I’m a FTM who didn’t discover I was pregnant until 5 months along. 😳

Yes, no lie, and yes, I honestly didn’t know. 😅 I was (finally) diagnosed with endometriosis in Jan ‘18 😓 and pregnancy was the last thing I could have fathomed my symptoms to be... I was actually grieving the possibility of not being able to gift my husband a child. 😭 So much that we cancelled our initial wedding date of 06.14.18 (scheduled on our 10 yr anniversary). We found out we were expecting late July 😮 and eloped on 08.18.18. 🤵🏽👰🏽

Little to say, the rest was a whirlwind...

I’d always desired a natural birth, 🌱and due to time, instead of getting to pick out what nursery theme and pour over baby registry items 🧸, we enrolled in a Bradley birth class in the nick of time... (they were kind enough to allow us to pay in payments, praise God!) ...but everything happened so fast, I never got the opportunity to share my birth story or my birth photos... 📸

My father was in town as he’d flown in for baby’s DD (12/12), ✈️ but God answered my desperate pleas to carry her as long as possible 🙏🏽 (I’d always desired to be pregnant and here I was finding out more than halfway along!😵) and I didn’t go into labor until 41 + 3 days, when I awoke on Sat 12/22 to losing my mucous plug. He had been so worried I wouldn’t have the baby while he was in town 😂 (he was leaving 12/26 after Christmas).

My husband and I had planned to labor at home as long as possible, 🏡 so we broke out the board games and started playing Clue, 🎲 pausing for my “rushes”, which were like small menstrual cramps. 🤷🏽‍♀️ We put on my relaxing piano playlist 🎼 on our TV and my father commented it was so relaxing he was falling asleep 🤣

We texted my chiropractor, who had said to tell him when we were in active first stage bc regardless of what time of day, he would meet us up at his office for a quick adjustment! ☺️ Meanwhile, I fished our mini table top Christmas tree from the closet and began decorating it 🎄 (I’d been dying for a real tree but it just didn’t happen so I opted for the next best thing 🤣)

Around 6 PM we left to the office, my rushes were about 30 mins apart, about the duration of the drive, so I waited to have one and then got in the car. Upon arriving, I had another and felt nauseous and vomited. 🤮 Felt much better and we walked in (he opened the office on a Sat evening just for us!) and got my adjustment. I’d been having a lot of tightness in my left hip and pelvis and he did some work there and I felt relieved. 🙌🏽 He said pick up a bottle of wine on the way home and have a glass 🍷 (my midwife had mentioned the same)... he said if I was going to get any rest, it would help me sleep through the night, if not, baby would be coming that <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.glow.android.eve">eve</a> 🤩

We drove home and stopped through the Taco Bell drive thru (my dad wanted to treat us all to something quick). I was game, then suddenly opposed to food. ✋🏽 Back at home I put on my waterfall YouTube video with piano music and we tried to finish our game of Clue. 😅 My rushes were getting tighter and I said maybe we should have gotten that bottle of wine 🍷 so my husband ran to the store a block away. By the time he returned, my rushes were more consistent, every 15 mins! I definitely felt the adjustment helped! I wanted to just be with my husband at this point, so I told my dad I was going to take a hot shower 🚿 and said goodnight 🌙. My husband had been consistently helping me with my rushes, massaging me, 💆🏽‍♀️ and using relaxation techniques learned in birth class. He helped me in the shower and we started doing the “slow dance” position, with my arms around his neck. 👫💕 The water felt soooo good ☺️ and I started to just let the rushes take over me. One was strong and it was the only time I would call it extremely uncomfortable, 😣 (I had the thought “can I do this?”😳 looking back, this was my transition!!) and he told me to grab onto him and just let it all out and I bit his shoulder and moaned and felt much better. 😁

We believed this was second stage and we were still waiting for transition, so my husband said he would take a short nap 😴 in order to prepare to support me during the intense part of labor. (Supposed to call my midwife when rushes were 5 mins apart)...

I said good idea and tried to lie down with him, 🛏 then instantly jumped up... I did not like that position. I decided I would just try and use the restroom, then maybe I could lie down 😳

Well I had a GRAND time in the bathroom by myself, with my music 🎵 and rocking myself, ☺️ rushes about 8 mins apart, I eventually I thought ok I’ll check out if I’m dilated or what’s going on down there... grabbed a pocket mirror and took a peek on the next rush 👀 and... um, that’s not my hair! 😳 😅 I could see her head and this clear coating... 😮 I called my husband and he came rushing in rubbing his eyes, and there I am standing in the hallway with a mirror between my legs and I’ll never forget the look in his face 😂

He calls our midwife 📞 and suddenly I realize I can’t NOT push, and I went to lean over our bed and told him “tell her the baby is coming!!” 😍😍😍 I overhear then talking about telling me to stick my fingers up there 👆🏽 and see what I can feel and I’m like “tell her that her head is right there!!” 😮 At this point I thought I was going to have her right there in the bedroom! 😅 She said go to the birth center 🏣 (they discussed coming to our house but since we hadnt opted for home birth it was a whole thing .. idk) so we walk to the car and suddenly I tell him I can’t go anymore, 😳 he needs to bring the car right to me, so he did and we rush off... 🚗💨 we barely made it to the birth center in time.... I delivered her 8 mins after our arrival! The midwife had asked if she could check me 💬 while her assistant was filling my tub 🛁 and upon seeing me she shouts... “There’s no time, she’s crowning! 👑” followed by “You’re going to have your baby in just a few minutes sweetheart”. 😍🤩😍 I begged to wait for the bath, said I’ve already waited so long, I can wait for it ... but they encouraged otherwise so I lied back on the bed 🛏 and then panicked... 😳 I definitely didn’t want to birth on my back! I desperately thought of the birth positions we went over in class... 💭 I tried my side and that felt SO weird... so I decided to just get on my hands and knees instead. 👍🏽

I just put my head down on the bed and started zeroing in on my breathing. “That’s right, just breathe her out”... and that’s what I did... 🤩

I breathed her out in 3 pushes. (My husband to this day is amazed.. “you were absolutely silent and strong!”) 💪🏽🤗 I was suddenly exhausted and fatigued but I hadn’t heard her cry. 🤔 Which I knew could happen, but suddenly there was her cry! ... and my instincts kicked in... I started crying “my baby! My baby!” 😭 (Hubby thinks it’s was beautiful, looking back I was a little embarrassed idk why) and flipped over, lifting my shirt for skin to skin. 🤱🏽

Here came this beautiful tiny babe, crying for love and affection 👶🏽💕 I was so tired I couldn’t sing like I had wanted to, but I was able to hum the song I would sing to her all the time 🎼 (Lauren Daigle’s You Say) and she IMMEDIATELY stopped crying, 👼🏽 and looked at me with these beautiful eyes, like “oh there you are!” 😍💕 And she didn’t cry again... we just lied there staring at each other and I attempted to breastfeed her. 💕🤱🏽💕 It wasn’t until after that I was told... she was born en caul, in my bag of waters, (which is why my water never broke! 💦) only 1 in 80,000 births occur this way, adding to her miracle story 🌈, and the midwife told me that meant she would love the water (and she absolutely does... bath time, favorite, took her swimming first time, she’s a fish in the water! 🐠) My baby girl Sapphira was born on Sunday, December 23rd at 6:18 AM. 🥰

We had an intimate postpartum bath together immediately after our skin to skin, and I am so grateful my husband captured these beautiful moments with her. 💕❤️💕 After our bath, I was so fatigued 🥵 I lied down and after an exam (no tear whoo!!) I fell asleep deep and hard and unfortunately missed everything else, the APGAR test, ⚖️ weighing and measuring 📏 😢😥😭

But it was a moment meant for my husband, 💙🙍🏽‍♂️ who got to change her first diaper and dress our beautiful daughter in the pink and white polka dot outfit I’d desperately picked out from the local charity. 🎀👼🏽💕 I would occasionally wake and saw him staring at her in awe, tears streaming down his cheeks. She is my miracle baby, my Christmas gift 🎁 and my sweet happy little girl, and I’m so very very grateful that God blessed me with her 🥰👼🏽💕🤱🏽🌈

Our memorable moment

Proud papi with his little girl

First day home 🥰

Our first picture together 🤱🏽

Our first family photo 👨‍👩‍👧

Forever changed 🤱🏽