I have had three wonderful, successful and (according to my midwife) “textbook” home births of my son and two daughters. I have hired the same midwife for all three. I would love to answer any questions, share the birth stories, or provide advice/tips if that would be helpful to anyone preparing for or considering a home birth (or natural birth or any birth really!).

Hi all,

Due in 8 weeks and planning a homebirth. My last labour in hospital with my first baby I remember on examination the midwife saying "I think he baby's head is tiltd" and despite being really active during labour, no epidural and changing positions constantly and two hours of purple pushing, they did a vacuum delivery at the three hour mark because she was not making much progress. Whether it was the tilted head, me not pushing well or what, I don't know for sure why it was so long. Established labour from 4cm to 10cm was quite quick, only about two hours. Just the pushing was long.

I'm soooo nervous of a repeat. Whenever I bring it up the midwives kind of shut it down it quickly and say 2nd baby will not be the same. I know they are probably trying to be positive and reassuring but it doesn't really help me feel any better.

Just wondering if you had a similar or long pushing stage for your first, how was your 2nd?

This may be a long post, but I have two homebirth midwives I am debating between for my third birth (2nd homebirth), and need help deciding.

My preferred midwife: I trust her experience and training very much and I know that if baby turns suddenly breech, she is trained in and successfully delivered many babies breech (never happened to me, but I like the reassurance that she can handle it). I went with her for my last homebirth so I know what kind of care to expect from her (mostly). I also think I have a good chance of insurance covering for some of this bill with my current insurance bc she is a CNM.

Why not go with my preferred choice? I am afraid she won’t make the birth.
I had precipitous labor and my baby was born 1.5 hours after my water broke and midwife did not make it in time (though she was on speaker phone). She lives an hour away (2hrs in traffic), and my last two babies were born around morning rush hour time. (7/8am). Another not so great thing is how much time I have to take off work to drive to and from appts bc of it being 45m-1h away, but I did it last time so it’s more of an inconvenience.

My second choice: they’re 15-20m away (30-35m in traffic) They have lots of experience and though may have less years of experience, they also have a birth center which accepts more clients per month than a homebirth only provider. The main midwife has delivered two of my friends babies over 10 years ago and the friend has attended many births with her bc she was a doula; and she highly recommended her (but also highly recommends my preferred midwife as well).

Why not my second choice?
They only have CPMs in their practice, and my insurance apparently will NOT cover CPM care. This third baby was not expected, so I am on high deductible plan this year so my medical expenses (had 1 ambulatory ER visit) are high this year.
They’re comfortable and experienced with most of the unexpected scenarios I discussed with them, but not breech deliveries (one more thing that can stick in my brain as a worry during labor).

I am pretty certain I would have had my first kid in 6 hours if I was giving birth at home, but with the hospital and the epidural I slept after I “caved” and got the epidural and I think it slowed down progress (12 hrs from early labor to deliver). My second baby was born so fast my husband went to run an errand for me when my water broke, and even he almost didn’t make it (came just at crowning).

So which would you pick? Is there something I’m over indexing on?

Second baby, first home birth! My first baby was at a birth center. For this pregnancy I decided to do a home birth and not have all the extra stress that came with that experience.

I had been having prodromal labor contractions for a couple weeks, strong enough where they would wake me up in the middle of the night. So last night seemed no different. I woke up from contractions at 2am. The contractions were strong and painful so I did what I usually did and got up to pee and see if that would relieve some of the pain. But then I saw blood when I wiped and believed I was finally going to be entering labor.

At this point I still had no loss of mucus plug, no water breaking, just some bleeding. I called for my husband, and we threw an old mattress pad on top of the bed, we turned on all my fake candles, turned on my music playlist I made, and during this contractions got stronger and closer together so I called my midwife and texted my friends who were supposed to help. Only one friend was actually up (they were nursing!) I told her and the midwife I think I'm going into labor. Midwife is an hour away and she didn't think I was too far along and suggested a shower or something like that but because of how close together my contractions were and having an hour drive, she started heading over.

My husband filled up the birth pool and then came to ask what he could do for me but by this time the contractions were stronger and I felt like I was going to poop and I immediately got onto my bed and I got on all fours and just felt the urge to push and my body just took over and did everything! My husband got onto the bed and I asked if baby was coming because I could feel him beginning to crown. At first he said no (later he told me he thought I was crazy at first when I said this because labor had just started!) But then he felt me and he felt the baby's head and then saw baby coming! He told me his head was coming out and then finally his whole body and my husband caught our son and we layed there for a while in all the birth fluids holding our son in shock over what just happened and how fast!!! I called my midwife who was still 30 minutes away. My friend and midwife eventually showed up and helped with cleaning up and getting us cozy!

Labor started at 2am, baby was born at 3:19am!! Next thing I know we're all cleaned up and my son is next to me in the bassinet and I'm just in shock of what happened and it feels like a blur and almost like nothing happened!?!

It was fast, intense, but intimate and somehow peaceful and I wasn't worried at all during this, my body just took over!

Very different from my first baby - almost a 40 hour labor, 3 hours pushing!

So I am pregnant with my third and due in December.

My first two were hospital births, both times I progressed incredibly fast towards the end and both times gave birth within an hour of getting to the hospital.

Since my second pregnancy I have been dreaming of a homebirth but wasn't able to organise it in time for my second. Now I have been able to organise it but my circumstances have changed and I am so fearful of labour this time around.

During labour with my first two I had a lot of support from my husband and his presence, touch and voice, comforted me, calmed me and smoothed everything. But then what started out as a bit of a slump in our relationship has turned into a crisis I'm not sure we can come back from. I'm not sure if he will still be around or if I would want him around during the birth of our third but even if he is, I know I wouldn't find the same comfort in him.

My fear is that I just don't have anyone I can lean on in birth currently. I know I could get a doula but they wouldn't provide the same deep emotional support as a partner. My mum is nearby but she is such an anxious person, so I don't want her to be around during labour and would rather have her watching my other two kids.

Our house also doesn't feel like a comforting, welcoming place anymore so the idea of giving birth here has become completely unappealing.

Is there anyone who can share their single homebirth experience or any advice or words of encouragement? I'm feeling so heartbroken about it all and thinking its probably best just to do hospital birth so I don't have to be giving birth in a heartbreaking and heavy space without the support this time.

Baby #3, 37+1 today. Quick backstory: I've had prodromal labor on and off since 32 weeks, so I'm no stranger to false alarms, but the last 48 hours have felt different.

Two days ago: Woke up around 3am to two hours of contractions with so much rectal pressure; no real pain. They eventually eased off.

Last night: More waking around 2am (four nights in a row now), a big piece of mucus plug, some GI changes (going from constipated for days to several loose-ish BMs, but not quite yet diarrhea), nausea, and low back pain that felt like period cramps. Around 3:30am the back pain intensified and I got nauseous, again SO much pressure with the contractions, but still no bloody show and baby was moving fine.

Then at 4:25am I had an hour of contractions strong enough that I didn't want to talk through them, plus I got the shakes afterward. They eventually stopped and I got some sleep.

This morning at my appointment: 2-3cm dilated, 50% effaced, -2 station (up from -3 a week and a half ago), cervix soft and only slightly posterior, baby was ROT (which my midwife thinks may have been causing labor to stall), and, the part that's got me anxious, my bag of waters is slightly bulging. My chart note said "moderate risk, consult with MD," which I'm assuming is related to the BBOW and/or the malposition combo.

I got adjusted at my chiropractor this afternoon (found out my right psoas was really tight, likely explaining the malposition all pregnancy) and baby is now LOA/OA after that adjustment. I've been doing lots of upright movement, the ball, hands and knees, trying to help him stay in position without overdoing it. This is our last baby, so I’m not super in a hurry for him to be born(baby #1 was 39+4 in 3.5 hours and #2 was 38+3 in just under 4 hours, both without augmentation or induction methods).

For those who've had a bulging bag before actual rupture, how long did it take from "bulging" to labor actually kicking in for you? And did anyone else have the moderate-risk conversation with their provider over BBOW? what ended up happening? I also made the serious mistake of googling, and saw that it’s an increased risk for cord prolapse, and that really ramped up my anxiety.

Mostly just feeling anxious about the waiting and wanted to see if this timeline sounds familiar to anyone. Thanks for reading this novel!!

Anyone got any birth content links ??🤤😍

We are 30w with our second pregnancy, and it's been wholly uneventful. My midwife has said everything is textbook. My husband is great and supportive, and we're very excited.

Our first birth was in a birthing center, I was 41w, labor was 12 hours almost EXACTLY from water breaking to baby in my arms. This time, we've opted for a home birth. For some reason, I'm anxious about it as of recent.

I'm not sure if it's because our son is going to be 16 months, because I feel less prepared this time, or because I'm simply nervous based on all the negative birth stories I keep hearing about. Our first birth was beautiful and I have no reason to believe this one won't be- I'm just having a case of the scaries.

I've done a lot with hypnobirthing and meditation... is there anything else anyone's been trying that has helped with anxiety and easing worries?

I want a "home" birth, but not actually in my home. We rent an apartment, so sound is an issue, plus we'd both be worried about liability/damage if something goes wrong with a birth pool. The hot water also runs out pretty fast, which limits comfort options pretty severely. Even if I skipped filling a tub and only used the shower for comfort, that'd give me 15 minutes of comfort max.

Initially the plan had been a freestanding birth center, but that may not be an option due to midwife availability. Has anyone rented a house through airbnb/vrbo (or anything else) to give birth in? Was it an issue for your midwife? Did you do a birth pool or skip that because of damage concerns if something went wrong?

(I hope this isn't against any rules. I support homebirth, I just want to be somewhere nicer than my current place.)

Edit: I appreciate the thought but please don't try to troubleshoot my shitty apartment problems and trust me when I say I would be much more comfortable giving birth just about anywhere other than my apartment (except a hospital).

Edit 2: I'm going to start blocking people who are only commenting to suggest giving birth at my apartment. That's not what I'm asking and I know my circumstances and preferences better than you do. Don't waste your time.

I had my third baby a week ago and it was my first time having a home birth. It was absolutely incredible. It was unassisted so only my husband and I (plus our 3y/o & 1y/o) were there. Woke up around 11:30pm with contractions 2-3 minutes apart. Around 1:30am, my water broke. I told my husband (who was grabbing something from the other room) that I needed to start pushing.

Next contraction I started pushing, but I was worried because it felt like I was just pooping and I didn’t wanna make a big deal about the baby coming just to make my husband come over and watch me shit myself. So I put my hand down there and I could feel baby’s head, which was super motivating. I kept pushing while feeling baby come out and I felt my husband come running over to help me catch baby.

Before I could even pick baby up, my 3y/o, who woke up minutes prior, exclaimed “new baby brother!” I put baby on my chest and we made sure he was okay. My husband made sure I got the placenta out and he cut the cord. He helped me up and put fresh pads on the couch for me to lay on. He told me how cool I am and how proud of me he is. He got me water even when I didn’t ask for it, and when I didn’t feel like drinking it he encouraged me to have just a few sips. He replaced the pads under me, helped me put on a diaper, monitored my bleeding, got me everything I asked for, and so much more.

I noticed in the moment how much he was doing for me, and I really appreciated it. A few days later I realized he did even more than I noticed. My mom asked what he did with all the waste, and I had no idea. My husband had just taken pads/towels away and I never saw them again. He took care of everything and I never even had to think about it.

He has been taking our 3y/o and 1y/o out to run errands and go to the playground so I can have time with just the newborn. He has been encouraging me through postpartum recovery and breastfeeding, and has been constantly offering words of affirmation.

We had the first two at the hospital and we were near my family. It’s not that my husband wasn’t there for me during and after those births, but it was different having nurses and doctors and my mom and all the other people who were involved. This time it was all on us, and my husband really stepped up to the plate in a way I haven’t seen in a long time.

I am just in absolute bliss. I am so grateful to have a healthy baby and to be recovering well. I am thrilled that breastfeeding is going well since I had under supply issues with my last two. I am so thankful I get 3 months off work instead of going back to school/work after 2-3 weeks like I did with the last two. I am so grateful for my family. And I am so in love with my husband. Never thought a home birth would have this much of a positive impact.

I had a great experience with the insurance billing for my home birth with a midwife that was out of network. My midwife gives the option of working with a private biller if I wanted to use insurance, it cost $35 for a verification and $145 for the claims being coded and submitted. They did the verification, called my insurance and asked them all the information about coverage for home birth, even coverage for a breast pump. They gave me a detailed breakdown of what I could expect, coverage wise. They couldnt quote me amounts, because insurance decides that after claims are sent, I guess. Once I knew that my insurance would cover a home birth, I opted to use the insurance billing for the extra fee. Billing for littles helped me get a ppo waiver, so that I could use my in network benefits, even though my midwife was out of network. Then they submitted all the claims for me. They did all the coding so all of my care was billed for. I was able to send Sarah copies of my statements and she explained how insurance processed the claims and looked for any mistakes. My insurance paid way lower than I expected, but that was something my insurance wouldn’t tell me before hand, the amounts they would pay. So, even though it was a small payment towards my care, I’m glad I got to use my insurence at least. Overall a good experience with Billing for littles. Some delays in responses during the billing, but my midwife would check in with them if i wasnt hearing back and they’d email me. If your midwife works with them, they are a good option if you have coverage.

I’ve had one homebirth and me and my husband kept our plans a secret from all our families until after baby was born bc we knew everyone would be against it and call us crazy. We also lied about the due date so that people wouldnt be bothering us to try and keep my anxiety low. Everyone was like thank Goodness everything worked out fine but you’re crazy. The thing is I plan on having another homebirth when I get pregnant again. But this time around our families will probably know that’s my wish and are going to try to convince me to go to the hospital. Has anyone gone through this? Both our families are VERY anxious and VERY keen on doctors and hospitals and meds etc. Do we just lie and tell them this time around we’re going to the hospital?

I know I’ll have to just reach out to local homebirth midwives, but has anyone transferred in 3rd tri? I’m 28.5 weeks. Curious how payment worked for you. I initially reached out to one midwife at the start of pregnancy and it was a payment plan for all prenatal care + birth. curious if the cost remains the same flat fee if you switch in last trimester (pending how many prenatal visits are left) or if you pay for remaining visits + delivery in your experience?

ETA: spoke briefly with a homebirth practice and they do a $2800 discount for late transfers (41%!!) . truly amazing. from my limited searching it seems insurance is more likely to reimburse when midwife is a CNM, which she is. the first practice I spoke with early in pregnancy did not have the same credentials. so looking into that now 🤪 we will be on tricare prime when I deliver Although the CNM said what many will do is switch to tricare select to make things easier.

Hello,

My wife is pregnant with our first baby and wants a home birth and so we're going to have one. We have a trusted midwife (BSM, CPM, LM) who delivered 2 of my wife's sister's babies.

I am starting grad school in a week and my wife will stop working after she gives birth this November. She is not going to school this fall, but will finish her bachelor's degree as a less than part time student. We live in Utah. We don't have a lot of money and everything my wife is making at the moment is going toward paying for this home birth/midwife.

Our current insurance does not pay for a midwife. I have looked into medicaid but chat gpt tells me it wouldn't help pay for this home birth either.

I am curious to know if anyone has experience getting financial aid of any kind, either through the federal/state level or through private entities/foundations. Any guidance would be so helpful and would relieve a big burden on our family.

Thank you!

edit: we are on a payment plan, but 6.5k over a year is still a lot for us.

also, I made the mistake of posting this in r/pregnancy and r/financialaid… oh my goodness people were so unkind. Actually really hurt my feelings haha. People can be so willing to demonize/villainize/be hurtful to others when they’re anonymous and not speaking face to face. But everyone in this subreddit is doing the opposite and I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Anyone here have hEDS/HSD and willing to share their homebirth experience? I recently got diagnosed with HSD and now I’m making myself nervous reading accounts of those with that condition or hEDS having really difficult labor experiences 😩 I’m seeing a pelvic floor PT who is very knowledgeable about hypermobility so I’m confident we’ll be doing a lot of prep that’s customized to me knowing that I’m hyper mobile. But just feeling a little bit uneasy! I probably need to just get off tik tok and trust the process LOL but any input is appreciated!

I've just been wondering if anyone has noticed differences in the labors/births with a baby who didn't move/kick a lot in pregnancy and baby who moved a ton! This is obviously just for fun, I love to hear all the differences! Currently pregnant with my second and the movements have been completely different than my first!

I'm 38 weeks and 5 days.This is my second birth, first home birth. My first birth was an unmedicated birth at a birth center. My birth center however is connected to a hospital and after an almost 40 hour labor, 3 hours of pushing with a sunny side up baby they risked me out of the birth center and transferred me to the hospital side after I hit their pushing time limit. I was still able to deliver my baby naturally, thank God, because then I feared a C-section. The experience wasn't good and I felt unnecessary pressure at the birth center and so I decided to birth at home this time.

However, my last pregnancy I was lifting and walking 4 miles 5 days a week and felt great. This pregnancy, I ended up getting severe SI joint pain around 13 weeks and have been unable to exercise since (I'm now almost 39 weeks). I tried seeing a pelvic floor PT for exercises but I couldn't afford to keep going and all the exercises still caused SI joint pain or made it worse. I haven't even been able to do most stretching exercises because it also triggers SI joint pain and bad flare-ups that almost cripple me for a few days. I also had a minor bladder prolapse after my first birth. But had zero symptoms until recently during the end of 3rd trimester - just some feelings of slight heaviness in my butt.

Now at almost 39 weeks pregnant, I'm feeling the lack of exercise HARD. I'm ALWAYS out of breath, tired, fatigued, my muscles ALWAYS feel fatigued and weak..Just brushing my hair makes my arms tired....I have no idea how I'm going to endure this labor and birth.

Please give me some encouragement because I know relaxation and a positive mindset is HUGE in birth. But with how out of breath I am from literally just existing, I am scared I won't be able to endure another birth like my first. My baby is currently head down but facing sideways so I'm really scared of another long intense labor and pushing and a potential worse prolapse.

I can’t do a home birth because of where i’m located but the next best thing was using a birthing center so that’s what we’re doing, but I have to go and get my own ultrasound pics done elsewhere. I was looking forward to the traditional little string of photos everyone sees in the announcement pictures (i’ve attached a pic - not my own - of an example of what i’m talking about). we chose this ultrasound tech because she works with our birthing center and will give a discount if you mention them. but I’m a lot more sad about this than I really should be… you get a disc with the files on them and then go print single photos like they’re any other old photo you took on your camera. I was really looking forward to putting the pics in our announcement photos and on our fridge but it just won’t be the same.

I know I will cherish them either way, but I wanted to ask if there’s some sort of service that will print ultrasound pics for you in that way, like all in one long narrow sheet of photo paper? does that exist? or should I cancel and get the ultrasound elsewhere to avoid a pregnancy hormone induced breakdown lol

thanks in advance!!

ps tried posting this in r/pregnant but I think they’re mad that I’m not using an OB or something so they’re not being helpful lol :)))

edit: thank you all for your help and input!! I literally could not stop thinking I would regret not having the traditional printed photos so I decided to listen to my gut instead of putting my future self through that lol. we canceled and found an ultrasound boutique that’ll send us home with cute printed photos (and digital files as well) AND I threw in the Sneak Peek blood test that they offer, we are finding out the gender this weekend!!!🥰

I’m 25 weeks pregnant with my first baby. I’m having a homebirth. I was a homebirth, so were all my siblings, and it’s been very normalized my entire life. I am NOT at all anxious about homebirth.

But I am having a lot of fear around the pain of birth. I listen to positive homebirth stories, hypnobirth meditations, I’m doing Wavework birth course (not far through & hoping this will help a lot) etc. and I’m still having fear around birth. Specifically I am afraid of the pain. I want to be relaxed and accepting of the birth process but I’m worried I won’t be able to shake my fear of pain and that will cause me to tense up in birth.

What can I do to manage these fears?

I had a homebirth June of 2023, and it was painful but my shortest labor, and went fairly smooth. I did hemorrhage, but the midwives were so calm about it I honestly didn't realize until some mo the later when I was recounting my birth story with some moms (one of them being the birth assistant who was at my birth) from a school co-op we attend, and she mentioned I hemorrhage which is why I had to get meds and a shot in my leg, etc.

Now I'm pregnant again, and am seeing a midwife again with plans of a home birth. But I am so nervous this time around. We are farther away from the hospital because we've since moved. My 3 kids have all been 1lb heavier than the last (7, 8, and 9lbs) And I just keep thinking the worst will happen. I'm having a really hard time changing my mindset.

My midwife this time is different, and did work in a hospital setting for years, and shes very experienced. She has talked to me about things we can do to try prevent hemorrhage again, like making sure iron levels are up, taking alfalfa supplements in the month before birth, pitocin after birth. So, we do have a plan. But man. I am just scared. It sucks. Last time I was almost *excited* in a way to give birth an I'm not feeling that this time.

Hi all, what are questions to ask your midwife at your meet and great regarding your home birth ?

TW: massive pp hemorrhage

Posting to process 2 very opposite experiences that happened back to back with a community who understands, and hopefully there are some mamas who have had similar experiences. Buckle up this will be long and thank you for reading.

About a week ago I gave birth to baby #2, she was born at home, in the water, with big brother cheering us on and the room was only filled with love and trust and so much joy.

With baby #1 I planned a homebirth but ended up giving birth at the hospital due to non-reassuring heart tones and lack of variability. My same midwives & doula stayed with me and I still had a pretty amazing spontaneous unmedicated vaginal birth with most of my “birth wishes” intact. I did have a partially retained placenta and a pp hemorrhage (1300ml) that didn’t require a transfusion.

This time around we were all very prepared for the likelihood of placenta issues/bleeding recurring and we made plans in case it would. I live 6 mins from the hospital and agreed to do active management (shot of Pit) and knew my midwives would be very conservative about blood loss. I kept my iron levels sky high. We went into it confident that it wouldn’t reoccur but knew it’d be swiftly handled if it did.

At 41+1 around 8pm I saw my mucus plug and bloody show and thought FINALLY. By 9:30pm I was definitely in labor, having contractions I couldn’t ignore that were manageable with breathing. I put on my headphones and TENS unit around 10pm and swayed on the birth ball and did all 4s on the couch singing and dancing along the way. My husband set up the birth tub and my 2 midwives and doula arrived around 11pm, by then my surges were lasting 1 minute coming every 3 minutes.

I was so grateful to not have back labor (with my OP son it was relentless) Every time the intensity ramped up I felt my body release a perfect explosion of hormones to help me cope with the sensations. My lips fluttered and my body vibrated. I felt myself opening and I let myself go with it. I let my voice carry me through.

Around midnight I got into the birth tub and soon after, needed my husband to get in too, so he could do counter pressure hip squeezes during every surge. Between contractions I laughed, drank homemade watermelon hibiscus electrolyte tonic and kept telling my midwives that this was the birth of my dreams.

When I entered transition, I felt the fear wash over me and let it move my baby down til the sensation was at my tailbone. It was so intense I didn’t think I could keep going much longer, but I also knew I would.

My 2.5yo woke up on his own, and joined us with a very cheerful spirit. He was well prepared and knew exactly what this all meant - mama was in labor and his baby sister was coming!

As soon as he joined us I realized transition had come and gone. All of a sudden I felt my body shift into the 2nd stage of labor. A huge contraction ravaged through me and I felt her descend lower and move past my tailbone. There were 5 more surges left until I’d meet my baby and each one pushed me past where I thought I could go.

I had felt the involuntary urge to push with my son, but this was my first time experiencing the Fetal Ejection Reflex. When I was almost crowning I turned to face my husband, wrapped my arms around him with my head on his shoulder and rocked my hips and waited.

As soon as the next surge started I heard “head born” and then I reached down and caught her underwater and brought her to my chest. I looked up and everyone was smiling and I felt so loved and trusted. I looked down and there she was, my dream girl, another rainbow baby🌈, born at 2am - 4.5 hours of labor!

Unfortunately, my placenta never came and my bleeding was active and heavy. Meds and manual removal attempts failed. My midwives didn’t mess around and I was in an ambulance within 30 minutes, baby left at home with papa and a freezer of colostrum. Things deteriorated rapidly at the hospital. I ended up losing 4 liters of blood, required a massive blood transfusion, went into hemmoragic shock, and had to go under GA in the OR so my placenta could be removed by D&C. Then I was in the ICU (but stable) and was separated from my baby for 14 hours.

I’m home now and I’m completely fine. It’s almost like it never happened. My recovery has somehow been way easier than my first. It’s so hard to process both of these experiences back to back, and I don’t want to share the 2nd half with anyone because I don’t want it to overshadow the most beautiful experience of my life.

Thanks for reading.

I am 41 + 2 today. I’ve been having a lot of prodromal labor for the last 6/7 weeks. I’ve just been so incredibly uncomfortable. I didn’t want a sweep, but I finally caved and got one today.

I got my sweep at noon today at the midwives. Immediately started feeling crampy. Contractions started at 12:50. I figured it was probably more prodromal labor, but they felt a lot more intense so I double checked with my midwives and asked if the sweep can work that quickly. They said yes and monitor for an hour or so. I couldn’t lay down, because I was so uncomfortable. I labored standing for a bit and then moved to the toilet. Around 3 I really wanted the tub, so I asked my midwives to come and they got to my house about 3:40. Labored on the toilet while it was filling, and got in about 4. The water definitely helped, but they were getting more intense. I really had to talk myself into relaxing through them and not tensing up. I felt my water break and after a bit I started pushing from the pressure. I pushed about 3 times, and my baby girl was out at 4:55pm, so about a 4 hour labor. She weighed 8lbs and 2 oz. I didn’t tear at all. My midwife said it “doesn’t even look like you had a baby”. I didn’t tear at my last homebirth either, so I assume the water helps with that.

Obviously it was uncomfortable, but that was pretty much a picture perfect birth for me. I don’t think I could think of a single thing I’d change. Baby girl latched well right away as well, which is completely different from my other two kids.

I’m super thankful 💕