Pricilla and Steven Forsythe's Homebirth Story
A Divine homebirth

Bethany Grace

born after 1 hour and 17 minutes of labor

December 24, 2003 at 4:14am

She weighed 8 pounds and 5 ounces and was 20 inches long

Our birth story really begins months earlier when we found out we would be having our fourth child. Some of my favorite magazines deal with home birth a lot. "An Encouraging Word" and "Keepers at Home" are two of these magazines. I found the subject fascinating but never dreamed that I could ever give birth at home.

When Steven and I found out that we were going to have another little one, we both felt a renewed interest in home birth. After a lot of thinking and praying on our parts, we both felt very strongly that the Lord was telling us that He wanted this one born at home. We were both unsure what to think about this since we didn't know how we would even pay a midwife if we could find one in out area. Steven's work had been slow for a while and we were unsure how much longer he would even have a job. I told a good friend of mine about all of this and I was delighted when she called me back the next day with the phone number of an apprentice midwife in our area.

I called the lady and found out that not only was she in my area but lived only five minutes up the road. I really liked all that she had to tell me about home birth but the one thing that bothered me was the price. While it was very reasonable, I just didn't see how we could afford it with my husband's work being so slow. After more discussion and prayer, we came to the conclusion that this was the Lord's will. So we made an appointment to talk to this lady and the CPM that she was working with. We had no idea what was going to happen but we both felt a great sense of peace about the whole thing after the decision was made. We met with the midwives on a Sunday afternoon and talked over everything with them. They answered every question we had and an appointment was made for my next prenatal visit. We worked out payment arrangements and my husband and I decided that we would do whatever it took to make these payments. This was going to be an exciting experience!

We were amazed when Steven went to work the next day and was told that the plant would begin running 6 days per week. Not only that but the other first shift mechanic who worked with my husband was not coming back to work so my husband was needed for a lot of over time in the evenings as well! He had gone from 5 days with no overtime to 6 and 7 days with hours of overtime in the evenings. A few days after this, my mother called and said that a lady she worked with had some quilt tops that she wanted put together into a quilt and was willing to pay me what I considered a very generous amount of money to do it for her.

The Lord had a perfect plan worked out from the start and all we had to do was obey Him and He would take care of all the rest. He even had a plan for areas where I wasn't so obedient. One of the requirements that I was given by my midwives was a total change of diet. No soda, sweets, white bread, or pork (including gravy).I had to start eating a lot of salad and greens- yuk! I also had to give up green tea which I drank about 3-5 cups of per day. I didn't see how I could do it. I tried really hard and succeeded for the most part but then my birthday came and a friend of mine sent me a Dutch apple pie and my husband cooked me a birthday cake. How could I resist? I ate one little piece of pie- and got so sick that I threw it right back up. I tried a very small piece of the cake the next day and the same thing happened again. Soda or coffee or anything with caffeine or sugar gave me killer headaches. They would hurt so bad that I couldn't think of anything else. So even where I was disobedient the Lord had a plan and I thanked him over and over again for those headaches. I also had to start exercising. I would walk around and around a large path in the backyard 10 times a day. With the exhaustion of early pregnancy, this was not easy at first. I really had to force myself. But after the initial exhaustion had passed, I found that the new diet and exercise really made me feel so much better. I had more energy and felt so much better than I had with any of my other pregnancies! It was great.

Now, for the end of pregnancy. After my midwife did an internal exam at 38 weeks, She found that my cervix was already very soft. While she couldn't predict when I would go into labor, she could tell that when I did go, it would be fast. I have a history of short labors. One of my previous labors was only 2 and 1/2 hours. I was hoping this would be one of those. 2 and 1/2 hours would give my husband time to get home from work and for the midwife to get here. The assistant midwife was right up the road so I knew I would be in good hands.

Our whole family was watching the calendar. Our due date was December 17th. The 17th came and went with nothing. We were going crazy with waiting and in the meantime I couldn't seem to get the house clean enough. I was scrubbing around the clock and getting angry with my family if they left so much as a shoe in the floor. I was really shrewish and impatient. On December 23rd I got a call from one of my midwives. She told me that it would be a good idea to have a nonstress test the next day. The baby was only a week "overdue" but since it was the holiday season, the Dr.'s office would be closing its doors and if I waited, I would have to have the NST done at the hospital for double the price. The doctor was in another town and I did not want to go, so I took a deep breath and asked if she would consider stripping my membranes. I was thrilled when she said that she would.

Both midwives arrived about an hour later. It was so nice of them both to come right over like that, especially with it being almost Christmas. I know they probably would have preferred being with their families. Never did either of them give me one word of complaint. Not only did they strip my membranes and massage my cervix but I was also given Black and Blue Cohosh. Later, I went walking too. When I went to bed at 2:00 A.M., I still hadn't felt the first contraction. I woke up around 3:00 with what I was sure was a real contraction. I went to use the bathroom and when I came out, I put on a bathrobe and called my midwife. She said she was on her way. Then I called my other midwife (the assistant midwife) and she arrived at 3:48. By this time, there was no doubt that this was IT. I was so relieved and glad when she arrived. She called her assistant, who lived about 1/2 hour away. Then she checked my baby girl's heartbeat, using a fetoscope. I held my husband's hand through the contractions for a little while and then we all went back to the bedroom, which I had all prepared with all the things I thought we would need. She tried to listen to my baby's heartbeat again, while I sat down on the bed but Bethany was too low in the birth canal. While she did this, my husband filled the bathtub full of hot water. The hot water was supposed to help with pain but by the time I got to the tub, I knew that I would never be able to sit down. The pain never got too bad to manage though. I just kept asking the Lord to help me. As long as I kept my focus on Him, it never got too bad to stand.

I got one foot into the tub, when I started feeling the urge to push. At the midwife's urging, I put the other foot up on the side of the tub. Originally our plan was for Steven to "catch" the baby but it just didn't work out that way. I needed him to be there for me to hang onto while I pushed. If he hadn't been there for me to hold onto, I don't know what I would have done. He literally held me up. I would have fallen over without him. It felt so good to be able to push! On the third push, Bethany's head started to crown. When my midwife told me not to push, but to let my body do the pushing, I misunderstood and thought that I was supposed to hold her in. I was horrified and told her "I can't". She repeated herself and I understood this time. I let my body do the pushing and Bethany Grace Forsythe was born at 4:17 AM on Christmas Eve.

The hard part came afterward when it was time to push out the placenta. The main midwife and the assistant midwife's assistant arrived soon after. This is confusing so I will refer to the head midwife as the CPM. I wish I could use their names and clear up a lot of confusion but NC's homebirth laws are not what they should be so I will keep everyone anonymous. My placenta was still imbedded in the uterine wall and did not want to budge. My CPM gave me some herbal tinctures and worked to help things along every time I had a contraction. The placenta was finally loosened after an hour and 5 minutes- almost as long as the actual labor. I was so thankful that she knew what to do because this part was kind of scary. I knew that the Lord would not have brought us this far only for me to have to go to the hospital at the last minute.

When we thought it over afterward, we both realized that in an hour and seventeen minutes, I never would have made it to the hospital in time. Especially not with 3 other kids, who would have to have been dressed and taken to a friend's house. So, we would have had a homebirth whether we wanted one or not. I cringe to think about what would have happened if we had not obeyed what the Lord called us to do. I have terrible daydreams of giving birth in the back of the car with 3 scared children looking on. This way was wonderful. I had a much better labor with the aid of 2 wonderful midwives and their assistant who was also great. Bethany and I got to rest in our own home afterward and the other kids got to sleep until the hard part was over. We woke them up afterward to see their new baby sister. By the time we got them up, everything was cleaned up and calm. I am also thankful that Steven's Christmas vacation started that day so that I had help and was able to rest. Giving birth at home has been a beautiful experience for the entire family. It is an experience that we hope to repeat some day, if it's God's will.