Today I’m going to share the birth story of William John, our first son. Positive birth stories are so helpful when you’re aiming for a natural, unmedicated labour – So I hope this will be a blessing to someone!

William was born 9 days ago, and before these memories begin to fade, I wanted to write them down– both for the benefit of my readers, and for myself! Having written out the story of my daughter’s birth, I know for sure that I will treasure having this record!

Warning: If you have any inclination to be squeamish, this post may not be for you! Some details may be a little too much for some people. Proceed at your own discretion.

The Birth Story of William John | August 4, 2021

I was so curious how this labour would go. My oldest child was born at 38 weeks exactly, so my midwife told me I should expect that an early baby could very well happen again. Not for sure, of course, but I should expect that it’s quite possible to follow that pattern.

That said, my aim was to be prepared and ready to go by the first day I could safely have a baby at home (37 weeks). Since my first labour had been such a positive experience, I wanted to have my second baby at home as well.

About a month or so before that point, I made my postpartum meal plan, and I got to work cooking and filling the freezer with prepared food. Then I made all of my necessary lists: A list for my mother-in-law, who would be looking after our daughter during the birth. A list for James on how to prep food from the freezer; a list for my hospital bag, so that things could be gathered by anyone at the last second, in the event of an emergency.

Then I got to work cleaning my house; laundering baby clothes and blankets, making sure I had both girl and boy things ready (since the gender of our baby was a surprise). I gathered up all of my home birth supplies, and had it all clean and ready to go for delivery day.

37 weeks came, and I was ready! Annd… Then 38 weeks came. And then 39. I had to laugh at myself; this pregnancy would go the full 40 weeks or more, especially given how prepared I was!

Early Contractions

Monday, August 2, 2021– Contractions! I was having contractions… I thought? Since my first labour had started with my water breaking, I wasn’t sure. I wondered: would early contractions feel different this time? It was just like Braxton Hicks, which I’ve had consistently for the last couple of months with both of my pregnancies, except that it was a little stronger and more uncomfortable. These contractions lasted for about 3 hours, and then tapered off and went away.

Tuesday came, with more Braxton Hicks contractions, but nothing more than that. False alarm! I started to settle into the mindset that this was going to go to 40 weeks at least.

Early Labour

Wednesday morning, I woke up after a good night’s rest to more “Strong Braxton Hicks” contractions. I wasn’t sure what to think, but I had a midwife appointment that morning so I figured I would mention them to her. Feeling slightly nervous that things might pick up, I asked James if he would drive me to my appointment, and off we went!

At the midwives’ office, my contractions continued pretty regularly, so when I mentioned them they decided to check me. I wasn’t dilating at all, but she told me there was a good chance my body was bringing baby down with those contractions, and I might go into labour soon. By the time we left the midwife, my contractions were becoming more regular and slightly more difficult… So, we picked up lunch, and headed home.

By 1 o’clock, I was taking breaks between bites of food to breathe through contractions and time their length. They were still easy at this point, but hard enough that I wanted to focus when each one came along. James gathered up the items on my list for Faith’s time with her grandparents. While he was out, my sister came over to stay with me and help me get the house ready for the birth.

Active Labour

By the time James came home, my contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart, lasting about 45 seconds on average. My sister left, and I decided to employ what I knew of The Bradley Method, which is basically a method of relaxing through contractions to deliver your baby with minimal pain. I haven’t read the whole book yet, but now I would really like to purchase my own copy!! It was a complete game changer for me! I basically went from 2-8(ish) centimetres dilated with VERY manageable pain. Such a difference from my first experience!

At this point, we called the midwife, and by 4pm, things started to get harder. As I worked through contractions, this passage came to my mind and I asked James to read it to me:

Psalms 18:29

“For by You I can run against a troop,
By my God I can leap over a wall.”

We read that passage and its context together, and breathed through contractions, first laying relaxed on my left side and then on my right. Around this time, the midwife suggested we stand up to help me efface (thin out) more evenly. So, I got up on my feet, and that’s when those painful contractions I remembered from my first labour started to happen.

The Hard Part: Transition (The Pushing Stage)

By this time, the secondary midwife had arrived, and we were getting ready to move into the pushing phase. That part felt much longer this time. I spent a good while on my hands and knees, pushing that way… but due to a little bit of stubborn cervix that didn’t want to budge, baby didn’t seem to want to come out that way. So, leaning on gravity to help us out, we decided to move to the bathroom to labour in a squatting position for a while. After a couple of contractions in there, *POW!*— my water broke (and scared me half to death!), and then baby’s head came through right away!

Here’s where it got interesting. The water had meconium in it, which is typically a sign of potential distress for the baby… and, I gathered, the midwife couldn’t feel baby’s shoulders and suspected he could be stuck.

At that point, our tiny closet-esq. bathroom was no longer a good place for me, the two midwives and James to help this baby be born. So, with one midwife holding baby’s head, the other midwife holding me, and James following close behind, we shuffled back across our apartment to the bedroom, where I was supposed to get up on the bed… but feeling quite unable to do that, I ended up pushing my baby out standing up beside the bed instead. The midwife caught him, and James checked the gender — which as you know (to our surprise and joy), was a boy!

The rest is sort of a blur, made more blurry by the joy of holding our firstborn son and marvelling over the miracle of his life. He was and is perfect; born at 7lbs 2oz, 20 inches long, and just as sweet and soft as can be.

At some point in the days ahead, I’d like to share some postpartum reflections with you all. I was thinking to write them in here, but this post is already super long… So for now, I’ll say goodbye.

Thank you for sharing in our joy with us,

Naomi <3