my homebirth story
Last Friday at 9:50pm, we welcomed our son Shiloh Roman Jacobs into the world 🤍
Throughout this past month, I quietly tucked myself away for a little while. I simply didn’t want to carry the weight of constant questions about why I was still pregnant. I watched many of my mom friends give birth “early” while I was considered “overdue,” and I felt how easily other people’s perspectives brought unnecessary pressure; especially after I had done just about everything suggested to naturally induce labor.
And beyond that, I also know: due dates are estimates. I didn’t want anyone else’s fear to take root in me simply because I hadn’t delivered yet.
God gave me peace with this verse:
“There is a time for everything, and a time to be born.” —Ecclesiastes 3:1
The end of pregnancy is definitely a mental trip so I was grateful when three separate friends had prophetic dreams in the last week of my pregnancy and each dream was of me giving birth and being with my boys.
And almost on cue, whenever I felt weary, I would receive emails from prophetic voices such as Maria Adkins and Nate Johnston that would land in my inbox, all speaking of labor, delivery, and God’s perfect timing.
On 12/12, my baby was welcomed into this world. I had been in labor for nearly 24 hours, following three straight nights of early labor and around 5am that morning, my body completely stalled. I was beyond exhausted, and for the first time in days, my contractions stopped long enough for me to sleep. I was disappointed that nothing was progressing but now I can see that those few hours were mercy.
By 12:30pm, I woke from a nap that shocked me with a new intensity of labor returning where my contractions were much stronger and RELENTLESS. Around 4:30pm, I stepped into the shower for what felt like the 20th time that day (hello, high water bill) and pleaded with God:
Please show me a sign that I’m progressing.
Not long after stepping out of the shower, I released a large blood clot. It wasn’t my mucus plug, and my doula was attentive to what it could mean so she called her mentor, who is her close friend but who is also a midwife.
When the midwife arrived, I found out I was 7 centimeters dilated. We later discovered the clotting was Shiloh pulling the placenta down out of the way—and we also found out that I had a marginal placenta which carries concern in hospital settings but God led us in this home birth route for the sake of ensuring I wasn’t just a ‘protocol’ during delivery.
Nonetheless, I immediately burst into tears of joy as relief flooded my body when I found out I was so close to the transition stages of labor (8cm-10cm) I finally hit a point after 3 weeks of wondering and 3 days of laboring where it felt like: finalllllly, I would be holding my baby soon.
“Isaiah 66:9 Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?” says the LORD. “Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?” says your God.”
God had answered my prayer regarding progressing and maybe that’s a word for you, too. Maybe you’ve been doing everything “right,” and still…..nothing seems to be showing that you are progressing. Surrender. Just wait; it will be better than you could have imagined.
Later that night, I was completely in my own world. Every contraction felt endless and somehow, so did the minutes between them. I would fall asleep between contractions, only to wake up asking: “How long was I asleep?” It was only 2 minutes but whether on the toilet, the bed, or leaning over the birth ball, my body would collapse into rest between waves of contractions.
Eventually, my body began to push on its own. I wasn’t choosing to push….it was instinctive and I partnered with what I felt my body doing automatically. I could hear the voices of the midwife and our doula fill the room with encouragement as they watched me go into deep groans, pushes, and saw everything they needed to see from where they needed to see it from :)
My husband stayed in my ear, speaking life into me while keeping me hydrated consistently. And then I pushed our 8-pound baby out who was born into my husband’s hands and at that exact moment, our older son Jaylen walked into the room to witness it all.
I still can’t fully grasp it. I have never felt more proud and more dependent on God then I have within the last week.
Throughout every contraction, I clung to the words of Jesus:
“A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy.” —John 16:21
This verse is SO TRUE!!
Ten years ago, Jaylen was born via C-section. I was told that attempting a vaginal home birth after cesarean came with the label “high risk,” even though the actual high risk statistic for uterine rupture is estimated at around 0.5%. I was told a home birth would be irresponsible. But God ensured that every person who needed to be there—was there.
I am 7 days post partum and I have a deeper knowing within me lately that I want to share with you: You are more capable than you realize. Your body is wiser than you’ve been told. Your faith gets stronger than you feel in the waiting. There is a time for everything and when the time comes, you will see you are more equipped than you’ve ever believed.
