Written by mama, Melissa

I knew before I ever got pregnant that I wanted to have an unmedicated birth. After all, my mom had seven, yes SEVEN, natural births. My husband and I had completed Bradley Method childbirth classes and were both onboard for a healthy, active pregnancy and birth.

I had switched over from an OB doctor to a group of midwives at a natural birthing center at around week 26 of my pregnancy. I had a friendly, capable doctor, however she was not completely onboard with my idea of an intervention-free birth, so we made the switch even though I was well along in my pregnancy. The experience and care I received there was night and day with my experience in the OB office. I was finally ready and excited to continue with the pregnancy under their care and birth at the birthing center.

Written by mama, Alexis

Oh birth… you are such an interesting beast.

I had no idea what to really expect when it came time to give birth. My husband squirms at the site of blood, or any bodily fluids, so the thought of catching a baby made him a little green. When we told my mother that we were planning a home birth I think she wondered if I had paid my taxes and my father kept asking, “What’s a Doooula?” - assuming we were incorporating voodoo into the birth. Then there was the neighbor who felt the need to warn us against a home birth because her friend ended up being rushed to the hospital. Oh, and when we mentioned we had enrolled in a hypnobabies class they all really thought we’d lost our nut. Every birth is different, every woman is different, and every baby is different. We all have our own beliefs and expectations going into birth, and I am so glad that I went into mine informed and on the one side of the spectrum and not the other.

Maybe you’re reaching your estimated due date and feel like it’s "time to do something". Or maybe you've gone past your due date with an antsy obstetrician and the threat of artificial induction is looming. If your intention is to have a natural labour and birth, be careful with the use of 'natural' methods of induction.

Any medicine, herb, or technique used to force the body/baby before it's ready can have unwanted effects and consequences. Natural birth involves a very complex series of events, with each one setting off the next. Inductions may "work", but they can also disrupt the delicate cascade of physical changes that happen during labour: triggering Y before X.

All throughout my pregnancy I’d had the suspicion that our babe was going to arrive past the estimated due date, which was May 28th, 2014. Just as I’d thought, the due date came and went. By this point I’d experienced the tease of 4 false starts. Sensations that I thought were the early stages of labour, lasting for hours each time but not progressing into anything. Luckily I wasn’t feeling anxious or impatient, but I did feel like life was almost on pause as we were waiting. The day before actual labour began, my husband Jeremy and I went to a quiet beach in West Vancouver. We relaxed in the sun, swam in the ocean, and discussed how differently our lives were about to be in a very short time. I threw up quite a bit that day, 7 or 8 times actually. I took it as a sign that my body was clearing out and getting into gear.

I’ll be honest… I was kind of intimidated by the third trimester. I felt so great in my second trimester, I didn’t want the good times to come to a crashing halt. Looking back though, I’d probably say that this third trimester has been my favorite.

People often tell me that I’m lucky after hearing about my relatively complication-free pregnancy and I definitely agree. I’ve felt excited, balanced, healthy, and really happy. I can’t totally attribute it to random luck though, like winning the lottery. Good pregnancy genes do run in my family (thanks mom!), but I also believe that eating well, staying active, and taking care of myself all greatly added to my smooth and enjoyable pregnancy.

A woman in her first trimester of pregnancy often hears that the second trimester is a mystical period of pure bliss. Besides lower energy levels, my first trimester luckily went pretty smoothly, but I was still anxiously awaiting this promised glory of the second trimester with much eagerness.

During my first trimester, whenever I had a little less “pep in my step” than usual, I would confidently assure my husband that he need not worry. As of the 14th week of pregnancy, I would enter the second trimester, and then… I would be “cured”.

The first “symptom” of pregnancy I felt was low energy. I’d heard that you felt tired in the first trimester, but I’d say that doesn’t quite describe it properly. If someone said, “You will have an unquenchable, deep and burning desire to do nothing but sleep”, it still would have seemed like an underestimate of how tired I felt.