Amachai's Birth Story

My third pregnancy was a bit chaotic. After moving twice during the pregnancy I was ready to settle into our new little home just a month before I was due. I hoped this one would come a little earlier and with my usual prodromal labor I began to expect it to. But each labor session would come and go without turning into the real thing.

A few days before I would be 42 weeks my water suddenly broke, or so I thought. I was sitting on the bed when a bug gush came out. Shocked I looked at my husband and we just kind of laughed. Labor has never started with my water breaking before but okay. So we started making sure things were in order for birth and called the midwives. But no contractions followed. I had a few more gushes as we watched a movie but since nothing seemed to be happening yet we decided to get some rest before the contractions came.

I woke up grumpy the next morning because, well it was morning! I had expected to be woken up in labor! A whole day went by and still nothing happened! I was worried as I knew the risk of infection goes up after your water breaks and I really didn't want to be induced. We went in to see my midwife and check on the baby who seemed to be just fine. This is when I learned that you can have a fore bag of waters, like a separate little bag full of fluid attached to membranes holding baby in. Another possibility is you can leak and your bags can reseal. At this point no fluid was coming out and it was evident baby had plenty of fluid it was swimming in so all the fears were subsided. But as usual, I was still impatient!

42 weeks arrive and I still can't believe I am in labor. Because of the whole water leaking I began to doubt in my body's ability to birth this baby. I wrote out a whole bunch of affirmations for myself, my favorite being, "YOUR BODY IS NOT A LEMON!" I needed to remember that God made my body for this and it wasn't broken! My best friend was in town and was trying everything she could to also get me to go into labor before she left and this was essentially the last day.

It was right before mothers day so I had asked her to do a photoshoot with my mom and the kids, thinking the baby would be there by now, but since it wasn't we did a quick maternity session with my mom instead. It was so much fun and I really had a great time! Afterwards we went home, put the girls to bed and around midnight I started having contractions.

There wasn't really much of a slow build up like my other births. It seems it started and got straight to business. So we called the whole birth team over right away. My midwife missed the last birth because of how fast my labor went so she was very quick to arrive this time, not wanting to miss it again! I labored a bit in the living room but I noticed that I had really bad gas and my doula who I didn't know very well was behind me applying pressure on my hips. In hind sight, I know she wouldn't have cared and we all probably would have just laughed but in the moment the thought of farting in her face seemed mortifying to me! I just couldn't so I retreated to the bathroom to be alone with just Chris.

Good thing I did, because oh man, I had so much poop!! I am so sorry if that makes you squeamish but poop is a part of birth and it was definitely a part of this one! I spent the majority of the time on that toilet. My poor husband had to endure the smell, but it really was such a hilarious bonding moment!! Plus it was payback for all the times he's farted around me! I would come out of the bathroom for a few contraction and then need to go back again! I don't really remember much except being in the bathroom on the toilet.

Eventually I hit transition, my water broke on the toilet, and I felt the urge to push. Chris tried to tell me to move to the living room but I was content right where I was so I told him no. Apparently he signaled to Renee to come get me off the toilet so in her amazing midwife way she came and looked me in the face and said, "Justine, we are going to help you move to the living room so that you don't have this baby on the toilet." I melted at her words and happily agreed. In between a contraction we just barely had enough time to waddle to the living get down on my knees and push out my son!

Stunned I went into a hazy moment. The birth pause. Stuck between two worlds, The world of labor and the one of after birth. Having lots around 10 pounds in one very fast moment, I gazed out into space and then heard my midwife saying, "Justine, pick up your son!!" Oh my goodness, my son! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I swooped him up and was so in love! The room cheered like it was the winning touchdown at the Super Bowl! One of the most incredible moments of my life!

Another wave of pure joy hit me when I realized it was my Amachai. The first name we picked out before we were even married. I couldn't believe that here he was and he was perfect! My mom brought out the girls and Samantha got to cut her brother's umbilical cord. We were now a family of 3 and feeling so blessed.

This was my fastest labor from beginning to end at one 3.5 hours!

Justine is a birth videographer and photographer serving the Sacramento, Placer and El Dorado County. areas. Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln, Granite Bay, Folsom, Sacramento, Orangevale, Placerville, Antelope, etc