In celebration of Mother’s Day, I thought I’d share the story on how I became a mother for the third time. Here is my birth story when we welcomed Miss H into this world.
My Birth Story – Hannah Elizabeth
The morning of September 22nd, I started getting cramps. It didn’t mean too much for me though because I had been having cramps the whole week before. My husband was leaving for work that day (he drives up to Fort McMurray) and we were both unsure on whether he should leave or not. Since labour can be unpredictable, we decided he should leave in case it would still be a couple more days.
It was about noon when I realized that those cramps had turned into contractions. Since they weren’t progressing, I didn’t call my husband home yet. At about 2:30 pm the contractions started progressing so I called my husband. He was a 3 hour drive away so he turned around and started heading home. He also called his mom to come keep an eye on me and watch the kids. At 3 pm I went to pick up my step-son from school (yes I did this in labour…I’m pretty stubborn) and I sat at home working through contractions while my two 5 year olds kept me company.
At about 4 pm, contractions got pretty bad. No one had gotten to my house yet, so I called my midwife. She started heading over. In between contractions, I started to get the house ready for the birth. The kids were great helps and even rubbed my back during contractions. We had planned a home birth in a birthing pool, so there was the pool and supplies needing to be set up. Still expecting someone to walk through the door at any moment, I didn’t call any of my backup help.
Things suddenly went into high gear when I started feeling pressure. The fear crossed my mind about having to deliver this baby alone so I hopped onto my bed and called my husband. Thank goodness, he was almost home (forgetting that it was rush hour though). I hung up the phone as my midwife walked in. She put her bag down and “BAM”…my water exploded! Ok, maybe it didn’t explode but it sure felt like it! I screamed that I had to push and instantly started pushing.
The goal was to make it into the birthing pool, so in between contractions and pushing, my midwife got her supplies ready and tried to get the pooled filled. She gave the kids the hose to fill the birthing pool…it kept them busy but I’m sure you could imagine how that went with two 5 year olds.
Miss H must have been excited to meet us because less than half an hour of pushing and she entered this world. We didn’t make it to the pool and my husband didn’t get home until about 15 minutes after she was born, but Brooklyn and Brody got to be there to welcome their little sister into this world. After Hannah was born, they both came in and sat with me on the bed and said hello. My home birth was an amazing experience and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Brody and Brooklyn holding their baby sister shortly after she was born.
Do you have any crazy birth stories? How did you welcome your little ones into this world?
