Lawson's homebirth story, April 3, 2021

We love it when our clients share their birth stories with us! Ashley, mom of 3 and surrogate mother of 1, shares with us her first homebirth experience supported by her husband, Wade, and her doula, Emily. Read on for her insights and experience and join us in congratulating her entire family. Welcome to the world, baby Lawson!

"On April 3, I woke up around 3 am to use the rest room and had the slightest, almost unnoticeable cramping. This would be my 4th labor but my first time having a home birth and unmedicated. Since I was 40 weeks and 2 days I got a tad excited thinking this was finally it!

Knowing that the beginning stages of labor could be lengthy, I laid back down to try and get back to sleep. I had that cramping feeling again over the next hour or so and decided to get up since I was wide awake.

By 4am the cramping turned a little more noticeable, around 30 seconds and a few minutes apart. I kept busy, walked around, had some breakfast and by 5:30 I told my husband, Wade, I was definitely in labor! You’d think by the 4th I would have known earlier but the contractions were so mild but close together I was worried it was a false alarm.

I called my doula, Emily, to give her a heads up, and told her my contractions were 2 minutes apart and about 45 seconds long, but I was still able to talk through them and only about a 5 on the pain scale. This is when I decided to put my TENS units on my back to offset the contracts. I had never used them before and they SAVED ME. As the contractions became stronger I could amp up the electrical pulses and it truly gave my mind a distraction from the pain.

At 6:00 I called my midwife to let her know where I was at, and about 6:30 I asked my Doula to head over because the contractions were becoming stronger, however still 2 minutes apart and about 30-45 seconds long. By 7am both my children, 8 and 5, woke up, which was nice, brief distraction but I was in active labor and needed my Doula. I shot her a few texts saying I needed her NOW and to hurry. Luckily she wasn't far and arrived shortly thereafter.

When Emily arrived she could tell I was in transition, and told my husband we should start filling the birth pool. Everything was quite a whirlwind from there. At 7:30 my Mother had arrived to pick up the kids, offering me some mental relief to know they were taken care of, and my husband and Doula were working hard to provide me some pain relief. At that point I was baring down with the extreme urge to push. My husband called the midwife and she was on her way but still an hour away. The pool was ready so I slipped in and continued to labor (about 7:45).

In the pool my Husband and Doula continued different pain relieving moves but the urge to push was hard to ignore. My midwife was on the phone at this point to hear where I was and for Emily to update her. I heard Emily let my Midwife know that I had had my bloody show and she then had my doula and husband get out the labor kit and start setting out towels and what not in the event she wouldn’t make it for the birth.

By 8am I was having a really hard time resisting the urge to push, because we were trying to hold off for the midwife, and I no longer wanted anyone touching me. I tuned on my side in the pool and just clenched my things every contraction to try and avoid pushing. When I was able to do a few small pushes my Doula asked me if I could feel the baby and I could not. Since I had been baring down and pushing a handful of times she had me get on all fours in order to help baby get in a more optimal position. As soon as I did this, 8:30am, my Midwife’s assistant arrived and I could finally start pushing... FOR REAL!

In just a few short, loud, pushes the baby’s head was out, and then next her body! The midwife told me to grab my baby so I pulled her out of the water, laid back, and put her on my chest. At 8:37am Lawson Elliott Lowe was born! Rounding out at 8lbs 7oz and 19.5 inches she was my biggest baby yet! Since we didn’t find out the sex the entire pregnancy, after a few minutes someone asked what the baby was and I looked and said, “IT’S A GIRL, I WAS RIGHT!”

This labor and birth were more than I could possibly have imagined. After three prior medicated hospital deliveries, I was finally able to have the natural birth I craved to experience and even more magical, at home.

My husband and I really didn’t know the ins and out of labor, even after going through it three times, and are very thankful we decided to take birthing classes with Mindful Birth Service & Doula Care. Christine taught us SO SO much we never knew and helped give me more confidence and pain coping moves to get through this home labor.

I am also incredibly thankful for my amazing Doula, Emily, and my Husband, Wade. They made such a great team, and she really helped guide us on what to do when, like fill up our tub in time! Overall, it was a beautiful experience and I would do it 100 times over if I could!"

Authored by Ashley Lowe

Congratulations from all of the Mindful Birth Doulas at Mindful Birth Services!