It’s taken me a bit longer than anticipated to write this post, but adjusting to being a parent of two babies has been quite an adjustment (a good one, of course!). Two weeks in and Viggo James (pronounced VEE-GO) is such a bundle of sweet love; I look forward to seeing his first smile and getting to know his personality more as the weeks and months go on.
We’ve had so much fun introducing Sidney to Viggo and it’s incredible to see how sweet he is with Viggs; he loves to give him kisses and even calls him ‘Go-go’ on occasion. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everything is peachy and easy, nor do I wish to paint that picture; it’s been challenging with Sidney going straight into toddlerhood, which includes screaming at the top of his lungs for fun, tossing the food he doesn’t like on the floor, throwing toys and only wanting mama to put him to bed. We’re not fully in toddler tantrum mode just yet, but I anticipate we’ll get there soon. Send me all your tips!
Anyway, onto the beautiful birth story of Viggo James.
Viggo was born on Saturday, April 10, 2021 at 6:36pm. The birth was nothing like I’d imagined it would be, but almost pretty much what I had hoped for: a miraculous, welcome change from Sidney’s birth story.
This story begins the day before on April 9th at around 3pm when I started noticing a slight leak in my underwear. At first, I thought, hot damn, I hope I’m not pissing my pants, but after a few hours I knew that it was more than that. The trickling continued to happen so I called Tony, who was at the grocery store, and told him to come home so we could talk about our next steps.
Now for a brief history, my water had also started leaking with Sidney and I ended up having to be induced as my contractions didn’t start for 24 hours and so I was put on Pitocin, where I went through an almost 40 hour long, horrendous, very traumatic labor. Therefore, the one thing I wanted to avoid was being induced and put on Pitocin.
Fortunately, I had discussed this scenario with my doulas, and was prepared, but that didn’t leave me any less anxious. As soon as Tony got home, we called our doula around 4pm who gave us some evidence based birth information on water breaking. Most of the time, you can be perfectly fine for up to 24 hours after your water breaks so I decided to monitor myself at home and refrained from calling my midwife, as I knew they would likely make me come in. I took my temperature every once in a while and monitored the color of my water leaking.
We decided to call Tony’s parents to give them a head’s up that within the next day we’d be heading to the hospital to meet our baby boy, we just didn’t know exactly when.
After that, we proceeded with our normal evening activities, picking up Sidney from school (he goes 3x per week), making a yummy dinner on the grill, putting Sidney down for bed, making sure everything was packed and ready to go, etc. And then I kinda started freaking out.
I thought to myself, “What if my contractions don’t start on their own?” I couldn’t help but run the scenario through my head over and over again. Being on Pitocin aka being induced, screaming in pain for hours upon hours; I wasn’t sure if I was strong enough to go through that again, yet in a way, I knew I could do anything after Sidney’s birth. That I was strong, confident and ready to meet my son. That I was meant for this.
If you’re not familiar with Pitocin, it’s the synthetic hormone of Oxytocin that helps your uterus produce contractions. Unfortunately, it’s just not the same as your body naturally producing the hormone and can create incredibly strong, painful contractions. And since I was planning an unmedicated birth, I wanted to avoid at all costs.
I spent the rest of the night doing exercises off of YouTube, including the Miles Circuit, which is known to help flip sunny side up babies and put them into the right position for birth. Still, I felt nothing. No contractions, no bleeding, no mucus. NOTHING except more water trickling down my legs every so often.
I went to bed around 10:30pm then woke up around midnight and basically laid in bed tossing and turning until 3am waiting for something to happen. I couldn’t sleep, which was even more upsetting because I knew I might have a long road ahead of me and that I’d need all of my energy to make it through. Tony woke up shortly after and so did Sidney (he typically wakes at 5am — fun!). We called my in-laws at 6am on Saturday and told them to come get Sidney as soon as they could and by 7:30am they were at our place.
After that we decided to call our doula again and talk to her about our options. I explained to her that I hadn’t made any progress, and that it had now been 16 hours since my water started leaking, but she helped to reassure me that it was okay and that I had options. We chatted about how I could go into the hospital, or how I could try a few things at home including a breast pump and castor oil. Sex for induction was out of the question because my water had broken and you don’t want to introduce any bacteria once that happens.
Now for those of you not familiar with either natural induction method (castor oil or breast pumping), I’ll briefly explain. Breast pumping can help to produce the hormone oxytocin, which is what your body naturally produces when you have contractions. Castor oil, on the other hand, is a laxative and somewhat of an old wives tale, but it’s been known to bring on labor in women. Some claim it isn’t safe, but there really haven’t been any conclusive studies. The downside is that it can potentially cause stomach upset, diarrhea, etc. so I really was unsure of this one. My nerves were really starting to kick in so I decided to think a bit and try going for a walk.
Around 8am, Tony and I grabbed some french toast at one of our favorite breakfast spots. It was absolutely delicious and I’m SO happy I fueled up. If you’re in Chicago, please go to the Golden Nugget and get their french toast. INCREDIBLE, fat, fluffy and perfectly cinnamony and sweet. While we were at breakfast, I called my friend Kristin, who had successfully used castor oil to induce herself. She had been over 41 weeks and told me that within two hours of taking castor oil she went into labor, and without any side effects. She explained that made scrambled eggs with 2 tablespoons of castor oil and had toast on the side; apparently the trick was getting protein, fat and carbs in. It gave me confidence that perhaps I wouldn’t be shitting my pants after taking it, hah!
We got back to our house around 9am and I decided that it was probably time to call my midwife, but I decided to fib and tell her that my water broke at 3am, instead of 3pm the day before. This would give me more time at home and likely less pressure and stress once I arrived at the hospital. Remember, I had been down this road before. She explained to me the process and that I’d need to head to the hospital by 3pm on Saturday (or what she thought was 12 hours since my water started leaking.) I also decided to ask her what she thought about castor oil and she said she didn’t recommend it because of the digestive upset, but that she hasn’t really seen a ton of people take it. We talked about trying a breast pump first to naturally induce and she said that she would call me back by 1pm to see if I was making any progress.
So what did ya girl do? Try to release some oxytocin hormones at home by putting on The Lucky One — a romantic movie starring Zac Efron, bouncing on an exercise ball and pumping every 30 minutes for an hour or so. If anyone could bring on contractions, it’s that sexy MF Zac Efron.
After 30 minutes, there was still nothing happening contraction wise (damn it Zac), so I figured, screw it — I’m going to try the castor oil. I cooked scrambled eggs with castor oil, then made myself a slice of peanut butter toast and mixed peanut butter with more castor oil. I used 2 tablespoons total and then after eating, decided that I should probably try and take a nap after virtually no sleep the night before.
I laid down at 10:30am and woke suddenly at 12:30pm with a pain in my stomach and thought, I really hope this isn’t gas or stomach pains, but then they continued in a pattern for the next 10 minutes. I thought that it was too good to be true: did castor oil really start my contractions?! Let’s hope this stays!
And they did. They started out 5 minutes apart for the next 20 minutes or so, then very quickly changed to being every 2 minutes apart and lasting around 30-45 seconds. They were coming strong and fast, but still incredibly manageable to what I had experienced with Sidney. I was SO FREAKING EXCITED. Like couldn’t believe that I wouldn’t have to be on pitocin aka the devil’s juice. I was ready and eager to have this baby.
Tony quickly called both our midwife and doula and explained what was happening. My doula suggested heading to the hospital sooner rather than later because with second babies, labor can happen much quicker and tends to go from 0 to 100 on short notice. The midwife told us to pay attention to the intensity of the contractions and come in when they were feeling stronger.
Everything seemed to happen within the blink of an eye. Around 2pm, Tony suggested we get into the bathtub to try and alleviate any discomfort and pain. The contractions were still coming every 1.5-2 minutes and now lasted for 45 seconds. However on a positive note, I felt completely normal in between each contraction — something that never happened for me during Sidney’s labor.
The bath was warm, comforting and felt amazing. We listened to relaxing music and timed the contractions as Tony poured water all over my belly, which by the way, felt amazing. About 20 minutes into the bath, I felt my water break a little more and started to feel some pressure down below. Things were beginning to kick up a notch intensity wise. With each contraction I took deep breaths in and out, closed my eyes and thought about my cervix opening up. It sounds crazy but it was literally all I could think about, and somehow I instinctively knew it was helping.
By 2:45pm, roughly 2 hours after my contractions started, I could tell Tony was getting worried. I finally got out of the bath, sat on the toilet, saw light bleeding and felt another gush of water. I agreed it was time to head to the hospital as the contractions were now 1.5 minutes apart, fairly intense and lasting nearly a minute. Again, none of the contractions felt like they were unbearable like they did when I was in labor with Sidney, therefore I felt like I still had a long road ahead but agreed to head to the hospital to give us time.
We texted our doula to meet us at the hospital and left our house around 3pm. The ride to the hospital was TERRIBLE. Sitting in the seated position with a seatbelt on and feeling every Chicago city street bump was the worst imaginable thing at that moment. I remember screaming in the car and telling Tony to drive carefully but to get us there quickly. Thankfully, we live roughly 10 minutes from the hospital, so we got there around 3:15pm and I hobbled my way into the lobby, doubling over from a contraction or two halfway there. Tony whisked me away in the wheelchair and off we went to labor and delivery.
Once there and checked in, my midwife checked my cervix and told me I was a 4. Hearing that number was somehow both encouraging and devastating to me. With Sidney it took me over 12 hours to get to a 4 and much longer after that to get to a 10. I was worried that this was only the beginning and that somehow I’d be in labor until Sunday. I felt a little panicked, but in another sense, I felt eager that this could all happen very quickly.
And then I suddenly felt dizzy, hot, nauseated and…HUNGRY. I told Tony I needed to eat and drink something because I felt like my blood sugar was low (my body was doing so much work!), so he busted out some jelly beans from Trader Joe’s and I shoveled them into my mouth in between contractions while standing naked next to the hospital bed. So typical of me, hah.
Heather, my doula, who is one of the most supportive people on this earth, was rubbing my back with essential oil blends and reassuring me how great of a job I was doing. I breathed into every contraction, ate my jelly beans and mentally prepared for birth. I would meet my sweet little boy so soon and I was THRILLED, honestly. I leaned into the pain, took the deepest breaths I could gather in my lungs and blew it all out. I held Tony’s hand with one of my hands and rubbed it with the other hand through each contraction. His touch made me feel safe and confident.
Around 4:30pm, my doula suggested we get into the bath or shower to alleviate some pain, and because she knew how much I loved being in the water when I labored with Sidney. I tried the shower for a bit, doing some positions to help open my cervix and then quickly decided to lay on my side in the bath. The contractions began to grow more and more intense and lasted for a minute each, coming every 2 minutes. As the intensity of the contractions grew, so did the pressure in my vagina and near my butt.
I have to say that I never once had the urge to quit or throw in the towel or give up like I did during my first labor. This was such a different feeling. I kept asking my doula if I would know when it would be time to push and she told me I would know, then suggested that I check to see if I could feel the head. She told me that the last few contractions had seemed very intense and like everything was picking up. I was doubtful I’d feel anything at all, but I stuck a finger inside and felt the top of his head. I was in shock. It was almost time to meet my boy.
At 5:45pm, my doula told the nurse to get the midwife and that I could feel his head and immediately the nurses began to get everything ready for delivery and the midwife came swooping in. I quickly got out of the bath, had a few more contractions before I could make it over to the bed and then had my midwife check me. She said I was a 9.5 and that I was ready after just a few more contractions or whenever I felt the urge to push.
This time around, pushing felt harder for me for some reason. Even though I only pushed for roughly 35 minutes, it was truly so exhausting and sometimes even discouraging when you feel like you aren’t making progress.
At one point it felt like one of my ligaments seized up and like someone was breaking my hip/pelvis in half. It was awful. I had to adjust positions a bit and felt some relief. Soon enough we could see his head and after a few more pushes, he was out.
At 6:36pm, approximately 6 hours from the start of my contractions, Tony caught him and cut his umbilical cord and placed him on my chest. I couldn’t believe it.
Viggo James Bucciferro. 8 pounds, 9 ounces of pure perfection. And born at 39 weeks 3 days. My beautiful boy.
Everything about his labor, birth and delivery was so much easier, so much more welcomed. I did have a 2nd degree tear but it was so small that I just needed a few stitches. Recovery has been a world of difference, and for that I am grateful.
So there you have it! That’s the birth story of Viggo James. I’m adjusting to being a mama of two little boys now, but feeling so much love for my family. Thanks for reading — xo.
61 comments
Such a beautiful birth story, Monique. Thank you for sharing this magic with all of us! Reading this brings me right back to the birth of my daughter (first child) in July (although I ended up succumbing to the pain and getting an epidural). Birth is truly the most supernatural process on earth. You are a magical warrior mama. I’m so thrilled for you and your family. Hugs from a stranger in Minneapolis!
Thank you so much, Jenna! Every birth story is incredible and yes, supernatural! Back at you 🙂
Absolutely beautiful story, baby, and mama! Congratulations on your growing family!
Thank you! ❤️
Oh gosh, reading the last half of this made me remember it all over again. I had an epidural with my first because at my last opportunity to get one the woman next door started screaming bloody murder and I panicked, haha. My other two were natural/unmedicated. If you guys decide to have a 3rd then a can wrapped in a dish towel placed on your lower back offers some counter-pressure and makes the drive to the hospital so much more comfortable. Congratulations to you and Tony! ❤️
Truly something you can’t forget! Great tip on the car ride – we’ll have to try that next time haha. Thanks so much!!
Congratulations! He’s truly beautiful. So glad you had a positive and empowering birth 💕 You’re a rock star!
Thank you!! Me too 🙂
That is an unbelievable story – I have the chills! Congratulations to you! You’re so strong!
Thanks for sharing,
Nicole 🙂
Thanks so much!!
Congratulations and thanks for sharing your birthing story. I’m so glad it wasn’t as painful and long labor as your first. What a beautiful family.
Thank you, Jen! 🙂
Congratulations mama! I’m so happy for you and your beautiful family! Our own little one was born on April 10 too!! He is our first and we named him Finn. He was 4 weeks early and we had to do a last-minute c-section at the end, but both mama and baby are doing great! Again, so happy for you and thank you for sharing <3. XOXO
Thank you so much! So happy to hear that you and baby are doing well, too 🙂 sending love!
Newsflash Monique- if it wasn’t for Pitocin for your last birth, you would either end up with a c section, or back in the day- dead. So let’s instead celebrate each birth story without bashing modern medicine that offers so much to women who need that extra help to give birth (aka you during your first labor). No need to delete comments that call you out on it because it’s irresponsible to negatively talk about induction , Pitocin or traditional methods and make them sound like it’s some kind of horror
Oh my gosh, this brings back so many memories! My first labor experience was really similar to your first – water broke, no contractions, foley bulb, caster oil (with the unpleasant side effects), and eventually the misery of pitocin- but thankfully mine wasn’t such a long labor. Bless you! The second time around felt so much easier by comparison. Congratulations on your beautiful boys. You’re one strong mama!
It’s so interesting how different the experiences can be! Thanks so much 🙂 Back at you, mama!
How far apart r your boys? My oldest r 15 months apart to the day. R u breastfeeding? When I had my oldest, Emma, my goal was to nurse for 2 years. I had really bad allergies. When I was 5 in ‘80 or ‘81, I had allergy testing done. This was b4 scratch tests. I had 175 injections in 5 days. I was NOT allergic to 3 things. The allergy doc told my Mom I needed to go on rotation diets so I would end up allergic to those 3 things. Mom did breastfeed me, but the nurses in the hospital I was born did not think breast was best, so I was given a bottle. I was one of the lazy babies u r warned about when u r told don’t give an artificial nipple until nursing is well established. Bottle feeding is easier as u don’t use many to muscles to bottle feed versus breast feeding. When I was about 5 months with Liam, my milk started turning back to colostrum. For a day, Emma kept sticking her out her tongue & making faces when she nursed. When she went to bed that night, she didn’t want to nurse again. I weaned Liam & my youngest Hanna when they both turned 2. Liam & Hanna were not impressed I weaned them. They both had temper tantrums. I started school to become a nurse when Hanna was 8 months old. As I said I continued to nurse Hanna until she was 2. I’m so glad I did. During the first semester Swine flu went around. Hanna’s Dad & I both caught it. We both had chills, body aches, vomiting 🤮 & diarrhea. Hanna did not thx to antibodies in breastmilk. ❤️
It’s wonderful how you’ve shared your journey with all of us. Not only do we get to enjoy the scrumptious recipes you create, but to be part of a very special day for you–congrats to you and hubby! Viggo is precious and I love his name! Best wishes to you all.
PS I used to frequent the Golden Nugget during the 80’s–incredible breakfasts–you brought back good memories by mentioning it!
Absolutely! Thanks so much for reading 🙂 Omg LOVE Golden Nugget – glad to hear someone else is a fan, too!
Congratulations y’all from Austin, TX! I love your birth story, you’re such a superstar! You have been a saving grace in my life during these difficult times and I have had you and your Ambitious Kitchen there to keep me sane and cooking like a fiend! Thank you for all that you contribute to the world and for sharing such a lovely story of babies, family and love – always with entertainment value! Many blessings to you and your family!
Thank you so much! I hope you keep finding new favorite, nourishing recipes here 🙂
So beautiful, congratulations MAMA!!!
Thank you!!
Such a wonderful, amazing, beautiful story. Just like reading Sydney’s story, I was tearful with joy. Congratulations to you and your precious family. I know you are over the moon in love.
I have been following your blog now since it’s creation, and was so happy to see when you were pregnant with Sydney, as I was expecting my first baby (a boy), as well.
You have been such an amazing resource for me over the years (both in and out of the kitchen), but in particular I owe you sole credit for introducing me to Evidence Based Birth (and Branch Basics!). What an amazing educational resource for women to have prior to giving birth.
I was thrilled to see baby Viggo enter the world and to read his story. I don’t normally post things like this, and I know we have never met, but I felt like I needed to say congratulations and thank you!
Congrats mama! You rock!
Carrie
Thank you so much, Carrie! I’m glad you’re finding some great resources here – I love to share what has been working for me in hopes that it might help someone else out 🙂 So fun that your son and Sidney are close to the same age, too!
This story is incredibly irresponsible. If you’re pregnant and reading this, don’t lie to your doctor. Take medical advice from your doctor, not a doula or a friend with no medical background. Monique’s story ended happily, but that is not the case for all women.
You’re right, that isn’t the case. But this is my story, not anyone else’s. Oh and by the way: my doula is a midwife as well, so I happily took medical advice from her.
Your comments about Pitocin are annoying. If you used MODERN MEDICINE, you’d be fine. Instead you are LYING to medical professionals and thinking you’ll come out of the process better. Stop giving medical advice to your community. No one respects you for it. It’s comical.
Thanks for your opinion. I didn’t want to get an epidural nor be on pitocin — if women do, that’s completely fine. This isn’t an opinion piece, it’s my real life. Came out of the process just fine. Also, just a note: I haven’t given any medical advice. Do what works for you!
Props to you for that kind and tactful response to a comment that was neither of those, Monique. I find myself baffled as to the extreme defensiveness of some here regarding Pitocin and their criticism of you for your opinion on it (which I think you are spot on about).
Congratulations to you and your family! Baby Viggo looks so precious! Thank you for sharing your story with us. Glad that this birth was less intense that Sidney’s and hoping he is enjoying is new role as big brother.
Thanks so much! Such a welcomed difference 🙂
I have loved your recipes for years and you have a beautiful family! Especially love following you now for ideas on what to feed littles. I can’t help but notice that you have deleted comments of people that offered criticism of your birth story. If I am being sincere, as a physician, I was rather disappointed with the way you spoke about not telling your healthcare provider the true nature of the events. You are a visible role model for a lot of women, and that kind of language could promote rifts between women and their healthcare providers and behaviors that could lead to poor outcomes. You have very strong opinions and desires, and that is commendable, but I would be really careful about the language you use regarding them. It would be just heartbreaking if this site became an echo chamber for all things anti-medicated birth, anti-pitocin, etc. I think the most important thing for a woman is to find a midwife or OBGYN she trusts and she can be upfront with about her goals of care. It’s also extremely important that women understand that births don’t always go according to plan, and that they are not failures if this happens, and that sometimes we have to put those desires aside for the safety of our babies and ourselves. As a physician myself it was a dialogue with my OB/Gyn in regards to my prenatal care and son’s birth–sometimes we agreed, sometimes we didn’t, but most of all we respected each other. Misleading her with my history would have broken that relationship. And, at the end of the day it was that respect and trust I wanted in the delivery room.
Hi Katie! I want to be cautious here, because I do respect your role as a physician, but I also respect my role as a mother and one who educated herself regarding her body and the choices I get to make for my own health care. Sharing this story wasn’t meant to encourage anyone to do anything; it was merely sharing my son’s birth story. I also think it’s important to highlight that my doula is actually a midwife and that I trust her, so while I understand where you are coming from, I also don’t want you to paint a picture that I don’t respect my healthcare provider. What was important for me, was of course to have a good outcome for both myself and my son, but I’m also educated enough to advocate for myself when it comes to making my own decisions. It’s a simple as that. What I desire and want for myself, may not be the same choices as other women — sometimes we have to realize that what we hold in our own personal beliefs aren’t necessarily the same for others. Instead of tearing me down and perhaps even sermonizing that my site become ‘an echo chamber for all things anti-medicated birth, anti-pitocin, etc’ (which I don’t preach by the way, these are just my personal preferences) maybe you could be more accepting that this was a personal choice, and at the end of the day what I wanted in the delivery room, may not have been the same as what you personally desire. Respect women’s choices, and maybe respect that this is my story — and just that, a factual story, not an opinionated piece on what pregnant women should or shouldn’t do.
I haven’t seen anyone comment that they had an issue with you not wanting pitocin or an epidural. No one is saying that you shouldn’t have a choice.
You are promoting advocating for yourself—which is good, and what women should be doing. But you’re not actually advocating for yourself—you’re lying to get what you want. You’re touting distrust in medical professionals. You’re heavily implying that if you had been open with your doctor your birth experience would not have been positive.
Whether you like it or not, you’re an influencer, and women may see this positive story and want to emulate it for their own births.
Monique–I do respect women and support them in their choices. You do not actually know what my preferences were, what were even reasonable and safe options for me based on my case, or what I discussed with my birth team. If you want to keep interventions minimal–excellent! Doula involvement has good evidence for improving outcomes, and lord knows mamas need more support before, during, and after birth. If you and your team have decided that induction is what is right for you, great! If you are giving birth via C-section, wonderful! It is dangerous, however, to regard any one of these plans so high that you lie to/mislead your birth team about it.
Very well said, I agree. I think it can be told in a more responsible and respectful manner
Wonderful story and truly incredible of you to do a natural birth like this. Congrats ! I will however say, that given your large following, i wouldn’t give Pitocin such a bad rep and make moms feel guilty or scared to get “the devil’s juice.” It’s truly life saving in many cases (you did after all have 40 hour labor in spite of it , without it who knows what would happen) and I’m very grateful for it myself, as my induction was a good experience.
Beautiful! Congratulations momma ♥️ Castor oil is no joke. My midwife makes up a concoction that is called the drink. My first birth started normal. So starting the second with the Castor oil was intense. Man, that was a wild ride! Enjoy your babymoon
Thank you, Stacey! So different for every birth and every person!
~ THANK YOU SO MUCH, for your so much inspirational experience.
~ You are a true over-achiever, as most woman tend to be.
~ I recommend next time, to intake natural lubricants (sunflower oil), electrolytes (grapefruit juice), & carbohydrates (long-lasting energy reserves)/calories (quick energy), that will ease alot of discomfort before birth & during parting.
~ Natural God Bless, Natural God Send, & Natural God Speed
~ Sorry, my website is down for updates for a while.
Such a beautiful story!!!! Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you for reading! 🙂
I loved your story!!! I hate to read the mean things people say. You did an amazing job! And it’s so interesting to hear your perspective from your first birth to your second birth.
Congratulations, Monique! It was really interesting and helpful to hear how you used castor oil. It definitely gets a bad rap, but I understand the desire to help get labor going actively, especially after my first two babies were both born at or just before 41 weeks, at which point my OB typically has an induction scheduled, which I wanted to avoid, but didn’t with my second, though fortunately it worked out fine. For my third baby’s birth, my husband and I barely made it to the hospital in time! We have a 45 minute drive to the hospital and I was still talking between contractions, so we were concerned we might be leaving too early, but his official birth time was 15 minutes after we checked in at the main desk. (And I had just refused the wheelchair on the way up! Hah! I had no idea baby was so close!) Things kicked up as soon as I went to change into my labor gown and our son was born before my doctor could reach the hospital! 😅
Thanks so much! And yes it really is to each her own with birth plans – they can be so unpredictable (as I see you experienced with your third!!)
I’m so genuinely happy for you!! I kept hoping and sending positive birth vibes your way in the last few weeks of your pregnancy! I recently had a redemptive second birth after a very traumatic first birth. There’s nothing more empowering and emotionally healing than getting to have your “dream birth” your way- without all the poking and prodding and medical interventions. Like you, I also had a much smoother recovery as a result. I wish you and your family much joy as you adjust to life with two!! ❤️
Thank you so much, Lisa! And yes, it makes such an incredible difference. So glad your second went just as well!
Congratulations, Monique! I love birth stories, and I’m so glad to hear this one was the experience you were hoping for. My second (and third/fourth) were exponentially more enjoyable for me, too! 😉
Thanks so much! Happy to hear that 🙂 They’re all so unique!
Thank you so much for sharing your story 🙂 And congratulations! What a beautiful babe he is, and you are one strong mama!
Absolutely! Thank you so much 🙂
Hi thanks for sharing! I just want to comment on ‘the ride to the hospital was terrible’ that is precisely why I do home birth! So much more cozy and intuitive and no bumping around in a car when you’re in agony from contractions. I’ve had two babies at home and their births were beautiful 😍 good luck with your two babies! I hope you get a lot of help with housework and childcare because it’s impossible for one lady to do by herself!
Hello, thank you so much for sharing this amazing birth story! I am pregnant myself, and new in the Chicago area, and was wondering if you’d be willing to share resources regarding midwives / doulas. Thank you so much in advance for any pointers / directions, and thank you again for sharing your beautiful journey! Kate
I forgot to ask whether you have thoughts on any Chicago area obgyns, and whether you saw one along with your midwife / doula. Thank you!!!
I was with a midwife only. 🙂
hi, I don’t feel comfortable sharing this publicly, but I will say that Yelp has pretty good reviews on doulas!
Thank you for sharing your birth story! ☺️ I read it after it was first published, and just read it again as I’m 41+ weeks and have been trying to induce naturally. My midwife practice recommended castor oil to me today after going in for a sweep, herbal tinctures, and pumping. It’s lovely to hear how it worked for you (and your friend) and put me in a better headspace before taking it a little while ago. Fingers crossed I’ll be holding my baby soon! 🤞🏻
Hi, Lindsey! HUGE congrats on being almost across the finish line. Glad this was helpful 🙂 Sending a big hug your way!!
So happy to hear this was a smoother delivery for you! I’m 41+ weeks with my second and wondering if you could share what castor oil you used … I’m at that point where I’m ready to give it a try! Thanks Monique!