Leo's home birth story

When Your Body Knows What to Do: Leo's Home Birth Story

After a peaceful Mother’s Day at home, I felt the first waves of contractions that evening. By the next morning, I found myself pausing between adjusting patients as my body prepared itself for the work ahead. When Mila left with her grandparents after her adjustment, I knew it was also time for me to head home. This baby was ready to make his (or her?) grand entrance.

Trusting the Process

What followed was a balance between movement and rest, intensity and calm. Danny and I walked the woods behind our house, my birth affirmations playing softly as contractions found their rhythm – every three minutes, lasting nearly a minute each. Our midwife arrived, and as often happens, labor decided to slow down the moment we thought things were moving quickly.

Sometimes your body knows exactly what it needs. We listened.

We rested, watched shows we'd saved for maternity leave, and the contractions spaced out to 8-10 minutes apart. When we got up to move again, things picked up. Into the tub, then out again – each position teaching us something new about this process. You never fully know how things will play out, but I found peace knowing that my body knows what to do.

The Power of Community

They say it takes a village to raise a child. It also takes a village to birth one. And we were so fortunate to be surrounded by a caring team of birth specialists every step of the way.

First, we were joined by our midwife team, Holly and Janine. Shortly after came our doula Rhonda and her mentee Aspen. Following her shift at Viva, Dr. Taylor came to work on my sacrum between contractions while I say on the birth ball. Laura, our cranial sacral therapist arrived at 8pm for another round of sacral and energy work. Even the chickens followed us around the yard as I stopped for contractions!

The beauty of home birth isn't just being in your own space – it's having your entire care team support you exactly where you are. Even in the intensity of labor, there was laughter and joy and an overall feeling of community that’s exactly what we needed at that time.

 When Things Get Intense

At sundown, the midwives thought I was close to pushing, staying nearby just in case. But when we checked, I wasn't as far along as we'd hoped. Four centimeters. Did this discourage me? Not for a moment. But of course it’s hard to hear you’re that far off when you’ve been working this hard!

The middle of the night brought that familiar shift every birthing mother knows. Walking around with a bucket (just in case), feeling baby move, sensing my water was about to break. And then, all at once in our living room – baby shifted, my water broke, and I threw up simultaneously. Not exactly the movie version, but beautifully real.

Then came the hardest part: my body wanted to push, but a small cervical lip meant we had to wait. For nearly two hours, I did what we called "horse breathing" – making sounds to resist my body's overwhelming urge to push. The midwives offered pain management options, including transferring to the hospital, but the thought of a 20-minute car ride with those intense contractions? No thank you.

Sometimes the hardest moments teach us the most about our own strength.

Meeting Our Son

When that cervical lip finally cleared, everything changed. Pushing on the toilet facing backwards felt right for my body, albeit very painful (if you know you know). Then back to the tub as dawn began to break. The sunrise felt like a new day—literally and figuratively—as things really started progressing at that time.

After some intense pushing in the tub, several big contractions brought Leo earthside: head three-quarters through, then fully through as he turned, then shoulders and the rest of his beautiful self. Danny, our midwife, and I caught him together in the warm water.

The left-sided pain I'd felt throughout labor finally made sense when Leo emerged with his cord wrapped twice around his neck – not dangerously tight, but enough to pull him slightly off-center. Our bodies are so wise, even when we don't understand what they're telling us in the moment.

After the midwife unwrapped his cord, I brought him to my chest, still not knowing whether we'd had a boy or girl. Everyone on our birth team had been calling baby "him" throughout labor, even though I was convinced we were having a girl. When I finally looked, I saw the universe had one more surprise in store for me! I couldn’t have been happier to have a sweet little boy in my arms.

 Home Sweet Home

We stayed in the tub until my placenta was born, then walked across the hall to our own bed. No rushing, no bright hospital lights, no unfamiliar faces. Just our family, in our space, with our trusted care team making sure Leo and I were both healthy and whole.

Leo Landers Walsh was born early on May 13th – sharing a birthday with his great-grandma, my grandma. It was longer and more intense than we'd imagined, but it was ours. It was beautiful. It was exactly what we needed.

Your Body Knows

This experience reinforced everything I tell my patients about trusting your body's innate wisdom. From the way labor started and stopped to the positions that felt right to the way Leo positioned himself for birth – our bodies know what to do when we create the right conditions and clear the interferences.

Whether you're planning a home birth, hospital birth, or somewhere in between, remember this: your body was designed for this incredible work. When we support the nervous system, trust the process, and surround ourselves with the right care team, amazing things happen.

Ready to support your body through pregnancy and birth? We'd love to be part of your journey. Give us a call at (763) 710-7427.