Marek came into the world on a sultry, stormy day in June. I was certain he would be early, but in the stylings of his 2 brothers before him, nope. He would come when he was good and ready. Marek is my 3rd born at Women’s Birth & Wellness. My first son, Corbin, was very late but born on Thanksgiving and delivered by several loving women (it was a busy week) but Allison was my rock through that delivery. Escher was born on All Saints day and also delivered by Allison, who made me feel so special when he had two perfect knots on his umbilical cord. They deserve their own story, but I’ve been processing this one for a while and thought maybe this might help.

I have been incredibly fortunate in my ability to deliver 3 healthy boys at WBWC. It has always felt like home no matter how much time has passed. Though I’ve never considered myself to be “crunchy”, birth, in my opinion, is best left to those who have the ability/want/need/love to be a part of the process and what better place.  When I became pregnant with my third, we knew this would be our last. We’d been on the fence for a year and had decided to let the cards fall as they may and set a date that we would stick to. Of course, we found out I was expecting during the last week of said ‘end game’ date.

Things happened quickly this time around, with an almost two-year-old, and the other in school, and work…time marched on at a pace I could barely keep up with. Because, this was our last, we decided to let the gender be a surprise and wait until birth. That was the only big difference this time and things progressed as they should.

At my check up around 34 weeks, sweet babe was breech. No matter what you know or what people say to reassure your timeline, you’re bummed. I worried I was doing to much or doing something wrong and started making calls to have chiro care to help the babe turn. I was still working as a Bartender in Raleigh at the same sweet bar and restaurant I’ve been with for 17 years, and knew I planned to work to term as I had with my others so I made a solid plan to rest more during the day (which never happened).

Fast forward to May. I was due the middle of June but was so uncomfortable, I was sure I’d have him any second. The baby was kind enough to reposition and I had a green light and was pleased. The weeks went on and it was so, so hot. Last spring wasn’t a spring if you remember, it was full blown summer in like March. Work was hot and sweaty and challenging to hustle, but I made it. It was Wednesday, June 19th. Id reached my due date and was beyond ready. I was working the evening shift at HB and had been incredibly uncomfortable all day. There was a lot of pressure and those waves of mild contractions and this is it feelings had been coming off and on for several days. Tonight, was a little different. I had to stop in my tracks several times at the bar and make sure it was just the heat and movement that was bringing them on. It hard to time contractions in a busy restaurant. By about 10:30 that evening, I was pretty sure I was going into labor, but I didn’t mention it outside of a joke to a close friend here and there. I was in the car within the hour and told my husband that I was pretty sure we needed to make the almost hour drive in. I called my mom to watch the boys, came home, grabbed a bag and we hit the road around 12:30 am and I was miserable. Rebecca was on call and was very sweet as I always feel terrible for waking people up. We arrived and the second we walked in the door, I felt like things instantly stalled. She checked and said nothing major was happening and offered us the room for the night to see how things went. I decided to rest and see how things progressed. After an hour my contractions had spread very far apart, and I was feeling like I wanted to go home. By 3:30 I was tired and frustrated and knew that my youngest would be by 6:30 so we should head on back. We smiled and said, ‘see you soon, I hope’ and drove back to Raleigh. After about 2 hours of sleep I got the boys ready for the day, prepared my oldest for his first day of summer camp and as I started hustling, things kicked back up again. I got through the carpool line at camp and called my husband and said there was no way he was finishing the day at work and be ready for the call. I contacted the birth center and told them I was coming back! We arrived at the birth center less than 12 hours later at around 1pm and beat an epic storm rolling in behind us. We kept hearing mention of potential severe weather but that was the last thing on our minds. Rebecca was still on call and I was stoked. When we arrived contractions were close and I was around 6/7 cm. I prefer water births so with that in mind we filled the tub. Happy to be in the blue room for my 3rd and final delivery.

I always imagine myself having the quiet, stoic births because by nature I am so soft spoken and calm. Nope. I’m a screamer. You’d think I was delivering an elephant but I can always crack jokes in the moments in between. The storm was full blown at this point. The nurse that was assisting kept peeking outside, I remember texting my mother to make sure she and the boys were home safe because it sounded bad in Raleigh. Time was moving but slowly for me. My husband was sitting next to me when I noticed that it seemed really quiet and warm. He leaned in and whispered that the power was out. No one seemed worried so I let it roll. I was in a cool tub and didn’t really need anything anyway. I vaguely remember Rebecca talking about a generator coming soon maybe and that I should also be ready to move to the hallway should there be a tornado. Ha. I smiled and said ok but in my mind was like, nope. I’m staying in this tub forever.

It should be noted that my water has never broken with any of my births. It has always been done for me at some point during delivery. I bring this up because even though I was SURE I was going to have this baby within a few hours of being there, it was now around 3:30 and things were much the same. Contractions were strong and every minute or so. I was getting tired since I’d only slept 2-3 hours in about 36 and I’d worked the night before. I did that mental panic and wondered how long I could go. We started the conversation about breaking my water but I was hesitant because I knew it was going to be instantly more intense. I kept discussing with my husband and saying ‘in 15 minutes’ and then I’d stall and send a friend a hilarious gif from The Office and kill some time. This went on for about an hour until finally it was clearly time to make a move. They all joked that this baby was truly storm born! After she checked and felt the head, we discussed her wiping away some remaining membrane and that was sure to do the trick. We waited for a contraction to pass, and as she was quickly working, she said “I’m right here, do you want me to break your water”. I glanced at the clock and it was after 5, I wanted everything to be over. I agreed. No sooner than that brief conversation was had, another contraction swelled up quickly. The next 10-15 minutes are a blur. She broke my water during the onset of a long and choppy contraction. He shot down hard and I felt every bit of it. I was pushing but it I wanted to catch my breath to push harder but just couldn’t. He felt stuck. These seconds and minutes were all in a strange slow motion. I remember my husbands face. He was worried but calm and Rebecca and her assistant worked so quickly. Their eyes were calm and loving but I could tell that I needed to pay attention and listen to her instructions. She calmly but firmly asked me to get out of the tub. That seemed like the worst thing I could possibly do, I could feel the baby’s partially out. I gripped my husband and he helped me out of the water with their help. I remember I locked eyes l with him and in some sort of silent plea I wanted him to fix it so we could all go home. Up until this exact second, it had absolutely never crossed my mind that something unexpected would or could happen. Which is foolish but I was in my own moment that day. There was already an area made up on the floor which made me quickly realize that they had anticipated this long before I knew what was happening. Rebecca was behind me as I knelt down, coaching those pushed that seemed to go on forever but were only long seconds. I remember what I said to my husband in those hard moments of being scared. I remember how loud I was. I cry yelled asking someone to tell me if it was a boy or a girl. No one had checked yet because there was so much going on below me. It was a boy and they assured me he was fine but were working quickly on the both of us. Marek Bailey Prince was born at 5:28 on June 20th. My husband helped me to the bed and I was given a shot of Pitocin to stop the bleeding. The baby was given to me right away and he lay on my chest while they stitched me up with lights from iPhone and a headlamp. He was quiet and such a deep shade of purple with grey tinges. I finally got up the courage to ask if he was ok. He was. The severe bruising was caused by shoulder dystocia as he was being born. That’s what changed my peaceful waterbirth in the span of 15 minutes. BUT, we were ok. I lost a lot of blood but not enough to need transfer but  we were both just fine. There was most definetly a period about 5 minutes before, where I thought we weren’t and I could go on and talk about how hot it was in the room without ac, and how bad the onions on my husbands sub smelled up the room but what I really want to share is how safe I felt given ALL of these things.  This life was brought into the world with a few hands, no electricity, and a lotta love in a thunderstorm in a quiet little blue room. It was not the last birth I had wanted or imagined but it was the birth I needed.  I did something really hard all by myself and I put trust in 3 other people to help me do it. It’s ok for things to veer off course if you’re in the right hands.  There are a hundred other little funny, scary, intense moments about this birth but it’s nice to keep a few special memories in your own pocket. Almost a year later, Marek is nearing 30lbs and trying to do ALL the things and we are so grateful!

Eve & Christopher Prince