The Birth of Joshua Moon | Altamonte Springs, FL

This is a story of bravery, a story of courage, strength, and a mother going to the deepest depths within herself to bring her fourth baby into the world.

It starts at 1 am, February 1st, 2024 - her due date. I got a text from Alexandra that contractions were slowly starting, but had no real rhythm. I encouraged her to rest while her contractions were far apart, and less intense. She slept on and off from 1 am until 5 am when she again texted me that things were feeling different. Since she was planning a home birth over an hour away from me, and it was her fourth baby - I hopped in my car and started making my way to her. I got to her house around 6:30 am, at the same time as her midwife team, David and his student with Tree of Life Birth & Gynecology. Alexandra was lying in bed with her youngest son when the sun started peeking in through the window. David checked the baby’s heart tones, and all was well with him. Contractions were coming, they were intense but never seemed to get into a consistent rhythm. Since I was also Alexandra’s doula, I did some work with her to help get the baby into a better position, we walked outside, and Alexandra spent time doing hip circles on the ball. The morning turned to late afternoon, and contractions were starting to fizzle out. Alexandra switched on/off pumping (to bring on more oxytocin to hopefully help her contractions come more frequently), and resting. At some point before sunset, her waters broke. Night soon came, and Alexandra was exhausted. She was checked, and she was 8 cm, but her contractions were starting to really space out. We were approaching the 24-hour mark, and Alexandra needed to rest. She tried to sleep, but with intense contractions with lots of pressure coming every 10-20 minutes - it was hard. After 27 hours at home, Alexandra decided it was time to transfer to the hospital where she could get some relief and sleep. We made the hour-long drive from her home in Mascottee to AdventHealth Altamonte Springs. (one of the best hospitals in the Orlando area) Quickly after we arrived, Alexandra got her epidural, started Pitcoin, and slept for a couple of hours. After some time, the baby started having some decals- this is when the heart rate drops during a contraction, and sometimes can mean that they are in the birth canal, and will be born soon - so Alexandra was checked… and she was still 8 cm, and had been for over 14 hours, and over 10 hours on Pitocin. Her baby was starting to show us that he needed to come out, and he needed to come out sooner rather than later. After 41 hours of labor, Alexandra decided to meet her baby via cesarean. Only after the surgery was it discovered that Joshua was completely wrapped in his cord, around his neck several times, under both legs, and under his arms — we finally had an answer as to why Alexandra wasn’t progressing past 8 cm! Joshua was trying his hardest to move down, but was held up by his cord. Joshua Moon Nave was born at 7:35 pm on February 2nd, 2024. The family snuggled in the post-op room, and Joshua nursed with the help of his dad and myself.