birthing

‘I didn’t remember I had my shirt off. ‘Mama, can I take a picture of Bowie?’ I vaguely remember shifting him on my hip so she’d see him better.’: Mom felt ‘disgusted’ after postpartum photos, says it’s ‘normal to mourn your body’

“Alas, a picture was taken. I scrolled through the 50 she took of us and I was not thrilled with what I was looking at. Why? Because of my stomach. The little house this baby grew in was the reason for my disgust. It took me 3 days to even look at those pictures again.”

Edited By Eliza Murphy

‘Her grip on the bed rails quickly moved over to him. Her nails sliced through his shirt, like butter. They were in this fight not just to win, but to grow together.’

“He never stopped watching her face. In the middle of it all, he knew where his priorities were. The scratches, the teeth marks on his shoulder, all became battle scars.”

Edited By Eliza Murphy

‘Take your pants off.’ I took a deep breath and headed back. As I lay on the medical table, half naked, all I could hear was my heartbeat.’: LGBT couple embark on IUI journey, ‘our little one came into the world fast and furious’

“Around 11:30 a.m. I awoke with an immediate urge to poop. ‘Wait! I am 29 years old. I won’t poop my pants. That’s ridiculous.’ I started moaning. I could feel it in my bones — I knew I was close. And still no midwife. She asked me if I wanted to push. ‘YES!’ I cried out.”

Edited By Eliza Murphy

‘I was strapped down. ‘What if I feel him cut into me?’ My husband wiped away the tears that ran down my face.’: Mother says newborn’s delivery was the ‘most terrifying day of my life’ after HELLP syndrome diagnosis

“I must have looked terrified. The nurse said, ‘Don’t worry, this may be your first time, but it’s not our first time doing this.’ I strained to hear what the doctor was saying but couldn’t make it out. They’d occasionally laugh so I thought everything was going well. I felt a tug and I suddenly felt hollow. I remember asking, ‘Is she ok?’ She was only 2 pounds. The tiniest baby I had ever seen.”

Edited By Eliza Murphy

‘I looked to my husband with tears streaming down my face, apologizing. He lifted my chin, proud of me.’: Couple is the epitome of a dream team during childbirth laboring

“So many doubts started brewing. ‘My baby was breech for a reason,’ ‘my hips may be too narrow.’ But we were a team. My husband was my rock, my foundation, and got my mind where it needed to be. He’s truly my king. Nothing mattered but him.”

Edited By Eliza Murphy

‘You are too skinny, not tall enough, and you have never delivered a baby before. You will have an unsuccessful triplet pregnancy.’ That’s what my doctor told me at my first ultrasound.

“’We need to get in the OR now,’ my doctor said. Then she turned to my mom. ‘You need to find Ryan. And pray. She has lost a lot of blood.’”

Edited By Eliza Murphy

‘I’ve birthed an entire child in the time it takes my husband to poop. Actually, I’ve done it faster!’: Wife hilariously calls out husband for his long bathroom trips to ‘avoid hemorrhoids’

“Not only did I accomplish this amazing feat faster than he can, I did it while people WATCHED. This achievement was done with bright lights shining down there to illuminate my lady bits. My husband? He gets to hide in a secluded bathroom. He dies inside when a child even knocks on the door.”

Edited By Eliza Murphy

‘I had a C-section. And it was beautiful.’

“You aren’t having a baby for the 12 hours of labor ending with a beautiful natural birth. You are having a baby for the beautiful lifetime you get to spend loving him.”

Edited By Eliza Murphy