Hannah W’s Home Birth
On the morning of the 13th, I woke up to a contraction. I vaguely remember a few waking me up throughout my sleep - but I wasn’t convinced because I may have been dreaming. Throughout the day, they were super sporadic. Over an hour apart most times but they were painful. I thought to myself, “Great. Prodromal labor, just like with the boys.”
I finally gave my midwife and birth photographers a heads up around 5pm, just in case they did progress in the middle of the night and I had to wake them up later. At this point, I was 100% convinced they would fizzle out and we’d have a baby in a day or two. In fact, I was talking to the photographer and she asked me if I thought this was the real deal and I said “I don’t want to say yes yet.”
I put the boys to bed and sent Travis to target to get me some snacks and a gift I’d ordered for the boys to take to the neighbor that weekend. I kept thinking how nice it would be if she came on Saturday because the boys would be out of the house and I was worried they’d be scared of the laboring process.
Finally, around 10pm, I had Travis call the birth squad. I made sure to tell him several times that they may still fizzle out but that they had started coming 4-6 minutes apart for the last twenty minutes. I had debated waiting until they were like that for an hour, but Alex had an hour drive to my house and I wanted to give her a heads up.
Everyone ended up arriving around the same time, shortly before/around 11pm. This was the first time I actually got to meet the lovely birth assistant, because our prenatal appointments kept getting switched around and the next one wasn’t until the following Tuesday.
It was also the first time I got to meet the second photographer, because the plan was originally to have just the first photograph the birth until she asked if her bestie could tag along. I mean, who says no to having two amazing photographers??
The midwife asked if I wanted an exam to check dilation and I declined. I was worried I wasn’t far enough along yet and would have to send everyone home. Finally around 11:30, I asked if she could check me while I was standing up. I was feeling tired and restless at this point and could not get comfy between contractions.
After her exam, she asked what I thought I was at. I remember saying I had better be at least a 7. She laughed and said she could just barely feel a little bit and I was dilated to around 9.5.
That was the moment when it all clicked that I was really in labor. I looked at the very empty birth pool and asked how long it takes to fill. 15 minutes later, I was climbing in as they were still filling and adding cooler water.
It was around 11:45. At this point, I’m trying to see what feels comfy to ride out the contractions. I ended up laying back and allowing my hips to stretch out, but knew that I’d ultimately want to switch to a different position when it came time to really push. I labored down like this for a while. With a few really good pushes mixed in, but mostly laboring down still. Travis was a pro at switching out my cold rags. I had a few pain relieving techniques in my head, but ultimately this is what helped me through the pain.
My water finally broke at 12:24 and I knew it was time to switch it up. I ended up rotating over to my knees and leaning over the edge of the birth pool. At some point I reach out and grab onto Travis, although I don’t remember consciously doing that.
The next contraction comes and I give a huge roaring push. This is when I feel her come down and the ring of fire. I remember asking the midwife if she would just pull her out (of course she says no LOL).
So then I knew I had to get her out, I couldn’t take it anymore. I gave a few deep pushes, forgetting my breathing techniques and just over it. The midwife leans over and reminds me to go slow, which brought me back to reality and I took a calm breath. Another breath later and her head is out. The midwife’s untangling the cord while my body gives one last final push and out she comes all the way with her little hand up by the right side of her FACE!
At this point I’m just in shock. I can’t believe I just did that! I can’t believe our precious rainbow baby is here and she’s safe and she’s healthy and she was born into a room of comfort and love! Travis is tearing up, I’m laughing and feeling so much joy, our birth team is celebrating with us as they start bundling her up against my chest.
Maisie and I take a few minutes to just decompress and snuggle in the water before the midwives help us climb up into our bed to do her newborn screening. And then a few hours later, everyone heads home and we’re laying in the comfort of our bed. Giddy and excited for the boys to wake up the next morning and realize they have a baby sister earth side. Exhausted and overjoyed but still in shock and can’t stop staring at her to sleep.
We finally get some sleep and wake up early before the boys the next day. Noah comes in our room first and immediately wants to go wake Connor up to tell him. Connor comes stumbling in with his eyes half open and asks “Is that the real baby??”
And thus begins our family of five. The most perfect little angel to complete our family. We spent the next day trying out names and ultimately decided Maisie was the perfect fit for her spunky self.