We had just got the boys down and were watching the Rangers play in the World Series. Around 9:30pm I had a couple of contractions that caused me to take some deep breaths. I went to bed to see if they would progress. Sure enough, they did. They continued to get stronger but stayed 10ish minutes apart. I called the midwife around 11:15pm and told her they were strong but still pretty far apart. Our doula and birth photographer were on their way. Everyone arrived around 1 am.
Contractions remained 8-10 minutes apart for the next four hours. We turned the lights off and rested for some of that. At 5am I had a contraction that made Carmen jump up and turn on the lights saying “We are about to have a baby!” Amazing to me that she can tell by the sounds you make during a contraction on how close we are to having a baby!! Talk about mad skills and lots of experience!! We welcomed Moriah Elizabeth at precisely 6am on October 29th. I pushed for 9 minutes which was really intense because it went so fast.
It was my first home birth (my other two were at the birth center) and it was beautiful. It was everything I prayed for. One of my favorite parts of birthing with a midwifery team is the after-birth hang-out sesh that takes place, oohhhing and ahhhing over the new life with people who often become your friends along the way. My midwife happens to be a dear friend who has caught all three of my babies. We were all crying after Moriah arrived. Such a sweet moment I won’t ever forget. Shiane and Zep (our little dog) became the best of friends by the end of it!
A little extra information about events leading up to her birth, if you care to keep reading. We were 41 weeks and 2 days and had a lot of sickness in our home the prior two weeks. The morning of October 28th the man who has counseled our family through many many things asked my mom if Moriah was here yet. Mom told him no and he asked what the problem was. She said well we don’t know and began to tell him about the sickness in our home and how it had been a little hectic with us being up a lot at night with the other two boys and a few different things. He said she doesn’t feel like there is a space ready for her. He advised Niraj and I to tell her that we were ready for her to come home. So we did. I cried a lot and processed some of the events that took place. I even went that morning and bought her a special blanket and a little pink bunny. I went into labor that evening at 930pm.
I tell that to share how powerful our thoughts, words, environment, and emotions are specifically, in this situation, relating to birth/labor and the unborn baby. Because we had said multiple times over the 2 weeks leading up to her birth things like “Well good thing she didn’t come yesterday because we were up all night.” Not in any way meaning we didn’t want her here or want her, obviously, but insinuating that it was easier to navigate the situation at hand without a newborn. Therefore, she was waiting until there was a space, made ready, for her arrival.