The couple of weeks leading up to Brooklyn’s birth were fairly eventful. Because all our babies were between four and fifteen days early, we were mentally prepared to have a baby between 37 and 39 weeks, so when those milestones came and went with good signs but no real labor, it was an adjustment to realize this baby might actually end up being late.
Our checkup on Monday at 39 and 2 was promising. I was very soft and 3.5cm at the end of an effective sweep. Baby was in a great position and I felt mentally ready to tackle labor. But although I showed some signs (like losing my mucus plug for the second time) I woke up still pregnant the next few mornings. I did a lot of curb walking and ball bouncing and was eager to meet our baby, but the Lord also gave me a lot of patience and rest in His timing, though I was starting to feel more discouraged and tired as hormonal insomnia began again.
Wednesday was our most eventful day. I had cramping and bloody show throughout the afternoon and evening, and near bedtime, real contractions started. However, they never got close together and eventually fizzled out.
Thursday morning (39 and 5) I paged my midwife Alli and described what was going on. She felt that my body was really trying to start labor, but something about baby’s position was stalling it. We decided to try the miles circuit (a three-part series of positions/stretches that takes about two hours and is designed to get baby into optimal position) combined with a 1/2 dose of castor oil partway through.
I cooked and ate a few eggs, drank electrolytes, did one last kitchen tidy, got the kids settled with some special crafts we’d been saving, and started phase one of the circuit at 11:30. At noon, I took the castor oil and began the hour-long phase two. Andrew got home from work around 12:30. I was halfway through the exaggerated side lie and getting semi-regular contractions, but could easily talk through them, so I wasn’t certain it was early labor yet.
At 1:10 I finished phase two and realized that curb walking and stair stepping both sounded too uncomfortable and opted for ball bouncing for phase three instead. The kids were still around, but tears started to hit and contractions were more painful, so Andrew took them across the street to our wonderful neighbors’. When he got back he sat next to me while I bounced and swayed and he prayed out loud for me. Looking back, we both think we should have recognized the tearfulness and fear as signaling that transition was imminent, but we didn’t pick up on that right away. (It was only our fifth time doing this, after all.)
At 1:35 I texted Alli, “No bowel activity yet but having pretty strong contractions, though they’re still all over the place for timing. Had a good cry midway though which is a good sign too! I think baby is in a good place. I don’t feel up for walking for step 3 of the circuit but I’m on my ball.”
At 1:37 I texted my mom, mom-in-law, and sis-in-law, “Pretty sure we are in early labor over here! 🙏”
Sometime during the following 20 minutes, contractions became too painful to talk through. As the castor oil took effect, I had two very quick rounds of diarrhea and the contractions kept ramping up in length and intensity. I remember Andrew asking when he should stop timing a contraction and I said “It doesn’t matter anymore.” The last contraction he timed was at 1:55. At 1:57 I said we needed to call Alli, but couldn’t do it myself. In the two minutes that Andrew was on the phone, things went from intense to urgent. For a bit there, I couldn’t tell where one contraction stopped and the next began. They’d arranged to meet at the birth center at 2:30, but at 2:00 I said “We need to go NOW.”
At this point I could barely move during the contractions. I remember frantically trying to find flip flops and in a panic settling for leather sandals. Somehow I made it into the back of Andrew’s car. In a daze, I waved to our neighbor Sarah, who was working in her garden, as we peeled out.
The drive was horrific. The contractions had gone from manageable to excruciating in a blink and my mind and body were having a hard time even processing what was happening. I was begging God to help me and between contractions, asked Andrew to text a few people so they could pray for us too. I tried to remember that there was a shiny new baby waiting for me at the end of this misery, but that felt theoretical in the moment because the pain was all-consuming. The back labor in particular was extremely intense. I writhed in the seat as the urge to push hit partway through the drive. I didn’t want to get on all fours in case I started pushing the baby out. In past labors, I was able to relax my body and choose to let my muscles go even during the pain, but this pain was different and I felt totally rigid from head to toe.
One minute from the birth center, I felt a huge pop as my water broke. Through all of this, Andrew remained calm, comforting, and reassuring. He’s always been extremely hands-on during labor and it was an odd thing to be laboring alone in the back seat while he drove.
We got to the birth center at 2:20 and I wondered how I would get inside. At this point the whole experience was feeling out-of-body. Somehow I found myself barefoot in the birth room, asking for the tub while Andrew got me out of my soaked pajama pants. The midwife, Ann, who met us, turned the tub water on, which in retrospect tickles my funny bone, because she knew with one look at me that I’d never be getting in. I wanted Andrew’s support, but when I have severe back labor I don’t want to be touched unless it’s with water, so at this point he felt as helpless as I did, but his verbal encouragement didn’t let up.
I frantically fell onto the bed and pushed with the next contraction, hanging off the edge. Ann listened to the baby and she sounded perfect. Alli arrived and helped me scoot all the way onto the bed and with the next contraction, she rolled me to my left side and Ann supported my right leg. That position was incredibly relieving.
In that moment, I regained my faculties and recognized that I could finally do something with the pain, and began to push. (I wondered later if I was quiet for this part the way I remember, and Alli said I was totally silent. Definitely a first for me!) I had my eye on the prize and I knew we were close. Alli coached me through the pushing and helped me stay steady and controlled to avoid tearing. I will never forget the unmistakable feeling of my baby’s head crowning, then coming out, and then pushing her shoulders and body through. At 2:27 PM, seven minutes after arriving, our baby was in my arms.
The relief and joy were instantaneous as I received her up to my chest and cried out over and over, “My baby! My baby! Thank You, God! You are so kind! Thank You!”
A moment later Andrew told me it was a girl and the joy went next level. I had so hoped for a sister for Ruby and I couldn’t believe God granted my wish. Plus, I’d hoped for lots of hair and she sure had it. She was covered in vernix and very gray, but she cried right away and her vitals were great. Her color improved rapidly and she latched like a pro.
And as we’d suspected, she was not only our smallest baby at 7lb 1oz, she also had a head circumference of 13.5” (1.5” smaller than three of her siblings), which certainly contributed to the fast pushing and no tearing. She came out with her hand and arm up around her face like we’d seen on ultrasounds, which we suspect had caused the back labor and also stalled labor earlier in the week. In the days following I had intense low back pain where that position had bruised me internally. She loves to have her hands up by her face as a newborn, too, so we think that was a favorite position in the womb.
In retrospect we think that my body went into active labor from the miles circuit, before the castor oil had hit. So once it did hit, things escalated very fast. I had a lot to process mentally and emotionally after such an intense experience, but overall was just so thankful to have it done quickly.
Throughout pregnancy, I had prayed a lot for safety during delivery and wisdom to know if we needed to go to the hospital. The Lord was kind in not only giving us a very uncomplicated labor but also in making it so short that there was no time to fret or be anxious. He was also kind in giving us a wise, supportive midwife team, especially Alli who has delivered our littlest three and provided such personalized, insightful care. She knew what my body needed to initiate labor and when she arrived she knew what I needed to push my baby out.
My mom and Andrew’s sister Shelby came to meet Brooklyn while she was fresh. Less than three hours after arriving at the birth center, we were headed out the door with a fresh baby in tow. I was riding a crazy adrenaline high. As we pulled back onto our street and waved at Sarah, who was still in her garden, it felt like no time had passed at all, and yet so much had happened.
Each of our five babies has had a unique birth story, and we see God’s kindness in every one. His design is incredible and it is a sacred experience to carry new life and bring it into the world. We will always look back on 8/7/25 with fondness and thanksgiving.
We love you, Brooklyn Michelle.
