*Nonah Mae's Birth Story*

Peter and I could not have been more ready for the birth of our first child. Everything was done that needed to be done and all we could think about was holding our little baby in our arms. My due date came and went and all we could do was wait in wonder of when the day would come. One week and a day past my due date my midwife Kate came to see me for my usual check up. I was barely a centimeter dilated. The rest of the day I had some sporadic contractions. Then at about 6pm they started to come more frequent. At 8pm we started to time them and they were about every 5-8 min. So we called Kate to let her know and she said to try and get some sleep while I could. I was way too excited and nervous to sleep. I thought “this is it, the time has come, wow can I do this?” By morning the contractions had lessened and were very sporadic. Peter made me some breakfast and we called Kate. She said to do the usual things to bring on labor. Walk and ya know. So that we did and then just waited. And waited and waited. I tried to rest but it was hard. With twenty four plus hours of contractions there was a lot of time to think and I was feeling all kinds of emotions. Confused, anxious, nervous, excited, scared, happy. I tried to focus on the positive, “my body knows what its doing, baby will come when it’s ready, I need this time to prepare,” etc. I also tried to not think about it at all and just watched a few movies and read. My husband served me every meal which was so nice and we walked a lot. I tried nipple stimulation and even ate some hot sauce straight up. The contractions were every 4 to 10 min apart all day. Then on Thursday throughout the day the contractions began to last longer and slowly got much stronger. They were 3-5 min apart and lasted 50-70 seconds. I tried to get some sleep and just couldn’t because I was so uncomfortable. So we called Kate. Her and Jill came at 10 pm and checked me and I was only 2 cm and fully effaced. She said next step is to either walk or sleep and since I already tried to sleep we decided to walk. Peter and I walked around our yard talking about what its going to be like once this little one is here and how ready we were, pausing between contractions. We walked for an hour or two and then I tried to rest. Some how I was able to rest between contractions which were very strong. I sat upright on a recliner with pillows everywhere. Peter took a little nap in bed and I got myself some yogurt. Kate checked on the babies heart rate every now and then and at some point Peter and Kate worked on filling the aqua doula. At 6am Kate checked me again and I was 6cm dilated. We decided to break my water in order to progress quicker. By 7am labor was in full force. Every position was uncomfortable and there was pressure every where. So it was time to get in the aqua doula. The aqua doula relieved the pressure and felt wonderful. I still felt the contractions but it definitely helped ease the intensity of them. I rested my neck on the edge of the aqua doula and justed floated in order to relieve the pressure. It felt amazing. Soon after getting in I felt the urge to push and did push a little bit but not full force. Kate told me to do what I felt was right but she couldn’t see anything so if baby’s head was out to let her know. She checked baby’s heart rate and it was up to 180-200 which was too high. The water was too hot for baby so she suggested I get out. I specifically remember saying “oh no” because I didn’t want to move. Eventually I got out but couldn’t go any further so I stood there leaning on Jill for a while and pushed with my contractions. It was tiring to stand so I sat on the birth stool which was actually very comfortable. I pushed and pushed and got to feel the slimy head and so did Peter. Danielle got there at some point and was rubbing my back with a wet wash clothe. I was so sweaty. Peter and Kate were patiently waiting to catch baby and telling me what a good job I was doing. “That’s the way” Kate kept saying. I was in such a zone and didn’t talk to anyone. Or look at anyone. Then the BIG push came, I let out a scream and our sweet little baby fell into Peters hands. Peter announced that we had a baby girl and I announced her name, Nohah Mae and they handed her to me. Surprisingly I didn’t cry but Peter was a little teary eyed. I just felt so relieved that she was out and so amazed to have her in my arms. I was soo happy. She had swallowed some miconium and wasn’t breathing right so we quickly moved to the bedroom and Kate was checking her out. Kate was a little worried so we had to cut the umbilical cord sooner than planned but the blood had all pumped through so it was ok. Kate gave her some oxygen. Peter laid his hand on her and prayed for her. Jill called our doctor to see if we could bring her in to get checked out. I then held her close to my breast and she latched on all by herself. It was incredible to see my baby nursing for the first time. An hour after she was born she was breathing well and her color became normal. We thankfully did not have to go to the doctor. Nonah was born at 9:04am on Friday August 21st. She was a healthy 10 pounds 1 ounce and 20 ½ in long. After the girls helped Peter clean up and got me a snack they left. Peter and I stared in amazement of our sweet baby girl and then took a nap. We are so thankful for all that Kate and Jill did to prepare us for a safe, healthy and natural homebirth. I could not imagine giving birth any other way!!!