The Birth of Our 2nd Child Anero

Written By: Sara Murphy

Photography By: Julia Mead, http://juliawildephotography.com

It was December 27th, 2019 and I took my daughter to one of her favorite places, the library. It only lasted about 15 minutes because I was feeling very low energy and needed to sit down. The last few days I had been very tired and tried to relax as much as I could. This was my sign I needed to take it easy and our baby boy was starting his journey into the world. His due date was December 28th, 2019 and I intuitively knew he wouldn’t be too late, past his given due date time. I find it so woven into our DNA the structures of a mother’s womb information, which we often call intuition when it comes to timing and how we feel. It is all so in the knowing!

So, we went home and I rested. I messaged my partner and told him I was feeling ready and he would probably come that night so he came home early. I rubbed some organic clary sage on my body and by 10pm we laid down to sleep. I knew I wouldn’t rest but just laid there feeling my body. I felt the waves coming on and starting counting contractions. I woke up my partner and had him call the midwives when they were 10 minutes apart and they replied to wait a bit longer. The contractions increased pretty quickly and got stronger so we called back at 1:15am. The midwives said “go ahead and come in now!” Jonathan, my partner, got us all in the truck and we headed out. A big snow storm was expected that night. We had to drive from Lakewood to Thornton which is usually a 40 minute drive but went quicker in the middle of the night without traffic but it felt like the longest ride of my life. It had not started snowing yet and the roads were clear. I was so uncomfortable but knew I was not going to a hospital but our beautiful birthing center called Seasons. We attended classes and chose this place with all our hearts. 

We were going to attend a different birthing center in Englewood but they ended up closing down in the middle of our birth. We were okay with it after finding Seasons because we felt it was just meant to be.

After we got to Seasons we entered our room called “Summer”. There was a huge bed and the biggest tub I have ever seen. The lights were dim but the room had uplifting colors. Shortly after we arrived the midwives started the tub as I was so ready to get in. I got in and quickly felt relief on my lower back. We were already 5 centimeters dilated and opened even faster while in the tub. It was like my body knew I could birth there safely. It wasn’t long before I felt the urge to push  and felt him on my perineum. When the contractions got stronger I could hardly handle them, the midwife said to me to keep the groaning low and deep.

 We called the midwives back in the room and the one said “Okay, you’re fully dilated and he is crowning.”

 Wow the crowning. I almost forgot the feeling. 

“Embrace the stretch,” she said. 

She said all the right things throughout the whole process and it was insanely helpful just the few words. 

What do you know, our baby boy, Anero Gabriel came out on the next big push. He was still in his caul sac which I thought was just so amazing that it didn’t burst open. One midwife reached down to open the sac and he came out. She put him on my chest. There was blood everywhere and we realized the placenta cord was disconnected from each other so the other midwife clamped the cord connected to me and his belly cord. We think the cord must have been short and cut off because he came in the tub which was so large. I really wanted him to have all the blood and wanted a delayed cord clamp but I was okay with it because he came out healthy. 

He started to look blue and my partner said there is something wrong. They turned on the oxygen tank and put the oxygen mask in front of him so he could get some fresh air. He instantly started to get back his color and was just fine. 

He arrived at 3:20am at 5lb 7oz, 19”long. He was so small compared to my first at 8lb but he was a little warrior and plumped up like a pumpkin after birth. 

This was my dream birth. I got to hold Jonathan’s hand the whole time and it was everything to me. Our good friend was there to care for Iyanna so she could be in the room with us. Seems funny but my daughter wanted to be there the whole time and didn’t want to leave the room once. I talked to her about my birth throughout the pregnancy and watched birthing videos with her. She loved it and was so happy to be there. 

Our other friend came to take photos of the experience, which I was not expecting to happen but it just came up as she wanted to work on her portfolio. It was all divine. We cried together. It has changed our world and I am so thankful and blessed for. 

We printed our son’s foot prints on the walls of the birth center. I hardly tore and healed well. We left only 6 hours later. When we got back in the truck to head home, it had already snowed about a foot and then the sun came out when we started to drive home. The roads were bad but we took our time getting home. 

Jonathan was able to take a week off and we spent time together resting and healing. It amazed me how one natural birth could affect my whole being and heal me in so many ways and this we will be thankful for eternity.