Malakai's Home Birth Story

On Tuesday, April 20 around 10:30 am I felt my first contraction. It was different than what I could remember with Mason and Zion, so I was uncertain if what I felt was IT!

I continued feeling contractions every 20min or so for a couple hours, so I decided to tell Randal but didn’t let myself get too excited in case they stopped.

Around 1pm I told my mom, finally. They were still about 10-20min apart lasting about 40 seconds to 1 minute long and the intensity of them was still pretty mild, I had to breathe through them, but could still walk, talk and move through them, so I did! At this point I also texted our midwife to give her a heads up that things were happening!

Because things were still moving pretty slow, we decided to clean up, eat and I got the boys bathed and braided their hair to make the rest of my week a bit easier - because what else should I be doing as I’m in labor LOL!!!

At 6:00pm, contractions started getting closer together, they were about 5-7min apart but still the intensity of them was pretty mild. I still wasn’t getting too excited but wanted to keep things going, so Randal and I took the boys out for a walk for our last walk as a family of FOUR!

I did some curb walking and Mason enjoyed watching the kids baseball teams practicing. It was also only 30 degrees outside so we quickly finished our walk and went back inside.

We got inside and I took a long hot shower and decided it was time to update our midwife just in case things picked up in the next couple hours, this was at 7:30pm. I texted her that contractions have been about 5-7min apart lasting about 1min long for the last hour or so and that it was hard for me to tell if I was still in early labor or in active labor because they weren’t painful. She asked how painful they were on a scale of 1-10 and I said maybe a 5 but my judgement is really terrible. I could still walk and talk through them, but this is also how things were when I was in labor with Zion. I was laboring washing dishes then all of a sudden he was here just two hours later. She responded, “Team Launched”

At 8:30pm, one of my midwives arrived, she checked my vitals and asked for a brief rundown of how the day has been going then asked if I wanted her to check me to see how far I’ve progressed. I was curious because I did not feel like I was even close to delivering a baby at this point, I thought it was going to be a LONG night. Well, she checked me and I was 6cm dilated and almost completely thinned and I was shocked. Randal and I just started laughing in disbelief because it just did not feel like this was happening! Our midwife told us that they recently had a mom that laughed until the baby was born. I joked and said, “That’s the kind of experience I want!”

Shortly after, the rest of the team arrived and they started setting up and getting everything ready. I turned on my worship birth playlist so that I could remain in a peaceful mindset and the atmosphere would be calm and peaceful.

I ate some dinner at about 9:00 and then enjoyed a nice hour long massage by our nurse

and one of our doulas using our Motherlove Birth & Baby Oil (highly recommend). During this time contractions continued to get stronger and longer, but in between contractions we laughed and cried tears of joy, and laughed some more.

Around 10:00pm, our midwife suggested I go lay down for a bit to help encourage the baby to keep moving down and into prime position for delivery. Randal and I went to our room and we both laid down and talked and laughed, we were supposed to be resting...whoops

After maybe 20 minutes or so things began to pick up, quickly. Randal began timing them trying to see if the next would be longer than the last and if it the time between them would be closer together or further apart. We made a game out of it...and I remember laughing saying “This is a joke!” Because I still could not believe how at peace and relaxed I was, in active labor. I still didn’t feel like we were close to the end, and we thought it was still going to be along night, then all of a sudden things changed…

I had a handful of contractions piled on top of each other, the midwife came in to check on me and asked if she could check to see how much more I’ve progressed. I was fine with that, and she said I still hadn’t made too much more progress, and suggested I lay on my right side now. The second I switched positions, I had another strong and long contraction and I could literally feel him moving down and it was the most incredible thing I’ve ever experienced. After that contraction, our midwife said that it sounded like I was ready to push. She looked down and said that she could see him and it was definitely time!

I continued laying flat on my back which I was okay with, I was comfortable and was able to allow my body to work its magic. I pushed through my breath, kept my body as relaxed as possible and allowed my body to work. As we got closer to his head crowning, I could feel myself tensing up and getting anxious because this has been the hardest part for me each time I delivered. With Zion, I remember being in tears telling Randal that I was terrified and it was awful. This time, I was determined for this experience to be different. I told everyone that I needed a minute, I took a deep breath and prayed, “Father, give me the strength to do this.” I could suddenly hear my mom and midwife praying and could hear my music playing softly from the living room. I felt a peace come over me and I DID IT!

In 16 minutes and 23 seconds of pushing, Malakai Jayce Gory was in my arms at 11:19 pm weighing 5 pounds 11 ounces and measuring 18.5 inches long.

Malakai means messenger of God and Jayce means healer or the healing one. Malakai’s birth brought me healing that I needed and it is only because of God that I had the experience that I needed. I could not have asked for a better birth experience, and I am so grateful for the support of my amazing husband, our families and our incredible birth team from Vine of Life Midwifery here in Ohio!