Four years ago, I shared my positive and unmedicated birth story of my firstborn. It was such an amazing experience for me to go the natural route, and when we were expecting our second child, we decided to plan for a home birth this time around.
Reasons for Choosing a Home Birth
We had a lot of reasons for going this route!
Here's why we are choosing a home birth.
- It's more intimate and cozy. The idea of a home birth feels so special to me.
- No need to pack a hospital bag. We won't be forgetting to bring anything, because we'll be right at home!
- No need to install a carseat yet. With baby being born at home instead of at an outside location, we won't need to transport baby.
- Won't need to labor in the car. That was the hardest part for me during my first labor!
- It's typically cheaper to birth at home vs. at a birthing center or hospital. It's about $600 less expensive for me!
- It's as safe as birthing at a birthing center in my case. The midwife who will attend my birth will be bringing all the medical equipment she'd have access to at a birthing center, including emergency items/tools. The only thing that she can't bring with her is the nitrous oxide ("laughing gas") machine, which is a pain relief option that I didn't use for my first birth anyway.
Our Home Birth Story
Alright, so let's delve into how it actually went down that day! Here's my vlog if you'd rather take a listen instead of a read.
10am: Prenatal Appointment
Let's start off with the morning of my baby's birth. I went into the birthing center where I go for my prenatal care. I had a 39-week prenatal appointment scheduled for that day, at 39 weeks and 2 days. I got a cervical check, and my midwife shared with me that I had just lost my mucus plug and there wasn't even a membrane there for a membrane sweep to happen. This meant that baby is pretty ready to come! I was also 3 centimeters dilated, and my midwife said that she wouldn't be surprised if labor begins within the next couple of days.
Then, she offered me something called the Midwife's Brew.
The Midwife's Brew contained the following:
- Castor oil
- Lemon verbena
- Peanut butter (for protein)
- Juice
It was to be blended together into a smoothie. You would take two doses of this, about two hours apart, and the second dose is said to really kickstart labor if the baby's ready.
I wasn't well-informed about this brew, but I've heard that castor oil isn't really something you'd want to mess with. I asked my midwife about the efficacy and safety of ingesting castor oil, and she assured me that it was all peachy. I totally respect her professional judgment and expertise, so I went home to take two doses of this brew.
Another spoiler alert: It was highly unpleasant of a drink and I would NOT recommend it! If I could go back in time, I wouldn't drink this!
1pm: Drank my first dose of the Midwife's Brew.
A good chunk of time passed between getting home from my appointment and taking the first dose of this castor oil smoothie, because I wanted to tidy up the house and get some last-minute preparations ready for the home birth in case labor were really to commence today!
Around 1pm, I made and drank the smoothie. Now, the midwife did warn me that the smoothie would taste terrible, but I think the word "terrible" is a bit of an understatement. It was the nastiest thing I've ever had to swallow, and I'm no food snob. I had a really hard time drinking it down and keeping it down, but I did take the first dose like a champ by plugging my nose and forcing it down.
Nothing really happened after, aside from the horrid taste lingering in my mouth... just some mild cramping.
4:15pm: Drank my second dose of the Midwife's Brew.
I was supposed to drink the second dose two hours later, so around 3pm, but I ended up getting a bit delayed with some more tidying and cleaning around the house. I ended up taking the second dose at 4:15pm. I nearly threw up this time around.
Now, after the second dose settled in my stomach, I started getting more intense cramps.
4:58pm: First labor contraction!
At 4:58pm, I felt my first labor contraction! My husband, Gin, had left just a few moments earlier to pick up our daughter Lena Rose from preschool. In my mind, everything was great, because my first labor lasted about 6-7 hours (actually, if I count the very first mild contractions, it was more like 8 hours). I have been told that the second labor tends to take half that time, which meant I potentially had 3-4 hours and plenty of time ahead of me.
Thus, I was feeling good. The first few contractions were very manageable and I breathed through them with loud breaths out my mouth. Counting the breaths also helped.
5:10pm: Stronger contractions coming...
I texted my midwife at around 5:10 to let her know that my contractions were getting pretty strong, and she told me to download a contraction counter app to start tracking. I did, and surprisingly, the app told me after several contractions that it was time to head to the hospital! I was thinking, "This soon?!" However, my husband and I only have one car (which he had driven out to pick up our daughter), and I would not trust myself behind a wheel during labor, so I kept laboring where I was.
5:15pm: Got the hot tub ready
I decided to start filling our tub with some warm water so that I could try that as a form of relief. I was not a fan of laboring in the tub with my first, but it actually helped this time around! The shift in temperature was also beneficial, and I found that pressing my cheek against the cold surface of our bathroom countertop helped distract me from the contractions.
5:35pm: Husband came home!
Gin arrived home with Lena Rose at around 5:35pm, and I was pretty grateful to see him. He noticed my laboring was a lot more intense than he had imagined it would be, after hearing that my contractions had only started less than 40 minutes ago. This seemed like late-stage labor with how quickly things had progressed.
Gin tried to apply some counter-pressure on my lower back during my contractions, which I really benefited from during my first labor, but it didn't seem to do the trick this time around! Instead, I told him to squeeze my hands while I was upright and on my knees in the tub.
I told him to call our midwife, Jodilyn, using my phone.
5:40pm: Midwife is stuck in traffic?! Get the medics on the phone!
Once we got our midwife, Jodilyn, on speaker, she immediately told us to dial 911 so that we could get the medics here. She was unfortunately stuck in traffic, and it looked like we were facing an unassisted birth at this rate!
Gin called 911 using his phone, so we had both Jodilyn and the medics on the line. I don't remember the conversation that transpired at that point, except the very beginning where the 911 operator asked for our address. My mind had completely tuned out the auditory input around me at that point, as the overwhelming physical sensations of labor took over.
5:45pm: PUSH!
After just several contractions from getting the medics on the call, I screamed at Gin to tell him that the baby was coming. I felt her crowning and the enormous pressure in my pelvic area. I started to bear down and push with what felt like every fiber in my body. All the while, Gin was squeezing my hands while Jodilyn and the medics attempted to give us instruction (though I don't think either of us were listening at all)!
Baby's head came out, and Gin later told me that blood was gushing all around her at that point. It must've been a traumatic visual for him!
I pushed again and her shoulder came out, along with the rest of her body. Gin quickly caught her slippery body from falling into the tub (thank goodness, because I was completely useless at that point and not in the right mind to be prepared to do any of that). The baby's umbilical cord had wrapped around her neck, but Gin promptly untangled it.
5:49pm: Baby is born!
Baby cried right away, which was a glorious sound to hear!
Gin held her and began patting her back gently. My knees felt very shaky at that point, and I lowered my body to sit down in the tub. It felt overwhelming, and I found myself mentally dazed and zoning out from the environment.
5:55pm-ish?: Medics arrived
While we were both catching our breaths, the firefighters and medics arrived at our home. It was a whole team of them...perhaps 5 or 6 people? Some attended to baby and began checking her, while others checked my vitals.
It was such a relief to hear that baby's Apgar scores were 9, 9, which is considered healthy!
6pm-ish?: Midwife arrived
Our midwife, Jodilyn, finally beat the traffic and made it over. She got some information from the medics and also helped instruct them on how to handle certain things. The medics initially considered a hospital transfer, but it turned out that - while I lost a copious amount of blood - it wasn't necessary. My condition was actually very stable and a shot of pitocin was more than enough to dramatically slow down my bleeding.
Jodilyn assisted me in moving to the bed, where she helped me birth the placenta. Gin cut baby's umbilical cord, like he did with our firstborn!
After that, Jodilyn and Gin brought baby back to the tub to give her her first bath while I rested on the bed. Baby was then brought back to me for more skin-to-skin time and we shared some nice snuggles. It was amazing to see baby properly latch on for nursing very naturally, and she had a strong suck. Like Lena Rose, she was calm and alert!
The perfect end!
While we did not imagine labor to take less than an hour, nor did we imagine it to be unassisted and that Gin would catch and deliver the baby, we were both SO grateful and relieved that everything turned out so smoothly.
Baby (and the rest of the family) are all happy and healthy.
We welcomed this sweet little one, Yumi Belle, in an unforgettable experience!
That's that for my crazy home birth story.
Now, off to soak in some newborn snuggles while turning a blind eye to the huge pile of laundry in the corner of the room... :)
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