02/26/2026
{ My Heartbeat birth story}
After delivering my first baby in-hospital, I was so moved by the attentiveness and care I got prenatally through Heartbeat. Jenna, Kelly, and Carmen were never rushed and always happy to answer my many questions.
By my 41-week ultrasound, I was having some regular contractions, but my baby still had a high station and I wasn’t dilated much, so I chose to get a membrane sweep. After I left, my contractions were tight and regular, but not painful, and I just knew my body was ready and in control.
I tried to relax and did some exercises to help the baby to descend, and around noon, my water broke while doing a tuck. I was in close contact with my doula (Red) and midwives at Heartbeat and they encouraged me to try and nap, but I was so excited I couldn’t sleep. I called my husband to come home, ate a hearty lunch, and soaked in some sweet time with my first child while tidying the house and hanging up laundry to try to ignore the labor feelings as long as I could. I kept my movements slow and relaxed and paused to breathe through contractions when I needed to.
Around 5pm, I asked Red to come over and we went through the Spinning Babies exercises. The contractions spread apart once she arrived, so she left for about an hour. During that time, my contractions were intensifying, but I was listening to worship and enjoying being in labor-land while I worked through contractions on the “dilation station” (the toilet). What really helped me was focusing on relaxing my face, jaw, and shoulders through each contraction.
Eventually, it got pretty difficult to relax through the contractions, so Red helped me into the shower on all fours, and the water on my back felt amazing. While in there, my contractions spread apart again, but the ones I did have were really intense and felt like they lasted forever. We ran out of hot water, and I had a moment of panic getting out of the shower (around 8:45pm) because I doubted I could cope anymore. I told Red, and she left to get her car ready to go and called the midwives. I had a few contractions back to back and switched from toilet to standing to squatting and then leaning, but nothing felt good. I asked my husband to squeeze my hips, but when a contraction hit, I yelled at him to step away, and then I felt a big drop and gush of fluid. Instantly, I knew I was about to push and felt the adrenaline start rushing. Red tried to get me to the car, but I knew I couldn’t make it, so I leaned against the tub on all fours and my daughter came out with the next contraction. Thankfully, Carmen and Kelly were able to get to my house at remarkable speed.
Even though I wasn’t planning a home birth, the immediate postpartum care, cleanup, and support was beautiful, and I wasn’t disappointed at all. Thanks to Heartbeat, Lydia Joy’s birth was the intuitive, peaceful, natural experience that I had prayed for. My last appointment was so bittersweet, but it’s only “til next time”.
