Jessica is a Christian wife, mother of two, and pediatric occupational therapist with a small hobby farm based in DFW. She has had two home births now – if you missed the first, check it out here!
I had another uncomplicated pregnancy under the care of the same midwife and a chiropractor.
I will say, pregnancy felt much harder this time due to caring for my toddler when I could rest as
I needed last time.
We weren’t sure when my “due date” was because my cycle was still inconsistent from breastfeeding my first. Based on my cycle, the date was April 25th, but based on the anatomy scan, it was May 2nd. I had prodromal labor for 5 weeks leading up to the birth on May 6th, which added to the uncertainty I felt about when to expect labor to begin.
The Start Of It All....Maybe
On May 5th, I woke up with contractions like most mornings in the previous weeks. The intensity wasn’t there, but something felt different about them, so I asked my husband to stay home from work that day. By 11 AM, the contractions fizzled out, and I felt so foolish.
That afternoon, I did the Miles Circuit to see if baby’s positioning was the cause of the false labor, as well as a few other things to try to gently encourage labor. At 5 PM, contractions started again. They still weren’t intense, but they were consistent and distinct, coming every five minutes. I began tidying the house and preparing food for the evening.
By 7 PM, they were every five minutes and by 8 PM, they were every 4 minutes, so I called my midwife to come over. My husband set up the birth pool and prepped the bed. Our toddler was fighting bedtime, so he took her for a drive. They got back the same time as the midwives’ arrival at 10 PM.
The transfer of our daughter from the car to bed failed, and she was so excited people were over. I tried to set her up with a video and relax, but my contractions halted. I was so embarrassed. I thought it was another false alarm.
Medicinal Rest
My midwife checked my cervical dilation, and I was at 4 cm and 80% effaced. She reassured me that a pause was totally normal and likely brought on by their arrival and the toddler fighting sleep. She encouraged me to lay down and rest, and for my husband to try to get the toddler to sleep again, while she slept on the couch. She reminded me that if it was a false alarm, she would just go back home—no big deal, no need to worry, but she would like to wait a while to see.
I wasn’t able to sleep, but at 2 AM there was a clear shift in contractions. They were quite noticeable, requiring me to pause and breathe through them. They were coming every 5 minutes again.
I woke my husband and told him to fill the tub, then woke my midwives. The contractions continued to progress in frequency and intensity as I waited for the tub to fill, and I welcomed them with joy. It was finally real!
Into The Water
I got in the tub at 2:45 AM and was soooo happy—I was getting to labor in the water as I wanted to last time! It was such a relief. I hit transition and began having back labor around 4:30 AM.
My internal prayers shifted from “Thank you that the time has finally come! Thank you for the relief of the water! This is totally manageable—thanks, God” to “I can’t do this in my own strength any longer, Lord. I need you! I am tired! Please take over and let her be born soon, because I don’t know how much longer I can stand this!”
The midwives noticed the shift in my breathing and joined us in the bathroom. They had been in the other room throughout labor (other than the periodic checks of the baby with the doppler) because my husband and I were in a good groove, and I was coping well. I was using the same breathing sequence as my previous birth, and it was working well for me again.
I could feel the baby’s head descend and reached down to feel the top of her head. I switched from my quadruped position to my back, because I wanted to pull baby onto my chest immediately after birth instead of needing to change positions like last time. However, this led to intense tailbone pain. I continued to focus on relaxing every muscle while gripping the tub’s handles as I breathed baby down and out.
Our daughter woke up just as I was crowning and joined us in the bathroom. The secondary midwife held her and kept her calm while she watched her sister be born. Baby’s head was born after a few contractions, and then her body after one more. I grabbed her body under the water, and then I slowly pulled her out and onto my chest.
I remember saying “Thank you, Jesus!” over and over in praise and relief.
I quickly wanted out of the tub because I was scared her head would go under water since her cord wasn’t very long. I happily climbed into bed with her and soaked in the moment and relief.
There was no hemorrhaging this time—praise, God! Recovery was even easier this time besides the tailbone pain for a few days.
I had no tearing or stitches after just 3 hours of active labor. Emory was born at 5 am, 20.5″, and 7 lbs 5 oz, though she pooped a lot before she was weighed.
