This positive home birth story starts out when we found out we were having our 4th baby. I found out when my third baby was just 7 months old. I was still nursing her and thinking, “How can I do this again so soon?” My pregnancy flew by until the last month. Then it seemed to drag on. I had an accidental fall around 28 weeks pregnant and even though everything checked out ok, I was still nervous going into delivery.
Preparing for home birth
I had everything prepared for another home birth. I had always given birth at home. I love the atmosphere of laboring and delivering at home but my favorite part of being home is postpartum. We will get to that. I had planned for a water birth so at 37 weeks pregnant, we got the birth pool from my midwife and had it on standby.
Signs baby was coming
At 38 weeks 6 days pregnant, I lost my mucus plug. I wasn’t sure what this would mean this pregnancy. My first I lost it about a week before she was delivered and I don’t remember losing it with the others. I text my midwife to inform her and had my sister come clean my house just in case it was go time. My other kids played outside all day and I had a clean house so it was a really good day. That night was a different story.
My then 17 month old was not sleeping through the night. We had tried almost everything we could think of. That night was one of the worst nights. She woke up and we brought her to bed with us. Between her kicking me and waking up screaming when I rolled over, I got very little sleep. I remember crying with her and bringing on a contraction that was so painful I cried harder. My husband was finally able to get her back to sleep and I was able to go back to sleep as well around 4 am.
Contractions started in the middle of the night
I had a couple contractions between 4 am and 7 am when we woke up. It was my 4th baby so I new the contractions needed to be around 10 minutes or less a part before having the midwife come. I got up to pee and noticed I lost more of my mucus plug. I called the midwife to let her know and to inform her that I had had a few contractions in the night but they weren’t close enough yet. I also told her I was super hungry and exhausted because of the night before. She said, “Just keep me updated. Try to eat and go back to sleep if you can.”
Things escalated really quickly as soon as I hung up the phone. I had 3-4 contractions just 3 minutes apart. My husband had already started getting the birth pool set up and in my head I was thinking, “It’s probably too soon for that.” I was so wrong. After those contractions, my husband called the midwife and asked her to come on at 8AM. He knew from previous births how fast my labors last and didn’t want to take any chances. Thankfully he was on top of it.
I labored on a birth ball while listening to Christian Hypnobirthing. The meditation tracks helped me focus on breathing and praying as I worked through each contraction. They were lasting around 1.5 minute and about 3-4 minutes apart. My midwife arrived around 8:30 AM and my mom arrived around the same time.
Time to get in the pool
Bryan, my husband, made me a smoothie to sip on in between contractions. I remember it tasting so good and giving me some much needed energy after having poor sleep. Once the pool was filled I was wanting to get in. The warm water felt so good and helped take off the weight.
I asked Bryan to get in the pool with me and squeeze my hips during contractions. I was so thankful he was strong because I needed that hip squeeze to relieve some of the contraction pain. Once I started feeling the urge to push I reached down to see if I could feel the baby’s head. Being able to do that helps me to know we are almost there and it won’t take much longer. I asked my husband if he wanted to feel the baby’s head and he did. At this point I was leaning back on the pool but I felt the need to roll back over to my hands and knees and lay my head on the side of the pool.
Selah, our oldest at almost 6, was a tremendous help. She was putting cool cloths on my head and bringing me water to drink. She was so excited to be there and see the baby be born. Micah, our 2nd born, wasn’t as involved but was still interested in seeing his baby brother be born. Hadassah, our third born would walk around with her paci in her mouth and come up to me and hug me and kiss me. It was amazing how our family pulled together to welcome this new baby into the world.
Around 8:45 I started pushing. Contractions seemed to space out a bit but would come on stronger with the urge to push. I could feel the baby sliding down and his head crowning. I pressed on his head a bit to allow things to stretch out some before his head fully came out. With one big push, his head came out in the water. I announced, “His head is out,” and got ready for the next push. My husband was still in the pool with me and when I made the last push the baby came out and went between my legs backwards. I said, “He’s out! Get him!” Bryan got to catch our sweet boy and hand him to me once I was back to leaning up against the pool.
Baby is born!
Nehemiah Isaac Hurst was born at 9:27 AM just 2 hours after I had initially called the midwife. I didn’t deliver his placenta until about 30 minutes after. We ended up cutting the cord and I had to get up and walk to the bathroom to deliver it. Once that was all cleaned up, we got to snuggle in bed and measure and weigh him. He was my biggest baby yet at 8lbs 10oz. I didn’t tear at all with him and I think it’s because I was able to let my body tell me when to push and also I was in the water.
I don’t think a homebirth is for everyone but I have loved every one of my home births. Each one came with it’s struggles but in the end baby and I were well cared for and comfortable in our own home and bed. You can watch his positive home birth vlog here!
You can learn how I prepare for a Home birth here.
