Birth Story: Asher Rowan
When I became pregnant with Asher, we were in the process of deciding if we should move from Utah to Georgia. We ultimately ended up moving, but I had a distinct impression that I should not give birth in the hospital in Georgia. This led me to start researching my birth options here. At first, I looked for midwife practices in the area and was still considering hospital birth. I was given a recommendation and even went to a practice here for my 20 week anatomy ultrasound. While I was there I realized that I was not going to have the amount of autonomy in my birth that I wanted if I delivered with any hospital group. I had 4 children at the time and my last delivery ended in a c-section to twin boys who were breech. I knew I wanted a VBAC and I was going to do everything I could to have one.
After that my realtor connected me to someone who had given birth at home. I went into research mode and consumed as many VBAC and HBAC podcasts as I could. I interviewed a few midwives in the area and was so excited when I found Shoshanah. She was so knowledgeable and was able to give antibiotics during the birth. This was important to me because I had had a previous baby in the NICU with GBS transfer. We met month after month and built a relationship I could trust. I even became pretty anemic towards the end and she went to great lengths to get me an iron infusion so I could still be low-risk and birth at home. Oh, I also had been going to Cheney Daniels for chiropractic work for months and it made such a huge difference for me.
The next thing I knew, my due date had come and gone and I was starting to panic. I had had prodromal labor for a month or more at this point and my mental stamina was waning as my belly continued to grow larger. By the time 40 weeks 5 days rolled around, I was done and I asked Shoshanah if we could do something to get things going. Before she arrived, I did everything I could think of to jumpstart my body. Friday morning we made a plan. She came that evening at 8:30 pm with Jill (another amazing midwife) and my new friend Katie came as well. Katie is a labor and delivery nurse and was another vital part of my birth team.
Several weeks before, I had asked Katie if she would attend my homebirth. I felt a strong prompting to ask her even though we had just met and I didn’t think I would need her help. I had given birth to 4 other children and I knew I could do it just fine. Well, fortunately God knew I needed her and he knew I needed Shoshanah and Jill to bring my baby safely here.
That evening, Shoshanah put the foley bulb in and it fell out in less than 2 hours. Everyone stayed late or overnight thinking that I would have the baby fast when things picked up. Well, I slept right through the night and was disappointed when I woke up still pregnant. The next day I was the dreaded 41 weeks pregnant! That morning and afternoon, I went on walks, had manageable contractions and we all hung out. I was having so much fun, I forgot I was supposed to be having a baby.
In the late afternoon, Jill, Shoshanah and Katie came in and asked if there was anything emotionally holding me back. I cried a little because I realized how fearful I really was of having my baby get stuck in the NICU like 3 of my other children had. I didn’t want another c-section and I desperately wanted to have that golden hour after the birth. I said that I wanted to be alone with Devin for a little while and Katie offered to take my girls to her house. My mom took my twins to the library. That is when things really picked up and my contractions started coming strong and more frequent.
I spent many hours laboring in the tub and on the toilet. It was a very long process and not what I was used to in my previous births. Much of it was very peaceful and beautiful and I was so grateful to labor how I wanted. Asher’s heart rate was always strong and where it needed to be.
I was so tired at the end and Shoshanah asked if I wanted to move to the bed. That allowed me to rest in between pushes. I felt like I needed to move to the toilet again and that is when Shoshanah checked me and realized I had a cervical lip and Asher’s head was caught on my pubic bone. She smoothed away the lip with arnica and then told me to lay on my back on the bed to help him come down. I must have really trusted her because I did not want to labor on my back, but I did what she said. On my back, Jill and Katie helped lift my hips up. They held my legs and Jill coached me through it. I was so delirious between pushes I almost passed out.
They gave me some honey and that gave me a little life. I wanted to give up, but honestly my focus went to my savior Jesus Christ in the most vulnerable moment I have experienced. I know that he strengthened me, helped my baby come and brought together the most amazing birth team.
They told me to touch Asher’s head as it was coming out and that is when I realized he was huge. Touching his head really connected me to him and I knew he needed to come out right then. I finally got his head out and immediately Shoshanah told me to flip over because his body wasn’t coming. She realized he had an arm behind his back, flipped me onto my back, put both hands inside me, unhooked his arm and he came out. All the while, Katie and Jill were performing maneuvers on the outside of my belly to help rotate him.
He wasn’t breathing and he was purple. He also pooped on the way out. I was so out of it and I started praying because I knew something wasn’t quite right. I completely missed them resuscitating him. Within 15 seconds, he was okay and on my chest. Devin, my husband, collapsed in a chair after Asher started breathing and pinked up. It was an extremely emotional moment for us. When my sweet baby was on my chest, it was glorious and everything I had hoped for. I even tore pretty severely and I didn’t even care.
The following hours went by quickly. Jill did an amazing job stitching me up. Asher’s cord was huge and they let all of that beautiful blood go back in him. We had no idea he would be so large and he weighed in at 11 lbs 1 oz and measured 21.5 inches long. He is by far the best nurser I have ever had and surprisingly his head was pretty round after the birth. I know that not everyone would want this type of birth and it wasn’t what I was expecting myself. But I learned a lot from this experience and even when things don’t go smoothly at home, homebirth can absolutely be safe with the right provider and support team. I am so grateful for this experience and for the support team I had. Birth is amazing!
