On Thursday February 20, 2020 our Callie Jean arrived at 5:16am weighing 6lbs 8oz. Originally due March 8.

She is everything we hoped for and more!

I had been anterior, soft and 2cm for a week and had cramping from the 17-19. The morning of the 19th my water broke spontaneously after a night of bizarre dreams (luckily at home). I was shocked to find out it doesn’t all come out. It refills and continues to come out in small trickles and gushes.

We checked in with the midwives and headed over to confirm my water had broken and I wasn’t suddenly incontinent. As the hospital was a bit of a drive away we decided to be induced instead of going home and waiting for full blown labour to start. After 10 hours of labour with oxytocin and no pain relief I had made no progress. I was exhausted. The baby had moved out of her original position and was stuck. It was suggested I try an epidural to get me through the pain and hopefully avoid a cesarean. The epidural placement was awful. Apparently I have a very healthy spine and the catheter would not go in. After three attempts it was finally placed. It however didn’t fully take. My legs were numb but I could still feel everything above. By 3am on the 20th still no progress had been made. The midwives and OB decided to stop the oxytocin to try to get me some rest and the plan was to restart it later on that day. My body had different plans! As soon as the medication was turned off, my body took over with rip roaring contractions. I pleaded with the midwife to check me an hour later because I could feel the baby descending and the urge to push. Sure enough in an hour I went from a 2 to a 10 and ready to push! At 5:16 am Callie Jean was born, sunny side up with an arm at her face and absolutely perfect!

She’s now 8 days old and changing so much each day. We cannot believe over a week has gone by.

My advice to anyone is to be prepared in advance- I thought I’d go overdue! Also, know what is important to you but be prepared to go with the flow. My hope was to go into labour naturally at home and stay for as long as possible. I wanted an all natural birth. I remained open to all the possibilities however and feel much more at peace with my birth because of it.