I met Samantha early in her pregnancy when she decided she wanted a home birth for her first child! It was even better that I took her health insurance! I always love the privilege of caring for first time moms as I know how much of an honor it is to help usher a family into this new chapter of their lives of delivering and caring for their babies! Samantha had a beautiful, normal pregnancy with the normal discomforts as she grew her sweet baby. As we rounded her 40th and 41st weeks, Samantha grew more and more anxious to be done and meet her littler boy! She kept me posted as her pregnancy progressed and I looked forward to hearing from her soon!
On Tuesday morning at 4am, I received a call from Samantha’s mom that she was in labor. The night before, Samantha texted to let me know she had been contracting and that hopefully the time was coming. I encouraged her to get some rest at that time and was surprised to hear from them the next morning. I decided to check on Sam to make sure she was coping well and evaluate her progress. When I arrived she was contracting about every 5-8 minutes for 40-60 seconds and was coping so well. I checked her and baby and both were doing great! I decided it was too early for me to be with her so I went home giving them instructions on when to call me back. Later that afternoon around 5pm, they called to ask if I could listen to baby. She was still in early labor but wanted to know baby was doing well. I was able to get there around 7pm and checked on them both and they were doing so well though I know she was tired as she had been at this for almost 24 hours. I gave them further instructions after I checked her cervix and found her to be 5cm. It was still a tad too early for me to be there so I went home. A few hours labor they called back saying that she seemed to be more active now. I arrived around 11pm to find her laboring on the couch and though things were further along, I could tell she was still in early labor though close to active. I decided to stay with them as I was tired and wanted to stay and rest! I watched and listened as Sam labored and marveled at how strong she was. She had been at this for over 24 hours so I knew she was tired but she was not giving up! Around midnight, her water broke and her contractions increased dramatically in intensity. She labored for a while longer on the couch and then asked to get in the tub. We helped her get in and around 12:45am, she was feeling urges to push. I called my team in and when they arrived, we got ready for her birth. An hour passed and the urge was getting stronger but her contractions spaced out, it seemed too early to push. We encouraged her to breath with each one. Around 2am, we decided to try sitting on the toilet to help open her pelvis. Once there, she felt intense urges to push and gave into each one. She pushed for an hour this way and I began to get concerned that her cervix might be holding her back. We decided to go to her bed and do an exam. I was relived to find she only had a small cervical lip that reduced easily while she pushed. We pushed on the bed for a while until the top of baby’s head was visible and decided to get in the tub again. Samantha found relief in the tub as she pushed with all her might changing positions as needed. Baby slowly began to crown as Sam continued to give it her all. Again, I was amazed at how strong she was as she had been at this for so many hours! Finally, baby’s head delivered and with the next few pushes, the rest of his body delivered and Sam was holding him in her arms! I could tell he was a chubby boy and I could not have been more proud of Sam for not giving up! She pushed out her 9#9oz baby boy at 4:13am??? Surrounded by her amazing family! Welcome to the world Connor, thank you all for honoring me by allowing me to be present at your birth!