Anderson's Birth Story

Before I can tell you Anders' birth story, I have to tell you a bit about Ezra's. As I've said in previous posts, Ezra was not planned; I needed to know the sex of our baby, and plan for everything else I could fathom to plan for at the time - that included the birth.

Now obviously no one can PLAN their birth experience. Every pregnancy, birth and baby are starkly different; my goal was to have a plan and stick to it as long as myself and Ez were safe and healthy. I wanted a home birth for Ezra, but when we moved back from Marquette we were living in the second floor of a duplex, which wasn't an option for me, especially with neighbors directly below us. Instead we opted for a natural birth plan at a local hospital. By the grace of God everything went according to "plan" and overall my hospital experience was pretty great. Fast forward 2.5 years and I am 36 pregnant weeks with Anderson. Anderson was planned, but we decided to be surprised with the sex of our second baby.

We were also affected, just like everyone else in the world, by the pandemic. Instead of looking into midwives who perform home births, I fell into what I knew (creature of habit), despite knowing I wanted a home birth. Once March of 2020 hit, I became more and more stressed about going in for check-ups, I was nervous about whether or not my husband would be able to be with me, and stay with baby and myself post-birth. In April we were gifted the opportunity for a home birth, but I wasn't sure who to reach out to. A family friend of my in-laws suggested a midwife (one who other friends suggested, but I was nervous to reach out since I didn't know if she was accepting clients (especially those 36 weeks along). Long story short, we were connected by this friend, and just from our phone call I felt excited to be able to birth in my safe space, with my people, but mostly I was in complete awe that this woman whom I've not yet met, felt safe, and supportive.

Weeks 37 and 38 brought on bouts of false labor (which I had never experienced with Ezra), and they were causing a restlessness and tiredness I'd never known before. Week 39 came, I was 2cm dilated and ready to meet my baby. I opted to have my membranes stripped (as I did with Ezra at 40+5). That was noon on May 5th. 3am May 6th, Ezra woke up crying, and I realized I was having true contractions, approximately 8 minutes apart. I remember praying that I could and would get some more rest before active labor hit, and God provided. I was able to fall back asleep until 6:30. My mom came over to hang out with Ez for the day, Josh called our midwife to ask her to come, even though I said I was fine (my contractions were 5 minutes apart), but she'd gotten to know me well enough in 3 short weeks that she was already on her way. We also shot a text to our sweet friend who was photographing to process, and had been waiting on a call for a few weeks, because ya know, false labors.

The peace and joy of being in my own space while laboring was unparalleled. Being able to snack, drink coffee and tons and tons of water throughout the day was life giving in tough moments. Our midwife gave us so much room to labor as desired, but also pushed for me to rest when I needed (y'all I hate laboring laying down, but my body needed a rest and she knew it).

I labored from 7am to 1:47pm. I paced my house, walked with Josh by me at all times, leaned on and into him more often than not. I rested on the couch, fell asleep at one point during transition, and once I felt like I needed to push I knelt on the ground resting my arms and head against the couch. Pushing with Anderson felt completely different, I felt like I could feel him moving down every station. I also could not physically push without contractions, which was an answer to prayer since I tore with Ez. Josh was a killer support system and helped to deliver Anderson - the photos captured will forever wreck me and remind me of how much I love that man, and how deeply he loves the boys and myself. The timing of pushing could not have been more perfect, my mom just laid Ezra down for nap, and came out to hold my hand. Fifteen minutes after Anders was Earth side, Ezra woke up, and the four of us sat together for the first time on our couch, in our home. Surrounded by love, joy, and calmness. I can't believe it has been a year since we've become a family of four, I can't imagine my life without our little Stanton boy.