The Birth Story of Andersen James, written by Maegan Hayes

February 22nd, 2024…

“My baby’s due date - I was officially 40 weeks pregnant with our second son. I had an appointment with our midwives that morning at 10 am, where I voluntarily opted to check my cervix and get a membrane sweep. I was 5 cm dilated and went into early labor after the sweep.

I continued my day as normal, taking my older son to the library, to get his haircut, and making dinner for our family. During the entire day I had surges about 15 minutes apart and towards the end of the evening, around 6:30 pm while making dinner, things started to intensify. We called my father-in-law to come over as we were putting our older son to bed around 7:30 pm. At this time, my surges were about 2-3 minutes apart but still felt manageable. I went to take a shower before deciding if it was time to go and my surges relaxed. I got on the birth ball and started doing figure 8s and turned on our hypnobirthing tracks. I tried to sleep on and off over the next few hours with pillow propped sleeping on our bed and back to the birthing ball leaned over.

At about 12:30 am, my surges had gotten closer together about 3 minutes apart and all of a sudden, I started to feel “the shakes.” I needed to throw up and my whole body was shaking, which I knew that meant baby was coming soon. My husband and I left the house and headed to the hospital. We hit a fun surprise on the way there while trying to keep our calm state with the freeway partially closed so we had to detour but we ended up making it safely with little delay.

We arrived at the hospital and checked in with our doula - I was 6 cm dilated upon check in and my surges had spaced out again. I got on the birthing ball and was drinking lots of LMNT. I eventually got into the laboring tub once it was ready and decided to listen to a music track during the last few hours of labor. During my entire labor I was able to breathe through the surges and pressure without “pain,” which is opposite of what my first birth looked like. It was magical that I could really be in tune with my body and baby. By 4 am, I was 7 cm dilated and was ready to keep things moving and opted for my midwife to break my waters. After I got into the laboring tub again, I had 1 surge followed by throwing up and was ready to push - about 35 minutes after my waters breaking. I pushed for 5 minutes, kneeling over the bed and holding my husband’s hands, and we soon met our sweet baby boy earth side. I had a beautiful, optimal cord clamping, and my husband and I both had skin-to-skin with baby before he was checked. He was born at 9 pounds 6 ounces and 20 inches, completely unmedicated and in the same room as our first son was born. I could have not done it without the practice of our Hypnobirthing class and our amazing Doula, Rori.”

Advice for expecting mamas:

“I cannot recommend birth prep enough - take time to educate yourself and your partner on what you envision your birth to look like and gather a support team (education classes, doula, lactation consultant, chiropractor, etc) and most importantly, just remember to relax and set a zone of peace during birth that keeps your body and mind at ease as you bring your new baby into the world.”

- Maegan Hayes

We hope this Story encourages you

Birth is a beautiful mystery so no matter how many births you read, watch, or hear, the birth story of your expectant little one is still unwritten but we hope this story encourages you.

If you are looking for more resources and support on how to achieve your ideal and best birth, sign up for our upcoming Hypnobirthing series and/or hire a doula! If you live in Orange County, LA County, San Diego County, or Inland Empire, schedule a free consultation with someone on our team to chat more! We’d love to help.

- Elizabeth Williams, Anointed Births Founder

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