A home birth. How taboo.

I didn't tell anyone I was planning on having a home birth. It's not something that is very conventional in North America, and honestly, I didn't want anyone else's opinions or questions affecting my decision.

Little backstory: when my first daughter Harper was born, I was shocked at how quickly she came. I felt the first twinge of a contraction at 7am, and she was in my hands at 3:42pm. For a first baby, this is considered to be a very quick labour. When I was first checked by my midwife, I was already 8cm dilated and we rushed to the hospital. An epidural was not an option, so I only knew what birth was like without one. (spoiler alert: it sucks. BUT I also knew I could do it).

the day after Harper was born (hospital birth)

Second babies tend to come much faster than first babies do, and I wanted to be prepared for whatever needed to happen this time. I started asking questions, and the more that I learned, the more I became comfortable with the idea. I figured if we needed to, or if I changed my mind at the last minute, the hospital was still available to me. But I wanted to be prepared to have this baby at home. Matt needed a little more convincing.

This experience couldn't have been any more positive unless a magic wand could have done the work for me.

I woke up at 4am with contractions that picked up and moved into active labour fairly quickly. My biggest stress surrounding birth this time was always "when is this going to go down, and where is Harper going to be at the time?" The timing of this couldn't have been more perfect, and she woke up around 6:30 before Matt got her dressed and fed breakfast as fast as possible, while paging my midwife and telling her it was time to come. There was no way I was getting into a car to drive to the hospital.

My midwife got to our house right as Matt was getting Harper out the door to go to his parents around 7am. Again I was checked, and again I was already 8cm dilated. Insane.

She helped me downstairs where I already had old sheets, towels, blankets, my hospital bag, and the home birth kit that the clinic gave me.

The rest of the morning is a blur of Matt coming back / me saying hi to the second midwife in between contractions / pillows being tied in plastic bags / my eyes squeezed shut while I tried to focus on my breathing / my voice begging for them to "please just pull her out" / meeting the baby I wished for so long for.

My entire labour went from 4am to 9:20am.

Marlo getting her first measurements (home birth)

I said before that whenever I heard someone talk about their home birth, I never heard about a mess, I just heard about how nice it was to be tucked into your own bed afterwards. This was my experience too. I was able to walk into the downstairs shower almost an hour later, and was in clean clothes cuddling my baby upstairs in our living room right after that. I was in the comfort of my own home, and was so thankful for the opportunity to be able to do this without hospital food, florescent lights, or overhead pages being made.

Harper came back home after her nap that day. She was so excited to meet her baby sister! I made sure Marlo was in the bassinet (not my arms) when they met, and they both exchanged presents. Harper still refers to her doll as "the one Marlo got for me!"

Almost three months later, and it still feels insane to think that I went to bed pregnant, and was eating breakfast the next morning with Marlo in my arms.

I also feel like a complete badass for doing it this way.

It feels like a really good ending to a long story of ups and downs creating this family of ours.

The biggest thank you to Piera and Heidi from Niagara Midwives for helping us welcome Marlo into this world! We're so lucky to have had you as a part of our team xo