Danny's Birth Story: My First Home Birth

I can’t believe I’m sharing my fifth birth story today! It seems a little surreal that I actually have five children but 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:

This pregnancy was my most difficult, at least during the third trimester, so I was very very ready for this birth to happen! Danny’s due date was April 27th, but two of my babies came late and two came early, so I really didn’t have a clue when he was actually going to arrive.

Pablo thought that he would be born the weekend before my due date but I kind of felt like I was just going to be pregnant forever haha – or at least for another week or so.

That Saturday came and I definitely wasn’t in labor and didn’t feel anything that made me think labor was imminent. Pablo and I stayed up until midnight that night talking and I joked that I’d better not go into labor after going to bed so late.

Well, three o’clock in the morning rolled around and I woke up with my first contraction. I could hardly believe it was the real thing but the contractions definitely felt real. I was also super shaky which I’ve never experienced at the beginning of labor before.

My last bump picture, taken in-between contractions that morning.

The contractions kept coming but were quite spaced out, so I gave my midwife a heads up and then got back in bed and tried to rest for the next few hours.

My contractions started spacing out even more by six or seven a.m. and I started to worry that they were going to taper out completely and baby wouldn’t come that day after all. That had never happened to me before but I figured there was a first for everything.

It was Sunday morning so Pablo loaded the kids up to drop them at church with my family around 8:45 am. Once they were out of the house and it was nice and peaceful my contractions started to pick back up haha. Still, I found that I needed to stand or walk around the house in order to keep the contractions coming.

Once Pablo got back home I decided to walk on the treadmill for awhile. I hadn’t really imagined myself using the treadmill while in labor but I was determined to have that baby!

I spent about an hour walking on the treadmill, stopping briefly here and there. It really helped my contractions to stay regular and I listened to music to distract me. It was great for awhile but by the end of that hour some of the contractions were getting pretty intense and I couldn’t walk through them anymore.

My midwife Renee arrived at about 1:15 pm. (This was my first pregnancy to use her and she is wonderful! She lives in the neighborhood behind us which is so cool.) By the time she arrived my contractions were staying pretty consistent even when I sat down which was encouraging – not fun, but encouraging haha.

When Renee checked me I was dilated to a six (I think? or a seven?) which she was pleasantly surprised about since my contractions had been irregular for awhile earlier.

Pablo and Renee got to work setting up a pool in our bedroom for a water birth. I had used the same sort of inflatable pool for Lucas’s birth and really liked it so I knew I wanted to use it again.

It took quite awhile to get the pool set up because there were a few issues with the hose and then it took a while to fill it, but once it was ready I was very anxious to get in. My contractions were definitely very strong and I believe I was in transition by that point.

Getting into that warm water was amazing. If you’ve never had a water birth it might seem a bit odd or extra haha but for me the warm water really helps to just take the edge off of those strong contractions and make them a little more bearable, and it’s very relaxing to lean back against the comfy high side of the pool in between contractions.

I’m really not sure what time I got in the pool – maybe 2:30 or something – but I labored in there for awhile. I tend to kind of go into myself when I’m in labor and I don’t really need anyone to do anything besides tell me I’m doing good every so often haha, so Pablo stayed in the room with me while Renee and her assistant hung out in the living room for a bit just to give me some quiet.

After a while Pablo grabbed a book and a Topo Chico because he figured it might be awhile, but he’d probably only read a page or two when I had an urgent need to push. (We laughed later that I interrupted his relaxing time haha!) This was the first time I’d experienced such a sudden and strong urge to push like that.

I told Pablo to call for the midwives and they quickly came into the room. After the first push my water broke and the pressure was immediately horribly intense and baby boy’s head was right there. After just a couple more pushes Danny was born at 3:34 pm and I was able to reach down and lift him up to my chest.

I obviously wasn’t paying attention to the time while pushing but Pablo said that it couldn’t have been more than just a couple minutes total – definitely my fastest pushing time so far which I was immensely grateful for.

Danny had great color and started crying right away after he was born. It don’t think I can ever accurately describe in words the relief and joy that you feel when your baby is finally born and in your arms – all the sudden it’s all worth it. It’s so surreal and I sometimes I feel like I’m dreaming and that it can’t really all be over yet.

After having an epidural last time around and consequently not feeling any pain while pushing I will admit that I was dreading that part of labor this time. I feel so grateful to God for gifting me with such a short pushing time and above all for no complications and a healthy baby! Danny is such a precious gift.

Pablo weighing the baby with Renee looking on.

My midwife Renee commented afterwards that she was so glad that I had such a gentle birth and my first thought was that what I felt did not feel gentle in the least haha but looking back it really did go so so smoothly. I didn’t even need to get sutures afterwards which I was THRILLED about, yay!

Anyway, to wrap this up I’m so thankful for the blessing of our sweet Danny boy and the gift that it was to be able to deliver him at home. I have lots of thoughts about giving birth at home vs. a birthing center and a hospital now that I’ve experienced all three, but that’s a topic for another day!

I’ll just end this for today with a few more baby pictures. Thanks for reading! 🙂