My Third Birth Story
by Brianna Walker
I had a typical hospital birth; wasn’t induced because I did want a natural birth, but did end up getting an epidural. I had an amazing doula, but the environment of the hospital made it very hard to labor naturally. After having Elliott, I knew that I would have been able to have a natural birth if I was at home. I am lucky to have strong, amazing women in my life who have had home births, so when I got pregnant with my second son, I knew that a home birth was exactly what I wanted. My husband was also on board with the idea. I had an amazing midwife and doula who helped me welcome our 9 pound son, Reed.
My third son is the most recent so here is his story:
Another boy! After having both a hospital birth and a home birth, there was no question that I would once again welcome baby boy #3 in our home. This birth was a text book birth. Being due at the end of July, the summer heat and feeling like labor and delivery was still too recent, made me have lazy thoughts about doing it all again. I continued to pray for a small baby thinking it would make things much easier.
It was only 3 days before my due date and I woke up around 230 am to use the restroom. For the past week, I would have pretty strong contractions and pressure each time I urinated and of course had the same feeling this night. I got back into bed, but was wakened again by another contraction about 15 minutes later. I was able to sleep on and off until 4 am.
I knew baby was going to make his appearance. I woke my husband and called my sister in law who was in town and was going to be at the birth. I also called Pam, my midwife, and told her that I knew I was in labor but would keep her posted on timing and call once contractions were a minute apart. My husband made a pot of coffee and I was walking around breathing through my contractions and conversing with my sister in law. She noticed that my contractions were getting close and suggest I call my midwife. This was 630 am and Pam said she would head on over and my two older boys were waking up.
My little sister also came over to help with the boys and meet the new baby. Around 730 my midwife and her apprentice came over and this was just about the time I was getting into the bath. I always like to try to wait as long as possible before getting into the water. It amazes me how peaceful and calming the warm water is during such an intense time. Back labor was painful and I remember trying to float in the tub to lessen the pressure. I breathed through a couple of really hard contractions and remember feeling tired and a bit defeated because I did not want to work anymore.
Then came a moment of rest. Contractions seemed to stop for a long period of time; I think I even fell asleep for those few minutes but was awakened with pressure and feeling rested. I immediately needed to switch from my back to my knees in a crawling position in the tub. Pam used counter pressure on my hips and my body pushed. I thought maybe my water broke, but I actually peed. Another surge came and again my body pushed; this time my water did break.
I told my husband to go get my sister so that she could see the baby being born. As he left, another surge came and my body pushed again. When he and my sister entered the bathroom, I was holding my sweet baby. He was my smallest, 7lbs and 14oz. Elliott and Reed immediately met their brother and Elliott got to cut the “electrical cord.” Welcome Blake William Walker!
Birth is empowering. Even when my mind was feeling lazy and defeated, my body knew what it had to do. As soon as baby enters the world, the pain is immediately gone and adrenaline and love and emotion empower. I am blessed to have had these experiences. They have forever changed me.
Brianna Walker and Monna have known each other since birth! Their parents were very good friends so they grew up like cousins. Brianna grew up to be a Global Business graduate of ASU and met her husband not long after graduation. They were married a year and a half later. Within a few months later she was pregnant with their first son. While her first baby was born at a hospital, she has experienced two home births since then and encourages other mamas to be empowered in their births. She spends her time raising her three smart, sweet boys.