My name is Tory Nichols Keene.
I am 23 years old and a mother of two.
Let me correct you a bit; I was a mother of two until I became pregnant with my third child.
You know my story. I grew up in Los Angeles, California, in a difficult background, with a single mother, and struggling in poverty. You saw what I did as a teen when I attacked Samantha Larusso in school. I went in and out of Cobra Kai.
At age 20, I had my first child, a daughter. I birthed at home in bed with the help of three midwives in Kansas. The following year, I birthed my second child at home alone.
At 23, I was pregnant again and going to have my third child. As with my second pregnancy, I had a wild pregnancy. I was planning on another freebirth.
This time, however, my hubby, Robby Keene, was helping me out. I would like to recount the birth story of Apollo Elias Nichols Keene.
I was all naked in bed, laboring. It was nighttime, and my two daughters, Electra and Chrysothemis, were fast asleep.
My hubby, Robby, was right there with me in bed. In order to help with the contractions, we did it a few times.
I always giggled. I had loved him for a long time, but now, we are a married couple. We had been through much in our teens, and now, we were young parents of two daughters.
As the night went by, my contractions got more and more intense. It was around midnight that I began feeling the urge to push.
"You feeling okay, my love?" Robby asked.
"This baby is coming out!" I groaned.
With all my might, I turned onto my hands and knees, all naked. Amanda Larusso had given me a bit of advice since Chrysothemis was born; she advised me to get on all fours which would open up my pelvis a bit.
Robby was there beside me. He was rubbing and jiggling my nipples as I panted.
A contraction came and I felt the urge to push.
I mustered all my strength and I closed my eyes, clenched my teeth, and pushed into my bottom with all my might.
"UGGGGHHH!" I roared.
"UUUGGGGGHHHHH!" I roared again, straining into my bottom. I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth.
I moaned. I had gone through this process twice, but was doing it again.
"Good, Tory!" Robby smiled.
"UGGGGGHHH!" I groaned.
"Get it out of me!" I shouted.
I roared again with all my might. It was then that I decided to flip onto my back.
My hubby helped me flip. I was on my back, and I pulled my legs all the way back.
A mirror hung on the wall of my bedroom. I saw my naked self, with my bare breasts and everything, and there I was, my face as red as a tomato.
I gave the biggest, most forceful push I could into my bottom. My eyes were closed and my teeth were clenched.
I laid my head back down on my pillow, before giving another go.
"HHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"
I gave the loudest roar I could muster. This was a mother lion trying to expel a cub from her womb.
Just then, the door opened, and in tiptoed Electra. She was the one whom I birthed just over two years ago.
"Mama!" she smiled.
"That's my girl!" I moaned."The baby's coming!"
Electra sat down right next to me. She gently began caressing my right breast.
Unbeknownstto her, that would trigger a major contraction. It hit like a truck, and I gave all I had.
I made every effort to not scream nor howl; I did not want to scare my daughter. I clenched my teeth and focused all my energy into my bottom.
I gave it another go.
And another.
I opened my eyes and looked into the mirror. Not much had changed. I was still a sweaty, exhausted woman. The baby was nowhere to be seen.
I gave another push and rested.
"Get it out of me!" I moaned quietly.
I decided to get back onto all fours. I rocked back and forth for a few minutes, waiting for a contraction.
It came.
I gave a huge push into my bottom.
And another.
And another.
It seemed like it would take forever. This birth was costing me all my strength. I was there, in the midst of all of it, fully focused, and blocked out all other thoughts.
Suddenly, something changed. I felt a tear right down there.
Knowing that the end was near, I gave all I had when the next contraction hit.
"UUUUGGGGGHHH!" I groaned.
"That's the head, Tory!" Robby shouted excitedly. He was there, observing me. I felt fingers down there gently touching what was in the opening of my vagina, and gently stretching the surrounding skin.
I felt that baby's head being pushed forward with each push.
I pushed into my bottom with all my strength, being determined to deliver my child in my own bed.
"UUUUGGGGHHHH!" I growled.
"That's good," Robby remarked. "The head is coming right out."
"HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMPPPPPHHHHH!" I roared.
I felt the baby's head push right through.
"The head is out, Tory!" Robby smiled.
"Wow!" Electra remarked.
I smiled. She was only two years old, but yet, she seemed to be quite impressed by what she was seeing.
"You see that? That's the head!" Robby exclaimed.
I groaned.
After all that work, I had finally delivered the head. Now all that remained were the shoulders.
I looked down between my legs. There was the head of my child. It had pretty much no hair.
Tears flowed down my cheeks as I touched it; this was my child. This was the child that I had been carrying in my womb for the past nine months before giving birth.
I thought about the grumpiness that I had been through, and all the moments I felt nauseous.
"You feel a contraction?" Robby asked.
"Yeah," I groaned.
I gave as hard of a push into my bottom as I could.
"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" I roared.
Immediately, I felt something pop loose and slide right out of me, landing on the bed.
I looked down to see a baby. A newborn baby. My baby. The most beautiful, precious thing on Earth.
Tears immediately began spilling down my cheeks.
"I did it! I did it!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.
I was overwhelmed with elation. I had just pushed out a baby from my womb.
Picking up my baby, I planted a kiss on its left cheek. Tears were spilling down my cheeks uncontrollably; I could not stop. I had succeeded.
I examined the baby closely.
"It is a boy!" I cried. I planted a kiss at the top of his head.
I counted ten fingers and ten toes.
"He is perfect," I whispered.
Robby and I shared a kiss, as he took hold of my newborn son.
"Wow," he remarked.
I lay down in my bed, holding my child in my arms.
A few minutes later, I felt something come out between my legs. It was a blob of bloody tissue.
It was the placenta.
I could not stop smiling. After all that hard work, I, Tory Nichols, had given birth to my third child.
Robby handed me my son.
"Apollo Elias Nichols Keene!" I whispered into his ear.
