Positive Home Birth Story: The Birth Of Noah Sol [Part #3]

If you haven’t yet, make sure to read Part #1 + Part #2! ❤

Time To Push!

It wasn’t too long after pushing on the toilet that they decided to transfer me to the bed in our birth room. I remember Isaac saying, “I think I can see his head!” when I was pushing on the toilet… which is wild.

Isaac was so ecstatic: “We’re about to meet our son!” Looking back at the photos, you can see how happy he was in this moment. [Little did he know I would be pushing for quite some time lol.] Even though I could strongly feel Isaac’s love + support, what he was staying to me just wasn’t registering because I was in so much pain.

Getting In The Birth Tub

After about 10 minutes of pushing on the bed, our midwife Abby asked if we wanted to get into the birth tub. I said I didn’t care — whatever position would get him OUT is what I wanted to do. It seems so unlike me, but at that point I truly did not care about having a water birth [or anything sentimental about our birth room for that matter — even though I spent days, weeks leading up to this moment curating our birth room + setting the intention of having a water birth]. Thankfully Abby said, “If you’ve alway imagined yourself giving birth in the water, you should get in the tub.” I said okay.

Then, they turned to Isaac, “Okay Isaac, get your suit on + get in!” Neither of us realized he’d be in the tub with me, so we were shocked when they said that lol. [For the record — I am so glad he was in there with me!]

Literally, as soon as my body was in the water… my contractions went from a 100 to a 1.*

*I asked our midwife if most people have the same reaction that I did in water [basically, not feeling contractions anymore] + she said that while water absolutely reduces the pain of the contractions, she has not heard anyone describe it reducing that drastically [100 to a 1].

Water is sometimes referred to as “nature’s epidural” + OH MY GOSH, it truly was for me. When I got in the water, I remember thinking: “Do contractions completely stop now that I’m at the pushing stage?” [Which obviously that question does not make sense because I could certainly feel my contractions on the toilet + on the bed even though I was also “pushing”]. I was still absolutely exhausted, of course, but my body finally felt like it could relax… I even smiled… probably for the first time in 24 hours lol.

Before I started pushing in the tub, Isaac encouraged me to look everyone in the eyes + see the support all around me. This was one of the only times throughout labor that I opened my eyes. I met eyes with each of the 5 incredible women of my birth team… all mothers, silently thanking them.

95 Minutes Of Pushing + “Ring Of Fire”

Inhale through the nose, hold, push x 3… long exhale out the mouth

I remember being so curious about the “ring of fire” — I’ve heard people describe it as a burning or stinging sensation. To me, it felt like my vagina was being stretched open with Tiger Balm lol — there was definitely an element of heat to it. However, it was nothing in comparison to the back labor I had experienced for hours upon hours.

While pushing, I heard my birth team say out loud:

• You got this mama
• You’re so close
• You’re doing great

All of these affirmations helped me SO much. They encouraged me to feel his head… he was right there! I opened my eyes + looked down… + oh my gosh, it looked like a hairy softball was coming out of my body. Still though, it wasn’t registering to me that I was going to meet our son VERY SOON.

I was still so exhausted, + giving every bit of energy I possibly had into pushing. Even though I kept hearing “you’re almost there” — it felt like I was crowning forever. I remember praying — “You can come now, Noah. I’m ready for you. I promise.” I was worried that he didn’t believe I was ready.

… but he knew I was ready… he was just waiting for the absolute perfect time…

Noah’s Arrival: 7:17pm on April 18

It had been almost exactly 24 hours since my water broke. After 95 minutes of pushing… with 15 minutes of crowning + 4 contractions with no forward progress, our midwife stepped in + supported my perineum to allow it to stretch a little bit more* As soon as she did that, in only one contraction — Noah immediately came out + it was THE SWEETEST RELIEF OF MY LIFE.

*Later, they told me that it looked like Noah’s head was putting so much pressure on my perineum that it looked like my perineum was going to “blow up” [aka have massive tear if they didn’t supported me]. I did not tear AT ALL, which I feel so so grateful for + truly believe it was because of my birth team’s guidance + knowledge on how to best assist during the pushing stage.

On 7:17 [Isaac + I’s anniversary is 7/17], Noah came out to the song “Orange Sky” by Kevin Paris — the song that was played during our wedding ceremony by Kevin when we passed our sweetgrass rings around. A feet away from the birth tub, were our sweetgrass rings. It was beyond special. It was divine. Noah truly was the greatest wedding gift we could have ever imagined.

Our First Words

I instantly started crying, as did Isaac. It was so surreal — Noah was here! In my arms! His body was white, wet, limp, + he just reminded me of a little animal cocooned on my chest. Right away, he grabbed Isaac’s finger, which was the most precious thing ever.

• Isaac’s first words to Noah: “There he is. Welcome. Welcome, buddy.”
• My first words to Noah [after a lot of “aweeees”, crying, + sighs of relief]: “Noah” + “Bless you” [he sneezed lol]

Our midwife had me rub my hands up + down Noah’s spine, while Isaac massaged the bottom of his feet, + she said to Noah: “Tell us you’ve been born.” He whimpered a few times, + she said, “Come on, I need it better than that, buddy” + then finally, Noah was like WAHHH WAHHHH WAHHHHH. He let out his first cry to the world!

The Golden Hour… + Beyond

Our doula asked if we wanted to announce his name, + I smiled + said: Noah Sol. We had known since very, very early on of pregnancy that Noah Sol would be our baby’s name if we had a son. I totally believe that he picked out his name + there were many *signs* that further convinced me of that [I share more here].

We continued to cuddle + connect with Noah in the tub for a bit longer. Once we got out of the birth tub, I delievered the placenta on the bed. Isaac cut the umbilical cord. Noah latched right away [so grateful for that]+ I breastfed him. Isaac had to skin to skin with Noah. My first meal was chicken soup + a PB+J, lol. The midwives did various newborn checkups on Noah, while they gave us some postpartum tips + tools.

After a few hours, our birth team went home. It was the wildest mix of feeling when they left:

• Extremely unprepared as new parents, hoping that we’d navigate the first night alone okay
• Looking at this tiny human next to us feeling SHOCKED that he was in my body a few hours before
• Absolutely exhausted from the past 24 hours of laboring
• The HIGHEST OF HIGHS of having a home birth + finally meeting our son!

We definitely did not sleep much that first night, but our hearts were bursting with love. I remember waking up the next morning + still feeling so high [the high lasted AT LEAST 10 days]. I cried so much that first day out of joy + awe.

When I think about Noah’s birth story today [2 months later], my heart swells + I get choked up. There are so many gifts + lessons that Noah’s birth has taught me, + I feel endlessly grateful to be on this journey. The greatest transition of my life will forever be April 18, 2022— the day I became a mother.

To my birth team — Isaac, Abby, Johanna, Amy, Zoe, + Emily, THANK YOU. I feel so fortunate to have been supported by you. I had such a positive home birth experience thanks to you.

To Noah — THANK YOU. Thank you for choosing me as your mama. I will never ever forget the moment you made me a mom. You are such a special soul. I love you now + forever.

Cheers to the journey ahead [+ thank you for reading my story!],

Elisabeth