I met Brook early in her pregnancy after she had initiated care with another provider at one of the local hospitals. She had had her first child at a hospital and decided she wanted to do something different with this baby! Brook’s pregnancy carried on as usual (for me anyways 😉 ). Brook had her first child just after 37 weeks and naturally assumed she would deliver around the same time! Well, as is the case with all of my babies thus far, she went over 40 weeks and even passed 41 weeks! Baby was cozy and had no plans to go anywhere! I left and returned from my conference and even had another baby and still nothing from Brook. The day after Brook’s visit with me (Thursday), I began working with another mama who was in early labor and prayed baby would deliver quickly so that I did not have overlapping births! As we headed into the weekend, my early labor mama still had not delivered and Brook was headed towards her 42 week visit.
At 1am, after I had been working with another mama who had been in labor for almost two days and did not get home from and asleep until midnight, I received a call from Brook’s husband that she was in active labor and ready for me to come. I had been asleep for an hour! I quickly got up and dressed and left to Brook. When I arrived, she was in VERY active labor and I could tell baby was coming soon! I asked her when her contractions started and she told me 12:30am, it was 1:30am!! Brook’s husband and I quickly set the pool up for delivery and I worked to coach her through each contraction until her doula arrived. There were a few contractions where I could hear Brook grunting through the contractions and I encouraged her to breathe as we were so close to getting the pool ready for her water birth! She got down on her hands and knees on the bathroom floor and I knew we did not have much time! Finally, the pool was ready and Brook mustered up all the strength she had to get to the pool! I could hear her sigh as she hit the water and watched as her whole body relaxed. With the next contraction, she pushed with all her might and I could feel the top of baby’s head. After a few more minutes of strong pushing, she delivered little ones head. She gave a second strong push and I was able to pass baby between her legs to the front of her and lift baby to her chest! He gave out a strong cry and rested against his mama’s chest. Brook gave out a sigh of relief that she was done! Baby delivered at 2:24am just shy of two hours after labor started, talk about a fast labor!! I was so impressed with Brook’s strength as fast labors can be overwhelming and seem impossible but she powered through each contraction and came out on top on the other side! Baby Asher weighed in at 6#15oz and was all healthy baby boy! What an honor it was to be present for little man’s delivery!
Photography talent by: Sarah Norris www.nurturedinjoy.com
