Positive Home Birth Story

After many years of praying and waiting, we finally welcomed our rainbow baby. I’m pleased to introduce Orville Thomas. For those looking for a positive home birth story or unmedicated labor story, keep reading. With the help of a wonderful team of midwives our bundle of joy was delivered safely at home.

A Different Path

We experienced two miscarriages and two ectopic pregnancies during our 4 years of unexplained infertility. I went through chemotherapy to treat the first ectopic and lost my tube to treat the second one. During all of that, I tried out multiple OBGYNs. It was horrible. They dismissed my pain, downplayed my losses, and gave me terrible advice. I eventually found a functional fertility gynecologist that literally changed my life. 

Dr. Poppy listened to my grief, desires to become a mom, and fear around pregnancy. She understood because she had experienced loss too. So we started testing, hormone replacement, fertility medication, and lifestyle changes. It was a few months, but I got pregnant. The baby was in my right tube, so I lost both my tube and the baby. We had to wait a few months for me to recover from surgery before trying again. Come January, I decided to stop taking the fertility medication and do another round of testing. Of course that was the month I got pregnant.

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An Anxious Pregnancy

I was so scared when I saw those two pink lines. The tears poured as I told my husband. At that point, I felt so defeated that I did not even expect to stay pregnant for two weeks. But I called Dr. Poppy to let her know. She had me do more labs and increase my progesterone. 

A week later, I started to bleed. It happened at work, shortly after I had told my best friend and my mom. I was hysterical and was barely able to tell my boss what was going on. I do not know how the nurse understood me when I called Dr. Poppy. My husband drove me over an hour to see Dr. Poppy. They did an abdominal ultrasound, bloodwork, and gave me progesterone shots. Then they sent me to the ER because they could not see the baby abdominally. 

Many hours later, I was sent home with a paper that explained what to expect from a miscarriage. I had a subchorionic hematoma that was bleeding. The baby had implanted and caused a bruise in my uterine lining. I was only 5 weeks along, so they were unable to determine viability. Dr. Poppy’s nurse stayed late to wait for my results. She told me that it was good news when I finally had the diagnosis. I did not feel the same way when reading over the expected miscarriage paperwork, but I trusted her.

Against All Odds

Despite the odds, the baby kept growing inside of me. My progesterone levels continued to be low, so I took lots of bioidentical progesterone through pills, shots, suppositories, and a topical oil. I was taking 4 times the FDA approved dose on top of needing shots. I was also on a modified bedrest and complete pelvic rest. After another check, it was discovered that some of my bleeding came from having a friable cervix. Any irritation caused it to bleed. I was also losing weight fast because I was unable to hold anything down. Turns out I had hyperemesis gravidarum, which is severe morning sickness. I had to get IV fluids multiple times. Around 20 weeks, I was able to eat again. I had lost 20 pounds by then. I also needed iron infusions because I was severely anemic. They caused me to start throwing up again. Around 35 weeks, we decreased my dose of progesterone. That caused my body to want to go into labor. Bloody show and contractions caused another emergency drive up to Dr. Poppy. With another shot of progesterone and an increase in the dosage, things went back to normal until it was time to have a baby. 

Choosing a Home Birth

A home birth was my first choice when I found out that I was expecting. After multiple bad experiences at the local hospital, it was the last place I wanted to be. I did not want the OBGYNs that told me that my miscarriage wasn’t actually a baby to be the ones responsible for the birth of my rainbow baby. So I started looking for a midwife. I found Vanessa with A Mommy’s Butterfly and scheduled an appointment. Around 12 weeks, we met and I was able to ask her all of the questions because my pregnancy was anything but straight forward. She told me that I didn’t have anything she hadn’t dealt with before and was a candidate for a home birth. She promised to ask my permission before doing anything, except save a life. I was overjoyed, but my family and friends were understandably nervous. I was the first person any of us knew that had decided on a home birth.

A Positive Home Birth Story

At 38 weeks, I stopped taking progesterone at the advice of my midwife and Dr. Poppy. The following evening, I was having mild contractions 10-15 minutes apart. We went to Walmart to buy a pumpkin pie that evening. I kept having to pause and lean on the cart when a contraction came because I felt it in my bum and didn’t want to walk. I knew they were more intense than a braxton hicks contraction, but thought nothing of it. We came home with 4 pies and went to bed. Around 3:30, I woke up to contractions. At 7:30 I couldn’t ignore them any more. I got up and tried to do some housework, but ended up texting the midwife. She had me time them and told me it sounded like early labor. At lunch time, things had progressed. I was on the couch timing them again. I let my mom and the midwife know. My mom showed up and started preparing the bed for delivery. Around 4:00 the team of midwives arrived. 

I had not progressed at all since my check a week prior. So they had me get in the tub to relax, while they went to grab dinner. They knew it was going to be a long night. I fought the contractions and did not understand how to relax my pelvic floor. Fear was taking over causing me to get tense. I was in the tub for hours. Progress was slow. The water got cold and eventually I moved to the bed. They checked on me and the baby regularly. 

Time to Push

At some point my body started to push and I couldn’t make it stop. I was not fully dilated yet and my cervix was swelling. The midwife had to open my cervix the last 3 centimeters, which was horribly painful. I pushed for what felt like forever, but it was actually 30 minutes. Then the baby’s heart rate started to drop during contractions. She told me that I had to push hard and immediately. I was weak and told her I couldn’t do any more. She told me that I had no choice at that point. His head finally came out and the cord was around his neck. She unwrapped it and I pushed again. His body was wrapped two more times in the cord. At 11:09pm, Orville was born.

They put him up on my chest and got to drying him off and stimulating him. They let the cord go white before my mom cut it. I snuggled him on my chest while the placenta was delivered and they stitched me up. Then they helped me to the tub, where they had prepared an herbal bath. I tried to nurse while I soaked in the tub. The team cleaned up the bed.

As somebody helped me get out of the tub and dressed, another midwife took Orville for his newborn assessment. He was 7 pounds 3.5 ounces and 22 inches long. He was a perfectly healthy baby boy. Our rainbow baby was finally here.

What are the Odds?

There is a 1% to 2% chance of having an ectopic pregnancy. I had no risk factors, but had two ectopic pregnancies.

Subchorionic hematomas only occur in 1% to 3% of pregnancies.

Only 1% to 3% of us are blessed with hyperemesis gravidarum.

While examining the placenta, they discovered it was a heart shape. There’s a 1% to 2% chance of having one that shape. That usually results in preterm deliveries or placental abruption. We had no complications.

Orville’s umbilical cord was 43 inches long. The average cord is 18 inches long. That is why he was wrapped up in it 3 times.

This boy defied the odds. 

I went from being told to expect to miscarry to having a positive home birth story. Every step of the way was challenging and I doubted my body many times. But God had already written this story and He knew I would make it through. Now when we sing “Miracle Child” it’s a personal testimony. My baby boy is a miracle child.