God is good. Let me start there. He is always only good- when He answers our prayers in the exact ways we asked, and when He doesn’t. My previous birth with Flora looked nothing like I wanted it to. A homebirth ending in an emergency hospital transfer because of a brow presentation was not what I wanted. But God kept us both safe and healthy. A year later, I found myself expecting again, but that ended in a miscarriage with complications. The severity of the loss led us to ask a question we’d never asked before, should we say that our family is complete? Lord, do you want us to have another baby or are we to be content with our healthy, happy 5?
In the midst of deep conversations, exploring the depths of each other’s hearts, and some tears, God surprised Simeon and me with a baby during the one month we decided actively not to try (my sister found out she was expecting, and I was going to go back to the States to help her). But from the moment we saw the positive test, we were thrilled. All the months of dilemma culminated in God answering the question for us.
I share the background to give some context. When I prayed for Caspian’s birth, it was with a heart that held many complex emotions. While we knew God had gifted us this sweet baby boy, we also felt complete peace that he was to be our last baby. That said, I desired even more to have a beautiful, redemptive homebirth experience.
I prayed and prayed, and surrendered my fears to the Lord, trusting that His ways are always best.
Fast forward nine months…
My due date had originally been June 1st. Due to measurements, the midwife and an ultrasound tech decided to move it back to May 29th. Starting in the middle of May, I began to have prodromal labor. I’ve had enough babies to know that my body does the first stage of labor in the weeks leading up to birth, and then once it’s go time — it’s GO TIME! I’ve had babies in 3 hours, and my shortest was 1 hour on the dot. This puts us on edge the closer we get to the “guess date.” We live in a state of constant readiness.
But the pains came and went, as did my “due date.” While I was 4 cm dilated, nothing else was really ramping up.
That brings us to Tuesday, June 2nd. All day, Simeon kept telling me I was going to have the baby that night. We put the kids to bed and snuggled up to watch one of my favorite movies. Night gave way to dawn and still no baby. Bummer.
June 3… I decided to get up Wednesday morning and go for a walk. I felt so good at the end that I decided to run the last bit home. I got back and jumped into the day with the littles.
1:29 PM — My midwife texted me. We knew from the beginning of the pregnancy that she had planned to be out of the country beginning June 6th. There was a backup midwife in place, but we really wanted her to be with us for the delivery. She had been waiting on 5 of her clients to have babies in those last days before her trip. She texted me to say all had arrived except mine, and that if I wanted her to do a stretch and sweep, we could try that. I was so torn. I had that done twice with Willow and it did nothing but cause discomfort.
1:52 PM — I reached out to my precious prayer warrior friend, Tobianne. We have been through pregnancy together multiple times and have held each other up through the many twists and turns of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. We are also homebirth buddies. She gets me. I messaged her, sharing my frustration and asking her to pray that the baby would come soon without any intervention.
2:00 PM — Flora was napping; the other kids were playing. I decided to give it all to God and take a nap. The kids had other plans, and it was not the restful hour I was hoping for. I had a few “different” contractions while lying down, but nothing wild.
3:00 PM — I got up and texted Simeon asking him to come home. He was working at a nearby library and had already planned to be home by 3:45 so I could take Knox to his violin lesson. I told him I was tired, the kids needed corralling, and I had experienced a few strange contractions.
3:15 PM — Simeon arrived home, and I got in the shower. It felt so good, and contractions were getting more consistent. Nothing to clue me into labor, but I thought we might be heading in that direction. I wanted to save hot water for the birth pool, so I moved to the bathtub so the water wouldn’t be continuously running.
3:45 PM — I texted my family’s group chat and told them I wasn’t sounding the alarm yet, but that labor might be starting.
3:50 PM — We had to make a decision about Knox going to his violin lesson from 4–4:30. His teacher lives just a few houses from ours, but I usually go with Knox. I knew that wasn’t happening, but I wasn’t sure whether or not to send Simeon. I had a few strong contractions, so we texted Knox’s teacher and told him Knox would be going by himself. Looking like a young man, Knox bounced off to his lesson with his violin case on his back — so proud that we trusted him to walk “all the way there” by himself.
4:00 PM — Okay. I finally admitted it. I was in real labor. The midwife texted with an ETA of 4:20. Contractions were maybe 1–2 minutes apart, and the pain was intense. Simeon had been asking for the past hour if he should be filling the birth pool, but I kept saying no because I didn’t want the water to get cold. Now I wanted the pool, but it was too late. I needed him at my side as I worked through contractions. I knelt by our ottoman in the living room. He held my hand. The pain became so strong that things started to get a bit blurry for me around this time, but Simeon helped me sort out the details later.
4:20 PM — My midwife, Ashlee, arrived. Simeon asked her if he should fill the pool. She checked and said, “No, you’re about to have a baby!” My water still had not broken at this point, but on one contraction, she brushed the sac with her finger and it popped.
4:30 PM — Knox came home from violin lessons. When he left, we weren’t sure if I was in labor. When he got back, he tripped over all my midwife’s stuff in the hallway, glanced over at me in the living room, and with a shocked look, high-tailed it downstairs to play with his sisters!
4:45 PM — Eden and Ivy wanted to be there for Caspian’s birth. Eden had the opportunity to see Willow be born, and that was so special for her. We had prepared them both and were excited to have them be a part of this intimate family moment. Simeon ran to call them upstairs, letting them know it could be any minute now!
4:55 PM — Caspian was born! My midwife caught him and unwrapped his cord from around his neck and from under both arms. Then came the moment I’d been dreaming of for months: I scooped up my baby! There is nothing like that moment. Time stands still, and I’m amazed again by our great God — the Giver of life. Simeon was at my side, enchanted by our new son. Ivy ran downstairs to let her siblings know he had arrived. Within moments, we were all together — all 8 of us! How precious those first moments together are. Again, God is so good.
Welcome to the World Caspian Essex Brazzell!
Born at home June 3, 2026 4:55pm
9.45lbs (4.29kg) 20.8in (53cm)
