Stacy's Journey to Unassisted Childbirth 

My story starts when I was 16 years old. Yes, at this tender age I found out I was pregnant.   I came from a good background - my mom is a vet and my father, a navy seal captain. It was to be their first grandchild.  I was terrified to tell them but I did.

At around 20 weeks, I had an ultrasound.   I watched the woman's face as it changed from cheery to blank.  She informed me there was something that looked not right.  She wasn't willing to tell me what though she said the doctor would call me to tell me the results.  The next day my doctor called.   She said there were complications and that I should come in.   I did.  My doctor sat me down and told me that my unborn daughter would be Down syndrome and gave me the option to abort her even at the 20 week mark.  She explained to me that with me being 16 there was probably no way I could afford the costs of a Down Syndrome baby.   She told me they have full time needs and require 24/7 care.   That would mean me dropping out of school and probably never getting a college degree or a good enough job to pay for this sort of thing.   She encouraged me that even though abortion was a hard thing to think about it was the best way to go.

Well, I was not going to have that.   I told her that even if the baby had problems she was still my baby and in my beliefs everything happens for a reason.   Maybe this was to make me stronger.

At 34 weeks, I went into labor.  The doctors tried everything they could to stop it, but this baby was coming no matter what.  My doctor came in the room and told me that for my size 5'2 and normally 100 lbs, that my pelvis was just too small to pass the baby.   I would need an c-section and me being so young and dumb I believed her.    So off to the operating room I went and 30 minutes later my baby girl was born.   But here's the surprise...

Skye was born 100 percent normal no down syndrome and 7 lbs 11 oz.   Rather big I thought for a 34 week old baby.  Still to this day, I think of when they told me to abort her.   What if I would have listened?   What if I  would have been that vain to abort something less than perfect?   Shame on them for what they tried to fill my head with.

After that I will never trust a doctor again.

Now my daughter is 7 years old and I found out I was pregnant again. This time would be different.   This time I would do things my way and nobody would scare me into believing I had to follow some mainstream way of having babies.

Pregnancy was good - no problems at all.  My ultrasound was good - no false accusations.  I decided I would have an unassisted homebirth this time. My husband didn't want anything to do with it but he came around in the last few months. He would catch the baby, something he had been robbed of doing with our first c-section.

My daughter and I were in the kitchen tie-dying clothes for the new baby who we did not know the sex of, when I heard a loud POP it took my by surprise.  I had no idea what it was and then I felt a gush of fluid between my legs.   I have seen in movies and heard stories of waters breaking but I never knew they popped like that.   So I wrapped up the hippy session with my daughter and went to take a bath.  My husband was out back (he makes custom cars) and he was greased up from head to toe.   I had sent my daughter out back to fetch him when I went to the bath.   He came running in scared white.  "Is it coming?" he asked. "Skye said you peed your water bag out".   I laughed and I told him it would be a while.   Well, I was wrong.

I sent husband and daughter to my mothers so she could watch Skye overnight for us. Husband was only gone about a half hour. When he got back he washed up really good and asked if he could check.

I hadn't been able to see my vagina for some time, but when he tried to enter me with his fingers, I could tell he didn't get far when he said "What is this?"   "I have no idea", I said.  "What does it feel like?"   He said it felt like a ball of goo.   I thought it was my cervix. I had no idea. We relaxed thinking it was my cervix and we had a while to prepare.  My husband went about cleaning the bed and putting towels in the dryer so they would be warm.   I was trying to put on new sheets when I felt the baby slide downwards - it was a relief on my lungs.  But, I had the strangest sensation on my clitoris - it felt stimulated from the inside and for about 5 minutes it was oddly pleasurable then all of a sudden bam I had a horrable contraction it was the first one and it was painful.   I called for my husband.   He came and rubbed my head and told me how beautiful I was and how strong my body was and that he believed I could do this.   I asked him to check inside of me again to see if he felt anything different this time his fingers only went in about a half inch or so. That thing we had passed off as my cervix was actually the baby's head.   This time it was much lower.  But up until that one contaction, I had felt no pain.

With the next contraction, I partially squatted in the middle of it.   I felt a horrible burning sensation and my husband said "Babe, the head is almost out".   I didn't have a contaction right after that but I gave a big push and it came out to the shoulders.   Then I didn't have another contraction for about 5 minutes.   I stood there with a baby head halfway out of me with my husband supporting its head.   Then finally a big contraction and it slipped out.   I laid on the bed and my husband passed the baby to me. "What is it?", I asked.  "It's a girl", he said.   I was overwhelmed with joy.

I put her to my breast to nurse.   I had heard that helps expel the placenta.  As soon as she latched on I felt another contraction take over me.  " Rhe placenta is coming", I told my husband.  He ran to get a bowl.  I pushed and he said he saw a bulge but then surprise...

"It's a HEAD", he said.  I didn't believe him.  " That's so not funny," I scoffed, but then I felt the burning in my vagina and had to give it my all to get whatever it was out of me. My husband's face lit up with joy.  " The head is out- one more push" he said.   I was like "Oh my God, you're not kidding!  There is another one in there?  "Yes" he said.  "Give me one more push, babe".   I did and the second baby started to cry.  "Where do I put him", my husband asked .  "It's a boy this time".   I was so happy - a boy and a girl.   I put him on the other breast and my husband ran to get towels out of the dryer.

From start to finish it took 52 minutes to have my twins.

My girl weighed 6lbs 11oz and my boy weighed 7lbs 4 oz.  I never knew i was carrying twins - I had even had an ultrasound.

The placentas came out about a half hour later, intact and looking good. Well, as good as a bloody bag of goo can look.

Dad cut the cords when they were done pulsating and limp. We only had one cord clamp so we didn't even tie off the boy baby's cord and it is fine.

They are now one month old and doing awesome.  They are nursing like champs. We were in the newspaper for our unusual birth and everyone knows us now.  We live in a town of maybe only 200,000 people  - not too big.

Their cords fell off in 4 days, both of them.   I was back to work in one week part time only.   I am a tattoo artist so I make my own hours and my husband works on cars from home so we don't really have 9-5 jobs, which is nice for the family.  So in just one day we went from 3 to 5.

It was so amazing to know that those babies I had all by myself.   No doctor, just me and my husband. Very private, very intimate and I would never do it at a hopital again. I recommend homebirth all the way.

Women are meant to have babies: we are strong, we are powerful.   Pregnancy is not a disease, and in my opinion doesn't have to be controlled by anyone but the woman.

I believe I felt very little pain due to the fact I didn't know what to expect.   I hadn't been scared into thinking it would be deadly painful.   I was in my own home with the man I love.  I wasn't at all scared and remained calm.

I also had no pain after the births. No tearing in my vagina and my bleeding stopped 9 days after birth.   But I am normally a very light bleeder maybe that why I'm not sure.

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Page Last Modified by Catherine Beier, MS, CBE