9 months ago i gave birth to my sixth child, a boy. This was my first experience with having a home birth, as all 5 of my previous births were in a hospital. Not only was this my first home birth, it was also my first natural birth. It was so very special, that i decided to write this blog post to share all the details, mainly just so i have a place to keep them for myself, but hopefully this will help someone else who might be considering home birth.
February 15, 2021 – 1 day past my due date – It was late at night, i had already gone to bed. I was woken up at 11:00 pm by a feeling like i had peed myself, however i was completely dry. I then thought maybe i needed to get up and use the bathroom. As soon as i got up my water broke. And when i say my water broke, i mean it really broke. Water was gushing out onto my bedroom floor. I had never experienced that before. The only other time my water broke on its own, it was just a trickle. So i really wasn’t expecting a flood. But a flood is what i got.
I called my midwife and let her know what was going on. So now the wait was on for contractions to pick up. We were waiting for them to be consistent. About 3-4 minutes apart.
My contractions never got to that point. They would be 10 minutes apart, then 4 minutes apart, then 18 minutes apart. They were all over the place. I decided to try to get some sleep.
February 16, 2021 – The next morning i got up and was still having contractions, but they weren’t consistent. My midwife called to ask how it was going and i told her there wasn’t much going on. We talked about the different ways to jumpstart labor (walking, nipple stimulation, etc.). I actually had a scheduled midwife appointment for that afternoon and i told her that i didn’t feel comfortable getting into the car and driving anywhere. I really didn’t want to give birth on the side of the road. She agreed that she would come over and check on me in the afternoon.
I just spent the day bouncing on my birth ball, walking around the house, listening to worship music, and praying. Lots and lots of praying. No matter what i did my contractions never got to a consistent point. I was having lots of contractions, but nothing to painful. Just uncomfortable.
My midwife arrived at about 4:00 pm just to see how i was doing. She listened to baby’s heartbeat and she checked my blood pressure. She was about to leave (because once again, my contractions were not consistent) when at the last minute she was like, maybe we should check you just for peace of mind. So, she checked me and i was 8 cm. I was shocked. I had no idea i was that close to being done dilating. She was like, guess i’m staying now. I’m so glad she checked me. (Side note: I live out in the country, so for her to get to my house it is about an hour drive.)
My midwife started to get things ready, and i kept on walking around the house. At about 8:20 pm, i did the usual bedtime routine with the kids and by 8:40 pm i was in my bedroom and my midwife was checking me again. I was fully dilated, but my cervix was swollen. Even though i didn’t feel the need to push, she told me to start pushing. Once i started pushing the contractions started to get more intense. Super painful. Here is where i start to lose track of time.
After awhile, the contractions were so painful i just wanted some relief, so i decided to try the birthing pool. I had heard that water helps lessen the contractions and by this point i just needed a break from them. I hated the birthing pool. Trying to push while in the water was so uncomfortable for me. I had lost the ability to talk at this point. I couldn’t tell anyone what i needed. Finally, my midwife suggested we move out of the pool and all i could do was nod my head yes. They got me out of the pool and onto the bed.
I’m not sure how much longer it was after i moved onto the bed, but i gave a really big push and his head came out. He was born at 11:40 pm on the 16th of February. It was a little over 24 hours after my water broke when he was finally born. My actual labor was only 3 hours though.
He was 7 pounds 14 ounces and 20 inches long.
We are all so happy he is here and a part of our family. We love him so much.
I hope you enjoyed hearing about my home birth experience. I would absolutely do it again, it was a very healing journey (especially since my last birth was so traumatic).
xoxo,
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