A Special Delivery
By Elly Akkermans from Holland, translated by Ria Hendris-Akkermans
An Amazing Birth Story! My husband Berry and I are both 39 years old. We are married 15 years and we are both working in the HealthCare. He is neurologic qualified nurse (male) in a hospital. I am working as a qualified district nurse. We had intentional chosen to have children when we were at a certain age…not too young! When it was the time we wanted to have children I didn’t get pregnant spontaneous . We didn’t get excited . Us having children is okay, but when it was not happening spontaneous we could live with that. We didn’t like special medical intervention to have children. The fact that we absolutely unexpected would have a daughter, without any sign of pregnancy, is a real miracle.
Yes, I am rather strongly built and I put on some weight the last months (Not that much though). I was planning to lose weight in the summer, but had not begun yet. My menstruation was not very regular and I didn’t menstruate very much but I thought that was because of my age. The only time I really felt sick. I thought it was because I had Japanese food in a restaurant. I don’t smoke and I don’t use any alcohol and this has it’s influences on the health of our baby.
I had a terrible pain in my back!
“Hernia in the back” was diagnose of the doctor and he left.
Friday the 31st of March 2000. This is a day I never will forget. The evening before I had a meeting for work. One of my patients is a rather heavy woman and while I took care of her, my back was beginning to ache. I thought I strained myself in lifting the woman. I gave her some coffee and in the meantime I went to another patient. After that I came back as usual. The pain in my back however was that terrible I wasn’t able to help her anymore. So I went back to the office and asked if a colleague could take over. They looked surprised because I never complained so it was really bad now, they figured. They sent me home and advised me to go to bed and to take a rest. I called Berry (he said he would be home as soon as possible) and I made an appointment to go to my doctor later that day( I was scheduled for 2.30 . In the meantime the pain in my back was aggravating. However when Berry came home and saw me he decided to phone the doctor instantly to ask him to get over at once. The doctor did arrive at 1.15 . He examined me and used standard procedures for back pains and his diagnose was Hernia on the back or lumbago . “You have to stay in bed.” He prescribed painkillers and Valium. At this time Berry had to go to his work, but first he gave me a sleeping pill and helped me in bed. He was worrying . Several times he phoned me from work at the hospital.
“She fell right out of me!
We caught the placenta in a frying pan “
At 3.30 I couldn’t hold it, the pain was terrible. I decided to lay on the floor, knowing that in case of a hernia it helps to lay down on a hard floor or something like it.
So when Berry came home from work he found me laying on the floor. In the meantime I was more or less in panic, because I never felt that pain before in my life. Berry called the doctor again and he advised us to take more medication and to lay down. Suddenly I felt something in the lower part of my body and I was thinking of bulge of the bowels. I asked Berry to take a look. With a lot of pain I tried to get up and I was standing beside the bed, because I was planning to lay down on the bed.. That was the moment I gave birth to my daughter. It felt as if she was falling right out with no contraction at all. Berry instantly pushed me on the bed and on the same time he got hold of the baby. Both we weren’t able to speak at that time as surprised as we were. Very quickly after that Maartje started to cry and cry……..
As you can understand we didn’t have anything in the house for baby’s and we didn’t have anything to use for a delivery. So with a shoelace the umbilical cord was tied off and after that it was cut by a sewing scissors. The placenta was caught in a frying pan. Despite our perplexity Berry luckily had the presence of mind to take pictures. All of a sudden the pain in my back was gone and I ended up laying in bed with my daughter covered in a towel. Without any preparation we were mom and dad at this very moment. It was very hard to comprehend. 
“We hadn’t thought of a name, so at first we called our baby just “Baby”.”
You can hardly explain what is going through your mind at a moment such as this. After Berry looked if it was a boy or a girl he phoned the doctor. The doctor was very angry with himself because he didn’t relate my complaints with the symptoms of a woman in labor. We, however, don’t blame him at all. How could he have known that I had contractions.. I wasn’t even aware of being pregnant. Anyway, our daughter was born at 4.50 that day. At 5.00 a maternity nurse arrived and at 9.30 that evening we had everything you need for a baby thanks to the doctor, friends and neighbors. We had: a cradle, diapers, clothes and so on.
The first time we called our baby: “Baby”. It was not until later that evening the nurse asked what name we had for our “Baby”. Because she was born on the last day of March we gave our daughter the name “Maartje”. (In Dutch language March is Maart, so we called her “Little March” = Maartje)
When we got over the shock we had to post the family. The twins of my sister were just celebrating their birthday. The family was gathered at my sisters house. Earlier that day I had called my sister I couldn’t be at the party because of the pain in my back..
Nobody could believe Berry’s story when he told we had a daughter. Right at the moment my sister saw the baby with her very own eyes she could believe our story. My elderly mother-in-law was almost in a state of shock, we thought we needed a doctor for her.
Happily for us Maartje wasn’t born one day later, 1st of April, because nobody would believe what happened in the first place.
We always thought such story’s only appear in the newspaper. Now we know it can happen in real life.
Now we are over our first shock and first perplexity. Our Doctor however warned us there could be a reaction because our lives changed from one day to another. In spite of her total unexpected arrival she of course is hearty welcome in our family. Because we missed the feeling of pregnancy we are catching up on that now. We read a lot about it, the baby bedroom is finished now and within a few months the three of us are going for a short holiday.
We are very, very proud to be the parents of Maartje
Written by Elly Akkermans
Translated by Ria Hendriks-Akkermans
The Long Way to Meet Maya
By Dana from Ohio
I’d read every birth story I could find. None of them prepared me for how slow mine would be. My first contraction hit on a Tuesday evening, a week before my due date. I was folding laundry. I thought, huh, that’s weird, and kept folding.
For almost a full day, nothing much changed. Contractions came every ten minutes, then every eight, then ten again. My husband Luis kept a timer running on his phone. I walked the hallway, took two showers, and ate a bowl of oatmeal at 3 in the morning because my childbirth class said to keep my energy up. The advice line at our clinic told us the same thing each time we called. Stay home until contractions are about five minutes apart, last about a minute, and hold that pattern for an hour. That’s the 5-1-1 rule, and waiting for it felt like watching water boil.
We finally hit 5-1-1 on Wednesday afternoon. The nurse checked me and said 4 centimeters. I wanted to cry. Four? After all that? She explained that active labor usually starts around 6 centimeters, so I’d been in the warm up round the whole time. First labors often run long, she said, and a slow start doesn’t mean anything is wrong. Our guide to the stages of labor would have saved me a lot of worry. This is one of many amazing birth stories.
Around 5 centimeters, the contractions got serious. I asked for an epidural. The anesthesiologist was in and out in about 20 minutes, and soon the pain dropped from a ten to a two. I slept for two hours. I’m not embarrassed about that nap. It’s probably why I had anything left for the pushing.
Near midnight, the nurse told me I was fully open at 10 centimeters!
Then I pushed for two and a half hours. At the two hour mark, I told Luis I couldn’t do it. He said I was already doing it. The doctor kept checking the baby’s heart rate and my progress, and since both looked good, nobody rushed us. First time moms are often given three hours or more to push, and a bit longer with an epidural, as long as things keep moving.
Maya arrived just before 3 in the morning. She weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces. The doctor waited about a minute to clamp the cord, then laid her on my chest. We stayed skin to skin for more than an hour. A lactation nurse helped her latch before we even left the delivery room, and our breastfeeding guide got a lot of use that first week.
I had a small tear and a few stitches, and I paid real attention to caring for my body after birth for the next two weeks. We went home after two nights. The clinic called to check on me at one week, and I went back for my full visit at six weeks.
From first contraction to first cry, it took about 33 hours. Every nurse told us that’s normal for a first baby. Here’s what I’d say over coffee. Pack snacks, take the nap, and stop watching the clock.
Second Time Around
By Renee from Georgia
My first daughter was born by cesarean. During pushing, her heart rate dropped, and the team decided it was time. She was fine. I was grateful. I was also sad in a way I didn’t expect, and it took me two years to admit it. More amazing birth stories.
When I got pregnant again, I asked my OB at the very first visit about a vaginal birth after cesarean, or VBAC. She pulled out my chart and said I was a good candidate. My first incision was a low transverse cut, which is the kind with the lowest risk of problems in a later labor. According to ACOG guidance on VBAC, about 60 to 80 percent of women who try labor after a cesarean give birth vaginally. That’s better odds than I’d guessed.
She was honest about the downsides. A trial of labor carries a small risk that the scar could separate, which is why it should happen at a hospital that can do an emergency cesarean at any moment. Home birth was off the table. So was any plan to skip monitoring. I’d wear a continuous fetal heart monitor the whole time. I decided I could live with that.
We hired a Douala, too.
Her job was to keep me calm and help me move around when I could. My husband, Marcus, said having her there was like having a good navigator on a road trip.
My labor started on its own at 39 weeks and 4 days. It began as cramps around dinnertime. By midnight we were at the hospital, and I was at 5 centimeters. Marcus squeezed my hand through every contraction. I asked for an epidural around 6 centimeters, and I’m glad I did.
Then things slowed down. For two hours, I didn’t change at all. I was scared. This was exactly where my first labor had gone sideways. My OB sat on the edge of the bed and told me we had plenty of options and plenty of time. We tried a few new positions, and I rested. Something clicked. By 6 in the morning I was fully open.
I pushed for 40 minutes. When my son came out, I heard Marcus say, “He’s here, he’s really here,” in a voice I’d never heard from him. He weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces. I cried so hard the nurse handed me tissues. They weren’t sad tears this time.
I want to be clear about something. A cesarean is not a failure, and plenty of my friends have had great ones. If mine had ended that way, I’d have been fine, because my team and I had agreed on that backup plan ahead of time. Our guide to C-sections explains what to expect either way. What I needed was to know I’d had a real choice.
The Plan Changed at 27 Weeks
By Priya from New Jersey
I did everything right. I walked, I took my vitamins, and I ate more vegetables than I had in my whole life. Then my glucose screening came back high.
The screening happens between 24 and 28 weeks, and mine was at 27. I drank the sweet orange drink and waited an hour. My result was above the cutoff. A week later I came back for the longer test, fasting this time, with blood drawn every hour for three hours. Two of my readings were too high. That meant gestational diabetes. You’ll find the screening on our list of second trimester tests.
I cried in the parking lot. My husband, Arjun, reminded me that it wasn’t something I’d done. Pregnancy hormones make it harder for your body to use insulin, and for some people, the body can’t keep up. I read our page on gestational diabetes that night, and I felt a little better.
A dietitian taught me to spread carbs across the day and pair them with protein. Breakfast was my enemy. Oatmeal that sent my numbers sky high at 8 in the morning didn’t bother me at dinner. I learned to check my blood sugar when I woke up and one hour after each meal. My targets were under 95 before breakfast and under 140 an hour after eating, the same targets the American Diabetes Association lists. A ten minute walk after dinner kept my numbers down more than anything else.
By 32 weeks, my morning numbers started creeping above target no matter what I ate. My OB added a small dose of insulin at bedtime. I was nervous about the needle. After a week, it felt like brushing my teeth.
I also had extra appointments for monitoring in the last weeks. My doctor explained that when gestational diabetes needs medication, delivery is usually planned for 39 weeks. We scheduled an induction for 39 weeks and 1 day.
We went in on a Monday night. The team started with medicine to soften my cervix, and the next morning they began Pitocin to start contractions. The nurses checked my blood sugar every hour during labor to keep it steady. I got an epidural at 4 centimeters. Our son was born that afternoon, after about 11 hours, weighing 8 pounds, 4 ounces.
The nurses checked his blood sugar soon after birth, since babies of moms with gestational diabetes can dip low. His dipped a little at first, and a good feeding fixed it. I stopped insulin the moment he was born. At six weeks, I took a glucose tolerance test, and it came back normal. My doctor said I should be tested every one to three years from now on, so I put a reminder in my phone.
A Planned Cesarean
By Hannah from Oregon
At my 36 week appointment, my midwife pressed on my belly and frowned. A quick ultrasound confirmed it. My baby was breech, bottom down, with her head tucked under my ribs.
I’d already planned a calm vaginal birth, so this was a gut punch. My midwife explained that most babies turn head down on their own by this point, and that about 3 or 4 out of every 100 don’t. She sent me to an OB for options. At 37 weeks, I had a chance to try an external cephalic version, or ECV, where the doctor uses hands on your belly to gently turn the baby. ACOG supports offering it and says it lowers the chance of a cesarean.
I tried it. They gave me medicine to relax my uterus and watched the baby’s heart rate the entire time. It felt like someone was pressing a firm hand into my side. It was uncomfortable, not horrible. The doctor tried twice. She didn’t budge. My daughter had apparently made up her mind.
We scheduled a cesarean for 39 weeks. It felt strange to know my daughter’s birthday in advance, almost like booking a flight. I read up, and we visited the hospital to see the operating room. The staff showed us where my husband, Will, would sit and told us what to expect. I was glad I had.
On the morning of the surgery, I didn’t eat after midnight. In the operating room, an anesthesiologist gave me a spinal block, so I’d be awake but numb from the chest down. Will sat next to my head. A curtain hid everything. I felt pressure and tugging, like someone doing dishes in my belly. About ten minutes later, I heard a cry.
The nurse held her up over the curtain, and I almost fell off the table. Because I was stable, the team placed her on my chest while they finished closing. The whole surgery took under an hour. Skin to skin started right there on the table.
Recovery was real. The next day, a nurse had me stand and walk a few steps, which sounded crazy and turned out to help. I hugged a pillow against my incision whenever I coughed or laughed. We went home after three nights. For the first weeks, I didn’t lift anything heavier than the baby. I called my doctor when my temperature hit 100.4 degrees, and it turned out to be nothing, but she wanted me to call.
The CDC reports that about 1 in 3 U.S. births is a cesarean. I used to think of a cesarean as plan B. Now I think of it as just another way to meet your baby.
Early, but Okay
By Jasmine from Texas
I was 33 weeks and 5 days pregnant when my belly started tightening. They felt like Braxton Hicks contractions, I figured. So I drank water, lay on my left side, and waited. They didn’t stop. They didn’t even slow down. By the time I timed them, they were coming every six minutes.
My husband, Terrell, drove us to the hospital with both hands tight on the wheel. The team tried to stop the contractions, but my labor kept moving. A doctor explained that my baby was coming early. She gave me two steroid shots, about a day apart, to help his lungs mature. A neonatal team came by to explain what would happen after he was born, and I’m so glad they did. It took some of the fear out of the room.
Theo was born at 34 weeks, 2 days after I’d arrived. He weighed 4 pounds, 15 ounces. I only got a glimpse of him before the team took him to the NICU for a closer look. Late preterm babies like Theo often need extra care for several hours or days, and he needed some help breathing for the first day.
I was wheeled in to see him that night. He looked tiny, with wires and a little hat. A nurse showed me how to hold him skin to skin, which they call kangaroo care. I sat there for an hour, and I didn’t want to move.
The next three weeks felt like a strange kind of school. Theo had a weak suck, and he didn’t always wake up to eat, so they fed him my pumped milk through a tiny tube at first. I pumped every three hours, even at 2 in the morning. Our breastfeeding guide helped when I felt like I’d never get the hang of it. He also spent a few days under blue lights for jaundice, which is common in babies who arrive early because their livers aren’t fully mature.
Each day, a nurse would tell us what Theo had to do before we could go home. Keep his temperature steady. Take every feeding by mouth. Gain weight. Then on the last day, he had to pass a car seat test, where they watch a baby’s breathing for 90 minutes in his seat. He passed. I held my breath the whole time.
We went home on day 19. At home, I followed the same safe sleep rules we’d learned in the NICU. Theo slept on his back on a firm, flat surface in our room, with nothing else in the crib. Our guide to SIDS and safe sleep covers every step, and our page on car safety for infants helped us fit his tiny body in the seat safely.
Theo’s a toddler now, and he runs everywhere. If you’re in the NICU right now, I want you to hear this from a mom who’s been there. The days feel endless. They do end.
Planning for Your Own Birth Story
No two births match, and no story here is a script for yours. A few steps can make your own day feel calmer.
- Pack your bag early using our labor checklist, and talk with your provider about what you want and what you’d like to avoid.
- Think about who you want in the room, too. Our guide to picking the right caregiver for your baby’s birth can help, and you can read about what doulas and midwives do. For more on what’s ahead, browse our pregnancy section.
Contact us with more birth stories and we’ll add yours!