After having two daughters, Harmony and Floralee, we were shocked when Winchester Cole (who we call Chet) was born – our first son! He is the perfect addition to our family, and we love having three little one’s under three already.
His birth story begins Wednesday afternoon, August 16th, when I started experiencing mild cramping, contractions, and losing some of my mucus plug. One thing I had been praying for this pregnancy was to go into labor on my own. With Harmony I ended up being induced in the hospital (birth story here) and with Floralee, I took castor oil to get things going (birth story here).
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It was such a strong desire that I almost couldn’t believe it was happening. That night we went to bed to try to get as much rest as possible. The whole night contractions were somewhat strong, making it difficult to sleep, and about 30 to 10 minutes apart. My husband and I were both anticipating waking up in the middle of the night and having to call the midwife. I was planning another homebirth this time around and my midwife was an hour and a half away.
But, when morning came, the contractions were still coming fairly spaced apart. That Thursday morning, I was supposed to go in for a midwife appointment. Instead, I called my midwife with an update, and she said to stay home, get some rest, and update her if things progressed. Throughout the day things either remained the same or stalled out a bit.
That night I went to sleep again, and contractions were still about 10 minutes apart and difficult to sleep through. However, I was able to get a bit more rest. I woke up the next morning and told my midwife I was still in early labor, and things haven’t progressed yet.
It was now Friday, and I had a chiropractic appointment scheduled for that early afternoon. My husband drove me to it and after getting adjusted, the contractions remained consistent, and they were getting stronger.
At around 6 pm they went from 10 minutes apart to only 5 minutes apart and I had to stop and breathe through them. We called my midwife and she said she would come over now. We brought our girls to a friend’s house to spend the night and got the house ready for the homebirth!
When my midwife arrived around 8:30 she checked me, and I was dilated to 6 centimeters. A couple of hours later I was at 8 centimeters and things were progressing quickly! As I entered transition I would squeeze my birth combs, moan through them, and hang on to my husband. He was helping me stand upright to put good pressure on my cervix. I only wanted to lean forward and rock, by my midwife suggested staying upright to keep things progressing quickly.
Even though it was so painful and tough at times, I was working with my contractions so well. In my previous birth, I was fighting each contraction but this time I was working with each one, allowing my body to open up for the baby.
During transition I had a moment of puking. Then around 11:40 pm, I started pushing on my hands and knees, leaning on the birth stool. As I started pushing, I entered a period of self-doubt. I didn’t believe I could do it, that the baby wouldn’t fit, or that I push for hours again like my last birth. Everyone was encouraging me to finish strong and my midwife started praying over me.
I had about four or five contractions of pushing. Right before pushing out the head, my waters broke. The head was pushed out at 12:03 am and then the body at 12:05 am.
I thought my husband had seen the gender already, so I asked him what it was, but he didn’t know yet. My midwife and her assistant helped me up to sit on the birth stool and handed me my new baby! I looked to see the gender and couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that it was a boy! I had convinced myself that it was likely going to be another girl.
Everyone was laughing at my facial reactions, and it was such a joyous moment! My midwife helped me birth the placenta and then after the cord stopped pulsing my husband cut the cord. The assistant was working on preparing an herb bath for me and some food to eat.
My midwife checked me and told me I didn’t tear at all and that I was hardly bleeding! While I was in the herb bath they did all the baby checks and cleaned up. Chet was happy and healthy!
Then my husband and I snuggled up in bed with our new baby and the midwife and assistant left. It was such a beautiful and joyful birth, all the glory goes to God! He blessed us with an incredible experience and an amazing birth team. This birth left me feeling so empowered, it was an incredible experience!
Kelsey at GoodPointGrandma
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