When Your Birth Plan Goes Astray: The Rewrite of My Yogic Birth Story by Nicole DeAvilla

As a yoga teacher, I thought I would have a different birthing story to tell. Instead of...

• Laboring at home practicing prenatal yoga – I was induced at the hospital.

• Practicing yoga poses and meditating – I had to lie prone in the hospital bed.

• Having no medications – I was injected with pitocin to induce labor.

• Eating healthily – I begged for more JELL-O to curb my growing hunger!

• Breathing with natural contractions – I progressed from no contractions to rapid, intense, pitocin-induced contractions.

• Planning to consider a light epidural – I needed to have a full-on numbing one.

• Practicing yoga during labor – I was exhausted with an epidural and slept through my labor.

• Squatting for delivery – My dead weight unfeeling legs were propped into a semi-squat position on the bed.

• Feeling the contractions and moving and breathing yogically with them – My doctor had to tell me when I was having a contraction.

• Pushing with my strength and coordination – I had to imagine muscles I couldn’t feel. 

In the end, none of this mattered! Having a healthy wonderful baby to cherish was the foremost goal and was the awesome result. In the end I do have an even better yoga birthing story and lesson: Accepting what is, maintaining a sense of humor and being grateful. That’s a happy yoga birthing story.

Did you have a re-write of your birthing story? Please share!