Two years ago, our midwife and good friend, Thalia, came to Turkey to deliver our son, Isaiah. We booked her tickets to come 10 days before my due date and then leave to go home 10 days after my due date. Things just went so smoothly, something I now realize I took for granted. Isaiah Jace was born right on his due date and the whole experience was just perfect!
So when we got pregnant again, we of course wanted Thalia to come back to Turkey for the birth. My due date, according to my last period, was on November 30th. So we planned her tickets accordingly - she arrived 10 days before my due date and planned to stay 10 days after. Just like last time. Well, November 30th came and went and at first we were just thinking, oh this baby is going to be a little late. Well, then it was 10 days past my due date and Thalia so graciously agreed to stay another week, so we changed her tickets. She ended up staying 2 weeks and two days past my due date, but then had to return home as she had already been away for a month. We were all very sad and at this point worried because we thought the baby was so late.
The morning that Thalia left, Joel and I went in to meet a very nice female ob doctor at a private hospital here. We had a non-stress test and a biophysical profile test done on the baby to make sure everything was okay. Everything was good and the baby was healthy and the doctor determined my due date to be December 15th - two weeks later than what we originally thought. The early sonogram measurements that we thought lined up with my last period, in fact did not. So it was just a huge misunderstanding of when I was really due and while we went home feeling so relieved that the baby was not late and it was healthy, I was so frustrated with myself and feeling like it was all my fault and that Thalia had come the whole way to Turkey for nothing. It was very hard to see her go. It was an emotional goodbye, that’s for sure. Thalia has become such a very special person in our lives and we love her dearly!
Before Thalia left, she gave us instructions and all the supplies we needed to deliver the baby in case it came fast and we didn’t have time to make it to the hospital (my labor with Isaiah had been very fast). Although we really liked the hospital and the doctor that would deliver our baby, in my heart I just really wanted to have another home birth. I shared this with Joel and we both prayed about it and felt such a peace about him delivering our baby at home (with the assistance of my sister and brother-in-law). They were on board with our crazy plan and so we waited. We didn’t have to wait too long.
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| My last pregnant picture - a couple hours before Brooks was born! |
On Tuesday evening at 7:30pm we were giving the kids baths and getting them ready for bed when I started having contractions. We told the kids that maybe in the morning they would be meeting their new brother or sister and 6 year old Colson so kindly offered his bed for the baby to be born in. After learning that there is blood involved in the birth of a baby, 8 year old Yohanis did not think this was a good idea. We reassured them that the baby would be born in our bed, but thanked them for offering up their beds anyway :) They were so cute! They all prayed for the baby and we put them to bed.
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| Joel checking the baby's heart rate. |
For the next hour I had contractions every 10 or so minutes apart. I took a shower around 8:30pm and had a few more contractions and got really excited thinking about how our baby (which felt like we had been waiting FOREVER for) was going to be born that night! Around 9:00 my sister, Melanie, came over and even though we decided beforehand that she wasn’t going to be there for the actual birth because she probably wouldn’t stay calm, she ended up doing great and not freaking out and she stayed and supported me the whole time (love you, Mel, you were amazing).
From 9:00 to 10:00 the contractions were 5-7 minutes apart and getting more and more intense. Joel stayed calm through them all and started getting busy getting all the birth supplies ready and rubbing my back and feet through contractions. He would check the baby’s heartrate every 45 minutes or so. Around 10:30 Adam joined the party in the room (we had decided he would assist Joel in delivering the baby since he stays calm, cool and collective in emergency situations). Melanie stayed since my staying calm was keeping her calm and between her and Joel they would pray for me through every contraction and really brought me a lot of comfort even while in intense pain.
By this point the contractions were coming every 3 minutes and were lasting longer. At 10:54pm we googled (thank goodness for google) how to check to see how dilated I was and Joel checked me and he could feel the baby’s head and guessed me to be between 7-8 cm dilated. The contractions kept coming closer together and getting more intense and it was hard to keep taking deep breaths through them. I’ll admit that I was getting nervous and thinking that we were a little crazy for thinking to still have a homebirth even without our midwife.
Around 11:15 I felt that I might need to push soon, but I was nervous that I wouldn’t know when. Joel reminded me to trust my body and that I would know when it was time. At 11:17 Joel checked me again and told me “You’re READY!” At 11:34 my water broke and 3 minutes later I needed to PUSH! It’s amazing how your body just knows what to do and when it’s time.
At 11:37 I started pushing, at 11:39 we could see the head was halfway out and at 11:40 our baby BOY was out and crying!!! I can’t even begin to describe that moment and how amazing it feels. Joel handed me our son right away and I just stared at him in disbelief and thanked God for this wonderful, precious gift. It is always such a completely surreal moment when you finally get to hold your child in your arms after all that hard, exhausting work to get him out! I tried to nurse him right away, but was still having pretty intense contractions while we waited for my body to deliver the placenta.
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| A few minutes after Brooks was born! |
We called Diane, another midwife that works with Thalia (since Thalia was on the airplane flying home to TX while we were in labor) and told her the baby was here and asked what we needed to do next. I don’t think we would have even needed to call - Joel was so confident and knew exactly what to do - he was SO, SO amazing!
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| Joel checking Brooks and cleaning him off |
At 12:08am the placenta came out (Joel caught it in a pie plate) and shortly after Brooks latched on and started nursing really well. At 12:30 we cut the cord. I nursed Brooks for a while longer and by 2:30 he was asleep for the night and slept till 7:30.
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| Brooks with Daddy and Uncle Adam |
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| Me and my sister - tired, but HAPPY :) |
I couldn’t sleep the whole night as I was just so in awe of what had just transpired. It was such a miraculous event for me! Even though what we had originally planned for the birth of our baby did not happen, God still gave us a such a beautiful birth experience. The timing of it (while our kids were sleeping soundly in their beds), how quickly everything happened, how calm everyone stayed, being surrounded by such an amazing support team. It was sacred! It was just an incredible experience and something I will treasure forever. And I do just have to brag on my husband. Joel was SO good - he was calm, he encouraged me, prayed for me, supported me, never doubted me and never thought it was crazy that I still wanted to have this baby in our home! He knew just what to do and I am so proud of him!
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| Proud Daddy who just delivered his son!! |
And we have a beautiful son! Brooks Levent Hildebrand. 8.6 pounds 20 inches long - we are in love!
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| Perfect in every way! |
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| So in love with this little guy! |
