Homebirth of Saline Baby #6

I have always wanted to have a natural, unmedicated birth. I felt strongly that our bodies were designed to deliver babies and were able to go through miraculous changes to support a pregnancy and birth. When we became pregnant with our first, a baby boy, my husband and I attended a HypnoBirthing class and mentally prepared for months for me to have an unmedicated delivery. Six days past my due date, in the middle of the night, my water broke. In our excitement we rushed to the hospital, ready to finally meet our baby. Unfortunately when things didn’t progress at the rate the doctors wanted, the interventions quickly kicked in. After two hours of pitocin I waved my white flag and begged for an epidural.

At that point my confidence in ever being able to have a natural birth was thrown. Clearly (in my mind) I wasn’t able to handle the intensity of birth and being scared of the unknown, I stuck with the familiar route of a medicated hospital birth when we had our next little one, a sweet baby girl, 18 months later...and again when we had another sweet baby girl 18 months later...and again when we had another sweet baby girl 23 months later...and again when we had another sweet baby girl 21 months after that. No, that’s not a typo :). We now had 5 sweet little ones, a boy and four girls, ages 6, 5, 3, 21 months, and a newborn!

We felt immensely blessed and so grateful for the births of each of our children. But the delivery of our newest daughter weighed heavily on my mind for weeks after she was born. There were so many unnecessary interventions, especially considering all my other deliveries were very smooth and easy. I had never previously met the doctor who delivered my baby since she was a sub for the OBGYN office I visited when they didn’t have doctors on schedule at the hospital. She mostly chatted with my L&D nurse during my delivery and said very little to me. I left feeling like my baby and I were just a number which was a bit heartbreaking for me when reflecting on a day that was otherwise so special and sacred to me. There were other side effects from the interventions that also added to my disappointment with how things were handled during our baby's delivery.

I told my husband that if we EVER had another baby, I was going to do a home birth. It was something I had dreamed of but never thought would be a reality. Maybe it seemed like a radical jump after having 5 babies in a hospital, but I finally felt confident in my abilities again, especially with how well I was fortunately able to deliver all of our children. At that time, however, we weren’t sure if we would have any more babies so I reconciled that home birth might just be an unrealized dream for me.

Sometimes though, you find life has a few surprises in store! Eleven months after our fifth baby was born, my husband accepted an offer for a job that moved us from Arizona to Texas, and then 5 months after that we found out we were expecting again - this time a baby boy! Our son was thrilled to finally be getting the little brother he had been waiting for. This was our first surprise baby after 5 very planned pregnancies. I felt it was meant to be!

I immediately found Sherry and scheduled an appointment to meet with her. My heart was set on a home birth! My husband and I immediately felt at ease with Sherry. She was genuine, caring, thorough, knowledgeable, and so supportive. Throughout my pregnancy I was so grateful for the wisdom she applied to my care, but was also touched by the friendship we built during that time. Appointments were never rushed and as you can probably tell, I am a long-winded person 😊. My appointments with Sherry were one of my favorite parts of the week because we were able to talk pregnancy but also about life. I have NEVER had medical care that even came close to what Sherry provided. She was wonderful.

On the day of our delivery I felt peaceful. I wasn’t quite sure how I would handle everything, but I knew I was in good hands. Not once did I ever feel afraid. It was the first time I had ever gone into labor on my own without a single intervention and our baby was only 3 days past the estimated due date. Sherry was in close contact with me throughout the day during the early part of my labor. The differences between my hospital births and my home birth were like night and day. This time I was able to labor in my own familiar surroundings. I ate when I was hungry and had water when I was thirsty. I moved around from room to room, got in the birth tub and got out. Sherry just supported me and whatever decision I made. She was a quiet presence, never pushing me, but rather always supporting and encouraging me. She knew when to stay respectfully quiet, when to give gentle advice, when to leave me alone, and when to be close by. She’d say the right things to help me focus and stay centered, and most importantly, helped me feel like I could trust my body and this whole beautiful process. My kids came in and out of our room while I was laboring and they all felt comfortable with her there, like she had always been there with us in our family. When our son was born, Sherry caught him easily on our bed and handed him to me, and it felt like the most natural thing that could ever happen when a baby is born. It felt so amazing.

I think often about this delivery and what an awesome and empowering experience it was. Midwives feel to me like they are angels attending and guarding the beautiful moment when a baby joins his or her family. That’s exactly what Sherry did for us. Because of her we were able to deliver our beautiful 9 pound baby boy in the comfort of our home, surrounded by his brother and sisters welcoming him into the world and our family. Thank you Sherry for such a beautiful gift! We sure love you!

-Brenden, Nikki, Collin, Elle, Kate, Hayden, Hadley, and Landen