A Surprisingly Fast First Birth: My Cousin’s Birth Story and What I Learned

The day before the Babies & Bumps Expo, I found myself doing something I didn’t expect—supporting my cousin through the birth of her first baby.

Her water had broken that morning, but she wasn’t feeling any contractions yet. She was called into the hospital (we knew the policy) and started on Cytotec to help things get going. Since she wasn’t in active labor and this was her first baby, I was fully expecting to meet the baby the next day after the expo. I stayed in close contact, checking in around noon and again later in the afternoon. At that point, she was still talking easily, cramping a bit, but no big changes.

So I decided to head over and hang out for a bit.

Bless the version of me that stopped at Chick-fil-A. I scarfed down food in the car and tossed a few snacks in my bag before heading in. I even grabbed a few copies of my book A Doula’s Guide to Labor Positions to maybe show to the nurses—since I’d heard they were eyeing it at the nurse’s station earlier and chatting about how much they loved it.

But once I arrived, everything shifted.

Less than an hour after my last check-in, she was in the shower, having painful, back-to-back contractions, and already at 4 cm. I hadn’t brought my full doula bag (something I’ll never do again), but I kicked into gear fast—massage, counter pressure, hip squeezes, whatever she needed.

She had hoped for a natural birth, and she tried everything. Morphine didn’t help—just made her drowsy while the contractions raged on. Eventually, she opted for an epidural, and it brought the relief she needed to breathe and regroup.

Things kept moving. 7 cm. Then 9. And just a little after 9 PM, she delivered her beautiful baby after only 30 minutes of pushing. We had already decided I would cut the cord since neither of them wanted to—and that moment was pure joy.

The epidural made position changes tough, especially anything upright or on all fours, but we adapted. We did what we could to make the back-lying position more effective, and she pushed like a champ.

It was a wildly fast first birth, and I made it home before 10PM, somehow still on track for the expo the next day.

Also? Future me will never show up to a “casual hospital hangout” without her full doula bag again.

Birth is unpredictable. But it’s also sacred, raw, and deeply personal. I’m endlessly honored to be part of these stories—especially when they belong to the people I love most.

Welcome to the world, Callum James. I’m so lucky to be your cousin.