It’s been over 18 months since I had my last baby at home and it’s taken me this long to write down her birth story. What better day to share than today, International Homebirth Day. I have had two home births, both of which were great and unique in their own way. You can read my other birth stories here and here.

So here we go. Most people who know me have heard this story at least 15 times over. It’s a good one albeit one that took me some time to recover from mentally. I have had three births and I am so grateful I have been able to carry and deliver babies well, something I do not take for granted for a second. This pregnancy was a particularly interesting experience as we were in the Caribbean for the majority of 2020 due to the pandemic and I had the majority of my prenatal care there, which was great and I was really grateful for the care I received. Everything went well, I had ultrasounds and regular checkups there until I was 34 weeks when we were able to fly back to Canada. I will share more about that experience in another post.

Birth Story

This story is very quick…I was 39 weeks pregnant, the most pregnant I had ever been. I had been feeling some pressure and I was finishing up work before mat leave definitely feeling like the time was near but not thinking much of it at the same time. My husband was working and I had settled everyone for the evening and I was going to watch some shows and relax. Now, my delivery with my middle child was one hour long however, they say the third child can be a wildcard so, I wasn’t too worried. Well, fast was an understatement. If you deliver quickly… please take heed.

Not long after I had showered and started to relax by watching a show, I fell asleep. A few hours later I woke up to her head in my crotch, then my water breaking. I was home alone with my other children sleeping not far down the hall. They were awoken by all the commotion and banging on the door - more on that later… but were too scared to come out of the room. I had planned a home birth so, I called the midwives who instructed me to call 911. In between calling the midwives and calling 911, I was letting my husband know what was going on - in a very panicked and angry fashion, of course.

The above timeline wasn’t more than 5 minutes. I had read the precipitous delivery sheet a few days prior and I remembered it saying to lay flat to slow down the speed of the delivery. I lay on my back while on the phone with the 911 operator and my baby is just coming out…. there’s no stopping her. The paramedics had to have the door knocked down as I was trying to avoid the children having to step into the madness. It only occurred to me after that that I probably could have called my mother or any other family member who was closer to come open the door but, I didn’t even think of that at that moment. I remember feeling quite scared but also in control at the same time. While all this is transpiring, my husband and the midwives are trying to make it to me. Once the paramedics made it upstairs, I was basically delivering her legs and the paramedic caught her and it was like time stood still!

The whole ordeal from start to finish was under half an hour. It felt like an eternity before my husband and the midwives arrived and I am thankful for time-stamped photos to realise how quickly everything really did transpire.

Once she was delivered, my husband and the midwives arrived almost immediately. The paramedics, firefighters and police all stayed until they arrived as they were worried I was in shock and that I needed to be transferred to the hospital because they obviously didn’t know I was already planning to be at home. Eventually, everyone cleared out and we were able to have calm and settle in. It was an extremely eventful delivery and a bit shocking and disappointing all at the same time. She was in perfect health as she came out, very pink and crying right away…She was born at 7lbs 15 ounces, my smallest by a pound!

I am so grateful I got to experience homebirth twice and even more grateful for the wonderful and emotionally supportive midwives.

Pro tip: Ensure you have a waterproof layer down on your bed just in case…

My home birth must-haves linked: