Written by Lakia, Winona’s mom

I woke up early with Indie (he had an ear infection) and noticed contractions while we played downstairs around 6-7 am. They were somewhat painful, but I had had so much prodromal labor that I felt I didn’t know if they truly hurt or not. They were pretty consistently 10-15 minutes apart. This had happened a couple of times before, so I figured I would wait and see if anything changed. I had noticed parts of my mucus plug for 4-5 days leading up to this.

We continued our day, my contractions were noticeably painful, but I tried to ignore them and get some things done around the house. My mom took the boys to the park, and I milled around but had to rest a lot. When she was about to leave before the kids’ naps I told her that something was probably happening today. When the boys were napping I tried to rest, but contractions were happening about every 10 minutes at this point, and I dozed but could not sleep.

Later, we hung out at home, and contractions continued. Around 5 pm or so, Isaac’s parents stopped by on their way back from a wedding, and I mentioned that I was pretty sure I was in labor. At this point, I had to focus on each contraction but was mostly myself in between, so I figured I had some time. We ate pizza, and I had to excuse myself every once in a while for a surge. When they left around 7, things were intensifying quickly. I had hoped that I would have baby in the night and I was feeling pretty sure I would get my wish at this point. 😅

I had a really bad contraction while getting Indie ready for bed and I was so surprised at how fast things were happening! I reminded myself to trust my gut about where I was in the process. I texted my mom that she would probably have to come over and she got to our house right after the boys went down for bed. Around 8:15 pm I called the midwife because I was noticing some shorter breaks but also felt a little pushy 🫢 so we packed up the bags and Isaac with his crutches (his right foot was broken), and *I* drove us to the birth center 🤠 lots of train tracks, and contractions were 5ish mins apart. The ride was intense, to say the least haha!

When we got to the birth center at about 8:45 pm, I was still feeling a little pushy, which was so odd to me (I had a few more hours of labor right? lol). We made it to our room where we got all set up. When I got in the tub I felt some relief, but not as much as I expected, which told me I was close. I remember panicking for a moment and asking Mandi if I should be feeling like I needed to push already. I hadn’t decided if I wanted to be checked for dilation but had planned on it maybe happening at some point. 😬

HOWEVER, with the next contraction, I felt my body start to push and I knew it was time. I remember feeling fear followed by a rush of peace in knowing what to expect and trusting my body and the Lord to keep me safe. I had affirmations and peaceful music playing in the background which truly helped keep me grounded. I remember repeating something like “It’s a wave, let it wash over.” in between contractions. I think I had maybe 3-4 of these pushing surges. I remember her head feeling close and then going back a little. I remember her crowning with the next one. And I remember shifting my body to a better position for her to come out. The next surge, I pushed some to help her head out and I felt my water break at this point – I thought I had also torn but I hadn’t! In the next contraction, her head was out and I reached down to feel a whole lot of hair on that head! My body gave me a little break and then with the next surge her body was born! I think Mandi had to untangle some cord but then I lifted baby girl out of the water. I hadn’t ever caught my own baby before so that was pretty magical.

I am so overjoyed that I chose to go the birth center route and that I was able to have confidence in the birthing process AND such a comfortable place to have my baby. I felt so very safe and cared for in every way. I cannot express how it felt to let my body do what it needed to… There was no counting during pushes and I personally felt a peace in not having to push on a timeline. This felt a bit redemptive from my previous two hospital births, which went well, but both had things I wished I could have changed or done differently. I have to say that Mandi and Kyara both hold a special place in my heart and birth story. 🤍

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