Now that Audrey Roloff is in the swing of life as a mother of three, she's opening up about how she brought her youngest child into the world. In a new post she shared on Instagram this week, Audrey gave new details about Radley's birth, which are especially interesting considering he was born "en caul" — something that happens extremely rarely.
This was Audrey's first birth outside of a hospital
Though Audrey had already given birth twice before Radley arrived, this was the first time she opted to go to a birth center.
"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," she said, adding that Radley didn't come until after his due date.
She went into labor on November 7
After her contractions started while she and Jeremy were having dinner at her parents' house, they left Ember and Bode there for the night and went home. Just hours later, they ended up at the birth center, and it was officially baby time.
"It was so peaceful," she wrote. "The room was dark and there were no beeping sounds or people rushing in and out."
Just before Radley was born, Audrey asked her midwife to break her water
But her midwife reminded her that sometimes, it's good luck for a baby to be born in their amniotic sac … and as it turns out, that's exactly what happened.
"At 6:32 am our little (or not so little) Radley was born 'En Caul' – meaning my water never broke and he was born in the amniotic sac!" she wrote. "It’s extremely rare – less than 1 in 80,000 births! Oh how I wish I had a good picture to show you but it was dark and the angle of the photos doesn’t really show it well."
Swipe over on this photo to see a video of the moment Radley was born!
She said pushing Radley out while still in the sac was a "very different experience"
In the end, she called her birth experience "harmonious."
"Everyone got where they needed to be when they needed to be there. No one else was at the birth center so we had it to ourselves," she said. "The tub filled up just in time for when my contractions started to become intense. That golden hour after birth was pure joy. SO. MUCH. HARMONY."
It's hard to believe Radley is already 3 months old
So far, he seems to be fitting in with his older siblings just fine — and his mom has an amazing birth story to share with him when he gets older and can fully appreciate how rare the way he came into the world is.
We can't wait to continue to watch him grow.
