Xai's Story

David 5th Baby/First Homebirth

Joshua 6th Baby 

I have birthed 6 children in total.  My sisters tease me about being pregnant in 3 decades.  It's true.  I was.  I had my first little girl when I was 19 years old, then another daughter when I was 21.  When I was 28, I had my third daughter followed by another daughter shortly after.  Then, at 39 years old, I found out I was pregnant again.  This time, a boy, baby number 5!  I found out that my OB, who had delivered 3 of my daughters, was no longer delivering babies. My husband and I started talking about our birth plan. We bought the house that he was born in, literally, a home birth and asked if I would consider one.  It was so touching and there was no pressure, but my heart wanted to do it!  The previous 4 births were in the hospital.  Four petite baby girls and 3 of them were with epidurals.  I didn't know anything about home births yet my mother-in-law had birthed her children at home and my own paternal grandmother was a midwife back in southeast Asia.  She tended to many deliveries in her village.  

I started looking online for midwives, so we could consider having our very own home birth.  I found a few online and a few were recommended to me.  Nurtured Roots Midwifery was my first appointment.  I was super nervous about the process.  I had all sorts of questions about lab work, ultrasounds, transfer rates and how many babies had been delivered.  When Shauna came, I simply fell in love with her.  She has a calmness about her, but so confident in what she does.  After our appointment, I told my husband that I did not want to keep looking.  Everything about her seemed right.  She had the training and the credentials and I wanted her to be my midwife.  

My first home birth was not easy.  I didn't know what to expect, since all the others were delivered in the hospital.  My son David was 9 lbs and I am pretty sure he wanted to stay inside forever!  I labored all day.  He had a big head and big shoulders and it took some time to deliver him.  I was exhausted and had to change positions to allow space for him to come.  Thankfully, my midwife knew exactly what to do.  She allowed me some space to deliver, but monitored the baby to make sure he was doing well.  She remained calm and stayed with me through the entire process.  When it was go-time, she talked me through a safe and natural delivery.  

When I found out I was pregnant with baby number 6, I knew for sure I wanted to have another home birth.  At 12:30 in the morning on October 28, I woke up with contractions. They were 5-8 minutes apart.  I woke my husband to have him start a bath. I was determined to have a water birth. I messaged my midwife to let her know that the baby was coming. My water hadn’t ruptured, but the contractions were strong and consistent. I hummed through my contractions and learned to lean into them.  My midwife whispered, “one more push” and I caught my baby and held him in my arms.  I delivered a perfect baby boy, 8 lbs 13 oz at 3:30 in the morning. It was a beautiful delivery, at home, in a tub with my husband and my midwife by my side.  It was perfect in every way.  When the kids woke up, they got to meet their baby brother.