Baby Colton has arrived and here is his birth story! As you know if you’ve been around for a while this is not our first home birth – Everly was an accidental home birth, but this is our first planned home birth so it was a very different (and wonderful) home birth experience.
My first labor was 32 hours, my second was 8 hours, and my third was less than 2 hours from first contraction to delivery. I was curious if we’d continue that pattern and have a mega quick birth! This delivery was much less dramatic than last time and not quite as fast (though still very quick overall – about 7.5 hours from first contraction to baby in arms).
(This is a birth story so there’s…you know…birth stuff in there – mentions of pee, poop, breastfeeding, placentas, perineums, etc. Read at your own risk)
Pre-Labor & Backstory
Here’s a bit of background to the days leading up to labor:
Around 36 weeks I started having some occasional contractions. I’ve never had contractions prior to labor in any of my other labors. In labors 2 and 3 I did have some nightly *somethings* that I guess would be considered prodromal labor – my belly would get very tight for a couple of hours in the evenings leading up to labor. It wasn’t at all like labor contractions but it was something contraction-ish. This is the first time I’ve experienced contractions outside of labor. So that was new.
Then the weekend before I went into labor I began to feel that same feeling I had last time of “he’s *right there* I feel like he could fall out at any minute” type of pressure. I also began to have those long, belly-tightening contractions I mentioned. And I was waking up in the night with these adrenaline-filled, “am I in labor?!” feelings that were making it hard for me to sleep.
Monday morning I woke up around 4am and had to pee. I couldn’t go back to sleep because of the anxiety and adrenaline I’d been feeling any time I woke up in the night. I ended up laying down then getting back up to pee several times in a row. After one of those times I noticed some bloody show. That’s something else new – in my past labors I’d never lost my mucous plug or had bloody show (that I was aware of) except after my water broke during labor #2. That made me extra anxious that labor was beginning even though I know bloody show doesn’t mean much and it can be hours, days, or maybe even weeks before labor begins. Just the fact that it was a new experience for me made me wonder.
And even though I was pretty sure I’d just peed that morning, the fact that it had been several times in a row did make me think “what if that was actually my water breaking?”.
Michael, who has been working from home for 16+ months now actually had several out of town meetings scheduled for Monday, which never happens. The fact that labor can go super fast for me made me a little nervous about him going but we just hoped all would be fine. In case I was in labor I went ahead and did some cleaning, laundry, and tidying up around the house to prepare.
I had some “real” contractions through the day (i.e. they felt like actual contractions, not the long tightening feeling that I’m used to in prodromal labor) that were strong-ish but manageable. They never got consistent or close together though. I also felt pressure in my bottom all day like I needed to poop (but didn’t actually need to).
I was planning to attend a baby shower that night for someone at church but I felt so terrible that I didn’t go. At supper that night I felt a little nauseous and didn’t want to eat. After the kids were in bed and I was sitting on the couch I got the shakes for a bit (something that happened in late labor last time). I was very, very tired and went to bed early. I put an underpad on the bed to sleep on just in case my water broke in the night.
I slept terribly! I had contractions every 45 minutes to an hour. They weren’t close enough together to be real labor but they were very, very uncomfortable and I had to focus to relax through them. I couldn’t go back to sleep in between them because I was so keyed up about “is this it?!” So not much sleep that night.
Early Tuesday morning I had a bit more bloody show when I went to the bathroom.
I was exhausted from my night of almost no sleep (and nights of not-so-great sleep from the days prior as well). I spent most of the day in the recliner resting or dozing. Everly put stickers on my belly, the boys played near me and told me stories, and I just soaked up each of them. It was a sweet time – spending some time with my big kids knowing that life would likely change very soon.
I had a few random contractions here and there through the day but nothing consistent. I think I pooped 4 times though on Tuesday, which is not my norm – that can be a sign of your body getting ready for labor!
Labor
Tuesday night was our last ladies Bible class before we took a break for the summer and I was really hoping to attend. I was feeling better after spending most of the day resting so decided to get dressed and go. I figured nothing much was happening anyway so I might as well go.
Not long after I got there I realized I was having contractions and having them fairly close together. They were very mild – more like period cramps than uncomfortable contractions but were clearly coming in waves. I kept an eye on the clock and realized they were coming about every 5-6 minutes. I was a bundle of nerves. I really wanted to stay for the whole class and I especially didn’t want to draw attention to myself (I am a very private laborer and don’t want people to know I’m in labor) but I was also afraid of things picking up quickly like they have in the past.
I stayed for about an hour but then left early (and lied a bit and told everyone I was exhausted from my previous nights of prodromal labor…sorry ladies for lying ;) )
Contractions slowed down on the drive home but once I was home and settled they picked back up to every 5-6 minutes.
I texted my midwife an update and she recommended that we try to get some rest. At this point it was not even 9pm and we are night owls who rarely go to bed before midnight so I figured if I got in bed I wouldn’t be able to go to sleep but I did decide to go ahead and get ready for bed and try to just relax.
We each showered, did a few things around the house, and then got in bed to watch some tv. My contractions weren’t any closer together but were slightly more intense.
Around 11:30 we decided to try to go to bed. I laid down but the contractions became way more uncomfortable in that position and I knew there was no way I could sleep through that. I decided to switch back to sitting up slightly reclined on some pillows and attempt to sleep that way. Michael suggested I sleep in the recliner and I considered it because the recliner has been my laboring spot of choice for labors 2 and 3 as well but I decided to stay in the bedroom at least for a bit.
From 11:30 to 1:30 I labored through the contractions. They required focus and breathing but weren’t terribly painful. I tried to focus on relaxing my lower jaw and breathing low. I visualized what was happening internally to get everything ready for baby to emerge and tried to focus on the fact that the contractions were productive and necessary.
During this time I was able to doze in between a few contractions; I also read encouraging birth stories and labor info on some Instagram accounts I follow, scrolled Facebook/Instagram, oiled up, and prayed.
The contractions stayed pretty consistent, timing wise, that whole time unless I got up out of bed. If I got up to go to the bathroom they would come very quickly together. This was classic end of stage labor for me – with my previous two labors I was able to manage my contractions that were coming at a decent distance apart while sitting in the recliner but as soon as I got up and walked around they started coming back-to-back with much more intensity, resulting in a quick dash to the hospital (baby #2) and an accidental home birth (baby #3).
At 1:30 I woke Michael up and called my midwife. I had Michael spread out a covering on the floor and considered getting out of bed and labor standing up by the bed for a bit but my gut told me not to do that. Honestly, at that point he could have come out at any time and I was the one delaying delivery staying in the position I was sitting in. I had a feeling that if I got up and labored standing up he’d be here in minutes and since my midwife wasn’t there yet I decided to stay put. Our last unassisted birth was totally fine, thankfully, but I didn’t want to purposely do that again if I could help it. And I’m glad I went with my gut as we did need a little bit of medical assistance after this delivery!
Michael blew up the birth pool and began filling it with water while we waited. I sat and contracted and breathed and swayed. Emotionally I was very nervous. I knew what was coming and I was really dreading the “getting baby out of my body” part of labor.
My midwife arrived a little before 2:30. She checked baby’s heart rate and it was good. I think she could tell based on how I was managing the contractions in bed that I was really close and commented that she wasn’t sure I was going to make it into the birth pool. Michael said the same thing – he knew if I’d just get up I’d have the baby super fast.
This whole time as I was planning my home birth I had not really imagined that I’d use the birth pool – I liked having it as an option in case I had a long labor and needed some relief from the contractions but I didn’t really think I’d ultimately end up using it. But for some reason all of the sudden I decided I really wanted to give it a try. Even knowing I was practically at the end I wanted to get in the pool.
Unfortunately that sucker takes forever to fill up and our hot water tank ran out of hot water before it was completely filled! We couldn’t keep filling it or it would have been too cold. My midwife said I could get in and use it but that I’d either have to get out to deliver or I had to be very careful about the position I delivered in to make sure baby stayed under the water until he was completely delivered to keep him from trying to take a first breath while still submerged. I agreed.
I hopped in the tub about 2:45. It felt nice to be in a different position! She checked baby’s heart rate again to make sure he was ok with the change into the tub and he was still doing just fine. I labored on my knees for a minute or two then sat down. At this point my water had not broken; I had peed right before I got in the tub but when I sat in the tub it felt like I peed a little more and I thought maybe that was my water breaking.
I had a few contractions while sitting but realized that essentially I was sitting in the same position in the pool that I’d been in the bed and was pretty much holding him in by sitting that way. I was dreading it but I knew it was time to move my body into a more upright position that would bring our little guy into the world.
I moved into a kneeling position and felt things pick up in intensity and him moving further down. I did a little whimper crying and saying “I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to do this”.
A contraction came and I could tell that my body was going to start pushing so I pushed along with it. My water broke with a huge burst. At that point I kind of lost it and started yelling – I don’t really know what all I said but I remember a few things like “I can’t do this, he’s not coming out, it hurts, I don’t want to, etc.” Michael was holding my hands and encouraging me that I could do it.
Another contraction came and even though I didn’t want to do it my body pushed and so did I. And yelled the whole time. My midwife reached into the pool and applied pressure to my perineum while I pushed. And though I thought he’d never come out, sure enough, he did!
I looked down and saw the top of his head in the water and I was like “Is he out?!”, then scooped him right up and sat down.
Colton was quiet and still and my midwife noticed that he had the cord wrapped around his neck so she took him and quickly removed it. We talked to him and patted him and in just a few seconds he started making noise and crying. What a beautiful sound! He had lots of mucous in his nose and mouth so she used the bulb syringe to clear him out. This part makes me so glad that we waited for her to arrive!
He was born right about 3am, so I was only in the birth pool for about 15 minutes. As I suspected once I got up out of the bed things went fast!
We relaxed in the water for a few minutes and marveled at our new little guy.
After delivery
I wasn’t sure what to do about the placenta. My midwife said I could deliver it in the pool but that it would be very bloody and messy so she recommended getting out to do that and that sounded good to me.
She clamped the cord and Michael cut it; we noticed then that he had a tight knot in his cord – between the knot in his cord and the cord around his neck he sure came out with a bang! I handed him to Michael so I could get out of the pool – getting out was harder than I expected, having just given birth and now needing to climb over the side!
While I had been in the pool, they had prepared my bed with a vinyl shower curtain, another sheet on top, and lots of disposable chucks pads so I climbed up in the bed. I had not had any urges to push out the placenta yet so I applied some oils to my abdomen that I’d prepared for helping to expel the placenta.
Michael handed me back Colton. After a few minutes my midwife helped me deliver the placenta. For the first time in four deliveries I did not tear at all so I didn’t have to have any stitches, which was awesome.
I started nursing while Michael and our midwife started cleaning up. One of the things that I had wondered about with a home birth was how messy it would be and what the clean up would be like. Honestly it was not bad at all. Michael said he thought he’d be cleaning up for hours but it didn’t take nearly that long. It was basically throwing one load of laundry in the wash (with all the towels), pumping out the birth pool (took a bit of time but wasn’t hard), deflating the birth pool, and then throwing away the disposable stuff (underpads from the bed, vinyl tablecloths from the floor). Truly not much mess or clean up. Our trash runs early in the morning on Wednesdays and Michael had pushed the trash cans out the night before so he just ran the bags of trash out there and that was that.
Our midwife did Colton’s exam – weighed and measured him, checked for tongue or lip ties, and switched the umbilical cord clamp out for an umbilical string that’s much more manageable than that bulky plastic clip.
After all that our midwife helped me get a quick shower. That felt wonderful! I felt pretty grody from sitting in the birth pool with all the gunk that had come out in the pool. And let me tell you, it was so nice that I didn’t have to be transferred to a recovery room, get all my toiletries out of my suitcase and put them in my shower, etc. etc. I was able to just step into my shower that already had my soap, wash off quickly, and then dry off with one of my own towels.
After my little shower I put on my fresh nursing gown and climbed back into bed to snuggle our new little one.
And that was that! Our midwife packed up to head home. It was about 5 or 5:30 am at that point so after a few more clean up things (starting the laundry, taking out the trash, putting back a few pieces of furniture that we’d shifted a bit to make room for the pool) Michael climbed into bed and we went to sleep for an hour or so before our big kids woke up. It was so nice to get to sleep in our own bed (with room for Michael to sleep too – no uncomfortable hospital chair/bed!) in our own room without all the hospital beeping and lights and sounds. So peaceful.
Our home birth experience
What an incredible home birth experience! Having such a low intervention birth was amazing – other than listening to baby’s heartbeat a few times it was all very hands off in labor. No cervical checks, no being told when to push, just listening to my body and letting it do it’s thing. So amazing! Everything was quiet and calm (I mean, *I* was not quiet or calm at the very end, lol! But the atmosphere was quiet and calm); no bright lights or beeping machines or bustling around.
And everything after was great too. Like I mentioned before it was so wonderful to not have to be transferred from a delivery room to a recovery room, unpack a bag to get to my toiletries, shower in a strange shower, and sleep in an uncomfortable bed! I’ll do a whole separate post later about the post-delivery experience at home but I can definitely say that it was amazing to be at home for the whole thing.
Other birth posts you might like
- What’s in my home birth kit
- Setting up my home birth stations
- DIY padsicles
I also have a playlist with all my birth prep videos on YouTube.
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