Sawyer’s Birth Story
I have sat down to write my birth story out so many times, but have struggled to provide a “picture” of what my pregnancy, labor, and birth were like. To say it was perfection would be an understatement. I hope I can put in to words how meaningful and powerful my whole experience was, so that Sawyer can one day look back and see how much of an impact she had on her family’s life.
My first two births were wonderful births although they were inductions for medical reasons (high blood pressure with Grey and Gestational Diabetes with EG) Both were epidural free and quick labors/births.
I had a strong desire to avoid an induction with my third baby so I started seeking out education on how to prevent the complications I had with my other two pregnancies. This led me to Mama’s Friend Birthing Services. I had known Angela for awhile and knew the kind of care she provided her clients was top notch. Justin and I scheduled a consult, hired Mamas Friend for doula services and childbirth classes, and started preparing for our third birth.
Around the 28 week mark I had a strong desire to start looking in to alternative birthing options. We were at the beginning of a pandemic, and I had no idea what that would look like when it came time to have our baby. The fear of unknown hospital policies really produced a lot of anxiety for me. Not knowing if I would be able to have my husband at my birth, being away from my kids for several days, and not having my doula support made me uneasy. I introduced the idea of home birth to Justin and he wasn’t crazy about it, but he didn’t shut the idea down completely. We began doing research and talking about home birthing options more in depth. I could tell he was opening up to the idea and this could be a possibility for our birth. I reached out to the amazing Tanashia Huff, CPM and explained the situation. I knew the possibility of her having an available spot for us was very slim because she books up so quickly. She let me know she did have an available spot for June 2020, and we scheduled a consultation with her to discuss all the details of what home birth would look like for us.
After the consult we continued to do a little more research. I knew in my heart this was the option I wanted for our birth. After a little more discussion Justin was on board and we set up care with our midwife.
Through the last several weeks of pregnancy I was amazed at the prenatal care I received from Tanashia. She spent atleast an hour with me at each visit, answered all of my questions, provided such great education, and brought so much peace during our times together. I was in complete awe with this model of midwifery care. I couldn’t wait to bring my baby earthside, with my family and birth team by my side.
I often look back at the day and hours before Sawyer’s birth. It was the most peaceful and wonderful day. I remember getting the older two kids off to school that morning. I was off of work that day, so I went home to get some rest before my visit with Tanashia. She arrived at my house around 11am and we had a great visit. I was 39weeks and 6 days pregnant. The next day was my “due date”, and I was honestly expecting to be pregnant for several more days, if not a few weeks. We set up our appointment for the following week, not knowing she would be making her way back to my house less than 24 hours later.
After this I went and had a lunch date with my mom. I remember talking about being pregnant for awhile longer. I was ready to meet our baby, but didn’t feel miserable or anxious for things to happen. I was totally at peace with allowing my body to do what I knew it could do. Justin came home from work that day and we picked up the kids from school. We then drove to Dothan to see our favorite chiropractor, Dr. Jessica at Family First Chiropratic. During my adjustment she told me that our baby was in the perfect position and things felt “different” than they had in the past adjustments. After we all finished our appointments we grabbed dinner and headed home.
We had a peaceful night at home. Ella Grace told me as she was getting in bed that she “knew baby was coming soon”. The kids went to sleep easily, not knowing they would wake to the most perfect baby girl the next morning. After a few hours of tv and talking time with Justin we both got in bed for the night.
A little after midnight I remember waking up wondering why I was dreaming about having contractions. I dozed off and on again for a few hours. Around 2am I realized that I wasn’t just dreaming about contractions. I was having them, and they were coming about every 8-10 minutes. I was up and down over the next hour. Not wanting to wake up Justin or call my birth team yet. I think I was in denial. No way this baby was actually coming on his or her “due date”.
Around 3am my contractions increased and I text my doula to tell her what was going on. Wasn’t quite sure it was real labor yet, but I thought that today would be the day. She called me, listened to me have one contraction, and told me to immediately wake my husband up and that she was on the way. I woke Justin up and told him that I thought that it may be baby day. He knew that I was in active labor and told me to call our midwife. I hesitated because I didn’t want to call her to early, Justin quickly looked at me and said “well that’s better than calling her to late”. I’m so glad we did! Little did we know our baby was on the way in a hurry!
I don’t remember to much after this. Time went by quickly. Justin made some calls to our family, started setting up the birth pool and getting everything ready, all while also trying to support me through contractions. I was laboring between the birth ball in our living room and our guest bathroom. I remember my front door opening and seeing Angela, a huge relief. She immediately began providing comfort measures for me, which allowed Justin to finish all the small tasks that needed to be done. My mom also came to tend to the kids, but was able to jump in and help since they were both sleeping. She was a huge help, and I was so grateful that she was there to witness this birth.
As I was laboring I remember feeling my body push, and then realizing my water had just broke. Things were increasing quickly. My mom made a call to our midwife who was still about 20 minutes away. The birth pool was almost ready, and I knew we were about to welcome our baby. Once in the birth pool things seemed to relax a little. My midwife arrived and began setting up, assessing, and preparing for our birth.
Upon listening to baby’s heart rate we realized it was a little low. I was unconcerned because I knew this was normal for my babies minutes before their birth. Unfortunately this had caused episiotomies for me with the first two babies, but I was confident that was not needed this time. I knew baby was coming, and that it would be very soon. Minutes later I felt my body push, I felt my babies head, and then baby was out. I pulled baby up and soaked in all of the emotions I was feeling. We did not know the gender of our baby until birth. It was the most amazing reward and surprise. We were so happy to now have Sawyer Alyse in our arms. Born calmly, safely, and perfectly.
We eventually made our way to our bed for recovery. I cannot even begin to tell you what it is like to recover in your own home. So comfortable and peaceful. Sawyer didn’t leave my skin for over an hour. During this time each of her siblings awakened and came to meet and cuddle her. It was absolutely the BEST morning. After awhile Justin was able to do some skin to skin with Sawyer while I showered. Then we all climbed back in to bed together while Tanashia did the newborn exam and checked over little Sawyer. After a few hours our birth team left, and we were able to enjoy the day with rest, family, and friends. My kids went to stay with my mom for the night. We had a very relaxing and quiet night. Sawyer slept and nursed like a champ. We started to settle in as a family of five.
It was through this whole process that I realized that THIS was the kind of care I wanted to be able to provide moms. I wanted to be able to address the whole women at her visits. To talk about her desires, her family, her life….not just a quick in and out visit. I wanted to facilitate a peaceful and safe birth space. To allow women who wanted to birth at home to still have access to medical care, to provide evidence based care. I wanted to be able to provide services to allow women to experience what my family had just experienced. I could see my desire to open a home birth practice quickly take flame. And now, almost 4 years later I am living that dream.
I am forever grateful for this whole experience, for each and every person who made it possible. My home birth changed my life