Contractions started Thursday, Jan 25th around 6pm, they were very inconsistent, I could take a deep breath through them. I did the miles circuit and some hip circles on my yoga ball hoping to get labor progressing. Friday Jan 26th, contractions were still inconsistent and not showing any signs of picking up. I did the miles circuit that afternoon and once before going to bed, we prayed over dinner and I had a feeling it would be our last night as a family of 3. Sure enough, I woke up around 6am Saturday morning to go pee, I had woken a few times through the night with contractions but was able to go right back to sleep. DJ was already up which I thought was interesting, I got up and I went to the bathroom and as soon as I sat down another contraction came, the toilets called the dilation station for a reason, when I was done I brushed my teeth and another came on. I began breathing and moaning through them, convinced I was just gonna go back to bed I told DJ he didn’t need to call anyone. I then sat on my yoga ball and did some hip circles, another contraction. DJ then called everyone over, I still didn’t think he needed
to. This was probably around 7. Everyone was about 45min-1hour away. My midwife
recommended we start blowing up the pool and filling it with warm water. Taking every
contraction as it was moaning through them, throwing up during a couple, each one came and went. Relaxing every muscle and trusting in my God given ability to do this things picked up a bit. Around 8 my doula showed up, and she immediately came in and started doing hip squeezes, literal life savers, at this point I wasn’t talking in between contractions they were coming one after the other with just enough time to deep breathe and relax before the next one. My midwife showed up about 8:30, she asked to check baby's heartbeat with a Doppler but the gel was cold so every time she touched me it sent me into another contraction, I kept apologizing but she fully understood. My midwife fully trusted in my ability to birth this baby, as did I. The birth pool was finally ready after boiling pots of water because we ran out of hot water, I had been begging for it to be ready. As soon as I stepped in, I pivoted and said “no no no” and climbed out. The water on my skin was like sensory overload, I begged my doula to dry my legs immediately, she did. I’m still standing at my kitchen table at this point, I never moved, I held onto the edge of the table squeezing through every contraction. I kept my body as loose as I could up until this point. I talked to my baby with every contraction, we were doing this dance together, mama can’t wait to meet you, come on baby, I cried out to the Lord begging Him to give me strength because I was so tired. With every contraction I got closer to the floor, ending in a deep squat. I used the pools cup holder as a handle, the next contraction babys amniotic sac broke and scared me, I remember saying “woah that scared me” and my doula responded with “you’re safe” I knew I was safe but to hear those words in a moment I was at my most
vulnerable was so needed. The next contraction I slowly dropped to my knees and baby began crowning, the next one I pushed out my son’s head. I heard DJ say “baby I can see our baby, you’re doing so good” there was a pause, as my baby’s body navigated all the bones in my pelvis, God is so cool. I could feel him slowly turning making his way for his body to come out next, It felt like forever, I reached down to touch my baby’s face and I said “hi baby, it’s your mama”. My midwife asked me to get on my hands and knees, I was underneath my kitchen table at this point. The next contraction I pushed out my son’s body and DJ got to catch him. I heard him make a few noises as DJ said “it’s a boy baby, we have another boy” and then he passed him through my legs and I put him on my chest. As soon as I put him on my chest I was able to sit down and lean back into DJ. Our baby looked up at me eyes wide open and started talking away, I remember asking my midwife if he was okay and she said “yeah he’s just talking to you”. We slowly moved me to the bed where I was able to lay down, baby never left my chest. I started cramping so I moved to the squatty potty where I then birthed my placenta. We moved back to the bed where we talked, I took some arnica, cramp tincture, I ate some food and drank some water. Then I decided I was ready for his cord to be cut. We spent the rest of the day together in bed as a family of 4
Born on Saturday, January 27th at 9:15am
