I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to be writing the story of my home birth. I know it's something not everyone gets to experience, no matter how much they may want to. Which is one thing I would advise anyone considering a home birth to think about. Yes, home births are safe when performed by a qualified midwife but even then, there's always a possibility for something to happen that you have no control over. You have to mentally prepare yourself for the worst scenarios. That being said, you then have to put all of those negative thoughts out of your mind when the time comes and just focus on your labor. Trust not only in your body's ability to do what it is made to do, but also your midwife to monitor your labor and step in if need be.
Basically, you better trust the crap out of your midwife! Lucky for us, we stumbled upon LeAnn and had the most perfect home birth experience!
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I had been experiencing Braxton-Hicks for a few days but nothing serious. Finally, it's Baby's due date, February 29th. I woke up just before 6 am with contractions. Days before, the contractions came and went and were almost nonexistent by late morning. I was hoping to keep contractions going so I went for a walk around the block a few times while my husband got ready for work and our son (who just turned two on Valentine's Day a few weeks earlier) snoozed in his crib. I loved being pregnant but I was getting anxious to meet our baby, to find out if my son would get a little brother or sister. The morning came and went. My husband checked in on me throughout the day. Around 3 pm I told him the contractions were hanging around but still infrequent. At around 4 pm is when I began to notice the contractions more. I wasn't yet timing them, but I was getting hopeful and decided to call my mom. The plan was for our son to stay with my parents who lived about an hour away.
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I had been experiencing Braxton-Hicks for a few days but nothing serious. Finally, it's Baby's due date, February 29th. I woke up just before 6 am with contractions. Days before, the contractions came and went and were almost nonexistent by late morning. I was hoping to keep contractions going so I went for a walk around the block a few times while my husband got ready for work and our son (who just turned two on Valentine's Day a few weeks earlier) snoozed in his crib. I loved being pregnant but I was getting anxious to meet our baby, to find out if my son would get a little brother or sister. The morning came and went. My husband checked in on me throughout the day. Around 3 pm I told him the contractions were hanging around but still infrequent. At around 4 pm is when I began to notice the contractions more. I wasn't yet timing them, but I was getting hopeful and decided to call my mom. The plan was for our son to stay with my parents who lived about an hour away.
My mom arrived and my husband came home from work soon after. It was nice to finally have adults around. Although he was the best, cutest distraction, my two year old wasn't a huge help during contractions. My husband started timing contractions and we soon figured out they were about 5 minutes apart. It was almost 6 pm and my mom said to my son, "Time to go! Mommy's going to have a baby!" I remember thinking, "But he's my baby!" After well wishes and hugs and kisses, off they went.
Getting my two year old ready to stay at Grandma & Grandpa's for a few days