vaginal birth

Pregnancy is a journey! LilSugar reader beaner is preparing for a natural childbirth and shared some positive thoughts her instructors gave her in The Pregnancy Posse group.

My hubby and I are taking a hypnobirth class, and it's been really amazing. Since we plan on doing a natural childbirth, we needed some tools in our tool belt to help us learn techniques to relax and cope with the intensity of labor and delivery. The instructor gave us some CDs remind us focus on our breath and on positive thoughts, and I know it sounds a little fruity, but it honestly has been so helpful. One of the CDs is birth affirmations, which I've used in my prenatal yoga classes before. You basically say a positive statement either in your mind or out loud, and it helps dissipate fears and manifest the feelings you want to experience. I wanted to share some with my fellow pregnant mommas, because they've been so helpful to me, and have made me (finally) feel confident and ready for this birth. If you have any affirmations to share, I'd love to hear them as well.

• Our baby's birth will occur at just the right time and just the right way.
• I trust my body to grow my baby and I trust my body to birth my baby.
• My body is strong enough to birth this baby.
• I enjoy experiencing the power of my body as my birthing muscles bring my baby to me.
• With each amazing wave, I am letting go more easily.
• I am releasing to these sensations.
• I let these waves wash through me as I go deeper into relaxation.
• I am connected to myself. I am connected to my partner. We are connected to our baby.
• I welcome strong waves that are bringing my baby closer.
• Every contraction brings me closer to our baby.
• The stronger my contractions become, the sooner I meet my baby.
• I breathe slowly and easily and it helps my body to let go.
• I breathe to my baby and let my breath flow down and out my baby's birth path to show my baby the way.
• My body is so open that my baby just slides right out and into my arms.
• I am calm, I am safe, I am relaxed.

I know hearing these for the first time is a little odd (or reminds you of SNL's Jack Handey), but if you can get passed feeling weird, and say them to yourself, they will help replace your fears with positive feelings.

Want to talk pregnancy with other expectant mamas? Get the conversation started in The Pregnancy Posse group!

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.