One of the most empowering things we can do after birth is to write our story — not just for ourselves, but for our baby. Imagine reading the account of the night (or day) you were born.

My dear client Jamie did exactly that. She wrote her birth story with Bode, capturing the details, the feelings, and the moments that made their arrival uniquely theirs. Writing your birth story holds space for healing, for remembering, and for passing a piece of the beginning to your child.

Birth Story - Bodë - in Jamie’s words

This pregnancy was more challenging in several ways. Nobody warns you of the difficulties of pregnancy with a toddler; on top of that having sciatica that kept me from sleeping.

So when my 39 weeks appointment came at 39+3, the allure of a membrane sweep got to me. I spent the rest of that Monday cramping inconsistently until the evening when we decided to go to a friend’s house to watch the college football national championship game - I only agreed because that friend is a midwife.

By the time the game was over, I was contracting 2-4 minutes apart for 45 seconds each. This was so different from my first labor where I woke up to my water breaking and quickly transitioning to active labor. I called into the hospital midwife line to determine the best plan of action. -

We chose to stay home and rest as long as possible — from midnight until 2 a.m. — until my contractions grew stronger and came every two minutes. I labored in the quiet, dark of my room for another hour, then we decided it was time to head to the hospital.

We got to the hospital at 4am and find out I was 5-6 cm dilated. At that point, they checked us into the hospital room. We got comfortable in the room. The birthing balls were set up and ready, the aromatherapy, and the music. David and I quietly swayed back and forth as the contractions were manageable, thinking we were in for a relatively peaceful birth.

At 7am as my water broke, baby had other ideas.

He remained OP throughout my labor which significantly intensified contractions after the water broke. It was also at this point that my favorite midwife, Jess, who I had seen all throughout my pregnancy showed up on her day off to support me through labor and delivery. I had to give everything in me to hold back my body’s impulses to push as my cervix was not fully dilated and beginning to swell.

After two hours of giving it all I could, the only thing that could give my body the rest that it needed was the epidural. Between that and a shot to slow my contractions, I was finally able to breathe slow, controlled breaths. After an hour of rest and my body still contracting, despite all the efforts to slow it down, my cervix had settled down and fully dilated so I decided, with my care team, to finish the job.

As I pushed, an OB worked to turn baby face down. This had to happen twice as baby flipped back after the first time. With the epidural, it was hard to coordinate my pushing so I pushed with all my might to get baby out. As he descended the birth canal, in the last moments, he experienced shoulder dystocia that lasted 35 seconds. The nurse jumped on my stomach to push his shoulder into place and he came right out with his cord wrapped all around his body at 11:59 am.

The cord was cut and the pediatrician quickly checked him out due to meconium staining before he was placed on my chest.

Bodë Francis MacLaren, our sweet baby boy, was here.