Elli'es birth story

Lavender (Ellie) is our second baby, born after an elective C-section with our son two years ago. He was breech, and although we were given the option of having him naturally, as first-time parents, we opted for the C-section. This time around, I was determined to have this baby vaginally!

Before diving into everything that happened during labor and birth, here’s a little background: Ellie was born at 43 weeks and 2 days—we had tried everything! I was texting Nichole every day, seeing her and the rest of the team every other day, and on the off days, I was at the hospital getting ultrasounds. I tried homeopathies, tinctures, membrane sweeps, walks, spicy food, standing on my head—you name it, I tried it. Except castor oil.

On the day I hit 43 weeks, I went in for another ultrasound. Everything looked great—Ellie’s heartbeat was strong, and there were no concerns. However, the doctor who reviewed the ultrasound called Nichole and strongly recommended that we induce that day, simply because I was 43 weeks. She advised against a homebirth, even though nothing was wrong.

So—I finally took the castor oil. And within 12 hours, things kicked off. Properly this time! They’d been “kicking off” for the last three weeks… or so I thought.

I started having mild contractions that afternoon into the evening. When I went to the bathroom, I saw my bloody show!

I texted Nichole for the 10 millionth time in three weeks and said, “IT’S HAPPENING!”—a statement I had definitely made many times before. It was around 9:30 p.m., and she told me to go to bed and get some rest—we’d stay in touch. I slept through the night and woke up the next morning about to lose my mind. Yes, I was having contractions, but nothing had changed!

They were a minute long and about 4–5 minutes apart, which is usually the “time to go to the hospital” window—or in our case, time to call the midwife. So I texted Nichole and said, “I don’t know what’s going on. The timing is every 4–5 minutes, the contractions are a minute long, but the intensity isn’t increasing—it’s so mild I slept through the night!”

Nichole said, “Let me get Hannah and we’ll swing by and check on you.”

They arrived around 11-ish and did all the usual things—checked my blood pressure, pulse, and listened to baby. Then they hung out for an hour, listening and watching my contractions. Eventually, Nichole said, “We’re going to go into town and grab lunch, then we’ll come back and check on you again.”

Tyler made us lunch, and I laid down for a bit. After about an hour or so, Nichole and Hannah returned. By then, contractions had picked up a little in intensity, but between them, I felt totally normal. We all hung out through the afternoon and into the evening. Tyler and I shared the story of how we met, we smoked chicken and ribs so everyone had a good meal in them for the events ahead, and the whole vibe was just so relaxed. Country music played on the speakers—it felt like a group of friends hanging out for the day.

As evening came, my contractions intensified. I asked Nichole, “When do I get to go in the pool?” She said, “Let’s get it set up.” I’m a big water person, so this was the most exciting part for me.

I have no idea how long I was in the pool, but it felt like forever! I floated, told stories, laughed between contractions—I was totally relaxed and at ease.

I had told Tyler about the stages of labor, especially transition—that’s when things would get really tough for me. And oh, did they. The contractions were so intense, and I actually fell asleep between them while in the pool. I doubted myself a lot at this point. I told everyone I couldn’t do it and that I needed to go to the hospital (even though I knew I wasn’t going). I told Tyler, “If you don’t take me to the hospital now, I’ll drive myself.” Tears in my eyes, he held me and reassured me that I was just in transition. I was pretty confident he didn’t know what he was talking about.

Nichole checked me and said everything was fine. I was sure she knew what she was talking about—but she wanted me to change positions. Normally, I’m pretty agreeable, but I was struggling to do anything at that point. I was just about to get on the bed to try a new position when—pop! My waters finally broke, and with that, all the fear, discomfort, and self-doubt disappeared. I was ready.

I got back in the pool, on my knees and leaned over, with Tyler sitting on the yoga ball in front of me. As the contractions intensified, I held onto him. It wasn’t painful anymore—just my body doing what it was supposed to do. No one told me when to push; Nichole just gently guided where to direct the next contraction. I’ve never felt so out of control and so at peace all at once. It was euphoric.

But in true Ellie fashion—she was still holding out. Once she started crowning, I was exhausted. Nichole had me stand and lean on Tyler in a squat. Another contraction hit, and I tried my hardest to push, but my legs were so weak. I could see her head—just up to her eyebrows—in the reflection of the window. We were so close.

Ellie had been crowning for longer than we would’ve liked, so Nichole directed us to the bedroom. With Tyler and Hannah’s help, I got on the bed. A contraction hit, Tyler and Hannah supported me as Nichole said, “Curl up around your baby.” And just like that—her head was out. The relief was indescribable.

As we waited for another contraction, Nichole reassured me that we were both okay. Then she said, “Oh, now I see what the holdup was.” Ellie’s cord had been wrapped around her neck and body. When the next contraction came, I was told, “Shoot that baby into the sky!” And I did just that. Ellie made her very speedy entrance into the world at 4:20 a.m.

But it doesn’t end there. Because of how fast her body came out, she needed what Nichole called “the baby Heimlich,” and it took about a minute before we heard her cry. Nichole and Hannah worked in perfect sync—Nichole suctioned the mucus while also checking my bleeding. Once Ellie was on my chest, Nichole administered Pitocin, as she wasn’t totally happy with the rate of my bleeding.

Ellie got a bit of oxygen to help her adjust to life outside, and after that, Nichole and Hannah quietly stepped out, leaving Tyler and me to bask in our golden hour. They handled what could have been a stressful situation with such calm confidence that Tyler asked, “Wait… that wasn’t what normally happens?”

For her newborn exam, Ellie weighed in at a whopping 10 lbs 5 oz and 22 inches long.

Finding a birth team that becomes your family during one of the most monumental moments of your life is everything. I would not have had such a wonderful experience bringing Lavender into the world if it weren’t for the confidence I had in Nichole and her team. No matter what, I knew my baby was coming earthside in the safest way possible.