The Baby Diaries
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Welcome to our Baby Diaries page! We feel that by simply knowing what other Moms and Dads have experienced in the journey of becoming parents, you will feel a bit more at ease with your situation.
If nothing else, our hope is that you will know that you are not alone.
The Baby Diaries are comprised of shared stories from all types of parents with all sorts of backgrounds.
Whether you are pregnant now, adopted your little one, went through IVF, had a surrogate, are an experiencedMom or Dad, or you're any other person that has had the opportunity to experience
the joys and trials of this journey, we want to hear from you!
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We couldn't have said it any better ourselves, so we borrowed this from our friend Anna S.: |
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"Every birth is unique and every parent has a story to tell. That's what makes the miracle of life truly a miracle. You can plan what you think your ideal birth scenario is, but nature has her own plan for you and you never know what it is until you're in labor. No matter what, the process of giving birth is quite a right of passage that every mother goes through - whether the labor is quick or long, easy or hard, the process you go through brings you closer to your family and your baby and changes you forever.
We had a birth plan going into labor, but we quickly learned that you have to be flexible. The most important part is that everyone came out healthy and we finally got to meet our baby."
Anna's Birth Diary is shared with us below
Thanks Anna!
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As written by Brianna Y. from Tulsa, Oklahoma:
During my pregnancy, people were placing bets on when my little girl would be born. Six months before she was due, my husband chose November 9th as his date. He never veered...always stuck to that date. My little girl, Lily, now 9 months old, was breech for my entire pregnancy. I had low amniotic fluid so the doctor didn't want to risk turning her. We decided to schedule a C-section. The doctor was chatting it up with my husband, and they discussed the bets. The doctor scheduled the C-section for November the 9th. I told me husband that he was cheating, but he didn't think so. So, on the morning of November the 9th, I woke up at 3 am to my water breaking. My little girl WANTED to be born on November the 9th! My husband had chosen her birthday correctly after all! Or do my husband and daughter just have so magical connection? I have no idea...but it makes a great story!! |
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As written by Cara T. from Bellevue, Washington:
So, about four months ago I sat on my toilet staring at two pink lines. Pregnant! There was nothing really for me to do, but start laughing hysterically! This is how my fiance found me. He, of course, was delighted! He had been wanting to procreate. Me, my feelings had not congealed into anything quite recognizable as an actual emotion. I mean, how did this happen?!? Ok, I know how it happened, but how did it happen to me despite all my good intentions for it not to? At some point in the next few weeks I stopped laughing hysterically and found that there is a lot about pregnancy people don't tell you.
First of all, you become totally and completely crazy. I started reading books about being pregnant. I decided that I want to have a natural birth as I usually don't like to take medicines and drugs and I don't want some doctor to be more involved in my birth experience than me. So, I started watching the online videos of births. Now, this is actual torture and I have to say that while watching these, the hysterical laughter returned. Who wants to see this? I'm sitting there watching a head the size of a cantelope emerging out of some woman's vagina and the voice over is saying calmly, "now, some women feel some pressure here." No kidding! Larry came home one night and I told him calmly that he would have to go through labor for me. I've decided that it's not for me. Then I started reading about babies around the world. I found that an American baby is the most wasteful baby in the world! We use the most resources than any other baby. So, yet again, Larry came home to me sifting through our personal belongings, looking for things to donate to justify how wasteful our baby was going to be.
Now, people tell you all the time how much you're going to like your pregnant breasts. Especially someone like me, who started out with apricots. First, you start growing some peaches, then oranges, and by the time you starting to get really excited about your grapefruits you realize that there is something roughly the size of a melon emerging from your middle! Secondly, I feel as though I'm growing a second baby in my rear! I'm not one of the lucky ones who just grows the belly and the boobs, no way! I puffed up everywhere! If this trend continues, you really won't be able to tell whether I'm coming or going. I want to walk around telling people...perhaps even perfect strangers that I'm pregnant, I'm not fat. So, I have these episodes where I feel so fat and ugly and I get obsessive about this changing body, then I think about how miraculous it is that my body is growing this little thing inside! I then start feeling like Shera or Wonderwoman or something. I'm amazing! This body is amazing! I think I did mention mood swings.
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As written by Anna S. in Redmond, WA:
I knew that Zoe was going to arrive within a day or two when I woke up on Monday. Some pre-labor signs had started & I went through the whole day having on & off contractions. They weren't heavy & definitely weren't regular or progressive, but everyone was on alert. That night, we ate dinner for what would be the last time as a family of two & went to sleep.
At 5:40 am on Tuesday, I woke up to use the bathroom - that's when I suspected that my water broke. It wasn't a huge gush like you hear about in movies - just a slow trickle that was very hard to figure out. I suddenly got very excited & woke my husband Vadim up. Our Doctor told us to come into the hospital so we could make sure that it was definitely my water that had broken.
The hospital confirmed that my water had broken & checked my progress. I was only about 2 cm dilated & 60% effaced. We started to try & help the labor progress by walking up & down the halls, working with the fitness ball, & breathing. My contractions started to get stronger & stronger & we knew it was time to call our doula. I felt that my labor was progressing quickly, which made me happy, so when our doctor came in, I was sure she would be reporting some great progress. However, I had only dilated an additional cm in 5 hours. Zoe had moved higher up instead of heading down & she was posterior (when a baby is face up, instead of the optimal position of being face down in the birth canal. This causes extra painful back labor & can also drastically slow progress down). I stayed positive, still able to manage the pain with help from Vadim as well as the breathing techniques that I had learned in yoga & hypno-birthing classes.
Our doctor checked in with us at about 5:30 PM and still very little progress. Zoe had moved down a bit, but she was still not faced the right way. In fact, she was sideways, which was making the pain hit my back & my front at the same time. The pain was starting to be too much to handle after 12 hours & at that point I had only dilated about 6 cm and it felt like I should be in the last stage of labor. Unfortunately, I wasn't even close. I tried to get into the shower to try and relax and let the labor progress faster. Unfortunately, the shower didn't bring me much relief - in some regards, the pain seemed to double.
I had hoped to have a natural, vaginal birth without medication. I had gone 13 hours without medication through some really strong contractions, but I was starting to not be able to handle the pain anymore. The breathing wasn't working & I was starting to lose control. This is when my doula, my nurse, & Vadim started to reason with me about getting an epidural. They knew that I had hit a wall & that I would still be laboring for quite a while. I knew they were right & finally agreed. I had the epidural after going through 14 hours of hard labor. 15 minutes later, I was having a leisurely conversation with my doula, Vadim was taking a nap, & life was good! It's amazing how much relief I got & I was hopeful that since I could finally relax, that we would be meeting Zoe soon.
Our nurse was joking about how we should name our baby Zoe because it was her favorite name. We couldn't believe it - we had to tell her that that was the name we had picked & that she definitely had to stay to help deliver her. I was so thankful that I had agreed to have the epidural because I knew my contractions would have been just too much for me to bare.
The on-call doctor came in to see me at around 9:00 PM. She told me that I had made good progress, the baby had moved down a bit more, & my cervix had dilated to about 8 cm. At 10:00 PM when she checked again, my cervix hadn't dilated, my contractions started to subside & the pattern started to change.
They decided to put in an internal monitor and see how things were moving along. The internal monitor confirmed that my labor was starting to stall, so they started me on Pitocin. That really kick started my labor & things started to move along again. At midnight, the nurse determined that I was only at 9 cm & at 1:00 am, I hadn't made any progress. She had me try to push to see what would happen, but they were afraid that my cervix would tear since I wasn't fully dilated. She started to talk about a Cesarean Section, but I begged her to wait. She was willing to wait another hour, but I had already been in labor for 21 hours. Before she left, she tried to manually turn Zoe to help her get through. That was the last straw - Zoe didn't appreciate being handled like that & started to go into distress.
We had to deliver her via C-Section as soon as possible. I was devastated! I really wanted to have a vaginal delivery & I worked so hard! But the health of the baby was the most important thing & we really had no choice. Both Vadim and Sindea were able to be in the operating room with me, which was a great help. They increased my epidural dose with a spinal block so that I wouldn't feel the surgery, but I was still awake & had feeling from the chest up.
Zoe was delivered at 1:55 am on Wednesday, after a long day of laboring. Thankfully, she was healthy & we were both fine. It was hard not to get to hold my baby right away, but I got to at least touch her while they finished my surgery. So that's how Zoe came into the world & changed our lives forever! |
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As written by Rachel A. from Culver City, California:
I took an at home pregnancy test and there was a faint line. I was convinced!!! I ran and un-wrapped a teething ring I had purchased in advance. I always knew I wanted to surprise my husband with the news since he got to surprise me with our wedding proposal. I found a cute green ducky teething ring in the store and knew it was perfect. With the faint line as confirmation I grabbed the teething ring and caught my hubby in the kitchen and got down on one knee. I asked him if he would be the father to our unborn child! He said yes with tears. It was an amazing rush of emotions.
After the hugs and laughs, I showed him the stick and he was like...I can't even see the line!! LOL. I panicked. We went to the store and bought a plus sign test and a digital pregnancy test (those rock...there is no questioning the result). Lucky for me both turned out positive!!!
We are pregnant. What a great feeling!
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If you want to share your story, please contact us at: customerservice@mysrbb.com. Please include: your first name and last initial, your city and state, permission allowing us to reprint your story for use in Spoiled Rotten Baby's print materials and website, and of course your story. We reserve the right to revise and or omit all or part of your story at our discretion. We promise to protact your privacy and not share or sell your information as per pur privacy policy. If you would prefer to omit your last initial or city, please let us know in your original e-mail.
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