Dominic’s Birth Story: A Quick Home Birth that Happened on an Important Anniversary
Shortly after having my daughter, I knew we were also meant to have a son. Just as I was sure I would have a daughter named Luciana, I was sure I would have a son named Dominic. Before we got pregnant, a verse came to mind that I would meditate on: “I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request” 1 Samuel 1:27. After getting pregnant and before we knew the sex of the baby, Bob had a head injury at work. While initially he couldn’t remember that I was even pregnant (scary!), when his memory came back, he said without hesitation “and it’s a boy, right?” Later that day he prayed and was told that yes, this baby was a boy. At the 20 week ultrasound, this was confirmed! We had the name Dominic picked out for a few years now. My parents had considered that name for my brother at one point and I knew that was the name my son would have.
Now, onto the birth story. Let me begin by saying I had a natural birth in the hospital with our daughter, Luci. At the time, I thought it was a great birth. However, the more I researched throughout this pregnancy, the more I realized that there was a lot that I would change for this birth. Luci was posterior and I had horrible back labor. I also birthed her on my back, which I had not wanted to do, but found to be the only comfortable position at the time. Due to all this, I had a 3rd degree laceration, which I was terrified of having again. I also passed out shortly after having her due to low blood sugar because I had not ate or drank anything (other than water) during labor. And the more I thought about that hospital environment, the more discouraged I became. I started reading Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth book and fell in love with a lot of the birth stories in there. I realized some of the mistakes that I made with the first birth due to lack of knowledge on my part. I was determined to make this next birth a strong, empowering birth. So much so that, for the last 5 weeks of the pregnancy, I began eating very clean (cut out all processed food/sugar), walked daily, took more supplements as directed by my homeopathic doctor, meditated and visualized the labor and birth, and did stretches each night for the baby to be in the anterior position. I also saw my chiropractor at least weekly and he would adjust my pelvis and did the Webster a few times to ensure that the baby would be anterior on delivery.
Luci came at 38+2 so I was thinking this baby would come around that time or earlier. We really wanted to have a home birth, but in this medical world, it was not too common. Luckily, I had a couple good friends who had had home births and their birth stories were amazing. I prayed that at each step of this decision-making process that God would guide us to the right decision. We researched everything about home birth and I continued to feel very uneasy about giving birth in the hospital. Every time I thought of it, I would get saddened. But at the same time, I was unsure of how to actually have a home birth. I received recommendations for home birth midwives and met up with them. They worked as a team of 3 and as soon as we met, I knew I was meant to birth at home. Bob also felt a peace about it, which was great because I had prayed that if we were to have a home birth, that he would feel the same way as I did. We made the decision to have our home birth, which at that point seemed like a very easy decision to make! I ordered all the supplies, including a birth pool. I will also say that when we built our house 3 years ago, I had a tub put into the master bath “just in case” I would have a home birth someday. However, at this point, I wanted something a little larger and more comfortable, so we ordered the pool. It ended up that I didn’t have time to use the birth pool, but instead labored for a short period in that very tub as I had envisioned 3 years ago.
At the 37 week mark, nesting set in and that weekend we cleaned the whole house top to bottom, along with the garage and my car. Because Luci had come at 38+2, I thought this pregnancy would follow suit and expected to go into labor by the following weekend. I waited. And waited. And waited. I was beginning to think I might actually go full term with this one! I finally started to realize the pressures moms get as they approach their “due date.” It seemed everyone was commenting about how I was “still pregnant” or “haven’t had that baby yet” and I hadn’t even reached the due date! I really wanted to make it to April 28th because that’s when my short-term disability would kick in; however, I also didn’t want to go past April 30 because my amazing doula was on vacation from May 1-5. I started to feel the pressure mounting due to that short window. On April 20, Easter Sunday, I posted a verse, Matthew 25:13, “Therefore, keep watch because you do not know the day or the hour” and how God is the only one who knows when this baby will ultimately arrive. This verse would come to mind when I would feel the pressure of when I might have this baby.
The weekend before the birth, I kept thinking I was going to have the baby and wasn’t going to make it to the 28th. I rested for the most part and Bob put me on “couch-rest” which I gladly took! Once the 28th came and we were in the clear, I started really getting active. I walked our hilly neighborhood twice that evening. The next day, the 29th, Bob and I decided to get moving and go window shopping. We dropped Luci off at my parents and walked around for hours. I continued to have on and off contractions, similar to what I had had that past week. Nothing really hurt, I could just feel my uterus contracting and my whole belly getting hard. I wondered if it would be soon. By 2pm we were done and back home. Shortly after, the contractions became more noticeable and closer together. I felt mild pain with each contraction. Even so, I texted my friend to see if she was going to the trail that evening as we usually do and seriously considered going. I didn’t think too much of the contractions and Bob left for work at 3p. I told him though to stay by his phone because I felt like I might go into labor that evening. Once he left, I laid on the couch to watch TV. My contractions kept getting stronger and closer together but still were not really that bad. I told my mom at 4p that I would give it another hour until I picked up Luci because my contractions were stronger and I wanted to see if they would go away. I decided a good distraction would be cleaning the house, since I thought I might go into labor that night anyway and wanted a clean house. I put on Dominic’s birth playlist and began cleaning. During the cleaning, I would have to stop pretty regularly and actually get down on my hands and knees to breathe through contractions. I was seriously in denial that this was actual labor because I still thought it was going to go away. I did text my doula and one midwife at this point to “be ready” for sometime this evening, but that I was going to give it a couple hours and see what happened. At 4:15, I text Bob that he probably should come home because I didn’t want to be alone at the house since everyone was an hour away. He said he would leave in 5 minutes. I then decided that I would take a shower and still had contractions through that. I thought, well maybe I will take a bath because I heard that can slow down early labor (which I still thought I couldn’t be past early labor if that). Little did I know that at the point I was in labor, it would actually speed things up! I had been timing the contractions at about 8 minutes apart. Honestly, I still thought this wasn’t real labor, or maybe just really early labor, because the pain was not very bad. I got in the bath and the contractions quickly went down to every 5, then 4, then 3 minutes apart. I started feeling nauseated and shaking a bit. This was the point I realized that I was going to have this baby and soon! At 4:51, I text my doula and at 4:52, I text one of the midwives to hurry and come. I text Bob one word: “Speed” because that was about all I was able to type out at that point. I called another midwife and she answered while I was having a contraction. I barely got the words out that I needed her to come right away. I also sent a quick text to the birth photographer to “come now.”
Next, I realized that the front door was locked and no one would be able to get in to help me. I somehow made my way to my closet and put on my birth gown, because I figured I might as well use it, and then went to unlock the door. Clearly I was in transition at this point because I barely made it to the door. The contractions were about a minute or less apart. I unlocked the door and made it halfway back down the hallway before I had to get on hands and knees. I knew that I was not moving from that point! For this second birth, the position of hands and knees during labor was so instinctual. I began having urges to push, but held back. I could feel the baby’s head was very low. At 5:15, one midwife and Bob got there at the same time. Relief set in because up until that point I thought this might actually be an unassisted birth! My midwife asked when she walked in the door and found me in the hallway if I felt any pushing urges yet and I said yes. I had really been holding back up until that point for two reasons. I didn’t want to birth this baby alone and I also had heard to hold back on pushing until you physically cannot hold back any longer in order to prevent tearing. She put her hand on my low back and reminded me to ease the baby out. Bob came over and assisted her because he had planned to catch Dominic. My doula arrived next and I think was very surprised to see me in this stage of labor (as everyone was upon walking in the door!). I held back pushing until my body took over for me. I used all my visualization prep to ease him out so that I would not tear. After only a couple pushes his head was out. The cord was wrapped around his neck loosely twice, but my midwife gently looped it back over his head. Another push and he was out at 5:29pm! He cried right away. I took a second to breathe and process the work I had just done. I then turned around and Bob handed me Dominic. Love at first sight! He lay on my chest for awhile and then started nursing. He was a pro at nursing and stayed latched on for quite some time! There I was, sitting in my own hallway, holding my baby I had just birthed. What a surreal experience! Shortly afterwards, the other midwives and my birth photographer arrived. Then, my mom showed up worried because I had not come to pick Luci up at 5p and didn’t answer her texts. She sure was surprised to find me in the hallway with a new baby! He weighed 7lb, 4 oz; almost a pound heavier than Luci, but much easier to birth! The cord stayed attached until after I delivered the placenta.
After about an hour and a half, I gave Dominic to Bob so that he could be assessed by the midwives. I took a shower in my own shower, put on my own clothes, and got into my own bed where Dominic was being assessed. I think I was still in somewhat of a dreamlike state because everything had gone so well and I was at home! It was so relaxed and everything was at my own pace. After Dominic was assessed, he came back into my arms. The midwives cleaned up and left and Bob and I were alone with Dominic. Luci was spending the night at my parents’ house, which was the first time she had been away from me overnight since she was born. My mom said that Luci didn’t want to spend the night, but when she was told that in the morning she would see Dominic, she couldn’t wait to get to bed and to sleep! She was so excited to be able to see Dominic in the morning!
It’s funny how I had all these supplies and the birth pool, yet used none of it while giving birth! At least the birth playlist was playing! Looking back, I think that because the labor with Luci was so intense since she was posterior, I didn’t recognize it as active labor this time because Dominic was anterior and in an ideal position. I kept waiting for it to be more painful and I told myself once it got really bad, then I would know I was in labor. However, I fully dilated and still didn’t realize I was in labor until about half an hour before Dominic was born! It was a good thing that we had planned a home birth because I would have never made it to the hospital!
One very significant thing about this birth was the date that it happened. 7 years ago on this day, April 29, my brother died of leukemia. This was the worst day of my life and each year after I would get very emotional on this day. In fact, I was very emotional that morning of the birth because it was this anniversary. I spent most of the early morning crying and looking at pictures of my brother. It is amazing to me that Dominic was born on this day of all days. God had taken a day that brought so much devastation and turned it into a day to celebrate. Throughout this whole pregnancy and birth, God had been teaching me about control and trusting Him. I believe it all culminated with birth on this day to show that God is the One who is ultimately in control of our lives. He desires to bring us joy out of any circumstance if we would only put our complete trust in Him. This was an amazing birth experience; something I had prayed every day for. I am so glad that I listened to Him along the way with all the decisions that went into this birth. It was an absolutely amazing experience.
Now, onto the birth story. Let me begin by saying I had a natural birth in the hospital with our daughter, Luci. At the time, I thought it was a great birth. However, the more I researched throughout this pregnancy, the more I realized that there was a lot that I would change for this birth. Luci was posterior and I had horrible back labor. I also birthed her on my back, which I had not wanted to do, but found to be the only comfortable position at the time. Due to all this, I had a 3rd degree laceration, which I was terrified of having again. I also passed out shortly after having her due to low blood sugar because I had not ate or drank anything (other than water) during labor. And the more I thought about that hospital environment, the more discouraged I became. I started reading Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth book and fell in love with a lot of the birth stories in there. I realized some of the mistakes that I made with the first birth due to lack of knowledge on my part. I was determined to make this next birth a strong, empowering birth. So much so that, for the last 5 weeks of the pregnancy, I began eating very clean (cut out all processed food/sugar), walked daily, took more supplements as directed by my homeopathic doctor, meditated and visualized the labor and birth, and did stretches each night for the baby to be in the anterior position. I also saw my chiropractor at least weekly and he would adjust my pelvis and did the Webster a few times to ensure that the baby would be anterior on delivery.
Luci came at 38+2 so I was thinking this baby would come around that time or earlier. We really wanted to have a home birth, but in this medical world, it was not too common. Luckily, I had a couple good friends who had had home births and their birth stories were amazing. I prayed that at each step of this decision-making process that God would guide us to the right decision. We researched everything about home birth and I continued to feel very uneasy about giving birth in the hospital. Every time I thought of it, I would get saddened. But at the same time, I was unsure of how to actually have a home birth. I received recommendations for home birth midwives and met up with them. They worked as a team of 3 and as soon as we met, I knew I was meant to birth at home. Bob also felt a peace about it, which was great because I had prayed that if we were to have a home birth, that he would feel the same way as I did. We made the decision to have our home birth, which at that point seemed like a very easy decision to make! I ordered all the supplies, including a birth pool. I will also say that when we built our house 3 years ago, I had a tub put into the master bath “just in case” I would have a home birth someday. However, at this point, I wanted something a little larger and more comfortable, so we ordered the pool. It ended up that I didn’t have time to use the birth pool, but instead labored for a short period in that very tub as I had envisioned 3 years ago.
At the 37 week mark, nesting set in and that weekend we cleaned the whole house top to bottom, along with the garage and my car. Because Luci had come at 38+2, I thought this pregnancy would follow suit and expected to go into labor by the following weekend. I waited. And waited. And waited. I was beginning to think I might actually go full term with this one! I finally started to realize the pressures moms get as they approach their “due date.” It seemed everyone was commenting about how I was “still pregnant” or “haven’t had that baby yet” and I hadn’t even reached the due date! I really wanted to make it to April 28th because that’s when my short-term disability would kick in; however, I also didn’t want to go past April 30 because my amazing doula was on vacation from May 1-5. I started to feel the pressure mounting due to that short window. On April 20, Easter Sunday, I posted a verse, Matthew 25:13, “Therefore, keep watch because you do not know the day or the hour” and how God is the only one who knows when this baby will ultimately arrive. This verse would come to mind when I would feel the pressure of when I might have this baby.
The weekend before the birth, I kept thinking I was going to have the baby and wasn’t going to make it to the 28th. I rested for the most part and Bob put me on “couch-rest” which I gladly took! Once the 28th came and we were in the clear, I started really getting active. I walked our hilly neighborhood twice that evening. The next day, the 29th, Bob and I decided to get moving and go window shopping. We dropped Luci off at my parents and walked around for hours. I continued to have on and off contractions, similar to what I had had that past week. Nothing really hurt, I could just feel my uterus contracting and my whole belly getting hard. I wondered if it would be soon. By 2pm we were done and back home. Shortly after, the contractions became more noticeable and closer together. I felt mild pain with each contraction. Even so, I texted my friend to see if she was going to the trail that evening as we usually do and seriously considered going. I didn’t think too much of the contractions and Bob left for work at 3p. I told him though to stay by his phone because I felt like I might go into labor that evening. Once he left, I laid on the couch to watch TV. My contractions kept getting stronger and closer together but still were not really that bad. I told my mom at 4p that I would give it another hour until I picked up Luci because my contractions were stronger and I wanted to see if they would go away. I decided a good distraction would be cleaning the house, since I thought I might go into labor that night anyway and wanted a clean house. I put on Dominic’s birth playlist and began cleaning. During the cleaning, I would have to stop pretty regularly and actually get down on my hands and knees to breathe through contractions. I was seriously in denial that this was actual labor because I still thought it was going to go away. I did text my doula and one midwife at this point to “be ready” for sometime this evening, but that I was going to give it a couple hours and see what happened. At 4:15, I text Bob that he probably should come home because I didn’t want to be alone at the house since everyone was an hour away. He said he would leave in 5 minutes. I then decided that I would take a shower and still had contractions through that. I thought, well maybe I will take a bath because I heard that can slow down early labor (which I still thought I couldn’t be past early labor if that). Little did I know that at the point I was in labor, it would actually speed things up! I had been timing the contractions at about 8 minutes apart. Honestly, I still thought this wasn’t real labor, or maybe just really early labor, because the pain was not very bad. I got in the bath and the contractions quickly went down to every 5, then 4, then 3 minutes apart. I started feeling nauseated and shaking a bit. This was the point I realized that I was going to have this baby and soon! At 4:51, I text my doula and at 4:52, I text one of the midwives to hurry and come. I text Bob one word: “Speed” because that was about all I was able to type out at that point. I called another midwife and she answered while I was having a contraction. I barely got the words out that I needed her to come right away. I also sent a quick text to the birth photographer to “come now.”
Next, I realized that the front door was locked and no one would be able to get in to help me. I somehow made my way to my closet and put on my birth gown, because I figured I might as well use it, and then went to unlock the door. Clearly I was in transition at this point because I barely made it to the door. The contractions were about a minute or less apart. I unlocked the door and made it halfway back down the hallway before I had to get on hands and knees. I knew that I was not moving from that point! For this second birth, the position of hands and knees during labor was so instinctual. I began having urges to push, but held back. I could feel the baby’s head was very low. At 5:15, one midwife and Bob got there at the same time. Relief set in because up until that point I thought this might actually be an unassisted birth! My midwife asked when she walked in the door and found me in the hallway if I felt any pushing urges yet and I said yes. I had really been holding back up until that point for two reasons. I didn’t want to birth this baby alone and I also had heard to hold back on pushing until you physically cannot hold back any longer in order to prevent tearing. She put her hand on my low back and reminded me to ease the baby out. Bob came over and assisted her because he had planned to catch Dominic. My doula arrived next and I think was very surprised to see me in this stage of labor (as everyone was upon walking in the door!). I held back pushing until my body took over for me. I used all my visualization prep to ease him out so that I would not tear. After only a couple pushes his head was out. The cord was wrapped around his neck loosely twice, but my midwife gently looped it back over his head. Another push and he was out at 5:29pm! He cried right away. I took a second to breathe and process the work I had just done. I then turned around and Bob handed me Dominic. Love at first sight! He lay on my chest for awhile and then started nursing. He was a pro at nursing and stayed latched on for quite some time! There I was, sitting in my own hallway, holding my baby I had just birthed. What a surreal experience! Shortly afterwards, the other midwives and my birth photographer arrived. Then, my mom showed up worried because I had not come to pick Luci up at 5p and didn’t answer her texts. She sure was surprised to find me in the hallway with a new baby! He weighed 7lb, 4 oz; almost a pound heavier than Luci, but much easier to birth! The cord stayed attached until after I delivered the placenta.
After about an hour and a half, I gave Dominic to Bob so that he could be assessed by the midwives. I took a shower in my own shower, put on my own clothes, and got into my own bed where Dominic was being assessed. I think I was still in somewhat of a dreamlike state because everything had gone so well and I was at home! It was so relaxed and everything was at my own pace. After Dominic was assessed, he came back into my arms. The midwives cleaned up and left and Bob and I were alone with Dominic. Luci was spending the night at my parents’ house, which was the first time she had been away from me overnight since she was born. My mom said that Luci didn’t want to spend the night, but when she was told that in the morning she would see Dominic, she couldn’t wait to get to bed and to sleep! She was so excited to be able to see Dominic in the morning!
It’s funny how I had all these supplies and the birth pool, yet used none of it while giving birth! At least the birth playlist was playing! Looking back, I think that because the labor with Luci was so intense since she was posterior, I didn’t recognize it as active labor this time because Dominic was anterior and in an ideal position. I kept waiting for it to be more painful and I told myself once it got really bad, then I would know I was in labor. However, I fully dilated and still didn’t realize I was in labor until about half an hour before Dominic was born! It was a good thing that we had planned a home birth because I would have never made it to the hospital!
One very significant thing about this birth was the date that it happened. 7 years ago on this day, April 29, my brother died of leukemia. This was the worst day of my life and each year after I would get very emotional on this day. In fact, I was very emotional that morning of the birth because it was this anniversary. I spent most of the early morning crying and looking at pictures of my brother. It is amazing to me that Dominic was born on this day of all days. God had taken a day that brought so much devastation and turned it into a day to celebrate. Throughout this whole pregnancy and birth, God had been teaching me about control and trusting Him. I believe it all culminated with birth on this day to show that God is the One who is ultimately in control of our lives. He desires to bring us joy out of any circumstance if we would only put our complete trust in Him. This was an amazing birth experience; something I had prayed every day for. I am so glad that I listened to Him along the way with all the decisions that went into this birth. It was an absolutely amazing experience.