Our first child was born exactly on his due date and our second came surprising us almost 4 weeks early — so you could say we were totally confused about when the third might make her appearance. But after just finishing an entire home renovation (at 38 weeks), I was truly enjoying a few days of quiet before the inevitable volume got turned back up. I spent the next week sipping on red raspberry tea, bouncing on a yoga ball, having check ins with my midwife, Debbie, and preparing the birth space as best as I could with 2 little boys running a muck.

I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for months at this point. In fact, I had them so often and for so long that I rarely even recognized them anymore. But on October 30th, I noticed they had been somewhat intense all morning. Once it came time for the boy’s ‘quiet time’, I decided I better lay down as well. I napped from about 1 to 2 pm (a rarity for me!) and was relieved when they seemed to have ceased by the time I woke up — especially because the next day was Halloween!

Ever since I received a November 4th due date, I had been diligently praying that she would be born ANY day except for Halloween. And with Oliver being born during my 36th week, I felt like there was a good chance she could be joining us even before that.

But the day went on, I prepped dinner and then just as we sat down to eat and the boys started sharing their “high and low” of the day — I had another out of no where really intense contraction (6:00 PM). I continued to tell myself it was ‘nothing’, as I knew we were only 6 hours from that Halloween birth-date, and with my labor track record, it was VERY unlikely I was having this baby in the next 6 hours.

We finished eating and William took the boys upstairs to start their bath/bedtime routine. I excused myself from the chaos of that time of day to go to the bathroom instead. I was shocked to be greeted by blood. Before even going to tell William about the newfound sign, I updated Debbie and then called my mom to casually ask her to pack up and come spend the night with us — “just in case she needed to wake up with the boys in the morning”. Like many homebirth-ers, I dreamed of having our baby in the middle of the night — then having Henry and Oliver wake up to their new baby sister in the morning. I went and gave them both a big hug and kiss goodnight, just incase that dream would come true.

By 8:30 PM, the boys were both fast asleep, there continued to be blood, and I was now having contractions every 20-30 minutes. 30 minutes later my mom came rushing through the door (dropping half of her toiletries all across our front lawn on the way in)! She was clearly very excited to finally make the labor piece of one of my 3 births 🙂

Around 9:00 PM, our midwife, Debbie, let us know she was going to bed but insisted I reach out when my contractions got to 10 minutes apart (since she had over an hour commute to our house). As hard as it was to wind down, my mom, William and I decided we should all go to bed as well (10:30 PM) — unsure of what the night would hold, but knowing sleep would be of necessity either way.

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We were now 30 minutes into Halloween, October 31st (12:30 AM) — my contractions were inconsistent but gaining in intensity. Enough so that I had to get out of bed and relocate to our bathroom. I hadn’t been laboring upright for very long when I realized that they were often only 10 minutes apart, so I texted my sound asleep midwife. My contraction timing was rarely consistent with my other two births, so I didn’t want to trust that indicator alone. At this point, I also started a Miles Circuit, something that was helpful in my progression with Oliver’s birth.

By 2 AM, all 3 of my midwives (Debbie + 2 assistants) arrived with sleepy eyes and soft smiles. I quietly ushered them inside while the rest of the house remained asleep. While they got themselves situated, I decided to wake up William and catch him up to speed. They checked my progress on our bed around 2:30 AM and we were all pleased that I was almost fully dilated. Debbie expressed relief that I had texted her when I did and that it was a good thing that they were already there.

Knowing the normalcy of labor to slow down or even stall a bit when your birth team arrives (or when you arrive to a hospital), she also suggested William and I get a change of scenery and take a midnight stroll together. We threw on our jackets and shoes and started down our street, hand in hand. We walked (+ curb walked) for about 30 minutes (until 3 AM) and while I did have a few contractions in that timeframe, none of them were as intense as what I had been experiencing before.

The team was able to get everything set up in our absence — and before I could get discouraged over the ebb and flow of labor (something I am very much use to with all of my births by now), Debbie reminded me that this is all part of normal, physiological birth. Birth takes times. Birth can’t be rushed. I was not expected to perform. And I was certainly not letting anyone down. All of which were things I really needed to hear. She suggested we all get a little bit more rest while we wait for things to pick back up again. They cozied up on our couches while William and I got back in our bed (3:30 AM).

I woke up around 5:30 AM, somewhat groggy yet in shock that I had actually fallen asleep for a couple of hours. My labor had clearly slowed down — & more than likely, dilation had regressed by that point too. In the dark and quietness of our home, I started hydrating and moving my body again. By 6:30 AM, I was experiencing little to no contractions at all, the sun was starting to peak in, and the rest of the house was beginning to stir. I was internally fighting the disappointment of 1) that overnight-birth dream not becoming a reality and 2) that she was most likely going to be born on the one day I had prayed for months that she would not.

My mom peaked over the upstairs awning, surprised to see me sitting in the family room with the birth team. Her eyes lit up, “UM, do we have a baby?!” “Not yet” we all replied in unison with laughter. The boys must have heard all the commotion and slowly made their way downstairs too — wiping their sleepy eyes, trying to figure out why we had so many early morning guests. I jumped into mom mode, knowing we needed to get breakfast going and talk to the boys about what the day would look like since their sister was (hopefully) on her way.

It was now 7 AM, and our lovely birth team decided to give us a little bit of space to start the day and for me to not feel like a “watched pot”. They slipped over to a nearby breakfast restaurant in order to not get too far — since they all lived over an hour away from us. They encouraged me to rest and to let my mom and William step into my regular duties instead. I agreed and went back to sleep. Around 9 AM, the 3 of them were back from their hideout breakfast, gently knocking on our bedroom door to check in with me. I was definitely not in active labor any any longer and my vitals were great so they made the decision to head back to the office to fulfill their regular appointments scheduled for the day. Of course, with all of their phones set on loud. They joked that while all of this is still considered normal and even common progression in their line of work, that once this baby is truly ready, she’ll be “comin’ quick”! And that they felt certain they would be seeing me again within the next 24 hours.

I went on about my day, resting, staying fed/hydrated and hanging out with my mom and the boys, trying not to overthink it all. The inconsistencies of labor were much more familiar and therefore, more easily accepted, for me this 3rd time around. I continued to have spaced out contractions and around 11:30 AM, I lost my mucus plug. William was working in his office and my mom was already preparing dinner just in case things picked up again. Since everything seemed rather chill, she also mentioned she might head back to her house sometime after lunch — so she could also work the rest of the day and attend her Halloween plans that evening. I didn’t love the idea of her also leaving — but understood everyone’s desire to not be on house arrest.

We ate some lunch and I napped again — then at 2 PM, I was woken up by a super intense contraction. It literally threw me from sound asleep to kneeling on the ground instantaneously. Wait, this IS different. I ran into the kitchen to see if my mom was still there. It just so happened she was packing up her stuff — “I think this might really be it” …. “will you please stay?”, I somewhat hesitantly muttered.

The contractions progressed in intensity rather quickly from there. William wanted to call the birth team but I kept holding him off, as I definitely did NOT want to be the girl who had them drive all the way back South Atlanta if we weren’t 100% sure they needed to yet.

By 3:30 PM, they were coming closer together and stronger each time and I agreed it was time to call. They said they would wrap up their current appointment and head our way. Around this time, I also started panicking that it was almost primetime Halloween and I wasn’t sure what the night would look like for my very excited little Christopher Robin and Pooh Bear. (Especially since we all thought our little Piglet would already be here by now 🙂 )

This was our first Halloween in our new neighborhood and the first year that the boys were actually looking forward to the festivities -- so as odd as it sounds, I was still grieving the timing of everything. I knew at this point I would be missing out on the neighborhood fun so to ease the (emotional) pain -- I grabbed my camera, and asked my mom to get the boys in their costumes, and in between some tough contractions I forced them to take a few pictures from the front porch. I even had to stop and put my camera down to ride out the (physical) pain a couple of times.

If you know me well, this detail will not surprise you 🙂

At 4:00 PM, I texted Debbie, “okay, she’s definitely coming”. Even though it was a little early for it, my mom put the happy trick-or-treaters in our double stroller to walk around the neighborhood and be out of the way. William started filling up the birth tub.

At 4:15 PM, Debbie calls to let us know that they were all in their cars (leaving Acworth, GA) but they were not estimated to arrive until 5:30 PM due to the growing Atlanta rush hour + holiday traffic. I immediately started to cry. William has her on speaker phone across the room as I just keep saying, “you’re not going to make it” … “you’re not going to make it”.

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It’s just me and William in the house now, I am lying on our bed on my side, with my legs crossed at tight as I can, hoping to delay her from coming even a little bit. With each contraction, it feels as if her head is RIGHT there and she will be born any moment. We continue to stay on speaker phone with Debbie as she calmly remind us of all the steps we would take if she actually doesn’t make it in time. (Steps that we were well versed in by now with 3 home births — but of course, never think you’ll actually need!)

William is (per usual) very calm and keeps ensuring me, “babe, we’ve got this!” I keep laughing at him in between moments of intense pressure and saying “Sorry, but I NEED someone other than you to be here to have this baby!” I’m actually staying pretty calm despite the circumstances — just keep reminding everyone (on the phone) that I probably would have already had the baby if they were here — and that I literally felt like I was physically and mentally stalling her birth at this point. Oh, and continuously requesting for them to drive faster! 🙂

It’s now 4:45 PM and Debbie’s ETA keeps getting bumped later. She suddenly remembers that she knows another midwife in our local area. She asks our permission to hang up and call her to see if she happens to be free. “YES!“, I exclaim, even though I felt super unhopeful this mysterious midwife would be willing to immediately come help a stranger, at almost 5:00 PM on Halloween night.

We hang up and she call me back within 5 minutes. “Okay, so she’s been in the birth space for over 30 years… has given birth to 12 children herself… AND she was actually on her way to a party near your house and said she could be there in about 10 minutes!”

“You’re kidding!!?“, I scream. Followed by another burst of tears. Thank you, Lord.

At this time, we also remembered our hired birth photographer, who we had contacted the day prior to be on stand by but never got back with. Knowing there’s little to no chance she would make it now (understandably), I still shot her a text just to let her know I’m moments from giving birth… either with my midwife, a new midwife, or no midwife.

It just so happens she is also at a Halloween party near our neighborhood with her kids. She says they are old enough to stay without her, her camera is ready to go in the car, and she will (also) be there in 10 minutes. Cue. the. tears.

It’s now 5:00 PM and Kayla, the photographer, comes literally running through the front door. I’m still tightly cross legged on the bed afraid to move a muscle. I welcome her into the drama and 5 minutes later, in walks the saint herself, Tracy, our step-in midwife! Debbie, is still with us on speaker phone. I can hear a sigh of relief from her as we all introduce ourselves. I give Tracy permission to check me (even though I knew there was no need) and she lets Debbie audibly know that, yes, baby girl is infact “right there”. She proceeds to unpack her bags and tells me to do whatever I need “to get comfortable”. I felt my stress level drop tenfold as I now moved freely over to the tub. I was SO relieved someone besides William was going to be there for this birth. I think he, on the other hand, was a little bit disappointed to be booted from the head job. Ha!

In true Brittany fashion, I now needed to mentally adjust to the new situation. If you haven’t noticed by now, my brain has a death grip on my body’s ability to birth quickly. I eased into the tub, trying to force myself to relax now, fighting the urge to process everything. For someone who loves a plan, to be in control, to be comfortable, and struggles with change — it was difficult for me to go from cross legged on the bed for an hour praying she wouldn’t come yet — to okay, now go, it’s fine if she is. I appreciated everyone giving me space to quietly allow my brain to catch up to my body.

Around 5:30 PM, the 2 student midwives (who had slept at our house the night before) arrived — Debbie was still on the phone and not far behind them. I’m on all fours in the tub, swaying back and forth, I can feel her right there and yet I’m SUPER distracted. The water wasn’t very warm and it wasn’t quite high enough yet either, I couldn’t tune out the 3 midwives introducing themselves to one another around me, the playlist wasn’t on a song that fit the current vibe, it was brighter in the room than I wanted, there was the sound of trick-or-treaters in the distance, and of course, my midwife, who I had bonded with and envisioned next to me in this very moment, was not physically in the room. I remember in this moment praying for the Lord to strip me of all of these distractions and making the choice to finally surrender to this birth.

Later my midwife said that for a moment she thought I was waiting for her to arrive, but then (around this time) she heard a shift in my sounds and immediately knew she would not going to make it. Also in this moment, William saw my mom coming back with the stroller and quickly opened the door and wildly motioned with his arm for her to do oneeeee more lap, ha!

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With my eyes closed, I told myself it was time. And with a strong push, her head was born. Unfortunately, the push was so strong that it forced me to fling my entire body up over the side of the (somewhat deflating) tub, meaning everything except for my ankles was out of the water at this point. Naturally, I went to sink back down into the the tub as everyone starting yelling “nooooooo!” and grabbed me up from under my arms. Since her head was already out, I was not able to submerge back into the water. So as I very uncomfortably leaned over the plastic tub, with my rear and a half born baby in the air, I gave one more push and at 5:41 PM, Georgia Elizabeth Fine was born!

The whole room filled with emotion as Tracy passed her up under my legs and I finally got to fall back into the water, with my little girl melting into my chest. Pure bliss. I’m of course ugly crying and embracing my wide eyed girl. Her little face is totally overwhelming us. Everyone else is taking her in as I finally look up and say “welllllll, that wasn’t ideal“, which makes everyone laugh.

After a few more minutes, everyone helped me and Georgia move to our bed. They covered us in warm blankets and I was in disbelief that she immediately wanted to nurse. (Something that didn’t happen as quickly or organically with the boys!) Around that same time, my mom and Henry and Oliver eagerly came in from trick-or-treating to meet our newest addition. All immediately smitten, of course.

Moments later, in comes Debbie too, grinning ear to ear — she finally made it! And all we could do was chuckle about everything that had transpired since she first came groggily through our door the night before. All 4 midwives now got to assist in the placenta being born, as Georgia peacefully nursed, and (even though the porch light was off) trick or treaters unfortunately continued to knock on the door (and my mom passed out candy) one wall over.

After an hour of skin to skin, William got to cut her completely dried up cord. Then we all gathered around the bed for her newborn screening, one of my favorite, most intimate parts of homebirth.

My mom passed out bowls of soup and cornbread that she had thankfully prepared earlier in the day. It was getting darker as we all ate and rehashed and thanked the Lord for new life. By about 8:30 PM, after cleaning up, helping me get a (much anticipated) shower, and ensuring my bleeding and Georgia’s latching was manageable, the team gave us hugs goodbye. The boys got put into bed after having wayyy more candy than their rather occupied mom would have allowed 🙂 and then William and my mom and I spent the next hour relishing in it all.

There’s truly nothing like the sacred stillness after an at home birth-day.

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During all 3 of my pregnancies, I’ve made a list of 10 prayers specific to that birth/baby. And while I still consider Oliver’s birth my “dream birth”, Georgia’s was the first where all 10 prayers were answered with a YES. The Lord is so kind. Yes, her birth was confusing at times and chaotic at others, it required flexibility on everyone’s part, and intentional surrender on my part. But over the last 9 months, I’ve learned that pretty much sums up the 3rd born. With each addition to our family, there’s less I can juggle by myself, more I have to let go of completely, and more outside hands needed than ever. Being outnumbered by children has pushed us daily to new levels of sacrifice and surrender — and if you spend even 10 minutes in our home, you know the disorder just keeps gaining in momentum.

But if you’ve also met Georgia, you know she’s as joyful as they come. She’s our most flexible child yet and it’s rare to catch her without a smile, even in the midst of constant chaos and commotion. The women that serve in our church nursery make jokes that we need to find out “how to clone that baby” and one time a stranger had me in tears when he looked at her and said, “wow, you can tell she is truly covered in peace“.

That was one of my greatest prayers for our Georgia girl. Peace. That despite my pregnany being marked by a season of heavy anxiety — William leaving the only career he knew, moving states away, in with my parents, daily toddler battles and stressors, buying our first home in a difficult market, renovating said home top to bottom for months, while living in an unsettled construction zone, finding out she was a girl (after 3 months of thinking she was a boy from a faulty blood test), finishing our renovation/settling into our new home a week before she was born, on the very day I consistently asked God for her not to be, with a midwife who I had met moments before — her life would still exude peace.

Our family and our home are infinitely better with her in it. All glory to God!