Home Sweet Home: Autumn’s Birth Story

My third pregnancy felt long, especially the last few weeks of it. But once God decided it was Autumn’s day, she raced into the world in three quick hours.

I spent the first hour and a half wondering if I was really in labor. By 9am when I called Adam, who was at work 20 minutes away, and our midwives and Adam’s sister Aron, who all live an hour away in Gainesville, I started to wonder if I’d waited too long. In just a few minutes I went from making the bed and sorting laundry to kneeling on the floor and breathing through the pain.

By 9:20am Adam was home, getting the bed ready. A little after 10 I could feel the baby moving down and realized I was in transition. Adam’s mom had been by a few minutes earlier to pick up Sky and Micah, so the house was peaceful and quiet, but it also felt… empty. Just Adam, my mom (who’d flown in from Michigan on Saturday), and me. No professionals. “The midwives will be here soon,” Adam reassured me.

The contractions were very intense by then and I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. I got onto the bed and curled up on my side, hoping maybe things would slow down. But then I had a really strong contraction and felt my water break. Immediately my body started trying to push the baby out.

At that point my mom started to panic. She kept running to the front door to see if Aron, an RN who’s currently in midwifery school, or either of our midwives were driving up the road yet. I heard her tell Adam, “Go get your turkey baster.” If I’d been able to talk I would have told her that planning a home birth involves a few preparations and that we had a full birth kit right next to the bed, complete with a sterilized bulb syringe for suctioning and just about anything else we might need.

“I’m trying not to push, but I can’t help it,” I said to Adam. “Your body knows what to do,” he said calmly, “so just do whatever you need to do.” He called Jessica, one of our midwives, who said she was just a few minutes away. “Jessica says you should get on your knees on the bed,” Adam told me, so I did. My mom went running back to the front door again. After a few minutes of “trying not to push” the baby’s head was out. Jessica and my mom came running into the room. Without even putting down her purse or taking off her coat, Jessica reached up to make sure the baby’s cord was not around her neck, then told me I could give a little push. A second later, her body slipped out.

And just like that, at 10:27am, I was sitting on the bed with my baby in my arms. My mom, Adam, and I were all crying. Autumn was crying too, a wonderful sound. A minute later Aron walked in, and a few minutes after that Lynn, our second midwife arrived.

Aside from the fact that Aron missed the birth by a minute and we didn’t have time to use the birthing tub, Autumn’s arrival was just what I’d wanted—a simple birth without any meds, IV’s, or fetal monitoring. No cervical checks, no hospital gown, no episiotomy. And best of all, Autumn Faith got to stay right there in our arms the rest of the day.

We didn’t do anything to deserve such a sweet, uncomplicated birth. It was a gift from God, just like Autumn herself.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” – James 1:17