The Birth of Bodi King Ro 3/12/21

Sabrina and Chris welcomed their third child together, Bodi King Ro, on March 12, 2021, much to the excitement of his big sisters! This birth was completely different than the others, including being their only son whose gender was a surprise until birth. As you can surmise, this pregnancy occurred during the pandemic and Sabrina felt strongly that she wanted to have her chosen support people in attendance. She was not interested in the limitations of the hospital and also preferred to have her own babies nearby. This was achieved at her previous birth in the hospital for she had them asleep on a blowup mattress beside her birthing bed. However, this was not an option during COVID. Sabrina decided to welcome this baby in her own home where she felt safest and where her babies would be close.

Things proceeded without incident until the final weeks in which at an appointment her homebirth midwife noticed the baby’s heartbeat was less reactive than desired. She recommended an immediate NST at the hospital to determine next steps. Sabrina’s baby was tired, as they described it, and at 41 weeks they recommended induction. She was told to return that evening. However, when she returned there were no available beds. A call to another hospital yielded the same predicament, no beds. Her baby was cleared with a good NST and so she was sent home. Sabrina’s midwife came the very next day to monitor baby and Sabrina also had another NST at the hospital. That would be the plan—very close monitoring and a call to the hospital (or induction) if anything wasn’t right. This was a roller coaster of a ride for Sabrina who went from a homebirth to a hospital induction, and then to a possible homebirth, depending on baby. It was a challenge but she perfected the art of letting go and seeing what her baby had in store. It was all she could do and it would be the secret to being able to roll with her labor.

Just three days later, Chris texted me at 12:40 am to say that Sabrina was having regular contractions at 3-4 minutes apart already lasting over a minute. They started 45 minutes earlier and they were already going like gangbusters. Since this was Sabrina’s third birth and I had been at her previous births, I knew that she had a high pain tolerance and would be calm through pretty much all of it. Subtle signs would mean big progress so when Chris said she was stopping and bracing for her contractions I knew I’d be heading to their house soon.

Then about 10 minutes later, Chris texted to say that Sabrina’s water broke “all the way” and the labor was “getting really fast.” That’s all I needed and I was out the door. Things were escalating quickly and they had also contacted the midwives who were on their way to the house. I arrived about 20 minutes later at 1:15 am to find Sabrina on her hands and knees leaning against the bed. The midwives arrived one by one soon after, setting up their things and seamlessly drifting into Sabrina’s birth. They listened to the baby’s heartbeat regularly and it stayed strong, even better than the previous days as if baby wanted to show everyone that all was well.

Within the hour Sabrina felt a lot more pressure in her bottom and she required steady counter pressure from me and Chris. But no matter how deeply her labor drew her in, there was always a part of her that was tuned in to the monitor on the bed. The moment there was a peep from one of the girls Chris disappeared upstairs to calm them. Sabrina was surrounded in support so when Chris had daddy responsibilities, she was never alone. In fact, having him available to soothe the restless sleepers helped Sabrina to let go and labor.

By 2:22 we could hear Sabrina become more vocal with her contractions, and within 10 minutes we heard her familiar mantra of “okay, okay, okay,” which had been her landmark transition sign in previous births. We stayed close and applied steady pressure to her sacrum, reassuring her she was strong and capable and her baby was almost here. And in three minutes she said, “I feel the baby coming.” Her breath changed in that moment from a deep inhale and exhale to the catch in breath the precedes the urge to bear down. Sabrina pushed for maybe 10 minutes as her midwife sat at her bottom encouraging her, Chris lay beside her, and I sat nearby. Her other two midwives were attentive and saying words that uplifted and empowered her and in the midst of the support Sabrina opened and birthed her baby. First the head, and then the rest tumbled out at 2:41 am, just 2 ½ hours after her first contraction. The baby’s cord was wrapped around the leg twice and the ankle once but did not slow down descent. It might have explained the low heart rate detected a few days earlier but we will never know.

He cried robustly and was soon declared a boy and greeted with tears from his mother as she grabbed him upon her chest. Tears of love, elation, relief, and ultimate release that comes with giving birth. This journey had been rife with drama, the likes of which Sabrina never would have wanted. But even when she had resigned herself to an induction in the hospital, her baby’s journey to birth took a U-turn and had her meet him right at home where she had planned from the beginning. 

Bodi weighed 7 lb. 9 oz. and was nursing shortly after birth. One of his sisters woke up as well, sending Chris bounding back upstairs to settle her before coming back down to cut the cord. There was no rush to cut it though. Once delivered, the placenta remained in a bowl nearby in the meantime. It stopped pulsing naturally when Bodi was through with it. The first hour was magical and reserved for exclusive skin-to-skin between mom and baby. And even after the first couple of hours passed and it was time for the newborn exam, Bodi hardly cried as the midwife gently assessed him with a tender touch and soft-spoken words. It’s really beautiful how serene the newborn exam is at a homebirth. And it inspired some thought-provoking discussion about homebirth and what normal birth looks like when it is left alone, undisturbed.

Sabrina was challenged to let go of the reins in this birth. And that is not something that comes easily for her. But she was ready to do anything to insure her baby’s safe passage earthside, even if it meant an induction and interventions. But in the span of a few days, she had her baby safely in her arms, born at home in the unmedicated birth she had envisioned all along. In the midst of a pandemic and so much uncertainty, I’m so thrilled this couple was able to welcome their newest baby in the comfort and sanctuary of their own home. There is no better time for a homebirth, I say. Welcome to the world, Bodi King Ro! You are the prince in your family and the king of your mom’s heart.