I am now officially a mom of seven (one boy, six girls) at 40 years old, and I couldn’t be happier! My little firecracker was due on July 5 and I had her on July 1. I was hoping for a July baby because my birthday is also in July.
I had a planned home birth with a local midwife and her team.
She is the same one who delivered my twins two and a half years ago. I had a different midwife for my home birth before that one. Each time has been just as, if not more, amazing than the last.
With my most recent one, I thought I’d be pregnant forever and had started trying the things to naturally induce labor. I even tried Red Raspberry Leaf Tea (I’d like to add that I absolutely HATE ALL TEA – iced, hot, sugared, non-sugared, flavored, you get my point). None of the tricks seemed to be working until they did! I had been out walking a couple of days prior to going into labor, and I think that did it.
I had been having contractions all day every 15-30 minutes but they never got closer together or more intense. I went to bed that night and was awoken to a strong contraction and then a small trickle. I got up to go to what I thought was one of my standard middle-of-the-night bathroom trips and then felt a gush (I was induced with my oldest, had textbook contractions with my second, and my water broke with kids three through seven).
I called my midwife.
She said she’d start getting ready and to call her back when the contractions started picking up. I called her back within the hour and she was at our house within 35 minutes, along with three others to help. They were all so attentive and allowed me to safely do as I pleased and labor in a comfortable position. I was able to eat, drink, and walk around. They did one cervical check on me with my permission and allowed me to tell them when I felt ready to push.
My sweet baby girl was born six hours after my water had broke, and neither she nor I had any complications or medical interventions. We did skin-to-skin for as long as I wanted to and waited until the cord stopped pulsing to be cut. My midwife does a 48-hour, one-week, three-week, and six-week check-up on baby and me, all at my house.
I can’t say that the labor and actual birth wasn’t painful, but I can say that there is no place like home when you’re not feeling great. Home births aren’t for everyone but if you are able, I highly, highly recommend them!
