We are TWELVE days away from Luke turning TWO years old! I can’t believe it. If you haven’t read his birth story, I wrote about it here and here. He was my home birth and I truly loved it so much! In honor of his birthday coming up, I wanted to share the story of another home birthing Mama that I actually met through our mutual Midwife. Of course, EVERY birth story is unique and beautiful on it’s own. Here at Healthy Mess, I’ve personally done birth all different ways with each of my children. There were things in the birth world I had no clue even existed in 2009 and because of the limiting beliefs I had about birth from other’s horror stories, I truly would laugh, scoff at or make fun of things that I am SO into now. It’s crazy to think that there was a time I wasn’t open minded to other ways of doing pregnancy and childbirth. BUT, now I know. Now I have such reverence for every woman that has given birth. It is absolutely LIFE CHANGING no matter what. With all that being said, I had already heard plenty of stories of typical American childbirth. What I HADN’T heard of was Home Birth. While it may not be for everyone, or even for you, I am super excited to share Heather’s story here with you all! Her first baby was homeborn and I’ll let her tell you all the rest! Definitely go check out her blog at TheSimpleLove.com for more fun stuff! ENJOY!
“A few have asked about my birthing story so I decided now would be the perfect time to share since baby Asher is peacefully sleeping. Let’s see if I can do this before he wakes up!
I had always hoped for a natural (non-medicated) birth. I watched my mom have two 10 pound babies naturally so I was feeling very motivated. It was all planned in my head. I was going to have a water birth and my hair would be in a beautiful french braid. The tub was sitting in our living room and I was anxiously counting down the days for this baby to come. My due date passed, and I was becoming extremely impatient. The logical side of my brain fully understood that a due date is an average estimate, but my emotional side was very agitated. I felt HUGE and uncomfortable by this point.
It was a Sunday evening, two days after my due date. Jordan and I were watching survivor re-runs. He’s a big fan of the show and somehow got me hooked. Thanks babe!
I suddenly had to go to the bathroom (for the 20th time that day) and slowly got up to waddle over there when all of a sudden I thought I felt an unfamiliar liquid. I stopped and questioned it, then reasoned with myself. “Nah, this baby is never coming.” I took a few more steps and GUSH, my water definitely broke. Thankfully I was in the bathroom by this point!
When your water breaks there is no questioning it. I knew I had a good amount of liquid in there but oh my goodness this was much more than I imagined. I sort of collapsed to the floor, not knowing what to do with my drenched self. I yelled for Jordan and he ran in to put a towel under me. I completely soaked through the towel.
I was excited and nervous. I immediately called my midwife. She informed me that I would most likely start contractions late that night or in the morning. Half of me was excited and ready, “Yeah, bring it!” The other half was scared, ”You’re going to be in the worst pain of your life very soon.” I knew I had to shake off the negative thoughts and emotions so I immediately changed the negative thoughts to positive ones. “I can do this. My body was made to do this. I am stronger than I think. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” These positive affirmations changed my mindset and are what guided me through the entire next day.
That night, my midwife had me drink black tea with honey. The environment suddenly changed for this little baby and she wanted to make sure he was doing well and kicking. I had been trying to avoid caffeine as much as possible during this pregnancy, so I knew this sweetened English breakfast tea was going to taste amazing but also keep me up through the night.
I drank my first cup. No kicks. I texted one of my close girlfriends who excitedly came over and we decided to have a tea party at midnight to try to get this baby kicking! Finally, by 2am and a few cups of tea later, he started to kick. I was so thankful and I’m sure my midwife was also as she could finally go to bed.
I got about three hours of sleep that night and was definitely starting to feel tired. The next morning we went to see the midwife since it was our 40th week appointment. She checked me and said I probably would not go into active labor until the next day. I somehow felt like this would not be the case. She recommended I get adjusted by her chiropractor and said sometimes this can speed things up or slow them down.
After seeing the chiropractor Jordan and I went to the grocery store. It was his fourth time to go that week and I was beginning to catch on that this was his way of nesting. I love food and grocery shopping so I was excited! As I pushed the cart around I slowly began to feel worst. I would lean over the shopping cart at times, people must have thought I looked crazy. We got home around 3:30pm and I immediately went to lie in bed. I was really not feeling good now.
My midwife called to check on how I was doing. While on the phone she could tell I could not talk through contractions and they were about two minutes apart. She quickly headed over. It was six something when she arrived and I was dilated to a 4. She announced this baby was coming tonight and Jordan was shocked as she had just said at that mornings meeting I most likely would not go into active labor for 12 to 24 hours.
They both began setting the scene and helping me through each contraction. Forty-five minutes later she checked me again and I had already dilated to a 9! This baby was ready!
The second midwife quickly rushed over and was told not to stop on the way because I was moving along so quickly. In fact, it all went so fast that they could not fill up the tub in time. I was bummed! A water birth seemed very relaxing and perfect. My hair wasn’t even french braided!
I pushed for 2 ½ hours going back and fourth between a birthing chair (which I hated) and the bed. These couple of hours was longer than I would have preferred as it took me a while to get used to the feeling and I began losing energy. I did not eat much during the day and it cost me. Between each push they had to feed me to keep my energy up. Foods high in sugar really helped, I had blueberries, spoonfuls of honey, cheese and crackers. Of course this was not a time I wanted to eat at all and I gave them many dirty looks.
It was such a relief when he finally came out! Asher was born at 12:22am in our bed. He weighed 7.14 lbs and my favorite moment was when he was placed in my arms and we both stared into each others eyes. That is a moment I will always remember! The pain and hard work were pushed out of my memory pretty quickly and I felt incredible! I was able to take a warm shower and hold my baby in my own bed. Jordan and I were on cloud 9. I felt very powerful by what I had just done.
I could never have done this without the help of my encouraging husband. He was my strength and very supportive through the whole process.
WHAT HELPED ME THE MOST TO PREPARE FOR AN ALL NATURAL BIRTH?
A positive mind: The mind is so powerful and constantly feeding my brain with Bible verses, encouraging and powerful affirmations helped tremendously.
Working out: I did a good amount of yoga and body resistance training with my husband (a personal trainer) to prepare for the marathon of labor. He explains exercises pregnant women should focus on in our video right here!
Eating well: I really tried to eat well during pregnancy to ensure a healthy baby and make sure I was getting good nutrition as well since the baby takes so much. Check out this post for some healthy options…and don’t give yourself a hard time for giving into a few cravings. I loved ice cream and salty foods and my girlfriends knew the way to my heart was with a giant jar of pickles!
Chiropractor: I found chiropractic care to be very beneficial since the body is going through so many changes. Getting adjusted helped me have good posture and alignment and helped Asher stay in the correct position for birth.
If I could do a natural birth I KNOW you can too. It is such a rewarding and worth it experience. You will feel incredibly powerful and confident. You will feel like you can tackle anything! Women are strong!
Thanks for reading!
Love, Heather”