Considering today is my official “due date” I thought now would be the perfect time to share our birth story! Our decision to have a home birth was one of the most controversial decisions we’ve made to date. People have a lot of opinions on the topic. I want to share our birth story to show that homebirth isn’t necessarily scary or radical but rather beautiful and educated. It may not work for everyone, but if you are interested and a good candidate for homebirth I would say, go for it! No matter what, it is important that you have the right to make the decisions that are best for you and your family!
Our birth story began on 9/14/12 at 2am. I woke up for the second time that night to use the bathroom. At 39 weeks pregnant, this was very common, however this particular time, I could not go back to sleep. I noticed that I kept feeling this crampy feeling, something like I was going to have diarrhea. I got up to use the bathroom a few more times but it didn’t seem to help. After the third or fourth set of cramps it clicked to start watching the clock. What started in 15 minute intervals, turned into 10 minute, then 7 minute… I woke up Jon and told him he might not be going to work, but we’d see how things panned out. I stayed in bed until about 4:30am when I finally decided there was no chance I’d fall back to sleep. At 5:30 I got in the shower and Jon called the midwife. He explained my situation and she said it certainly sounded like early labor. She said to call her back if things were becoming more intense, otherwise we would talk again at 10am.
I continued to labor around the house and by 9:00 Jon insisted on calling the midwife back.
I didn’t want to bother her and still thought there could be a chance this was false labor. At 9:30 Jon called the midwife back after I mentioned I was feeling pressure with the contractions. Our midwife sent her assistant midwife and told Jon that she would be there in a half hour so we wouldn’t continue to second guess ourselves. Once Carrie (the assistant midwife) arrived she listened to the baby (heartbeat sounded great) and then she checked my progress (but didn’t tell me how far along I was). At that point I figured I had dilated to a 4 or 5, maybe? She did tell me that my bag of waters was bulging. I found out after the fact that I was at 8cm at that point.
I continued to labor around the house and back yard and then got into the birthing pool.
The pool was amazing. I got in and my contractions started to space out. The intensity stayed, but the rests were longer. At this point all of my modesty went out the window and I couldn’t have cared less! 
The main midwife had arrived as well as another assistant while I was in the pool. I was told later that this was probably the point that I reached 10 cm. Transition was difficult, but the pool definitely made it bearable! Kelly (the main midwife) really wanted me to pee at that point because it had been a while since I had. She had me get out of the tub which seemed like torture at the time (I was taught not to pee in pools as a kid and seriously could not make myself, even in labor!). 
I never made it out to the bathroom and ended up on a birth stool half way there when I finally asked if I peed right there would they stop making me walk to the bathroom.
I never did pee but instead started to bear down with contractions and managed to break my water all over the floor…and Jon’s feet. That gave me a quick bit of relief from the pressure until the baby’s head slipped into its place and the pressure was back. After my water broke Kelly said she would be able to help me ease the baby’s head out better in a different position but it was up to me if I wanted to do so. I asked if it would get the baby out quicker. She said it might but that was not necessarily the goal. For me, at that point it was my main goal. I walked through the room and got on the bed and that is when the REAL pushing started.
I pushed for about an hour before the baby was born. There was a lot of screaming involved and begging to “get it out”! There were a few heart rate decelerations with the baby at this point, but nothing too concerning. They thought he may have his cord wrapped but it ended up that he had it all bunched up in front of his chest. With Kelly’s guidance I managed to get through it all and avoid any tearing! A blessing for sure! Lucas Everett entered this world at 1:13pm (the same exact time I was born) and was caught by his dad (with some help from the midwife 
)!
Jon’s support throughout the entire birthing process was amazing. I would like to thank Bradley Classes for teaching Jon to support me during labor and teaching me to relax to his touch!
Luke came out screaming and had apgar scores of 9 and 10. He was bright pink and so alert. After delivering the placenta and checking out me and the baby the midwives headed out to the living room to fill out some paperwork and we hung out as a new little family. The birth was an intense but amazing process. I wouldn’t change a single thing about bringing Mr. Lucas Everett into this world!
Lucas Everett- 7lbs 14 oz, 20 inches long
