Emmett was born 4/6/22 @ 3:37. Weighing 6lb 13oz. 

I want to start Emmett’s birth story by talking about before I got pregnant. I had prayed for years for the desire to have a child. I never thought I’d want to be a mom. The desire slowly came once my friends and family started having kids. But I didn’t feel “ready” at all. Needless to say, God surprised us with Emmett. 🥰 We were shocked, but so thankful. I had a wonderful pregnancy. I felt so good, and I was surprised to love almost everything about it. But the entire 9 months I still had this deep fear of having a baby, of being a mom. I quit my job about a month before he was due, and really used that time to prepare my heart (and our home) for a baby. I still didn’t feel overly excited, but I found peace in knowing we were about to grow to a family of 3. 🤍 

I had been seeing Greenville Midwifery up until about 24 weeks when my sister told me that a new birth center called Genesis Birth and Wellness was opening in Greenville. I called to ask some questions and they suggested we come in for a consult. The moment we walked through the doors it just felt right. I knew that’s where I wanted to have our baby. I could picture it all – laboring in the tub, snuggling in the beautiful king-sized bed afterwards. I felt an instant connection with the midwife, Bethany. She was so laid back, yet so knowledgeable and confident. We left the consult that day knowing that’s where we would have our baby. I didn’t tell many people where we were having the baby because I wanted to protect my mind from opinions. We felt safe there and had a peace about it. The prenatal care I received at Genesis was unmatched. Bethany and nurse, Katrice would spend over an hour with us at each appointment answering every question, going over nutrition, and talking about our wants for the birth. We discussed postpartum care and breastfeeding. I always left my appointments in shock at how much they really cared. At our 39 week appointment we practiced different positions for birth & Katrice showed Adam how to push on my back through contractions. We scheduled our 40 week appointment and no part of me thought we would have our baby before then. 

The weekend before I had Emmett I had so much energy. We were on the go all weekend and spent the entire day Sunday exploring Asheville. Monday morning I had a chiropractor appointment with Dr. Chelsea at Holistic Healing. I saw Dr. Chelsea through my pregnancy. She joked that she may adjust me into labor. I was 39wks 2d. Afterwards I went to Trader Joe’s and stocked up on groceries. Then I picked up our weekly eggs from a friend. I told that friend I felt like I could carry the baby for another month. I never felt uncomfortable at the end. I went home, unloaded groceries, cooked dinner, and planted some flowers. While I was planting the flowers baby felt extremely low – different than it had ever felt. I told Adam before bed that baby felt low. At one point in the middle of the night Adam woke up and asked “baby day?” and I laughed at him. Well, several hours later I lost my mucus plug and started having period-like cramps every 8-10 mins. When Adam’s alarm went off I had been laying awake for a couple hours… I told him about my mucous plug and he started getting all excited. He flipped the lights on and said he was going to call into work. I told him no, that he should go on to work, not get excited and convinced myself and him that it would be days. 😆 I drifted to sleep for a few more hours and when I woke I had “bloody show.” 

I got up and ate breakfast. My sister Katelyn called and said she and my nephew Lawrence were going to stop by. Lawrence kept looking at my belly… I think he knew something we didn’t. All day Tuesday I had inconsistent contractions, nothing really trackable. I let my doula, Julie know and she just “liked” my text. When I had a contraction I would squat down and roll my hips each time. They felt like strong period cramps. I continued to do chores around the house, but did take a good nap on the couch mid day. It was a rainy, dreary day – just as I had pictured when I pictured the day I’d go into labor. When Adam got home from work the contractions started to get a little more intense, but still not consistent. Most of the pressure was in my butt, which out of the many birth stories I’ve read I don’t ever remember hearing of butt labor. 🥴 So I texted our doula Julie again. 

Julie said it sounded like baby was trying to get in a better position and to try the Mile’s Circuit. I put on the essential oils release & surrender (I had worn them through pregnancy), and I did the circuit while listening to Christian Hypnobirthing. I had several contractions throughout. The tracks put me in the best state of mind… remembering to lean into God for strength. I had to really breathe and pray when each contraction came, because with the Mile’s Circuit you cannot move out of the position your in, even through contractions. While we were doing the curb walking portion things started getting more intense. I’m sure I was a sight to see to my neighbors. 😂 We came in and called Julie. It was about 8:00pm. I continued to roll my hips on the exercise ball like I had done a lot that day. She said since my contractions weren’t consistent I needed to try to relax. She recommended a glass of wine and a bath. I got in the bath but I was so uncomfortable. So we moved to the couch and watched some of The Office and I drifted to sleep for about an hour and a half. When I woke up I moved to the bed and left Adam asleep on the couch. I was able to sleep some more, but contractions were really picking up in intensity. When one woke me I would jump out of bed and moan and move around. When they really picked up and I kind of panicked and started pacing the house. I went and woke up Adam. We moved to the bath again. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was in transition and I was in denial. Remember… I thought it would be days. 🤪😅 I kept saying “I need to throw up” which I knew was a sign of transition, but I had always pictured the pain to be so much worse. This is when people start begging for an epidural, but that never crossed my mind. I was very uncomfortable, but never to that point. Around 1:15am Adam called Julie. He didn’t even have to say come.. she heard me in the background and said “I’m on my way.” Adam pushed on my lower back with every contraction and it helped relieve some of the pressure I was feeling in my butt/back. I didn’t want any music or to listen to the hypnobirthing app. I tried my best to breathe, but the only thing that helped me not to be as vocal was “horse lips” breathing. 🐴 All I could think was “where is Julie?!”

When Julie got to the house at 1:45am she said we needed to turn off the lights, light some candles & play some music. But then she quickly realized how things had progressed and said we needed to leave to get to the birth center right then. It was hard to convince me to get out of that tub. And as soon as I got out my body started bearing down and pushing. Julie called our midwife Bethany and told her we may not make it in and asked if they should come to us.  Bethany told Julie it would be quicker for us to try to get to the birth center since she didn’t have any supplies with her. I remember I asked Julie how I could be comfortable in the car… and she said “you won’t be!” We left at 2:03am. 

The car ride was terrible. 😵🚗 I pushed with every contraction the entire way to Greenville. I couldn’t stop my body. At one point I felt his head (still in the bag of waters) and we pulled over to make sure he wasn’t close. Julie said we needed to keep driving. Normally it takes about 45-50 mins to get to the birth center and it took us 27 mins that night. 👀 Adam ran many red lights. I’m so thankful we didn’t get pulled over. 🤣 One of my fears while pregnant was having the baby in the car… everyone would laugh at me when I’d say this and tell me that first time moms have a long labor and we’d have plenty of time…

I’ve never felt so relieved as I did when we pulled into the birth center parking lot. Once we got inside the tub was filling up. My midwife Bethany checked baby’s heartbeat with a doppler. They made me try to pee. I got in the tub and continued to push with each contraction. I heard/felt a pop and knew my water had broke. Bethany said I could get into any position I felt like I needed to. I was in the tub for about an hour pushing, I started on my knees and then moved to leaning against the tub on my back.

I never thought once that I couldn’t do it. It was like my body was made for this. It was intense and I roared (okay maybe screamed 😆) through every contraction, but I felt so confident. I also kept thinking “when will this be over?“ Pushing was the hardest part. At one point nurse Katrice asked me if I could lower my screaming so that I could conserve energy and I told her no. The roaring was the only way I was going to get baby out. 

Towards the end I asked Julie to put on a song “Holy Spirit You are Welcome Here” because that’s exactly how I felt in that moment, I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget to invite God into the room. He was giving me strength I never knew I had. My midwife, nurse, Julie & Adam all were so encouraging through each push. They would say things like: “You’re so powerful!” “You’re doing a great job mama.” I don’t know how anyone gives birth naturally without encouragement like this… it kept me going. Bethany told me she could see the head and asked if I wanted to feel it… I said no because I could feel it without feeling it with my hand. 🤣

I started to feel the infamous ring of fire. 🔥 I knew baby was close. I tried to take my time through each push to avoid tearing. I finally felt the head come through. My midwife had to unwrap the cord from around baby’s neck… it was looped twice. Then the rest of the body came out with one final push. I’ve always said people said the pain just melts away once baby is out, but that wasn’t true for me… it still hurt down there. 😵 Baby was also born with a nuchal hand.

I brought him up to my chest and Adam announced that it was a BOY! 💙 We couldn’t believe it! They told me his birthday and time (4/6/22 @ 3:37am) and I realized that it was my spiritual birthday – what a gift! Emmett wasn’t crying as much as my midwife would have liked, so after Adam cut the cord they took him to the bed to stimulate him. Then Adam did skin to skin while I got out and birthed the placenta. I tore a little, but didn’t do stitches since I promised to rest for a solid week with my legs together. 

God was truly in every detail of Emmett’s birth. The fact that we made it to the birth center was an answered prayer. I had specifically prayed that my water wouldn’t break until the very end & that’s what happened. Adam had prayed for a quick birth most of my pregnancy & that’s what we got… 4ish hours of labor. 😅 I was very consistent with eating 3 large dates a day, drinking red raspberry tea, sitting on an exercise ball vs. the couch at night and seeing a Webster chiropractor throughout my pregnancy – all things that I think helped Emmett come quick. 

Once Emmett was on my chest it was like he had always been with me, an instant part of us. Nothing felt weird about it at all – just natural and perfect. Everything I have been praying for. All the fears of being a mom melted away and I thought “this is what our life has been missing!” 🥺🥰 

The next 6 hours were spent in bed skin to skin loving on our new baby boy and learning how to nurse him. It was one of the best days of my life and I can stop replaying it all in my head. I truly believe our doula Julie’s class, plus all the books, podcasts & videos I took in over the past 9 months helped me not to fear birth. I was never scared of the pain. I already can’t wait to do it again. 🙃

Birthing Emmett was a deep and spiritual experience. My life was wonderful before, but those labor hours mark a turning point. The point when I learned to trust my body like never before. The point when I connected with God and Adam on a deeper level. It was the feeling of heaven on earth. ✨ How could I ever express all my thankfulness? What an privilege it is to be a mom. 💙