My Home Birth Story: A Wild Three-Hour Labor

At 40 weeks and 4 days, I never expected my labor to unfold the way it did. The day started off beautifully—we were celebrating Catalina’s birthday, and when we got home, she wanted to play with her presents. Around 8:45 p.m., though, I suddenly felt drained and a dull ache started in my lower back. I told Catalina we had to pause the play and that I was going to bed early to rest.

By 9:30 p.m., I was finally lying down, doing my usual nighttime stretches. As I did an exaggerated side-lying stretch, I felt something shift deep inside me. My theory? Baby’s head finally dropped into place. After that, I fell asleep—but not for long.

About 15 minutes later, I woke up with menstrual-like cramps, strong enough to make me uncomfortable. I tried to ignore them, hoping they’d pass, but they grew more persistent. Around 10:45 p.m., my husband came to bed, and by then I was on all fours in a cat-cow position, hoping to ease the pain. Nothing helped—it was getting stronger. I began timing the cramps to see if they were contractions, but they weren’t consistent, so I wasn’t sure if this was “real” labor.

By midnight, my husband encouraged me to call the midwife, even if just for reassurance. At 12:06 a.m., I finally dialed her emergency line. I explained that my contractions weren’t regular and felt more like period cramps. She advised me to relax in the shower or take an Epsom salt bath and then try to sleep or it was going to be a long night.

We filled the tub, and my husband poured warm water over my back. But within five minutes, the contractions escalated so much that I had to get out. Time blurred after that. Thinking only 20 minutes had passed, I called the midwife again. It was already 1:35 a.m! This time I was certain I was in labor, trying to catch my breath I said: “I’m in a lot of pain. I’m definitely in labor.” She said 'Ok, Im on my way'.

The moment we hung up, everything intensified. Contractions hit hard and fast. My husband pressed on my lower back and even held my belly to help me cope. I paced the bedroom, moaning, screaming, and coaching myself to breathe through each wave repeating "do not fight the contraction, Breath, Breath, BREATH! But soon, I couldn’t find relief in any position. Instinctively, I reached down to check—and felt my body bulging.

“OH CRAP, she’s coming!” I shouted. Dropping to one knee (a position my midwife had once told me could help things progress faster), I felt an unstoppable urge to push. As I screamed through the contraction, I placed my hands on my vagina—and in an instant, everything happened. At 1:54 a.m. my water broke, and our baby literally slid out into my hands.

Only three hours after it all began, our baby girl arrived. She cried immediately, the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard. My husband rushed to grab every hand towel he could find, tossing them around us to absorb the amniotic fluid. At 1:56 a.m., Still in shock, he quickly called the midwife back to tell her, “The baby’s here!” She was still 15 minutes away.

Per her instructions, he got me and the baby into our bed, already prepared with pads and plastic sheeting. Then he looked at me, wide-eyed, and asked, “Now what?” I smiled, exhausted but blissful: “Now we relax. She’s here already. Let’s just enjoy her.”

I lay in bed with baby, doing skin-to-skin as we waited for the midwife to arrive and cut the umbilical cord. My husband wrapped his arms around us, letting out a long breath as the weight of what just happened sank in.

It was raw. It was fast. It was wild. And it was one of the sweetest, most empowering experiences of my life.