Becoming a mother is one of the most monumental moments in a woman’s life.
Because of this, we try to plan everything out to make the experience run as smoothly as pushing a little human out of your body can go.
However, as if God is trying to teach us an early lesson about children having a mind of their own, labor and delivery plans don’t always go as you had imagined- and one mom couldn’t agree more.
Many moms have shared unique birth stories on social media, many of which happened during the pandemic with additional protocols they were forced to abide by.
But not all births end with the mother catching the baby on the hospital floor.
Aleisha King was pregnant with her second child and loved exploring different birth options and hearing stories from other enthusiastic mothers who had a tale to tell.
After having complications with her first pregnancy, Aleisha knew she wanted something more for her second.
With Arlo, her first son, the doctors had noticed reduced fetal movement at 33 weeks which contributed to a lot of undue stress in her last month of pregnancy.
Delivery was not much better. Aleisha’s doctor decided to induce labor. And for any mother that has had her labor induced they know this means a more intense and painful laboring process.
The Melbourne, Australian mom said to Café Mom:
“I felt very out of control with the pain of contractions and I hated the feeling. I ended up getting an epidural but I progressed from 4cm to 10cm in a few hours and as I got the epidural I was fully dilated. This meant that when it came time to push I couldn’t feel my contractions or the natural urge to push as the epidural had only just kicked in.”
Then when Arlo finally made his way out, he had his hand over his head so she tore.
When Arlo was pulled out his umbilical cord snapped and Aleisha hemorrhaged, leading to an emergency surgery to removed the placenta.
“I didn’t want to feel as out of control again,” she tells CafeMom.
There are many methods of natural pain management moms can use during labor and delivery, as Mommy Underground has previously reported.
The one Aleisha found most effective was hypnobirthing. This method “involves various relaxation and self-hypnosis techniques to help relax the body before and during labor and birth,” according to Healthline.
Jessica Alba and Kate Middleton helped this method to gain traction in the past few years.
Aleisha was feeling more prepared and calm about this birth until the coronavirus changed everything.
Her husband, who is an EMT, was potentially exposed to COVID-19 two days before she gave birth.
“He called to tell me that he was in full protective wear as he’d just transferred a patient who may have had Covid-19, but he wasn’t wearing any protection during the transfer,” she told the Australian Birth Stories podcast.
When this first happened the hospital said that her husband, Blix, wouldn’t be allowed to be in the birthing room with his wife.
But after calls to the hospital administrators, Blix was able to be in the hospital when his wife gave birth as long as he wore protective gear- that is if they could make it there in time.
When labor began Aleisha used hypnobirthing techniques to ease pain throughout the day.
The issue was it had worked so well that she was unaware how far along she was when she decided to make her way to the hospital.
The laboring pro told Café Mom:
“The breathing techniques worked so well I still didn’t think I was in active labor as the contractions did not feel anywhere near as intense as my first labor.”
Pulling up to the hospital Aleisha got the intense urge to push which means bundle of joy number 2 is about to say hello to the world.
She fell to all fours in the parking lot screaming “The baby is coming!”
Guards and medical staff rushed her inside where six minutes later she fell on the floor again and pushed her baby out right there on the floor!
Surprisingly, Aleisha was “not worried” during the whole process, trusting her body and the process of delivery.
Aleisha said, “Maybe there will have to be a few changes to what you envisioned your birth to be … but in the end, it’s what you make of it.”
Sounds like both of her deliveries did not go exactly as planned, but they both ended in a healthy baby and mom; and what more could you ask for.