Little People, Big World‘s Audrey Roloff is sharing her birth experience just four months after her baby boy arrived.
Audrey welcomed her third baby, son Radley Knight, with husband Jeremy Roloff in November and the 30-year-old spoke on his “harmonious” en caul birth on Instagram this past Monday.
En caul is the term used when a baby is born inside the still-intact amniotic sac.
“This was my first birth outside of the hospital,” Audrey explained. “I had a prior history of fast labors and postpartum hemorrhaging … but we talked a lot with my midwives about this prior and had a great plan in place this time.”
After Audrey’s 40-week prenatal appointment on Nov. 3, she went through five days of Braxton Hicks contractions, which left her “on edge” about her “main concern” of making it to the birth center in time.
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“My water didn’t break with the other kids and I didn’t lose my mucus plug until the end of my labors, so I was just assuming I would need to be super in tune with my body and discerning to know when it’s ‘go time,’ ” she continued.
Audrey went into labor after 1 a.m. on Nov. 8. She made it to the birth center where she prepared for her baby’s arrival hours later and rested in a bathtub as Jeremy, 31, held her hands.
“I started pushing at around 6:20 even though it felt more like really intense pressure contractions and not like pushing,” she continued. “I didn’t have the feeling of the baby coming down like I did with the other kids. I had crazy back labor and lots of pressure with no feeling of progress. It was painful, and harder mentally because I felt like I was pushing and not getting anywhere.”
“But at 6:32 am our little (or not so little) Radley was born En Caul,” Audrey added. “It’s extremely rare – less than 1 in 80,000 births!”
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Audrey and her husband cried after learning they welcomed a baby boy, weighing 9 lbs. 1 oz. and measuring 21.5 inches long.
“We kissed and I held our baby BOY tight????,” she noted.
“Radley’s entire labor/birth experience was harmonious,” Audrey said. “All the uncontrollable puzzle pieces seemed to just come together. Nothing felt rushed or chaotic.”
“That golden hour after birth was pure joy. SO. MUCH. HARMONY,” she ended. “Radley Knight you continue to bring harmony to our home. We love you so much Rad man❤️”
Audrey and Jeremy, who married in September of 2014, are also parents to daughter Ember Jean, 4, and son Bode James, 2.
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