Who doesn’t love a good birth story?
When it comes to highlighting just how powerful, brave, and downright incredible humans can be, a good old fashioned birth story really does the trick. And with about 385,000 babies being born every day worldwide, there’s a lot of potential for things to be… let’s just say unique.
We rounded up a few of our faves, but as always, we welcome any additions in the comments below.
Ain’t No Party Like A Parking Lot Party
While this little babe certainly isn’t the first (or the last) to be born in a parking lot, the unique combo of the location and the fact it was caught on camera certainly makes it stand out. Also notable: she does the whole thing without removing her shorts. Wow. Just… wow. The full story and video can be found here.
BOGO…?!
We’ve all heard stories of people who didn’t know they were pregnant until they rolled up to the emergency room and unexpectedly popped out a babe, but have you heard of surprise twins?
Idaho parents Katie and Marcus “MJ” Clay can tell you a thing or two about that, after giving birth to a surprise twin who remained hidden from both their midwives fetal doppler monitor, and an abdominal ultrasound at 32 weeks. But, after the first baby was born in the parking lot of the Webster Potato Company in Spud Alley, their second son made a slightly less hurried entrance into the world at the birth center, just shy of 20 minutes later.
To be fair, a big reveal like this is just about the only way this kiddo could have upstaged his sibling’s epic birth story. “Oh me? I was born in Spud Alley.” “Ha! Well I played hide and seek for 9 months and made the news!” Well played, young man. Well played.
You can read their full story here.
Speaking of surprise twins, remember these photos?
Yep, these gems are from a mom whose face truly says 1000 words. Much like Katie and MJ, she was under the impression she would be welcoming one wee babe into her family, but instead was surprised with a bonus twin who also hid from dopplers and ultrasounds. The rest of this amazing story can be found here.
On the Road Again
“In a nutshell, last May, I gave birth to our third baby in the front seat of our pickup on the way to town. We farm & ranch in the middle of nowhere Montana, and we live an hour + from town (where I was supposed to deliver). We didn’t make it, and my husband caught the baby, then we drove the rest of the way to town to the Birth Center.
I had hired a birth photographer, who missed the birth – ha! But she met us at the Birth Center and took pics as I got out of the pickup (with the umbilical cord still attached) and was there when we found out if we had a boy or a girl. We didn’t know before the delivery, and we were too overwhelmed to check once she was born, so it was about 20 minutes after she was born that we found out we had a girl!”
Her full story can be found here.
– Stacy B.
Sky High Surprise
With only about 60 babies reportedly being born on commercial airlines, that fact alone would have been enough to make this birth story one for the record books – but that’s really just the beginning.
For starters, new mom Lavinia “Lavi” Mounga didn’t know she was pregnant when she boarded her flight from Utah to Hawaii. That’s right, she was just as shocked as the next person when about halfway through the flight her son, Raymond came barreling into this world at only 29 weeks.
Fortunately for her and little Raymond, a doctor and three(?!) NICU nurses were also on board and ready to jump into action. Creativity was key, as they used a shoe lace to tie the umbilical cord, microwaved hot water bottles to keep baby warm, and popped an Apple Watch on the little dude to monitor his heart rate. Way to MacGyver yourself a maternity ward, team!
Everyone is doing well, and the full, super heartwarming story can be found here.
Trust Your Intuition
“Felt something in the middle of the night at only 28 weeks pregnant. Woke up my husband and called my doctor.
Both of them thought it wasn’t real labor but said I “could go get checked out”.
As my husband was calling my in-laws to come to the house to watch our other kids and as I hung up from the doctor, our baby’s head started crowning. I quickly called 911 and delivered my 28 weeker myself (and with my husband who was mostly running around like a chicken with his head cut off). Paramedics arrived 10 minutes later.
There were about a million things that could have gone wrong but somehow, we have a healthy 18-month-old now. It definitely taught me that women are freaking amazing and our instinct and intuition is one of our biggest powers.”
– Alisa S.
Catch Me if You Can
“I have strange labors that go from barely dilated to fighting to keep the baby inside in less than a minute.
With my second child, the nurse checked my cervix and the baby was high and I was barely a five. As she was taking off her gloves, I felt the baby descend, and suddenly I was struggling to hold him inside. The doctor barely made it in time.
For baby #3, the nurse checked me and said I was between a 4 and a 5, and she could barely reach my cervix. My contractions were mild, and 5-7 minutes apart. I was calm, cool, and in very little pain.
About 5 minutes later, my baby punched me in the cervix, my water broke, and all hell broke loose. I felt the baby descend, then the contractions were crazy intense, and coming one right after another, with no rest in between. I held him in for maybe 5 minutes, until he just came out.
The doctor never stood a chance of getting there on time.
It’s crazy because I don’t even have to push, I just have to stop holding them in and they just fly out. In fact, with baby #2, the nurse was like, “Whoa! Great catch doctor!”
– Christy W
Race Day Rainbow Baby
“As a nurse midwife, I think all birth stories are exciting, but my second child’s is my favorite to tell.
As a preface, my first born, a daughter, came into the world at 36 weeks and stayed with us for 6 hours, passing away peacefully in our arms. She had birth defects and we knew her time with us would be short.
Fast forward a year and a half later, when I was eager to meet my rainbow baby.
I was 36+6 weeks pregnant on Father’s Day. There was a road race my husband and I would run every year, that year being no exception. With my midwife’s blessing, I slowly jogged the 5 miles (I hadn’t run in months) and I paid for it the rest of the day – painful pelvic bones and sore muscles. I had some very mild painless contractions that evening, which I ignored, figuring I was dehydrated from the race.
I put myself to bed and at 1:45am I woke up to my water breaking. My husband jumped up ready to go, but I calmed him down saying we had to wait for labor. I went to the bathroom to clean myself up and that’s when the first contraction hit. I was blinded! After one contraction I was ready for an epidural – after two I wanted to call my midwives but was embarrassed because I’d only had 2 contractions. I had my husband call after the fourth contraction and while he was on the phone I screamed out “I’m pushing and I can feel the head.”
Under orders from my midwife, my husband got another phone to call an ambulance and I called out for him. Juggling the two phones, I ordered him to “Catch! Baby!” But before he could do anything, my baby slid into my hands over my toilet.
My son Felix was born – from start to finish – in 15 minutes. His name means ”lucky” because we felt so lucky to have him after losing his older sister.
He was followed in the next years by two other siblings, who each made it to the hospital to be born, also extremely quickly but safely. ”
– Meghan C.
All’s Well That Ends Well
“I was sent home with “false labor” just to have my first son born less than 3 hours later.
I was scared of what “real” labor would feel like. It hurt so much. I cried and prayed. Finally my water broke, and I was told to go back to the hospital. We arrived 45 minutes before my son was born. My husband said he got really scared when he saw I had one leg on the dash and one foot flat on the car’s ceiling.
Our son loves hearing the story of my husband running my wheelchair through the hospital hallways as I yelled in pain. The entire Subway restaurant turned to watch us go by.
The hospital had me signing paperwork as he was crowning. It was at that moment that my OB arrived – 5 minutes before the birth according to her notes. I remember how impressed I was with my signature. I thought it must have been the most amazing signature I ever signed. I would love to see what it actually looked like.
I ended up needing an hour and forty-five minutes of stitches to correct a 4th degree tear. I held my son as I was stitched. His favorite part of the story is when I tell him that he looked up at me as I looked down at him. I fell instantly in love with him. “We fell in love with each other,” he corrects me.”
– Faith-Anne B.
Do you have a unique birth story?
Feel free to share it in the comments below!
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