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Parents have shared the beauty of their child’s birth via the lens of professional photographers for many years. In a new series, we are focusing on one story at a time, showcasing the variety of birthing methods and the uniqueness of each family’s story.
Wilkenson recounts in her own words how unexpected childbirth may be, regardless of the number of times one has experienced it. I have five ren. My oldest child is six years old, and I’ve had four children within the last four years. It’s been fascinating!
After giving birth to my first child in a hospital, I gave birth to my following children at home. My first labor lasts around 24 hours, and I feel it would have lasted longer if I hadn’t been given Pitocin. Then, I was in active labor for around two hours with my second child. Perhaps I was three when I had my third child. My fourth labor lasted fourteen hours and was incredibly painful from the beginning. Due to this, I went into my most recent birth expecting the unexpected, but with a clear idea of what I want, if possible. I desired for my hubby to catch the baby. And it was crucial for me to have some peace and quiet immediately after the birth of the baby. I was anticipating a 41-week pregnancy since that’s how long my first and third pregnancies lasted, but I’d been experiencing labor-like symptoms from 36 weeks on.
At 39 weeks, I went to bed like usual and then woke up maybe 45 minutes later to a giant contraction and tons of pressure. I felt like the was right there. I do have a history of some really fast labors, but I’ve also had some long ones, so I felt like I didn’t know what was happening. I woke my husband up and he was kind of like: “Are you going to have a right now?” My contractions were three minutes apart. Right, when he asked, I had a contraction hit and I started shaking. I thought, “Oh, my goodness, did I basically wake up in transition?”
We’d chatted with my midwife about what to do if things proceeded rapidly because I’d had some fast labors before. So we had this brief time of self-preparation. Thankfully, my midwife, who lives about 45 minutes away, arrived on time, so we didn’t have to. My contractions were super close together and I remember thinking to myself, “I need them to slow down because I cannot do this.” I was still preparing myself for the idea of doing this for another 14 hours after my last labor, even though everyone else seemed to understand how close I was.
I hopped in the bath. I was still thinking I was just in there to slow my contractions down, and my husband and midwife were kind of like, “Sure, Ash, whatever you say.” In the water, things did space out a bit, but then the contractions got really intense again. And it was clear they weren’t dilation contractions. They were get-the-out contractions.
I got out of the tub, and he was born within a contraction and a half. My husband was able to catch him, and then I just held him and looked at him for a while.
He’s such a chill . I love that I can see it in these photos, even though he has that little pout face. He has such a sweet demeanor, and he has had it since the very beginning.
It’s hard to put into words just how amazing it was to have him here. It was one of the highest joys I’ve ever experienced. To see him and to find out he was a boy and to hold him on my chest and to hear him cry and to see his face and to finally be done with the really long, hard journey of pregnancy. I soaked up all the snuggles and cried and cried and cried and was so happy and thankful that we did it!
The kids slept through the whole thing. We had a friend here who was planning to watch them if we needed it, and we were open to them coming in if they wanted to — or staying away if that’s what they preferred. But they ended up waking up maybe four hours after the was born. They were excited to say “hi” to the , but then they wanted to go to my sister’s so they just kind of took off. I got a nap.
Now that I have done this five times, I have definitely learned to expect the unexpected and to be OK if absolutely nothing seems to be going the way it’s “supposed” to go. It’s kind of like having so many kids close together. Sometimes we’re like, “Oh, my goodness, this is crazy!” But our hearts are full. This labor and were so different than what I had hoped and dreamed for the entire pregnancy, but after he was there, I was extremely proud of myself and so pleased with how everything unfolded. I look back on the ’s story and see the hand of a faithful God written all over it.
The birth process of a baby is born:
