At 39 weeks pregnant, I was full of mejool dates, evening primrose oil, and anxiety waiting for baby to come. The day before, I was sitting across from my midwife, shrugging, saying there were no signs of labor and I wouldn’t be shocked if I went the full 40 weeks.

But then…

That night, I woke up from a deep sleep by a hmm-this-is-different kind of cramping. I had been having strong Braxton Hicks for *truly* the past 6 months, but this seemed like a very low cramp that clearly started and ended. 

I slept through the night with no real activity until I went to the bathroom and saw I lost a piece of my mucus plug. This isn’t really a sign of labor, but for me, I’ve always lost mine the day I have a baby. 

“Sooo, I might have the baby today. But I’m not sure.” I said to Kolton. 

That afternoon, my texts to Kolton escalated quickly:

12:38pm: I’m still just crampy. No change.

1:20pm: They’re painful at times. But not consistent.

1:26pm: Man I just had a big one. I’m going to start timing them just in case.

1:38pm: Ok, I don’t think I should leave the house…

1:51pm: I feel like these are light contractions… probably every 10 mins. And I’m definitely nauseous.

By 2:30pm, these cramps, aka contractions 😂 were down to 3 minutes apart. Which seemed crazy to me because they were so mild, but very close together. My midwife said it sounded like something was brewing, so they would head over.

I changed into my “labor” outfit (ie: bra I didn’t mind getting wet and a robe), hair up. We put down shower curtains and towels in our bedroom before bringing up the birth tub. We had inflated this already 5 days before, and discovered a leak that we had to patch and I was HIGH FIVING our past selves for doing that so far ahead of time!

By 3:30pm, the midwives were here and my contractions went back to being inconsistent and 10-15 minutes apart. This was frustrating to me, but not a surprise because I felt so on edge.

The biggest culprit was that both girls were home (our 7 and 3-year-old). Our original plan was to keep them with us so they could be there to see their brother being born, but I couldn’t get into the headspace I needed to. I was also a little bit in denial that I was going to be having a baby that day when I thought I had more time.

The midwives suggested I take a walk to get things moving again since it was a beautiful day. They stayed back and changed the sheets on my bed (the home birth sheet sandwich of new sheets – shower curtain – old sheets) and starting setting up.

I changed back into a less labor-y outfit and when I headed outside I realized everyone in the neighborhood was out and asking how are you? When are you due again? I had to tell them, well I’m in labor literally right now…

And honestly, I felt really frustrated. It’s amazing what the body triggers inside you when you’re in labor, but I hit a wall where I was like…I need to GET AWAY from here. I can’t be talking, or thinking about anything else. I was having a baby.

I called Kolton while I was on my walk – which was making my contractions back to every 3 minutes – and told him I was pulling the plug on the girls-staying-home idea. Great in theory, but there was no way I would be able to have the calm and quiet I needed with them home. 

Thankfully my father in law was around the corner and picked them up. I had thought to have an extra car seat ready to go for our youngest, and had packed a small bag with extra clothes, snacks, and their pajamas for any kind of situation. 

Around 6pm I was back at the house, shades drawn, drinking water and nibbling on snacks, the girls are safe with Grandma and Grandpa. 

Every contraction was very manageable, especially when I was sitting on the birth ball, or leaning on all fours. Those positions made things feel “easier.” Versus when I was vertical, I could really feel my contractions lower and lower (probably dialating), so I tried to stay upright as much as possible. I figured I’d rather have 1 strong, productive contraction, then 2 easier ones that weren’t moving things along.

This is when I asked my midwife to check me. I needed more convincing that I was really in labor (again, the denial.)

She told me I was 6cm and very soft and if I wanted to, she could do a light membrane sweep to get things moving, but I declined. I wanted to try different positions to get stronger and deeper contractions on my own first.

And they did. From 6 to 7pm I stayed vertical for each contraction, really focusing and envisioning the baby getting lower and trying to relax my entire body. I would hook my hands behind Kolton’s neck and just hang on him while through each contraction.

I also needed to squeeze something – at first this was a little stuffed Pluto (sorry Sailor) and later ended up being a Bluey jet ski. Yes, weird, but clenching my fists against something helped focus the tension in just that one spot so I could let everywhere else on my body relax.

One thing that happened which was unusual for me, I started to get lightheaded after some big waves. I told the midwives immediately and laid on my side for a bit, but my blood pressure was good. I took a shot of iron, ate a small date bar and had some water.

By 7pm, I was pretty much begging to get into the birth tub. The midwives worked with Kolton to start filling it up – which ends up being a little bit of work and time because it’s 1) a lot of water and 2) it has to be the perfect temperature; not too hot and not too cold.

My contractions were getting intense at this point and I kept asking canigetinyet canigetinyet? I knew the relief of the warm water from my last home birth, and I felt like I needed a break. 

Right at 7pm I was able to get in and it’s just the best feeling in the world getting into the water. For a while, my contractions completely slowed. I’m considered “very chatty” when I’m in labor, so I decided I needed to quiet down and start zoning out or this baby was never going to come. 

My midwives kept checking on baby with a doppler every 30 minutes. All was well. 

We turned on a little spa labor music and things got really quiet. I think my midwives were knitting actually 😂

I kept going back and forth between 2 positions; leaning over the birth tub towards Kolton — kind of on my knees — and sitting. It definitely felt like work, and I asked for something cool on my head and ice chips.

This is when my sounds started to change to that deep guttural sound and I could feel baby getting low low low in my pelvis. 

At 9pm, I had a strong contraction and all the sudden the baby was THERE. I shouted, the baby is coming!! The midwives were ready, but shocked, and rushing to get their gloves on. 

The next 2 minutes wasn’t exactly rainbows and puppies, it was painful because it felt out of the blue. I avoided bearing down and felt the urge to slow down. The midwives encouraged me to “breathe it away” on my next contraction, and put pressure where I was feeling pain the most. We were all trying to avoid any tearing if we could. 

On the next contraction my midwife calmly told me that she could see the baby’s head, and that she was going to break my water to remove the cord around his neck. 

(Once I knew the details later, Kru was almost born “en caul”, or in the amniotic sac, just like this big sister. Once my midwife saw the cord around his neck, she broke my water, removed the cord, and he was born in one fell swoop.)

At 9:07pm, Krusoe Trent was born, wailing with that beautifully strong cry you love to hear. The relief I felt – physically and mentally – was immediate. I felt over the moon. 

My midwives had me get out of the birth pool and helped me to bed to deliver my placenta which was uneventful and easy – this stayed in a bowl next to me so the cord could keep pumping blood back to the baby. They examined it (whole, all good) and me to see if I needed stitches, and thankfully I had only a small 1 degree tear that would heal on it’s own. 

While we were doing skin-to-skin, Kru did a big poop on me – because of course he did – and latched right away. I took a dose of Afterease because I swear it made the biggest difference with cramping after I had my daughter.

After Kolton cut the cord, I took a quick shower and used the bathroom. I felt great and even with the aches and pains in my kaboose, still felt better than being 9 months pregnant! While I was taking a shower, the girls came home. 

Story, my 7 year old, was in shock that this baby we were waiting for was finally here, and a little sad she missed the birth. But when I explained why she understood and was too smitten over Kru to care. Sailor, my 3 year old, looked like the walking dead and immediately crashed in her bed. 

Kru was weighed (7lbs 15oz), measured (21” long), and examined (APGAR score of 9/10). Our beautiful baby boy!

Kolton emptied/deflated the birth tub, made me some scrambled eggs, and cleaned up a bit while I kept him on my chest and just snuggled and snuggled. 

We went to bed, alone, as a family of 5.