---
title: "The Birth Story of Adonis Jackson"
entity: "blog"
canonical_url: "https://www.elevatefunctionalhealth.ca/blog/the-birth-story-of-adonis-jackson"
markdown_url: "https://www.elevatefunctionalhealth.ca/llms/blog/the-birth-story-of-adonis-jackson"
lastmod: "2024-12-30T04:00:00.000Z"
---

In every birth, there is a lesson.

The birth of Adonis, and leading up to it, was all about trust for me.

Although I had never been medically induced, I did have several stretches and sweeps with both of my previous births, my water broken by my midwife with both, and with Ares, every natural method of induction under the sun to try and get labour started. I was really doubting my body’s ability to spontaneously go into labour all on its own.

I recognized this lack of trust and really worked on my mindset going into December - my birth month (maybe?).

My due date was December 13th, but I added a week to that in my head…based on the gestational period of my previous two pregnancies.

I was prepared to be pregnant for a very long time, and allow labour to start all on its own. No stretch and sweeps, no castor oil, no manual water bag breaks. 

The other lesson of trust with Adonis’ birth was knowing when to tell my birth team to come over, when to tell Jamie to set up the birth tub, and when to tell my parents to pick up my older two boys. I knew the timing of all of this might be difficult to coordinate, but I refused to let this be a source of stress. I accepted that it was possible the boys would be there for the birth, and that the whole thing could happen so fast that my birth team would not arrive on time.

I was okay with this too, fully knowing that although I much prefer to have birth professionals present, this was not necessary, because although most of the North American believes otherwise, birth is NOT a medical pathology, but rather, a normal physiological process that occasionally requires medical intervention.

December 19th, 2024 at 40 weeks + 6 days:

I woke up and was having some very mild cramps, nothing that made me think labour was starting however, because I had been having cramps on and off for the past 2 weeks. So I treated this day like a normal day. The boys were not in daycare, so I was quite preoccupied with entertaining them.

Over the course of the morning, the cramping remained fairly mild, but was coming on pretty consistently. Around 10:30, I sent Jamie (my husband) an “FYI text”, stating I had been having mild contractions…today or tomorrow might be the day!

By 11am, I messaged my admin and asked them to clear my schedule because I was starting to have contractions. I still wasn’t completely sure if the baby would come today, because I know labour can start and then completely stop, but I needed to give them ample time to get a hold of patients and reschedule them. 

The cramping picked up a bit, and I had to stop whatever I was doing in the moment and breathe through them, but they were still manageable and far apart.

I sent my doula a text and asked her about doing the ‘Miles circuit’ to try and help things escalate. She sent over the circuit and told me to keep her posted if things did start to progress because she was about an hour away. 

I decided I would put Ares down for his nap, finish cleaning the house, and then do the circuit.

Ares usually naps really well, but this day, he refused to go to sleep. By this time, contractions were starting to come on stronger - and because of this, I was getting really annoyed that he wouldn’t go to sleep. If today was going to be the day, I wanted to tidy up and get things ready, and that was very difficult to do with him awake. 

I let him lie in his bed and sing to himself, and look at books. I messaged my mom and told her about the contractions and that her and my dad should probably plan to come get the boys for a sleepover. She said they would come after Ares’ nap. (LOL!). 

Jamie got home from work shortly after 2:30pm. 

As we were standing in the kitchen chatting, I had a contraction that made me stop and breath - still what I would consider mild but because I had to stop and focus, it made Jamie realize this was the real deal and put him in a slight state of shock. 😂

At 2:50pm, as I turned to leave to pack a sleepover bag for the boys, my water bag broke…all over the kitchen floor in one big gush - just like in the movies! 

I was PUMPED about this because this was confirmation that the baby was definitely coming today, and because my water had been broken manually in my other two pregnancies.

Jamie started to freak out a little at this point, because it was his responsibility to set up the birth tub, and now also had to clean up the pool of amniotic fluid on our kitchen floor. 😬

I went to the bathroom to clean up, and texted my doula and midwife.

My doula headed over immediately, as she was an hour away and knew things would happen fast based on witnessing my last birth.

My midwife was also about an hour away.

I went to my bedroom to get some new clothes, but didn’t make it out. I laid down on my bed as another contraction came on. I could feel more fluid coming out so I sat on the toilet.

As I was there, Ares came in crying and asking for a hug as another contraction came on. He could tell I was uncomfortable and wanted a hug even more. I gave him one and was glad in that moment that my parents were on their way to get him and Apollo. The timing of everything seemed to be working out just fine. 🙂

I went back to my bed and got as comfortable as I could with my pregnancy pillow and mentally went inward - connecting with my body and ignoring everything else going on around me. I let everything go at this point.

I could hear Jamie struggling with the boys while trying to get the birth tub set up, but wasn’t too worried. I knew my parents would be there soon and he could handle it all.

At one point, Apollo came into the room, ran up to me as I was coming down from a contraction and then sprinting back out of the room, excitedly exclaiming, “Mommy is going to poop out a baby!!!”

This made me laugh out loud so hard after my contraction faded out. 😂

He of course had a LOT of questions about how the baby got in my belly, and how he got out. I explained that I had to push him out like a poop. He thought this was hilarious and apparently, did not forget this conversation. 😏

Jamie came into our room to check on me as I was mid contraction (not helpful for his frantic state). He quickly left to get my phone and text Amy and Janna, my doula and midwife, saying things were moving fast and assistance would be helpful.

Amy soon arrived, in her usual calm fashion (she has been my doula at all three of my births ☺️). She made sure I was okay, gave me some words of encouragement, and made sure Jamie was also okay.

My parents arrived shortly after that, and packed up the boys. I tried to tone down my vocalizations during contractions when they were there, but did not do a great job of this. It was hard for my mom to hear me and she came into my room, in tears, stating she wished there was something she could do to help. I’m sure it was very hard for her to see HER baby in this state.

I assured her I was okay and she was doing exactly what I needed her to do, and my body was doing what it needed to do. 

They boys came in to say goodbye to me, and then, I was back in my body.

I got the green light that the birth tub was ready, which was perfect timing as a few contractions were coming with a lot of downward pressure.

Amy suggested I try and pee first, so I went to my ensuite to try. I stayed there for a few contractions. I was sitting on the toilet when Maddy, the backup midwife arrived. 

Side note: this is a cool part of the story because here’s the thing…I had never met Maddy before, and actually had no idea she would be arriving before Janna, my main midwife. But I had been following her on social media for a while and was very familiar with her birth philosophy. I felt like I knew her well, I trusted her, and felt completely calm and comfortable in her presence despite my vulnerable state. This is something I will remember fondly, and be motivated by when it comes to the power of social media and its ability to establish trust, before actually embarking in a professional relationship.

I headed to the birth tub and sank into the heavenly warmth of the water and waited for the next surge.

The next surge came, with downward movement. 

I felt so connected to my body as the next few contractions came on. I pushed along with my body, with only a little bit of force. I knew this baby was big and would take me working along with my body.

 

Janna arrived quietly and calmly, just as she did during Ares’ birth.

Amy, Maddy and Janna stood by and offered words of encouragement but did not intervene, as they knew they didn’t need to. All three of them were and are, so respectful of birth and knew I was fully capable of birthing this baby all on my own.

The next contraction was big and I pushed along with it and felt the baby’s head crowning. Intuitively I reached down to put some pressure to help prevent tearing. The next surge pushed his head out.

I patiently waited for the next contraction, which took a full 2 minutes to come.

This was an uncomfortable 2 minutes, but I just closed my eyes and breathed through it. As we all waited patiently, Janna said, one more push and your baby will be born. Only one? I thought to myself? Oh I can do this. The surge came on, I gave one last big push, and Adonis torpedoed out so fast into the water that he hit the side of the birth pool before I caught him and brought him up to my chest, at 4:45pm, less than two hours after my water broke.

He was here! 

We stayed in the water for a while, observing him and waiting for the placenta to come out - which surprisingly took a lot longer than my previous births, but came out in good time nevertheless.

My birth team stayed for a couple hours after Adonis was born, and then it was just Jamie, Adonis and I, soaking in all the newborn cuddles, establishing nursing, and embracing the calm before Apollo and Ares came back home the next morning. ❤️