15/10/2024
Only a hand full of you knew this before hand, but we had planned for a home birth.
Before I got pregnant, I knew I wanted a home birth, surrounded by midwives who knew me personally and valued a holistic approach, while still recognizing when hospitals might be necessary. I also planned to hire a doula for support and a birth photographer to document the day we became parents. Ricky sort of knew this, but once we were actually pregnant, he needed a little bit of convincing.
What I appreciate and love about Ricky is his trust in me; he agreed to keep an open mind and meet with the midwives. After consulting with both an OB and the midwives, we decided that a home birth would be our Plan A, while ensuring a healthy mom and baby remained our priority for Plans B - F.
Here’s our birth story: from home birth to C-section in a long 43 hours from my water breaking to Zion being born.
PART 1
38 Weeks + 3 days
Friday, Sept. 20, 2024 - 5 AM
My water broke. We called our midwife, who instructed me to use an amniotic swab from the birth kit we had received a week prior. The swab turned black, confirming my waters had broken.
Since my waters broke before labor started, I had 24 hours for my body to go into active labor on its own before we would have to abandon our home birth plans and head to the hospital for antibiotics to prevent infection. My midwife advised us to go about our day and regroup at 6 PM for a check on the baby.
Ricky went to the gym, while I made some last-minute returns at Target and picked up a pump for our birth pool (which we had picked up the day before). By the time I left the store, I felt mild cramps that came in waves. I called my doula, who suggested this could be the beginning of labor. Ricky had a few work appts., so he headed to work. I continued going about my day and took a nap.
4 PM - Ricky returned home. I was still not in active labor but was definitely feeling regular contractions, and with a few hours to spare before our 6 PM appointment, we decided to go for a hike. We walked our 2-mile trail, experiencing regular but mild contractions. By the time we finished, my contractions had intensified.
