The Natural Hospital Birth of Willamina at Sacred Heart in Destin, FL

Alyssa & I talked for HOURS at her consult about her birth and life in general. We clicked. Her birth plan was so amazing, I looked forward to documenting HER day! I love when Mom's tell their own birth stories. This Mama has written hers out so beautifully, I'll let her tell it to you in her own words!

"I will not cause pain without allowing something beautiful to be born" Isaiah 66:9. These words have followed me, almost hauntingly, since September 8, 2015 when we lost a heartbeat. From that moment my world was turned upside down and our family just didn't seem whole anymore. We tried for months to get pregnant again and with a broken spirit and shattered heart, I decided in July 2016 that my body absolutely hated me and I was never going to have our rainbow baby. God had other plans and like he always does, he came through when he knew we needed him the most. On August 5, 2016 (exactly 1 year from the day we found out we were pregnant with our angel baby) we saw those two pink lines that we never believed we'd see again. Our storm was nearing the end and we could see the light. On September 8, 2017, exactly 1 year from the day we found out our angel baby had no heartbeat, we found out our sweet little rainbow did. I was full of happy tears..We were going to have a baby! My pregnancy was extremely rough, nothing like my older three, this girl was a fighter from day one. I lost a lot of weight in the beginning and had a few scares, but she pressed on, growing stronger by the day. When we drew closer to the end I could have sworn she was at least a 10lb baby with the amount of pain I was in constantly. We couldn't wait for her to be here! I was due April 7 and I just knew she'd be here before then. April 6 was our anniversary and April 8 was her daddy's birthday...how perfect would either of those have been? On March 23 at our appt. she was head down and I was 4cm/80% with my water bulging. My doctor, Dr. Whitlock, was leaving for a week of vacation the next day and I was in a panic, I just knew she would choose the following week to arrive. I contracted most of the following week, but nothing felt like time so, I waited. April 1 rolled around and my husband, Will, coached our older girls' softball game that morning and everyone was telling me how low I looked suddenly. My contractions were especially hard that day and were about 8 minutes apart. I joked about my water breaking at Walmart, knowing my water has never broken on its own, and about her being an April Fools baby. Around 8:00pm we arrived at home and my contractions had gotten closer to 5 minutes apart, but I still didn't think it was time just yet. William took Fenway, our youngest at the time and only boy, to his Mamaw's house for a sleepover just in case. I got a shower and he packed the car so we would be ready. After my shower I did my makeup because, I just had a feeling and I wanted to feel semi-good about myself if it did happen to be tonight. I laid down on the couch for a movie and fell asleep. Thankful for that nap, I woke up around 12:02 with contractions at 2-3 minutes apart. Still in denial I sat up and breathed through them, timing them meticulously. I went to the bathroom around 12:18 and at 12:23 realized I hadn't accidentally peed on myself as I was getting up... I woke my husband up and told him we needed to go to the hospital NOW (an hour drive MINIMUM), to which he replied "why?!" ...MY WATER BROKE!!! All by itself, I was shocked. I texted Kayla, our birth photographer, and she left immediately. We knew my labor would be fast, but I don't think any of us were prepared for just how fast it actually was. The gas light came on in Niceville so, I had William stop. He was panicking and cut in front of a man buying lotto tickets to pay for gas. I was managing well, but as soon as we got into Destin and approaching Baytowne, I started to get more uncomfortable and was losing my calm and kind demeanor. We arrived at the hospital somewhere close 1:40am and Kayla was right behind us. Everything moved fast from there. I was checked at 1:55 and when they said I was only at 6cm, I'll admit I wanted to give up and ditch my well thought out all natural birth plan, but I'm a fighter and I had one hell of a support system. I chose to stand to labor in an attempt to move things along...well, it worked, maybe better than I thought it would. At 2:07 the pain became nearly unbearable and I asked to be checked again because, I was having an urge to push. The nurses didn't believe me, but he led anyway and guess what..."I FEEL HER HEAD, don't push don't push" My body was pushing on it's own. They brought Dr. Graham in and after a few good pushes and with the help of her daddy at 2:16am April 2,2017 my sweet, beautiful, perfect rainbow baby was earthside. William had assisted on her birth and laid our fourth girl on my chest. I remember commenting on how purple she was and then wondering where in the world she came from with her head full of dark hair! She looked just like her daddy so her name was even more fitting... Willamina Rainn Hickey. Our Rainn-bow at the end of a very dark storm. I just knew she was bigger than her 8lb 5oz brother, but she ended up being 7lb 1oz and 19.5in of pure blissful perfection. Our family is finally complete.