As I sit here holding my now month old baby girl, I’m in utter disbelief that time has flown by so fast. It feels like it was just yesterday when we first held our little surprise gender baby, but it’s also hard to remember what life was like before she joined our family. Sweet Frances Anne has been the perfect addition to the crew, and we are oh so in love with her!
Her birth story was not what I expected, but looking back, everything fell into place perfectly.
My due date was Friday, March 1st and we all expected the baby to be born that weekend. But as Saturday and Sunday came and went with no signs of labor, I began to lose hope. I tried everything I could think of to get labor to start, but (obviously) nothing happened. I cried so much that weekend, because I was *finally* ready for the baby, but she had other plans.
When I woke up on Monday morning, my goal was to just have fun and make some more sweet memories with the kids while we could. We made cinnamon rolls, played, read books, had a “tea party” and just enjoyed the day together. It was so special and sweet! My midwife had told me to just rest and take it easy, so that’s what I told myself throughout the day. I know my body and mind needed the break.
On Tuesday morning I had some spotting, and I began praying that I wouldn’t get my hopes up if this wasn’t the start of labor. My sweet midwife, Danielle, sent me to a massage therapist, who worked on me for almost two hours. I was very tight on my left side, and she was able to release it and get the baby into a better position. I went on a walk, and continued to focus on resting and relaxing the rest of the day.
At dinner I noticed some small *possible* contractions, but tried to ignore them because I knew I’d drive myself crazy if I didn’t. They continued off and on until I went to bed that night, when they stopped altogether.
After sleeping for about an hour and a half, then laying in bed awake for another hour, I decided to just get up and watch a show for a bit. Around 1:20 am I had bloody show, and knew that things were finally moving along. I really wanted to have the baby while my other kids were sleeping (so I wouldn’t have to worry about childcare), so I tried pumping for 30 minutes, and that kickstarted everything. My contractions came back in full force and I waited another hour after pumping before deciding that they weren’t going away and it was time to wake up Isaac.
We got the room prepped for the birth, and I continued to labor through the early morning hours. I was still SO scared that this was a false alarm and the contractions would stop like they had with my previous two births. I didn’t want to call my midwife and photographer (and best friends**) if things weren’t actually going to happen. But Isaac finally convinced me to reach out at 3am, and they both arrived at my house shortly after.
I asked my midwife to check me, to see if ANYTHING was happening, and she said I was dilated to 7cm. That gave me so much encouragement, and I finally accepted that this WAS labor and baby was finally coming. And it was then that I told Isaac it was time to have my best friends, Emily and Brooke, come over.
** Backstory!
Brooke lives in Oregon and had planned a trip to Texas in March months ago. She was flying in on March 5th, and we joked about her coming to the birth if the baby held on that long (which I thought would never happen, because I had never gone that far past my due date before). Well on the evening of the 4th I realized that she may actually be in town for the birth, and I asked her if she still wanted to come. I had never planned on having anyone besides the midwives and photographer there, but the more I thought about asking her and Emily to come, the more I wanted them to be there. And everything just fell into place perfectly. The Lord knew how special it would be to have them there for this amazing moment.
**
When they walked in the room, I lost it. I hadn’t seen Brooke in so long, and it was just so special and surreal that she got to be here for the birth. Emily was actually the second person I told that I was pregnant, and she walked through SO many of the highs and lows of this pregnancy with me. They helped me a ton during this season of life, and having them there was the perfect way to welcome my sweet baby to the world.
The next few hours were a blur of contractions, laughter, listening to everyone chat, and praying for my sweet baby. I actually loved this phase of the labor, because it was fun having so many people with me who I love, and knowing that soon we’d be meeting the baby.
But the more intense the contractions got, the more I found myself pulling away from the pain. I began to have horrible back and hip pain that lingered after every contraction, and it was HARD. I’ve never had pain like that with my other labors, and it began to take a toll on me. Between the pain and the exhaustion from only 1.5 hours of sleep, I really began doubting myself and my ability to birth the baby. At one point I just sat on the floor crying because I was so tired and done with the contractions.
We decided to move to the room a little before 7:30 where things began to blur together. My focus was simply on each contraction as they came. I tried relaxing into them, and kept looking for the need to bear down and begin pushing, but it never came. With all my other babies I experienced the fetal ejection reflex, but this time it was different. At that moment my water still hadn’t broken, and we believe it was because of that “cushion” that I didn’t really feel the need to push, even though my body was ready to push.
With encouragement from Danielle, I began to bear down with each contraction. After a few good pushes, my water broke (with a nice, satisfying POP) and that FER came in FULL force. Just a couple pushes later and the baby was born.
At this moment things moved in slow motion for me. I remember taking deep breaths and reaching out for the baby. I heard its cry. I looked at Isaac. And I sobbed as I realized that the baby was finally here. “Hi baby! We’ve been waiting on you for so long” is all I could say.
Once things settled down and all our vitals looked good, we had the kiddos come in to meet their little sibling. After taking one last guess from everyone, we all found out the gender together. We were in utter shock that it was ANOTHER girl (only two of us in the whole room thought that’s what it would be), and I cried knowing I was going to get to name her after my grandma.
Frances Anne Hicks
She was absolutely perfect!
9 lbs 8oz
19 inches
Born at 8:10 am on March 6th
Short blonde hair
Dark blue eyes
And the squishiest legs and cheeks!
This little girl was worth every tear and every minute of waiting for her. And even though she’s still so little, I couldn’t imagine our family without her! We love you so so much, Frances Anne.
A HUGE shout out to our amazing midwife, Danielle. She has been there to welcome every one of my kids, and I seriously could not imagine going through pregnancy, labor, delivery and postpartum life without her. She has the kindest spirit, and I know the Lord has blessed us in immeasurable ways by her friendship, wisdom and guidance.
Holistic Midwifery Care
I also could not have gone through this labor without my besties, Brooke and Emily. They held down the fort when the kids woke up (my plan didn’t quite work out the way I’d hoped haha), which meant Isaac and I were able to just focus on me and the baby. And even in the next few days and weeks, they were there to help with with the kids, do my dishes, rotate the laundry and bring me food. I don’t deserve such great friends!
And another thank you to my amazing photographer, Jenna. She has captured three of my births and the pictures we have thanks to her are ones I’ll cherish forever. She’s become one of my friends through this season of life, and I just love the special relationship we have.
Jenna Vanloon Photography
Also thanks to my mother in law, Lisa, for making the drive through morning rush hour to come sit with the kids during the last stretch of the labor and delivery. That was such a blessing for us!!
Welcome to the world, Frances! We are SO happy you’re here.
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