After having my first homebirth in 2021 with my second born, I knew I wanted to experience it again and try to have a more positive experience. Overall, that homebirth went well until my midwife said the baby's heart rate was slowing down. She said we needed to transfer to the hospital. As my husband was frantically packing bags, my water broke, I reached 10 centimeters dilation, and the midwife said we needed to get this baby out now. I proceeded to push like a wild woman on my bed for twenty minutes, while the midwives kept urging me to push hard and fast, and soon, a healthy baby boy was born! There were no complications for either of us. I also had midwives urging me to push for my firstborn, who was born at a birth center. That was a three hour pushing ordeal!
For my recent homebirth, I had been praying that I wouldn't have to be urged to push by any providers. Here's the story.
On Wednesday evening, October 11th, contractions started late at night with some bloody show. I was able to sleep from 10:00pm - 2:00am before contractions woke me up. They weren't that bad, but I was excited and wanted to time them. I also got up to clean the house and get it ready.
In the morning, my parents picked up my two sons, and I tried to get my contractions coming quicker together and stronger by completing the Miles Circuit. Throughout the whole day, my digestive system was preparing for birth so I was using the bathroom frequently with a bit of bloody show each time. Nothing was progressing, however. At lunch time, I told my parents to send the boys back for naps to give my parents a break. Later that afternoon, I decided to go to the chiropractor to see if an adjustment would help with the baby's positioning. I then tried the Miles Circuit one more time and took a nap.
I was in contact with my midwife this whole time, keeping her updated and receiving suggestions. She suggested that my husband try belly sifting during contractions, which meant lifting my belly up and pulling it in during the contraction to try to get the baby over my cervix. We sent our boys back to our parents with their overnight bags and started the belly sifting with contractions around 7:00pm. Things really started to progress! It was a really special and prayerful time for my husband and I. I then got in our tub and contractions continued to get stronger and closer together.
My doula arrived around 8:45pm and began supporting me during contractions, which were quite uncomfortable. I was laboring on the toilet and yoga ball for a while but began to tire quickly. I moved to side-lying on the bed when my midwife team arrived around 9:30pm. The midwife used the doppler twice and baby's heart rate was excellent - so we didn't have a repeat of my first homebirth!
My midwife checked me and said there was a slight cervical lip and that she could maneuver things to really help baby come out or I could change positions. I decided to go labor on the toilet once more. Those contractions were so productive, I could truly feel my cervix opening up. During this time, my husband was trying to boil water to warm up the birth pool and my doula was supporting me. I started to lean back during contractions and have her hold me up. She was in her third trimester herself, so once I started leaning back, I asked her to trade places with my husband so I didn't hurt her. He came in to support me and then we decided to move to the bedroom since I had been sitting on the toilet for a while.
Once I stood up and took a step toward the closet that leads into my bedroom, my body began to push the baby out all on it's own! Praise God! I tried to walk toward the bed but I could only get another step further before the pushing began again. My husband held up my body in the closet as the baby emerged en caul. The waters soon broke all over my husband's feet (haha!). With a third push, the baby was out and caught by the midwives. I did not contribute to those pushes at all! The Fetal Ejection Reflex took over and I was so thankful.
I walked to the bed, holding our newborn, and my husband shared that it was a girl! We were completely surprised. After delivering the placenta, taking proactive measures for my bleeding, and having my uterus palpated, I was ready to relax in bed with my husband and newborn while the midwives cleaned up and gave us space.
This homebirth was a beautiful answer to prayer.
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