The Home Birth of Norah Elisabeth | Joshua, Texas | Dallas / Fort Worth Birth Photographer
This was the fastest birth I have attended so far in my 4 years as a Dallas / Fort Worth birth photographer and OH HOW I LOVE her story. As a momma that was “over due” with my kiddos I understand the head games so much. Please enjoy this amazing story written by Meridith, mom.
I woke up and assessed how I was feeling. Nope. No contractions. Not even Braxton Hicks. It was business as usual. I made myself some coffee and headed to my sanctuary, which was my bathtub. From the day this baby was conceived I craved being in the water. I lived in my bathtub for the entire gestation of my pregnancy. I felt at peace there. I would dream about her birth in that tub. I imagined it being exciting, possibly even precipitous. I imagined the emotions I would feel if I were lucky enough to get to catch my own baby. Can you think of anything more special? I could not!
I laid in the tub and prayed a little. I had my Bible there with me and I flipped it open. Psalm 139. “I know when you sit. I know when you rise.” I needed to hear that. I didn’t know when this baby was coming, but He did. Something happens to a mother when she goes over her due date. The physical strains of pregnancy pale in comparison to the mind game that begins once that calendar day has come and gone. The minutes feel like hours and the days feel like weeks. Logic tells you that your baby is coming, but the wait is trying to say the least!
Kayce, one of my midwives, called while I was soaking. We had the conversation about what kind of things I was going to try to kick start labor that day. I had already been doing all of the normal things, to no avail. We talked for a bit and we landed on castor oil. Now I had tried that once before with my first VBAC, and it only served to make me feel very, very sick! But I was ready to try just about anything at this point. I knew I was headed towards the possibility of a hospital induction if too many more days went by, so I was willing to give it another go.
We hung up the phone and I got ready for the day. Jarrett, my husband, was home at the time and he was supposed to go to school that afternoon. However, we realized that our bathroom toilet was broken. I was adamant that he needed to skip school, and we needed to go to Lowes that instant to get parts to fix it. I cannot plan a home birth without a functioning toilet!
We went to Lowes, and returned home. He proceeded to deal with our home repairs. My mom made it over to our house to help me with our three boys. I was so glad to see her, as I was tired and just wanted to rest!
I did not take my first dose of castor oil until she arrived, which was around 10:30-11-ish. I chased it with orange juice, and it was just as unpleasant as I remember it being the first time! “Here we go,” I thought. I had re-read the Evidence Based article about castor oil while we were driving to the store earlier, and I felt confident that I was comfortable trying this again.
I waited an hour and took my second dose around noon. I was doing a lot of resting during this time. I was trying to relax and let my body do what it needed to do. I was worried that my mind was inhibiting my labor. I was trying to express any fears or concerns I was having, just to not leave anything unaddressed. Although this was my third VBAC, I had never gone into labor on my own. I went post-dates with both of my previous VBAC babies, and I ended up being induced with both of them. That thought was lingering with me.
I texted my midwives somewhere around 1 pm asking if they could come by and check on me that afternoon. I had a little bit of what I thought to be bloody show earlier in the day, and I thought I might be encouraged to know if I was dilating. At this point, I was still not having any contractions. Nothing. No tightening, no cramping, absolutely nothing. I was not having any side effects from the castor oil either. They agreed to come check on me after a while.
I decided to get in the shower around 2 pm. I just wanted to be in the water. I took a long shower and just cried. I let the water wash over my face as I sobbed tired pregnant mama tears. I was so very ready to meet my baby. I was feeling insecure because I had never gone into labor on my own, and I was honestly starting to think I never would. This is such a hard headspace to be in when your body is heavy, and weary, and postdates. I allowed the catharsis to happen fully knowing that this might be exactly what I need to help labor begin.
I got out of the shower and I was not feeling very well. I immediately threw up into the (fixed) toilet. I thought that was incredibly odd, but I ended up just attributing it to the castor oil I had taken a couple hours earlier. I dried my hair, put on a nightgown, and went in the living room to wait for the midwives to arrive. As I was walking by the kitchen, I could see that my midwives were in their car outside of my house. They appeared to be on the phone with another client. I sat on the couch to wait for them to come inside. It was just a few minutes before 3 pm at this point.
My mom was sitting with me in the living room. I proceeded to tell her I was just going to pack a bag and get ready to go to the hospital to be induced in the morning. I had done everything I knew to do and this baby was not budging. I voiced to her that I was discouraged because I just was not contracting at all.
Then in mid-sentence while telling her my plans to pack my bag, I had a contraction. I paused just to make sure that is what it was, and I was confident that is what was happening. I felt immediately encouraged! After waiting all day for a sign of labor to give me a glimmer of hope, I finally had something that resembled a real contraction! I texted my midwives at 3:02 pm to tell them how excited I was about the recent activity, and they said they would be in shortly to check me out!
They made it inside a few minutes later and we agreed to head to my bedroom to assess me, and when I stood up from the couch, I had another contraction. Well ok then! Now we’re talking! I was excited to be having some kind of activity. We made it to the side of my bed, and I had another one. Wow, ok. These are kind of coming out of nowhere.
I laid down on the bed for my midwife to check me, and to run a 3-minute strip on the baby’s heartbeat to make sure all was looking and sounding good. Kayce said I was a stretchy 7 to 8 centimeters! During the middle of that assessment, I had a contraction that brought tears to my eyes. Just moments before I was talking about packing a hospital bag because the baby wasn’t coming…and now I am trying to wrap my head around the fact that I was considerably dilated and I am having contractions that are so intense they are making me cry.
“Are we having a baby today?” I asked. “Oh yes. We are having a baby,” said Kayce. At that moment, the directives began to fly. My other midwife, Rosetta, told my husband to go blow up the birth tub (because who plans a home water birth and does not have their tub blown up at 42 weeks and 2 days…this gal right here). Jarrett headed outside to complete that task.
I stood up from being checked, and labor hit me like a freight train. It was GO time! I asked my mom to take our boys to the opposite side of the house, and I went straight into low and deep moans. I held onto the footboard of the bed to steady myself. I had been catapulted into labor land.
I labored at the end of the bed while Kayce helped me through my contractions for a little while. Everything happened so quickly that my brain had not caught up to the fact that my body was in active, transitional labor. I was just focused on getting through each contraction as they came.
While Jarrett was outside blowing up the tub, my birth photographer, Kourtnie, showed up. My husband said later that as soon as he saw her walking up to the house he knew things were getting serious. My midwives had texted her just moments before, and she made it in record time!
Jarrett finished blowing up the tub in the driveway and brought it into our bedroom where we were going to set it up. The midwives asked where to find the tub liner so we could get it in and start filling it with water… Tub liner?? Was I supposed to purchase that??! Um, no. I didn’t do that. In fact, I had failed to purchase several different supplies that one might need for a successful home birth. Honestly, I think that was completely psychological. I didn’t purchase the things I needed because I was truly afraid I would not go into labor on my own. Now here we were with a tub, no liner, and me about to give birth!!
I knew I still wanted a water birth even though I did not have a tub liner for the birth tub. I was to the point that I felt like I physically needed to be in the water to manage labor. The gravitation to the water was constant during pregnancy, and this same feeling was present and magnified in labor.
We tossed the blow up birth tub aside, and filled up my bathtub. As I lowered myself into the warmth of the water, I felt immediate relief. I cannot recommend laboring in water highly enough. The heaviness of my pregnant body faded into the water, and I was so glad to be in my familiar space. My contractions were almost back-to-back at this point, but I still didn’t fully understand how real things were getting.
Kayce was sitting on the edge of the tub next to me. I voiced to her that I was feeling really scared and a little out of control. This was all happening so incredibly fast! Jarrett was behind me in the tub trying to comfort me. Everyone was very encouraging! Kayce helped me manage my fear by reassuring me that everything was okay.
After being in the tub for a little while, I had a contraction that can only be described as the mother of all contractions for this birth. It swept over me like a tidal wave, and I immediately felt like I needed to push! I told Kayce that is what I was feeling and she said that was okay. I really needed reassurance that what I was doing and feeling was normal. My birth team gave me all the reassurance I needed.
I focused on pushing. I pushed with every ounce of strength I could gather! I could feel the ring of fire, and I delivered her head. I was ready to get her up and out of the water, so I just powered the rest of her out, pushing counter-intuitively to my contractions. She was born en caul, and Kayce helped her out of her sac and told me, “Catch your baby, Meridith!” What??!!! Catch my baby?!!! I was on the couch 45 minutes ago ready to pack a hospital bag!! Catch my Baby??!!
At 3:46 pm I caught my baby. I lifted her up to my chest, and I remember her being so blue! I was rapidly trying to process everything, but I was focused on her color. She was quiet. She was moving, but she was not crying just yet! I looked to my midwives for approval to make sure all was ok. No one was worried, so I followed that lead. She started to pink up quickly!
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I just had a home birth. I JUST HAD A HOME BIRTH!!!!! All of the things I had visualized in that same bathtub during her pregnancy had literally just come true. I had a beautiful, precipitous birth in the very space I had imagined it every single day since I knew she was coming. The very tub where I had prayed for her birth repeatedly is where my beautiful daughter had entered into this world! The look on my face in the pictures is worth a million words. That is what JOY looks like, my friends! Pure joy!
After a few moments of attempting to process what just happened, my birth team and my husband helped me up and out of the bathtub and guided me with my daughter in my arms to our bed.
Chel, my doula, had not made it for the birth, but she came in time for to hold my hand for the majority of my postpartum check! My birth team took loving care of our beautiful new baby and me. They carefully checked us over to make sure we were both healthy and safe. Norah was 8 pounds and 12 ounces, and 21.5 inches long. She was our first little girl after having three boys, so that was exciting for us! She was here. She was perfect, and incredibly loved.
After things settled down my midwife, Rosetta, told me that she had gone on a walk with another Edenway midwife, Melody, that morning. They had stopped and prayed for me to have a redeeming, beautiful birth. Prayer triumphantly answered.
To God be all the glory. To HIM be all the praise. Norah Elisabeth White made an unforgettable entrance into our lives that day. And we are so very glad she did.
Midwives: Edenway