The Hawkins Family: November 2015

***WARNING*** This post contains photo's of my home-birth. Although not graphic, they may be too much for some.

I wanted to share Hooper's birth story for those who wanted to hear about it. He was a planned home-birth. We had a long list of reasons for our home-birth. Some included our new insurance- which required delivery at Piedmont Atlanta (almost an hour and a half away), avoiding a 4th unnecessary induction, being at home with our kids, and the list goes on. We found our midwife through a friend. She was amazing! All our visits were with her in Peachtree City. I am so thankful we used Mandi. She was amazing and helped us have an amazing birth!

I was due November 9, 2015. In the weeks before my due date I had lots of braxton hicks contractions and quite a few regular contractions as well. My due date came and left, and I became more and more miserable. By Wednesday November 11, I was having contractions pretty much all day and night. None of them were really painful or consistent, but they were there. Wednesday night, I ran the kids all over the place- as usual. Carter to basketball at the school, the girls to church (I didn't feel like going so I just dropped them off), then back to the school to get Carter and back to church to get the girls. All evening I had been having contractions. By the time we got home and settled and everyone in bed, I took a moment to relax and pay attention to the timing of the contractions. They were steady and 20 mins apart. I bounced on the birth ball (yoga ball) and watched TV. By 12, the contractions were 10 mins or less apart and getting more intense. We decided to call Mandi about 12:15 and let her know it was time! She arrived about 12:45 and began setting up everything. Me and Kevin set up the pool and put a liner on the bed before she got there. Her assistant was out of town with a death in the family, so she asked her good friend and nurse midwife Natalie over to assist. This was totally a God thing, because we loved having Natalie and Mandi both there. It was the perfect combination! By the time Natalie arrived (she lives in east Atlanta), it was 1:45 am. I was still having contractions, but I could breath through them pretty easily. Mandi checked my cervix. It was 6 cm and the baby was right there, We decided to break my water and go ahead have him out quickly. After the water was broken, I labored backwards on the toilet with a pillow for about 45 mins. The contractions went from easy to unbearable as I transitioned from 7 to 10 cm. While laboring, the birth pool was filled. Unfortunately the hot water gave out and the water got a little too cold. Kevin had to boil pots of water to add to the pool to get it warm (this was actually kind of funny now that I think about it!). After a pot or two of water was added, the midwives quickly realized I had hit 10 cm, and was ready to push. They helped me into the birth pool, and tried to find a good position to push in. They suggested squatting, which worked perfectly. After about 15 mins of pool and pushing, Hooper was here! He was born at 3 am, only 2 hours and 45 mins after my midwife arrived. He weighed 9 lbs and 2 oz, and was 20.5 inches long. He was born quietly while his siblings were upstairs fast asleep. Everything was cleaned up and the midwives headed out by 5 am. We were able to sleep in our own bed with our new little boy from 5:30 to 7:30. We were then very excited to surprise our other children with their new baby brother! It was like Christmas morning for everyone! Welcome to our family Hooper Dean Hawkins!