My Homebirth Story
Okay so you likely fall into three camps.
First, the EW GROSS people. That’s okay, I don’t judge. That was me about 2 years ago.
Second, the indifferent people. Or possibly the why are you posting this people. That’s okay, again, previous me would’ve said “same”.
Throughout this blogpost I’m going to throw in a few of my favorite pregnancy, birth, & postpartum products! If you happen to purchase through one of these links, Amazon gives me a small percentage at no cost to you! Thanks!
But that third category…y’all eat this stuff up. This was also me. When prepping for my own unmedicated home birth in inhaled anything and everything birth story related. From podcasts like Happy Homebirth, to positive and peaceful youtube birth vlogs, to written recollections of the event from other bloggers. This post is for you people!
Check out my Amazon pregnancy, birth, and postpartum list for some great recommendations of products I used with my babies!
I’ll try not to make this post as long as my labor (hah!). Let me set the stage for you. My first baby was born at 37 weeks via c-section. I was induced early for a condition called ICP and after 48 hours and absolutely zero progress, baby needed to come out.
These pillows are a lifesaver.
This is not something I used during pregnancy but I SO wish that I did. It beats melatonin and 50 cups of sleepytime tea per night.
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My second and third babies were born in a hospital via VBAC. My first VBAC was rough but I was still really overjoyed at being able to have that experience. My third baby (second VBAC), Keira, was smooth. I was all “there’s no way I’m getting pitocin! never! ever!” but after many false starts and thinking my water broke, I eagerly presented my best vein and begged.
So I’ll start my homebirth story with telling you why I chose a homebirth. To some degree, I felt forced into it. (No one forced me into it!). If you keep reading, you might feel me on this. In other ways I felt very led down that path, and I’m so grateful that things panned out the way they did. Thank you, Lord!
My first two were born in an old hospital in Norfolk called DePaul that isn’t even a hospital anymore. It was very old and very much so in need of repairs. For my third, I really wanted a fresh start. I needed a new experience and switched to a pretty small practice in Chesapeake. The entire thing was great! They let me do jellybeans instead of the glucose test (you can also buy the fresh test but I think this was still a newer thing and I didn’t know about it). Anyway, they were great. Until they stopped being as great with my fourth.
Now this is not a post of me hating on healthcare professionals at all. This is simply to share my experience and what led me to pursuing a home birth! I have since re-established at my first OB for regular care and they’re great!
Okay, back to baby 4 (Brynn). At my first prenatal appointment, the NP pushed hard for genetic testing. I politely declined for a variety of reasons, but my no was not really respected. A week after that appointment I got a call telling me that the lab accidentally ran an extra test and it looked like I had lupus, go see a rheumatologist before you come back, have a nice day.
WHAT?!
I did not see a rheumatologist. Or get bullied into genetic testing.
At my next appointment, a sweet doctor who I had seen with my previous baby was looking for the heartrate. She tried for about 1 minute and then rushed me in for an ultrasound. I totally appreciate the abundance of caution, but previously another doctor has been called in as backup rather than running for the U/S. Unfortunately, I was charged for an “elective ultrasound”, which the really awesome practice manager did go back and remove.
Fun fact: see the IV in my hand? I was actually able to get antibiotics for GBS right in my own bedroom! Most women who opt for home birth skip GBS meds whether they are positive or not. I was born very sick with GBS and opted to receive meds and my midwife was super cool about it!
My final straw was one of the 4 delivering doctors telling me if I made it to my due date, they would just schedule a c-section. After 3 other pregnancies, I knew a little about ACOG recommendations and I knew this wasn’t in alignment with them. I was done.
I started really praying about my options and landed on home birth! I’m glad for my decision and while it worked for me, for one of my babies, I recognize it’s not the best option for everyone.
10 days after my due date…
Midafternoon I started feeling contractions. YAY! Except, I had been having contractions for weeks so I didn’t take things seriously I texted my midwife, Chelsea, and said “here’s your bi-weekly ‘I’m in labor’ text!”. We had a little laugh with that one and she told me to update her if things picked up. I was out and about and decided hey I’ll grab some starbucks while I’m out. Except…I suddenly thought “that sounds gross”. Clue #1.
I got home and thought, I need to take a nap. At 4pm. Clue #2.
I texted my Mother-In-Law and the other individual helping watch our kids and asked them if they could possibly make plans to come get the kids. Fast forward to a pretty restful evening. I watched a ton of Farmhouse on Boone “what I cook in a week” youtube videos and tried to rest. I kept my awesome doula in the loop.
I napped from 10-1:30am and then woke up. Things were definitely intensifying. I stayed in bed but was awake and working through contractions. At 3:30am I had to get up and started sitting on the ball. Around 4:45am, Drew woke up and started to get the space ready. I was in contact with my team and the contractions would get closer…and then space back apart. Around 6, everyone showed up.
By 10, things were not as intense as we thought they would be by this point. I had done all kinds of gymnastics moves to get this baby to come down and get in a good position and I was pretty worn out. My midwife suggested we consider doing some castor oil because while my contractions were consistent and were intensifying, they were doing so pretty slowly. Around 11am I had a castor oil protein shake (mmmm! yum!!!) and within minutes things picked up big time. It was the little nudge my body needed to be in transition.
Around 11:30 the tub was ready and I hopped in. I honestly expected more pain relief (everyone calls it nature’s epidural online) but I think I may have already been so far in the process that it wouldn’t have made a huge difference.
I never really felt the urge to push, things just felt a little different and I decided to give it a shot? I didn’t feel a ring of fire, there just felt like a barrier that I had to push through (but didn’t want to!). Finally I mustered up the courage and… “heads out!”. Other than my crazy-eye intense stare, I think this was really only thing I said at least toward the end.
The ones the hospital gives out are garbage! Trust me! Worth the $6 and I kept mine for multiple babies.
I think postpartum is like the one time that I just buy a bunch of nice jammies. Here’s the rationale on that. You are in bed 24/7 for at least a week. Hopefully 2-3. You already feel a little bit like you got run over by a train. This last postpartum I made it a point to get up and wash my face and put on mascara and new clothes (jammies) everyday. These are great, cotton, and the buttons are helpful for nursing!
One ultra-specific prayer I had through my pregnancy was that my water would break “at the end”. In my head I considered the end to be transition or while I was pushing. My water broke early with my two VBACs and I heard over and over that labor really intensified once your water had broken.
Well, God has a really great sense of humor and way of answering prayers.
Brynn was born in the amniotic sac! My water never broke. In the pictures above you can see my midwife’s apprentice pulling it off of her head.
All in all, I had a great experience and totally recommend both Liz from Natural Harmony Doula Services and Chelsea with Transitions Midwifery! Thank you both! Thanks to these two, and a few other really helpful tools, my home birth was a success!
If you use my links to purchase, I get a small kickback from Amazon! It costs you nothing, but sends a few cents my way. Thanks so much for reading!