An Unplanned Home Birth {Birth Without Fear}

My first two sons came quickly.  My first born in four hours and my second in two.  Both were easy, exciting and obviously fast!

When I got pregnant with my third son, I figured his birth would be a fast blur in my mind but that I would at least have time to get to the hospital.  I couldn’t have been more wrong!

I was 39 weeks pregnant when I woke up at 4:00 am with what I thought was a stomach ache.  I used the restroom and decided to go sit in my recliner.  I quickly realized I was in labor with some very fierce contractions!  I waddled my way back to the bedroom to tell my husband it was time to get moving.  He flew out of bed with an adrenaline rush that can only come from learning your wife is in labor.  I went back into our bathroom as he woke up the boys and got the car warming up for our exciting drive!

Now, with my first two my water had broken and then I delivered my babies. So, I thought I was still safe since my water had not yet broken.  However, as I stood there in my bathroom waiting for my husband, it dawned on me that I wasn’t going to make it to the car.  This baby was coming now!  My husband came back to tell me he was ready when I was.  I looked at him and said, “Jonathon, go call an ambulance, I’m having this baby right now!” He thought I was simply over reacting to the pain and said, rather urgently, “No,  Hannah, noooo. You need to get your pants on.  We won’t take the boys to my parents, we will just go straight to the hospital.  Everything will be alright.”. I glanced up at him and gritted out through my clenched teeth, “I can’t even pick my feet up!!”

So, he bent down to help me into my pants and looked up to see our baby’s head crowning!  The next thing I knew, he ran down the hallway, told the boys to sit in their beds and that mama was having the baby now.  He had to run out onto the porch to call 911 as we have horrible reception inside our home.  During this 3 minute period I stood with my arms braced against our counter and, to my relief, I started pushing (push that pain away!!) and I delivered his head right as my water broke! I started panicking a bit and cursed a blue streak in my head wondering what was taking him so long. I tried to figure out how I would catch this baby while standing!

Finally, I heard his footsteps returning, much to my relief.  The phone miraculously stayed connected and the dispatcher, who was not aware my baby’s head was already delivered, told Jonathon to cup my vagina to help when the baby’s head comes out.  Jonathon does this and I scream at him to not touch me, loud enough for my other two sons to hear!!  He had barely touched me and I swear it felt like he was pushing the baby back in!  Within two minutes of Jonathon returning to the bathroom I delivered our son, Isaiah Theodore Houx, into my husband’s waiting hands.  It was 4:45 am according to the 911 dispatcher!

After a few minutes, I started feeling light headed and eased myself down to the floor and held our son as Jonathon listened to the dispatcher telling him how to tie the cord.  He asked Noah, our 7 year old, to get my sewing kit that had thread in it.  Noah was amazing and quickly brought it in.  We ended up not needing it, as the ambulance arrived, much to my husband’s immense relief!

My mother-in-law showed up to pick the boys up (my husband had called her). The paramedics tied and cut the umbilical cord and I slowly made my way to the living room and they rolled us out to the ambulance on the gurney.

Talk about a whirlwind of crazy excitement!  Isaiah certainly knows how to make an entrance!

He developed two large bruises on either side of his head from scraping against my pelvic bones.  I needed help delivering my placenta, and lost 1 liter of blood. and needed 12 stitches.  For some reason, my body just didn’t have an adequate amount of time to open up as he came out!

We are all doing fantastic and are in love with our newest family member!!

~Hannah Houx