My second birth: beautifully redemptive and pain free
It all started with praying that baby would arrive the next day as that was the last day our photographer (and best friend) was available. That evening I felt some cramping and said to my parents that I couldn’t tell if it was labour or from eating something funky. We chalked it up to food and went for a swim after. That Saturday night I woke up to my water breaking (just like with my first!) at 1:30 am. My daughter was so sick, so my husband was sleeping in her room. The next 3 hours consisted of a million trips to the bathroom and some early contractions as my body prepared. Around 5 am I woke up my husband and he set up the birth pool while I sat on the yoga ball and listened to Christian Hypnobirthing and practiced breathing. After all was set up, I decided to try and get some sleep because I knew labour would be a marathon. I was able to sleep between contractions until 9 am when my toddler woke up. Because she was so sick and wouldn’t keep food down, I nursed her… despite knowing how intense that would be during labour. Well, it brought on a HUGE contraction and I decided we should call my parents to come get her. I also called my doula and photographer to maybe head towards me.
I had planned to have my daughter there for the birth, but she was so sick that I knew she needed someone’s full attention. We decided to send her to my parents’. I bawled my eyes out when she left because I felt like I couldn’t be there for my baby when she needed me. I called my doula so I could cry it all out. The contractions were really picking up so I called my midwife. “The timer is telling me it’s time to call you but I’m coping just fine so… I’m confused.” Midwives are wise and decided to come right away… good thing because baby was born just over an hour later. While waiting for everyone to show up, Campbell filled the tub. At one point I said to him that I heard a “pop”… the pop was the hose popping off the sink and spraying water ALL. OVER. OUR. KITCHEN. I couldn’t bear to imagine giving birth without the water so I just trusted he’d figure it out.
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Our doula & midwife arrived seconds apart around 11:30. I asked my doula to do hip squeezes for every contraction while my husband worked on the tub. I started shaking and my midwife said, “you’re in transition now!“ I actually didn’t believe her because as long as I got those hip squeezes (back labour again) I wasn’t in pain. Last time I was puking and thinking about how I can see why people opt for pain meds, haha. I then got in the tub and it was GLORIOUS.
At 12:47 we were chatting & joking between contractions, but they were definitely getting stronger. I was coping by breathing through them and keeping my voice in the lowest pitch possible (Higher pitches signal fear to your brain!). I was feeling hot so a cold cloth and a fan were placed on me, but everyone gave me space as I had requested.
All of a sudden I felt extreme downward pressure and my voice changed with that contraction — baby was coming.
All of a sudden I felt extreme downward pressure and my voice changed with that contraction — baby was coming. I said, “Sarah, I’m tired”… thinking it’d be another hour. She encouraged me and with the next contraction baby was crowning. Next the head. Next the body & baby was in my arms within 4 contractions.
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On my terms, no one rushing me or screaming at me to push.
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Baby cried immediately which made me cry (because my first didn’t let out that big cry to clear her lungs until a few hours later - she was breathing fine but we wanted the cry!). No nuchal cord. At this point my doula was already nourishing me with dates to help the placenta come. Everything was perfect.
We checked and saw we had a son. We cried harder, now knowing our brother’s dream before he passed was real & we could honour his name.
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I got to nurse him immediately, which also made me cry (surprise). Check out that first latch!! 💕 This also brought on more contractions for the placenta, which was much more pleasant to do in the water! We put it in a bowl and let him stay attached. I got my golden hour & lotus birth.
When I got out of the tub, I relaxed on the couch and we called my parents to bring my daughter back to meet her sibling. We said his name out loud for the first time — Preston Justin. And cried some more.
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The midwives did a quick check to confirm that I was all good, and then gave us our space until after my parents had come and gone with my daughter.
We were a family of 4. We lit a candle on a donut and sang happy birthday to our precious child.
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My daughter was still spiking a fever (😭) so she had a sleepover with my mom & husband cleaned up our space. I crawled into bed and we revelled at the fact that by God’s grace, we had done it. Every prayer we had written on the list beside my bed was checked off & answered.
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So let me remind you, folks — God cares about the littlest details and He is so good. ✨
