Birth Story For Stella

Stella is my first child. Going into my pregnancy with her, I had been following multiple women on social media who had shared their birth stories, and almost all of them had done home births. After doing some very general research about different birthing methods and philosophies, I figured getting a midwife and doing a home birth seemed to be the most natural and peaceful way to go, especially because I wouldn't be pressured to do the certain typical "things" that a hospital tends to pressure you with (certain pain medications, rushed/unnecessary induction, rushed/unnecessary c-section, etc.).

And so the journey began. It was a rather easy pregnancy, no issues. I have my health, age, and God to thank for that. I really enjoyed Chris's frankness, honesty, wisdom, and general presence throughout my pregnancy. I came to her with many questions and concerns the further along I got, since I was also taking a Bradley Method Birthing class that was teaching me a lot. She never disappointed; her answers were always clear, straight forward, and left me feeling secure.

About a week before Stella's birth, I remember asking Chris, "What do you do if the baby just isn't coming out?" I had heard stories like that multiple times and didn't want to imagine it happening to me. She said, "Well, we'll move the mother around in different positions before trying to move the baby" (meaning, she would do everything in her power to avoid an induction, naturally or in the hospital). I felt okay with this, and thought, "Well, that's not going to happen to me anyway."

Flash forward a week or so, and I felt my first contraction around 9:00am on the 25th of September. I was excited and Chris remained in contact with me, available whenever I called, until around 9:00pm when she and her assistant midwives were finally able to come to my house and set up camp, since my contractions were getting closer.

I realize people have long labors all the time. But keep in mind this was my first. My mother had also had very quick labors (between 6 and 8 hours from first contraction to birth), so I was expecting this to go quickly. It didn't. I labored through the night. The midwives took turns being awake with me, along with Chris, and I felt supported by them as well as my husband. It was long, painful, and exhausting, but it was also beautiful and surreal. Around 6:00am, I was advised to try pushing. Like most first-timers, I didn't know what I was doing. After two hours of no progressing, I decided to get out of the tub and walk around to see if that helped. It did.

My urge to push became stronger, but little Stella was STILL not progressing. And that's when Chris realized Stella's arm was up by her face. She had had her fists up by her face in both ultrasounds we got of her, but had never thought anything of it. And now it was proving to be a pretty annoying problem! But Chris had a steady head and hand through it all. She positioned me in a few different pushing positions, and showed my husband how to position himself in order to be a support and balance for me, which I loved. All the midwives truly allowed him to have a role in the labor, and I will always be grateful for that. It made the experience so much more powerful and life-changing for him. He was there, present, in the thick of it. It was just a very amazing and uniting experience.

Anyway, Chris ended up having to make more room in my canal with her hand, so when I pushed, she would "stretch" me in a sense. It was excruciating. But it worked. And suddenly, Stella was out into the world! At 9:02am on the 26th of September. Thinking about it now makes me cry, not because of the pain (surprisingly lol), but because of how profound it all was, and because of how grateful I am for Chris and her team. In that moment of the birth, all the moments leading up to the birth, and the first weeks following the birth, I felt completely supported by those midwives.

Many times throughout the pregnancy, I felt nervous and just wanted to hear Stella's heartbeat, and Chris would always do her best to make herself available. She's a very practical, caring woman. Someone you'd definitely want to be delivering your babies (: