It was such an honor to be Steyr's Birth Photographer. I just love how many details Melissa wrote when writing this Birth Story. Without further ado, here is the Birth Story of Steyr Thomas on May 21st at Plano Birthplace in Plano, Texas.

Birth Story Plano Texas Birth Photographer

May 21, 2018

Garrison got up and went to work because I told him nothing would happen today. I'd been feeling really good and wasn't having any contractions. Emmeline woke up and I went to get her up and get myself ready for work.

7:30 AM:

When I went to go to the bathroom I had a little-wet spot in my underwear, but I hadn't gone before getting Emmeline and I figured I'd just dribbled some pee, you know being 9 months pregnant and all. But, I put a panty liner on, just in case, and went about my business. Ten minutes later I had soaked through that so now I was feeling pretty sure that it was my water leaking. I loaded Emmeline in the car to take her to daycare and shot Garrison a text that I thought my water was broken. Do you know what reply I got? “Ok, do I need to come home?” Well duh!!

Once I got back home and was 99% sure I had ruptured I text my birth team to let them know it was baby day!

9:30 AM:

Garrison got home and we made sure we had everything packed up and loaded the car. I wasn't having contractions, but I needed antibiotics so we made a plan with Jeannine to meet her at the birth center at noon. We ate breakfast and relaxed at the house until it was time to leave.

12:30 PM:

We arrived at the birth center and got our first round of antibiotics at 1 o’clock.

We had no idea how fast my labor was going to be so we decided to stay close to Plano just in case; Garrison and I went to BJ’s for lunch because it was only a few miles down the road. After lunch, we went to the mall to walk around a bit to try to get contractions going, and I got a pedicure in the hopes it would trigger something.

3 PM

I was still not having any contractions at this point. I gave Jeannine a call and we decided that we were going to head home so that I could do Emmeline's nighttime routine and we would meet back at the birth center at 9 o’clock because that's when I would need my second dose of antibiotics. Jeannine sent me her instructions for natural induction and we headed home.

6 PM

I made dinner for everyone and Jeannine's nasty, labor-inducing, egg concoction for myself. It was seriously the most disgusting thing I've ever eaten in my life and I was just trying to swallow it whole so I didn't have to chew it too much and keep it in my mouth longer than absolutely necessary.

7:30 PM (now we are getting to the good part)

I put Emmeline down in her crib after rocking her for a few minutes, and as I stood up from leaning over the rail I felt a huge gush of fluid quickly followed by a strong contraction. I walked out to the living room to watch some tv with my mom before we left for the birth center. We were planning on leaving the house at 8:20. As I'm sitting in the recliner my contractions really started coming on strong and Garrison had to apply some pressure to my back to ease the pain. His hand didn't apply even pressure and was uncomfortable, so my mom suggested we use one of my wool dryer balls. It worked perfectly!

8:20 PM

We are heading to the birth center! As we were driving down 380 I noticed that the contractions were coming really close together so I decided to casually time a few. They were coming every 3-4 minutes! We live 23 miles from the birth center; it was the longest ride of my life and I felt every single bump in the road the entire way down DNT. And of course, my husband was over there in the driver's seat cracking jokes, being a smart ass, making me laugh during contractions which did not feel good!

9:01 PM

We arrived at Plano Birthplace! I had to sit in the car for a couple minutes because I was in a good deal of pain with contractions that felt like they were coming one right on top of the other. Jeannine and Kourtnie were there waiting for us and Christina got there just minutes before we did. Once we got inside Jeannine checked me and determined we were at 5cm! I got on the birthing ball and we started the second dose of antibiotics. My contractions were coming on really strong at this point, but I was getting relief from a hot sock on my lower back. I remember talking about when we thought he would I arrive and I said his birthday would be May 22 because there was no way I would go from 5cm to 10cm before midnight. I guessed between 2 and 3 o’clock in the morning. I stayed on the ball for about 30 minutes before Christina suggested we try a different position to help the baby move down. I stood up and we did some slow dancing but the pain in my back was too much without the heat being applied.

9:45 PM:

I decided to try the shower hoping the hot water would alleviate some of the pain I was having in my back. The water was very soothing and I was able to switch from sitting to standing without losing the relief provided by the constant stream of hot water.

10:30 PM

I was starting to feel more pressure and slightly “pushy” with my contractions, but I thought there was no way I was fully dilated already so I didn't say anything about it. Since we had been in the shower for a while, I asked Christina if she could start filling the tub.

Once the tub was about halfway full, Garrison and Christina helped me climb in. The way I got input me on all fours and I was planning on turning around to a sitting position, but as soon as I got in my body started pushing on its own. The urge was so strong it was a bit overwhelming, but I knew my body was doing exactly what it was supposed to do. I didn't need someone to check me to know I was at 10cm. Jeannine heard me and came in and asked if I was pushing, I'm pretty sure I said: “yes, I can't help it!” I was a little worried that I wasn't supposed to be pushing just yet. I could hear everyone moving around getting things ready but I was so focused on what I was doing I had a hard time figuring out what exactly they were doing. Garrison was holding my hand down in the water and I was leaning my head against his arm for support. Christina and Garrison kept speaking positive affirmations about how I could do this and my body was made to birth my baby. It was so helpful when I felt like things were taking forever and I wanted to give up. I thought he was never going to come out! It felt like I had been pushing forever and his head wasn't even out yet, but in reality, I only pushed for just over 20 minutes.

10:53 PM:

Finally, his head crowned and was born and one of his hands with it! Jeannine quickly unwrapped the cord that was around his neck, a few more pushes and he was out! Instant relief. Jeannine passed him through my legs and I lifted him out of the water and onto my chest. I had done it! I honestly couldn't believe it. We had been preparing for a natural, med-free birth my entire pregnancy but I still was in shock that I had actually accomplished it.

I looked down at him and remember thinking that he was smaller than I thought he would be. They put a towel over my shoulders and over him to keep us warm. He was so quiet laying there in my arms. He wasn't crying, I remember asking why he wasn't crying, was he ok? But, his cord was still pulsing, he was ok, I knew this.

11:20 PM:

We stayed in the tub until his cord stopped pulsing. I got out, delivered his placenta, and went to lay down on the bed. Garrison cut the cord and they took Steyr to be weighed. Everyone took a guess on his weight; I think Jeannine was the closest! I thought he was a low 7 pounder, 7lbs 4oz to be exact, but she thought he was hiding his weight. He was! 7 pounds 13 ounces and 20 inches long. He was put back on my chest and he latched on right away. We let him nurse for a long time and an herbal bath was prepared for us.

It felt great to get back in the tub, and the herbs really helped sooth the stinging I was feeling since someone didn't want to put down his hand and be born in a normal presentation!

After our bath we finished up all of his newborn checks and started getting ready to go home. We left the birth center at 2:30 AM, just five and a half hours after walking in the door.