Audrey Roloff is nothing if not an open book.
The former Little People, Big World cast member talks often about her faith and her family and how the two nearly always intertwine.
The mother of one also talks about parenthood on a frequent basis, ever since welcoming daughter Ember into the world in September of 2017.
Now, in a very personal and impressive blog post, Audrey has opened way up about her actual birthing experience.
But we’ve shared a handful of excerpts below in order to help Audrey relay her experience to the fans and followers who are either interested or who may even benefit from this kind of information…
This is How Audrey Opened Her Lengthy Post: I am just now finally getting around to sharing her birth story. WOW! It has taken me an entire year to finish it. Sigh. Guess that’s just reality as a new mom, going through two remodels, writing our first book, keeping always more and beating50percent a float, while trying to maintain sanity and some resemblance of a social life. The past year has been exhausting, thrilling, tearful, and full of treasured moments. But perhaps the most treasured moment was September 10th, 2017
I Will Not Be Sugar Coating the Messy Reality of Birth… So Audrey warned, prior to getting into said details as follows: “By the time I was 10 days overdue, I was trying whatever the internet suggested about naturally inducing labor. Pineapple, spicy food, bouncing on the ball, taking baths, long walks, raspberry leaf tea, acupuncture, and sex, but still no baby. I remember reading comments on social media, and even receiving texts from friends, who had some opinions about my desire to wait for our baby to come naturally… Of course. I would not put our baby in danger if I did indeed need to be medically induced. But I also knew lots of women who were impatiently or unnecessarily induced early, and I wanted to avoid that. So I kept surrendering and trusting in God’s timing for our daughters birth.”
She’s Finally on the Way! “I woke up at 2:30 am to what I thought was just intense cramping. I had experienced some pretty intense cramping the past couple of nights so I didn’t think too much of it at first, but after a few minutes I quickly realized this was different. MUCH different. This was the blinding ambush. IT WAS TIME!!! I reached over into my nightstand drawer and grabbed a sharpie to write my life mantra on my arm – ALWAYS MORE. I knew that this day, more than any other day, I needed to be reminded that I ALWAYS had MORE strength, endurance, and hope through Christ.”
What They Decided: “Jeremy and I wanted our labor and delivery experience to be a calm, low stress, and intimate experience between the two of us. That meant no family, friends, or cameras in the delivery room. We wanted to bring our daughter into the world together without having to think or worry about anything or anyone else. Just Jeremy and I, intimately experiencing the most defining moment of our lives together.”
More Specifics: “Our birth plan was essentially to have a low-intervention, unmedicated birth at the hospital with the help of our doula Echo, essential oils, prayer, and a jammin’ Spotify playlist.”11
Why Did She Opt for an Unmedicated Birth? “I didn’t want labor to solely be something I went through, while Jeremy watched from a chair. I wanted for him to be an active participant. I wanted for him to feel needed and important during the whole process – and he was. Laboring with Jeremy was was the most intimate, unifying, God-empowering, thing we have ever done together.”
The Contractions Came Quickly and Painfully “I had three beastly contractions in the car on the way there. And since my brain was clearly working so well at the time… I decided to sit in the passenger seat and buckle myself in. MISTAKE. Ladies, trust me, get in the back.”
The Baby Was Coming! “When they checked me I was 4cm dilated (for those of you reading this that have no idea what that means – because that would have been me before I got pregnant – you have to get to 10 cm dilated to push out a baby!) 4cm was good progress and my body was clearly showing signs of continued progress, so they transferred me to a labor and delivery room. I was having contractions every 3 minutes lasting about a min to a min and 30 seconds.”
She Was Checked Into Room 320 Why was this meaningful? “Ephesians 3:20 ‘Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…’ This is the verse that inspired always more. WOW GOD. Just wow.”
So, She Got Settled In and Then… “I was mostly laboring on all fours or standing up holding on to Jer in the middle-school slow dance position;) I got super nauseous all of the sudden and threw up profusely for an hour or so. I basically just ejected everything I had consumed the day before.”
She Wanted to Labor in a Bathtub “I got in the warm water and felt relief from the pain in my low back and tailbone which I ended up fracturing during labor… eek.”
How Did She Stay Focused? “I Just kept telling myself the same thing I would have my dad yell at me during cross country and track races that always calmed me with confidence and strength: ‘Breathe Audrey! Breathe.'”
Thank Goodness for Jeremy It was getting harder and harder and harder, but… “with each contraction, Jeremy kept saying over and over, ‘You’re stronger than it babe.'”
ALWAYS MORE I caught a glimpse of the words on my arm – completely blurred by the tub, sweat, and tears. ALWAYS MORE. Even still, it was an empowering promise. Always more strength through contractions, always more hope when I felt tapped out, always more purpose through the pain, always more perseverance to endure, always more opportunity to be courageous, always more reason to trust, and always more victory in Christ. Never in my life had those words carried more power than they did on September 10th, 2017.
Why Can’t I Push?!? Audrey realized her water never broke. Amazing. So her midwife went ahead and did it and then: “Pushing was my favorite part of labor because it was like the bell lap! I knew I could give a little more and push a little harder because the finish line was in sight! Pushing also gave me something to do through contractions besides just patiently bearing them. With each push I knew I was one step closer to meeting our daughter.”
And Then… “I pushed for 45 minutes on all fours until she finally came out. 9:40 am 7.13 lbs and 20.25.”
Just Like That (Well, After ALL of That), She Was a Person “The second she was out of my belly and into my arms the tears of pain ceased, and the tears of joy poured out as we kept staring at our daughter and then looking back at each other in awe. I felt so blessed to be entrusted with such a beautiful little girl to hold, protect, teach, inspire, and love. Jeremy prayed over her while I breastfed her for the first time moments after entering this world.”
Two Final Thoughts: 1. As you read, please know that I believe all forms of birth are miraculous and amazing! Mom’s are incredible and no matter how you bring your baby into the world YOU ARE A FREAKIN BOSS.
Audrey Wrote This One in Bold: “God is the author of life, I only hope to be a faithful narrator.”