I met Brittany midway through her pregnancy after she decided she wanted something different for this pregnancy. She was nervous about how she would manage the pain but we encouraged her throughout her pregnancy that she had what she needed to deliver her baby safely at home! Brittany’s pregnancy progressed beautifully and as predicted, Brittany passed her due date. With her previous child, Brittany was induced at 10 days overdue so she was nervous she’d go even further overdue with this baby. We held out hope that baby would come before 40 weeks but baby had other ideas! We tried natural methods to help encourage Brittany’s body to go into labor but at 5 days overdue, it was clear that no matter what we did, baby was going to take every day he needed! Much to our surprise, later in the night, Brittany called me to let me know her water broke! She couldn’t believe it! We were all excited that baby was coming when Brittany had hoped he would come by!
Within minutes of her water breaking, Brittany started having strong contractions. I encouraged her to rest if she could and call me when she was ready for me to come. Two hours after her water broke, Brittany’s husband TC asked me to come as labor was very intense. It sounded to me like Brittany was going fast! I arrived to find Brittany laboring on the couch and could tell she needed some extra support for pain management. She told me she wanted to go to the hospital for an epidural and she wasn’t sure she could do this! We did a quick cervical check, 6cm dilated! I told her baby was coming quickly and assisted her into the pool to help her cope better with her contractions. As soon as she got into the water, I could see her shoulders drop immediately and could tell she was releasing her pain already! Brittany kept reporting an urge to push early but her cervix was not ready to allow baby to come down, we tried different positions to help baby rotate (I was concerned baby was sunny side up) but the urge continued until finally, it got so intense, Brittany couldn’t help but push! After an hour of pushing, baby began to crown and TC jumped in to catch his sweet baby! Once baby’s head delivered we all got a great look at baby boy’s face! Sunny side up indeed, it all made sense now! Baby quickly delivered at 3:12am caught by his daddy and was placed into mama’s arms immediately with a big cry! We chatted about baby’s position and I commented that her labor may have been even faster if baby hadn’t been sunny side up, so maybe it was for the better! Either way, we were all relieved he was finally here and Brittany did so incredible completing her first natural birth! Ezra was welcomed by big brother, mom and dad weighing in at 8lbs 12oz and healthy as ever! Can you say, “way to go mama!!!” What a gift it was to be present for your big moment and Ezra’s birth, thank you!
Photography courtesy of Danica Donnally Photography
https://www.facebook.com/DanicaDonnellyPhotography/
