Brianna's Birth Story - The Tex-Mex Mom

It’s been over a month now and I’m finally sitting down to write Brianna’s birth story. I meant to do this sooner, but somehow time has been flying and here we are.

I write out my birth stories mostly for myself because as much as I think I won’t forget the details, they do get fuzzy after awhile and I want to be able to look back and remember. I share them here on my website because I know that some of you like to read birth stories too.

You can find each of my previous birth stories below if you’re interested:

Sometimes I still can’t believe Brianna is here! This pregnancy went slow and fast at the same time, which I know is a total contradiction, but it’s true.

Brianna‘s birth was my second home birth and my fifth without an epidural. (I only had an epidural for Alex‘s birth back in 2020.) Out of all my births this was my best birth experience, which was such a kind gift from the Lord. But during labor, I didn’t think it was going to be my best.

So to start at the beginning, I knew the day before things started that labor was eminent. This was different for me because in the past lot of times contractions have started out of the blue. But this time I could feel that the baby was very low and I just knew that things were going to start up anytime.

My first real contractions started just before midnight which is very typical for me. For most of my births it is usually around 12 hours from that first contraction until I give birth, so I assumed that it would be the same this time. However, my contractions never really picked up during the night.

I would have a contraction and then maybe one a half an hour later and then 45 minutes later and then maybe 15 minutes later, so they were all over the place, just enough so that I really couldn’t get much sleep. Of course my adrenaline was also high as it always is when I know I’m going into labor so that didn’t help with sleep either and I ended up getting very little.

The next morning my mom came over at around seven to pick up the kids (thank you Mom!!) and I was pretty sure that my contractions would pick up once the kiddos were gone like they did last time. However, once again that wasn’t the case.

The contractions would pick up for a little bit and then totally stop for like 45 minutes. In fact by lunchtime they were happening so infrequently that I had an appetite and Pablo and I went out to pick up tacos!

The contractions picked up again after lunch for a bit, but then dropped off again mid afternoon, enough that I was able to take a nap for a little while. Pablo and I also took a walk through the neighborhood to try to encourage things to get going.

By late afternoon I was getting sort of discouraged because even with my little nap I was pretty tired from the contractions coming sporadically all day and almost no sleep the night before. We went on a second walk in the late afternoon and I did some curb walking to try to help things along. I definitely had more contractions on this walk, although I tried to walk through them because I was embarrassed to stop in front of a neighbor’s house to get through a contraction ha ha.

When we got home I just kept walking, doing laps around our dining room table. At one point I got very discouraged and even broke down in tears a little bit because I felt like this was going to go all through the next night and I just felt so tired.

I’d been in touch with my midwife throughout the day and she told me she would come around 7 PM just to check on me and see what progress I’d made. She ended up coming just shortly before seven and when she checked me I was dilated to a six which she was pleasantly surprised about since my contractions had been so irregular. She told me she would go ahead and stay and she and Pablo could set up the pool.

I can’t tell you what a boost of energy this gave me! I was thinking that she would leave because I didn’t think I’d be far enough along for her to stay, so I was extremely encouraged by this. I started doing more laps around my dining room table, listening to very energetic music in my earbuds and just feeling so energized, even though the contractions were coming much more regularly.

After walking laps around our dining room table for awhile I started sitting on my birthing ball and then standing up for the contractions. For whatever reason this seems to work well for me. The contractions were definitely coming quite regularly at this point and they were fairly strong, but they never got to the point where I couldn’t breathe through them and handle them without tensing up.

Probably around 8 o’clock the pool was ready and I was able to get in. I cannot tell you what a huge fan I am of water births. Getting into the hot water and leaning back against that soft side of the birthing pool is so nice and relaxing. I find it incredibly helpful for managing the stronger contractions that come towards the end of labor. Seriously, can’t recommend it enough!

During this time in the birthing pool my midwife, her assistant, and Pablo stayed super quiet, part of the time even sitting in the living room while I was in the bedroom so that I could have total quiet and just focus. I find it extremely helpful in labor when I can just get into my own head and calm my thoughts and breathe through the contractions. I don’t like to have a lot of hubbub around me.

When I first got in the tub I felt just like a grip of fear as I thought about pushing because to me that is probably the scariest part of labor. I think for me it’s just sort of a feeling of a lack of control, plus obviously it’s pretty painful. But I had several scriptures that I had chosen and memorized ahead of time and I was able to start really meditating on those verses and that really helped to calm my fears.

Isaiah 40:28-31 was especially meaningful to me during this birth.

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

There is something about going through an experience as intense as labor where you just really feel the presence of the Lord with you. I honestly can’t help tearing up as I type this just thinking about it. It’s just a really powerful experience.

At one point as I was in the pool I felt my water break and thought that it would be time to push so I called everyone into the room, but after trying for a few contractions I realized my body wasn’t ready, so I listened to my body and just kept laboring, letting the baby come down a little bit more. The contractions were quite strong at this point but they never felt completely on top of each other so I was always able to regroup in between.

After several more contractions I all the sudden felt the urge to push and the baby’s head was born with that contraction. It was so sudden that I think I surprised my midwife. It only took one more pushing contraction and Brianna was born at 8:58 pm on March 20th. Pulling her up to my chest was the best feeling in the world. Thank you Lord!

Brianna was 7 lb. 10 oz and was born two days before her due date.

I’m so grateful for a safe labor and a healthy baby girl. And although labor is never easy, I look back at Brianna’s birth as the best birth experience I have had. What a kind gift from God!