Natural Birth without Fear 

As I always say, birth stories must be told, documented, and shared so we all learn from each other’s experience. Therefore, it is an honor to share Gifti’s natural birth story here.  

Before we jump into her birth story, let me briefly introduce Gifti. She is a mom of two boys (the birth story she is sharing here is her second birth)

Gifti is a graphic designer by profession. She does design part-time. Check out some of her work here. Currently, she is a full-time stay-at-home mom. She is passionate about nontoxic living, gentle and respectful parenting, she follows baby-led weaning feeding, and raises her bilingual kids in a Montessori-inspired environment. Gifiti resides in the DMV area in the US. 

She generously shares her motherhood journey, helpful parenting tips, Montessori activities, and recipes on her Instagram account. Check her account here if you don’t already; you would benefit greatly. 

Natural Birth without Fear 

written by Gifti Bayou 

Pregnancy 

At the beginning of my pregnancy, I had sickness for the first 14 weeks and I was so miserable and tired. I spent most of my pregnancy’s first-trimester sleep. 

After 14 weeks it was the easiest pregnancy. I thought my first pregnancy was easy but this one was much easier, especially at the end. 

I went to my chiropractor at least once a week and that gave my body so much lightness. Even though I had a toddler at home I did not find my pregnancy slowing me down. I had my full energy until the day I gave birth but I rested as much as I could and listened to my body throughout. 

The only thing that bothered me was I had sleep apnea starting in the middle of the second trimester. Regardless of when I go to bed I would wake up around 3 am and would not be able to sleep. To make up for that I made sure I take naps whenever my toddler sleeps during the day.

Last Trimester and Labor 

Since I was induced for my first pregnancy, I had no idea how my body would react at the end of this pregnancy. But I thought I would have my baby by around 39 weeks. 

However, 39 weeks rolled over, and nothing. My Baby, by then, was head down but was posterior. I had very few Braxton hicks at night, but nothing uncomfortable. Considering how comfortable my body felt, I was a little worried that my body was not doing much and that this pregnancy would end up going to 42+ weeks. Even though I worried, I kept listening to some affirmations and doing all I could to get my body ready. 

At 39 weeks +5 days, I had an appointment with my midwife. For this pregnancy, I decided not to get a routine cervix checkup to see how dilated I am because that is not a real indication of when labor will start. However, curiosity got the best of me, and since I was only two days away from my due date, I wanted to know if my body was progressing in any way, so I  asked to be checked at this appointment. 

When my midwife checked me, she said I was about 1cm dilated and about 60% effaced. At the end of my checkup, both my midwife and I concluded that the baby wouldn’t come this week. And she told me to do more walking and exercise, and if the baby is not here by the end of 41 weeks, we will talk about a natural way of introducing labor. 

Delivery Day

At 39 weeks and 6 days, the day after my check-up, I had a slow start to the day, I took a nap in the morning, and in the afternoon, when my toddler took a nap, I went out for a walk and coffee with my mom. We had a good 45min walk, and by the end, I could feel the baby pushing down pretty hard, but nothing out of the ordinary. 

For the rest of the afternoon, I had no cramps or discomfort. I had dinner, and afterward, I started doing the miles circuit exercises at around 11 pm to help the baby position right. While doing the exercises, I watched a movie on my phone to distract myself.

At around 11:30 pm, I started having some mild contractions, which felt a little different than my usual Braxton Hicks I have been feeling. But I was so forced to finish my movie I did not pay too much attention to it. At around midnight, the contraction became very obvious but still not painful. 

By 12:30’ I told my husband, “I think I’m having contractions,” as calmly as possible so as not to freak him out. I kept calm, breathing and talking through them quickly. I figured it was the start of labor. I wanted to rest to give my body some rest before the real contractions hit, so I decided to head to bed. But after going into the bedroom and laying down to sleep for a few min, the contractions became pretty intense, and I was uncomfortable. 

I decided to get out of bed and shower to see if labor would ease up. I jumped into the shower at around 1:00 am. My labor was getting very intense and coming in close together. It didn’t slow down at all. 

By then, I started getting worried, and I thought if I was feeling this much intensity at the start of labor, I was worried about what it would feel like when “the real” labor started. 

I prayed, danced, and sang in the shower while laboring. I decided to time my contractions to see if what I was feeling was real. To my surprise, I was having contractions every two minutes that stayed for about 50 seconds. Then when I got out of the shower my contractions changed into a pushing sensation ( which freaked me out) then we decided to call my doula and midwife. 

My Birth plan was to labor at home as long as possible and do a water birth at the birth center. At this point, I have only been in active labor for about 1:30 hours. I felt my body was playing a trick on me but I had involuntarily started pushing by this time. 

By 2 am I was laboring in my living room and things were getting very intense. While I was laboring my husband was on the phone with my midwife, she could hear me through the phone and could tell I was in the second stage of labor so she told us to immediately meet her at the birth center. She lives about 40min away from the center and we are 10min away. So my husband got our bags in the car, I got dressed pretty slowly and labored, kneeling and resting my head on a birth ball until our midwife called us that she was near the birth center and for us to leave our house. We left around 2:20 Am and arrived at the birth center around 2:30 AM. 

After reaching the birthing center,  I started laboring by the bed standing, the baby was fully engaged and making his way down. By 3:00 pm the pushing sensation was so strong and the baby was pushing down hard but he was pushing against my tailbone so I needed to change position. My midwife suggested I move to the bed and labor.

I labor in bed for about an hour and the baby was born in his sack without my water breaking at 4:19 am. He kicked his leg out of the sack and my midwife lifted the rest of the sack off his face. We were able to do skin-to-skin and delayed umbilical cord clamping. And enjoy our baby un rushed. 

Since everything progressed so fast we didn’t have time to use the bathtub or for my doula to help with laboring. Nevertheless, my husband did an amazing job coaching me to breathe, giving me a back massage, and being just so supportive through it all, he was the best doula I could have asked for. I would say investing our time to take a natural birth course together and equipping my husband with techniques to help me cope with labor was one of the best things. 

Baby Eban was born on his exact due date weighing 8 pounds and 20 inches of perfection. Then we were home by 10 am introducing our new baby to our toddler and my mom.

Overall, this pregnancy and delivery exceeded my expectations. Carrying a baby and delivering is a miracle in itself. We, as women, are amazingly made, and I am forever grateful and amazed by it all.

For this pregnancy, I was very intentional in my prayer and preparing emotionally. I prayed for very specific things and God truly answered my prayers. 

I asked: 

• Healthy pregnancy and baby 
• To have energy and not to get weary at the end of the third trimester 
• To give natural birth before/near/on my due date ( not to exceed 40 weeks) 
• For a short labor 
• For my water to be intact until the end ( last time labor was intense after my water broke) 
• To give natural birth at the birth center ( not to be transferred to the hospital) 
• Easy recovery 

Natural birth is beautiful, intense, and strong and so are we!! Once we see the awe of all and how we are created so incredibly, nothing will stop us from having our dream birth mamas. But just know, the primary and beautiful thing about birth is a healthy mama holding her healthy baby. That by itself is a pure miracle and you are all remarkable.