I met Renee when she found out she was pregnant with her fourth child! She had had hospital births with her previous three and decided that she wanted to have things be different this time. She knew she could handle most of it at home as that was how her previous births had been so this time completing the birth at home was what was going to be best for her and baby! I loved getting to know Renee and her husband over the course of her pregnancy and I could not wait to meet the sweet baby growing inside of her! I remember the last few weeks of her pregnancy, Renee had mentioned her concern for having a 9 pound baby because each of her babies had gotten bigger but none had tipped over 9 pounds yet! I told her not to fret about weight because she won’t grow a baby she can’t deliver (of course barring any pregnancy concerns like gestational diabetes which she did not have) and we continued to wait for little one to make his arrival.
There is always something about the holidays that seems to make the babies want to come! Father’s Day was rolling around and I knew it was going to be a busy weekend for me! Babies don’t care what holiday it is (or that it’s the weekend as that seems to be my other mantra!) and they come when they please 😉 Well, Saturday early morning (around 1:30am) I receive a call from Renee’s husband that she is laboring and ready for me to come. She had had three fairly fast labors before so I jumped up and headed her way. Upon arrival, Renee was doing so well moving around the room and Dan was filling the pool. Her photographer Brezi was already present and I set up waiting for my team. Both Renee and baby were doing fabulous and it seemed birth would be near. I gave Renee space to labor with her husband and told her to call me for anything. Her contractions seemed to intensify and progress and we were all getting excited! A couple of hours after I arrived, Renee called me into her room. She felt that baby was not moving down and things were slowing, she was concerned something wasn’t right. I checked on her and baby and we decided to do a cervical exam and I found her to be 7cm! This was the encouragement she needed to keep up the good work, she was almost done! I walked her through some other things to try and help baby move down (during the exam, I guessed baby was over 9 pounds and wondered if she just needed some belly lifts to help rotate him around, I told mom everything but the 9 pound baby part 😉 ). Renee cooperated so well as she lifted her belly, moved around her room and even allowed me to put her in some exaggerated side-lying positions to help baby rotate. I could tell things were progressing as the sun began to rise on this new day but Renee was tired and worried as her labors were never this long. I continued to reassure her that baby was doing well and there was nothing to be concerned about. This baby just needed a bit more time to get out! We continued to be present as needed and encourage Renee as she labored, finally the urge to push seemed to appear and Renee’s eyes widened! I’m sure she was shocked it was finally time! We got her into the pool (which we had gotten into once before but it spaced things out so we decided to get out and labor more) and I could see her whole body relax. When this happens it often allows babies to rotate and move down into the pelvis even more! She pushed gently the first few contractions and then it seemed like baby turned and suddenly, it was game time! Renee roared with power each contraction moving baby more and more to crowning. Finally, she and dad were both able to feel the top of baby’s head. Dad got ready to catch as Renee moved her hips looking for a good position. Baby’s head delivered and I coached dad on what to do next. With the next push, baby’s shoulders delivered but baby was delivering towards me and not dad! I told dad what to do next and as baby delivered, he was brought up under mama’s legs by both mom and dad and lifted out of the water already bright eyed and bushy tailed! He gave out one small cry and settled quietly onto mom’s chest which would prove to be his personality as the “chill baby,” he rarely made a sound! Baby Gabriel was born at 7:44 am on June 18th just before Father’s Day at 9#6oz and 8 hours 15 minutes from the start of labor making this Renee’s longest labor and biggest baby, thank you to this amazing family for allowing me to assist you during this special time!
Photography by: Brezi with Captured by Breezi http://www.capturedbybrezi.com/
