Natural childbirth

The age difference between her 14-year-old identical twin sons Jake and Hunter and 7-month-old daughter Ciel might be sizable, but Niki Taylor tells the Celebrity Baby Blog it hasn’t stopped the siblings from bonding. “The boys are great with their baby sister,” she raves.

What’s more, between Niki’s husband Burney Lamar and the twins, baby girl will always have plenty of protectors. Niki quips,

“Ciel’s got three dads. She’s covered. She’s not going to be able to get away with anything!”

There has been “a big difference” for the 34-year-old model between Ciel’s birth and when she welcomed the twins. Citing her own age, Niki notes that she “grew up” with Jake and Hunter. “I just went through a lot of life lessons as a mom in raising them, and [now] I can enjoy it [more] because I don’t have to be back to work, or be on a set somewhere,” she explains.

Ciel is already “such a character” and hitting all her milestones. While not a fan of tummy time, she is rolling over, sitting up, and recently sprouted her first tooth! “Her dad and I both have really big teeth, so we feel bad,” Niki jokes. “She’s going to have a mouthful of really, really big teeth.” Of motherhood, Niki adds,

“It’s always an adventure and always something really fun going on.”

Courtesy Niki Taylor for use on CBB

Click below to read about Niki’s thoughts about unmedicated births and to see another photo.

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Scott Kirkland/INF

Even though Emily Mortimer has immigrated to the United States, her accent provides a constant reminder of her native England — much to the chagrin of her 6-year-old son Samuel John!

“[He] mocks me every time I open my mouth,” the 37-year-old actress tells the UK’s Psychologies magazine. “He talks with an American accent, which I don’t mind, but I do resent him taking the piss out of mine!”

When she’s in need of a reminder of her late father, however, Emily says that she need look no further than Sam himself. She explains,

“If someone is boring him he’ll give this little look, exactly like Dad. It’s very comforting. I wish they could have had longer than five years together.”

In the interview, Emily — due in January with her second child — recalls her labor and delivery with Sam.

Even though she’d “never been averse to any kind of medication,” Emily says she was “brainwashed” into believing that “you have to go natural in order to be a real woman.”

With that mindset in place, she started reading books on natural childbirth, taking a yoga class, hired a doula and purchased a water tank — but her efforts were all in vain. “[I] struggled on for 24 hours — and then I had an epidural,” she reveals.

“I can remember saying to the anaesthetist, ‘Oh, I love you, thank you so much. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’ve always loved drugs. I’ve never been known to turn a drug down!’”

Sam is Emily’s son with husband Alessandro Nivola.

Source: Psychologies

Thanks to CBB reader Autumn.

– Missy

AP/Courtesy of Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs

Calling wife Idina Menzel “a warrior” for delivering their 6-week-old son Walker Nathaniel naturally without pain medication, Taye Diggs opened up about the happy day during a Thursday visit to The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

“It was amazing. I was holding her hands and cheering her on,” he reveals. “I said I would look two times. I would look when the baby was crowning, and I wanted to look right when Walker came out.”

“Then when he came out, all the sudden it was like my inner gangster came out. I was like, ‘Yeah baby, you did that thing, that’s what I’m talkin’ about, that’s my boy!’”

Adding that “it was crazy” and that he “couldn’t control” himself, Taye likened the experience to “the Super Bowl, World Series, World Cup, everything wrapped up into one.”

There were some tense moments leading up to Walker’s debut, and watching Idina experience childbirth in full was almost too much to bear. “When that first pain hit her and I saw her face, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m just going to be in this other room…’” the 38-year-old actor jokes.

Things got off to a far more mellow start, however. “There was something going on that morning, so we knew, ‘Okay, this is going to be a special day,”‘ Taye explains. “She said, ‘Go off to work, and if I need you, I’ll call you.’”

When that call came, Taye was ready!

“In the movies and on TV, you always hear everybody’s rushing, but everyone is telling me when it actually happens, there is no need to rush. There’s no need to speed. So on the way home, I was constantly telling myself, ‘Relax, relax, be cool.’”

After arriving at the hospital “the labor really start[ed] to kick in,” Taye added, and ultimately lasted between seven and eight hours.

Source: The Ellen DeGeneres Show

– Missy

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In anticipation of our interview with The Business of Being Born’s Ricki Lake and filmmaker Abby Epstein about their new book, Your Best Birth: Know All Your Options, Discover the Natural Choices, and Take Back the Birth Experience and social networking site, My Best Birth, we’ve been thinking a lot (and differently) about natural childbirth.

Many celebrities chose to give birth without drugs or medical intervention, whether at home, a birthing center or hospital, and we know many of you have as well. Now tell us why or, if you’re contemplating natural childbirth for your new birth, what attracts you most to it.

Click here to see who gave birth naturally or at home.

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When former and current Coronation Street actors Tina O’Brien and Ryan Thomas found out early this year that they were expecting their first child, the idea of parenthood was a bit "daunting." However, if the 25-year-old actress’ stress-free delivery last month is any clue as to what’s to come, the new parents may be in for a smooth ride!

In a new interview with the UK’s edition of OK! magazine, Tina shares that on the morning of the big day, she awoke to strong contractions at 5 a.m. After calling her midwife — who made it clear she "better get down" to the hospital — Tina, with contractions now three minutes apart, arrived to the hospital at 6 a.m. However when Ryan realized that the couple had forgotten their "pregnancy notes," he was forced to make a quick trip back to their house! Determined to make it in time for the birth of his first child, Ryan — who was in awe of his "glowing" girlfriend — arrived shortly before the couple welcomed their delivery surprise, daughter Scarlett Jacqueline, at 8:28 a.m.

"When I got back, she was halfway there. It was the perfect labor — no gas and air, no epidural. She was just on all fours and going for it."

With a fast, natural delivery, Tina — who named her daughter after her favorite film, Gone With the Wind, and Ryan’s late grandmother — is looking forward to giving Scarlett a sibling, but not before she enjoys life as a first-time mom for a bit. "I do want more children, but I want to wait awhile," says Tina.

Source: OK! via UK Family

Courtesy OK! Magazine

In an appearance on the CBS Early Show last week, Laila Ali shared that she is "doing excellent" after welcoming her first child, Curtis Muhammad, on August 26. With the new baby — who Laila reports is "great" — at home with his proud papa, retired NFL player Curtis Conway, the 30-year-old first-time mom took the opportunity to share her birthing experience and her fitness plan during and after her pregnancy. A professional athlete, Laila stayed fit through her first two trimesters by hitting the gym about five days a week. Having previously shared that her workout routines were designed around her pregnancy, Laila told CBS morning anchor Julie Chen that she was "doing the elliptical for 45 minutes, walking for 15 minutes, doing lightweight training, [and] a little pilates." However, after seven months of steady exercise, Laila realized that "at a certain point, I needed to stop," and began resting up for the big delivery day. "[I was] making sure I was eating right [and] getting enough rest because giving birth is a lot of work and you need to have good energy," explains Laila, who goes on to say she "was prepared."

Only two weeks after giving birth, Laila explains that she was ready to begin exercising and getting back into shape. She alerted her doctor that she was "coming in for a check-up," hoping to get permission to return to the gym and start shedding the pounds. With a thumbs up from her doctor — and a warning to not "go 100%" — the new mom was ready. Now, four weeks later, Laila says that she is "in spinning and weight training" and agrees that getting back in shape is "a lot of work." Although Laila notes that she still has "about 25 lbs. to get off," she admits to wondering when her stomach will bounce back! Laila laughs,

"I always want to know when the gut’s going to come off. I guess that’s the last thing to go!"

Click ‘More’ to read about Laila’s delivery experience.

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Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Watching Cassidy deliver their daughter Evalyn ‘Evie’ Day through natural childbirth just before midnight on Saturday was “amazing,” country star Dierks Bentley tells PEOPLE. “She set out to do things — as my wife does — her own way, and she really wanted to do it naturally,” he explains. The couple chose a midwife to help them stick to their plan. “It’s an amazing way to go because it makes you get involved as a husband, just reading books and helping her go through this process. I would have done it with all the drugs they could find! Ittakes a strong-willed woman and she was just amazing. You learn a lotabout your wife.”

Calling fatherhood the “wildest thing” he’s done, the new father performed — unshaven and exhausted from the previous evening’s proceedings — on Sunday in Nashville, raising money for Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Having used the facilities’ services the night before, Dierks, 32, tells PEOPLE that “knowing this [concert] supports Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, it means more to me personally now thanit ever has.” As he and Cass, 33, settle into parenthood with 2-day-old Evie, Dierks is still wrapping his mind around his new title: Dad.

“I’ve got a natural high going. I’ve done a lot of crazy stuff in my life, but this is the wildest thing. It seems like I’ve opened the door to a whole ‘nother universe. It’s like there’s another dimension I never knew existed!”

Source: PEOPLE

David Livingston/Getty

After experiencing "a lot of medical intervention" during the birth of her first son, Mason Walter, now 2 ½, when Melissa Joan Hart became pregnant with her second child, she was determined to try a more natural approach. While the 32-year-old actress — who "labored at home for nine hours" before heading to the hospital — agrees that being aware of all of the pain without any drugs does make "you want to get [the baby] out as soon as possible, so you really work," she admits that, looking back, she might have done things a little differently. "I told my mom and my husband, don’t let me have [the drugs]. I kinda regret that one," says Melissa. Although the Sabrina the Teenage Witch star considered the drug-free birthing experience tough, she was pleased with her speedy recovery.

"The healing was so much faster. I didn’t have to get the drugs out of my system and was moving around a lot more."

With the delivery pain behind her, Melissa and her husband, Course of Nature’s Mark Wilkerson, are giving all of their attention to their boys, Mason and Braydon ‘Brady’ Hart, 6 months. Sharing that their sons are "just starting to relate to each other," and make a perfect match — "[Brady] loves to laugh at his big brother and his brother loves to make him laugh" — Melissa, who hit the gym four weeks after Brady’s birth, goes on to reveal her weightloss secret!

"What I did was make sure no Sprinkles cupcakes [were] in the house, no candy. I got used to the no sugar so I was like ok, ‘no starches.’ I slowly started to get myself back on track and get my willpower built up."

Source: Us Weekly

Although she’ll hit 40 weeks the first week of September, former boxer Laila Ali says she isn’t concerned about exactly when her son makes his debut. "I don’t put a due date on the baby," she tells Pregnancy in their September issue. "Whenever he’s ready to come out."

When Curtis Muhammad is ready to be born, Laila is hoping she’s made the journey easy for him. Although the athlete and Dancing With the Stars alum has continued to work out four days a week, its been with her delivery in mind. "I do an hour of cardio on the elliptical, and then light weight-lifting, just upper body," Laila explains. "I don’t do lower body because you want your lower body to loosen up to make room for the baby to come through."

The American Gladiators host admits that she’s been pleasantly surprised at her body’s physical response to the pregnancy, saying, "I always thought I was going to gain a lot of weight because I’m a big girl naturally. I walk around at 175 lbs, I’m 5′11", and I love to eat," Laila reveals. "I thought, ‘Oh God, I’m going to be like 250 lbs and huge.’ I know a lot of women have that fear. But because I’m already a big girl, I was just imagining myself to be a giant."

More from the interview — plus additional images — when you click ‘Continue Reading.’

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Actress Maria Bello "can’t imagine giving birth in a sterile environment like a hospital," and that’s one reason that she labored with son Jackson Blue, 7, in her own bed.  The 41-year-old shared that during the "22 hours of labor," she "had a midwife and a thunderstorm with nothing more than an aspirin."  Despite "times where I wanted to say, ‘Get the ambulance — I’m done,’" Maria told herself she could get through it.

But then I thought, "I can do anything for 24 hours," and it was almost exactly 24 hours.

After becoming a parent to Jackson, Maria admitted that she "never felt so much love and fear at the same time," adding that she "just wanted to keep him from every lesson he needed to learn" when he was little.  As Jackson has grown, the actress knows that she "need[s] to trust God to take care of him."  Maria, who admits "it’s second nature for me to play a mom" in the film The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, also firmly believes that "the greatest thing we need to teach our kids is to be our most authentic selves."

Jackson’s dad is Maria’s ex, TV executive Dan McDermott.

Source: Chicago Sun Times; Photo by Anita Bugge/WireImage.