Kellan's Birth Story

I was REALLY ready to have our baby.
On Tuesday the 17th, I was over 40 weeks & consented to a membrane sweep and was told to stay home. I was 4 cm's, but hadn't had any indication of labor. On Wednesday, I grumbled because not much was going on. I was crampy, but with no regular contractions. Logan stayed home with me and I felt bad that he was missing a day of work when not much was happening, but it was also nice to have the company. We watched tv and talked and ate, and looking back, I'm really glad we had that last day together. By Wednesday evening, I was tired and napped on the couch. At 12:15, I woke up to my water breaking. On the way upstairs I told Logan that labor was starting. We were both excited that it was 'go time'. After cleaning myself up a bit, I called our midwife. She talked to me for a minute, asked if my water was clear and instructed us to call back when contractions became consistent. She had been ill with flu all day and did not want to bring us such a nasty bug. If she was not able to come, she had arranged for a back up. We hung up the phone and then contractions started. They came on hard and fast. I noticed that I had shakey legs & asked Logan to begin filling up the birth pool. In labors past, shakey legs has meant that we were close to delivering. I mentioned the shaking to Logan & both of us were hoping it was just adrenaline. I called back our midwife, who said she would get our backup on the way & to call if we had any questions or concerns while we waited. Around this time, Logan had turned off the water to the pool to give the water heater a break. I had moved into the bedroom. Contractions were at the point that I could not talk through them anymore. And then I felt pushy. I had to ask Logan to call the midwife back. There was no waiting, baby was coming. I had Logan turn the water back on for the pool and hopped in. It was cool, but immediately relaxing. I know that Logan was on speakerphone with our midwife, but I have no idea what they were talking about. I remember being asked where supplies were located, and that they were talking about checking the cord. I remember Logan touching me at one point and I snapped at him. And I very clearly remember that in three pushes, Kellan was born. I pulled him up and he cried immediately. There was that moment of 'oh wow, we just delivered a baby all by ourselves!'. It was intimate & wonderful. I'm proud of Logan, for keeping his cool. He wasn't too excited about the blood and other by products of labor, but he really stepped up when it came time. Total labor time was an hour. The backup midwife made it about 40 minutes after the birth. She checked us out, weighed and measured Kellan, helped clean up the room, and cooked us breakfast. I had a little bruising, but no tearing. She stayed a couple of hours to make sure we were doing okay before she headed back home. This birth was a whirlwind. I feel so lucky that we planned a home birth, especially since it was so fast.


Kellan Wilder Tipton
Eight pounds, six ounces
Nineteen inches long
Born around 1:19am
January 19th, 2012.