Birth Story Of naomi rose

Tuesday May 27th:

I felt super exhausted this day. I just remember getting this overwhelming urge to go to the library and return my oldest daughters books and get her some new ones because I knew I wasn't going to be able to for a couple weeks. So I went to the library around 4pm. I came home, had an amazing time reading the new books with my daughter and we had some special family time. Just the three of us, my husband, daughter and myself. My husband put her to bed a few hours later and then I felt like it was time to lean into my body and support it into labor. I sat on my yoga ball and did hip circles to help baby get into position. I did some breast pumping as well to see if that would get things started. A few minutes in I started to get cramps. I had a deep gut feeling that I wouldn't be sleep that night. I went to bed anyway and told my husband to go sleep so at least one of us would be rested.

10:00pm- contractions started. Mild at first but enough to keep me awake. I went to the bathroom and noticed I had lost my mucous plug. Contractions happened all night long. They never got closer than 6 minutes apart. I texted my midwife and we kept in communication all night.

1:30am: things were getting serious so I asked my husband to set up the birth pool. We did that and he went back to bed and I rested as much as possible.

May 28th morning time: around 4 or 5 am I asked my husband to be awake and come help me. I needed to hold his hand through contractions at this point. They were very difficult to get through. He was absolutely incredible and made me feel so safe and supported.

Around 8 or 9 am my midwife Emily came to my house to check me and support me. At this point my parents arrived as well to care for my oldest daughter. When Emily checked me, I was already at 6cm! I was shocked. My contractions were spacing out and not close at all. Once Emily, my parents and Emily's assistant Taylor arrived, my body started to feel on edge and labor stalled. I was no longer getting consistent contractions. Maybe one every 20 minutes and even then I had to pump in order to trigger them. Emily and Taylor stepped out of the room and gave me space to labor so I didn't feel watched. I was feeling disappointed and tired. I felt like my body wasn't working and that people would feel like this was taking too long.

Emily had me do a few positions and things to try and get contractions going again. Around noon they really started getting intense. They never got closer than 10 minutes apart though which was odd. But turns out, my body knew what it was doing. More on that later.

Emily and Taylor had our back living room all set up and ready to go. I decide to labor in there at this point. I got in the birth pool and for a while I was just hanging out in there, contracting. We were all laughing in between contractions and I was actually having a decent time. Lol it felt so surreal that I could be in transition and laughing at the same time.

Contractions started to get way worse and I reached a point pretty quickly where I was begging Jesus to get my baby out of me. I was desperate. It was the most intense physical surges and pain. I tried my best not to call it pain in the moment which really helped. Looking back now though, that's exactly what it was though. Painful! However, it was productive and I was safe. Taylor at one point came to me and grabbed my hand and asked to pray over me. This was a powerful moment. I felt so incredibly loved and supported.

“Please lift Keri up and remind her that you brought her to this and you will bring her through it. Remind her that when we put our trust in you Lord, we come out better on the other side. Remind her that when we give you our anxiety, you carry us through. Give her the strength and courage to face her fears and remind her that when we face our fears, we become better on the other side and on the other side is her sweet and perfect baby created in the image of you Lord. We are grateful for who you are and how you love. In Jesus name, amen”

Eventually I needed to get out of the pool. This was my choice and I felt that I would be more comfortable on the couch. It was covered in plastic and everything so I wasn't worry about the mess. It wasn't long after this move that I began pushing.

I was really fighting the urge to push because I was scared. Truthfully I felt frozen and unable to move forward because I wasn't coping well with the pain.

Emily checked me and noticed my bag of waters was bulging and she encouraged me to lean into that. I needed my water to break so I could get my baby here. Some sort of strength took over my body that can only be credited to God. I just did it. I suddenly was pushing past the fear and I broke my waters. It wasn't long after that when my sweet baby began to crown. This was hard. It was painful and I won't lie, the fear was creeping in again. I was so spent at this point. I just wanted it over. I was struggling to keep a stable mind.

Emily said "I can see your babies head". This motivated me quite a bit. My husband and my mom were right by my side encouraging me as well. I was pushing and Emily asked me to get on my hands and knees. I knew what this meant before anyone even said anything. My baby was stuck with shoulder dystocia. I moved quick. I knew this was serious but I also had so much confidence in my body and in Emily that I knew it was okay. I pushed and Emily helped get my baby out. My sweet girl came out and was perfectly fine. She was safe. She cried and showed us her strong lungs. Her color was amazing and shortly after that Emily passed her to me. It took me about a minute to come back into my body. I felt in complete shock and my brain shutdown for a second to preserve itself. I knew I need to allow myself this moment. I then felt myself come out of the shock and registered what had just happened. I was holding my baby and still soaking up the events of labor.

Emily had me get back up on the couch as it was time to deliver my placenta. In just a few minutes I was able to push it out. I did end up having a hemmorage. Emily and Taylor handled this flawlessly. It was an emergency but it was handled so peacefully that I didn't feel scared. Emily treated the hemmorage and my bleeding stopped. I was safe.

My contractions never got close together. My baby was likely coming down with a hand up by her face and my body knew I needed more time between contractions to keep me and baby safe. Emily said my body was being wise. Which was so encouraging.

Recovery after this was peaceful. I latched my baby, my husband fed me. Emily and Taylor began to clean up while I was recovering. My dad and my daughter got to come meet my sweet baby and these quiet moments after birth were so amazing.

I had a tear so Emily sutured me and after that Taylor helped me get situated in bed.

I cannot say enough about how amazing Emily was. She is incredibly gifted and is living out her purpose. I truly cannot describe how much she means to me and what it meant to have her as my midwife.

Her assistant Taylor was incredible as well. I am so glad she is on Emily's team. She was a calming presence and exactly what I needed in the moments where I wanted to give up.

My birth was calm and beautiful. My birth team (Emily, Taylor, my sweet and amazing husband and my wonderful mother) was incredible. I felt safe in my home. Never did I feel like I was in danger. That is because of the trust I had in Emily and the hardwork we did prenatally to support my body and baby.

Naomi Rose Gill. Born at 5:02 pm on May 28th. 💗