The Privilege of Motherhood: My Home Birth Story

Shalum! Right now, America is focussed on gratitude and I can’t help but think about how fortunate I was to have such an amazing and empowering labor and delivery.  So as promised, I am going to share my birth story with you today. I hope you find it as exciting as I do.

Here’s how it all started. On Thursday, my brother, husband and I were eating burgers at 5 Guys and I started to feel gross. That’s the best way I can describe it. My stomach was upset,  I was a little queasy and I was super uncomfortable! I knew within myself that this was the beginning.

That night I had, what I now know were, mild contractions throughout the night. They were strong enough to wake me up, but mild enough that I could still talk through them- although I preferred to hummmmmmmmm it out. I called my midwife and she said to make sure I got some rest because the real work was ahead of me. I told her, “oh don’t worry about me, I’ll be ready!” I was excited and super motivated.

They stopped the next morning and I was able to sleep from 8am-11am. Then, I had not a single contraction all of Friday! I was like, um what’s going on?! Because, I forgot to mention, based on my “due date” I was already about 1.5 weeks late. We chose not to have any interventions; no ultrasounds, no cervical exams and a limited amount of tests. Our goal was to let the Most High have complete control and authority over our pregnancy because He gave us this child.

Luckily, I had planned a home birth with my midwife because if not, they would have induced me. 

Anyways, lo and behold, Friday night we started cooking again! I had contractions that were pretty strong and they got down to three minutes apart. Evan called our midwife, Liz, and she told him to make sure I was getting rest and to get ready because “this could be it.” I was pumped! I thought, hey, this pain is not comfortable but it’s definitely manageable. I got in the birth pool that my husband had filled up for me and I was in my zone. I lost some of my mucus plug and everything!

 

But guess what? They stopped after I had been in the pool for a while. UGH! 

I. Was. Blown. 

I woke up on Saturday morning bummed. There I was, still pregnant with no end in sight. My game face was slacking. Liz the midwife kept telling me to rest so that I’d be ready but that was the last thing I wanted to do. I wanted to hold my baby like yesterday! My dad and my brother kept encouraging me by telling  me the baby was coming. But I was like, I also thought my baby was as coming on Thursday and Friday too…. so, that didn’t help.

Luckily, my soul sister Gee (who was also super pregnant) called to say she would come over so we could do some walking, lunges and some squats to get things moving. I was still kinda bummed but when she came over she made me feel sooooo much better.

We walked around my apartment complex, did our exercises and got some Panera. All throughout the day I was getting contractions and working through them like a champ, if I may say so myself. My neighbors were staring at us because we were two pregnant ladies doing squats and lunges as we took laps around my building.

She left around 3:30pm, and the contractions kept coming. 

By 7pm, my mother-in-law came over with some food and things were really amping up. Gee came back at 8pm and my contractions were about 15 minutes apart. By 10pm they were 7 min apart and they were varsity contractions; I had finally been promoted from two days of being on the JV squad.

As the contractions got stronger, the most comfortable thing for me to do was to get down on my hands and knees while someone massaged my back. I had back labor, and for those of you who have experienced that….you know the deal. Before I knew it, it was 1 am and I started getting really tired. I was ready to take a nap, but it was impossible to sleep through the contractions. Liz was right, rest is important !  

My husband and I got in the birth pool after a failed attempt to sleep at 3:45am. At this point my contractions got longer, stronger and closer together. Those contractions took me to another place…. forreal. I’ve never experienced anything like that before. I couldn’t tell what I was saying aloud vs. what I was saying in my head because I was so focused on what was going on inside of me. And for that reason my family heard some things come out of my mouth that they’ve never heard before

 🤣. 

Liz wasn’t at my house yet so she was over the phone coaching us on what to do. I was roaring (true lioness style) through each contraction and I could feel my amniotic sack bubbling out. My husband’s main concern was “what do we do if the baby is born in the sack?!” Liz assured him that he’d just pop the sack if she was born in it and not worry. My body started to PUSH, PUSH, PUSH. And I continued to roar with every urge to push. This was the last portion of my labor but it was the most intense, without a doubt.

Our midwife told me to blow candles when I felt burning, and at first I had no idea what she was talking about— but then it hit me!! I was blowing candles like nobody’s business. The burning meant I was crowning and when you blow, you can’t push as hard so it lowers your chances for lesions aka tearing. 

I’m not sure how many pushes it took, like I said, I was in another place, but it wasn’t many at all before she flew out like a rocket. My husband yelled “WOAH!” And all I could think was… omg, did I just tear really bad ? Is my butt in tact? I was shook. Thank goodness, I was fine, lol! He was just shocked at how quickly she came out and shot into his hands. He passed her to me while she was still under the water and I started to sob. 

This was the moment I had been waiting for, and it was too much to bear emotionally. All I could say was “I can’t believe she’s here! I can’t believe she’s here!” “Look at my baby, look at my baby!”  And “I knew you were a girl.”

Puah was born October 15 at 4:55am, 7lbs 2oz and 19 3/4 inches long and she is perfect in every way! Despite not having any ultrasounds or genetic testing, she was born healthy and strong. All praises to The Creator of all things! He gets the glory for that, no doubt. I’m learning a lot about being a mom, and although she’s not patient (if I’m slow to feed her, she’ll let me KNOW!), she is very forgiving of all my mistakes. 

I won’t lie, labor was hard!!! It was painful too, but it also made me realize that I have the ability to endure and do difficult things. I used to beat myself up because I thought I was weak. However, after going through three days of natural labor and an unmedicated delivery, I feel empowered like I can do anything. Birthing Puah is by far my most favorite accomplishment. I am so grateful to The Most High for my experience and the strength it gave me.

We are so grateful for her, and we are loving every moment of parenthood.

I hope you enjoyed reading this!

Shalum and Ahab