Casey and Dan welcomed their fourth child, and FIRST girl, on June 8 in the most unique birth of theirs yet! I have walked beside them on all four pregnancy journeys and have stood beside Casey as she birthed all four of her babies unmedicated. She was no stranger to natural birth, but this birth would have some unique challenges thrown in.

We met prenatally to discuss the upcoming birth and review Casey’s goals. She hoped to use the birth tub at her hospital since she welcomed her third son in a water birth. But she also understood that logistics can be tricky, especially with several children at home, so we just hoped the timing would work out.

Her pregnancy didn’t go without a hiccup though. At her last prenatal appointment, her blood pressure was high, and her doctor was concerned about high blood pressure and had labs drawn to determine a possible induction. Casey had a strong desire to let her body go into labor so she went home, and thankfully, never heard from her doctor. The labs must have checked out!

On Tuesday, June 7, around 9:15 pm, Casey texted to tell me she was feeling mild contractions and felt like she would be welcoming her baby early in the morning. She was very certain in her text, and I didn’t doubt her. I told her to keep me updated and we would go from there. It didn’t take long for Casey to decide to head to the hospital. After just an hour of intensifying contractions, she had already called the midwife and they decided going in on the sooner side was prudent especially since she was supposed to receive antibiotics this time around.

Upon arrival at 10:30, Casey was shown to a triage room and was shocked and disappointed when a cervical exam revealed she was only dilated 3 cm. This didn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, for her labor could take off like a shot, but it still deflated her a little bit. She didn’t ask for me to come just yet and instead would wait and see what happened. Their childcare plan was not available until the next day, so Dan went home to tuck the boys in bed, knowing I would be there beside Casey. This was not ideal for anyone, honestly, but their trust in me after serving them at every birth helped us to make the best of the situation.

Shortly after Casey was given her own room 30 minutes later, her labor took a turn. It was about 11:00 and Casey was asking for me. I was just down the hall, thankfully, finishing up with another birth, and was able to arrive as soon as she asked. I found Casey on her hands and knees laboring hard on the bed, monitors strapped around her belly, as her nurse tried to chart and grab a decent blood pressure. This is a very difficult task with strong contractions coming every 2 minutes! Casey was hitting a wall, saying, “No, no, no,” with her contractions and when I told her she was strong and capable, she told me, “No I’m not.” I had seen this denial before, and I had seen her move past it. I knew she would move past it again. She just needed to get out of that bed and off those monitors!

A quick chat with the nurse had Casey off the monitor since it had already been long enough. And right about then she also managed to get a decent blood pressure. Casey was free of the monitors, and we moved in the direction of the shower.

Meanwhile, her midwife and nurse moved furniture around in anticipation of the birthing tub that was enroute. And I warmed up the water for Casey and placed the CUB just outside the tub so she could continue laboring in her hands and knees position that she preferred. Casey was still doubting herself as her contractions grew in intensity beyond what she remembered. I told her this would be her girl power birth, surrounded by only women, giving birth to her only daughter. Casey looked up at me and smiled and continued the work of her labor. She was in the shower by 12:30 am.

After laboring about 15 minutes in the shower, Casey’s voice changed through her contractions as the pressure of her baby in her pelvis drew her voice lower. She growled like a bear through the peak and her midwife and I exchanged looks. We knew there would be no time for a tub. Furthermore, there might not be time to get out of the shower either!

I asked Casey if she was pushing but she didn’t answer. Instead with the next contraction Casey’s vocalization halted and she was silent. She reached between her legs and said, “I think that’s her head,” very calmly. Her midwife was beside her and in scrubs and all stepped into the shower to reach her hands behind Casey. She yelled out to the nurse for the cart, and I looked outside the bathroom to find a comical scene of the nurse trying to wield the delivery cart towards the bathroom like the grocery cart with one errant wheel.

Then the midwife yelled, “Head!” as Casey brought her baby’s head out, and with the next push her sweet baby girl, Leighton Claire, was born! It was 12:47 am and Casey got her waterbirth after all. The midwife held the baby up and commented about her being slippery, and then passed you through your mom’s legs into her arms. She kneeled there on the shower holding you for a moment, taking you in briefly as time stood still. Then we helped her stand and walk to the bed to birth the placenta. Other nurses had arrived for the birth, but it was done. There were words of congratulations thrown about and some towels placed on Leighton to keep her warm against her mother. And as if to emphasize the girl power theme, Casey cut her daughter’s cord herself!

Before the cord was even cut, we Facetimed Dan so he could meet his daughter. He had one of the boys snuggled on him at the time, roused from sleep and wanting comfort. Dan was doing the work on the home front while Casey birthed Leighton. She brought her to her breast with ease. The memory of experience plus a chunky baby tend to help breastfeeding go smoothly. Leighton latched well and sucked vigorously. It’s as if she knew she had to work for her food after having it fed 24/7 by way of the umbilical cord all those months.

The placenta came soon after and Casey was given the happy news of no tears. She held her baby and marveled at how big she was! We could tell she was chunky. Those cheeks don’t lie! And when she was finally weighed, Leighton tipped the scales at 10 lb.1 oz.! She surpassed Casey’s previously heaviest baby of 9 lb. 15 oz. and did it in the shortest amount of time. Casey’s entire labor wasn’t more than 3 hours, but her active labor was closer to 1 ½!

Minus the fact that Dan wasn’t there, Casey calls her birth perfect. The timing of my arrival was perfect, and the strong and surprising shower birth was the perfect way to assert Leighton’s female presence in this world! She was a lively exclamation point to their family. And I was honored to have been there to see each birth story through.