Today I’m sitting down to tell you about how our second baby, a sweet baby boy, was born naturally at home. This positive natural home birth story was similar to my first home birth story but with a couple major differences, like how he was born totally unassisted. Enjoy!
Today I’m sitting down to tell you about how our second baby, a sweet baby boy, was born naturally at home. This positive natural home birth story was similar to my first home birth story but with a couple major differences, like how he was born totally unassisted. Enjoy!
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A Recap of the first home birth
Two years ago I had my first home birth and it was uncomplicated, quick, and beautiful. I had mild contractions throughout the night starting at about 2am, woke up in active labor at about 7am, and had a baby by 11:30am. All at home – and midwife made it there just 20 minutes before the birth.
The whole thing was super intense and blew my mind, quite honestly. I had done all the research, read all the books, listened to podcasts and watched birthing videos. My husband and I even took the Bradly Method birth class.
But still, when the active labor was picking up and I was entering transition, I couldn’t believe how intense it was. I guess that’s what every first-time-mom goes through when she first gives birth! But I was honestly a little surprised by how unprepared I felt when I was actually going through it, even though it was a beautiful birth story in the end.
I wrote up that birth story with more details and photos over on this post.
Positive Home Birth Story with Bradley Method Video (our first birth story!)
Planning for the second home birth
For the second time around, I wasn’t quite sure how to prepare since I had already done all the research the first time (you can find the books I read and work I did to prepare for birth here)
Did I really need to read all those books again? Listen to the same podcasts, watch the same videos, attend a birthing class?
The answer was… sort of! I decided to go with my gut which was telling me to yes, open up the books and check out the podcasts and videos but don’t obsess over it. No need to rewatch and listen to every single one again.
Having been through birth one time, I knew I would retain that old knowledge PLUS add the real-life experience from the first birth as my foundation for the second one.
However, I was a little skeptical of my confidence, because I had a lot less free time on my hands to even think about the birth. Now I had a 2 year old that I was mothering every day, while still cooking 3 meals a day for me and my husband. And working on my blog during nap times.
(2 days before delivery!) Preparing the home for baby.
In the weeks leading up to the birth, I made a bunch of freezer meals for postpartum, which helped put my mind at ease to be able to serve my family food during the days following birth.
Preparing for a newborn – minimalist newborn supplies
Preparing for Home Birth Video & Printable Supplies Checklist
Unassisted Positive Natural Home Birth Story Video
The Birth Story – 2 AM
So as you may or may not know, as you approach your due date there is roughly a 4 week window that you may have your baby. Two weeks early? Two weeks late? So those days leading up to it are pretty average. You’re not getting too excited when you feel Braxton hicks because you know it could mean nothing at all. So the night my labor started, I was caught pretty off guard.
In my first home birth, I never experienced my water breaking. It just broke as the baby was coming out.
So at 2am on September 9th when I woke up to wet pants in bed, I thought for sure I had peed myself. I didn’t know what it was like to have your waters break before labor actually started, but of course that was in fact my bag of waters breaking.
Naturally, I rushed to the bathroom to see what was going on. I thought I may have just, you know, tinkled a little 🙂 Silly me though, I should have known that wasn’t the case. I didn’t see any blood though, and just felt very mild contractions, so I ignored it and went to bed.
About 10 minutes later I felt more liquid coming out. I thought, surely this can’t be pee since I was half awake and I just went to the restroom so there was no more pee, right?
At this point I knew my waters must have broken. I started shivering in bed, but mentally I just tried to remain calm. I knew labor was starting and thought the baby would be here in a matter of hours. But, I felt it was best to just try to sleep and not tell my husband, or the midwife, until later on. From 2am to about 5am I had on and off mild contractions while trying to sleep.
The Birth Story – 5 AM
I had been up for a few hours at that point with contractions, but they weren’t getting more intense or closer together. Also, I had taken several more trips to the bathroom to see more and more clear liquid (from the waters breaking – it was more like a slow leak than a bursting balloon like you see in movies).
So at 5am I texted my midwife and told her what was going on but that I didn’t feel like labor was picking up at all. This is also when I told my husband. BUT – I said just go back to sleep because I don’t think anything is happening at this point. So we did.
At 7am we both woke up and I realized I didn’t have any contractions between 5 and 7am. Uh oh. What happened? So far, this was not at all how the first birth went, and I didn’t know what was coming. The only good news was that I got some sleep.
Now, when your water breaks, you do want to make sure the baby is coming soon because there is no more protection inside anymore. Hospitals make you come in right away if your water breaks before labor. I was a tad worried about this, but I tried not to let that kill my mojo of calmness. When my husband asked “what is the birth clock now?” I simply replied with “shhhh….”.
(Secretly, I’ll be honest, I was also a little worried. Wasn’t admitting it to anyone though 🙂
The Birth Story – 7 AM
Now we needed a plan. We had to get breakfast going, my daughter Allison had a gymnastics class to attend, and my husband had online class for his online master’s program he’s in right now. So, just a normal Saturday, right?
I had an itch inside of me to do something else though, and my husband had the same itch. So we decided to go for a walk and see if that changed anything for me. Once Allison woke up we did just that.
With every step of the walk, the contractions got more intense and I felt like I had a literal elephant in my stomach! It was so heavy feeling (the baby was dropping lower and lower). It was a beautiful sunny day though, and I didn’t mind being in labor at the park.
Another park mom said, “when’s that baby due?” .. I said “today!” (The due date wasn’t for another 2 weeks though)
So while the contractions were getting more intense, they weren’t getting closer together, and they remained inconsistent. I was a little discouraged by this and didn’t know what to do. Stay calm, I thought. Just stay calm and trust the process.
At 11am I was folding laundry (the contractions weren’t strong enough to keep me from doing that) and I felt myself wanting to squat. Like a nice big yoga squat, which I had done every single day of my pregnancy.
I also got a feeling in my stomach that I needed to change it up. I needed to rest and focus, and I couldn’t do that with my beloved daughter running around. Luckily, it was a Saturday, and my mom and dad were home. I asked my dad to come get Allison and he did just that. She got two park trips that day!
Unassisted Positive Natural Home Birth Story Video
The Birth Story – 12 PM
When my dad walked in the garage door at about 11:30, he said “you holdin’ down that bench?”. I was squatting next to our dining table bench with my elbows resting on it, head down, during a contraction. I smiled and said yep! It may have looked like active labor, but I really didn’t think it was. I felt totally fine in between contractions and they seemed inconsistent.
After he left with Allison I knew I had change my motion. I decided to lay in bed, on my side, with my leg up on a pillow (a Bradley method position). That’s where I stayed from 12pm to 1pm.
While in bed, my contractions were 8 minutes apart (I finally decided to time them). The weird part was that I was falling asleep, into a deep sleep, between each one. My gut felt discouraged by the 8 minutes apart timeline. This was not at all how my first birth played out. It was much faster the first time, and I thought this time would be faster. But I had no choice but to just keep going with it and trusting the process.
The Birth Story – 1 PM
After an hour of rest I decided to move. I tried sitting on the toilet (this brought me a lot of success the first time around). Then, contractions started feeling more intense. I called down to John who was just downstairs.
John came up and starting breathing with me. I like having him there when things get tough to just hold my shoulders down and remind to relax, and say I’m doing great. That kind of thing.
I didn’t know this at the time, but I was now entering transition.
John said, is the midwife coming? I said no not yet. “Why not?” “Because I don’t think this is the real thing”. “Let’s time your contractions then.” “Ok.” “3 minutes apart. Okay I’m calling her”. This back and fourth happened for a few contractions before I consented to having the midwife come.
I may have sounded irrational but the reason I didn’t think I was close to giving birth was because I had no blood coming out, only clear liquid. With my first there was a lot of blood before the baby actually showed up. I also couldn’t feel a head at all (crowning), which I did with my first as well.
But after the pain was getting so intense that it was starting to be unbearable, I realized that the midwife should definitely be here, so John called her.
I was still on the toilet for all this, and I felt antsy so I moved to the floor (also didn’t want a baby being born in the toilet 🙂 A had a couple of really intense contractions there and then I decided to go back up to the toilet.
The Birth Story – 2 PM
Shortly after 2pm, I went back up on the toilet for the next contraction. My husband put his hands on my shoulders.
The next thing I knew I yelled “HEAD!” And the head was coming out (while I was sitting on the toilet!). It was the strangest thing. I had no idea I was that close to giving birth!
I somewhat fiercely pushed my husband out of the way 😉 and went down to the ground. We were totally alone in our bathroom. I said go around back and catch the baby!
While I was waiting for the next contraction, I realized there was no one filming the birth. I grabbed my phone off the counter and told John to film it… which he replied “I can’t film, I’m catching the baby!”.
So in the next 15 or so seconds I fumbled with my phone to try to prop it up against the bathroom counter so I could film it myself. And I did!
I’ll be honest my husband was freaking out a little bit, but I was not. I felt great. What is on film is me, while out of breath, shouting “this is good! Come on baby! You can do this!”
With the next contraction the baby was out. I have to say pushing the baby out is the easy part. It’s the part leading up to that that isn’t fun at all!
The baby, who we later named Matthew, was born at 2:12pm, with only me and my husband there.
Unassisted Positive Natural Home Birth Story Video
After the Baby was Born
It turns out that my dad had arrived back home with Allison and they were downstairs this whole time. He could hear the birth, he said.
My mom was on her way (she should have just come over when my dad did, but she didn’t realize that at the time).
Luckily, my mom opened the bathroom door literally about 2 seconds after the baby came out. So I handed her my phone and said take video! And she did. John handed me the baby and helped me up.
My husband and mom walked me and the baby back to our bed and we laid there, waiting for the midwife. The baby was crying loudly, which I knew was a great sign, and I was just so happy in that moment.
The midwife arrived about 20 minutes later, we delivered the placenta, and it was a peaceful, family-centered next couple of hours with singing, dancing, and snuggling. What a day to celebrate!
Unassisted Positive Natural Home Birth Story Video
More Natural Pregnancy and Birth Resources
First Trimester Pregnancy Update
Second Trimester update – preparing for birth
Third Trimester update – thoughts from the heart about pregnancy and birth
All About Home Birth & Supplies Checklist
How to Curate a Maternity Capsule Wardrobe
Huge Freezer Meal Prep before Birth
Natural Baby Resources
Homemade Baby Wipes & Homemade Baby Wipe Solution
Minimalist Newborn Essentials and Gift Guide
Newborn Morning & Nighttime routine (and answering new mom FAQs!)
Postpartum Update and 15 Lessons Learned from a First Time Mom
Baby Girl Minimalist Nursery Tour
How to Make Baby & Postpartum Bath Tea Bags
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