A Year in the Life of Motherhood Project:

Part 4 The Birth Story of Hayes

Well if you are just jumping in then I suggest you first go check out Part One, Part Two and Part Three because watching this Motherhood journey from the beginning is SO beautiful and so worth it. In 2018 I got the opportunity to follow along on the journey of one incredible mother of 5! I watched as she grew a tiny human, loved her 4 older boys and husband unconditionally and stayed powerful and stunning in her womanhood. L’s story has been one of the things so many people have reached out to me about and so many people last year followed along to see. I’m so sorry for my lateness in sharing the next installment of their story and debatably the most epic. Today I’m excited to finally share the birth story of their fifth baby! In all its raw beauty and power!

After 4 births with all different arrival dates Lindsay was pretty shocked when this little one decided to keep us all waiting almost a week past his due date. That’s pretty typical for moms but when you’ve had a few early and few a on time I know we were all shocked when this little one was pushing us to 41 weeks.

I got the text/call late one Thursday night that L. was barely feeling contractions. Now this still meant a lot for me because with a fifth baby literally any sign could mean we are close to this little one slipping out :P I got myself ready, dressed and out the door by the time they texted 15 minutes later to say they were heading to the Women’s Birth and Wellness Birth Center.

When I arrived i was actually there right before they made it and we all walked in together. With them was L., Her husband, 4 boys, both grandmas, a great grandma and one grandpa. It was a party to say the least :P Most family sat in the waiting room getting the boys situated with places to sleep or just wait while L. went straight into the birth space.

L. is a Hypnobabies coach and total goddess when it comes to meditating through her birth. She was already in a state of hypnosis when she arrived with her headphones in. With every wave she breathed in and out like she knew exactly when and where this baby was coming down the birthing canal. She was so connected with baby and so in tune with her needs throughout. She knew when she needed a cold cloth, a hand hold and for everyone to just give her space. She described this part in her own words this way,

“Even though my eyes were closed during most of transformation I just felt so loved and supported by my birthing team.
My doula was reminding me to use my cues and telling me how amazing I was.
My nurse was helping to keep the ice water as stocked as possible.
My midwife was sitting on the floor just watching the birth unfold and telling me that I was doing a great job.
My husband never left my side and was holding the cold rags on my forehead.
During this time I was focused very inward so I could remain in my hypnosis and stay very comfortable…
I would think to myself how amazing this must be for everyone to watch.
I was totally rocking my birth and I knew it! I had never experienced having a birth photographer before and I was so excited for these moments to be captured so I could get to see what everybody else was getting to watch. With my eyes mostly closed and me focused on my hypnosis it wasn’t something I could get a sense of in my prior births.”

I may be remembering this wrong but I swear we were not in the birth suite longer than 20 minutes, I was still deciding whether i was going to turn some more lights on or pop out my flash, before L., sitting on the birthing stool, reached down and lifted her fifth baby boy up into her arms. I was standing right in front of her trying to grab each detail and moment in almost the complete dark. I looked down and saw babies head and knew it was time and seconds later L. had already gasped out her “i just birthed my fifth baby” breath. In all the commotion grandma or doula ran to yell for the whole family to come in (they had all planned to be there to witness the moment of birth) but since baby came out so fast they were all rushing in when baby was being lifted up. Here is how L. described this epic moment,

I brought the baby up to my chest and just stared in amazement at this new little life. My oldest son was first into the room and he saw me bringing the baby up to my chest.
The rest of our children and family came in right behind him. I remember saying, “My precious baby! You are finally here!”
My husband gave me a hug and a kiss, and we took a few moments to take it all in before looking down to discover we had another son!
What a blessing! What a miracle! We were just overjoyed!

L. and her husband wanted to be the first to announce the gender and if you watch the video, I’ll post at the end of this series, you can watch their live reaction. Oh so much love, shock and joy filled the room when they said, “it’s a boy” All the brothers gathered around like they had gotten their wish, filled with so much laughter and begging to hold him. It was a pretty amazing to witness.

L. just sat taking it all in, absorbing all the energy surrounding her, the oxytocin clouding the space and smiling at her strength to bring another little one into the world. They named him Hayes something they had taunted us all with saying, “girl or boy the name starts with H” So we had all come up with a million ideas but perfect little Hayes was it. As he snuggled close each boy got a chance to hold him and shower him with love. The room filling with excitement was truly infectious to us all.

I was so honored to first of all make it to this birth but to get to tell this incredible story of what it looks like to birth her fifth little boy amongst her family tribe and to feel so much power in your body that you literally reach down and bring your own little boy up into your arms. L. is a badass goddess and her birth story was one of my favorites to tell!