Before I was even pregnant with my first child, I started researching birth options in Kentucky. I knew I wanted a non-medicated natural birth and wasn’t convinced that my chances would be that great at achieving that going the doctor/hospital route. Unfortunately, according to the internet that was the only option. But thankfully I had a few friends (or rather moms of my friends) who had all or most of their babies at home in Kentucky. So my husband and I met with them to learn more. This was especially helpful for my husband to understand what a midwife is qualified for and trained to do. After our meetings with friends we agreed that when we became pregnant, we would have our baby at home. Coincidentally all three families who I knew of who had home births also used the same CPM from TN.
I am so grateful that I had friends who were able to share their birth experiences with us and recommend a wonderful midwife who has been a blessing to our family three times…and counting!
February 12, 2020
Rosie’s Kentucky birth at home-
I thought I was a couple of days over 40 weeks pregnant and Sunday was such a beautiful day on the farm. The sun was shining bright, making the air warm and refreshing. While Beckham took his nap and Ruth spent some time with my brother Jonah and his dog, and my mom, I walked the farm. Not a nice casual walk. A “walk this baby out” walk. I went up the right side of the farm, to the strawberry field, around our front yard and into the greenhouse to kiss my hubby, where he was working on getting as much blueberry propagating done as possible before our baby came. After the greenhouse I made my way over to the blueberry field where I walked through the mushy and tall grass, up and down a few rows. I circled around the hemp field and then made my way to the sunny back porch where I stretched and took slow, deep breaths, filling my lungs with that sweet country air. The whole time I was walking and on the porch, I was listening to my labor playlist and meditating on what a wonderful birth I was expecting and meeting our sweet baby and finding out who he or she was. I enjoyed it so much and wished that I had done that a lot more in the last couple of weeks during my pregnancy. I finished all that up with a jar of water and a good snack.
On Monday, I spent a good bit of time in our house (that we are preparing to move in to soon). I did some light cleaning and dishes, laundry, and organized my kitchen a bit. It felt good to be able to give in to my nesting urges!
Tuesday morning was a normal morning and no signs of labor coming, so I went to the grocery store (I usually bring Ruth and Beckham with me, but this time I asked mom if she would be able to play with them while I went alone.) Tuesday went on normal and I did some light house work and ended the day with a very common kitchen dance party with Ruth, Beckham and my sister to one of our favorites, The Git Up (my brother has video proof). We had a family dinner as a send-off for my brother who was moving to California the next morning at 3am. After saying goodbye, Chase said something to him about being sorry he couldn’t meet our baby until he came back for a visit in the Spring.
Chase and I went upstairs and got ready for bed and read for a bit. He was reading his Grass Farmer magazine, and I was reading birth stories in Ina Mae Gaskin’s book, as was my habit since I found my book in a box from our storage the week before. After about 20 minutes of reading, I heard a very quiet pop and felt that familiar trickle of water. I started laughing and told Chase that my water had just broken. As his usual reaction, he jumped out of bed…and I just laughed again and asked what he was doing. He said he was going to text Kathy, my midwife and let her know. She asked if my water was clear, which it was, so she told us to try to get to sleep and so would she. I called my sister in law who planned to be there as well, and she came over and hung out with my sister in her room until labor picked up. We went to bed and I probably dozed off here and there but rushes started coming every now and then about 30 minutes after my water broke. About two hours later, they were stronger and I couldn’t ignore them anymore. Chase went ahead and told Kathy that they were getting longer, stronger, and closer together. She said she’d be on her way soon. Chase started getting the birth pool filled and I made my way to the chair that I knelt in front of/leaned into during my rushes, and had a snack and drank water. Birthing a baby is a big job, so I knew I needed to be hydrated and energized.
Every labor is different and I couldn’t be sure how long or short this one would be just because my others were quick. I wanted to be prepared for a long haul. I felt very present in mind in between rushes. We talked and laughed and visited for a while during labor. Kathy came with all of her things around midnight (Chase went down to help her bring everything up) and listened to the baby. We cooled the water in the pool down a bit, as it was a little too warm (my fault! I told Chase to make it as hot as possible. Ha! And while the hot water felt good I was really hot so I had cool cloths on my shoulder, the fan on, and the windows open- in February!) Sadie and Olivia came in every now and then to see if they could help at all. I was not feeling like I was really progressing and trying not to get discouraged. I had a lot of back pressure because Baby’s hands were up on the sides of her head. That felt a lot different than my other labors. Then I started feeling nauseous, and I knew we were progressing well. Olivia grabbed the trash can for me and I lost my snack, but the vomiting was a welcome relief to my nausea and the pressure during rushes. But it also woke My 5 year old daughter up, so she joined the party at that point. I could tell how excited she was that the time had finally come. (It was planned for her to see the birth.) She enjoyed talking with Kathy and showing off her painted toe nails and laughing at me quite a bit when I started making some grunting sounds with light pushing (not real pushing the baby out but taking the edge off rushes a bit and following my body’s lead, which included some noise). She also kept asking when the baby would come, which I certainly expected. She still had to wait about an hour and half from when she came in the room. Considering the time of night, her age, and her excitement, she was quite patient. I may have been the most impatient one, and Kathy the most patient!
I don’t know what time I started pushing. In the moment it felt like a long time, in reality I think it was only a few minutes of pushing before her head was out. Her shoulders were not coming as quickly as they usually would (her hands were at her shoulders now) so Kathy had me get on my hands and knees, which I did quickly and easily to my surprise. Kathy helped her out, and told me to reach into the water and pick her up in front of me. It went just like Kathy said. She was born quickly, and I picked her up out of the water and held her. She cried one big cry right away then calmed down a bit. She was covered in thick vernix (telling us she was probably born a few days before I would have been 40 weeks after all). Then we checked to see who our baby was. This was a funny moment because the lighting was low and we said with a question in our voices “It’s a girl?” and looked to Kathy to confirm. Kathy said “Yes, a girl!” After a minute or two chase called down the stairs to my mom and Vadim who were waiting on the couch, “Rosie Lynne!” What a sweet moment! Such a wonderful added surprise to our third baby’s birth! We stayed in the tub for a while talking to and staring at our baby girl while we waited for her cord to stop pulsating. Kathy said all three have been exactly 10 minutes!
Vadim came up to meet the baby before he started his drive to CA. Mom cut her cord and Kathy handed Rosie to Chase, who wrapped her up all warm and held her. Kathy helped me into the bed and Ruth came and sat next to me. I can’t remember what was first, but Kathy weighed her (Olivia guessed her weight exactly!), did a newborn exam, and I ate some food and nursed Rosie- great latch right away! Chase, my mom, and Kathy cleaned everything up and then around 5:00 am Beckham woke up to the commotion. Chase went to get him from his bed across the hall and brought him in to see his new sister. He was all smiles! 2 am and 5 am is certainly an early start to the day for a 5 and 2 year old, but it was a special time and too much excitement for sleeping anymore. My mom took them down for breakfast. Olivia and Sadie went to bed in Sadie’s room while Kathy gave me and Chase her usual instructions, and picked a time to come back the next morning for her newborn screenings and weight check. We gave hugs, and said goodbye and thank you. Then Chase, Rosie, and I all rested.
The birth of a baby is such a special thing. The care you get and the environment for bringing your child into the world is important, so I encourage everyone (having a healthy, low-risk pregnancy) to choose what they are most comfortable with and drawn to, taking into consideration what kind of birth they envision. For our family, that is at home, in the professional and loving care of our midwife, surrounded by positivity, patience, love, and a deep trust in God’s perfect design.
God’s ways are higher than ours. He knew we needed her, when we didn’t think it was a good time for another baby. Surprise-blessings are just as much blessings as the asked-for-blessings. We are so thankful for our Rosie Lynne and her birth at home, here on the farm in Kentucky!