Baby boy may have been late, but he sure came in a hurry! After a twelve day “wait” he came rushing into the world with an active labor of maybe 8 hours.
This was my dream birth- it was so perfect for me and I never want to forget all the details. It was awesome and powerful to be able to trust my instinct and my body. At 41 + 5, I was so concerned I was going to go to 42 weeks and my midwife would no longer assist. But Aly, one of my midwives, was so confident I would before then, which helped my state of mind.
Atticus Naman Sparks 💕Perfect birth experience- 7-8 hour labor, at home, birthed in the birthing pool in my living room, and it was exactly what I wanted. I did all of the things, but not consistent at all- occasionally drank RRLT, put dates in my smoothies (which I drank most days), and stayed active throughout pregnancy.
During week 40, I still worked most days. I knew baby would come when he was ready. I went to church on 40 + 5. When the following Monday rolled around and I was 41 weeks, discouragement kicked in. But on 41 + 0, I went to my Mom and sisters. I picked berries for an hour then went and pulled weeds (in and out of the chair) for another hour.
That week, I would wake up most mornings hopeful, but by the time I went to bed I was crying, mostly in fear that I wouldn’t be able to have a home birth.
The midwife said they advised to do a ultrasound in week 41, but it was totally up to me. I opted to do it to make sure my placenta was healthy and baby was getting everything he needed. DO NOT RECOMMEND. Baby was perfectly healthy and so was my placenta, but having to hear all the reasons from the doc of why it could be dangerous, messed with my head space. This was on 41 + 2.
On Thursday, 41+3, I got a foot massage. On Friday, I got a call back from the acupuncturist I’d left a message for the day before and they fit me in around 11. She was great! She had also birthed at home with a midwife. She said I may feel baby move or contractions. They did 3 points on my ankles, hands and neck. Then a short foot massage. And some additional on my back. I could really feel the one on my back and I believe that one started me having some mild contractions.
I got home and contractions continued. Derrick, my partner, was at home with me Friday evening as contractions continued.
I updated my midwife and my sister, who was my support person. I moved around on the ball, walked around the house, and tried to rest some. Unfortunately, around 9pm I was feeling really tired and took a nap. When I woke back up things completely stalled out. I went to bed hoping it would pick back up in the middle of the night.
I woke up on Saturday morning completely disappointed nothing happened. My partner drove me to the midwife for a membrane sweep at 10am on 41 +5. I sat down and just started to tear up. My midwife said to just let it out, she knew baby would come soon. She said I was around 2cm and could stretch me to about a 3. That week was my first cervical exam because i didn’t really care about dialation, but I knew the exam and the sweep could possibly get things moving along, so it was welcome at that point.
Derrick and I went to a cafe nearby and got breakfast after the sweep. After we got home he went out to mow and I made a castor oil shake (4 oz of castor oil will get you moving).
I started having contractions (finally!) at 41 weeks and 5 days a little after 2pm. I let my partner know shortly after he came in from mowing, I didn’t want to get too excited after the false labor the day before. I started texting the midwife and my precious sister (doula, and support person) at 3:45pm because contractions started getting intense. The midwife said she would plan to be at my house by 6, but to let her know if she needed to come earlier. They both arrived at 6pm as I was having intense contractions on the couch with my partner supporting and encouraging me through them. I started moving around a little more, from the couch, to the birthing ball, to the bed and bathroom. Eventually ended up sitting on the edge of the couch or somewhat reclined for about another hour, tried to eat a popsicle through contractions since I hadn’t eaten since breakfast around 10:30am.
A little before 8:30pm I really wanted to move to the bathroom. I had a couple contractions on the way. As soon as I made it to the toilet, I gave a little push and a gush came out. Aly, my midwife came in and smiled and said that was your water breaking. 🙌🏻🥲 I felt some relief at that point because I knew baby boy would be here soon. I began to really vocalize through contractions at this point. I made it back to the living room and said I really felt like my body was pushing uncontrollably. The tub didn’t get quite full enough before we ran out of hot water so my bf and sister tag teamed heating water up on the stove. They were still working on that and I just really needed to get in the tub at that point 😅 I was able to get in very quickly after my water broke- it only felt like a lifetime, I was probably in transition.
I’ll pause the story to say- I never felt fear, I never thought, “I wish I would have gone to the hospital”. I felt safe and comforted by my team around me and knew I was where I was supposed to be. One thing I did to prepare was read the Mama Natural affirmation cards and prayed and meditated on the birth I wanted.
After getting in the tub, I was pushing for about an hour. I was moving around and changing positions between or during contractions. It felt so good to be able to move around freely. The bottom of the tub was padded so I could get on my hands and knees, lean, over the edge, and ultimately ended up laying my head back on the side of the tub because I felt like I wanted to stretch out and bear down slightly while pushing his head out.
I was so shocked when his head came out, I wish I could have seen my face 😯 I thought I’d lost something 🤣
And then we had a baby boy.
Derrick helped bring him out of the water and onto my chest and I was immediately in love.
I rubbed on him and held him in the tub for a while. The midwives helped me move from the tub to the bed. A lot of that time was a blur. I know everyone was tired, but the midwives gave us a long time to just spend together before they came in to weigh and measure, my 8 pound baby boy. My sister made me a plate of food and we all got to hold and love the sweet new addition to the family.
I would do it again a million times!