Birth Story of Hamilton
A year ago today. Wow. I can’t believe it has been a whole year since our baby boy joined us earth side. What a day that was. An incredible, amazing, day. It’s still so fresh in my mind and seems like it was just yesterday. I woke up on Wednesday morning, September 1st (my due date) to get my kiddos ready for school. I went to the bathroom and noticed some bloody show. I immediately went and woke my husband and said “I’m going to have this baby, today”. I have a history of fast labors, so I knew it would be that day. I went and woke my mom, who had been staying with us for about a week so she could be there when I did go into labor. I started getting ready and the contractions started. They did get more intense with every one. I was still able to talk through them but with my history of fast labors and the birth center being almost an hour from me, I started getting nervous. I did not want to have my baby on the side of 75!
The day before he was born.
Walking around the Battery trying to get contractions going again.
We rushed to the birth center but as soon as I got in the car and sat down, my contractions basically stopped. This was a first for me. He is my 4th baby and I had never experienced anything like that before. We got to the birth center and I got taken back to triage. She checked me and I was only at a one. She said I was in early labor but not full blown labor yet. Her suggestion was that I go walk around Ponce City Market to see if contractions would start again and if they did, I could come back in a little bit to get checked again. So we did go walk around Ponce for about 20 mins. We then decided to go to the battery and eat lunch and maybe walk around there for awhile. We ate some pizza, got some ice cream and walked and contractions did seem to start up some, again. At this point, I decided to still just go home and rest. We headed home and when we did get home, I laid down for a short period of time and then got up and wanted to try and really get things going again. I was determined to have him that day! I started to bounce on my birth ball and contractions started. My husband made tacos, and I sat and ate my tacos, talking through the contractions and continuing to bounce on my birth ball. Although, I do have a high pain tolerance, my contractions never took my breath away or brought me to my knees until I was closer to transition. As the intensity grew, I told my husband and mom that I thought it was time to head back to the birth center.
When we got back to the birth center, my midwife had another patient in triage so they took me to a room and let me wait in there until she was done. It was about 8:45 PM, when we arrived. I sat on the bed, focused on my breathing, listened to my Christian hynobirthing and picked a focal point. She finally called me in and checked me and I was at an 8! My birth plan included my hope to have a water birth, so she had to fill the birth pool so quickly. I waited in the bathroom with my husband and mom helping me through contractions. By now, they were pretty intense and harder to get through. The birth pool was ready and I got in, and turned on my worship music. I have to admit that at first I had a hard time finding a comfortable position. I felt like I was floating and then I got too hot. My midwife got me a cool wash cloth and put lavender on it, to help relax me. It really helped! I now always make sure I carry lavender with me, for my clients. My water still had not broke but I was really starting to feel the urge to push. I pushed about 2 times, my water broke and the next push, he was out! I got in the water about 10:25 PM and he was born at 11:01 PM. Only about 5% of babies are born on their due date and my sweet Ham was one of them.
My midwife gave me a choice of what room I wanted to be in when we first arrived and I chose FIRE. One of the signs on the wall said "some women fear the fire, some women simply become it." This was my 3rd completely unmedicated birth. The birth high that you feel after a natural birth is so wild, but this one in particular was truly amazing. Having him in the water and our whole experience after, was more than I could have hoped for. I listened to my body and let it do exactly what it needed to do to get our sweet baby here.
Just like my other babies, he was born quick. He was perfect and healthy, all 8lbs 12 oz of him. I am so happy that I got to have my water birth. I remember the first thing I said after he came out was “he has black hair!” I was hoping for at least one of my babies to have black hair like my husband. After he was born, we sat in the water until the cord turned white and stopped pulsating. Tim cut it and then did skin to skin with Hamilton while I got out and delivered the placenta. We got to go home at 4:30 AM the next morning. We only had to stay for 5.5 hours after he was born. I can't say enough amazing things about the Atlanta Birth Center and all the midwives, nurses and staff. Such an awesome experience! I'm just so beyond grateful for my sweet hubby for always being there and never leaving my side! Him and my mom both were so supportive and encouraging all day and made me feel really good when they would tell me how proud they were of me and how amazed they were watching me give birth.
I really cannot stress the importance of having a supportive birth team and care provider! Birth is natural, normal, and beautiful. Our bodies were made for this. It’s time to take back our births, and birth the way that we want! Your birth matters! Your your mental health matters! You and your baby matter! ❤️
Ledger Hamilton Morrison - 8 lbs 12 oz, 20.5 inches long. Born at 11:01 PM on his due date, September 1, 2021.
Happy Birthday sweet boy! We love you to the moon and back 💫
"There is a secret in our culture, and it's not that birth is painful. It's that women are strong.”
-Laura Stavoe Harm