06/07/2025
With thanks to the family for allowing me to share their beautiful homebirth story.
"Our beautiful surprise baby girl, entered the world at 7am on Thursday 15.10.20 at 38+2 weighing 7lb 14oz. I am super emotional about the whole thing, we had our beautiful homebirth in the pool and it was everything I dreamed of and so much more.
Dan was incredible and the things he said to me throughout it will stay with me forever. I felt so safe and the way our daughter joined our family was so perfect, her big brother and sister were there too.
Here's our birth story, I love reading other peoples so I guess some of you may too.
On Wednesday I woke up feeling a bit crampy and had quite a lot of mucous, though not bloody, and I felt this sense of excitement that something was niggling. My daughter was off school so we had some lovely Mum and daughter time setting the crib up, putting clary sage in the diffuser and making sure everything was ready.
It was a busy day as we went to pick our new car up and managed a lovely lunch out to celebrate some recent business success.
On Wednesday night we decided to have an early night and Dan was laid stroking my tummy, I took a pic of him kissing my bump because I knew it wouldn't be there for much longer.
Before we got into bed I found myself standing and swaying from side to side and I said to Dan 'I just feel like I need to be upright, I've felt different today'.
At some point in the night Dan woke me because I was snoring 🤣 and I felt guilty so I went to sleep in the spare room. At 2.15am I woke as my waters burst with a huge gush. I jumped out of bed, a bit delirious, excited, nervous, panicking not everything was sorted and I then decided I needed a plan as I immediately felt crampy.
I woke Dan to tell him my waters had broken but he should sleep and I'd get him if it started. I put the shower on and shaved my legs! 🙈🤣 then decided I should probably try to get some sleep if this was likely to be the start of labour so I laid on the sofa holding my bump but after only 10 mins I had to get up as I was contracting and hated the sensation while laid down.
So at 3am I sat on my ball in the dark, holding my bump, breathing gently through the contractions and talking to baby in between. This hour of just me and baby is one I will treasure, I told her how special it had been feeling her grow inside me and having her with me everywhere I go, I told her I loved her.
At this point I thought I may be able to let Dan sleep until a more sociable hour but by 4am the contractions were getting longer and stronger and I wanted him with me. I woke him at 4.15am and called my mum to come over.
I called the birthing unit to get the on-call homebirth midwives and they got to us around 5.30am at which point I was vomiting and shaking and I knew I was progressing quickly which both excited me and scared me.
I still felt calm, in control and safe. Dan was my rock and I knew my mum, Grace and Jacob were close too.
The midwife wanted to examine me to see if she needed to call for the second midwife. I had hoped not to have any examinations but I understood her reason for doing one so I agreed. She found that I was 5cm and decided not to call for the 2nd midwife yet.
I felt like I was a lot further on than 5cm so I brushed off any disappointment I felt reminding myself that I knew my body was progressing at the perfect pace and my cervix was opening up quickly and easily.
By this point the contractions were getting really intense and I needed Dan to help me through them. He massaged my back and helped me to really control my breathing. I put everything I had into staying relaxed and open and imagined my cervix opening up so baby could move down.
I could feel quite a lot of pressure and really wanted to get in the pool which was too hot and took ages to cool down. I knelt beside the pool, desperate to get in, and I can remember thinking and feeling the words 'you experience each opening sensation as one of warmth, pressure and power' (words from my pregnancy birth preparation tracks)
'Warmth, pressure, power' was just in my head and I found this totally comforting. I finally got in the pool at 6.10am and it felt incredible instantly.
My mum brought me a cold flannel for my forehead and whispered in my ear that I was doing amazingly and it was beautiful and that she loved me. I looked at her and said 'I can do it can't I' and she said 'yes, my darling, you're doing it and its beautiful'.
I can remember in that instant feeling scared and I knew this was transition, I knew what it meant and I knew my baby was going to be here very soon. The following contractions were so intense and powerful, and I held Dan's hand and focused on breathing baby down. I could feel baby's head coming down and I told Dan she was nearly here.
He whispered in my ear 'you're making me the happiest man alive, I'm so proud of you, this is amazing' and the rush of love I felt then I will never forget. With the next contraction I could feel my body start to push and I just focused on staying relaxed knowing my body would do it, there was nothing I needed to do, just let it happen.
I could feel her head pushing down and as her head was gently born I put my hand down and held her head. This was like nothing I've ever experienced, holding her head there knowing that soon she would be born into my arms was so beautiful.
There was a big gap before my next contraction and I cherished the rest my body was getting before the next huge push that would birth my baby. I looked at Dan and said 'this is just so amazing' and we talked about how our baby was nearly here, no one could hear us and it felt so special. I've never experienced that level of emotion in my life.
Her body was born with the next contraction and I lifted her up into my arms to discover she was a girl. Grace and Jacob were there and saw their baby sister born calmly and gently. They both cried and I'll never forget the look on their faces.
I've got goosebumps from head to toe writing this. I am just in total awe of how my baby girl entered the world and the memories of it will stay with me forever."
💜
