My birth story was inspired by two stories I read on here. As a first-time mom who is very old fashioned, I wanted something unique for the birth of my child. I will start by letting you know how old fashioned I really am. I live on my great grandma's old farmhouse (250 years old) and it still has most of its original stuff, I guess you could say, in it. I collect antiques, and I believe that a baby should be born where the mother is most comfortable. I wanted to have my baby at home like my great grandmother, my grandmother and my mother. They all did it with the help of no one, not even their husbands, who were not allowed to even see the child until it was a few hours old.

My husband and I were still in school when I got pregnant. I was studying childcare and he was going to be a lawyer. We both agreed that I would finish the semester and be a stay-at-home mom. I didn't go to the doctor at all unless it was necessary (which it never was). I figured that if they didn't have prenatal pills and prenatal care when my grandparents did, I didn't need it either. My pregnancy was very easy. Nothing really happened in it. I had no morning sickness, no bleeding, no cramping, no nothing.

The day my labor started, I was shopping for some last-minute delivery things including blankets, sheets and I also got a natural sound CD from the childbirth section in the bookstore. It was basically soothing breathing exercises. OK, I admit not exactly old fashioned, but I was a little nervous. Anyways, I was going to the check out, and I felt something wet in my pants. I figured it was just my weak bladder, because it wasn't very much, so I quickly checked out and left the store. I put the bags in the car, sat down and a big splash of water came out. I knew then that it was starting. Luckily, I was only 10 minutes from home, and unluckily, the traffic was bad, as it was the 5 o'clock rush hour.

So 20 minutes later I was home, and I wasn't having any contractions yet so I was good. I put the stuff that needed to be put away away, and I put the stuff I needed during delivery in the room I was delivering in. I set the CD player up, put the plastic sheets on the bed, put the cloth sheets back on and set the receiving blankets at the foot of the bed.

My husband arrived home, and I told him that my water had broken, and it would be happening anytime. I called my mom and grandma, and they came over. My mom called my sister (who is 16 and who was at a friend's house). They all came over and waited.

At around 6:30 p.m., I started getting heavy contractions, and they were coming fast. I told everybody and then I went in the room and closed the door and locked it. I was gonna do this on my own. I turned the CD on and listened to it. It was helping so much, but the contractions were still hard and very painful. I was moaning through them and wincing. I felt between my legs a few times, and there was nothing. I needed to get off of my back and I tried all fours but the bed was too lumpy, so I brought out the old, hard mattress (it was a small one that fit under the bed). I kneeled on that for a while. During the contractions I would curl my back, and when I wasn't having a contraction, I would let my back fall. I tried all different positions to get the baby to fall. The one that worked was the full squat.

I got into my squatting position and felt down between my legs, because there was so much pressure that I could have burst. I stuck my two fingers in to see where the baby's head was. It was right there, and I felt around and got the sudden urge to push. It was like those fingers were not supposed to be in there and it wanted to push them out. That's how I brought the head down. I kept putting my fingers in so it hurt, so I had to push.

Finally, my fingers wouldn't go in any more, and the baby was crowning. I stood the best that I could and put the pushing part of the CD on. When I got back into the squat, I let out a great moan and a couple little grunts. I followed the sounds on the CD, and finally I said, Screw this and pushed on my own with every contraction. I got back down on all fours and pushed. It was working, so I stood with one leg up on the side of the bed, and I pushed and let out a great scream as the head emerged. The rest of the body slipped out easily and with a great cry, our son, Alex Jason Michael, was born weighing 9.5 pounds and measuring 23 inches.

I am sorry it was so long, but my inspiration was from reading all of the stories from these brave women who have homebirths. I want to commend them and also those who have hospital/birth center births and Cesarean sections. Feel free to e-mail me.