Recently I had the opportunity to share the birth story of my third child with The Birth Hour Podcast. From premature rupture of membranes, to an intention to avoid the cascade of interventions, this story concludes with a powerful delivery that no one on her birth team was prepared for.
My third child is the first of my three children to be born while working as an entrepreneur within my Holistic Physical Therapy and Wellness Private Practice, and it was throughout his Preconception, Pregnancy and Postpartum journey that I created respective programs for each perinatal life season. Culminating this past year sharing my story on a top Birth Podcast was truly surreal.
You can tune in here for those who prefer listening to the audio version! I have always loved hearing these birth stories, and it felt so special to share mine in this safe space.
With that, I am thrilled to share this birth story in hopes of empowering you into and through your own labor and delivery.
Monday, 6:15 PM | Suspected Premature Rupture of Membranes
For perspective, my first child was born 2 days after her due date and my second child born 1 day before his due date. For this reason, our third child caught us by surprise when this story unfolded at exactly 38 weeks of pregnancy.
While playing with my 2-year-old son in the basement, I felt a slight leak of fluid. With no sudden gush of fluid, I kept playing with him. After realizing it was not stopping, I knew something was up. I called up to my husband to come play with the kids while I “checked on things”. He saw some fluid on our play mats and asked what was happening. I calmly told him “I think my water is leaking, but let me know shower and rest for a bit, then I’ll know for sure”. He of course was NOT as calm, hah!
After taking a shower, I rested for 20 minutes in sidelying. I knew that if upon rising I continued to feel leakage after this, there was little question as to what was leaking. If this ever happens to you, we want to differentiate between urinary leakage and amniotic fluid leakage. As a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist, I’m prettyyyy in tune with that area so was confident it wasn’t urinary leakage. But still, I wanted to be positive before calling my midwife. I was having no other signs of labor, and knew there was no immediate rush as I was feeling baby moving and had high amniotic fluid levels throughout my pregnancy leading up to this.
Monday, 8:30 PM | Surrendering my Birth Plan
With no contractions but continued leaking, I called my midwife. We decided to watch the situation and head to the hospital in the morning. They would then swab to confirm leakage, at which point we would want to help my body ease into labor as risk of infection rises with premature rupture of membranes after 24-48 hours.
I truly hoped this was allll a false alarm. Mentally, I was not ready to go into labor at 38 weeks of pregnancy. I had planned to finish my work week, then have a week or so off to myself ahead of baby’s arrival. My beloved grandmother had also just passed away, and we intended to attend my grandmother’s funeral two hours away on Thursday of this week.
Sometimes, life has other plans, and we must surrender to the natural course of events. To be honest, I was having a REALLY hard time at this point letting go of my own birth plans and instead leaning into its natural unfolding. For this reason, I did NOTHING to help labor “get going”. Instead, I had a lovely evening my my toddler and preschooler. We leaned into the fact that this would be our final bedtime routine with two kiddos and truly savored this, which was so special.
As a Holistic Orthopedic and Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist, I’ve heard many birth stories, each a testament to the strength and design of our bodies. This was my turn to experience that miracle firsthand, now for the third time.
Tuesday, 9:15 AM | Delayed Confirmation for Premature Rupture of Membranes
Arriving at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, we confirmed the leak was amniotic fluid. This took some time, as the first several swabs were inconclusive. If you ever have this done, they will swab a pH strip to see if it changes color, showing confirmation of amniotic fluid outside the body. Mine was not turning while lying in bed. I asked to get up and move around, as I still felt leakage with moving and was confident I was NOT peeing my pants repeatedly!!!
When I stood up, some fluid dripped to the floor. I asked the student midwife to swab that. She did, and the test strip instantly turned color.
Immediately, they were ready to admit me. It was time to come up with a game plan to help my body bring my baby into this world as naturally as possible, as that was my goal.
The first recommendation was Pitocin, of which I declined. I knew I wanted a non-medicated birth if possible with hopes of a water birth. I knew with the administration of Pitocin, I would be more heavily monitored and my goal of a water birth would no longer be an option. Trusting in my body’s instincts and with the guidance of my midwife, we opted for nipple stimulation plus movement circuits to start.
Tuesday, 11:15 AM – 4:15 PM | A Gentle Progression of Natural Labor
My husband and I spent the day in a rhythm of walking, pumping, and resting. We interspersed this with moments of prayer, music, and quiet reflection. Thankfully my body responded, and labor progressed naturally.
I finally allowed my mind to enter the space of “THIS IS HAPPENING”. Before this, I was not in the headspace to accept my baby was arriving two weeks ahead of his estimated due date. I think this is a big reason why my body responded so well to a circuit of nipple stimulation and walking to help get contractions going consistently, after starting from zero.
After an hour of the aforementioned circuit, I spent time completing various movement circuits outlined in my Pregnancy Program. These mobility circuits help with optimizing baby’s positioning and to take my mind off of the contractions. Coaching my husband to apply counter-pressure to my hips and sacrum throughout contractions was also an integral help as labor progressed.
Re: Eating during labor | During this time, I drank bone broth, ate chicken noodle soup, munched on an apple and some sourdough bread. Yes, in the hospital birthing center. Yes, without concern of my nurses and midwives.
The evidence is clear: YOU have the right to decide whether you’d like to eat and drink during labor. Our body needs fuel for this marathon of childbirth! I’ll make a whole other post on this breaking down the evidence, but know that is is possible to have the support of your birthing team, in the hospital, in favor of food and drink during labor.
By the afternoon, I felt a deep sense of calm and readiness, grateful for the supportive environment. I opted out of cervical checks during this time, as I knew this increased risk of infection with PROM (premature rupture of membranes). Thus, we went off of how my body felt.
Tuesday, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM | Readying the Birth Tub for Water Birth
After a peaceful day where I breathed through contractions, things started to intensify. I asked for a check, as the hospital policy was for the birthing mother to be at a 6+ dilation before the birth tub was to be filled with water. I was checked and said to be a 6-7cm, so they called the “pit team” in to set up the birthing tub.
The final stretch came quickly. All I wanted was to get in that water! To take my mind off of this, I went to use the restroom and then planned to get in the shower to ease the quickly intensifying pressure. My water fully broke while in the restroom, and contractions intensified again. I yelled out to my husband that this baby was coming NOW!
Of course this was right at shift change, and the midwife I had been with all day had just left. My nurse from the day was onboarding the new nurse, and they both ran into the restroom as my husband called for them. At this point I felt baby’s hair on my own, and was still sitting on the toilet! My husband helped me stand to a slight squat, and my baby’s head came out with the next contraction.
Time of Birth: 7:19 PM | Euphoric Delivery in Standing
The amazing part of this time is that I was never trying to push. It was my body’s natural uterine contractions and fetal ejection reflex taking over! Truly the most amazing and empowering feeling as a woman, to know God’s perfect design for our bodies and feel this natural drive simply take over. Like you’re on autopilot and letting “Jesus Take the Wheel”.
The nurses and my husband looked at each other in a moment of fear, as this was NOT what any of them were expecting just a few minutes prior. My nurses quickly jumped into action, grabbing towels and gloves at the ready to help catch my baby, as I had already delivered his head on my own. At this time the midwife rushed in, and asked if I could walk to the bed. Mind you, my baby’s head is out at this point! I took one step and said “NOPE, this baby is coming NOW!”. She encouraged me to squat a bit more and on the next contraction my baby’s full body slid out.
While this was not at all the peaceful water birth I had envisioned, it was entirely perfect. This was a birth filled with strength and completely leaning into my natural instincts as a mother. Thinking back to this delivery feels empowering, and is a perfect example of trusting your body and allowing your birth to unfold as intended.
Welcoming Our Third Child
From Premature Rupture of Membranes to avoiding the cascade of interventions to a beautiful, powerful birth in standing while away from any intended delivery instruments— my story is one I am so grateful to share.
I held my sweet boy as I walked back to the hospital bed, his umbilical cord still attached and pulsating. I rested with him on my chest, blankets wrapped around us, as I finally took in his sweet face. All I could say was, “Wow. wow. wow. We did it. WOW…” I literally felt in a state of shock and gratitude all at once!
We spent the next two hours nursing and cuddling under the blankets before he was removed for any newborn checks. This golden hour (or two as we had!) together before interventions is so special. I encourage you to advocate for this time with your little one, too.
Childbirth Reflections & Encouragement for Mothers
My third baby’s birth did not go as planned—I had envisioned a peaceful water birth. Instead, it was a swift, intense, and profoundly empowering experience. It reinforced my belief in trusting one’s body and the natural process of childbirth, even when things deviate from expectations.
Despite a brief scare with jaundice that required phototherapy, baby boy has been home and healthy! He brings so much joy to our family, two weeks earlier than expected. His story is a reminder that while we can plan, life often unfolds in its own perfect way.
Thank you for being part of this journey and allowing me to share our story. I hope it inspires other women to trust their instincts, advocate for themselves, and embrace the unexpected beauty of birth. Remember, each birth is unique, and every story is worth celebrating.
If you’re interested in learning more about childbirth or need support, please feel free to reach out. I support women with 1:1 Prenatal Physical Therapy and via my Self-Paced Holistically Well Pregnancy Program.
Let’s continue to build a community where we honor and uplift each other through these shared experiences.
And remember, you can tune in to the audio version for even more details on The Birth Hour Podcast – episode linked here!
