Well… I meant to get this out sooner… but to be 100% transparent I haven’t felt the push and energy to write this until now, which is about 3 weeks postpartum. I have been busy soaking up newborn snuggles and chasing around 2 other crazy little boys.

Warning… it’s a bit lengthy, but I wanted to make sure I included everything.

I’m sharing this because I feel like we need more stories out there that reflect a positive birth outcome that so many of us have and I am sooo happy to add to that narrative.

As a society we are constantly being fed with birth horror stories. Whether It’s just because people LOVE to talk about that rare, insane experience that their friend’s, sister-in-law had or from the media, or it’s on a movie we watched (cough, Knocked Up anyone? cough)  or a social media page that we follow that warns us about all of the “what ifs” to be prepared for.

The truth is, a lot of us have had a wonderful experience or just an average experience that results in a healthy baby and a healthy mom.  We just don’t talk about those because 1. it’s not dramatic and 2. there is this sense of guilt when something traumatic doesn’t happen. WHY? Because we don’t want to offend someone that didn’t have the great experience you did.

Now, I don’t want to say that scary, crazy sh*t DOESN’T happen, because it certainly DOES. And if you’re reading this and you had that experience, I am truly sorry and I hope you can heal from it. 

BUT I feel drawn to share my experience and call out the support team I had around me in hopes that I can offer some excitement to the future mom that might be a little anxious about pregnancy and birth. 

Now I’m not saying that it’s easy and that it wasn’t painful… because I still squealed like a pig when I felt him drop into my birth canal (ask my husband).  BUT I will tell you that this was my easiest and FASTEST of my 3 births and I truly believe it’s all due to the support I had around me and the mindset shift I made this go around. I wouldn’t do it any other way…

So let’s get to it shall we?

When I found out I was pregnant with my 3^rd I knew I wanted to approach this pregnancy differently. I had semi-easy pregnancies in the past. Nothing traumatic. But after doing it twice you start to figure out that maybe you weren’t quite given all the options or the best advice… and how would you know that? I was just doing what the doctor suggested, right?

I wanted tackle this one with a much more holistic mindset. I wanted to focus on prepping myself physically, mentally and emotionally with more intention than I did with my other two.  Mainly because this was my 3^rd go around. I now knew what I didn’t know with my first and even my second.  I knew how I wanted to feel during pregnancy and especially, how I wanted to feel postpartum. Even more important, I knew how I DIDN’T want to feel. For example, I knew I wanted to be able get to the bathroom without peeing in the hallway before I got there…. HA!  

I discovered Carrie and Beth with Evensong Midwifery from my friend and chiropractor Whitney at Movewell Chiropractic.  I remembered that I had met both of these midwives during my 2^nd pregnancy during the pandemic.  They ended up leaving the facility I delivered at early on in my pregnancy and opened a private practice during all of the craziness.

Evensong Midwifery is a home birth practice  and functional medicine practice for women.  I had always been intrigued with home birth.  Tony not so much… So I booked our consultation and after a good hour of conversation, I was on board. The vibe was just different.  The approach felt so welcoming and comfortable. The time they took with us on our first appointment was more than I had spent with any other of my doctors COMBINED!

Tony had his reservations, like anyone would, but Carrie and Beth were able to answer all of his questions and concerns. Slowly but surely he felt more comfortable with delivering at home. Looking back now… he wouldn’t do it any other way.

Throughout my pregnancy I regularly met with my midwives and every time I went in it felt like I was going to chat with a good girlfriend and BONUS she had all the answers to my pregnancy questions. Everything felt like it was on my terms and they were and still are my guides.  I always felt supported and was given ALL the options when it came to specific milestones in my pregnancy. Honestly my favorite and unexpected part about working with Carrie and Beth was how aligned we were in our values. I really got to know them and I felt I could ask them out of the box questions and I was getting straight answers.

Outside of meeting with my midwives, I was regularly seeing a chiropractor – every 2 weeks up until 32 weeks then was on a weekly schedule. I was also seeing a pelvic floor therapist that worked with me on pelvic floor strengthening and core work to prepare for birth and set me up for success postpartum.  LET ME TELL YOU! That was a game changer.

My past 2 pregnancies I experienced loss of bladder control, uncomfortable hip and sciatic pain and overall just irritation and fatigue around my joints and pubic bone. Not until the very final days of this pregnancy did I experience this and I contribute this to my chiropractic work with Whitney and pelvic floor/ core strengthening with Kaitlin at FITPT.

Lastly I decided to invest in a Hypnobabies course and audio training.  This is basically a mindset training to help manage your pain through birth and your thoughts throughout the pregnancy. This was amazing. I listened to the meditative audio tracks at night and although most of the time it made me just pass out into a deep sleep… it trained me how to relax every muscle in my body and of course my busy mind too. I HIGHLY recommend this and KNOW this helped me tackle an unmedicated birth.

Let’s get to the fun part shall we?

As I approached the final days of my pregnancy there were a couple days that I THOUGHT I was going into labor.  I went late with my first 2, so I expected to continue the trend.  40 weeks hit. Nothing. 40 and 3… thought something was happening… nothing. 41… nothing.  41 and 3 came and here is how it went down:

• I went to bed on a Tuesday night and had very minor contractions starting, I give credit to the delicious Chicken Chili Penne (extra spicy) from my favorite, San Pedro Café. 
• Contractions continue throughout the night. About 10 minutes apart. Still very minor and I can sleep through them or in between.
• I wake up at 5am to a few heavier contractions… still not very close together.
• I move to the couch and let all the boys in the house continue to sleep.
• Sit through a few heavier contractions but nothing that really knocked my socks off. At this point, I’m thinking I’m in early labor. 
• I text mom and dad about 5:30am to start to get moving and over here to grab kids but tell them, “NO RUSH.”
• Wake up Tony and kids at 5:45am.
• 6:15am rolls around and I decide I better check in with my midwives. I tell them my status but still let them know that I think I am in early labor.
• Parents show up about 6:45am and slowly pack kids up. Mind you…. we still don’t have the birthing tub set up.  We figured because I labored so long with my 1^st two… we will start setting up the birthing tub once I start contractions.
• Parents finally out of the house around 7am.  I am breathing through a few heavier contractions over my ball in the baby room. Where we wanted the tub to be.
• 7:02ish… I felt an extremely HEAVY contraction and the baby drop.  I scream to Tony to get the bleeping tub set up. THIS IS HAPPENING!
• Carrie walks through the door shortly after… THANK GOODNESS. Then Monica, their intern.
• 2 more heavy contractions and a couple pushes later. BABY arrives. 7:14 am. 15 minutes after the kids got out the door.  Just minutes after midwives show up. No tub. On all fours in the now baby room, on a shower curtain 😉

It definitely was NOT the water birth I had envisioned but I wouldn’t have it any other way! Fast and furious is nothing to complain about! The midwives got me all cleaned up and baby too. Snuggled me in my own bed. Made me breakfast and cleaned the house. You would have never known there was ever a birth there.  Honestly, they are angels.

As I reflect back on how it all went down. I was shocked on how calm I was. I literally almost delivered my own baby… and it all felt fine and good. I contribute everything to my support team and a mindset shift. I highly recommend a home birth.  In my experience, it gives you a sense of calm that helps everything happen smoother and faster. Tommy’s birth story will forever be my favorite and I am beyond grateful for the circle I had around me to help make it all happen. If we go for a 4th… I know exactly who I will be calling 🙂

Cheers,

Abby