2016 was the year I had an unmedicated positive birth story in a hospital all the way in Japan. This was the year I transformed into a mother and learned how beautiful, raw, challenging, and emotional giving birth can be. As a soon-to-be first time mom, I wondered if experiencing an unmedicated positive birth experience was possible in a hospital. Spoiler alert! It is possible! This is my birth story of my first birth experience. I hope that it inspires and encourages others to believe that it is possible to have a positive birth experience; Whatever that personally and uniquely means to you.
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PREGNANCY
After watching the documentary ” Business of Being Born”, my husband Chris and I decided to make it a goal to have a natural un-medicated birth. Being the planner that I am, we prepared for our estimated due date, September 21st, for months. Despite the doubting comments I’d been receiving from a few close friends and family, I knew I could do it. The closer my “due date” approached, the more excited and anxious I felt. Meeting our munchkin and finally finding out the gender is something I was really looking forward to. The competitive side of me also wanted to prove those that doubted me wrong.
EARLY LABOR?
On September 11th, I was FaceTiming my family at 12 PM JST (time zone in Japan). As I happily bounced away on my birthing ball while talking to my mom, I felt my belly tighten up. In fact, it was a feeling I had felt many times before, however, that time was different. Unusually, it lasted for about a minute with very mild cramping. So I knew it was different than a Braxton Hicks. But I chose to ignore it and went about my day because I didn’t want to get my hopes up!
Later that night, I went to the bathroom before heading to bed. As usual, I checking every time I wiped in hopes to see something out of the ordinary. I was so anxious for any sign that would tell me our baby was coming soon. Granted, I did see something I did not see at all my entire pregnancy: My mucus plug! Yet, I was still very skeptical because there was no blood. With the thought of early labor being too good to be true, I decided to ignore that sign as well.
After a few hours later, I woke up at 2 AM to use the bathroom and noticed there was more of my mucus plug. Except this time there was a tinge of pink blood! At that point, I began to feel a little hopeful! Of course, it was hard to fall back to sleep. Instead of sleeping, I searched for forums of other moms who’d experienced the same thing. Desperately hoping to read they ended up going into labor. Guess what? Most of them went into labor within 24 hours after losing their mucus plug along with a little blood! I couldn’t go back to sleep from the excitement of the possibility I would soon meet my baby.
By 5 AM, my belly continued tensing up, in addition to period like cramps that would come and go. Curiously, I decided to start timing them, but unfortunately noticed they were not consistent. For this reason, I decided not to tell Chris anything after he woke up for work at 6 AM. I wanted to avoid him becoming disappointed if I truly wasn’t going into labor. Obviously, I was not fully convinced.
CONVINCED! EARLY LABOR!
Between 6 AM and noon, I attempted taking a nap, but continued waking up to strong “cramps”. Since taking a nap seemed impossible, I decided to call my mom. I told her everything that was leading me to think I was in early labor. With a tab bit of excitement and worriment in her voice, she assured me I was indeed in early labor. Thanks to my mom, I finally came to accept that I was experiencing contractions. Especially because they were happening every 5 mins!
Quickly, I called Chris and told him he needed to come home because it was time to have a baby. He was so happy and left work immediately to meet me at our house. I called the hospital as soon as he got home. They advised me to start heading there when my contractions were 3 mins apart and unable to talk through them. I hung up, timed them and realized they were 2-3 minutes apart! My contractions were bearable but painful.
HOSPITAL TIME
Around 2 PM, we started heading towards the hospital. After being told I wouldn’t be allowed to eat anything other than ice chips once admitted, we stopped at Subway. Oh my goodness, it was SO difficult to eat because I had to take small bites in between each contraction.
As soon as I got to the Mother Infant Care Center, a nurse took me to triage for monitoring and to check for dilation. The nurses confirmed I was definitely having strong contractions very close together, but I was ONLY 3cm dilated! Because we live 30 mins away from the hospital, and my contractions were timing so close together, they asked me NOT to go home. Instead, they asked me to walk around for two hours and come back to see if I was progressing.
Chris asked me if we could go to the barbershop so he could get a haircut. Honestly, I thought I could handle it, so we did. Ugh, what a bad idea! As I deeply hummed through each contraction, I got lots of worried looks while I paced back and forth in front of the barbershop. Can you imagine how difficult it was to focus on my breathing knowing I was being stared at?
Sadly, because I felt zero privacy and comfort in that moment my contractions were becoming more and more painful. As soon as Chris walked out of the barbershop, I urged for us to go back to the hospital. At that point I could not handle walking or talking. I began clinging onto Chris’s neck with my arms and swaying my hips side to side during each contraction. As soon as I would get a break from each contraction I quickly walked toward the car before another one began.
Thankfully, we made it back to the hospital and walked for the remaining time in the hallways. If I’m not mistaken, the pain got much worse during those two hours, which led me to think I had to be at least 6cm dilated.
At around 6 pm, we walked back, the nurse hooked me back onto the monitors and checked to see if I was making any progress. The nurse told me, yes, my contractions were stronger, but I only progressed to 3 1/2cm. What? Only 1/2 a centimeter difference! Discouraged is the best word to explain how I felt at that moment. All I wanted in that moment was to sit in my tub full of hot water to help me through the pain. Unfortunately, they advised me to walk around for another TWO hours so the nurse could check me again for progression.
THE WAITING GAME- ACTIVE LABOR
For the most part, those two hours were a complete blur to me. Honestly, the pain was something I swore I never wanted to experience again. All I could do for the entire two hours was breath and pace down the hospital corridor with Chris by my side, encouraging me to focus on my breathing. So I continued to remind myself during each contraction that I’d shortly be getting a break and that each contraction was just a step closer to meeting our baby.
Two hours later, we walked into Mother Infant Care Center, this time only to be checked for dilation. The nurse looked at me and told me “I’m sorry, but you are only at a 4…”. A huge sense of doubt came over me that I didn’t even care what else she had to say. Sadly, we ended up being sent home.
LABORING AT HOME
In a nutshell, I labored all night at home; alternating between- laying in the bathtub filled with hot water, to bouncing, hugging and rolling on the birthing ball, and listened to my HypnoBirthing tracks. The HypnoBirthing tracks helped me focus through the pain I was feeling and reminded me of everything we learned and practiced in our Hypnobirthing class. I’m not going to lie, I was so afraid I would have our baby in the house. So I called the hospital at 3 AM to see if I should go in, but the nurse on the phone instructed me to labor as long as I could at home and to come in the morning. I stayed up all night doing anything possible to help me stay focused and calm. As soon as it was 7 AM, I woke Chris up and we got ready and headed to the hospital.
ADMITTED
When we arrived at the hospital the nurse took me straight to triage, checked me… AND THANK GOD I WAS AT A 6! They asked me if I wanted an epidural and I told them I wasn’t sure. Unfortunately, I was in so much pain I didn’t know how much longer I could take. Out of standard procedure, the Anesthesiologist came into triage and discussed the risks of getting an epidural with us. Still unsure, I asked her to give me more time to think about it, so she told me to ask for it whenever I was ready. Chris and I looked at each other, and he lovingly reminded me why we wanted an unmedicated birth and helped me
remember the pain would go away as soon as I had our baby. Thanks to him, I agreed and decided to stick it out longer.
At around 8 AM, they finally admitted me into a room. Chris provided them with our birth plan and went through it with our Midwife and the staff while a heparin lock was placed in case of an emergency. Gratefully, I was intermittently monitored throughout my entire labor which allowed me as much mobility as I needed. They dimmed the lights and spoke softly just as I’d asked. Between the times of 8 AM to 6 PM, I labored on and off the bed, on the exercise ball they provided, and in and out the shower. Believe it or not, I managed to stay very calm during each contraction by humming through them and switching positions as often as I could.
TRANSITION PHASE
It wasn’t until 6 PM that I started to doubt myself again. Sadly, I lost focus on each contraction and began to wonder how much longer it would be. Honestly, I began to fear it was never going to end. I turned to Chris while I was laboring in the shower and looked at him with a face of defeat. I told him I wanted the epidural. He stared right back at me with so much love and told me I was the strongest woman he has ever met and he knew I could do it. Those words were all I needed to hear in that very moment. He believed in me and reminded me that I should too.
I asked him to call the nurses in because I was sure I was in the transitioning phase of labor. The nurse checked me and I was 7cm dilated. She spoke to the doctor and they came to the conclusion that I’d need to have my water broken because I wasn’t progressing fast enough. I asked them to please give me one more hour because I preferred letting my body naturally go through the process of labor. My midwife respected my desire to wait and gave me space.
SURRENDERING TO THE CONTRACTIONS
Surprisingly, I don’t remember ANY pain within that hour and was no longer moaning or grunting between the contractions. As I sat Indian style on the hospital bed breathing in and out, in and out I surrendered myself to each surge (contraction) and let my body do what it needed to do instead of fighting it. I sat there peacefully envisioning my baby moving down. I look back now and admire that beautiful moment of labor. A little over an hour passed and the nurse came in to check me once again. She told me I was doing amazing and had progressed to a 9 ½. I felt so empowered and I knew I would make it till the very end.
THE URGE TO PUSH
10 mins after the nurse left the room I began to feel so much pressure and a strong urge to push. It felt very similar to needing to use the bathroom (a bowl movement). Listening to my body felt like the right thing to do, so I lightly pushed and pushed. I continued to surrender myself to each surge and reminded myself I would soon get a small break before the next surge began.
Soon after, they changed staff and felt so happy that a nurse I personally knew walked into the room! Even though only 20 mins passed since the last time I was checked, I asked her if she would check me again because I had a feeling I was going to have the baby. She told me I still wasn’t fully dilated and that I should wait to push. However, I chose to listen to my body instead. While on my side on the hospital bed working with my body through each surge, Chris was by my side the entire time reminding me how strong I was and how much he loved me.
Shortly after following my body’s urge to push a few times I felt something odd in between my legs. Still on my side, I slighted lifted up my leg and checked to see what it was. I looked at the nurse and said: “I feel the water bag!” She looked at me in shock and asked me what I meant. She instructed me to lay down on my back so she could check. Sure enough, our baby was coming!
DELIVERING OUR BABY
My bags were still intact! What I felt in between my legs was my baby coming out in the amniotic sac! Everything happened so quickly after that. Anna Lynn, the nurse, asked me if I would like to change positions so gravity could help our little one come out. I agreed, so I slowly got on my hands and knees on the bed while Chris rubbed my back to relieve the intense pressure I was feeling.
Anna Lynn asked me if I would like to change to a more comfortable position and I agreed. She brought up the back of the hospital bed, so I could rest my arms on the top of the bed. Chris continued to encourage me to keep listening to my body. In that moment, all I could think about was that we were about to finally meet our baby and find out the gender!
The urge to push continued to get stronger, so I surrendered and allowed my body to bring my baby down. Because I knew I was nearing the end of my labor, there was a point I began to forcefully push. Moments later, I became curious so I reached down between my legs and felt his head! His head was crowning! I panicked and started to scream. Chris quickly calmed me down and reminded me to focus on my breathing. The “ring of fire” was so intense!
Only a few minutes later I felt our baby come out and Chris announced: “It’s a boy!”. I flung around so fast, completely forgetting about the umbilical cord! Luckily it was long! I reached out and grabbed our baby. Holding him in my arms for the first time was one of the most incredible moments I have ever experienced in my life. I looked at him and remember saying “Hi baby boy! Welcome to the world.” He looked so peaceful and barely cried. Those first few whimpers were music to my ears. I felt a rush of different amazing emotions; such a euphoric natural high. Chris did the honors of cutting the umbilical cord after it stopped pulsing.
From then on, we couldn’t help but just love and admire our baby boy- our son. Welcome to the world baby boy. We love you so much.
Side Note (written 2016): Yes, having an un-medicated birth was difficult, but it was the most beautiful experience I’ve ever had. I would do it again 1000 times if I had to. Bringing baby boy into the world was the most rewarding and one of the happiest moments of my life. I can’t thank God enough for a loving, motivating, supportive husband and a healthy beautiful baby boy. Also, for such a great staff in the hospital who respected and also helped me have the labor I envisioned and hoped for. And last but not least, for my amazing mother for flying all the way to Japan to help us the first week of baby boy’s life.
If you’re pregnant and want to achieve an unmedicated birth I am here to tell you- YOU CAN DO IT! If you have any questions or just need some encouragement please feel free to contact me. I’d be more than happy to be there for you. ♥
Side Note #2 (written 2024):
Here are some lessons I learned from my first birth, plus my perspective now reading it 7 years later, as a mother of 3, doula, and childbirth educator:
Wow, I can’t believe it’s been 7 years since I wrote this birth story! I learned so much from my first birth experience. It’s true what they say, you may forget the little details of your birth many years later, but you will never forget the way you were treated and how you felt. The amount of love and attention I received from the staff and especially my husband on that day is something that I will cherish forever.
If you are pregnant and expecting, birth can be beautiful and positive! You can do this!
