Sawyer Bruce

This weekend I attended yet another crazy fast, amazing home birth.  This one was extra special (I know I gush about all my births but this one really was extra special!). This was the planned home birth of Tai and Travis, and I have known Travis since he was 5 years old. Trav is one of my brother’s oldest friends and I have literally watched this guy grow up. I am incredibly honored to have been invited to share in one of the most important days of his whole life.

Trav’s wife Tai is a force to be reckoned with, this woman knows what she wants, and she isn't even a little bit afraid to ask for it. She is focused, driven and outspoken. I adore her and when she messaged me just a few short weeks ago I was thrilled.

This was baby number two for Trav and Tai and they wanted to try for a home, water birth and I jumped at the chance to be a part of it.  We met, we came up with a plan, they bought the pool – we were all set……

Tai had been starting to dilate throughout the week with no signs of labour until Saturday morning, we chatted via text around 830 am and she mentioned some back pain but no real contractions.  Trav had gone out to get a thermometer for the pool and some snacks to hold people over when Tai’s labour started.

10:26 am – Tai sends a single text.

“Contractions”

I ask how long they are and how many she has had and she replies:

“Haven’t timed, just got out of bath, trav is walking dogs……on toilet now”

“They freaking hurt”

I ask if she wants me to come by and check on her and then something tells to rephrase that from a question to a statement, I am coming over.  My gut tells me I need to make sure she is ok.

I leave my house at 10:30am and arrive at their house at 10:35am.  

I find Tai in the bathroom getting sick and know that my suspicions were right.  Tai is in hard labour.  We get her sitting up on the toilet and almost immediately she starts to bear down uncontrollably.  

F-word.  It is just the two of us, Trav is out hiking with the dogs and Kace at Royal Roads and at this point, Tai’s midwife doesn’t even know she has started contracting.

I call the midwife and tell her Tai is contracting back to back and is feeling like pushing – the midwife is amazing and tells me to get her off the toilet and laying down and lets me know she is on her way.

I text Trav and tell him he needs to come home.  He replies:

“Do I need to run?”

“Yes”

For a brief moment I feel almost panicked, I do not want to catch Trav and Tai’s baby.  I do not want Trav to miss this. Did I mention how much I do not want to catch Trav and Tai’s baby?

I start to work on getting Tai off the toilet and onto the floor.  Women at this stage of labour rarely want to move. Tai does not want to move at all. I get her standing and she remains standing for a couple contractions, we work hard on getting her to blow them away and try to keep her from pushing and then I get her down on the floor.  

**FYI – I have made her a very swanky bed on the bathroom floor, complete with bath towel and a throw pillow from the couch, don’t judge me, you do the best you can with what you can grab in 2.5 seconds.**

We are on the floor working through the contractions when Trav, Kace and the 2 dogs get home. Trav seems totally calm and is on the floor at her side in seconds. He has Kace happily watching Paw Patrol with a snack and is now total focussed on Tai.

At this point maybe 30 minutes have passed since I arrived and Tai is coping shockingly well, her labour has come on like a freight train, she has literally gone from having a nice bath to pushing in just a handful of contractions.  I am asking her to do the impossible by asking her not to push and to blow it away but she digs deep and fights through each contraction while we wait for the midwife to arrive.

The midwife arrives and without skipping a beat, she swoops in and takes charge and almost instantly there is a sense of relief (at least for me) and I know Tai is in good hands.  The midwife tells Tai to go ahead and listen to her body and to push her baby out.

Four pushes later, at 11:24am, Sawyer is born. Right there on the bathroom floor, safe and perfect.  His dad beaming and his big brother, oblivious in the next room, happily watching TV. 

I have attended 33 births and my awe and amazement of women and their strength never lessens.  Tai is fierce, brave, and beautiful and all in all, incredible, just like all the women I have supported.

Welcome to the world Sawyer – you have made one hell of an entrance!

p.s. - if anyone is looking for a birth pool, inflated but never used......I can probably get you a good deal;-)