A Home Birth: Oceanside, CA

I was SO exited to have a client live so close to me for once (last time this happened was in 2019). GPS said they were 12 min from my house. During their prenatals we went over the usuals that I do, and we talked about their previous birth experience. Which was fairly short for a first timer.

Which made them living so close, even better.

labor begins.

I got a text from my client at 4:31 pm giving me a heads up that they had been timing their contractions for the last hour and they were 5 minutes apart and lasting between 40 seconds and 1 minute long. They were 38+3 weeks gestation, so while they were on my radar for labor, I was expecting another client to text me they were in labor 😂

I decided to lay down at about 5:30 pm to take a nap since I had a feeling I was going to be called into their birth later in the evening.

I wake up to a text from my husband a little after 6:30 pm and chat with him for a bit. Then realize I have another text, sent at 6:11 pm, saying it’s time for me to come and it’s already past 6:45 pm 😳

Fuck.

arrival.

I arrived a little before 7 pm but parking the Suburban was a bitch. It literally took me like 10 minutes to find a spot big enough to park it in. And then I was freaking out that I was going to miss the birth because it was taking so long.

Running with all my shit through the parking lot and apartments was pretty comical. I can only imagine what people were thinking watching me run in the dark with my hands full of all my gear. Also FYI this body does not run regularly 😂

Once I got there, things looked to be progressing pretty fast. It was what we all kind of expected since their first baby was born really efficiently.

But as their labor progressed, their contractions and body language started telling another story. They were progressing but things were taking longer than anyone expected. Their midwife Kayti (Birth Local Midwifery) and I started suggesting positions to try and move baby down through the pelvis.

*Remember, dilation means NOTHING, it’s all about baby’s STATION (where they are in your pelvis).

So we waited. Supported. Suggested positions. Provided reminders. Fed them. Hydrated them. and loved on them through active labor.

pushing and birth.

When my client finally got the ok to really start pushing if they wanted to, baby was at about a 0 station (meaning baby was fully engaged in the pelvis). They began pushing in the pool for a bit, but it wasn’t look like much progress was being made, so Kayti suggested to get out of the pool.

The next spot was the couch. They were being supported by their partner and mother at their head while Kayti and I were by their mid-section during pushing. After a bit on the couch, it was found out that baby had actually moved back up in the pelvis while laying down, they were between -1/-2 station. So Kayti again suggested a change in position to better have gravity help with engagement.

And oh boy, when they stood up it was almost instaneous. The NEEDING to drop to their hands and knees. The NEED to push. The NEED to birth this baby.

Their water broke at 1:56 am as they were were on their way down to hands and knees. Unbeknownst to me as we were all trying to look for it, I stuck my left hand straight in it as I was on my knees. Welp, found it! And it was a beautiful straw/hay color, no meconium at all.

At 3:01 am, babies head was born. And they began crying while they were half in and half out 😳

At 3:02 am baby was born earth side.

Did you catch that!? It looks like it was an hour and eight minute difference between when waters released and when baby was born. But in reality it was only 8 minutes! 8 MINUTES. We had the time change for daylight savings during the birth! How crazy is that!?

postpartum.

Baby transitioned amazing and was crying almost instantly. The joy and relief on everyone’s face was palpable. It was an immediate exhale of relief as finally, FINALLY, baby was born. Everyone kept saying how much longer this birth was than their first. How baby needed to do what they did because they knew something we didn’t.

And as Kayti explored the placenta and made sure it was complete, we noticed baby had a short cord. Bingo. Baby’s with short cords very often will have a bit longer of a labor while making room and slowly stretching tissues. Then at the last minute, they travel through the birth canal really fast since they know their cord can’t really handle being stretched for very long.

Baby’s are SMART. They know exactly what they need. They know how to enter this world, however they need to.

And this was just another case of trusting your baby, trusting your body, and trusting the process 💕