I wanted to let you know that Ricky and I welcomed our daughter Majella on December 20th at 3:52AM. She was 7lbs and absolutely perfect. We got to have the home birth we wanted and everything went fantastic!! Breathing and keeping my composure made my early labour almost undetectable. I called my midwife at 9PM on the 19th letting her know I was feeling some contractions, but that they were nothing to worry about. At 2AM I called her again, as my contraction timer said it was time to go to the hospital - surges were 4 minutes apart, lasting a minute and a half for around an hour. ​ Again, I could still speak and didn’t feel that they were that strong, but given the weather, I wanted to make sure my midwife had time to drive down to my house. My midwife arrived at 2:40 and said she thought I was probably around 4cms dilated, as I was able to speak and not too concerned about what was going on. She checked me and I was 7cms. We then decided to break my water and I immediately went to 9cms. Between 2:45 and 3:30 I was in active labour- I found this was the most difficult part - as baby moved through my cervix, hitting all those little nerves. I was labouring standing up, and my legs were uncontrollably shaky. The acupressure and deep breathe calmed me down, allowing me to relax. Breathing very deeply pushing my breathe downward. At 3:15 I felt the urge to push and made my way into the bathtub. The warm water felt amazing. Ricky kept me hydrated in the tub, reminding me to close my eyes and relax in between surges. At around 3:30 I started pushing and she was out 20 minutes later. Pushing felt like a giant relief. The only thing I can compare it to would be giving into the urge to throw up. As uncomfortable as it maybe, afterwards you feel so much better. Not fighting the surges. Giving into your body’s impulses and going with every movement. After catching Majella I actually exclaimed that it “wasn’t that bad”. Pushing her out and catching her was the most amazing out of body experience. I was in complete shock that this little person had come into the world, and so quickly!!! I only really “felt” labour and pushing for two hours and fifteen minutes. I think this is completely because of how relaxed I was prior. I was most likely having contractions earlier in the day, but went about my business (walking, shopping and cleaning) and didn’t even notice! To the point that I told Ricky he could work late if he wanted to because I was fine; what I was feeling was probably just “false labour”. I really appreciate you taking your time to make our birthing experience as informative and positive as possible! Your class was so empowering, I felt I could do anything after giving birth to Majella. ​ ~Katherine and Ricky