The Business of Being Born Message Board

Baby’s Birth Date: December 5, 2005

Birth Story: It was my due date, December 4 and my husband and I enjoyed a semi-late dinner and retired to bed around 10 pm. As I was drifting off to sleep I experienced an unusual pain in my midsection. I asked Nick what time it was. 11:14. Somehow I knew labor was starting. After about 10 minutes another pain came. I asked Nick again what time it was. To which he replied, “WHY, ARE YOU IN LABOR?” I’m not sure if it was the excitement of having my first baby or how uncomfortable I was, but there was no way I was going to sleep between contractions. I labored at home all night and finally called my midwife around 3:00 am. She visited with me for about 20 minutes to get a feel of where my body was. We decided to meet at the birthing center in an hour. Nick made some coffee and prepared our things. The drive was about 35 minutes long. In that 35 minutes we had to stop twice so I could throw up on the freeway. Good thing it was the middle of the night and not rush hour traffic! My midwife, Brenda, meet us at the birthing center and we got settled in. I had always known that I wanted an unmedicated birth, and Brenda was more than happy to oblige. As the sun came up I was laboring in the birthing tub. What a difference the water makes! I would never trade that feeling for any of the drugs that other women get offered. Transition came strong and was accompanied by horrible back labor. I had Nick pushing on my lower back as I pushed on the wall. By this time I was exhausted and anything I ate came right back up. Brenda suggested a homeopathy plan to give me strength and energy to push. I happily took it. I got back into the tub as the urge to push came on strong. I pushed for what seemed like forever but finally his head was out! Brenda barely had her gloves on when I pushed the rest of my perfect baby out. The water was very comforting to him, as well as myself. At 2:44pm on December 5, 2005 Mason Wyatt Rickard was born at 7 pounds 5.5 ounces. Of course he was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and I was very grateful for all the wonderful support my midwife and her team gave me. Every one of my babies will be born in the water. I think it makes them AWESOME!