Marisa and Chris came late to the homebirth decision. We had spoken earlier in her pregnancy but she had decided to just stick with working with midwives in the hospital setting. But as the birth grew closer she realized that in her heart she really wanted to have her baby at home. Her first appointment was her 36 week home visit and we all jumped into the journey together full force! At 39 weeks Marisa thought she was going into labor but things were very inconsistent still. We decided to keep in touch over the afternoon and I started heading back into the city from the Western Philly suburbs where I was with family. Right as I was pulling up to my house Marisa called reporting they were coming every 3 minutes all the sudden and strong! It was a Monday so Martin was in New York. My babysitter was on her way home from work to watch Itzela but given it was baby number two and rush hour I couldn't wait the 30 minutes til my babysitter arrived. I headed over with Itzela in tow and my friend and sister Motherland Mama Inga agreed to meet me in the rain at rush hour with her two kids at the house to pick up Itzy (thanks Inga!!). We arrived and dad Chris put on Dora the Explorer in the living room for Itzela who was nonplussed having Marisa in transition in the bathroom just 4 feet away. Itzy knows her mommy is a midwife and "a midwife helps mommies and babies" so we talked in the car on the way about the fact that mommy had to help this other mommy and I needed her to just wait for Inga while I worked. She said "ok mommy!". My little midwife helper.
Anyway, back to Marisa!!! She was on the toilet laboring hard with the support of husband Chris and her friend Rikki who is an acupuncturist and doula in training. It seemed like the baby was going to come very soon. But after her water broke while on the birth stool things didn't progress as quickly as I expected. Looking at her belly it seemed the baby had rotated posterior as he was finding his way through the birth canal. We did some positional things to help the baby get in a better position but at this point Marisa was full-on pushing and baby was descending. Ana arrived just before baby 7lb 10oz Benjamin emerged "sunny-side up" and Marisa brought him to her belly.
Marisa was amazing and Chris was calm and excited about his first baby! I'm so glad this sweet family made the switch to homebirth! Congratulations!
