HomeBirth Story | Wombsister Jena | Sticky shoulders | Surprise gender reveal

💙Leo Michael's Birth Story💙

I feel like there is so much to share, and i'll probably forget bits and pieces, but for anyone who wants to read and/or watch ~ here is our birth story

I had been having contractions off and on for a few days, so when I had a few yesterday morning around 3am I thought they would tapper off. Instead, I started having very mild contractions every 25 minutes

Brian and I went back on forth on whether or not he should go to work; so he ended up going in for a few hours and came home at 9am. From that point I just relaxed and waited, and around 3pm it was clear it was really happening and it was time! From that point on my contractions were about 7 mins apart, and around 5pm they were 4 minutes apart and stronger

I called my midwife and told her it was time so my birth team started heading to our house. I also gave our photographer a heads up. Everyone got here between 6 and 6:30, and my contractions were getting much more intense

As time went on, Brian blew up the pool and everyone worked on filling it enough + getting it warm enough. I labored in many different positions from 6:30 until around 8 - standing, squatting, on my hands and knees - I was struggling to find relief because they seemed to be right on top of each other and extremely low with a lot of pressure on my middle, lower back. The only comfort I had was Brian applying counter pressure and using a comb on my palm and across my body (a trick I found watching other homebirth videos)

My waters hadn't broken yet which was unusual for me - usually my waters break, and then within an hour I have a baby. It made me start to wonder how much longer I had left, but I kept focusing on my affirmations and my girls

There were points where Kennedy was helping with the pool, and Karter and Kohen were taking turns comforting me and just really being in the moment

I started feeling so much pressure and the urge to push during my contractions, so I got into the pool and had immediate relief. It felt soooo good to just lay back in the warm water

I ended up sitting up onto my knees and having the urge to push. I was in transition and this is the hardest part - you truly feel like you can't do it anymore but you also know that means it's almost the end! This is when my waters did break and I knew a head was coming out. Pushing was such a relief and being in the water was so helpful. Once the head came out, I could feel the shoulders and worked with my birth team to get into a good position to get the rest of baby out. I had a feeling this was going to happen before labor even started - I have big babies and Kennedy and Kohen both needed a little help with their shoulders

*this is where it's sooo important to have a birth team you trust! Following their cues and working with them kept me from birthing in fear and allowed me to trust my body and the process

as soon as baby was out I had so much relief - all the pain and discomfort was gone; then my team handed me my baby and I immediately saw he was a boy - the video shows how surprised and in shock I was

I have to admit this labor was tough. I had some extremely intense contractions towards the end and I kept telling myself "you've done this before" but it felt different

We waited awhile to cut the cord and just enjoyed him - he latched like a champ and is my only baby to have no lip or tongue ties which is amazing! i'm so in love with him and i'm so amazed by my mind and body. Leo's pregnancy and birth were all of the things an Encore brings - he was a missing piece for us and were so happy he is here ♥️

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