Just a couple quick notes to start with – if pregnancy stories are tough for you to read, or triggering for any reason at all, please be kind to yourself. There is no reason at all for you to read this story if it isn’t helpful for you. Although it is a positive birth story in my eyes, it does include a very fast labor, a call to 911, and a birth at home.

I’ve also included affiliate links for The Birth Hour’s Know Your Options Childbirth Course. If you sign up via my link I’ll get a kickback at no additional cost to you. I so appreciate your support! Okay. Let’s dive in!

Before getting pregnant with Emmeline I began listening to The Birth Hour podcast. I purposely avoided listening to birth stories when I was pregnant with Beckett because most of the ones I’d heard were scary or difficult and didn’t turn out the way the mom “planned.” I had this idea in my head that all (or at least most) birth stories were like that. I simply hadn’t heard enough positive stories to change this preconceived notion I was carrying around with me. 

The second time around I was much more willing to hear other women share their stories. I admittedly only listened to the stories whose titles and descriptions sounded positive. For my own sake I avoided listening to any that included infant loss or miscarriage – I know myself well enough to know that, especially while pregnant, those stories would only make my imagination go wild and make me feel fearful of all the things that could potentially go wrong with my baby. For my own mental health I knew it would be best for me to avoid stories of loss while pregnant.

Through listening to these stories I gained a much greater appreciation for the variety of experiences women have through pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. I began to realize how little I really knew about it all (still know about it all), even having experienced it myself once before. I also learned so much through the podcast about choosing your care provider, the questions you can (and should) ask during pregnancy, the options when it comes to birthing locations, and even the variety of postpartum experiences women have. 

I really think I internalized a lot of these women’s stories more than I can even verbalize. Listening to their stories gave me much more confidence going into my second pregnancy – confidence in what my body was capable of, confidence in asking questions during pregnancy, and confidence to ask for what I needed in labor, when the first time around I was more tempted to just keep quiet. With my pregnancy with Beckett I simply believed that my doctor, nurses, etc would either read my mind and know what I needed or that they would answer all the questions I didn’t know to ask.

If you’ve read the story of Beckett’s arrival into the world, you might remember the doctor (Dr Salvemini) who sat on the end of my bed and encouraged me through transition when I started asking for “something to take the edge off” the labor pain I was struggling through. She knew I wanted to go unmedicated if possible and her expertise and words of encouragement helped me to push through at just the right moment when I was feeling completely exhausted and worn out. 

When we got pregnant this time around I knew I wanted to have her as our care provider if at all possible. It wasn’t that I didn’t like my other doctor or that practice, it was just that I had felt so at ease with Dr Sal when I saw her in the hospital. I knew I would be more comfortable being seen by her, and I really wanted to thank her in person for the way she empowered me during my labor with Beckett. 

It turns out she practices at an office one floor above my old doctor, is still within our insurance network, and was accepting new patients, so it was a simple ask when I called in to establish care with her. From our first visit with Dr Salvemini I knew I’d made the right decision. She always came in with a smile, graciously welcomed Beckett being at nearly every appointment – even having him “help” her measure my belly, and she always took the time to answer every question without judgment and without making me feel dumb. 

I’m such a proponent for women finding a doctor they feel totally comfortable with and one they’re not afraid to ask questions of. That’s what they’re there for! You should never feel afraid to ask a question and your doctor should never brush your question aside (which my previous one had, truthfully, done before). It’s one thing to reassure you and let you know the things you’re asking about are normal during pregnancy and something you need not worry about for that reason. It’s another thing entirely to brush your question aside and not answer it because “you don’t need to worry about that,” without giving you any reasons to back it up. Doctor Sal always took the time to answer my questions and truly make us (all!) feel cared for.

Before having Beckett, Tim and I took the three-part class our hospital offered. It was okay. Mostly they went over things we already knew. This time around I was hungry for more knowledge and I wanted something more in-depth. When Bryn, who hosts The Birth Hour opened the Know Your Options Childbirth Course for enrollment in the spring, I knew immediately I wanted to sign up. It was definitely an investment, but one I have zero regrets about. I could not be more grateful that we decided to sign up for this course. It was SO worth it. 

To anyone considering taking a birth class, I highly recommend this one. You get to go at your own pace, watch and rewatch each video in the comfort of your own home, and you also have lifetime access to all the information for future pregnancies. Really I cannot cannot recommend the Know Your Options Course enough.

I love that it’s called “know your options” – while Stephanie the teacher is a doula, childbirth educator, lactation consultant, etc, she doesn’t push one particular “birth plan” or another. She presents all the options, sharing the benefits and risks of each one, equipping you to make the decision that is best for you and your baby. To me this was most obvious by their intentional decision to start the course with the module on cesarean births. Too often in “natural birth” circles, cesareans carry this stigma of being a second-rate birth experience, when in reality they are an equally valid and sometimes completely necessary way of bringing your baby safely into the world. I loved that Bryn and Stephanie started with this unit because it sort of made a statement – a reminder to anxious mamas that the end goal is a healthy baby and mama, even if the process to get there looks different from what you imagined. 

Here’s that link again if you’re expecting and interested in knowing more about the course. I’m so happy to answer any questions as well if you’re curious about it and want to know more before committing! Send me a message over on my personal Instagram account if you have any questions at all!

Click through for the next part of Emmeline’s birth story!

If you’ve missed my previous posts, read Beckett’s birth story via these links: Introduction, part one, part two, part three, part four, and part five. Phew! You’ve made it to the end!

When I started having contractions on Friday afternoon and later when we were getting ready to leave our house for the hospital that night, I had let my best friend Paige know what was happening. Paige, her husband Khang, and their daughter Eliana traveled down from Raleigh that night and arrived at the hospital around 1am. I tried to convince them they should go spend the night at her parents house, but she assured me that she wouldn’t have been able to sleep anyway. I remember being so worried that they’d be waiting forever for us to have our babe, but I was so grateful they came anyway. The three of them came in to say hello when they arrived, give us hugs, see us through a few contractions, and then ducked out to wait in the waiting room.

Our parents managed to get a few hours of sleep before coming to the hospital in the middle of the night. Looking back now I would have just had everyone come to the hospital once our babe was born, but I know that it’s sort of a part of the package and part of the fun and anticipation to wait in the waiting room, knowing a baby is arriving soon on the other side of the doors.

We spent the first couple hours just us with our little guy as the doctor stitched me up, Mary went through all the new baby protocol, I nursed him (or tried to) and Mary washed his hair. At some point Tim went out to the waiting room to make the announcement, “It’s a…BOY!” along with sharing his name with everyone. Once we had some time with Beckett and once Mary completed all the necessary tasks, our parents, my brother, and Paige, Khang, and Eliana all got to come in and meet him.

I remember telling my parents the story of driving to the hospital that night, being surrounded by lightning in the distance, experiencing the power of that storm and being struck by the thought of God being the creative force behind this immense storm, and also the one growing the tiny baby in my womb. My dad had tears in his eyes as he reflected on that and he said “and this” pointing at Beckett, “this is His crowning glory.”

It makes me tear up every time I think of that moment. It was so immensely special.

The next day we had friends come visit us and I was so glad we did! One of my favorite memories from that time in the hospital is having our room filled to the brim with people laughing and chatting. My family, Tim’s family, our friends from Charlotte and Raleigh and Columbia. It was so special and we felt extraordinarily loved.

Choosing Beckett’s name was one of the hardest things for us. Since we didn’t know if we were having a boy or girl, we wanted to have at least one name chosen for each. It wasn’t until a couple weeks before he was born that we landed on Beckett, and I think it was even the week he was born that we decided on Elijah as his middle name.

Since my name is so unique, people were constantly asking my parents what it meant as I was growing up. It was so special to have the meaning of my name spoken over me again and again. “It means Blessed. It’s the first word of the first Psalm and the word Jesus spoke in the Beatitudes.” Those were the words my dad always used. Because of that, it’s ingrained into who I am. I believe so much in the power of a name, and I wanted to give our child a name with meaning.

It was tricky! Finding a name that has a great meaning, one that Tim and I both like, and one that sounds good with our last name – man oh man. So difficult. I love where we landed though. I can’t imagine him having a different name!

Beckett means stream or brook. We love the symbol of water as it gives life, sustains it, refreshes it. Two passages in particular stood out to us as we were choosing his name. 

John 7:37-38 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 

Proverbs 18:4 The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook. 

His middle name Elijah means my God is Yahweh.

We hope and pray that Beckett Elijah becomes a man of God who is wise and gives life to others, someone whose heart overflows with the love of the Lord. 

And with that, I’ll leave you with these which include a few of my all-time favorite photos. These are from the day we left the hospital. All the emotions hit me at once as I realized Beckett was ours for keeps. So grateful to have these images.

Thanks for reading along!