S and J started care with me in the second trimester of their third pregnancy.  They were expecting a boy after two girls.  The pregnancy progressed along perfectly. One day before her due date, S sent me a text around 330pm letting me know she was in early labor.  She said she was having irregular contractions all morning that were coming regularly now (every 10 minutes) with bloody show.  I talked to her about taking a walk and seeing how the contractions felt after the walk. At 515pm, S had gone for a walk which brought the contractions closer and made things feel very uncomfortable.  Contractions were coming now about every 6-8 minutes. At 730pm, S sent a text asking me to come.  I got things together and headed to her home, arriving around 9pm. I found S sitting on the birth ball when I walked into her room, gently breathing through a contraction.  I asked how she was and she told me she wanted to be checked.  She felt that the baby was close.  I did the cervical check first and found that S was 8cm dilated, 100% effaced and baby at a 0 station.  All other vitals were normal.  My birth assistant came in to help get the birth pool a little more comfortable.  S got into the birth pool around 920pm, sitting on her knees. S was so poised and calm through each labor wave.  Contractions were coming about every 3 minutes, lasting 90 seconds.  At 940pm, she moved into a semi reclining position and verbalized to me that she felt like her baby was moving down. A few minutes passed 10pm, S requested an exam.  There was a cervical lip left and baby had moved down to a +1 station.  I talked to S about having me reduce the lip.  She deferred at the moment.  I talked to her about blowing through a few more contractions.  Around 1020pm, she asked me to see if the lip was still there.  It was not, but it was very stretchy.  S did not want me to hold it back so I talked to her about trying to push as hard she could to see if it would go over the baby’s head on its own. The first push ruptured S’s membranes.  The pressure to push was stronger with the fluid gone.  A couple pushes later we could see the baby’s head bulging onto the perineum during pushes.  At 10:34 the head was crowning and a minute later the baby was born, with a hand beside his head.  Sweet baby was brought right to his mama’s waiting arms. Photo taken by KariLinne Photography. Welcome to the world sweet Gage, born earthside on December 2, 2015 at 10:35pm, weighing in at 9lbs 4ozs, 22.5 inches long.  He was definitely his mama’s biggest baby!  It was a blessing to be part of this beautiful, peaceful home birth! #sacredjourneymidwifery #houston #midwifelife