Planned homebirth turned into FEARLESS and PEACEFUL SOLO birth

April 28th, I felt prompted to write this. The birth I experience will be by the grace of God, the redemptive blood of Jesus, & by the incredible power of the Holy Spirit.

“Isaiah 26:3 - You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You.”

May 27th, here’s what happened.

7:52 - Woke up to my 3yr olds call and an immediate contraction. I’d had Braxton hicks sporadically over previous few days so I was unsurprised. Every time I’d had one I thought “YES!” And let myself enjoy them knowing it was prepping me for labor. For 1.5hrs, contractions occurred every ten minutes though varied in length and intensity. I told my husband and family, today could be the day, and texted my midwife that I suspected early labor.

9:44am- Contractions fizzled. I knew I needed to do some activity to avoid going crazy hoping for more. I told my husband & family to go to work. I’d call them home if things progressed. I thought, ‘if baby’s not ready today then surely tomorrow’. I took my son on a walk then came home and made lunch.

12:30pm -  mild 10 minute apart contractions began returning

1:18pm - I called my sister to take my son. Things suddenly got more intense and contractions jumped to 4 minutes apart.

1:20 pm - Called husband home. Couldn’t talk through contraction on phone. Went downstairs to try and get in the zone.

1:28 pm - Texted my midwife I’d had 4 contractions 4 min apart. Things felt STRONG but I thought I could be experiencing this intensity for hours so I wanted to make my bed, turn on some tracks from @christianhypnobirthing, and fix the lights.

1:46 pm - Texted my midwife “come pls” I realized that the reason the contractions felt so strong was because I needed to let the baby descend. Once I accepted that, the feeling totally changed. I wasn’t uncomfortable anymore and I let myself start opening LOW. I got into my bathtub on my knees and turned on the water. I reached down and felt the baby crowning with the waters still intact.

It may not have been necessary, but I remember thinking that I wasn’t sure what to do if the baby came out en caul so I knicked the bag of waters with my nails and moments later the head started arriving. I believe that’s about when I started the video on my phone to catch the rest of the arrival and waited for my body to send baby out to me.

1:51pm - baby was born. I called my midwife who was en route. I called my sister who had taken my son to the park and she started sprinting home. I called my husband who was also driving home. I waited in the tub and just minutes after birth I delivered the placenta. My sister arrived within 4 minutes, then the midwife, then my husband. Everything was perfect.

So many things I had specifically prayed for were miraculously provided by God but here is a short list:

-Healthy baby

- Got to experience the Fetal Ejection Reflex!

- Near PAIN FREE birth experience. Genuinely the most intense parts were those couple contractions I had before realizing I was about to have the baby and needed to get in the tub.

- No tearing at all

- I had a somewhat “secret prayer” for a 6 hour labor. From 7:52am when I awoke to a contraction til 1:51pm was 5 hours and 59minutes.

- Got to catch my own baby! I always hoped for that and I certainly received haha

But most notably: My birth experience was completely fearless. I truly felt so peaceful. There times when we bring the desires of our hearts to God not knowing if they are within His will. But there are many promises that God makes throughout scripture that we can be CERTAIN are His will for us because He says so Himself. Over and over God promises perfect peace in all circumstances to anyone who will trust in Him.

“There is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears has not been made perfect in love” 1 John 4:18

“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6

Asking for a birth free from all fear and full of supernatural peace became what I prayed for and believed. I received that in the most unbelievable way. I share all of this as a testimony of God’s goodness.

Mama: @abilenehope