Harmony Sage Albert, our first child, was born on Sunday, January 31, 2021, at 11:38 am. She came in weighing 8 pounds and 1 ounce and was 20 inches long.
We are so thankful for this wonderful blessing the Lord has entrusted to us and we love her so dearly!
Throughout my pregnancy and labor, I meditated on Psalm 121 which says, “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” When things did not go as planned, this verse became a great comfort.
During my entire pregnancy, I planned for a home birth. I read all the books, listened to all the podcasts, and did all the natural things I could possibly do to prepare. However, our plans are not our own and God taught us how to leave everything completely in His hands and surrender our will to His throughout Harmony’s labor and delivery.
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Preparing for a home birth included regular appointments with my homebirth midwife during those nine months. We also prepared our home for her birth and purchased the necessary supplies. We were ready for her entrance (and we’re still wondering if she was a boy or girl at that time!).
However, when her due date came and went things began to get crazy.
Our midwife was only able to deliver our baby between weeks 37 and 42. One week past our due date, we did a non-stress test and the baby looked happy and healthy. However, we needed her to come out soon!
I was not dilated yet but my cervix felt ripe, which was a good sign. However, my midwife was not able to stretch or sweep my membranes because my cervix was still too far back.
We spent the week trying every natural induction method we could think of: castor oil, midwife’s brew, evening primrose oil, red raspberry leaf tea, walking, sex, chiropractor, breastmilk pumping, etc. Nothing worked!
At 41 and a half weeks we went back to our midwife for another appointment. We did an ultrasound and the baby wasn’t moving and there appeared to be calcifications forming on the placenta. Our midwife said we should go to the hospital right away and get induced. We couldn’t even stop at home to get anything for our stay. She had connections with this hospital and was able to come along with us, which was reassuring.
To make a long story short, we could not see eye to eye with the doctor at the hospital. We wanted to avoid Pitocin at all costs, but he would not induce without the use of the Pitocin and other medication. After several hours of back and forth, the doctor did another ultrasound and the baby looked completely healthy. We ended up leaving and going back home. We were so frustrated because the hospital staff did not respect our wishes as our midwife had predicted.
We were in a difficult position. We had two more days to get the baby out for a home birth, otherwise, we would need to go the induction route at the hospital. We could return to the same hospital to be induced on Friday evening, right before 2 weeks past our due date. However, because of our horrible experience with the staff there, we wanted to avoid returning at all costs. But it was the only hospital our midwife had a connection with that would take us.
After talking with our Bradley Class teacher, she reminded us that we have options and do not have to return to that same hospital. She suggested calling another hospital that would be much more respectful of our wishes, had a midwife on staff, and that would likely still take us into their care at 42 weeks.
We called and praise God, they said we could come and be induced! So, on Saturday at 8 am, at 42 weeks, we went to the hospital to be induced. We were no longer in our midwife’s care, but she was able to send along one of the doulas on her team to be with us throughout the labor and delivery.
The induction started with Cytotec, a pill that goes up your vagina and helps ripen the cervix to start contractions. After an hour I started feeling what felt like period cramps and very small contractions had started to begin.
At 11 am, I rolled over to my side and my water broke. There was meconium, the baby’s first poop, in the water which was likely from her being overdue at 42 weeks and my use of castor oil to try to induce labor.
They decided to then start Pitocin as my body was not picking up labor on its own. I only leveled up twice with Pitocin before the contractions were extremely uncomfortable and painful.
For 24 hours I labored with contractions lasting 30 seconds to 2 minutes and only an average of 3 minutes apart. They were at a level 10 pain for that entire time. Throughout that time, I transitioned from the tub to the exercise ball to the bed and focused on breathing through the contractions. Rocking back and forth helped me cope with the pain. I puked several times, pooped in the tub, and meconium was still leaking out of me.
It was encouraging because my cervix was dilating slowly, but at 7 am the next day when they checked me again it had only reached 6 cm dilated. I was just entering active labor, but I was completely exhausted. I hadn’t slept for two nights and the pain was becoming extremely difficult to cope with.
The midwife said to keep laboring and she would check me again in a few hours. But, right after she left I had a mini-breakdown. I couldn’t stop crying from mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion and was considering an epidural.
Everything in me did not want an epidural but I was so tired I couldn’t handle the pain. After lots of discussions, the midwife said an epidural was almost necessary at this point so that I could finish laboring. I wasn’t even in the thick of it yet, or the pushing stage, and I needed energy for that. Landon was so helpful throughout all of the labor and was encouraging me as things started to feel discouraging.
During the epidural, I was a mess. Landon and Karen, the doula, had to leave the room. The nurse was holding me as I was crying in pain and trying to cope with the contractions while not being able to move. After the medicine entered me, I fell immediately asleep.
When they inserted the epidural, they had to turn off the Pitocin. When the Pitocin stopped, my contractions virtually stopped. My body was not doing labor on its own. Labor was completely driven by Pitocin. They slowly started to turn the Pitocin back on.
However, they barely turned it back on when they noticed that the baby’s heart rate was not recovering. It couldn’t seem to handle the Pitocin and they also noticed that the baby was sunny-side up and twisted.
My midwife tried everything. While I was asleep, the nurse helped her move my legs all over. They tried several Spinning Babies’ positions to try to get the baby to turn. When the baby wouldn’t turn and its heart rate could still not handle Pitocin, they checked my cervix again and it had become swollen. The only option at this point was a c-section.
It crushed me. Before going into this I knew that Pitocin usually led to an epidural because of the extremely intense contractions. And I knew that an epidural often led to a c-section due to the introduction of drugs to the baby.
Thankfully, it was not an emergency c-section and we had time to prepare. They wheeled me into the operating room and the surgery was a success!
We found out we had a beautiful, healthy baby girl! Harmony came out screaming, Landon was able to cut the cord, and we were able to do skin-to-skin very quickly afterward. She latched on really well and started suckling. It was such a beautiful moment that I will never forget!
After the surgery, Harmony passed all her testing and was breastfeeding wonderfully. I was recovering well and was able to finally get some much-needed rest. We were able to leave the hospital Monday evening and head home.
My birth went nothing as I had planned, we thank God for the hospital staff that assisted us because they made all the difference. We were in the best hospital we could be at. The staff was so respectful of our wishes and tried everything possible to avoid as much intervention as they were able. Knowing that we were valued and heard made our experience so beautiful – and that is what I wish for everything birthing mother no matter what happens!
Because of this, I look back at the birth of Harmony Sage as a completely positive experience.
I love this quote by January Harshe in Birth Without Fear: “I don’t care what kind of birth you have…a homebirth, scheduled cesarean, an epidural hospital birth or if you give birth alone in the woods next to a baby deer. I care that you had options, that you were supported in your choices, and that you were respected.”
As much as I wanted to do things as naturally as possible, we are thankful for hospitals and medicine, as they can be a valuable resource when we need it most. I had to let go of my pride and my desires and choose my health and my baby’s health.
My birth did not go as planned and was completely unpredictable but Landon and I were educated in my decisions. My months of birth education led me and my husband to make the best decisions we could in our situation.
We were informed and because of that, we have zero regrets. Even though I never wanted the use of drugs and certainly not a surgery, we have a completely positive birth experience that we look back on because of this.
If my birth story can be of any encouragement to you, I would say, be sure to educate yourself and be informed! Know all your options before making a decision. When you are informed, you can make the best decision for the health and safety of your baby.
Start with taking a Bradley Class and reading lots of books. I would say start with this one!
And even if your birth doesn’t go as planned, know that God is the ultimate author of our plans. His plan is always best and we can trust Him!
Thank you, Lord, for blessing us with our sweet Harmony Sage!
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. I would love to hear them.
Kelsey at GoodPointGrandma
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