Langston James DeGroot
June 20th, 2020
1:17am
9lbs. 8oz, 21” long
My official due date was Friday, Juneteenth (19th), and I was so hoping our baby would make his arrival on that date. I wasn’t feeling any sort of symptoms though and had resigned myself to being pregnant for a while longer. I will admit I was a little discouraged, mostly because Cilla came early, and I was just tired of being pregnant. With SPD, difficulty moving, and just end of 3rd trimester woes I was over it.
In the morning, our babysitter Maya came over to play with Cilla for a few hours. I sat upstairs on my birth ball and listened to KMOJ. I finished up a blog post and realized that it was the day I needed to drop off our milk jugs for our milk and egg share. Since Seth was home, I opted to go drop them off and pick up some groceries for an impromptu dinner we were having with dad later in the evening.
I did my errands, and a sweet lady at the grocery store commented on how cute I was. I got home just in time to start working on dinner prep with dad and Seth. Priscilla and I baked some cornbread muffins together, and we all enjoyed a delicious evening out on the front porch. We ended the night with a dessert of carrot cake and two kinds of new to us ice cream.
Seth put Cilla to bed a little later than usual, and we headed upstairs to watch a movie and relax. Most evenings the previous week I’d been feeling a little uncomfortable and had been sitting on the birth ball or doing inversions to help manage my pain. For the month leading up to my labor, I had been taking iron and Tylenol pm, stopping the Tylenol a few days before the 20th thinking baby could come in the night and that I wouldn’t want to be groggy.
By 11pm I would usually be in bed half asleep, but this night was a little different. Seth turned on Unsolved Mysteries for us (we have been working our way through the seasons during Covid-19) and I had my first wave. I didn’t think much of it until I had two more and that’s when we decided to call our birth team. Because my labor with Priscilla went so well and relatively quickly, our midwives told us to call right away.
{Seth turned on all our lights and unlocked the doors so our team could let themselves in, I love that Mara captured this!}
Seth told me he knew I was in labor when I came out of the bathroom having thrown up and shaking a bit. Things were starting to feel more real, but I was wondering to myself—can I do this again? Am I strong enough to have another drug-free birth? I think mentally at this point I recognized that this was our plan and I would do everything I could to stick with it.
{So, so glad I had these cards made | Sea & Ivy Designs by my friend Morgan}
We had everything we needed, Cilla was fast asleep, and so I called Aly, Mara, my mom, and Seth called our doula Anne at 11:45pm and got the birth tub set up. I was already wearing a nightgown but set out a bra to wear during labor while I was in the tub. I spread out a few of my affirmation cards on the bed began started listening to my Hypnobabies birthing day tracks.
Almost identical to my labor with Cilla, I wanted to lie down, but it was too painful, so I ended up sitting on the toilet, bed, or birth ball. This time I loved sitting on the birth ball and leaning up against the side of our bed.
Our midwife Aly was the first to arrive and came upstairs right away to check on me. She did a quick doppler reading of baby, checked my blood pressure, and started getting things set up. I was feeling okay at this point, thinking we might end up with a baby in the morning, and feeling excited, but focused for the task ahead. A few minutes later I heard Anne arrive and come upstairs. This was around 12:30am and my waves were now around 45 seconds to 1-minute-long and occurring every three minutes. I kept track of them using an app called Full Term that I used with my last labor and was able to show Anne when she arrived. She said things looked great, and that was when I realized I really was having a baby and that this wasn’t a false alarm at all.
The hardest part of my labor was during transition when I was trying to get through waves, go to the bathroom, and throw up at the same time. For a few minutes I didn’t know where to throw up since I was sitting on the toilet and just tried to make it through. It was so exhausting, but I believe I knew at that point that the end was near! Anne was by my side encouraging me.
I heard a few other people come in downstairs, Seth had turned on most of the lights and unlocked the doors. It felt so good to know we were ready and that we’d be meeting our son soon. I kept playing my Hypnobabies tracks and Anne was reading out many of the lines and cues from them. Around 12:54 am we decided to head downstairs. Seth took my hand and helped me down, I did have one contraction on the way and remember looking at the wall and thinking I couldn’t wait to get in the tub.
Truly, I wasn’t sure I would want to birth in the tub since its been hot, and our AC isn’t great. The moment I stepped in, though, I felt amazing. I had a few more transition waves, and then all of a sudden, I realized my body was moving into the pushing phase. I moved from laying back to a semi squat on my knees. Everyone was crowded in the room with Seth sitting on the windowsill next to me holding my hand.
{I opted to give birth on the second floor just in case of emergency, I love that I can tell Langston that he was born in his bedroom! Our birth team consisted of three midwives from Roots and North Star Midwifery and our doula Anne of ByWater Birth. We had the best people helping us bring Langston into the world!}
As soon as my pushing waves began around 1:05am, I started working with my body to bring this boy into the world. I was louder this time, and more actively involved in this part of labor. With one of my first pushing waves I felt my water break and heard a pop noise! Afterward Seth and Rebecca came in closer. I could feel baby’s head moving down and out and felt strong and excited, but also focused. I said out loud, “I just want him out of me.”
As his head was being born Rebecca noticed that he had a nuchal hand (meaning his hand was right by his face). Seth was helping with catching his head, and Rebecca reached in and adjusted the hand so I could birth his body with the next wave. This sounds like it might have been very painful, but it honestly felt like a relief. A wave later, and his body was out! Seth lifted our son into my arms and on my chest. The first thing I noticed was how huge he was, covered in vernix, with a very broad chest.
The relief was amazing! He was quiet for a few seconds then let out a giant, loud cry! I couldn’t believe it. 1:17am, about two hours after my birthing time began, Langston James DeGroot was born. Rebecca reminded me I needed to birth my placenta, so I worked on focusing on that. I just felt great having him out! A few minutes later it was time for me to get out of the tub. My midwives helped me up, helped me get dry while Seth held Langston.
We turned off the Hypnobabies tracks and I put on a Christian playlist I made for Cilla’s birth. I never managed to listen to any tracks or music during her birth because of the commotion of it all, so it was sweet to have it on this time. Rebecca told me she loved cleaning to gospel music, and I’m just glad everyone else tolerated my cheesy playlist!
At one point, Cilla woke up crying, and Seth went to her, she said to him “baby?” but then went back to sleep. That was such a tender mercy as usually she is hard to get back down if she’s up in the night, and there was a lot of commotion happening right above her bedroom as we made our way back upstairs.
Once I got out of the tub I started to not feel very well, everything had just happened so quickly. Getting into my own bed felt great, but I was still feeling nauseous and a little shaky. This part is a bit fuzzy for me to remember, even writing it two days after the fact, but I ended up getting a repair for a 2nd degree tear. I was so grateful for my amazing midwives who made the process as comfortable as it can be!
Seth sat in bed with me and held my hand during my stitches. Shortly after Langston had his first exam, right on the bed with us. That’s when we took his very first photo. We all had guesses about his weight, I thought he might be 8lbs 4 ounces. We were shocked when we learned he was nine and a half pounds. So much so that Aly re-weighed him again to confirm. Recognizing I birthed such a giant baby, in such a short period of time, at home, made me feel amazing! I felt so proud of myself. We measured his head and I remember the tape measuring ripping in half, 14 inches around, with a 14.5 inch chest!
{Literally in awe that I birthed such a giant baby!}
By 3:55am we were all tucked in and the midwives set about cleaning everything up. They took out all the garbage, packed up their supplies, and even did our laundry. Seth was so impressed by that part. Rebecca, Aly, and Lexy also left me some herbal postpartum tea for my peri bottle and baths. I have loved having that this go round!
My mom went downstairs to our guest room to head to bed, our doula and Mara left, and the midwives cleaned up while I nursed Langston. We got him settled in a diaper, pajamas, and swaddle and put him to bed in his bassinet. Everyone was tucked in and sleeping by 4:30am! It was a surreal, amazing, wonderful experience, and I am so grateful for it.
{Just having a normal Saturday night… except add in a birth!}
Over the moon grateful for our experience! While home birth is not for everyone, I positively loved my experience.
