After my all nighter from several nights ago, I've just been waiting for my next client to go in to labor (and hoping to get a little bit of sleep in between!).  I woke up Monday morning to a text saying my latest client's water had broken!  Very exciting news to receive, especially since this mom was approaching 41 weeks.  It can take a while for labor to start, even after the water has broken, so we just stayed in touch over text throughout the day.  

Labor took it's sweet time, as it often does with first time moms.  Fast forward to Tuesday evening, and my client was finally starting to feel some contractions.  I dropped by their home to see how they were doing and I found them working together so well!   Mom's sister and dogs were over for a quick visit, and beautiful music was playing.  Contractions were about 5 minutes apart when I arrived, but after a couple of hours, they were spacing out to about 14 minutes apart!  Not exactly the scenario we were hoping for, so we all decided to opt for some sleep.

I went home and went to bed, and was woken up around 2:00 am Wednesday morning.  Contractions were back and lasting a minute now.  YAY!  Real labor!  Mom and dad just needed a few ideas, and they were off into their world of labor support.  Mom had lots of essential oils prepared, and they gave her alot of comfort and energy.  

We got to the birth center around 5:00 am.  Mom was having some back pain, so we placed some heat on her lower back and used the rebozo (large scarf) to hold it in place.  It works so well!  

Around 7:30 am we moved mom to her hands and knees to help relieve back pain.  I was pretty convinced her baby was posterior.  No fun!  We quickly decided to move into the water to offer her the most relief.

The water instantly helped soothe her discomfort and helped mom relax.  Mom was cranking out contractions every 3 or 4 minutes, and she was coping extremely well.  Her husband offered great support the entire time, too.  Most of the time her biggest complaint was that she was hot or thirsty.  

Around 8:00 am discouragement kicked in.  Also normal.  What wasn't as normal was how this couple dealt with it.  It was such an honor to witness them reading scriptures together, praying aloud together, and listening to worship music.  (My favorite songs were the violin/piano arrangements of "Amazing Grace", "Oh My Father", "I Can Only Imagine", and "I Surrender All".  Will definitely be adding these to my playlists!)  

To me, birth has always been a sacred event that can bring a couple closer together and closer to God.  It was amazing to witness this couple incorporate their religious beliefs into their birth.  Just beautiful and heartwarming.  I am touched forever.  I hope they never forget how beautifully sacred their labor was.

The urge to push came off and on for several hours.  Not so normal.  Very indicative of baby not being in the right position yet.  This mom was so patient, and finally around 10:50 the real urge to pushed kicked in.

And at 12:04 pm, Wednesday August 12th, 

Jayden Zion was born!

Tipping the scale at 8 pounds 7 ounces

He pinked up so quickly and was so happy to be snuggled up with his mama!

But this mama still had some work to do.  Her uterus was tired and she needed some pitocin and some stitches.  (No fun!)

So dad was able to take over baby duty for a few minutes.  

Just look at how excited he is to be a father!

I know it felt like forever for this mama, but she finally was able to relax and feed her little one!  What an amazingly patient woman!  She had to wait over 50 hours after her water breaking to hold this little guy!