My Birthing Experience:

Giving birth to my son was quite an experience. Let’s just say things didn’t completely go as planned. My name is Antonia, and I gave birth to my healthy baby boy named Damoni on February 6th, 2025. My support team that was with me through this entire process was my wonderful doula Toria, my boyfriend, & my parents. I was induced at 38 weeks 5 days on February 4th. I started going into labor on February 5th.

According to my birth plan, I originally wanted a natural, unmedicated water birth, but things didn’t go as planned. I was not expecting to have to repeatedly get out of the water bath to have my cervix checked. After the 2nd time getting out of the water, I opted out and decided to give birth on the bed. I was 7cm dilated when I got out of the water. My contractions started coming every 30 seconds or so and were extremely painful, to where I couldn’t take it anymore, and that’s when I decided to get an epidural. Being completely nervous about getting my epidural, my doula Toria stayed with me, and she knew exactly how to keep me calm, and she talked me through it. The epidural experience wasn’t nearly as bad as I was thinking it would be, especially after reading other women’s experiences on TikTok. All I felt was a tiny pinch and a little burning sensation, and that was it. It was over in less than a minute. My only advice for the epidural is to be completely still. After the epidural, it was a little after 12:00 a.m. The epidural kicked in quickly, and I was finally able to relax. As hours went by of constantly getting woke up by nurses and doctors, I was told to start pushing around 7:50 a.m. My little man was out in 3 pushes. He was full term at 39 weeks, weighing 5lb 11oz and measuring 19 inches.

Although nothing went as planned, my entire experience was completely worth it, and I wouldn’t have been able to get through my birth without Toria. She’s amazing. She was there through my entire pregnancy, even through my previous pregnancy, where I lost my first son at 22 weeks. She made sure things were going right in the delivery room, she timed my contractions, and she even brought snacks and a little fan to keep me cool. She’s exactly what I needed alongside of my family, especially for us first time moms. ❤️