Callaghan Cruz Jameson DeLaFuente

April 15th, 2022 @ 1:21am

8lbs 3oz & 21in

Born at home, in the water 🤎

All day Thursday I was having light, sporadic contractions, not much different than the past few weeks. The day before I had the overwhelming urge to clean the house, went to the chiropractor, and had my doula come and hit some pressure points. I wanted help assist my body to progress so I stayed active throughout the day Thursday, was doing squats, doing curb walks when I could, and staying as hydrated as possible. I made a nail appointment for in the evening so that I could relax a bit more and have a moment to myself without the kids. (My nail tech asked how far along I was and I told her 41 weeks today. She jokingly said I was going to go home and have a baby after we were done). After I left my nail appointment, I went home and asked my neighbor to go on a walk with me while my mom still had the kids. We went walking for about 30 minutes, a little over a mile and half and I did curb walks throughout. I still was having sporadic contractions but was hoping I could get them to pick up. Around 8:30, I went and picked up a small grocery order and then went to grab the kids. My moms cats just had kittens so I made sure to get some kitten cuddles in for a bit to assist in releasing some oxytocin. Once we got home, it was about 9:15 and I was feeling pretty hungry so I whipped up some Italian spinach wraps for myself and Tony. We ate and shortly after I started feeling nauseous. I told Tony that my contractions seemed to be picking up and to get some rest just in case. Around 10:30 I decided to take a shower, texting my doula to let her know that I felt off. The contractions were low and I was feeling an intense amount of pressure, making it difficult to breathe almost. After I got out of the shower, I laid down with Delilah and Rebel so they would go to sleep. I started timing my contractions and they were ranging anywhere between 3-6 minutes apart and about 30-45 seconds long. I decided to stop tracking and try to go to sleep. A few minutes after I started dozing off, I had a much stronger contraction that woke me up and I decided I should get ready to call my doula to head our way. All of a sudden, I thought I had peed the bed. As she answered I said, “how do I know for sure if my water broke” and then it started gushing some more and I said “oh no, yeah my water definitely just broke”. (I thought maybe I had just peed due to the intense pressure). It was exactly 12am. After I hung up with her, I called my midwife to let her know my water had broken and that I was having contractions. Then I called my mom for her to head over and woke up Tony for him to start setting up the birth pool. As Tony was blowing up the pool, I was holding Rebel (he was just about to fall asleep when my water broke so he was up with momma making sure I was all good). I put on music and waited for everyone to arrive. I danced with Rebel a bit, swaying & singing to him as I breathed through the surges, holding him close knowing he was about to no longer be my littlest babe. The waves were getting stronger and more intense and I kept imaging myself closer to holding our baby. As Tony was filling up the pool, my contractions got intense quickly and I needed the relief, so I got in before it was done being filled. I asked Tony what time it was and it was a little after 1am. I knew my midwives and doula would be arriving shortly. My contractions were strong and I started to feel panicky, I had a hunch I was transitioning but didn’t want to psyche myself out. I told my mom and Tony, “I’m panicking, y’all”. And as soon as a said it, my midwife walked through the door (I think it was around 1:04am) and a sense of calmness washed over me. She came in, asked how I was and I think she could sense the intensity I was feeling. As she got some things set up, a wave hit me and she came over to me, gently caressed my face, whispering to me to soften my face and to give into the contraction - so I did. Again, that rush of calmness and reassurance rushed over me for a moment. Another contraction hit, I got on my knees, leaning on the side of the pool, and Tony gave me counter pressure on my back. And then another one hit. And another, at which point I let out a loud, grunted “fuck” and my midwife said, “there you go, let it out”. I could feel baby moving down and the inevitable feeling to push. At that time, my doulatog walked in and immediately started taking pictures, documenting our incredible birth. I was moaning loud, trying to work with my body, pushing out my baby. The pressure was so intense, I knew I would be meeting my baby shortly. I reached down to see if I could feel the head but it was just soft, squishy hair. Tony got ready to catch the baby. A few more waves and baby was out. Tony put him on my back as I came back down to earth, thinking to myself “did we really just do that?” As I turned over (still on my knees), Tony was holding HIM up to me and I saw his testicles I said “it’s a boy!” He hit my chest and I remember saying “we did it”. Tony held us and I was in shock, not quite back in my body yet, still on cloud 9. I remember asking if he was okay to which everybody replied “yes”. He was crying and absolutely perfect in every way. He was born at 1:21 am, about 17 minutes after my midwives arrived. My mom woke up Delilah who was sleeping in bed, and she woke up right as I was pushing him out. Right after he was born, Rebel fell asleep. I think he just needed to know momma was all good. Delilah climbed into the pool with me and she greeted her new baby brother. She was giving him kisses and telling him she loved him, and me, being the sweet baby girl she is. We chilled in the pool for a bit, waiting for the placenta. We decided to get out because I was getting uncomfortable and we made our way to the bed. We were giving my body time to birth my placenta and I wanted to get baby to latch for his first feed. I laid down, my midwife helped get him to latch, and we waited a little longer for the placenta. Once he started nursing, my placenta finally made its way and I hollered “it’s out”! After that we just chilled for a bit while baby nursed and the midwives started emptying the birth pool and tidying up. We decided to burn the cord and my mom & Delilah helped daddy and I do so. We didn’t burn it all the way because we were all pretty exhausted at that point so we burned it for a few minutes and then daddy cut it. Midwife Naomi helped us explore the placenta for a minute before we packed it up to be encapsulated. We weighed and measured him and talked about what we may name him. (He was nameless for a good day and half lol). To end the night/early morning, my midwives & doula packed up and left us be, peacefully in our home, snuggled up in bed.

I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful and perfect birth, or for a more incredible birth team. 🤎