "Tums" and "saltine crackers" the whole night, they worked wonders for me! When my day came, it was actually a pretty funny story. It was 6 am, everyone was still asleep, and I woke up and felt myself wet. I thought I had peed and I was so embarrassed, I didn't tell anyone. I went straight to the shower, and when I got out I went straight to bed again, passed out until 9am, and when I woke up, I was wet again. So this time I woke up my husband and I said "Babe, I think its time." He sped out of the bed like nobody's business, checked my pants and said "this isn't pee, lets go!" (Still no pain) We were calm, yet excited. We were on the road when we passed McDonald's, and we both stared at each other, "mmmm!" So yeah, we stopped for some breakfast through the drive thru! Then we arrived at the hospital still feeling good. We were in the waiting area when I told my husband maybe it's a false alarm, let's go home. He said no let's just wait and see what they tell you . . . and yes, for sure, I was 1cm already!

Share your child's story in our Birth Stories group over in the LilSugar Community.

Source: Flickr User dchasteen

Birth happens...every minute. Lifetime's new series, One Born Every Minute (which debuted last night) shows what labor and delivery is truly like — from a mom who doesn't want her baby put to her chest to a dad who forgets his camera's memory card. Raw footage of these moments is something that many new parents cherish, and other folks prefer not to tape.

I have three children, and their arrivals were the most exhilarating and tumultuous experiences of my life. Each moment is forever in my mind. And, though I had my husband and family members attend the birth, and allowed medical students to view and learn from the process, there were no cameras rolling. Instead, we have photographs because I don't think I'd want to relive (or analyze) the footage by watching it over and over. What did you do?

This post was submitted by princessya in the Birth Stories group.

I had gone into pre-term contractions at 33 weeks, but was able to stop the progression of the pre-term labor for 6 weeks.  Suffering, the mild contractions every couple minutes to half hour, I had a pre-natal checkup on June 9 (week 39) at around 1:30 p.m. and was then scheduled to return two days later for a Non-Stress Test to ensure that the contractions that I had been feeling were not causing my baby any harm. On the same day, I went into active labor @ 5:00 p.m. Was admitted to the Kaiser Redwood City @ 7:00 p.m., and due to insufficient progress, I requested to be sent home to continue laboring, as oppose to choose some sort of medical procedure to induce labor.

I was laboring, but not efficiently up until June 11 @ 2:45 p.m. when I arrived for my follow-up Non-Stress Test. My water then broke on the examination table where they were going to check my water levels. Of course, the doctors wanted to still do the stress test, and so the doctor didn't see me until about 3:45 p.m. after the nurses had completed their exam and tests. The doctor came in and then said, as he was stepping into a puddle of amnio, "I think it's safe to say that your water broke." Of course, he's saying this with my back on the examination table, my legs in the air, and a metal dealie and a light shining into my vagina! I was like, "Uh... I know." They called the ambulance and I was wheeled to Kaiser San Francisco, at which I arrived there at almost 5:00 p.m. and placed into triage. Com'on! I'm OBVIOUSLY laboring here. To see what happened, read more

A person's story starts before he or she is born. Heritage, conception, and pregnancy aside, there's an amazing tale to be told of how each baby enters the world. Here is my son's:

It was 3:53 a.m., almost 14 hours after I had been admitted for induction, and the monitor was no longer picking up my baby's heartbeat. The doctors rushed in and told me to push — I needed to deliver immediately! I bared down and practically threw myself across the room, but it wasn't enough. I didn't have time to breathe. Things became calm chaos — I was advised about the possible use of forceps and/or suction and that a room was being prepped for an emergency c-section. For a split second, I almost panicked, wondering if I would be able to do get my child out. The enormity of the situation hit me, but before I had time to even comprehend it, my husband vented his helpless frustration, turning and saying, "Get the baby out now!" the same way they say "Move that bus!" on Extreme Home Makeover. Holding back laughter, I pushed, giving it all I had, and felt every bit of my 10 lb. 2 oz. son — his head, his shoulders, his legs — leave my body. We welcomed him to the world at 4 a.m. Those were the seven most intense minutes of my life and perhaps also the most rewarding because our family of five was complete.

Share your child's story in our Birth Stories group over in the LilSugar Community.