Winnie’s Birth Story
To our great surprise, Winnie - our 5th baby - was born on Christmas Day, 2024! This is her birth story. But before I get to that, here are links to all of my birth stories! I’ve had all unmedicated, 2 hospital, 1 birth center, and 2 home births :
Milly’s Birth Story Part 1
Milly’s Birth Story Part 2
At the end of 2023, Will and I were prayerfully considering a new 5th baby, and after several months we came to this conclusion: we’d never regret adding another person to our family. We knew it wasn’t guaranteed, so we put it in the Lord’s hands. After several months and nothing happening, we decided to try to NOT have a baby the month of December for several reasons: I have a birthday then, Beaufort does too, and of course Jesus does! Additionally, we calculated that the baby would be due Christmas Eve - and we figured that would be a little too crazy for our family.
Then we found out we were pregnant… Due Christmas Eve 🤣.
[Almost all of the photos taken are by my dear friend Cheyenne Schultz who drove 2.5 hours on Christmas night to be with me. WHAT A FRIEND. Even though she missed the actual birth by just 7 minutes, she gave me some of my most treasured photographs! The other photos of me laboring were taken by my husband Will!)
We laughed at the irony, because this is a theme for us: God always showing us that His timing is better when it comes to our children and their birthdays.
After experiencing a home birth with Benji (my fourth), I knew I wanted to have this baby at home. One of the first things I did when I found out I was pregnant was contact my midwife who delivered Benji, and I was so nervous about her availability because I was due right at Christmas. Thankfully she agreed! I’ll forever be thankful for the sacrifices she made for me!
Mentally, this was one of my most difficult births. I think it had to do with my due dates : I was given three of them. I was due 12/24 based on my cycle, but two ultrasounds gave me 2 new due dates : 12/19 and 12/21. I felt like those were more accurate. Since most my other babies came early, I was certain (and excited) that I’d be having my baby before Christmas day. We did not want to have a baby on Christmas day because we knew that kiddo would have some birthday challenges having a Christmas day birthday 🤪 But ultimately I knew I did not want to be induced or try to control labor in any way, but allow my body to do what it knows to do.
As soon as we turned the calendar to December, I started to get really nervous about birth. One might think I’d enter birth confident, after doing this unmedicated 4 times. No no, my friend. I felt very weak and nervous. I struggled mentally to find the confidence I really wanted. I felt weary, like I had been pregnant forever. My veins in my legs were tired and swollen, my back was hurting, and while I was so ready to be done, I was sad to be done! I loved being pregnant.
When we approached the 19th, my first due date, I began taking long walks. I did this labor inducing workout every day for 3 days. I ate spicy food. I took more long walks. The 19th, 20th, and 21st were just smooth sailing - and no contractions, even though I was doing everything I knew to get labor started.
So, on the 22nd, I stopped. We were getting too close to Christmas - so we decided to see if maybe we could buy time and wait until after Christmas day to have the baby. I laid low, rested, and didn’t try to induce anything!
Then, on the 22nd the contractions started at dinner. They were 10 - 30 minutes apart. They continued and lasted all night long - waking me up, strong, and fairly consistent! I thought this was the beginning! Then on the 23rd, they stopped when I woke up. I wasn’t too surprised by this, as I was familiar with prodromal labor with my other births - especially Benji’s.
We decided to all get dressed and go to our church’s Christmas eve service - which felt exciting and a bit like a gamble! But when they started again the night of the 23rd, it felt different.
I had to breathe through them. They woke me up all night again - for the 2nd night in a row - but they were more consistent and quite strong. I also had more promising signs that my body was truly in labor with some light bleeding when I went to the bathroom. I didn’t wake up Will - I just let my body keep do its thing! I got very little sleep.
The contractions were so intense I woke up at 6am and couldn’t go back to sleep. I poured myself a cup of hot coffee and sat by the Christmas tree and the fire, grabbed my journal and my pen, and journaled this:
I’m going to have a baby today!
I prayed and worshiped and was thrilled at the thought of a Christmas Eve baby. I had always imagined myself holding my baby on Christmas morning with the kids, so this was perfect.
Then, at 10am, the contractions stopped.
This was when the mental game got really hard.
I was technically 5 days past my first due date.
I really wanted to have a baby before Christmas.
I could not BELIEVE those contractions stopped. They were the real deal!
I cried a lot that day. The hormones, the stop and start labor, the unpredictability, the not-wanting a baby on Christmas day. It all brought me to a somber place of just choosing to trust the Lord, to trust my body, even when I thought I had the best plan.
Contractions continued to pick up overnight, all through the night, again. I was feeling quite sleep deprived at this point. I would dose, but then a strong one would wake me again. They were still consistently 10-30 minutes apart.
Christmas morning came, along with all of our favorite traditions. I whispered a prayer, thankful that I could still be present for Christmas morning. I lit the candles, turned on the music, put our cream cheese danish in the oven, poured the coffee, all while stopping to breathe through contractions as I did. I sat / leaned sideways on the couch, videoing the kids as they came down to open their presents.
To be honest, I feel like I kind of blacked out and went into labor land the rest of the day. There were some points of clarity, but mostly I felt very teary, very tired, and I started to get a little worried. Why were these contractions SO strong, but not getting any closer together? Was baby okay? Was I okay?
I was trying to hard to be a present mom to my big four kids on Christmas Day, and be present to my body and my littlest baby on the way.
The boys headed to Grammy’s for the afternoon for a visit, and the girls switched to doula mode. Even though not much had changed, I tried to get my head in the game and focus on labor. We put on worship music, I took a bath, I sad on the birth ball, I laid on the bed, I took walks around the house that evening - all with the girls by my side. Milly, 9, and Lyndon, 7, were amazingly attentive. They would bring me a cool cloth, refill my water, tickle my back, massage my shoulders. They were IN it with me. Of course they did this all with Will’s guidance - he was the one leading the charge, making sure absolutely everything and everyone was tended to. But those girls were happy to be right by my side. Quite honestly, I needed them to be. It was so reassuring.
I had been in touch with my midwife the last few days, but I felt like I needed to talk with her. I texted asking if she had a minute to chat, and she said for me to call her. I explained I was a little concerned why things weren’t progressing, and she said she agreed - she would come see me in the morning if baby hadn’t progressed any more. She thought it might be a matter of baby’s position. Then she told me to get knees to chest on my bed, (like child’s pose in yoga, but with your booty super high in the air, and your chest staying on the ground), and hold it there for 20 minutes straight. I said okay, and I’d be in touch.
That was a long 20 minutes let me tell ya. Being 41 weeks pregnant and holding that pose? All the blood rushing to my face and just staying there? Phew! Thankfully Will stayed with me the whole time, played worship, and encouraged me through it.
I labored a while more, then I got in the bathtub around 7pm. Was I imagining it, or were my contractions actually getting closer together after almost 4 days of this? I told Will to start timing them. They were getting REAL - I could not speak through them at all. When we realized they were 6 minutes apart, I told him to call my midwife and tell her to come. I also told him to call our friend Cheyenne who was going to take pictures and tell her to come. He looked at me and said, “Are you sure?” knowing it’s a big ask on Christmas day. After 4 days of thinking I was in labor, I said, “No I’m not sure, but I think it’s the right call!”
So he made some calls and said they were on their way!
This timeline is SO fuzzy to me. When I try to remember this on my own, I thought it was 5pm. In reality I think it was around 7 or 7:30pm - maybe 8 or 8:30. No idea.
What I do know is that I took labor very seriously the next couple of hours. It picked UP. After laboring in the bathtub, I labored on the birth ball, I labored on my bed, and I asked Will to fill up the birthing tub.
If I’m honest? Being in real labor felt like a mix of relief and fear. This is what we were waiting for, what I had prayed for! It was finally happening, and I was able to get in the zone and breathe through contractions with focus and calm. But here I was, facing all the nervousness and doubt that can creep in during birth, too. What if things aren’t okay? What if she’s not in the right position? What will happen?
“Peace” by Bethel Music - the whole album - played on repeat, along with the “Matin” albums by Jess Ray. I clung to every word. I prayed. I begged God to help me. I worshiped with my entire being. One contraction at a time, I waited and prayed and chose trust.
Laboring in the birthing tub was my favorite. I knew my body had already been working hard for 4 days straight, so when I got in the tub and felt the relief of the warmth and the water, I relaxed. I knew it wouldn’t be long. My eyes mostly stayed closed, but I would feel a daughter’s hand rubbing my arm, a cold cloth put on my forehead, and whispers around me. Will did a great job of keeping things quiet and focused for me, and he rarely left my side, which I’m so grateful for. My mom read my favorite birth prayer from the back of Supernatural Childbirth two times in a row - it was just what I needed.
I began to feel the urge to push, and I just let my body do what it was telling me to do. So I went with it, pushing some as the contractions came. My 2nd midwife arrived and began setting everything up in the room, while we were still waiting for my main midwife who was on her way. (She lives 90 minutes from my house!)
I announced “I feel like I need to push,” and Will said, “Uh can you hang on a minute? The midwife isn’t here yet!” I told him a strong “NO I cannot hangon a minute! We are just fine if we have the baby without her here!” and kept pushing. But my body was just moving the baby down contraction by contraction, which I welcomed. We were almost there.
I heard my midwife come in and I felt so relieved and thankful! She got the flashlight and mirror and was right by my side. I hugged her and needed her reassurance. A big contraction came and I pushed some more.
I was on my knees, leaning over the side of the tub. 3 or so big contractions later, the head was out! It is hands down the wildest feeling on this planet to push a head out of your body. I reached down and felt baby’s head completely out, and my midwife said baby was facing sunny side up (occiput posterior)! That explained the prolonged labor! This little stinker was facing the wrong way!
But that’s when the even CRAZIER thing happened : baby completely turned around WHILE her head was out! And I felt it in my hand! My midwife, who had a mirror, said, “Baby is restituting! He’s restituting!” I said “What is happeneing!” She explained that baby was turning while in the birth canal all by itself, to be born in the proper position!” With that, I felt another contraction coming on, I pushed with all my might, and the rest of baby’s body was born!
OH THE RELIEF!!!
This moment was the one I was so excited for. I wanted a moment with my sweet baby, to take it all in. And for the first time, I wanted to announce the gender!
I stared at this precious baby for a few minutes, and then announced…
It’s a GIRL!!!
Just after I announced it was a girl, my friend and photographer Cheyenne arrived. We just cracked up as she walked in, because she had just missed the birth by a few minutes! I still felt so incredibly thankful she was there, and she took photos that I will treasure forever. What a gift. (And yes - after staying well past midnight, she then turned around and drove home. I still owe her a lot of coffee for that!)
There is NOTHING like those moments after birth. They are so tender, so healing, and the most potent form of love. That high after giving birth is unreal! Holding your baby, watching your kids fall in love with their new sibling, looking your husband in the eyes with so much gratitude - it’s the closest to heaven on earth I’ll ever experience.
Not only did I announce the gender - I cut the cord too! After 4 kids and never cutting the cord or announcing the gender - I wanted to do it all this time, ha!
This photo below is one of my favorites from the night. SO SO sweet. Me and my girls, my little doulas that got me through.
We woke up Beaufort and Benji in the middle of the night to come meet their sister. Beaufort LOVED it. Benji… he was basically asleep the entire time on Will’s shoulder :) But we got some photos and put them back in the bed. It was precious.
My sister was supposed to be my doula, but her entire household got the flu this Christmas. It was a rough Christmas for them, but thankfully we all knew she needed to stay put. It was so sweet when she came one week later for a 24 hour trip to be with my on my birthday, too. And of course we Facetimed her immediately!
Winnie Joy, you were right on time. God is never late, and His plans are always better than ours. Yes, you have a Christmas Day birthday, and that is a whole lot of celebrating on one day! But Daddy and I promise to make sure you know you are LOVED and so special. I hope your birth story always reminds you of God’s faithfulness and perfect timing. We think you are extra special because you arrived on Jesus’ birthday, and we can’t wait to celebrate you BIG for the rest of your life.
We love you, sweet girl.
