Boaz Maximilian’s Birth Story.
On Wednesday, June 8th, around 7:30pm, after I rose from the kneeler in the confessional- I took one step and thought, “crap! I just peed myself a little!” 
But it didn’t continue, so I knelt down at the front of the church to do my penance and to pray about the days to come. I really wanted to spiritually ready myself to be a mom.
Up until about month 7 of pregnancy I was asking God for a quick, easy, and healthy delivery. But then I switched my prayer asking for a labor and delivery that would make me holier, that would sanctify me.
After I walked out of the Church, I was met with a torrential downpour and double rainbows that only lasted long enough for me to see them. A sign of Christ’s goodness and promise that He’ll always be faithful no matter what.
(Looking back now this feels like the biggest sign for what was to come; a storm and then the biggest miracle.)
I drove home & laid on the couch waiting for Ben to get home from the gym. I started to feel crampy, but didn’t think anything of it because I had prodromal labor since Monday. I was having time-able “Braxton Hicks” that were 2-3 minutes apart. All. Day. Long. Since that Monday!!
About an hour later, around 9- a huge gush came. My water had for sure broken!
We called the midwife once contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart and off we went to the hospital around 1am.
The main reason we didn’t labor at home until the last possible minute was due to him having Velamentous Chord Insertion. This means his chord wasn’t inserted directly into the placenta, it was inserted into the outer membrane of the placenta. This turned us into a high risk pregnancy, which was what risked us out of the birth center we were originally going to, so we’d need monitoring the whole time.
After we arrived & checked in contractions practically stopped for me. They checked me at 2am and I was only 3cm but I didn’t mind because I knew how quickly things can change. Due to having back labor the entire time, I did think I was further along because of the intensity of each contraction.
We denied everything under the sun, no IV, no drugs, no nothing. 
Our deepest desire was to do birth completely naturally!
Our deepest desire was to do birth completely naturally!Due to the continual monitoring, every time I moved the belly band would slip and then a nurse would rush in thinking his heart rate had dipped. When in reality, I was just doing lunges or hitting up the bathroom.
Every time a nurse would rush in, my contractions would sputter away from being strong to being absolutely nothing.
After a full night of laboring-
at 7am they checked me & I was only a 4.
& … then my heart rate skyrocketed & Boaz had a heart drop since mine was so high. The head OB (which we absolutely trusted because of his undeniable Catholic faith and his love for natural birth) was called in to tell us the gravity of the situation. He told us how he stopped preparing a mom for a scheduled c-section to come tell us if something didn’t change he’d be prepping us.
So we listened to his recommendations to get fluids.
&&& then his heart rate evened out & he was absolutely fine.
The midwife told me since my water was broken, they’d come back at 12 & check me again to see if I had progressed- if I hadn’t we’d have to start Pitocin. They never came in until 1! My contractions had finally gotten so intense that I THOUGHT I was AT LEAST a 6.
We had dozens and dozens of people praying for us. An entire heavenly and earthly army petitioning for a natural and beautiful birth.
Ben & I were rejoicing in these intense contractions. Welcoming each contraction as they came. Thinking the midwife not coming back in for over an hour of what she said she would, was a sign from Christ that we’d get this birth we so badly wanted!
She checked. I was a 4.
We accepted the Pitocin but by that time I had already been laboring for 18/19 hours & he was posterior so I had back labor the entire time from the first contraction to the last.
I truly don’t wish back labor on my worst enemy. Ben couldn’t physically apply enough counter pressure to help with the pain of back labor Pitocin contractions.
After an hour on Pitocin, I still hadn’t progressed in the slightest.
The midwife suggested to take a form of pain relief in an attempt to get me to relax. After asking the ~sweetest nurse~ about 20 times what my options were, we first went with laughing gas since it was the least invasive and had the least amount of side effects. After about 10 minutes of that- we ditched the idea because it wasn’t helping.
The nurse and midwife suggested an epidural & everyone was so sweet. They were so encouraging but also so sad for me because I had been laboring for 20 hours pain med free & finally something had to change. I could have wound up in a c section.
The anesthesiologist came in to administer the epidural and was truly one of the biggest jerks I’ve ever met in my entire life. Mocking me for not getting it sooner. Saying and I quote, “You don’t get a medal for going natural” three times.
Then.. drum roll please. My epidural only worked on half of my body So I’m feeling Pitocin back contractions on half of my body. He wound up fixing it & within an hour I dilated to a 6. Ben & I both broke out into tears of joy. The midwife told us both to just take a quick nap and she’d be back to check. Ben laid down and quickly fell asleep. I was much too excited to sleep!
The sweet sweet nurse that had been with us through it all offered to check me an hour later just to give me some hope. I was a 10! The nurse and I both celebrated and she started quickly preparing the room. I woke Ben up and told him the midwife would be coming back soon so we could finally have this baby! He was completely shocked and discombobulated
The midwife came back, four pushes later he was here! Exactly 24 hours from when my water broke!
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I had been preparing for the most beautiful, God-filled, natural birth.
I took every herb I possibly could to make sure my body was ready for birth.
I continued working out when the morning sickness subsided.
I pumped my body full of nutrient dense food and drank water like it was my job.
I knew every answer to any question the doctors could have asked me.
I prepared my mind for each contraction I’d feel and practiced my breathing.
I had Webster Certified Chiropractor Care biweekly.
I even had a prenatal massage the week prior.
But I asked God for a holy and sanctifying birth.
& boy, did this birth strip me of my pride.
We have never prayed so hard or had so many people praying for us. It had gotten passed along so much that a mom from my sister in law’s homeschool group messaged in the group chat, “a friend of a friend is in labor and not progressing and is in desperate need of prayers”. It brings tears to my eyes still to know how many people were praying for us. I feel extremely humbled that I continually asked God to give me the birth & labor I needed for my sanctity and He made me use modern medicine to humble me. I’m so prideful and anti hospital/ medicine that God said, let’s wipe out your pride.
Boaz and his birth were truly one in a million.
1% of pregnancies have velementous chord insertion
.1% the vessels of the chord actually rupture during birth (his did while I was pushing)
8% of babies are born on their due date
15% of babies have their water break before contractions start
So here you have it, if you’re a birth nerd like me- a long long birth story