The Birth of Calvin Davies Arnold

It's four am. I have to pee. 

I got back in bed, slightly suspicious of some extra "leaking" that I experienced. Approximately five minutes after returning to bed, it happened. My water broke. There was no mistaking it.

It's February 18th. 36 weeks and 6 days into my pregnancy - approximately three weeks before my due date. 

I was almost hysterical looking for my husband's phone (because my battery was dead). 36 weeks and 6 days meant that I might not be able to have our baby at home. Leaking all over our house, I found the midwife's phone number and my husband's phone and settled on the toilet to make the call. After a 15 minute conversation full of trepidation, Marianne (our midwife) said she would come over and check on me before making the official "hospital" decision.

It's 4:22am. I wake up Ben. 

Ben was full of concern. He immediately realized (even in his not fully awake state) that there was a strong possibility of going to the hospital. We talked about it and prayed about it. We gave the situation over to God. Whatever happened, we were ready to praise God for it. The next big move was to eat. If we had to go to the hospital, I wouldn't be allowed to eat, so we were going to get breakfast in while we could. He made coffee, and I made eggs and toast.

It's approximately 4:45am. Marianne arrives.

She sat down at our table while I was scarfing breakfast down. She took my vitals - blood pressure, temperature, etc. She took the baby's vitals. Everything was looking good. Ben pulled out his (actually my) Nike GPS watch that we got from FITniche and tracked my contractions using the lap function. At first, I was very bad at remembering to tell Ben when the contractions had ended, but after breakfast was safely and wonderfully in my belly, I was able to concentrate more.

1 1/2 hours elapse. It's approximately 6:00am. Marianne says we can stay home! My body and the baby are both responding to labor wonderfully! My contractions are 30-45 seconds long and 1:45-2:00 minutes apart.

Marianne left after instructing us to take a nap and then to go for a walk when the sun comes up and to call her if there was any major changes in my progress. Ben and I had decided earlier in the pregnancy that we wanted to labor to a Harry Potter movie marathon, so after we readied the bed for labor, he put in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for us to fall asleep to. I didn't get much sleep. But the rest was helpful.

The sun is up. It's approximately 7:45am.


We got up and got dressed. I grabbed some coconut water for the walk and we were out the door. The fog was beautifully eerie. Perfect birthing weather. We decided to walk down to Ariana Park and back. Ben took a video of me using his phone during this walk. We made it about a block and a half before Ben called it and said we should turn around and go back home. During this time my contractions progressed to 1:45-2:00 minutes long and 50-60 seconds apart. My favorite coping mechanism was to place my arms around Ben's neck, lean on him, and sway. We did this so often during the walk, I think some drivers were a bit disconcerted. Luckily, there weren't many drivers. He started giving me wonderful encouragements and affirmations without which I would have been lost. I had also started groaning through the contractions, hoping to keep my body and cervix relaxed. Ben called Marianne on the way back home.

Everything is blending together now.

Marianne arrived shortly after we got home and started taking vitals again. Mommy and Baby were doing great. Around this time, Marianne gave me some advice that I'll never forget, "Remember, we want the contractions to become closer, longer, and more intense." I kept that in my mind the rest of the labor. After awhile, I made the call to move to the bed. I don't know how I knew that it was time. I just knew my body needed to be more... horizontal. Once I laid down, everything really sped up. Marianne instructed me to roll onto my right side and hold my left knee in my left hand. It ended being a wonderful birthing position for me. Ben knelt on the bed right beside my head, affirming me, holding me, and encouraging me the whole time. The "urge to bear down" came upon me like no other feeling. It was almost involuntary to push. After very few pushes, Marianne said she got a glimpse of the head. A few pushes more, and I reached down to feel. I felt my baby's head! Ben could see it too. After Baby fully crowned, it took only three little pushes to get the head out. It was the most amazing feeling. In one more push, I delivered our little boy! Ben started crying immediately. Our baby was immediately placed on my rib cage (The umbilical cord was too short to reach my chest.).

It's 9:50am. I'm in my bedroom with my husband right beside me and our son on top of me. Everybody's healthy.

 K. Barber Photography

Happiness. Bliss. Shock. Humility. Awe. Love. Thankfulness. None of these fully describe the experience.