Elisia found me after she found out that I took her insurance. She knew she wanted a home birth for this pregnancy and just needed to find the right midwife. After our interview, she felt comfortable with a home birth for her third baby and was excited about the prospect of doing things differently! Elisia’s pregnancy progressed wonderfully and she did so well. I had to leave town for a wedding and would be gone from Elisia’s due date through Memorial Day weekend. She was nervous she’d deliver with my on-call midwife while I was gone but I encouraged her to go about her weekend and we would hope for the best. When I returned, Elisia was still pregnant and doing very well. She had never been pregnant beyond 39 weeks so almost being 41 weeks was a big deal and I was excited baby would be joining us soon and I’d get to be a part of the process!
I got a text from Elisia’s husband that her contractions were getting closer together and they felt today would be the day for baby to come. We were all excited as we had been waiting to find out what Elisia was having and could not wait! They kept me posted throughout the day and finally around 8:30pm, her husband let me know things seemed to be getting more intense (though contractions were still spaced out about 10 minutes apart). I encouraged them to keep laboring until 5 minutes apart and to call me. That night I had been at a baseball game and wanted to see the fireworks show at the end (yes, we midwives still try to do things while on call otherwise we’d never have a life)! The show started around 9:30pm and ended about 10pm so my husband and I left and were making plans to go grocery shopping when I received a call on our drive there that Elisia was ready for me. We headed home and switched cars and I was on my way. I called my team in on the drive over and met Elisia’s husband at the door. I checked on Elisia and baby and both were doing wonderfully! I sat with Elisia through a few contractions as her husband set up the birth pool. Once my team arrived, we quickly set up the room and gave Elisia some space to labor. About an hour later, Elisia called me to her and we helped her into her pool. She labored beautifully and I could tell things were progressing as she became more vocal with each contraction. I could tell there were times when she wanted to push so I encouraged her to listen to her body and push when she felt the urge. We were nearing midnight and all excited to know if baby would be born on June 3rd or June 4th! Elisia said June 4th because baby was stubborn, she may have jinxed herself 😉 I told Elisia to let me know if she felt any burning sensation as she gently pushed and with the with the first push after midnight, she hollered that she felt burning and I quickly put my hand on baby’s head (which was still covered by the water bag). With the next push baby gently slid out still in the bag of water (en the caul) and was brought to mom’s chest. We helped peel away the bag as baby let out a huge wail and mama announced that they had their second girl! Ezra was born at 12:06 am on June 4th to her amazing parents, sister and brother! What an honor it was to assist this family, thank you all for allowing me to be present!
