Disclaimer: I use anatomical language that might be offensive to the sensitive, so if words like vagina and vulva scare you, maybe don’t read this. I also claim no liability for baby fever or emotions felt by these photos. Photography by: Elisha Orin Photography.

Violette was a long time coming. Her due date came and went. I began to get frustrated. We hit the 41 week mark and the days just kept coming one after another with no baby.

I took the weekend off from any labor inducing methods to let my body just “do its thing”. Monday would be 41 weeks, 6 days. At 42 weeks we would have to consider interventions. I was dreading Monday morning, because it meant a call to my midwife to tell her I still wasn’t in labor.

I woke up Monday with some mild cramping and blood tinged discharge. I went about my morning, did a “labor inducing” work out, had some adult time with my husband, rubbed clary sage on all my pressure points. I decided that since I still wasn’t in labor it would be best to go to work and take care of payroll and my weekly paper work. I made the call to my midwife around 11:30 and her suggestion was to get an ultrasound to check fluid levels, positioning, etc. She felt that we could hold out a few more days if we knew everything was fine with the baby.

I called a local business that does ultrasounds on the side and scheduled one for 4pm. That was around noon, which is also when my first contraction hit.

Seeing as I had had contractions on and off for weeks now I didn’t put much faith in the first few. I went to the bank to make my deposits and decided to go to Hobby Lobby to get a few last minute Christmas items. I spent time wandering around the store. It was the first day of winter and all I could get on my feet were flip flops so I wasn’t too keen on walking outside, but figured walking somewhere would help if these contractions were real.

By the time I got back to the shop around 2pm my contractions were starting to pick up. I decided to hang for an hour and wait for Joel to finish tattooing. I started timing my contractions and realized they were 4 minutes apart and lasting 2 minutes in duration. I decided to cancel the ultrasound as this seemed to be established labor.

Joel and I picked Viv up from school and I called my midwife to update her. I also texted my birth photographer to let her know today was the day, and I would let her I know when I was ready. I decided to lay down and try to sleep a little. I dozed on and off but by 5pm there was no way I was sleeping as contractions were less than 3 minutes apart and becoming painful.

I got up and attempted to tidy up the house as I realized labor was picking up. Joel asked if I wanted him to call the midwife. I declined as I was still gun shy after my last birth. I had called the midwife too early with my first birth and labor stalled out. Not wanting to repeat that mistake I wanted to wait to call until I was sure things were happening.

I went in the bathroom and attempted to braid my hair to get it out of the way. I could barley complete that task as contractions were now taking all of my focus to get through. I realized it was time to make the call as everyone on my birthing team had at least a 45 minute drive.

Joel was doing the dishes and prepping food for later. I was bouncing on my yoga ball and using an ottoman to cling to during contractions. I was still getting breaks between contractions so Viv and I worked on coloring a picture together. I think it was around 6pm at that point that I no longer could get through contractions alone and asked Joel to come sit with me.

The first midwife, Jennie, arrived around 6:30pm. By then contractions were about two minutes apart. She attempted to take my blood pressure, but each time she would start I began to have a contraction. She listened to the baby with a Doppler and found her heart rate to be in the 130s.

I continued to labor in the living room on my yoga ball until after my photographer and my primary midwife, Lynn, showed up. I moved onto my side with some pillows on the living room floor and worked there for a good amount of time. I was aware of everyone talking and moving about, but was having to focus very hard to make it through each contraction into the next break.

I began feeling nauseous and took a trip to the bathroom to pee and decided to vomit while I was there. I went back to the living room, but could not find a comfortable position so I decided to go to my bedroom and lay on my left side. My contractions were coming heavy now, with little to no break between. Joel was standing behind me, doing his best to support me. He was my anchor throughout the whole ordeal. The handful of contractions I had to go through without him were unbearable. The ones with him present were intense and painful, but I felt like we were making this happen together.

I began thinking that I wanted to move to the bathroom, but with 5 other people in the house and only one bathroom I wanted to be sensitive to everyone’s needs. When I finally caught a few seconds between contractions and could talk I asked anyone that needed to use the bathroom do so now as I wanted to move there within the next few minutes. I had done most of my pushing with my first daughter on the toilet and felt like I would be comfortable there again.

Once I got the all clear that everyone had taken their bathroom break I hopped off the bed and kicked my pants and underwear off. I couldn’t even make it into the bathroom without another contraction starting, but I managed to make it to the toilet and everyone left me alone.

My legs were shaking uncontrollably at this point. I reached inside my vagina to check the status and immediately felt dismayed. While I had a lot of blood tinged mucus, it felt like my cervix was exactly where I had been that morning. I called Lynn into the bathroom and told her I didn’t think I was making progress. She told me she thought that probably wasn’t possible given the way I had been working through contractions, but she offered to check me herself if I wanted. Before we could get that far I had another contraction and began involuntarily pushing. I felt baby shifting. I again stuck my fingers inside my vagina and this time realized I was feeling the head. This gave me a second wind. My cervix was completely open and what I was feeling was my baby descending and not a firm cervix like I had thought moments before.

The contractions were still coming strong, but I was now getting a 30 second break between. My midwife asked if I wanted to have the baby in the bathroom. I told her I didn’t know, but that I just needed to keep pushing at the moment. Joel got a stool and set up camp right in front of the toilet so I could lean into him, forehead to forehead, with each push. He grabbed a cool wash cloth for my forehead before I even had a chance to ask and it was incredibly refreshing. The rest of the birth team joined us in the bathroom which was a little crowded. Lynn got the crock pot of warm wash cloths we had prepped and started holding them to my vulva as I pushed. The heat and pressure was relieving and encouraged me to push harder.

I was trying to get three good pushes with every contraction. Every other contraction I was checking on the descent of the baby's head. Thankfully with every push I was making progress and could feel the pressure of the head getting lower.

At the point that Joel said he could see the top of the head emerging I made the decision to move to the bedroom. My bathroom is pretty small, so it was a little tight with five of us. I do remember Elisha, the photographer, being in the bathtub and on the counter trying to make room for the rest of us and get good pictures.

As quick as I could between contractions I got off the toilet and waddled into the bedroom. I thought walking around for weeks with a head in my pelvis was difficult. Walking just a dozen feet with a head in my vagina was something totally different.

I made it to the bedroom in front of our bed where a shower curtain and some chucks pads had been laid out. The midwives were discussing where to set up the birth stool for me but I realized it was too late and told them so. On the next contraction I pushed her out. I thought it was one push, Joel said it was two, one for her head and one for the rest of her body. Either way, she was out and Joel and I caught her together. Her cord was long enough that I was able to bring her up to my chest. I still didn’t know her gender at this point, but wanted to wait a minute to look.

Joel sent Elisha upstairs to get our daughter Viv who had gone to bed only 30 mins or so before. I sat back on to the bed and Joel and Viv crowded around to see the new baby. I peeked and saw that she was a girl! When I told everyone else in the room there was a little bit of disbelief as most everyone had thought I was carrying a boy.

Violette had been born at 9:05. I had only been sitting on the bed a few moments when I felt another strong contraction. I knew the placenta was coming, even though it seemed extremely soon. I told everyone I was about to birth the placenta and someone asked for a bowl to put it in. I knew it was coming sooner than anyone could get to the kitchen and back so I squatted down while still cradling Violette in my left arm and birthed the placenta with the other hand. Even though it was only 5 mins between baby and placenta, the cord had stopped pulsing at this point. I remained squatting with the placenta on the ground while Lynn clamped the cord and Joel cut it.

Once untethered baby and I made our way up in bed. We sent Viv back to bed and Joel got me some snacks and water. After an hour or so of me snuggling Violette the midwives did her exam next to me in bed. She was 7lbs, 5oz and 21.5in long. Other than a little swelling on her head she had no issues. I was also examined and other than a few abrasions I was completely intact. For pushing her out so hard and fast I was excited to hear I had no tearing. After that was complete I went to the bathroom to wash off while the sheets on our bed were changed. I then got dressed and snuggled into bed with the baby. Everyone left soon after around midnight or so.

From first contraction to her birth it was only 9 hours. I would say I was in active labour for about 4. Her birth was extremely intense, but I was thankful that it was fast and progressed perfectly. I am thankful my older daughter was a part of it and even though she missed the actual moment of birth, she was present for all the sights and smells of a natural labor and delivery. I am also thankful for an awesome birth team that let me call the shots, but were right on hand for whatever I needed.

I am most thankful for my husband who not only was okay with another home birth, but encouraged it. He stayed by my side and offered all the encouragement I needed to make it through each contraction. It was an absolutely wonderful experience, and I am thrilled to no longer be pregnant!

Two days postpartum I am up moving around and other than a little soreness I feel great. Violette is extremely alert and healthy, despite coming at 42 weeks. My experience may not be typical nor even available to everyone, but I believe having a homebirth is such a wonderful option and should not be feared. Our bodies were made to do this!