The birth story of Ezrah Rose.

This labor and delivery was so different than I expected. I expected a dramatic breaking of my water like I had the first time with Roman, and I expected to just “know” when it was time. I expected this labor to be exactly like I had before.

My expectations were off. Way off.

On the morning of Wednesday, August 23rd, the day before my due date, I woke up feeling the best I had felt out of my entire third trimester. I was full of energy and my mind was racing with a list of to do’s and get done’s. I was probably talking 90 miles a minute to my husband as soon as he woke up about all the things I had planned for the day, and my desire to do them all right then and there. A trip to the grocery store to get household items, cleaning, cooking, taking Roman to the park, and stopping by my parents house to pick up their pressure washer for us to borrow. I was in full nesting mode. I’m talking, scrubbing the base boards with a tooth brush kind of nesting. I’m thankful for his patience with me because surely I was looking and acting like I had lost my mind, and he was on board for helping me with it all because he could clearly see it was important to me.

As the day went on and things were getting checked off my mile long list, I was still full of energy and wasn’t having any symptoms of labor other than some mild cramping which I had for the whole week or two prior. It wasn’t until about 6pm, while I was vacuuming, that I started having stronger than normal contractions. Roman was pushing his corn popper behind me (he thinks that’s his vacuum and he loves to help). We were having the best time just the two of us while daddy was at work. A few minutes after we finished, the contractions became more intense but weren’t consistent. Not even to the point of needing to pay attention to the timing or length of them yet.

Colin got home from work and the contractions were picking up to the point of needing to time them, and at this point they were steady at 7 minutes apart. I tried to carry on with the evening to see if this was the real deal, so we began making dinner together like we do every night. Roman was in his high chair and I was chopping veggies, but was quickly overwhelmed with the strength of the contractions and could no longer stand during them. We called my parents and had them pick up Roman while we were on standby to see if this was active labor, and oh… was it.

At this point, it was about 10pm and contractions were 5 minutes apart and lasting 2 minutes long. It was time to start making phone calls. Colin called our doula and midwife, and we were given instructions to call back if my water broke, started bleeding, or the contractions were 3 minutes apart for an hour. We planned to labor at home for as long as possible but within just a few moments, they spiked to 3 minutes and began to be unbearable. During each contraction I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom which made me realize the time was coming and we had to head to the birth center despite the lack of other symptoms we were told to look for.

We pulled up the birth center at midnight and my midwife and doula helped me get out of the car and into the house. (Yes, the birthing center is a house!) as soon as I walked through the door I immediately laid down and at this point I was in the transition phase of labor which was by far the hardest. I tried to focus on taking deep breaths as I clung to my husband and cried out to God. I begged God to bring her quickly and to show me mercy and grace. The midwife then checked my dilation for the first time, and while checking, she could already feel the baby’s head and told me it was time to start pushing. I couldn’t believe how quickly it was happening. I planned on a water birth but there wasn’t even time to get the water ready.

I started to push and my water broke immediately. I say push, but it was more so breathing her down. If natural birth is something you aren’t familiar with, I highly encourage you to research breathing the baby down verses pushing. It was so powerful and so much more peaceful. I continued and when I didn’t think my body could take any more, the baby’s head started to crown which gave me all the encouragement I needed to get to the finish line.

Then, at 1:13am, there she was. She was here. I remember saying “it’s over! It’s over!” in such relief after climbing the biggest mountain that had ever been in front of me. I couldn’t believe that I did it. I just went through labor and delivering a baby without any source of medication or medical intervention. I couldn’t stop thanking God for how quickly He brought her and how He pulled me through this.

I pulled her up on to my stomach and held her there while we waited for her umbilical cord to stop pulsating. Colin and I got to feel it beating in our hands which was so raw and incredible. He then cut the cord and she started nursing right away while the midwives took care of me during these beginning stages of recovery.

After spending that intimate time with my husband and our new baby girl, I got up and took a bath (which was probably the best bath of my entire life), and began to go over discharge information. My body felt so great. I was in little to no pain at all and just a few hours after birth, we were on our way home. This experience was a complete 360 from what I experienced in the hospital for Roman’s birth. It was peaceful, non invasive, comforting on every level and I had control over every decision made for my new baby. She was born in a bedroom with just a lamp on and it was the most cozy environment. During one of our natural child birth classes while I was pregnant, a midwife had stated “We believe a baby should be born in the same atmosphere as which it was created.”
Celebrate Birth Midwifery has completely changed my life and the way I view pregnancy, labor, and child birth.

The Lord’s design is absolutely breath taking. I am in complete awe that not only would He bless us with this precious gift of a perfect baby girl, but that He would show me just how powerful He is when we call on him. I pray that we as a family glorify Him in every way and raise these babies to love Him fiercely. Thank you, Jesus, for your hand always being over us.