from Kenzie Hoover – North Carolina, USA

I was 38 weeks 5 days, it was one of those post “I don’t think I can be pregnant much longer” days, I was very cranky and irritable, and needed to nap not once but twice that day. My 2 yr old and 1 yr old joined me for my second nap. About an hour later I woke from my nap and around 6 o clock, about 30 minutes later I started to feel tightenings over my belly; not painful, just sensations. I decided to roll and rotate sitting on my exercise ball for about 10 minutes, and then I had to get up to finish up on dinner, my husband walked through the door at this point getting home from work. I went to use the restroom and continued to feel these tightenings 7, 10, 5 minutes apart, but no pain. I felt my baby heavily in my pelvis though. I decided then after leaving the bathroom to get on my knees at the side of my bed, leaning my arms over the bed and bring my knees in and my feet out, kind of like a W. Then I proceeded to slightly squat in that position a few times. And…pop! Went my waters, which had never happened to me before in my previous births. My waters would always stay in tact until transition. At this point it’s 7:30pm. I asked my 2 yr old daughter to “go ask daddy for a towel, quick!” As gushes of amniotic fluid we’re leaving my body. My husband then gathered up the kids and their stuff to take them to my moms house while I called a good friend letting her know I was in labor! Contractions began at this point, and were pretty intense and about 5 minutes apart. My friend showed up to cut up watermelon and bring me hydrating drinks while I labored. I continued to loose more of my waters with every contraction. Around 10pm we went on a walk up and down my street, and the theme of the evening was “these contractions already feel so intense, and I just started laboring!” I was refusing to believe how far along in labor I actually was however I just continued on expecting to go all night. We went back to the house where I then decided I wanted to do the side lying release with a ball between my legs, this then sent me into major shakes with a few intense contractions, I could only stay there about 5 minutes. I decided I wanted to get in the shower and my husband sat in the bathroom with me while I groaned through a few intense contractions. I then went straight to the bath from that point, where I stayed for the remainder of my labor, sitting butterfly pose. At about midnight my friend left to go back home, and I continued to labor peacefully in my tub, with my husband holding my hand. We were both exhausted yet so calm and peaceful. We would both sleep in between contractions as they came and went. I remember praying, “Lord thank you for the pain I get to experience, just as you took on pain for your love for us”. I soon began to feel the intense pain of what I would have liked to believe was transition, but again. I kept on saying “this can’t be transition yet, I’ve barely been in labor!”. Wondering how long I would have to endure these extreme sensations, I decided I wanted to self check to see where the baby was at. I gently reached to feel my cervix in which I felt my babie’s head, as well as my cervix, which upon touching it, sent me into an intense contraction, which I would go on to repeat this process unintentionally, a few more times, until I realized “yep this is transition” in which I began to roar with each contraction, following the FER as well as pushing with the sensations as it felt good to. I finally had one surge that sent my babies head out. As my baby crowned I huffed with the surge as to not tear, and then her head fully emerged. I continued to “hold” and huff during the break, and repeated “ok, ok” over and over again, almost as if assuring myself that I’ve got this and this is going well. On the next surge with one good push I sent my baby out into the water where I scooped my baby up and brought my baby to barely the top of my belly as the cord was on the shorter side. I then sighed in relief that it was over, and my baby was with me earthside, and did a check to see that it was a girl! Which I had known all along intuitively without finding out the gender, and was so confident that I would call her by her name while she was still in my belly! I gave her some rubs on her back and sucked some of the fluid from her nose that I saw and she then began to cry. She was also cover head to toe in vernix! Which my other babies barely had any. I sat with her in the tub for 10 minutes keeping her in the warm water with me wrapped in a towel. Then I began to feel subtle sensations in which I decided it was time for my placenta. I gave a slow little push and my placenta came out, mostly. It sat at my yoni and I examined it to then realize some of the membrane must have gotten caught on my cervix. So with my baby still attached to the cord and holding her, I asked my husband for some shepherds purse tincture. After taking it, I then took my finger and wrapped it up around the trailed membrane, following it halfway into my yoni, gave a good cough, and pulled, which then came the rest of the membrane connected to my placenta that had been caught. I then made my way to my bed which was a few feet from the tub, in which I snuggled up and nursed my baby girl and rubbed in every inch of vernix on her body, while the placenta sat in a bowl next to me still attached. About an hour after she had been born, we then tied off the cord with a homemade tie of mine, and my husband and I cut the cord together. Acadia Vaiselli, our precious little one, the Lord knew we needed you and your birth experience, as it brought healing, as well as the start of much more healing than I could have ever prayed or hoped for.