Ragan and Tommy welcomed their second daughter on Christmas Day, the second client of mine to get the best gift that day! Ragan was no stranger to natural birth since she had welcomed her first baby girl that way. But every birth is different, and there is the added detail of making sure big sister is taken care of before leaving for the birth place. Thankfully, Ragan’s mom planned to live with them for an extended time right around her due date window to facilitate the transition when baby arrived, in addition to Tommy’s anticipated deployment soon after the birth.

Last time, Ragan arrived quite advanced in her labor so she hoped to have more of an opportunity to settle in at the hospital so things might feel less frantic. She took care of the preliminary details as much as she reasonably could, and trusted things would unfold when and how they were meant to. She even declined a membrane sweep in favor of waiting and seeing.

I got a text from Tommy at 5:27 am saying that Ragan’s contractions had started at 4 am. They were irregular in spacing, jumping between 10 minutes and 3 minutes apart, but they were about 50 seconds long. Unfortunately, I was at a birth but hoped to be able to join them in support. I alerted my backup doula just in case and she was ready. They had spoken with the midwife and planned to leave for the hospital in about 30-45 minutes.

An hour later, when they arrived at 6:40 am, Ragan was dilated 5 cm, 80% effaced, with baby’s head at -2 station. She was still comfortable laboring with Tommy for the time being. I stopped by the triage room to visit briefly. Ragan teared up knowing I wouldn’t be by her side, not yet anyway. But she also verbalized that she knew it was going to be okay, and I echoed that to her, gave a hug, and promised to be back as soon as I was available. Once Ragan completed the 20-minute NST she was able to move to her labor and delivery room.

By 7:20, Ragan’s contractions were steady at 4 minutes apart and she was considering calling the backup doula. She continued to labor another 40 minutes and when she made the first vocal contraction, Tommy dispatched the doula. He remembered that point in Ragan’s labor last time and he knew things were turning a corner. She requested some essential oils, so I was able to deliver a few bottles to Ragan. It was nice to see her, and I hoped I would be seeing her soon, but knew she was in excellent hands in the meantime.

The backup doula arrived at 8:20 to find Ragan leaning and moaning through her contractions. She was feeling emotional about everything, labor, Christmas, a backup doula, so she asked for a hug and gave the doula a tight squeeze. Ragan was soon in the shower where her contractions moved to 2-3 minutes apart. She moaned low through them. She labored with one foot on a stool to keep her pelvis asymmetric. And though the water was making her feel hot, she didn’t want to get out because it felt so good. She savored the shower, knowing it was such a luxury for moms!

Tommy was decked out in his Christmas morning pjs. Turns out Ragan was wearing matching pajama pants when she arrived but had long since taken them off. It was a funny sight to see him dressed that way but I’m sure it will be a great memory when they revisit the birth pictures. At 9:00, Ragan could feel her baby was low, and her contractions grew more intense, bringing her sounding stronger as well. She put her leg up facing the water for short breaks and continued to vocalize low. She was out of the shower by 9:10 and was able to sign her consents at that time.

She moved to the bed and labored on an extended hands and knees position and felt more pressure in her bottom. And as each contraction came, Ragan moaned through it and returned to a very calm state between. She was wonderful about conserving her energy that way. At 9:45 she took a trip to the toilet and had 3-4 contractions sitting there. She tried sitting on the cub after that but didn’t care for it. So instead, she stood by the bed and leaned over the birth ball.

By 10:00 her labor had reached the next level, with noticeably longer and stronger contractions. “I just want to take a nap,” Ragan said, a very normal way to feel as a woman works her way through the most challenging part of her labor. Her contractions were very close and intense, leaving Ragan really having to focus intensely. Tommy setup the playlist, Christy Nockels Christmas which seemed fitting, after all.

Ragan labored on her hands and knees with a fuzzy pink blanket she had brought from home, and about 15 minutes later she was laboring on her side. I arrived around that time and quietly slipped in beside the bed and spoke softly to Ragan that I was there and she was doing an amazing job. She had two doulas for her birth, as it turned out.

At 10:30 Ragan yelled out as her water broke, stepping her contractions up in intensity once again. She was soon bearing down with her contractions and rolled over to her hands and knees. Ragan frantically called out to me and reached out her hand, so I grabbed it. Her eyes were closed, and she couldn’t see me, only heard that I was there. Then she pushed with the next contraction. Her legs shook from hormones and adrenaline, and she soon pushed her baby out into her midwife’s hands. Ragan reached down and received her baby into her arms, becoming a mother for the second time at 10:46 am on December 25, 2021.

Ragan cradled her baby to her chest and looked down. She was so beautiful in that moment to me, literally holding in her hands the fruit of her labor. Her daughter cried out and everyone sighed and smiled. Then we helped her roll to her back upon the bed where she was able to get settled and birth the placenta. Tommy cut the cord when it was done pulsing and after some snuggle time, Ragan brought her baby to breast for a first latch at 11:18 am. And once measured, Arwynn Rose was 7 lb. 11 oz. and 19 1/2 in. long.

The finer details of what happened and when, were a blur in the midst of labor. But the contractions grew hazy, and Ragan held her baby in her arms, she realized what she had done. Her entire labor lasted just 6 ½ hours and most of Christmas Day remained. The power of her laboring body moved intensely through her, and she rolled with it, gracefully taking the unexpected changes that occurred—a Christmas birth, and a second doula. It made for a beautiful birth on such a special day to so many for other reasons. And it was not lost on us that the day Ragan and Tommy’s baby chose to be born was a very significant birthday for another very special baby. The message of love and peace that we’ve come to associate with Christmas Day shone through Ragan’s birth from start to finish. She was literally surrounded in loving support and birthed with little help from the rest of us, other than a cold washcloth at the perfect time, a steady hand to hold, and encouraging words when she needed to hear them. But we believed in her and were there to serve her however she wanted us to. And to watch Ragan do her great work, we were reminded of the significance of simply being there to honor her power and vulnerability entwined. That’s the essence of motherhood, isn’t it? To be strong and soft all at once.

The Birth of Arwynn Rose 12/25/21