Our biggest, most wonderful surprise made his debut 10/16/26 and completed our family in the best way. Theodore John (Teddy) came quickly into this world after being induced and was my first unmedicated birth. He’s absolutely perfect and everyone is completely in love with him. Let’s dive into his birth story!
Teddy’s Birth Story
Read my other birth stories: JACK | NOAH | ALICE
Teddy’s due date was 10/22/26 but I ended up being induced with him on the 16th. He was my second induction after my first born, and my first unmedicated birth! It was truly an incredible experience, and IF we were having more kids (we aren’t – four is plenty), I would absolutely choose to do unmedicated again. Originally, my plan was to go into labor naturally, so when it was determined that I would need to be induced, I was really nervous that those pitocin contractions were going to ruin my game plan.
The day before my induction, I had my 39 week appointment where it was determined that my fluid levels were low, but baby was still moving around okay. I also battled SPD (which I had with both Noah and Alice), anemia and hyperthyroidism this pregnancy and we were never able to get a full handle on either of those even with medication. Additionally, I was group b strep positive this time around (my second GBS+ pregnancy) and due to Alice and Noah’s extremely fast labors, my doctor was really nervous that I wasn’t going to make it to the hospital in time to have the 2-4 hours of antibiotics that I needed before delivery.
My doctor had been monitoring baby and when she discovered my low fluid levels, my medical history and my general over-ness of this last pregnancy, we both decided that a 39 week induction was the best option this time around.
This was also the first pregnancy of my four where we did not know the gender – so we were getting so anxious to find out WHO was going to be joining our family!!!
This baby consistently measured in the 30-40th% and all of our ultrasound pictures showed a baby who looked SO much like Noah. Adam’s vote was boy from the the beginning, and I never truly had a feeling one way or another. Either way, we were going to be thrilled. Alice, however, was adamant that the baby was a boy, and would not even consider the possibility that she might have a sister. In her words, she wanted “all of the brothers”. Thank goodness we delivered.
We got to the hospital at 7:30am October 16th. I was already 3cm dilated and about 40% effaced as of my doctor appt the day before, so I felt good about already having some progress done. It meant I didn’t need to have my cervix ripened, and after a round of antibiotics, I was going to be able to get started on the pitocin.
By 11:30am, I was done with round one of antibiotics and pitocin got started. Adam and I walked loop after loop in the hospital. The nurses were SO encouraging about me wanting to go without an epidural. They got me a ball to sit on and made sure I was hooked up to a mobile IV so I could move about. We went back and forth between me squatting and moving on the ball in our room to walking in the hall to try and progress naturally as my contractions picked up.
Most of the day, my contractions were extremely manageable. They began to really pick up in intensity and spacing around 3pm. For two hours, they consistently increased but I could still walk and talk through them. Finally, at 5pm, my doctor found us in the hallway to let us know she was ready to break my water.
I got situated in the bed, but when she went to break my water, there wasn’t anything there to break. She could not get a grip on the amniotic sac because of Teddy’s head position (poor kid ended up being born with scrapes all over the top of his head due to her trying to break my water around him), and eventually we had to give up. She instructed me to keep walking to see if any water would come out, but it didn’t. We’d learn later that there wasn’t any fluid that came out even during delivery and it truly stumped all of us. At this time, I was only 4cm dilated but I was fully effaced.
By 5:20pm, just 20 minutes after trying to break my water, I was fully in active labor. Contractions were stacking on top of each other and were incredible painful. I could no longer walk or talk through them, and we ended up back in our room so Adam could apply counter pressure to my back while I rode through the contractions. I wanted to push on all fours and ended up draping my arms over the back of the bed with my knees on the lower end. After about 20 more minutes of this, the nurse came back in and could tell we were making good progress.
It was at this time I started to panic and asked the nurse about maybe doing an epidural. Instead of calling the anesthesiologist, she asked if she could check me. I was starting to feel the urge to push and afterwards, I’d realize that I was actually going through transition and it is very common to get to an “I can’t do this anymore” point at this time.
The nurse checked to see where we were at, and discovered that I was 8cm and we were really close to getting ready to push. Adam says she went into the corner of our room and made an urgent call to my doctor to get down here because it was go time. We got some nitrous oxide for me, but honestly I didn’t feel like it did anything so I’m not sure it was worth asking for it. I abandoned it pretty quick.
The doctor came running in at 5:52pm and get into position. A minute or two later, I announced that I had to push and the doctor gave me the go ahead. In two pushes, Teddy’s head was out and one more had his body out.
After he was born, Adam announced “honey, it’s Theo” and it was one of the most special moments of our lives. Waiting to find out the gender was SO worth every second of waiting. The nurses helped me flip around because I was still on all fours and placed him on my chest.
Theodore John Mobley was born at 5:55pm on October 16, 2026 weighing 7lbs 1oz and measuring 20.1inches.
There’s truly SUCH a high after giving birth – and after doing it unmedicated, I can confirm that there is a difference giving birth without an epidural. Now, I loved my peaceful, medicated deliveries. I was able to laugh and enjoy the delivery and they were so special in their own way. That said: there was something incredible about working together with the baby and my body to deliver and feeling the entire process. It was painful – but it was also beautiful. And that high at the end, holding my baby, was something I’m so glad I got to experience.
Now that we’re home, we can’t believe we ever felt complete without him. Teddy is the most magical addition to our family.
