Birth Stories

Stephanie’s Story: I Gave Birth to an 11 Pound Baby Vaginally

Editor’s note: We believe that all birth stories and all birth experiences matter. This post is part of an ongoing series of birth stories submitted by readers and fellow bloggers, featuring a diverse range of women and their birth experiences. This is Stephanie’s account of her unmedicated delivery of her 11 pound, 2 ounce son. If you would like to share your own birth story, please visit this post to learn how. ~Olivia


We wanted to expand our family so we planned for another baby. We were surprised when we got pregnant the first month of trying! We had a girl first, so we were hoping for a boy this time. Well, we got him. 🙂

Stephanie's Birth Story - Giving birth naturally to an 11-pound babyFast forward 9 months to September 8th, 2010. I went in for my last doctor’s appointment this pregnancy (I hoped). I was 2 days late and ready for this baby to come out, so I asked my doctor to strip my membranes. He did, and that’s when I started walking, but nothing happened. I called my doctor the next morning and told him nothing happened. I didn’t get any contractions. He told me if something didn’t happen today he would induce me. An hour after that call I started getting contractions.

I figured I’d better take a shower if I was going to have a baby. I stepped into the shower and that’s when my water broke. We were staying with my mother in law to be closer to the hospital, so I called her at the apartment office where she worked. She came home and took me to the hospital. My husband worked 10 minutes away from the hospital, and he beat us there. When we arrived at the hospital and told them my water was broken, I was taken straight back. The nurses put me on the monitor and told me I was in active labor.

Stephanie's Birth Story - Giving birth naturally to an 11-pound baby

Meanwhile, my brother in law and his girlfriend were on their way to the hospital when they ended up getting in a fight and he hit her! Great guy, I know. He still came down to the hospital, but his girlfriend called the cops so he left. I was in hard labor when the police came into my room to ask my name and look around. They left when they didn’t find him, but that wasn’t a great start to things.

Anyway, from the beginning I had decided that I would not get an epidural. The pain was getting bad at this point and my mom and mother in law said, “Are you sure you don’t want an epidural? It’s ok if you get one.” They kept going on about it so my husband said, “Look she’s already made up her mind and prayed about it. She doesn’t want one. The next person to talk about it gets to wait in the waiting room.” (I love that man!) 

About 8 hours after I got to the hospital it was time to push. My mom asked the doctor how big he thought the baby would be because my belly was HUGE, and he said, “Oh, maybe about 9 lbs.” After 30 minutes of pushing, Jason was born weighing 11 pounds, 2 ounces!!

Stephanie's Birth Story - Giving birth naturally to an 11-pound baby

When they were weighing him my doctor said, “The scale is going past 11.” I thought he was joking, but nope. I had him naturally with no pain meds or epidural, and I didn’t tear. The doctor told me if he had known how big the baby was going to be he would have done a c-section.

I’m so happy to have my little boy, and I’m expecting another little boy in October 2016 🙂
 

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8 Comments

  • My baby boy was almost 9 pounds and I thought that was big! I’m so impressed you were able to do that without drugs. Congratulations!

  • I wish the term “naturally” was changed to “vaginally” as there’s nothing “unnatural” about a c-section. No wonder women get hung up on when their birth plans don’t go as they planned. I had an almost 11# baby by c-section due to my pelvic structure, no shame in a non “natural” birth.

    • Nobody here was/is shaming you, at least not that I’m aware of…? & Nobody here is saying/implying that delivering vaginally is “better” or “more natural” than delivering by C-section! (For *whatever* the reason may be for having to have, or wanting to have, said C-section…!)
      Also, Congatulations! ? ☺

  • Congratulations Stephanie! ?
    Although this is about 4 years old now, I still wanted to say Congrats to you because I know that what you went through was definitely not just an easy walk in the park! More like a walk through a hurricane, I’m betting, LOL! ? ?