This is the positive unassisted home birth story of my third baby. Sharing my own birth story in hopes of inspiring and encouraging others. Amazing and positive birth experiences is possible.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.
We’re Pregnant, Again!
February 2022 was when my husband and I sat at the edge of our bed wondering if we were pregnant. We nervously looked at each other before pulling out the pregnancy test I had taken 3 mins prior. As soon as we pulled it out we saw two very bright pink lines . We were pregnant, again!
Immediately, I felt a sense of excitement and I couldn’t wait to give birth. I’m a Doula and Childbirth Educator, of course I absolutely love giving birth!
Before becoming pregnant, I used to tell my husband, Chris, how much I desired having a home birth. Especially since our first baby was born in a hospital all the way in Japan. And our second baby was born in the United States in a birthing center in Orlando. Even though they were both very positive birth experiences, for this “last” birthing experience I knew I wanted something different. I was determined to have a home birth.
Choosing Our Midwife
The next day I made a few phone calls and scheduled interviews to chat with midwives that serve my area. We were in search of someone who would agree to being as hands off as possible. Of course as long as both me and baby were safe. My goal was to increase my chances of having a positive physiological birth experience with little to no interventions.
Thankfully, we chose a midwife we felt would respect our wishes and hired her. What a joy it was to have most of my prenatal visits in the comfort of my own living room! Anytime our midwife, Linda, would come over she would spend around an hour at our house. She was always willing to include my other two kids and took the time to really get to know us. This is the level of care and attention I wish every woman would experience at their prenatal appointments.
Preparing for Birth
Because I became a doula and HypnoBirthing Childbirth Educator after my second child, this was the very first pregnancy I had the chance to “practice what I preach” in my HypnoBirthing classes. THIS was my chance to personally apply what I teach others to have the positive birth experience. Preparing mentally, physically, and spiritually are all essential in having a positive birth experience. Here are ways that I prepared for mine:
Mentally/Spiritually:
- Downloaded Christian HypnoBirthing App and Listened to Tracks Before Going to Sleep
During my second pregnancy I downloaded the app Christian HypnoBirthing and absolutely loved it! So, of course I used it again during my third pregnancy. This app is an incredible way to prepare both mentally and spiritually for birth. How did I use it to prepare? Simply by making it a goal to listen to it every single night before going to sleep.
Side note: It is very common for expecting moms to have a mind full of thoughts while listening to it at first. The goal should be to listen to it every single night and practice while relaxing the mind and body. With enough practice you will most likely “fall asleep” within minutes of listening to the tracks and “wake back up” once it is done. That is completely okay, very common, and a good sign that you are relaxing while listening to the tracks.
- Hung Favorite Positive Birth Affirmation Cards on Wall
Another way I mentally prepared was by hanging my favorite positive birth affirmation cards with fairy lights on the wall next to my bed. I made it a habit to read the positive birth affirmation cards to myself as often as possible.
Physically:
- Took Walks as Often as Possible
I prepared my body by taking walks as often as possible and stayed active my entire pregnancy. Especially during the third trimester when all I wanted to do was lay down.
- Used my Birthing Ball
If you are pregnant and don’t have a birth ball/ yoga ball/ exercise ball, please get one now! You will thank me later! Great posture helps baby stay in the best position for labor. So I used the birth ball to help me sit correctly to avoid slouching throughout my pregnancy.
Another way that I used my birth ball was by doing exercises that would prepare my body for birth. Here great video on YouTube showing some great exercise to prepare for birth using the birth ball.
- Drank Red Raspberry Leaf Tea
I began drinking red raspberry leaf tea at the start of the third trimester. I started off only drinking one cup and increased it to two cups the closer I got to my due date. Along with many other benefits, the main reason I drank red raspberry leaf tea is because studies have shown that it can reduce the time in labor and minimize the need for intervention. That alone was a huge motivation to drink it daily starting at 30 weeks.
- Ate 6 Dates a Day
Eating 6 dates a day is said to increase the chances of spontaneous labors along with many other benefits, so including them in my morning smoothies was something I also started at 30 weeks.
Prodromal Labor
In the weeks leading up to the day I gave birth, I had a few days and nights I thought I was going to have my baby. Waves, “contractions”, would start, go on for about an hour or so, and then stop. Each time I thought it was the real thing, so I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t extremely exhausting both mentally and physically. On one hand, I couldn’t wait to finally meet my baby, but on the other hand I wanted my baby to stay in as long as needed.
Experiencing prodromal labor was a great reminder to surrender and trust the process. There came a point in my pregnancy where I prayed and asked God to reveal what I needed to do in order for my labor to continue progressing. One of those things was to completely trust in Him and His plans. Especially if my midwife wasn’t able to make it, which was something I thought could be a possibility since my second birth was about 2 hours long. So, I anticipated having another fast labor.
Curb Walking
The few times my midwife did show up the times I thought I was in labor, she mentioned she suspected baby was in a posterior position, which isn’t in the best position to give birth. She advised me to do different techniques to get baby in a better position, so I tried mile circuits, spinning babies, used the rebozo… you name it, I did it.
Saturday morning, two days before going into labor, I felt a strong desire to do some curb walking. Unfortunately, there were no sidewalks on our street, so I took my kids to the park the next day and found the world’s smallest curb and began walking on it. Clearly, I was desperate to use whatever I could find. Those little curbs weren’t helping, so I texted my sister asking her if she could hang out at my house later that evening so Chris and I could go for a walk, somewhere I knew had some good size curbs.
And that’s exactly what we did. That evening I did a whole lot of curb walking to get baby in a better position and to hopefully encourage labor to start. I felt a few waves but didn’t think much of it, especially since I had them come and go for the past 2/3 weeks.
Not only did we go for some curb walking, but also for a much needed date night. I will always cherish that evening because Chris and I were able to bond together, laugh, and share our feelings about almost being parent’s of three. After walking for about two hours nonstop, I had a wave that I had to stop and really breathe through. Chris and I made eye contact after I was done breathing and I jokingly said, “ we should go now before I end up having our baby here.” He nervously laughed and agreed. So we called it a night and headed home.
On the drive back home all the waves went away so I brushed it as just another round of prodromal labor. Little did I know I was actually in early labor. Once we got home I thanked my sister for taking the time to hang out at the house and let her know I would call her if the curb walking did the trick.
In Denial
Before I jumped in the shower at 10pm that night I admired my pregnant body, took a picture, and rubbed my belly for what I was hoped would be the last time. Just like most nights, after I showered and changed, I popped in my headphones into my ears, turned on the Christian HypnoBirthing tracks, and went to sleep around 10pm. At around 11:30p, I woke up to a little bit of water going down my leg.
Confused, since it was nothing I’d ever experienced before, I couldn’t decide if I had peed myself or if my water had broken. So I curiously went to the bathroom to pee and see if I’d feel or notice anything else. Shortly after, I began feeling some waves. Granted, because I’d been experiencing prodromal labor, I wasn’t going to wake Chris up until I was sure it was the real deal.
I quietly stayed in the bathroom a little while longer until I saw a good size spider come down the ceiling and land on Chris’s gym bag!There was no way I was going to ignore that thing, so I woke Chris up by saying “babe, you need to wake up. There’s a spider on your gym bag and I think I’m in labor.” I will never forget the confused look on his face. Slowly he got out of bed half asleep, killed the spider, and came out of the bathroom to tell me he nearly broke his foot trying to kill it. He then asked if it was okay for him to lay back down and rest in case it was the real deal. I agreed that resting was a great idea, especially since I still wasn’t convinced I was actually in labor.
Active Labor!
Once again, I put my headphones back into my ear and played the Relaxing Music track in the Christian HypnoBirthing app to minimize any noise or distractions. Everytime I felt a wave, I would use my breathing techniques, filling my belly with as much air as possible and slowly letting it out. While I breathed, I envisioned my baby moving down the birth canal each time I experienced a wave.
Because I become easily distracted by numbers, I chose not to time my surges and simply surrender to my body and baby. All I put my focus on was to immerse myself completely to my waves. Believe it or not, I remember no pain at all during this time and simply embraced the peace and stillness of the night while I labored with no distraction. Something I prayed would happen.
For the next hour or so, I remember pacing back and forth between my bed and dresser while focusing on my breathing. By now I was trying to figure out if I was in actual labor. When I needed a break from walking I would sit down on my birth ball and lightly bounced until I felt ready to continue pacing some more. At one point while I was pacing, I felt another trickle of water go down my leg. Because I had my nightgown on it slightly wet the floor. It happened a few more times after that, so I was finally convinced I was in active labor.
I confidently woke chris up and told him, “It’s time”! Honestly, he was still in denial, but he got up anyways. Then he asked me if he should get our room ready and if I still wanted to give birth on our bed instead of in the birthing pool. I assured him I wanted to give birth on our bed, so he began to get our bed ready with a plastic cover to protect our mattress. Linda came over a few weeks prior and explained how to prep the room, so he knew exactly what to do. After getting our bed ready, I turned on my fairy lights on my wall next to my bed with my positive birth affirmations, and then he laid back down with the expectation it was going to be a long night.
Transition
At some point my three year old daughter came into our room, like she did most nights, and crawled into our bed. As everyone rested, I quietly continued to labor in my room, pacing back and forth, breathing my baby down. There came a time where I was getting tired of being on my feet, and my surges were getting more intense, so I quietly got on my bed with my peanut ball. With my knees on the bed, I placed my arms on the peanut ball and rested on it while I swayed back and forth.
By now I was fully convinced I was in labor, and as my waves got more intense… I became more vocal. Chris woke up from his sleep to my low moans and moved Kaley to her room. The moment he stepped out of the room I remember my waves getting closer together and I felt a little shaky and nauseous. Negative thoughts started to come up in my head, so I intentionally replaced them with positive thoughts.
The brief mental battle and nauseous feeling made me think I might be entering the transition part of labor. But i wondered “how?!”. Up until that point, I only felt like I was in labor for maybe an hour. Chris came back into the room and I asked him to get me a bag. Shortly after, I felt baby going down the birth canal even more, intense pressure and had the urge to push.
Baby Is Coming!
Chris came back into the room, handed me the plastic bag, and asked me how I was doing. “Baby is coming” I told him. The last thing on his mind was that I would have our baby soon. He thought we had at least another hour, so he grabbed my phone and started calling our midwife. Mind you, I still had my headphones in my ears playing the relaxing music from my phone to help minimize distractions.
As soon as I heard my midwives automated recording replace my relaxing music, I realized he didn’t understand that I meant baby was literally about to be born. I quickly told him “no babe! You need to catch the baby” so he turned around from my nightstand and saw baby’s head crowning. He quickly rushed to the side of my bed and stood right behind me. Thankfully he knew exactly what to do and felt confident doing it. After a couple more strong waves, our sweet baby was born at 1:11am into my husband’s arms. Proudly he announced “it’s a boy!”.
Hearing my babies cry for the first time is always the most rewarding thing to hear. Still on my knees on the bed, I carefully turned around, laid on my back, and my husband placed our baby on my chest. The amount of love I felt in that moment is so difficult to explain. “Did that just happen?” I asked Chris in shock. lol
Golden Hour
I looked down at my baby in my arms and said, “helllooo, hi, it’s okay. Mommy’s right here. Mommy and daddy are right here. Hiii. You’re a boy! Mommy was wrong this time.” We waited until he was born to find out the gender and my guess was girl the entire pregnancy.
After minutes of welcoming our baby to the world, we called our midwife and let her know baby was here. That golden hour after our baby was born was so calm, peaceful and so special. We all laid in our bed, just the three of us, in awe of what just happened. We had our baby in less than 2 hours, on our bed, only the two of us. I give God all the glory for having such a positive experience.
Big Brother and Sister Meet Little Brother
Once Linda arrived she asked me how I was doing, said hi to our baby, and checked on both me and our sweet baby. Once I felt ready, Linda assisted my husband in cutting the umbilical cord. Then I birthed the placenta using the same breathing techniques I used to birth my baby, but in a squat position. Meanwhile, my husband took some time to do skin to skin with our baby.
A few moments later, our oldest son walked in and met his baby brother. Linda was so sweet and invited him to be her little assistant the entire time she was there. Once my daughter woke up in the morning, we were able to surprise her with her little brother. She was over the moon excited when she saw him for the first time. What a blessing it was to really soak in the amazing birth we experienced. Also, to admire that we were now a family of 5. The amount of pure love in the room that day will be a feeling and memory I will cherish forever.
Side Note:
Although my birth didn’t go as “planned”, it happened better than I could have ever imagined. Thankfully, I am very familiar with process of birth, since teaching about it is my calling and what I do. I felt empowered and ready once I realized my birth team wouldn’t make it. Plus, I had a feeling it would be unassisted. Especially after I prayed asking God to reveal what I needed to do for my birth to progress after weeks of prodromal labor. All I had to do was surrender and trust in Him.
My husband is so proud of himself with how he stepped up to receive our baby into his arms. I am so proud of him too. I’m also thankful for the trust my husband has in me, my body, our baby, and the overall process of labor. Taking a HypnoBirthing Class when we were pregnant with our first taught him what his role would be for all three of our births. I appreciate the amazing job he has done in supporting me for all three of our births.
Our unassisted birth was not intentional, but I’m convinced my birth happened exactly the way it was meant to be. If God blesses us with a fourth baby (shhhh lol), I without a doubt would have another home birth, assuming both me and baby are both healthy.
If you are considering an unmedicated birth, and both you and baby are healthy, I highly encourage you to have a home birth. I will soon be sharing how to prepare for a home birth in more detail. Including how to choose a birth team that aligns with your birth goals. Also consider joining one of my HypnoBirthing Childbirth Education classes! I offer them both in-person and virtually. Having a positive birth experience is possible! Educate yourself and prepare yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually.YOU CAN DO THIS!! If you are overwhelmed with where to start or need some encouragement, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Helping families experience a positive birth experience is my passion, so I would be more than happy to help.
xo With lots of love xo
Michelle Rodriguez
Founder of Positive Birth Flow
Wow, this piece of writing is pleasant, my younger sister is analyzing these things, therefore I am going to let know her.