Theodore's Birth Story

Dec 23rd - 10pm I randomly had an adrenaline surge followed by intense shakes. The kind you typically experience in the transition phase of birth or after birth itself. I wondered if this was it but had never experienced birth starting so aggressively like this. I made sure to inform my midwives as I got in a bath. The shakes eased up and I went to bed that night.

Dec 25th, Christmas Day I woke up after a late Christmas Eve and little sleep, feeling like I was getting sick. As the day progressed I had shivers and a runny nose and dry cough. That night I hardly slept because I couldn’t breathe. I remember joking with Avery before bed saying,

“I’m going to end up coughing this baby out, just kidding…can you imagine going in to birth like this?? Or heck postpartum recovery with a cough?? Heckkk no.”

*famous last words*

Dec 26th 4:30am I woke up to somewhat of a pattern in contractions. Not super painful, but noticeable and not something I could sleep through. Every 7-8 mins lasting 20 seconds long. I was EXHAUSTED though and felt so sick, so I laid there for 3 hrs trying to sleep some more but really just laying horizontal.

7:30am I told Avery about the pattern and started religiously tracking them. They never eased off and started to slowly but surely go from 7-8 mins apart at 20 seconds long to 5-6 mins apart at 30 seconds long. I tracked them in the bath for almost 2 hrs thinking the bath would either slow it down or it’d stay on and I’d know to call the midwives. I chose to call them and my nurse girlfriend Lucy who also did a homebirth and lives closer to me than my midwives.

9:30am all of the help was here but labor was just steady at about 4-5 mins apart 30-40 second long contractions. My parents graciously came and grabbed the kiddos with overnight gear.

For the next 5-5.5 hours I moved through contractions that felt strong but still left me feeling stagnant. Keep in mind both of my previous fully unmedicated home births were a total of 4 hours long and 2 hours long. So at this point I was not only exhausted from no sleep and the flu, I was also totally thrown by the fact that this labor had now been going on for 5 hours (and would end up totaling 12 hours).

Midway through I had my midwife check me (something I’d never done but I felt like maybe I had a cervical lip or something). She checked me and I was 8-9cm dilated at 12:00ish which was encouraging because it meant my body WAS being productive but still something was off. Come to find out baby boys head wasn’t engaged on the cervix evenly like we wanted it to be.

This was when I started the reset position for 45 mins (which I 100% fell asleep in haha) and the Meyers circuit which was TOUGH but productive.

3:00pm I felt the urge to bear down, and did, for like an hour but always felt stuck. I went from the side of the bed to the toilet to the shower as Avery ran hot water over me. But the contractions would get cut short because I’d have this sharp pain in my hips and round ligaments.

4:00pm I laid down and my midwife checked me again and she had me push while she lifted my cervix up and that felt the most productive. The counter pressure even felt kind of nice. I did that sitting up/laying some in bed because my legs and hips were just DONE. Which felt weird because for both previous home births I birthed them standing up, with gravity as my friend. There was so much more pressure on my butt pushing in the reclining position than standing like I normally do. It also felt more fiery like I for sureeee thought I tore. I didn’t praise God but it felt less fetal ejection and more like roaring him out as a contraction came on. I did that for like 45 mins and he was born at 4:51pm, a whole 8lbs 2oz and 20inches long.

Never have I cried so immediately when a child was born but the RELIEF of him finally being in my arms and being able to rest was unreal.

God absolutely answered my prayers for Avery to be here for the birth, so in that regard, I give immense thanks. I literally couldn’t have gone through that without him, his prayers over me, his words of affirmation, and his 60+ hip squeezes.

But whew I wouldn’t wish birth + the flu on my worst enemy hahaha and I pray that's a first and a last experience for me. We'll have quite the story to tell this little guy someday, but for the meantime, welcome home baby Theodore "Teddy" John Wells. We love you so much and he will know no lack of love with the way his siblings fight to hold him.