Births do not go as planned 90% of the time, which is what makes every birth perfectly beautiful. In this blog we will hear Nikki’s birth story. Nikki was a Birth Center mom with plans to birth in the blue room who quickly learned that babies do not follow your plans.
Nikki is a Delaware native from Townsend, DE. When she was 23, she left home to travel on the Renaissance circuit for seven years. Nikki returned home in 2014. She married her husband Cory in May of 2019. Nikki and Cory began their fertility journey the moment they said their “I Do’s.” Within five months, they announced their pregnancy.
Read on to hear Nikki relive her birth story —
I found out that one of my close friends was in the hospital the day before I found out I was pregnant. After visiting her I was torn apart emotionally, and I went home that night and decompressed with jameson and ginger. Alcohol has a way of rerouting your thoughts, and at that moment in time I realized my period was late.
They say that HCG levels are most accurate with your first morning urine, so I waited until the next morning. Thank gosh I had a spare pregnancy test in one of my drawers, because sure enough there were two beautiful pink lines. This was a Saturday morning and my husband was sound asleep. I recall throwing myself on the bed next to him as I said, loud and proud, “We are having a baby!”
My prenatal journey began with The Birth Center. I knew I wanted to get my prenatal care there after hearing about one of my co-worker’s experiences. She explained the natural birthing process and I thought it was awesome!
I had all my prenatal visits done at The Birth Center with their midwives. My pregnancy experience was smooth; I never experienced morning sickness or aches and pains. I was not one to LOVE being pregnant, but lucky for me I did not have many complaints. I did have one minor complication, which was being diagnosed with gestational diabetes. My pregnancy was a geriatric pregnancy in which gestational diabetes is more likely to happen.
With gestational diabetes you have to maintain tight control of your blood sugar through diet and physical activity. One thing to note is that I am covered in tattoos, yet I hate needles. Ironic, I know. I had to suck up my personal fears of injections and needles and prick my finger a couple of times each day to check my blood sugar. In my case I was able to keep my gestational diabetes at bay with my change of diet. The end goal was to have a healthy baby, and that was what kept me sane through the glucose tracking and monitoring process.
I always scheduled my appointments for Maternal Fetal Medicine and The Birth Center all in one day due to the drive from Townsend to Newark. On this particular day my appointments were a bit spread out, so I decided to grab some lunch and shop in between. Here’s when I should mention my habit of locking my keys in my vehicle and my frequent encounters with AAA. Sure enough, between my appointments I locked myself out of my car with the keys inside, and I could not use my AAA because I had already exceeded the amount of times they will come out per month. Here I was with a small crowd of people around me, 36 weeks pregnant, huge at this point, and stressed. My patience and ability to think were nowhere to be found, so I walked into the nearby Dunkin Donuts, borrowed a small hammer from the store manager, and busted the car window out myself! Let me tell you, Iit was really hard, with me being almost full-term. Breaking the window took three double-handed swings. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what pushed me into early labor!
My labor started with pains that felt like I needed to poop. I told my mother in-law how I was feeling, and she recommended that I lie down for a while. I was lying in bed when all of a sudden I got a sudden gush of fluid as if I peed my pants! I had no idea what it was, this involuntary release of liquid everywhere. It was 7:09pm when my water broke. I started texting my girlfriend who has had multiple kiddos, and she instructed me to time my cramps. I was still thinking they were poop cramps and I just needed to go to the bathroom. No sir, these were contractions, but I didn’t realize it since this was my first pregnancy.
I’d been on the toilet for a while when my husband came home and ran me a warm bath ( that I never got into). At 8:43pm my mucus plug dropped and I called The Birth Center. My contractions were 3 minutes apart. Due to my gestational age being 36wks and 3 days, I was considered preterm and was unfortunately unable to birth atThe Birth Center. The midwife consulted with me over the phone, explained what would most likely happen from then on, and told me to head to Christiana Hospital.
I had no hospital bag ready, the car seat was not installed, and I was feeling unprepared. Here I was thinking I had another month to get things together, but the baby had other plans.
I got to the hospital at 10:00pm., I had come to accept that my birth would be a hospital birth, which was a hard pill to swallow at first. When you have planned for a natural birth of course you’re going to feel bummed out, but I reconnected with reality and put into my head that a healthy baby is the end goal, period.
I ultimately opted for an epidural. Receiving the epidural was not the most pleasant experience, yet I was grateful for it in the moment since it helped me take back control of the unexpected situation I found myself in. At around 2:30am my cramps started coming around to the front., I called for the nurse and sure enough it was time to have the baby.
At 4:37am my son Kane was born, 7lbs 6oz and 19” long.
With everything happening the way it did, I have to admit I needed that three -day hospital stay.
It felt nice to soak up my newborn before heading home, where nothing was ready yet! I am grateful for the nurses who gave me a great hospital experience although it was not my plan.
A huge thank you to all my friends and family who came together to help my husband get things ready for the baby, like installing the car seat for us. You are all appreciated!
When we went home I was so grateful to have my husband home with the baby and me for the first two weeks; he was ever so helpful. But I am very independent and prefer to do things on my own, so it was tough for me to sit back and not do anything!
My sweet Kane has been the light of my life since the first day. I never imagined he could get any cuter, and I swear he just gets cuter everyday.
Ultimately not being able to birth at The Birth Center was a bummer. I was very excited and ready for this beautiful natural birth. At the time it was the only thing I knew, so when I was told I had to go to the hospital my heart dropped. I was uncertain and scared about the hospital, mostly because of the pandemic. But the moral of my birth story is that a healthy baby is the goal. I did not have the planned natural birth I had hoped for, but I had the birth that I needed for a healthy baby.
I thank The Birth Center for holding me as a Birth Center Mama even though my baby was not born there. That’s because The Birth Center stands for what is best for baby and mom. Their ultimate goal is a healthy mom and a healthy baby, regardless of where the baby is born.
Birth without fear regardless of how that may turn out for you!
-Written by Stacey Avila with the audio and information from Nikki Beach.
Thank you Nikki for sharing your birth story. You are amazing!