I met Vanessa late in her pregnancy when she found out her insurance would cover her home birth. She was thrilled to have found this option and we got excited for the rest of her care even though it was going to be short! Vanessa did beautifully and even handled going much later this pregnancy than she did with her first! Everything was growing and progressing as it should and as we scheduled her 41 week visit, we were hopeful we would meet baby soon!
On Valentine’s Day, I received a text from Vanessa letting me know she was in early labor! I was excited at the prospect of a Valentine’s baby and told her to keep me posted if she needed anything! At 9pm that night, I called Vanessa for an update. Her contractions had been inconsistent all day and even now were only every 5-10 minutes and mild. We discussed her options and decided to wait just a little longer before I came to check on her. By 10:30pm, Nate called to let me know things seemed to be getting more intense even though the contractions were not that much closer. I decided to just go check on Vanessa to see where she was at. When I arrived at 11pm, she was only contracting about every 5-10 minutes were they were longer, lasting about 60-90 seconds which was good. I could tell Vanessa was more uncomfortable and wondered what her body need to help kick her into active labor! We decided to do a cervical check and I found Vanessa to be 5cm. We were all a bit disappointed as we were hoping for more but I knew that her contraction pattern was the reason. I contemplated going home but something in my gut told me to stay so I decided to just sit back and time some contractions. Vanessa got in the pool at this time and within 2 contractions, her water broke! Things seemed to pick up a bit more and contractions were coming every 2-4 minutes! We encouraged Vanessa as the next several contractions were much stronger and I could tell she was moving very quickly. At 12:30am, about an hour after her water broke, Vanessa began feeling the urge to push! I was amazed at how fast her cervix moved out of the way to allow her baby to arrive! I encouraged her to listen to her body as she pushed and I could tell baby was moving down well as Vanessa vocalized with the pressure. Quickly, baby began to crown and with one strong push, dad helped bring his sweet little girl into the world! Baby Scarlett was born at 12:48am (just missed Valentine’s day!) weighing in at 7#9oz and welcome by her mom and dad and big brother! Thank you to this incredible family and baby for allowing me to care for you in this short time frame, I am honored!