Hello Presley! A Heartwarming Women's Hospital Birth

You may recognize these beautiful faces from a previous post. Samantha and Kael invited me to the birth of their first baby Liam, and I was OVER. THE. MOON. when she messaged to let me know they were expecting again and wanted me there.

Like with all my clients, we got together during pregnancy to talk about what she hoped for this birth, any concerns, and just get comfortable together again. I love walking into the birth space during labour and feeling like I’m greeting family again. Because of the nature of birthwork, you pretty much have to be willing to be open and transparent with each other, and it leads to an incredibly special relationship.

Shortly after her due date, after some prodromal labour, and a conversation together about this awkward end stage of pregnancy, Sam messaged me back with the exciting news that her water had broken! We were in motion!

Since her water broke at night and contractions hadn’t started yet, she settled in for a good night’s sleep at the advice of her midwife. And sure enough, at 7:30am the next morning she let me know that contractions had started, and over the next hour they went from 7-8 minutes apart to 4 minutes apart. While that sweet baby had made her wait a bit for labour, now babe was getting the party started!

By 10am, contractions were over a minute long and we were fully settled into active labour. Sam was doing great coping at home with distraction and movement, checking in by text frequently, but by noon it seemed like time to check in with the midwife at the hospital. I joined them there when they got to triage and we coped together for a bit before they were called into a room for an exam.

Just before 2pm we got the A-MAY-ZING news that Samantha had rocked her labour so well that she was now 5-6cm dilated already, and we made our way up to a room to settle in and wait for her epidural!

Just after getting up to the labour and delivery room, Sam stopped to catch her breath on the window ledge and rock back and forth for a while. She was doing so amazing with moving her body to stop the tension from building.

Epidural time is often the best time! Many of my clients do plan for an epidural as part of their pain management, and knowing that you’ve progressed far enough to be ready for that epidural is a beautiful moment!

Epidural in and resting now, Samantha was able to relax her body and let it work like she knew it could.

We chatted, caught up, and rested a bit. At 3:25pm- just an hour after getting her epidural, she was already 8cms and that helpful baby was hanging out at +1.

At 3:40pm after some pressure, Samantha decided to be checked again and was fully dilated with just a lip left. Since she didn’t feel a super strong urge to push she decided to ‘labour down’ - this helps baby move lower in the pelvis to decrease the amount of pushing a birther actually has to do!

A little after 6pm, it was baby time! After getting ready physically to push, Samantha was having a hard time mentally readying herself. This is actually super common- I’ve had birthers who had to go into the bathroom to have alone time, those who needed the lights turned off, and others who needed everyone else to walk away and distract themselves so she didn’t feel like she had an audience.

After some great self talk, it was decided to turn on a song for Sam- The Baby Mama Dance. Now if you don’t know this one already, you absolutely have to go look it up. It’s a hilarious and catchy dance, and it was just the trick for Sam to be able to get out of her own head for a moment and be ready to push. Sure enough- we turned it off, the next contraction started and she pushed like she was made for birthing.

And a short time later they met their amazing daughter! It was just as emotional as their first birth, and I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

Watching this triad together was just amazing. Each moment one of them was looking at the other with awe, whether it was Kael to Sam, Kael to Baby, Baby to Kael, Sam to Baby— they never took their eyes off one another.

RIght from the first moment, their baby girl was so alert and aware of everything around. her.

These detail shots are some of my favourite. There’s so much to take in during these first hours, and things like that gorgeous womb swept hair change so quickly!

sweet baby toes while snuggled safe in her daddy’s arms.

She had her first feed, fed like a pro, and before we knew it, they were ready to move up to their postpartum room!

I hung out with the family for a bit while they settled in, and then ducked out once everyone started getting sleepy- perfect timing for them to get a few hours of rest before starting their first full day as a family of four!

I headed home from that birth on such a beautiful ride of emotions. I’m honoured to stand beside each client on their birthing days, but there’s a special place in my heart for those repeat clients. And lucky me, because later this fall we get to meet this amazing girl’s baby sibling!