This is very late but I've been reminiscing lately because I'm pregnant with our 2nd baby now and figured I should write this all out and share our experience.

I started having contractions on the night of my due date Saturday 6/25/16. My Mom had me really fast so I called the midwife to check me at home and I was 2cm so she left and told me to call her when contractions got more close together. We had just moved so Sunday morning we had a bunch of errands to run so off to Publix, Home Depot, and Wal Mart we went. I was having contractions all day, nothing too bad, I would just stop walking for a second and breathe then continue on my way. Not serious though just kinda like period cramps. This continued through Sunday until around 7pm or so when I felt like I needed to get in the shower because the contractions were making me shaky and pretty uncomfortable. My husband decided we should time them and turns out he was right. They were consistently like 4 minutes apart. Go time. We called the midwife again and she checked me and said they would be staying. They didn't tell me at the time but I was 9 cm dilated when she checked. I had a mother/daughter midwife team and was required to have a doula since it was my first homebirth. We called the doula and she came right away. Everyone was there around 9pm or so. We got the pool all filled and I chilled in there basically all night with my husband hanging out right next to me with his hand on me. Everything was relaxing and beautiful. I had taken hypnobirthing as prep for this birth and found I could fall asleep between contractions all night (in transition). They kept telling me my baby was flip flopping but the HR was fine so we just kept waiting basically. My water finally broke in the pool around 4am. Still everything was really calm and easy. I started crowning at this point and they eventually they told me I should get out and try pushing on the birthing stool. I tried that for a while but the baby was stuck. So we laid the couch pillows down on the ground and I pushed there for a while. They said to me that I was going to have to be transferred if the baby didn't come out soon. I never worked harder in my entire life at that point and had to do the purple pushing. I remember telling them to stop pinching me. It literally felt like they were pinching my clit, maybe holding it together but that was the tearing. That was really the only painful part for me. Our little bundle was born as the sun came up at 6:35 am Monday 6/27/16. My husband caught him and laid him on my chest, well as far up as it would go because it had a short cord. My birth team were like 'well what is it?' and my husband lifted his little butt and said 'it's a boy'. They were all so excited and exclaimed 'Myles'! It was so nice that they had our names in mind for the moment we found out what he was. I pushed out the placenta and we delayed cutting for a bit and then my husband did the cutting. My little guy had a nuchal arm meaning it was up around his head and he was stuck because of it. I remember days before the birth telling my husband it felt like the baby's fingers were down at the entrance diddling and I guess that was true lol He tore me pretty bad, they described his nails like razor blades when his hand came out with his head like that. He had a major cone head that cleared up pretty quick. My doula made me eggs and toast for breakfast while he was weighed and measured and I was examined in my bed. He latched and started nursing while they were examining me. We self transferred because of the borderline 3rd degree tear about 3 or so hours after the delivery. My poor husband who had no prior baby experience had to get him diapered, dressed, and in the carseat for the transfer. He really stepped up and was amazing through the whole experience! I really avoided the hospital to avoid an epidural, needles and unnecessary surgery so I was honestly relieved to get the good stuff before they stitched me up at the hospital and I went home that afternoon. Myles John Marshall was born 6/27/16 at 6:35am measuring 19 inches and weighing 7lbs 15oz on our livingroom floor. It was an amazing experience all a round!