On Friday 3/8/24 @ 1118am I get a text from Kandace stating she was having “prodromal” labor the night before. 3/7/24 The babies original due date was 3/8/24 and was pushed back to 3/22/24 due to how baby was measuring. So, Kandace was thinking this was false labor and hoping she had 2 more weeks. At 3:45 pm I get a text stating “I just lost my plug” In my mind I knew things were kicking off soon, just wasn’t certain when. 7pm I checked in & she stated things were getting pretty intense and she was really having to breathe through the waves. Got on a call with her and could tell this was the real thing. Sent over the contraction timer and asked her and hubby to start timing them. Got a screenshot showing they were 7-9 minutes apart.

I got my bags ready and showered so I could be ready. I waited an hour and texted Blair back to check in because historically Kandace has speedy labors. He said she was trying to rest and I advised him to update me with a screen shot in the next 30 minutes. We live 15 minutes apart and knew I could get there pretty quick. Screen shot showed 6-7 minutes apart. I got in the car in the midst of a thunderstorm and sat in front of their home, basically a stakeout in her front yard because at this point Kandace was still in denial that this was real and wanted to rest.

At 11:35 I text Blair ( from the front yard ) asking how she was doing, he said “she’s up, contractions are more intense and she was now asking him to “call the midwife” I responded with “can you open the door” at this point everyone knew it was real, Blair and I started getting things ready, Kandace rocked Labor like a champ, so gracefully It was like a movie the way she labored like she had done it before (3x’s) she had all the things planned and most of it prepped, thanks to the nesting party we had hosted for her the Wednesday before. Once she started feeling like she needed to eliminate, I knew pushing wasn’t too far behind. I got the bed prepped for a baby.

She had a beautiful birth pool but never got the chance to use it because of how fast labor was going and no time to fill it@ 110 am the photographer arrived and shortly after the midwife arrived and @119am baby Peyton Jane that this family prayed fervently for was welcomed earthside at home by her doting father and mother and 3 ecstatic older siblings.