Precipitous and Positive: A Birth Story
Today’s guest post is from Holly, a kind-hearted Mama of three who is sharing her inspiring story of her precipitous birth of her third child. Her birth story is a great reminder that, while timing is out of our control, God’s timing is always perfect (and often surprising)!
I hope you enjoy the empowering story of Elijah’s arrival:
“It was 1:15 in the morning.
I was awake because I had to pee, AGAIN. I had a small contraction, but at that point I was so used to contractions I thought nothing of it. You see, I was 41 weeks and 3 days pregnant. My first two babies came right around the 38 week mark, so I was in completely new territory.
I had been having contractions for WEEKS at this point. Some regular, some intense, but they would never progress and would always fizzle down to nothing. So, when I felt a few contractions at 1:15 am I thought nothing of it; however, when I went back to bed a started having rigors (involuntary shakes). That could only mean one of two things: a random fever or transition labor hormones.
I did not feel feverish, so I tried to sleep them off. I fell asleep for about 15 minutes and then decided to call the midwife. She knew that when labor started my baby was going to come quickly because I was 8cm dilated that day in her office, and she wanted to be notified of any changes. I called her and confessed I had not had many contractions but all the sudden I was shaking! We decided I would try to go back to sleep, and I would call her if contractions became any longer or stronger. Well, unable to go back to sleep, 30 minutes later I called her back. A few more contractions had come and gone and they were not much longer or stronger but they just felt “different”. She immediately said “I am on my way, call back if anything changes”. We hung up the phone and honestly I felt a little nervous she was coming, as I thought my contractions were just going to fizzle out like all the times prior to that.
I did not have to feel guilty for long.
With the next contraction my water broke. This was finally happening! My husband called her back to let her know, and I overheard her say, “(Husband’s name), I need you to have your wits about you because this baby is coming fast. Call me back if things get intense.”
I had moved to the toilet when my water broke and had sat there through a couple of contractions. The contractions were immediately much more intense and I was unable to move at all through them. At this point I did not even want to move between them, but my husband encouraged me off of the toilet and helped me move into the birthing room where he was filling the tub. We were able to use an outside spigot so the tub was filling very quickly. I did not know what I wanted or needed, all I knew is that everyone claims the water helps with pain, so I wanted IN the water as fast as possible! My husband was encouraging me to move through the contractions, and I physically felt like I could not. I was shouting through the contractions in a way I had never experienced, and my body was truly taking over.
The tub was full enough, so I climbed in. The water felt good and immediately another surge came on. I shouted to my husband mid-contraction, “I am pushing!!”
“Don’t do that!!” He said back ( :D Bless him!)
But I had no choice. I was not consciously pushing, my body was ejecting. I told him to call the midwife back.
As soon as she heard me in the background she started to coach my husband. He put the phone on speaker and listened to her guidance as he confidently prepared to catch our baby. In 2 or 3 more contractions he was out and on my chest. I could not believe that he was here and that we had done it!
The midwife and her assistant arrived about 10 minutes later. We were still resting in the water. 10 minutes of absolute REST. My sweet son arrived at 2:36 am, just 36 minute after calling the midwife and feeling bad that she was on her way after hanging up.
After weeks of prodromal labor, I could count on my fingers the total number of contractions I had in active labor. This was my 3rd birth, but my first home birth AND my first natural birth. Did I have a good experience despite the midwife not arriving before baby came? Let’s just say that if the Lord blesses us with a 4th baby someday, he or she will absolutely be born at home with the SAME birth team!”
-Holly
Thank you to Holly for sharing her story, and for being MBC’s first official guest-blogger! I am blessed to be the tiniest part of this story: I was the assistant who showed up 10 minutes later with the midwife!
Do you have more questions about home birth, precipitous birth, water birth, or any other birth-related content? Let’s chat over a free consultation!
Here for you,
