I had the privilege of talking with Joy over the phone while she was still living in North Carolina when she was deciding when they would be moving out to Colorado. She had settled on a hospital birth but had received news that she and her family were going to be moving to Colorado so her husband could attend school at the local YWAM association here. We talked about transferring care, had records sent over and she would contact me when they made it into town. The only trouble was Joy was going to be 36 weeks and traveling and there was some concern she may deliver on the road! However, she made it here safely and had a great first prenatal visit 😉
Labor: Joy’s husband H.J. called me at 4pm on Friday April 3rd stating that Joy had been laboring throughout the day and that her water finally broke! I had butterfly’s from the excitement of attending my first home birth since I opened my practice! I got to Joy’s home at 5pm and listened to both her and baby and everyone was doing very well! I supported Joy through the next hour and felt she had progressed to active labor so I called my assistants to come. They arrived within 15 minutes and it seemed like their arrival brought even stronger contractions and more active labor! Joy was beautiful, handling each contraction with poise and was a picture of beauty and strength! Joy struggled with intense back labor that she reported was not as bad as her first baby but still intense and required continuous counter pressure to alleviate the pain. Even with this pain, she labored through and stayed strong! As we approached transition, Joy never once faltered. With each intense contraction she would say, “I CAN do this! I CAN!” or many times she would let her little one know how much she loved him. A beautiful picture of a mother loving her little one! Around 9pm, Joy started to grunt and complain of pressure after we had her alternating standing with her foot up on a chair to bring baby into her pelvis. I encouraged her to do what felt best and listen to her body. Pushing gave her intense relief from her back pain and she took to it like a champ! At 9:19pm, little Adam was delivered into his daddy’s hands already screaming as soon as his head appeared, he was ready to meet us!! Mom sat back on her legs and pulled her baby to her chest and repeated over and over, “I did it, I’m done!!” tears for all! Little Adam weighed in at 8lbs 13 oz, almost 2 lbs bigger than his sister which would explain why he took his time to delivery! Joy was AMAZING, I could not have asked for a better first birth! Congratulations to both of you, enjoy your little one!
*Joy will be sharing her birth story with us soon, I can’t wait to hear it from her perspective!*