Trusting Her Body: Carly’s Journey to an Unexpectedly Fast Home Birth

I love when mamas share their own perceptions of birth and am so excited to share this story directly from Carly’s perspective...

“I started looking into prenatal care with a home birth midwife after my first pregnancy was extremely difficult mentally and physically and ended with pre-eclampsia and a gallbladder removal. I was scared to be pregnant again but had hope that with the right support this time could be different. We had made significant changes in our diet and lifestyle since my first pregnancy. With my second, I knew I needed someone who could support me in thinking outside of the box and using food an herbs. I found that in Elizabeth and felt at peace. My next step was convincing my husband Tyler that we should have a home birth.

We had briefly talked about home birth in the past but never as an option for us. He always mentioned home birth was one thing he “couldn’t get on board with”. After many, many discussions and a little bit of strong arming (sorry not sorry), he reluctantly agreed to meet with Elizabeth. I couldn’t explain why I felt so convicted this baby needed to be born at home, but I knew I needed his support in order to move forward. We met with Elizabeth and she gave him the space to ask questions and learn about the type of care she provides. I could tell Tyler still wasn’t sold and he could tell I was.

He was still concerned about possible complications with birth outside of a hospital. I implored him to trust me and my body. As much as he desired to keep me and our baby safe, I would never choose anything I believed would jeopardize our health and our lives.

He eventually agreed to support me in midwifery care and like everything else in life, when he’s “in” he’s all in. Elizabeth quickly caught on to his cheeky sense of humor and he took every chance he got to dish it out. He began proclaiming to family, friends, and acquaintances that I would be giving birth in our living room while he played video games. Relishing in the shock it was often met with.

Elizabeth provided invaluable knowledge of pregnancy, nutrition, herbs, and movement throughout my pregnancy. We were able to keep my nausea at bay, my swelling and heartburn non-existent, and my blood pressure down. The 9 months seemed to fly by and I would often hear how much healthier and happier I looked this pregnancy. The week of my “due” date came. I had contractions that were far apart and would start and stop. Since I was induced and ended up getting an epidural with my first birth, I was uncertain of what to expect and how early labor would look. I kept up with walks and followed Elizabeth’s recommendations to encourage baby to descend into my pelvis.

The evening she was born seemed very uneventful. We made dinner as a family but when it was time to eat my stomach felt off. While putting our toddler down for bed I started having moderate contractions that were 10-15 minutes apart. This had happened before and gone away though so I wasn’t too concerned. Around 45 minutes into these contractions, I texted Elizabeth to let her know I thought it was the real deal! They were still pretty far apart so I asked Elizabeth to come “just to check in”. I was leaning over my birth ball, relaxing, and breathing through the contractions. Around 15 minutes later, I felt my baby quite literally plop into my pelvis and a pop. I stood up and heard a slow trickle hitting the floor. I looked at my husband and said, “well, I think my water just broke because I’m NOT peeing”. I texted Elizabeth to keep her updated.

I was a little disappointed because I had hoped to keep my water intact for longer in labor. In my mind, I still had HOURS to go and I was hoping it would cushion the contractions which were stronger and coming closer together now. I wanted to manage my own expectations and prepare myself for the work ahead. I let Tyler know I needed his full attention to help support me. He prepped a few things we would need and asked me if I wanted him to start filling up the birth pool. I told him, “No, we can wait for Elizabeth. We’ve got time.” I rotated between resting on the toilet and leaning over the tub with hot water running on my back. I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude and felt my eyes filling with tears as I thought, “it’s happening. We’re going to meet our little girl soon!” But quickly reminded myself it would still be hours.

At one point, Tyler beside me, I asked him, “Why did I want to do this?! I could be at the hospital with drugs! Why did I want to do it this way so badly! Maybe I’m just not made to do it this way because this freaking hurts and I still have hours to go. These are only going to get worse.” He kept reassuring me and using his own breathing to remind me to breathe with him through the contractions. I felt a sudden urge to go back to the toilet and Tyler helped me get out of the shower. I looked at the clock and it was close to 9pm. It was coming up on an hour since I’d texted Elizabeth and close to two since I’d started having contractions. I tried to hype myself up for the night ahead! I thought, “once Elizabeth gets here she’ll have some ideas to help with the pain because this blows.”

All of a sudden with complete clarity I looked up at my husband and said dead serious, “Tyler, she’s coming.” He knew exactly what I meant. Remaining calm and reassuring, he helped me move from the bathroom to the living room. I was incomplete disbelief. There’s no way I could’ve progressed this fast. We decided the (empty) birth pool was the best place for me to be at the moment. I leaned over the side, kicking myself for turning down his earlier offer to fill it. We called Elizabeth and let her know labor had progressed FAST and it seemed baby was ready to come out. She let us know she was still 25 minutes out. Calm and steady, Elizabeth instructed Tyler on what to look for and do. He jumped into action and told her what he was seeing. Despite Elizabeth telling me to try and slow baby down, my body wanted to push. The man who was initially so against a home birth would now be the one catching his baby! Within just a few minutes, she was out and baby Josephine was nestled into my arms.

Elizabeth stayed on the phone with us, letting us know she’d be there as soon as she could but was happy all 3 of us seemed stable at the moment. Mentally and physically. While I’m certain my pregnancy would’ve looked different had we chosen to birth at the hospital, it now became clear why I had felt such a strong pull to home birth. Whether it had been the plan or not, I’m convinced this baby would’ve been born at home. I was so convinced we still had hours to go. Looking back, my body was giving me all the signs that this birth was well underway and I simply wasn’t tuned in to the hints it was giving me. Whoops! We are so thankful for the care and support Elizabeth has offered us through this pregnancy. My pregnancy and postpartum were both easier due to her love, care, and guidance.”

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Every birth has its own rhythm, its own challenges, and its own quiet moments of courage and love. At Heart Strings Birth Services, we believe birth is more than a medical event - it is a sacred unfolding, lovingly supported and deeply personal. These stories are shared with permission to honor the families who trusted us with their care and to encourage others as they walk their own birth journeys.

This blog post originated from @heartstringsbirthservices - December 2nd 2025