Birth Story Of hudson hugh james

Early labor: 

I was sooooo ready to get this baby out! So, on Friday, I asked Emily to sweep my membranes with the hopes it would help encourage my body to go into labor sooner than later. On Saturday night, around 9pm, I noticed I was having contractions!! They were fairly consistent, but they weren’t lasting super long. I went ahead and texted Emily to let her to know what was going on. We continued to stay in touch every hour and monitor how they were doing. I went ahead and had my oldest son go with his grandma. We were really thinking things would pick up once my mama mind was at ease, knowing my oldest was taken care of.

I didn’t feel like I was in full blown labor, but very early labor. Then, around 3am.... they totally stopped. I was feeling so discouraged because I felt like I had went through 6 hours of contractions for nothing. We decided to get some sleep and go from there. I was so exhausted. I figured my body was just pooping out.

I woke up around 7:45 am on Sunday with contractions that were much more intense! I called Emily crying (it was a long night and I hardly had any sleep) and told her they felt worse. She suggested a bath to relax some and see how they felt. They still were coming strong and they were starting to last much longer, looking like actual labor contractions. This was going to be it!

Active labor:

Around 2:30 pm, I had Emily come on over. I told her I felt like my water was bulging with contractions. We chose to do a cervical check to see what was going on. She confirmed that my water was in-fact bulging during contractions. I chose to have my water broken. I wanted to get this show on the road! After carefully breaking my water, Emily had me stand up. We did some gentle maneuvers to lower my son into my pelvis more. This was done to prevent the cord from slipping ahead of him. He tolerated it all perfectly. My contractions didn’t start to get really intense until about 5:30/6 pm... just about 2 1/2 - 3 hours after my water broke.

Now I’ll be honest, I was not handling them well. I asked to be transferred because I simply felt like I could not do it. I had only progressed to 5cm and 90% effaced. Emily and my husband both continued to encourage me. Emily also gave me what I needed to hear. She told me “If you want to transfer, we will honor that and respect your wishes, but I honestly think you’re progressing so fast you won’t be able to get pain relief.” At that point I strapped on my big girl panties and said “Okay let’s get the tub ready!” She immediately began filling it up.

Delivery: 

Now from my understanding, the tub only takes about 30 mins to completely get ready, from inflating to filling up. It wasn’t even 1/4 of the way filled and I looked at Emily and said “I have got to push!” I was on my back on the couch when I began to uncontrollably push. His head came down fast. His shoulder was stuck though. He started to “turtle neck” out. Emily closely monitored his heart rate. When he wouldn’t budge any further with contractions, she decided to quickly assist me to move off of the couch and on to all fours on the floor. She calmly coached me on how to get the baby out - while not causing any concern or stress to me. She manually helped open my pelvis and dislodge his stuck shoulder. She then untangled him from the cord that was wrapped around his neck, belly and legs. He was out in less than five minutes from when I started pushing. He was here! He was safe!

I felt so calm during all of this because Emily provided such a relaxing environment. I really didn’t have much of an idea what was going on until after he was born and everyone told me! I was so thankful because I would’ve gone into a panic!! But, I was able to give birth peacefully and swiftly for my son. 

Post Partum: 

After my son was born I made my way back to the couch and waited for contractions to begin to deliver my placenta while latching my baby and doing skin to skin. Emily took time to allow my husband and I to feel the umbilical cord pulsate while my placenta was still attached to me. This was really connecting us to my body which was an amazing experience. I would recommend for everyone to do this! I delivered my placenta shortly after. We left my son attached to his placenta for 4 hrs like I requested. We even tied special fabric to the cord made from our ancestors clothing. It was so special. After we felt ready, my husband cut the cord. Then, she happily took the time to show us my placenta and explain the parts of it to us! Afterwards, Emily placed it in a mason jar - per my request. She even made a sacred spiral out of the umbilical cord. Into the freezer it went.

Immediate postpartum was great! We were bonding over skin to skin. We got in to the tub for a bit (which felt amazing!). We were breastfeeding. We even ate a hot meal together. Emily took all of my son’s measurements and vitals, as well as mine. Emily stayed with my family for upwards of 6 hours AFTER my son was born just ensuring that we were transitioning okay. We had a great time laughing and joking and reliving my birth. She even helped us get ready for bed and then picked up my house some! These are things she didn’t have to do, but did out of the goodness of her heart. The small things like that, made a world of a difference.

The takeaway: 

Two years ago- had you told me I’d have a homebirth, I’d call you crazy!! I still am in utter shock that *I* DID THAT! Truth be told, after doing a medicated hospital birth and a natural homebirth, - despite the pain of child birth - I would 110% choose the homebirth again! I cannot imagine giving birth without Emily. She has made such a positive impact on my life and the way I view birth. It never felt like this was a job to her.

I remember in my phone interview with her… she told me her goal was to feel like a friend who I was comfortable with enough to give birth around. I can say she succeeded in her goal. I feel like I now have a life long friend who helped give me one of the best gifts I could’ve ever received in life. Emily isn’t just my midwife, she’s family now. I couldn’t be more satisfied with my decision to go the homebirth route - and for who I chose for my provider. I’ve never felt more heard, understood & respected before. I am so thankful for this experience and I pray I get to do this again with Emily some day.