24 Jan Happy Birthday, Ava!

What a beautiful day it was a year ago helping this sweet repeat TCM family welcome their baby into the world!  It was a joyful and magical experience! Thank you so much to this special TCM mama for sharing Ava’s birth story in celebration of her first birthday and to Josephine Miller Salamonski for capturing these incredible moments!

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ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION! 

Ava’s Home Birth Story 1/24/2023

“I knew that my baby and I were working together as the ultimate team. I rode the waves while my body moved instinctively to make room for Ava. I would close my eyes, breathe deeply, and repeat my affirmations with one in particular, “each wave brings me closer to meeting you.”

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It was Saturday morning (4 days before I would meet Ava) when I woke up to the first signs of labor. My “bloody show” which is your body’s way of preparing you for birth. I messaged my midwife, Kate and kept her updated, but I knew that this could mean I could go into labor today or a week from now. Sure enough, nothing came of it and we did our best to carry on with normal life. Letting go of the expectation around time was no small feat. Over the next few days, I started to feel what I am calling “low tides” or small waves (contractions) starting to wash over me. They came and went just like an ocean wave washing up on shore. 

It was now my “due date.” A date I had mentally tried to block out my entire pregnancy. Babies come on their own timing and putting an exact date to it was only going to cause unnecessary expectation and pressure. Letting my baby come on her own timing was important to me. Especially knowing the hormones of labor are initiated by the baby. Later that morning, I had my 40-week visit at Kate’s office. It felt so good to cry and laugh with Kate and Kayla (just one of the many reasons why I love the home birth model of care- it’s SO personal and individualized prenatal care). Throughout the visit, I was feeling low tides and would need to get up and lean over the table as I swayed my hips from side-to-side through each surge. Kate suggested I get into the side-lying position for my next surge. This is a technique used by Spinning Babies for optimal fetal positioning. They massaged me during the next surge and it felt amazing! We checked on Ava and I listened to her heartbeat which felt incredibly special that day knowing how close we were to meeting each other. Little did I know, I would be holding her in my arms the very next day. 

I woke up with a positive mindset. I was determined to forget all about my labor even though my surges were strong enough to wake me up a few times in the night. I kept reminding myself that Ava would come when she is ready. So I did things to distract myself. I went for a long walk and really put some pep in my step that morning by walking 3 miles at a high incline. After breakfast, my daughters and I took what would be the last photos of my baby bump together. Something was telling me that I needed to spend some quality time with my oldest daughter. I realized I had been missing out on our one-on-one time together. So I took her on a date to my favorite cafe (the cafe where I wrote the majority of my book, “New Mama’s Guide to Natural Birth”). At the table next to us, was a group of first-time moms holding their 7-week old babies. They were laughing, crying and sharing stories of their new normal. My 4-year old climbed into my lap and we talked to the mamas and watched as the babies spit up, were bottle fed, breastfed, rocked and shooshed for the next two hours. It was the best crash course on what life will be like with a new baby for her. As we were enjoying this sweet and very special moment together, she whispered into my ear, “This is the best day ever. It would be a really great day for our baby to come,” to which I could literally feel my body release, let go, and surrender. It was the mental and physical release I needed in order for labor to officially begin! I needed to spend that last moment with my oldest daughter before we became a family of five.

I finally felt my body surrender. 🕊️

We left the cafe and went to pick up my other daughter from my parents house. I was about to take the girls home when the strongest surge washed over me. I leaned over the couch and breathed into it. I decided it would be best to keep my girls at their house and head home to rest. I had four more waves wash over me on the drive home. They continued to feel incredibly strong since I was immobile in the car. As soon as I walked through the front door, I felt a huge sense of relief knowing I was home and had nowhere else to be. I called downstairs to my husband and said, “we’re having a baby!” 

My surges were very manageable. I didn’t think my midwife team or birth photographer needed to be called yet. I tried to get some rest. But it was clear, I was not getting any rest.  I felt another strong wave wash over me. I had to keep moving through each surge. I told my husband he better call our team as things were starting to pick up fast. My body was telling me to keep moving. So I listened intuitively. I was lunging, squatting and leaning over our couch while swaying my hips back and forth. In the space between surges, my husband and I enjoyed the peaceful moments alone. Undisturbed. It was really nice that it was just us. We listened to music,  while I ate and sipped on my Motherbees “labor aid” to stay hydrated. I would lean on my birth ball for support and my husband would apply pressure on my low back and squeeze my hips through each surge. In the moments of rest, I would collapse into his arms, close my eyes, breathe deeply, and repeat my affirmations with one in particular, “each wave brings me closer to meeting you.” It was now 4:30pm. I had just left the bathroom when the most powerful surge of all took over and brought me to my knees. I heard a pop and all of a sudden my water broke! I told my husband to get the birth pool ready, but I flew through transition so quickly that we didn’t even have time to fill the birth pool! I had only experienced labor in the water from my first two pregnancies, so it was a very different experience laboring “on land.” Even though my birth team hadn’t arrived yet, I felt calm. My body and baby were doing the work. I knew that my baby and I were working together as the ultimate team.

My midwives walked in the door at 4:40pm. The energy in the room was SO peaceful and calm. I was in my own world focusing on my breath and keeping my body loose. I just remember them saying, “you’re doing it, Sarah!” I then felt an intense surge and suddenly got very hot. My husband placed a cold washcloth around my neck. I reached down and felt her head crowning. I said, “there she is!” I knew that the next few waves would bring my baby earth side. Sure enough, the next two surges brought her into this world. 

She was here! My third daughter! Born at 5:00pm on the nose and only 20 min after my midwife team had arrived. At that exact moment, my birth photographer walked in through the front door and captured the moment. I couldn’t believe the timing! 

Moments later, I birthed the placenta. We placed the placenta in a bowl with the umbilical cord still attached to Ava. I wrapped Ava up in my arms and we made our way down the hall to the bedroom. The golden hour was surreal. Ava did the breast crawl and found her first latch. Kate was spoon feeding me soup, made us scrambled eggs and toast, and mint tea with lemon. My daughters arrived shortly after and climbed into bed with us. We were all eating, laughing, and taking in such a joyous moment as a family. Even my mom and dad got to meet their new grandbaby just moments after she was born. We soaked up plenty of skin-to-skin and then Kate and Kayla performed our vitals. After a few hours, my husband and daughter cut the umbilical cord and we laid the placenta next to Ava. It was a really beautiful moment where you appreciate the placenta for all that it has done to nourish, protect, and keep our baby safe in the womb. And then, like nothing ever happened, life returned back to normal in our home. My girls were playing in the next room with their dolls, Kate and Kayla cleaned the house, started a load of laundry, and made sure we were comfortable and had everything we needed before they tucked us into bed and left for the night. After everyone left, I held Ava close and whispered into her ear, “we did it.”