Every Christian: A Home Birth Story
Birth is such a multifaceted event. It is an incredible miracle but it can be SO hard in many ways, whether we’re talking about the actual birth or all the changes during the postpartum season. While I want you all to hear how incredible birth can be, I also want to honor you moms that didn’t quite have the birth you hoped for. Labor and delivery brings an incredible new gift into our world and is a straight-up miracle even when it isn’t what we expected. Sometimes what’s needed in labor and delivery is not what we wanted or planned for. New life is always a miracle.
BUT, this birth story is a story of hope. I’m so thankful. Ever’s birth was all that I hoped for and very different than my experience with Elliott. I am compelled to share Ever’s birth story to increase hope and to testify as to what is possible. Through sharing this story of Ever’s birth, I hope to affirm in you that our bodies were made incredibly – designed to grow, birth, and sustaining a new life. You are way stronger than you realize. All the education you do to prepare yourself for labor will serve you so well. From the place of being educated and empowered, then you are free to be confident to make the right choices surrounding your labor that are best for you. What’s “right” for each of us in labor and delivery will be different, and that’s okay. In this post, I’m sharing Ever’s story.
The night before my due date, I did a kettlebell workout, which was the norm of this pregnancy, but I had pretty much stopped working out at 38 weeks. I was super ready for baby to come so I thought, “why not see if this helps the babe decide to come out?!” Then, I followed it with an Epsom salt bath with some of my favorite doTERRA essential oils: 2 drops Clary Sage (known to help start labor), 1 drop Lavender, 1 drop Ylang Ylang before bed. That night, I woke twice with strong contractions, but they were inconsistent. I decided to apply some Jasmine on my pulse points each time I woke because I knew that Jasmine is known to help progress labor.
In the morning, Sunday, I decided to go for a walk with a friend and the contractions continued inconsistently throughout the walk. When I got home, Tyler and Elliott headed to church and I decided to stay at home. I actually felt great and debated about going with them, but the thought of being confined to a chair sounded uncomfortable, and I didn’t want to be asked lots of questions if I got up to move around. Instead, I stayed home and kept busy with little tasks around the house to distract myself, applying Jasmine every once in a while…But all the while I was thinking, “is today the day I’ll get to meet our babe?” “What’s labor going to be like this time (Elliott’s was a marathon)?” When they got back, Elliott said, “Baby, it’s time to come out of there!” While Tyler made lunch, Elliott and I made muffins… or at least until Tyler forced me to stop and rest. We all sat down to eat lunch but I wasn’t super hungry and my contractions were getting REAL intense. I realized, yep, this is the real deal. We never really verbalized it with each other, but Tyler and I both knew this baby was coming quickly. Tyler tried to put Elliott down for a nap, but Elliott was too excited. He could tell the time was coming for him to be a big brother.
Tyler texted our midwives, Joycelyn & Bethaney, and told them I was having strong contractions that lasted about 30 seconds… I was guessing they were about 30 seconds long but I had not been actually timing them. The midwife responded with excitement but said they would come over when the contractions became about a minute long every 4 minutes or so. She also offered to stop by to do a quick check-in if we wanted. Tyler knows I have a high pain tolerance, and when he saw the expression on my face, his response was, “yes, please come.” He knew this labor was progressing much more quickly than the last. At this point, I was starting to doubt myself. These contractions were so much more intense than with Elliott early on in labor. Tyler decided to actually time my contractions and we realized they were longer than I thought! I was actually having two 1-minute long contractions about every 5 minutes.
Our first midwife, Bethaney, arrived quickly. As she walked in, she asked how I was doing. I looked at her, feeling a little dumbfounded and said, “like I’m having a baby.” She asked again, saying “but how are you feeling?” I didn’t respond and she said, “you can cry.” And I burst into a short round of tears. She started doing basic blood pressure and baby heart rate checks. And our second midwife, Joycelyn, came 10 minutes later. (I’m not sure when, but Amanda, the third member of the midwifery team, also joined the party). Almost immediately, I got into the birthing pool that Tyler had set up in our dining room. I knew that this would be more comfortable for me and was relieved that I could get in. During the contractions, I was kneeling in the pool. And after my second or third contraction in the pool, my water broke. And a few contractions after my water breaking, I felt ready to push.
The first push was long and our midwife said, “His ears are out, reach down and touch your baby’s head.” And then with a second push, he was out! My midwife told me to sit back and she moved him (still underwater) to a position where we both lifted him out and directly onto my chest at 4:03 pm. It was incredible. I was mostly in disbelief that I was already holding him. He took a little bit of time to start crying and honestly never cried as much as Elliott did, but he was perfect and healthy. He nursed fairly quickly and for a total of about an hour for his first feeding! This was such a gift and a huge answer to prayer. Breastfeeding with Elliott was difficult from day one so I was SO relieved & overjoyed that Ever latched on so easily.
The side story here is that Elliott, 3 1/2 years old at Ever’s birth, decided he absolutely wanted to be at the birth. He had been incredibly curious throughout my whole pregnancy about everything. And he wanted to be a part of it. We wanted him to be a part of it to. We do so much together as a family, it almost would’ve been more weird if Elliott wasn’t at our birth. Tyler had tried to get him down for a nap but that wasn’t happening – he was with us the whole time. While I was in the pool, Elliott just meandered around, occasionally smiling at me sweetly between contractions or covering his ears during a contraction. He was never scared, but when Ever first came out he sprinted to the adjacent living room and slowly came back after about a minute. He peeked over the side of the pool to look at Ever and then ducked down. He slowly came back up and after a little coxing said, “Hi, brother!” Since that first meeting, he has been fully in love. He refers to Ever as “my baby.” And he’s always kissing and snuggling him. We feel there is an even stronger bond between the two of them because Elliott was involved in Ever’s birth.
Okay, back to Ever’s birth story. While Ever was nursing, after the cord had completely stopped pulsing, Tyler and Elliott cut the cord together and then I delivered the placenta. My midwives said it was a near bloodless birth! We moved to our bedroom and started to do all the newborn checks. We found out that I did not tear and he weighed 9 pounds 11 ounces! And all was well with mommy and baby. It’s fair to say that our whole family was ecstatic. In fact, we all received oxytocin rushes during the birth… but it’s a little less containable in a three-year-old. Elliott was bouncing off the wall in excitement.
Our midwife team helped clean everything up and made us a meal before leaving…They were simply incredible. The whole day was absolutely surreal, and we are immensely grateful.
Birth Details:
– Our Birth team was from 3 Sisters Midwifery in Waco.
– Our birth photographer was Lindsey Wachsmann from Willow Sage Photography.
– This was the playlist I listened to all day throughout labor and then postpartum. Ever was born while the song “Fight My Battles” was playing.
– I diffused one of my favorite mood support oils: doTERRA’s Elevation.
To learn more about the specifics of how I prepared for this birth and cared for myself and baby postpartum (VERY different than with my first), make sure to check out my Motherhood Naturally ebook with 37 pages worth of education, recipes, essential oil protocols, and my best tips for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum!
