Homebirthing with Hasaan pt. 1 The Auntie Doula View

Gather round for storytime.....this story isn't for grammar queens, short attention spans and those who are sensitive to profanity (it's not that much)

January 29th I finally go to sleep at 2am and Oni calls me at 4am. By the way, Oni NEVER calls me at 4am, she has a strict  bedtime routine that's unbothered (you'll be lucky if you get a response after 10pm🤣). No one can interrupt her flow, she was very chill and particular throughout her entire pregnancy.

Me: Hello

Oni: I'm surprised you answered the phone.

Me: (half woke, wondering what she is about to say)

Oni: Ummm yea my water broke. It happened in my sleep. I went to tell Mommy. I told her "something is happening"🤣🤣🤣 (Sounded like some cute denial to me)

Me: (half sleep, omg this baby is coming, thinking damn I just went to sleep, I gotta get out of Atl with the quickness).

Also Me:  How are you feeling? Any contractions? I'll call you back when I figure out what I'm going to do.

Next, I got on the internet and googled same day flights. All of them were obviously over $400, a price I damn SHO wasn't about to pay. I looked at Greyhound. It would be an unpredictable "alleged" 16hr ride and I wasn't in the mood for that shit....A BABY WAS COMING! I started to clear some more brain fog and I went straight to Spirit Airlines website for the LOW LOW. I always liked Spirit Airlines. All you gotta do is pack light and leave the beauty pageant packing behind. There was only one flight to Cleveland and it was leaving at 9am. Can we say WINNING?

Flight was booked, I meditated and told my nephew "Ok just chill and shoot out when I get there ok and do whatever you want."

Yes, I talk to baby spirits and they talk to me, IF they want to converse. This was something I discovered about two years ago with my 6th birth.

I called the fam to tell them my flight info and my Dad answered the phone "Birthing Center"🤣🤣🤣 he always got the jokes. He informed me that him and Jeff (Oni's partner) blew up the birthing pool and got the living room ready for a birthday turn up. How exciting! I had two hours to do some fake "sleeping", throw some clothes in a duffle bag, take a shower and call an uber. I kind of took my time since I live 5 minutes away from the airport and I never got around to fake sleeping.

Of course the 1+ hr flight seemed extra long and it was filled. Landed in Cleveland at 10:38 am. Can we say WINNING again?

I was waiting for my Dad to pick me up, so I called the house and he was STILL AT HOME and my Mama was trying to cover for him saying "he is on his way". I was easily distracted when she told me Oni started contracting consistently around 8am! More exciting news! My Dad picked me up and we got burgers. Birthing takes energy for all parties involved, hell yea we gone eatI will ALWAYS ENCOURAGE EATING!

I get to the house, say hellos, inhale burger and immediately look at Oni and Jeff in the early stages of labor. Such a beautiful sight to witness a couple in the zone. The zone of anticipation, curiosity, excitement, peace, transitions, breathing, moans, frustrations, surrendering, trust and the different levels of pressure (what others call contractions). When I got there Oni was laboring on a red birth ball looking like a champ! Red is a great color if you want to get something poppin' FAST. My homie also pointed out she had on a Nike shirt that said, "Just Do It". How appropriate for a birth.

I asked her if she wanted some massaging done and I whipped out some olive oil and sweet orange essential oil. She enjoyed it. She was offered water and snacks in between her pressure moments. (Gotta keep the energy up ya know)

The house was pretty chill, Oni's midwives were on standby, family members were on standby and I was switching between being a Doula and capturing pictures. Oni was very active during labor, she was moving all over the place. I didn't have to encourage her to switch positions AT ALL. She labored sitting on the ball, labored on all fours on the ball, went to sit on the toilet, got back up on the ball and demanded for the pool to be filled up.

The midwives informed us to attach the water hose to the hot water tank and fill it up. We let Jeff and my Dad handle that part. It took a while and Oni was BEYOND ready to get in. This was everyone in the house first time seeing a birth pool being filled up. When I saw that hot ass water in the pool, I wondered "Who is supposed to sit in that hot shit?" I mean the water was on hella hot! But the midwives informed us by time we fill up the pool, it would be much cooler and tolerable when Oni got in. Oni got in the pool and a sigh of relief came upon her face as she said "This is much better."

But once she got in that pool I noticed she got deeper in the zone. She was squeezing empty water bottles like incredible hulk, squeezing the pool handles and expressing herself more with the pressure. Jeff got in the pool with her and spoke loving and encouraging words as he held her stomach. I feel like she may have labored for under an hr in the pool and she said those magic words "I feel like I gotta poop". Those words mean the baby is descending more and getting closer to the birth and the Mama may actually poop.

Oni got out the pool and made it to the toilet, she didn't poop.  She just continued to sit on the toilet and labor like a champ. She kept saying she had to poop, expressing herself through contractions and said "help me" here and there. She was doing so good. I def was a proud big sister. At this point contractions were closer, and everyone is asking when do the midwives come. I was texting the midwives throughout the labor and I "knew" when to text them to come. Lol. Oni was still on the toilet. I texted the midwives she was ready.

Jeff was in the bathroom with her while she labored, I was snacking on popcorn and talking to my Mom. We were just letting Oni do her thang. The midwives arrived, checked on Oni and setup shop quietly.

Oni was still laboring in the bathroom but at this point she was standing up holding onto her partner. The midwives were probably there for not even an hour yet and I went to look at Oni and observe what was happening. She was still standing in front of the sink in the dark bathroom. It was a knowing that the baby was coming since the midwives started to put down pads on the floor. This was getting even more exciting! Oni started to push and scream simultaneously, then we saw hair. The midwife had her touch the baby's hair. Few more screams and pushes, he came right on out, the midwife sat the baby on Oni's chest and she sat down in the toilet holding the baby. But the thing is throughout this whole time we didn't know the sex of the baby.

After she pushed out the baby we asked "so what is it?" The midwife said she didn't know. I'm wondering "she had vagina front row seats, what does she mean she doesn’t know?" Actually at the point, I'm sure no one really knew the sex of the baby because we were so excited she pushed the baby out So the midwife went back into the dark bathroom and asked "What did you have?"

She replied "A boy."

Jeff cried "A boy."

I cried "A boy."

My Mama cried "A boy."

My Dad threw his hands up in the "Alright" motion and gave my Mom and I a hug. We were some true water bags for a quick second lol. We proceeded to send texts about the arrival of Hasaan. It was truly a magical experience and I am so glad I was able to witness and be there for the birth of my nephew.

What I enjoyed about homebirth:                   

-All hands were on deck, everyone in the house played a part in preparation of delivery.

-There wasn’t a constant check up by nurses to encourage an intervention of taking vitals every 2 seconds.  Oni was able to labor to her own rhythm and be in tune with her body without interruption or pressures from an outside force.

-It was a very comfortable atmosphere where EATING and drinking was allowed, you need energy while in labor, it’s a lot of work.

Stayed tuned for Part 2 where you will read from the parent’s view of the birth.

 


6 comments

  • This was a great read.. the way you painted every detail it felt like I was right there with y’all… this is something I’m very interested in doing with my career as a nurse and I applaud you for being there both as a sister and a doula. Birth is a beautiful thing to witness. It’s also a beautiful experience as a mom. Congrats once again 🎉😍🎈

    Porsha Benberry
  • Omg! I feel like I was there, can’t wait for part two!

    Sierra
  • Great story! The “A Boy” ending almost made ME cry.

    Britt
  • Well put narrative. Congratulations family

    Natalie
  • I loved readings this!! I felt like I was there !!

    BrandonCarter211

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