Home Birth?! No Way! Part 2
Our second home birth was a totally different experience than with our first. It was fast, intense, and I honestly would not have been strong enough without my birth team. It is so important to have people who believe in you attend your birth because one moment of insecurity can stall your labor which can lead to unnecessary interventions. This time we chose to add in a professional photographer, Heather Goodbread who is also a postpartum doula (trust me you need her, she’s amazing). For this birth I wanted to have many photos to remember the beauty, peace, and calm that I had with my first birth. Boy was I in for a surprise, this baby did not want to come with peace and grace. AthenaRose lived up to her name (goddess of war) and came Earthside with a war cry from me, so quickly I had no peace.
That night there was no sign that labor was near so we stayed up late watching tv and quite unhealthily I stuffed myself with Cheese-Its and chocolate chip cookies. Around 12:50am I had a dream that I was telling my husband I had to pee or something. Well when I woke up from the dream, I reached around to feel my butt and it was soaked. So I slapped my husband and said, “Cameron, Oh My Goodness My Water Broke Get Up!” He groggily woke up and as I hobbled to the bathroom he stripped the bed since there was a ton of fluid. After changing and remaking the bed I sent a text to my birth team: midwife, assistant, photographer and chiropractor/doula.
At first I didn’t feel any contractions so I tried to lay down but quickly realized that things were happening and needed some relief. Sometime between 1:30 and 2:30am I made my husband start the shower so I could get something to take the edge off but he was also trying to fill the tub so the hot water died quickly. I asked my husband to start heating water on the stove because I knew the shower wasn’t going to help me for long and I needed to get in the birth tub. He only got one or 2 pots in the water before I grabbed hold of him because the contractions were super strong and close together. Thankfully my photographer was there and helped take over for him which made sure the tub was full and warm.
Around 3:15 my midwife arrived and my chiropractor followed shortly afterwards. Not long after, about 3:23am, I entered the tub after hitting transition and vomiting the lovely snack I had consumed earlier that night. Honestly I don’t think I will ever eat Cheese-Its again. Anyway, I got in the tub and had a few contractions before telling my husband, “if you want to catch the baby you might want to get in the tub soon, but I’m not really sure.”
My midwife whispered to him “get in the tub, this is definitely it.”
Home Birth Of AthenaRose Victoria
Around 3:47am I said, “She’s coming!” and started pushing. The whole labor was so different than my first, it was too fast and I just couldn’t find my zen. I tried to keep my voice low and deep but it just didn’t happen. Then I felt the need to push. I pushed about twice and then started begging the baby to come out. The third or so push I knew she was coming out and I just pushed as hard as I could until her head came out. My husband was behind me and felt her head come out and kept reassuring me that I was doing amazing. The next contraction I pushed hard and her body flopped out. She had the cord wrapped about 2 times around her neck but was still crying a little, it was totally normal.
Once out of the water she snuggled into my chest, looked into my eyes, and fell asleep. She was born at 3:51am. Our toddler slept the entire time and we woke him up once we were doing a bath with flowers, it was love at first sight.
I would not have been able to accomplish two completely different births without my birth team reminding me that I was strong enough to get through it. Life is all about finding the strength inside to accomplish the tasks set before you and the ones you set before yourself. I accomplished my goal of two successful home births and learned how to find strength inside myself to accomplish all of my goals in the future. Everything in life comes down to believing you can achieve the seemingly impossible.
Stick to your commitments, follow your dreams, and achieve your goals.
Special thank you to:
Heather Goodbread Photographer and Doula
“You are special, You are loved, You matter, You are BEAUTIFUL”
