Flint’s Birth Story — My Journey to Motherhood
Our birth was such an incredible experience, and I’ve been so excited to finally write it all down. Here it goes!
On Tuesday, 5/7 (exactly 39 weeks), I lost my mucus plug. I know for some people this could mean labor is near, but for others, it means absolutely nothing lol. That’s the tricky part about the end of pregnancy… everyone’s labor signs are so different. I texted my doula anyway, and she was encouraging — at least I knew what it was haha!
We had dinner at my MIL’s house, then everybody went to softball practice, and I went home. We joked this might be the last time I would see my SIL before I had a baby, but no one really expected it to be just a day away! There were no other signs, and everyone kept telling me that I was carrying very high and that baby probably hadn’t “dropped” yet.
But lo and behold, around 3 a.m., I started to feel contractions, light and really low. They were uncomfortable enough that I couldn’t stay in bed, and they were messing with me mentally, making me question, “Is this it or not?” I got out of bed around 4 a.m., made a protein shake, and Chris joined me around 4:30. I started to get pretty emotional because I wasn’t sure if it was the real deal or not.
We started timing my contractions with an app, and at 6:30, we decided to go on a walk. It was a very slow walk, but it was lovely to get outside, enjoy the sunrise, and spend time with just Chris. At this point, my contractions were about 40 seconds long, 5.5 to 6 minutes apart. We got back and called the midwife and doula, and they both said something along the lines of “Yep, this sounds like it’s real, but get ready for it to be a long day since typically a first-time mom’s labor is long.”
Jennifer, our doula, mentioned that it would be a good idea to get into the bath to see if the contractions stayed the same or slowed down (which could mean false labor). They stayed the same! We let her know, and then I spent a long time in the shower because it felt so good and eased the contractions.
Our birth team kept mentioning to go about my day as normally as possible, which I was doing my best haha. At about 10 or 10:30, I decided that if this was going to be a long journey, I should try to rest. I went upstairs to attempt a nap, but the contractions were coming faster.
Meanwhile, Chris was doing so much. He made sure that the nursery was set up (which is where we had planned to give birth), the pool was ready to be filled, I was supported through contractions, and more. He was also handling all the communication with everyone at this point.
The contractions were getting much longer and closer together, but the app we were using made you rate the intensity of the surge. Chris was trying to go off my reaction, but I was doing a pretty good job breathing through them, so he kept rating them mild or moderate. This meant the app would tell us it wasn’t time to alert a medical team yet. Pro tip: just rate them “intense” so you can update your team on time lol. Looking back, the contractions were over a minute long and three minutes apart, which should have been everything we needed to know, but hey, we’re first-timers and there was a lot going on haha.
At 11:30, I decided to get back in the shower because it was so relieving earlier. Just a minute or so into it, though, my body hit transition and started bearing down. It was incredibly intense. I got out and sat on the toilet as I had read that can take off some of the intensity, but I noticed some blood. I called Chris into the bathroom, and he saw my situation and got a little panicked. This is when a smidge of fear kicked in, and the adrenaline started to rush because it was just me and Chris, and it felt like it was all happening really fast.
I told Chris everything was okay and to call our team. He was so polite on the phone, but they could instantly tell it was time to leave and head our way by my guttural groaning on my hands and knees in the background haha.
We were in business.
Our midwife, Lenny Sue, told Chris to get me into bed to better breathe through surges and not actively push so the team could get there in time. He helped me into bed, where luckily, we had already prepped with under-pads and extra sheets in preparation for after birth.
It was just me and Chris for a while, which I’m actually grateful for. Gosh, he’s just totally my rock. He took a peek and then said, “I don’t want to freak you out, but I think I see his head.”
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We called Lenny Sue again, and she told us to just stay on speaker with her while she was driving and said what he saw was the water bag, which was causing a lot of pressure. A balloon of it came out but never broke, which was pretty interesting!
Not long before all this, I guess Chris had messaged his mom to come over for some moral support and help with the long list of stuff he was managing in all this! But then everything kicked up, and when she arrived, we were already deep in active labor. I have this awesome memory of looking towards the doorway and seeing her arrive, put her hair up, and jump in with us.
A little before 12:30, Alyce (midwife) arrived. She checked the baby’s heartbeat and started coaching me on how to better direct my breath. Jennifer then arrived and jumped in to support. I think at about 12:50, Lenny-Sue arrived, and it was go time for pushing.
I worked hard to practice everything I had prepared for in labor like down and J breathing, not holding my breath, keeping my tone low, etc. I tried my best, but I do feel like I roared this baby out towards the end. That said, it wasn’t nearly as dramatic as I initially thought, and looking back on the videos, I’m just moaning a lot lol. Now I feel like hell yeah, I did great haha.
My body wanted to go a bit slower with pushes, which ended up being great. He would crown, then I could take a break, but he got a little further each time. Then I was ready for him to really arrive, was initiated through the ring of fire and… there he was!
It was so surreal watching him uncurl, start crying, and get placed on my chest. Chris had a desire to catch him, but it went really fast, and Alyce had to step in to handle some cord wrapping. But as soon as he was on my chest, he grabbed Chris’s finger and didn’t let go. It was so precious, and immediately any discomfort I felt went away.
The next part was kind of a blur as Lenny-Sue, Alyce, and Jennifer really took over, gave me tinctures to slow down bleeding, coached me through delivering the placenta, cleaned up, and got me ready to breastfeed.
Flint latched on well right away, and I am so glad for the extra coaching that we’ve had then and now. Then the midwives did newborn screening tests, and everything was just looking so good and strong both for him and for me.
My dad then arrived, and it was so special to share the moment with him. He had napped through the whole thing thankfully haha.
We had also met a fantastic photographer who was getting certified in birth photography and offered a session to us for free. She arrived five seconds after Flint was born, so she missed his active labor, but oh my gosh, it was so wonderful having her document everything, and she was so amazing at being a warm presence while also being so in the background you kind of forget you’re being filmed.
I had an overwhelming rush of gratitude wash over me as we all sat there on my bed and in our bedroom, surrounded by my husband, our son, and an absolutely incredible team of women. All of whom have given birth and helped many other women go through this portal.
This amazing birth team has repeatedly told us that it was just such an ideal birth yet so surprising that he came so fast. But I had no tearing and never once felt like I wished I had gone the hospital route with any pain management. I never had a thought in my head that I couldn’t do it. That said, I did have moments of feeling discouraged and worried that if I was just in early labor, it would be a very long day ahead. Little did I know haha.
I never stepped foot in the room where we had planned to give birth. There was no pool or twinkle lights or affirmation cards. Although we had everything ready to go.
But it was so perfect. So perfect that Chris and I were a team and managed so much of it on our own. It was so perfect that the team arrived when they did, and it was so perfect to have my mother-in-law there.
After everything was cleaned up, Lenny-Sue reminded us that one of the best parts of a home birth is just getting to stay in bed once everyone else leaves. No monitors and machines, no nurses checking on us throughout the night… just our little family together starting the rest of our lives. ❤
