Friday, 3 November started off like any ordinary day. There was no indication that Amelia would make her debut later that night. I had been experiencing Braxton Hicks and mild cramping on and off but hadn't thought anything of it. I had an appointment with my midwife that afternoon & the baby's head was engaged in my pelvis but still movable. She thought for sure I'd be making it to my due date.

Early Friday evening, we were all home & pondering what to do for dinner. Aidan was reading stories to Adison, Phil ventured off to the bedroom to read a magazine & I was straightening up the kitchen. I experienced some more mild cramping but nothing that was consistent or made me think I was in early labor. I decided to go relax and talk with Phil while the kids were engaged in stories.

While laying in bed, I had a few more mild cramps and around 5:45, Amelia punched me so hard that we watched my entire belly move & heard my bag of waters pop. At the time, we didn't think my water popped just that the baby was quite active. I experienced another mild cramp immediately after the punch and commented to Phil these cramps remind me of my labor with Adison.

About 10 minutes later, I felt a little trickle and thought maybe the baby had pushed on my bladder. As I got up to use the bathroom, I soon realized the trickle was my water and it had broken. It never gushed like I thought it would but my pants & slippers were soaked so I knew. Phil grabbed the phone so I could call our midwife & I headed off to the bathroom. I checked myself for prolapse of the cord and felt nothing so I was comfortable with moving around the house and sitting on my birthing ball.

Our midwife arrived around 7 and I was experiencing some mild period like cramps, not real consistent but continued walking and sitting on the birth ball. As the cramps would come, I would focus my energy inward and do relaxation breathing while visualizing my cervix opening and baby coming down.

We got the kids settled for slumber party night and talked to them a little more about their baby coming to meet us soon. They were excited and a little nervous. Aidan asked if I was going to the hospital and I reminded him that I was staying home and our baby would be here soon. We asked if they wanted us to wake them if they feel asleep and after the baby arrived but they both said they'd meet the baby in the morning. Once the kids settled down to watch a movie they feel asleep before Amelia arrived. I was hoping they'd both be awake for her birth.

Over the course of the next hour and a half, I continued my relaxation & visualization techniques while alternating between walking and sitting on the birthing ball. I continued to experience mild, period like cramping and remained relaxed and focused. At one point Phil & I pulled out our family scrapbook and shared our photos with our midwife while reminising about the past 15 years and our journey together as a couple, parents and best friends.

Around 9:00, she requested to check my cervix. I was hesitant but curious to know how much progress was being made. I was 3cm and decided maybe I should focus on resting and not walking or sitting on the ball. She applied a heating pad to my back & I laid in bed chatting, laughing and cuddling with Phil. All along, I experienced period like cramps that were getting stronger & longer. However, my entire uterus wasn't contracting so our midwife was encouraging me to get up and move. I kept telling them that I was feeling the baby move down and told them to watch my belly as I had the cramping. They could watch Amelia's little feet kicking as if to push her way down my birth canal. The cramping was becoming more intense and I continued my relaxation breathing and visualization.

I experienced the intense cramping for about 1 hour and would have about 1 minute between the cramps before another one started....my entire uterus still wasn't contracting. Shortly before Amelia arrived, I had this intense urge to push but needed to be in the bathroom. Once out of my bed, I was unable to stand upright but somehow managed to make it to the toilet. I sat down and decided to see if I could feel the baby's head. Her head wasn't out but I could feel her in the birth canal. As I told Phil & our midwife that I feel the head, her head slid out and I was holding my baby's head in my hand. Phil looked and announced to the midwife that the baby's head is out. She was quite shocked! Phil lifted me up so that our midwife could get a better grasp on the baby & gently lifted her up to my belly. We left the cord attached until it stopped pulsing but shortly after birthing her, I moved to the bed and experienced the "God High of a Homebirth". Everything complete, still, peaceful, calm and perfect.

Amelia was our midwife's first toilet birth & I was the first woman she ever witnessed walk to the bed with cord and baby still attached. Looking back I could tell she wasn't comfortable with that but I am grateful that she allowed me the freedom to do what I felt best.

She arrived @ 10:50pm (or so we think) and it was 5 hours from the time my water broke until Amelia arrived earthside. She latched on like a pro and is nursing well. I've had to remind myself daily that I need to focus on resting, sleeping and nursing Amelia. I feel so good that it's hard to believe I've had a baby. I had a small tear but nothing that required stitches. My midwife uses lots of herbs & tinctures so I believe that's one reason my bottom has felt good and my recovery has been so smooth.

Around 5:00am Saturday morning, Adison & Aidan came to the bedroom to meet Amelia. This was my most favorite moment after her birth. Our room was peaceful, calm and "OURS"...we bonded as a family, without any interruptions..no one to tell us what needed to be done, just what we felt best. It was perfect. The kids took a liking to Amelia from the beginning and still can't contain their hugs & kisses when they're close to her. It's heart warming to watch and see the bond that they share even now.

Everything about it was peaceful and calm, just as I dreamed it would be. Amelia's birth was the most intense of all 3 but the most empowering of all. I never pushed. My body and Amelia did all the work. All my contractions were in my lower ab and 2 days following her birth, I felt like I had done a major ab workout. My midwife allowed me the space to birth Amelia where I felt comfortable and she was very hands off. It was my body, my baby, my birth...amazing!

My pregnancy, labor & birth of Amelia have taught me to truly trust birth, my body, my beliefs & God. Aidan was my free-standing birth center birth and I knew with Adison I wanted a homebirth. Unfortunately, hb wasn't an option(I wasn't in tight with the "underground" midwives) but I was with birth center midwives as well. To finally experience a homebirth with Amelia has been so incredibly amazing. It's hard not to share with everyone that she was born at home but feel it's important in a society where birth is so medicalized & routine.

I caught a news story last night about the woman who birth her baby on an airplane, mid-flight. I had to chuckle as the story was reported because they made it sound like Thank God baby arrived safe and everyone is healthy. We need to see more birth stories like that reported on the news...maybe if we hear more of these unexpected, non-medicated, out of the hospital birth stories women's view of birth will start changing.

Here's something funny too...I take Adison to storytime every Thursday morning. This past Thursday the one volunteer was asking me about my birth experience and talking about Amelia. She's much older (60-70's) and she was asking about my hospital experience. When I told her I had Amelia at home she was blown-away. She commented how she didn't think women could still have babies at home, is it legal, did I go to the hospital after she was born to be checked, etc. She also told me how her mother had all 6 of her babies at home but she birthed 4 babies in the hospital because that's just where women had babies when she was pregnant. She was truly amazed that homebirth still existed and that there women out there that have homebirths. It was quite an interesting conversation.