Birth story: Finally my sweet boy made his arrival at 42 weeks and just when I thought I was going to risk out of homebirth and lose the birth I wanted; due date was September 1st and baby didn’t come till September 15th! Contractions started at 10:50pm right after my husband and almost 3 year old daughter went to sleep. Contractions were 2 mins apart from the start and when I stood up to go pee my water immediately broke, trickling out after only 4 or 5 contractions. I let my midwives and Doula know to come and woke up my husband so he could set up the pool. Poor guy was only asleep for like 20 mins lol I moved instinctively with each contraction, swaying and groaned low/horselips, everything felt so manageable so I thought for sure I wouldn’t give birth until the morning. My doula arrived and helped apply counter pressure and heating packs to my lower back with my husband as I moved around the living room. Around midnight the midwives got there the contractions felt more pushy and I squatted on the couch and began roaring loud with them, my body really began to take over here and I surrendered to it. I kept gaslighting myself so I wouldn’t be disappointed but I knew intuitively that baby was almost here. I didn’t get any cervical checks because I didn’t want to micromanage it like I did with my previous birth. After one hard pushy feeling contraction it felt a bit more stingy down there so I decided to get in the pool on our back porch. Immediately FER kicked in and my body started pushing baby out on its own, a larger gush of water broke as soon as I got in the water. I rode the waves and roared with each one (it seriously does feel like your body is throwing up but the other direction lol). As soon as he started to crown I started listing off what was happening play by play (my husband said like a sports announcer which made him laugh) it felt good to vocalize out loud what was happening since I’ve seen it so many times outside myself and helped my body stretch and slow down the head. Baby was born at 1:47am in the birth pool on our back porch. I pulled him up to my chest and immediately sucked the fluid out of his mouth and nose and he began to cry. I couldn’t believe it was already over, it was incredible. Under 3 hour labor and it felt so easy compared to my first which was a couple days of early labor/not sleeping and trying to get labor going, shoulder dystocia, and all kinds of meddling/coached pushing that made the experience traumatizing. This birth was like night and day and was completely redemptive! It was exactly how I wanted it to go. After he was born we made our way back inside to the living room, I layed on the couch with him on my chest and soaked it all in. When we finally weighed him My husband Kyle announced his weight and everyone including myself couldn’t believe it, 10lbs 10oz! And we especially couldn’t believe it when the midwives checked me and I had zero tears. It was absolutely perfect. When birth is given the opportunity to unfold the way it’s meant to, it can be absolutely beautiful ❤️ #homebirth #naturalbirth #birth - @withthealiens