The Birth Story of Aubrielle Joy

Planned Home Birth turns into Unintentional Freebirth

It was late Wednesday night, my dad was getting in at the airport and my mom was picking him up. My mom had already been with us a week, helping with Ezekiel and awaiting the birth of this baby. Ben and I were enjoying a quiet night and after barely starting a movie, decided to turn in instead. I went to bed by 9:30, feeling exhausted from the past week or two of anticipation. Not knowing if your baby is coming in the next 2 hours or next 3 weeks is a really hard reality to live in. As well as the self-induced pressure of having this baby at a convenient time for the family being in town and being able to meet the new member; this is the mental state I had to check daily. God was going to bring this baby at just the right time, involving just the right people and I just needed to surrender that control. That was a daily battle. 

I woke up at 11 that night to what I knew to be my waters leaking. After going to the bathroom, I was confident they had at least partially broken, but I was not feeling contractions yet. So I lay back down and tried to rest. Instead I was left thinking of things I should get up and do before I was in full blown labor (mainly packing a bag for Ezekiel so someone could easily come and pick him up). Contractions slowly started to come, feeling like period cramps. I went to the bathroom again, and noticed more leaking waters. I started timing them and they were coming every 7-8 minutes at this point. I decided to wake Ben around 12:30 am to fill him in. Just your casual midnight wakeup call. While he texted family to let them know, I packed a few things for Ezekiel. I decided to go back into the bedroom with the salt lamp on and rest and labor through contractions there for a bit. Feeling hunger, and knowing I would need to be fueled, Ben brought me some yogurt and berries. At this point the contractions were about 4-5 minutes apart as I ate in between. We decided to call and let the midwives know, even though they weren’t crazy intense yet. We were warned that second births can move very quickly. As I was talking with my midwife on the phone, she evaluated me through a couple contractions. They spaced out during this time to 6-7 minutes apart and I was still able to just breathe through them. We collectively decided to see how the next hour goes and we would update her. I didn’t want someone coming to just watch me labor if I still had a ways to go. This is something I innately felt even before first experiencing labor with Ezekiel. Something about labor is so private and the design of birth pushes mamas to draw inward to fully cope and experience labor. I preferred it just be me and Ben for the time being, while Ezekiel was sleeping, until things picked up. My midwife suggested a shower, as it usually either speeds things up or slows things down. I didn’t time them exactly, but they were about 3 minutes apart in the shower, although they didn’t feel too intense. The warm water felt so relaxing. I would have stayed in longer if it weren’t for the need to get off my feet. So I returned to the side of my bed with the salt lamp lighting and quiet atmosphere. I timed a few more there. Three to four minutes apart. I told Ben he should probably call the midwives now.

While he was on the phone out in the living room and then started filling the birth tub, my contractions were getting more intense. This whole time felt like a mental challenge probably partially because I was tired. But at this point specifically, I remember coming to a breaking point. I was tired, contractions were SO intense, and started coming 1.5-2 minutes apart. A while back, during a time of prayer and worship, I had a moment where I saw and felt Jesus just kneeling with me and comforting me. As I started praying through these contractions, that vision came back to me and got me through the worst of them. After probably 10-15 minutes of this time that I knew to be the transition stage of labor, I suddenly felt my body start to push. I called Ben in and asked how long ago he had called the midwives. He said about 10 minutes ago. He continued to fill the pool, but with the next contraction, pushing really kicked in and I called him back in. I told him, “Just turn off the water and get in here!” In between contractions, I told him the baby was coming and that the midwives probably won’t make it. I pointed out towels and chux pads from our birth supply kit that he generously laid under me and around me. It had turned to very intense pushing when your body just takes over and I let out a guttural yell through them. Amazingly, Ezekiel still lay asleep on our bed. There were probably 3-4 contractions of total pushing. With the second to last one, I felt the shape of the head coming. In between, I told Ben, “oh my gosh. The baby is coming. Oh my gosh.” It was disbelief and excitement at the same time. I looked up at this time and Ezekiel had woken up. He was sitting crisscrossed on the bed just staring at me in curiosity. No tears, no fear, just interest. The next contraction the head came out. At this point, I let go and let Ben catch the body since I wasn’t at the best angle. The next push, her body came out, and Ben announced, “It’s little Aubrielle!” He passed her to me under my legs and I brought her to my chest. Although not around her neck, I untangled her cord and noticed she was turning pink nicely. She let out a couple little cries and was coughing up some fluids, all good and normal signs. Ezekiel was all smiles at this point. Ben helped me sit up on the bed and a couple minutes after she was born, my mom came in. Followed shortly by the midwives. I leaned back in bed, baby to my chest, as the midwives checked on me and the baby and helped with the delivery of the placenta. 

Despite the mental stamina needed this time around, I felt so much more aware and in control during Aubrielle’s birth versus Ezekiel. Maybe because I had to be since the midwives weren’t there, but I wonder if this was actually God giving me my secret and unknown desire for a freebirth experience. I would never have planned it this way, but it ended up being such a sacred and special experience for our family. Thanks and glory be to God for this new life and addition to our family.