Thursday - 11:10 PM
I received a text from Mom that her water broke. At 11:45 p.m., a call — “My midwife is on her way.” Knowing this was her 4th baby and she had a rapid labor and delivery with her last, I knew I needed to move with haste. I was on the road by 12 a.m. from DeLand with an ETA to south Orlando of 1:16 a.m.
I arrived as Mom’s siblings were walking in. The house was quiet and calm. Grandma was cleaning the kitchen, Grandpa was relaxing on the couch, and her three younger children were asleep. I made my way up the stairs to their bedroom, where I was greeted by Mom, Dad, and the midwife. The room was dark, lit only by fairy lights and a sound machine that was softly filling the room with calming melodies. At 1:30 a.m., the midwife checked her — she was 7 cm. Still calm and collected, she took each contraction with grace. Dad sipped on a cup of coffee and supported her through each contraction.
Around 2 a.m., contractions were intensifying, and she made her way into the birthing pool. Within 10 minutes, she announced it was time to get the kids up, as she had planned for them to be present for the birth. Her oldest led the way with a huge smile across his face, so excited to meet his new baby brother. “This is exactly how I wanted it!” he exclaimed. Dad carried the youngest in, his sister, and their middle brother followed. They all snuggled up on the bed with Grandma and Mom’s sister, patiently waiting for the arrival of their new brother.
At 2:18, Dad stated he thought the baby would be here before 3 a.m., and he was correct. Just a minute later, Mom announced he was coming. “I’m trying not to lose control,” she said, and she didn’t. She pushed quietly and gracefully, only letting out the sounds of her breath, which grew deeper and faster with each contraction.
At 2:29 a.m., he arrived. The midwife quickly brought him up to her chest. “That was so intense!” she exclaimed, holding her baby as tears rolled down her cheeks.
After a few moments, baby boy was still silent, but with slight intervention from the midwife, he quickly let out his first gurgling cry. “There we go!” Dad called out. However, we weren’t out of the woods. The midwife began to work on him—clearing his airways, listening to his lungs, monitoring his heart rate, and giving him breaths. He was crying and breathing, but not enough. He had come out so quickly that fluid had not properly cleared from his lungs.
They calmly but quickly moved Mom and baby to the bed, where the midwife continued to give her best efforts to get baby breathing properly as Grandma prayed over him. Mom lay calmly on the bed, catching her breath, at peace with the complete trust she had in her midwife.
“C’mon, breath! C’mon!” Dad cried. Moments later, the midwife announced, “We need to call 911.” Dad quickly got on the phone as the midwife continued to support the baby. Seconds felt like hours, but 15 minutes later, the room was filled with paramedics.
The paramedics got the baby’s vitals, and soon after, a second team of paramedics arrived for Mom. The room went from dark and calm to bright and crowded very quickly. It was determined Mom was well enough to follow Baby separately to the hospital.
Baby boy spent two days in the NICU before being reunited with his family at home. A week later, I returned to capture their joy as a family of six, embracing this new chapter together.
