My 3rd Successful Home Birth Story

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One thing is certain, every birth story is different! Read my 3rd Successful Home Birth Story where I had a back up midwife, a blow up birth tub, and my water broke in the bathroom before getting to hold my third baby.

SIX MONTHS AGO… I had a baby in my bedroom.

(That’s one way to start a conversation, right? Haha!)

Is Home Birth Right for You?

3 Days Before My 3rd Home Birth Story Starts

I was 3 days away from my due date… feeling pretty miserable…

Where was the pregnant Goddess who is in the picture above?…

I WAS OVER IT.

My stomach felt so HUGE! It was so hard to get comfortable at night…

I was not sleeping.

I’m just telling it like it was… I was laying in bed praying that I would go into labor because I really didn’t think I could make it much longer.

I was trying anything I could think of to go into labor naturally and have the home birth story I was dreaming about.

At 11 PM My Water Broke

Because I had been dealing with prodromal labor for two weeks (that’s basically like non productive, regular and consistent contractions but not labor)… and it was getting OLD!

So here I was. Exhausted exhausted because I had just called the midwife the night before thinking I was in labor – to end up still pregnant.

It was 11 at night… and I decided to go to the bathroom one more time in hopes to get a little rest before having to wake up again.

I had my stack of 10 pillows that I had to get JUUUSSSSSTTTTT right so I could hopefully get comfortable enough to sleep.

Darn you heartburn… and insomnia… and hip pain… and kicking baby.

I got back in bed and GUSH!

MY WATER BROKE!!!

So of course I ran into the bathroom and took a selfie… like you do.

Not to be graphic… but water was everywhere!

I was for sure in labor… and going to have this baby TONIGHT!

My Back Up Midwife at my Home Birth Story

I called my midwife and she was at another labor… so she called her back up midwife. Which I was prepared for – and this was my third baby… I was pretty confident that I would be okay with any midwife!

My back up midwife, Joy, arrived about 12:30 & my contractions weren’t really existent…. which sometimes it can take a while if you water breaks first.

FUN FACT: Only about 15 percent of women have their membranes rupture at all before labor begins. The other 85 percent may experience their water breaking during labor, delivery or even preterm.

I was walking around… excited!! Pacing… drinking water… rocking in my yoga ball… thinking how can I get this party rolling??

Joy wanted to check me to see where I was if I was progressing and I was like 3-4 cm dilated and 60% effaced.

FUN FACT: This was exactly what I was when I went into labor with my second daughter and my water broke first too. She was also born 4 hours after my water broke.

Joy asked if it would be better if we tried to rest… so Adam and I got in bed and tried to just close our eyes and here I am of course NOT wanting to sleep…

I just want to have this baby!

Then, all of the sudden…

I was in PAIN. The contractions came on fast!

I couldn’t get comfortable

I just could NOT get comfortable… and I know that sounds weird…

But if you have been in labor, the contractions come in waves… so there is a break… rest time between contractions where you can rest a bit… prep for the next wave.

I just was UNCOMFORTABLE no matter how I got.

I went to the bathroom because you need to empty your bladder as much as you can when you are in early labor… and I saw blood.

Which is a good sign! That means that my cervix was opening… and I was PROGRESSING. Hallelujah!

I was on all fours next to my bed during a contraction, and I asked:

Can we fill up the tub???

They said SURE! So I’m on the floor rocking, waiting for the tub to be filled with water…

I knew the warm water would help me get through these contractions… they were just way harder that I had remembered with the girls.

I got in the warm water and it did help with the wave of contractions…

But BOY this was harder than my last labor for sure!

Transition in a Home Birth Story

I felt out of control…

The midwives kept telling me how good I was doing but I was basically screaming in the highest part of the contractions.

I was not really feeling like I was doing a “great” job at this whole labor thing.

I didn’t even feel like I was making progress…

Then Adam & the midwives told me “You are almost there!”

Oh and during this part I had a horrible leg cramp so I couldn’t get comfortable in any position!

Adam described me as being FRANTIC.

Which really is a good description of how I felt…

I just didn’t feel on top of the contractions…
I didn’t feel like I was handling the pain..
I didn’t see that I was so close to having my baby…

What I really am thinking is that they are lying to me… because I do not feel like I’m pushing!

Then all of the sudden… the ring of FIRE!!!

I hadn’t experienced that really with the girls… Maybe Annaleigh to some extent… but this was FIIIIIRRRREEEEE.

Soon he was OUT!

Anderson Grey was born at home at 4 am!

We were at home… in my bedroom… in a birth pool.

I just KNEW that he was going to be 10 pounds, haha.

My first daughter was 9 pounds, and she was probably my “easiest” pregnancy… I didn’t think she was going to be that big.

Of course, I felt HUGE this whole pregnancy and gained about 40 pounds… I just felt huge all over.

Just like my previous pregnancies, I had gestational diabetes with all three of my babies... and one real concern is just a big baby. Although I control it naturally with diet and exercise just fine!

My second was 8 pounds 2 oz…

and Anderson was 8 pounds 9 oz. He was perfect!

Natural labor is a wild ride…

and I felt so relieved when I got to finally hold him and see how perfect he was in my arms.

This was my third baby born at home… and it is such a blessing to call these three babies my own ..

With my experiences, I always get a lot of questions from other moms… maybe some who are wondering if having a home birth is right for them.

If you are thinking that too, I put together a resource to help you decide if it is something you want to explore!

Is a Home Birth Right for Me?

After Anderson was born…

I got to climb into my bed and hold him for a good hour it felt like!

He was so alert and just stared up at me.

I was in HEAVEN!

I felt so good having him out… Especially after pushing out the placenta, haha! That always feels like – whew! I’m done!

I got to nurse him immediately as they checked me and him out. (I didn’t need any stitches, yay!)

Then I got to get into an herbal bath and held Anderson for a few minutes in the tub with me.

After a few minutes… It was time for the midwives to leave.

They tucked us in bed… We put Anderson in the Boppy lounger between us… and I just stared at him for the next 2-3 hours.

I was really nervous to sleep without one of us awake.

so Adam rested (because he can sleep anywhere at anytime, haha!) and I knew the big kids would be up soon and would need him.

I was on a BABY HIGH, so I couldn’t sleep.

But about 7 am Annaleigh woke up and came into our room to meet Anderson for the first time and Aidalyn was about 30 minutes later.

Something that is so magical about birth is that each experience is completely different. I was so thankful that all of my labors were about 4 hours long… fast and WILD! but healthy babies in the end : )