Supernatural and Pain-Free Birth Story: Garrison's Makes His Debut

I'm so excited to share my supernatural and pain-free birth story. I have another post that talks about the back story of my labor/delivery preparation (reference here). It is definitely a must read to understand how God truly came through in all the details and answered my specific prayers and declarations that I prayed for my labor and delivery. I love to talk about all the details so I apologize in advance if some of this post is TMI but I'm the type of person who wants to know all the details of people's birth stories and find each story so unique and interesting. Everyone's birth story is beautiful--bringing life into the world is just such an amazing gift and I hope that this positive birth story will be encouraging to any pregnant mama or any woman who hopes to give birth one day. I am also writing this as a keepsake to remember because it is now a huge part of my testimony and faith journey.

To preface, I had always planned to do a home birth this time and my expected due date was December 3rd. I was a week before my home visit with my midwife and I had nothing prepared...I had planned to have all birth prep done by 36 weeks since that was when I had Noah.

Okay, so here we go!

11/05/2025~

6:30am-- Like any normal day, I woke up and sat in the baby nursery rocking chair to do my quiet time and Bible reading when I started to feel some pressure down low. It literally felt like I had to poop haha I don't know how else to describe it. It wasn't painful at all but it came and went in waves, which was a bit odd.

7:00am--the pressure went away but then I started to experience some very mild "cramping", kind of like a side ache feeling but down low in my abdomen. I was texting my sister and updating her about these weird symptoms I was having. I thought maybe it was a GI issue like I ate something bad the night before that was causing me to feel this way? Or maybe it was baby Garrison starting to move down? I took a photo and texted her asking if she thought that my belly looked lower.

Her response:

So I just assumed that feeling these things was just Garrison moving down and it would probably continue off and on for the next few weeks.

7:45am--Noah woke up and I was still having the mild cramping feeling coming and going every once in a while so I asked West if he could grab Noah from his crib and hang out with him so I could just chill and/or go to the bathroom right away if needed to lol. I was telling him the symptoms I was experiencing and right away he goes, "what if you're in labor??". I assured him I was not as I was only 35 weeks along and wasn't feeling any labor symptoms. But after the birth I had with Noah, where I went from 0 to 100 so quickly, he told me that I needed to text the midwife and he wasn't going to get Noah from his crib until I did so (a good husband move).

7:59am--I texted my midwife and let her know that I had been experiencing some rectal pressure and mild low abdominal cramping and she asked me if I was pooping regularly and told me to go get a glycerin suppository. I had no idea what that was so I Google'd it and was like yeah no I'm not going to do that (basically a glycerin suppository is a laxative/stool softener that you insert rectally...). She also told me to take a warm Epsom salt bath as well. That I could get on board with haha.

8:30am--West had a business meeting and I asked him if he could take Noah so that I could take a bath since that's what our midwife had recommended, so he and Noah left together.

8:47am--I finally got the bath ready and went to the bathroom before I hopped in and when I wiped I saw the littlest amount of light pink on the toilet paper. I let my midwife know and she asked how many weeks I was. I told her 35 weeks and she immediately responded "Send me your address. I'm gonna run by and check you because we need to make sure". So into the bath I went and she asked me stay in the tub until she got there.

While I was in the tub I brought the prayer journal in that I started during this pregnancy, turned on worship music, and spent the time praying over my body and speaking Scripture over myself out loud. It was the first time being alone, just me and God, and nobody else in the house in a while so it was really such a special and sacred time of worship. It was just so peaceful.

9:40am--My midwife and assistant arrived and came upstairs to find me in the tub. While I was still in the tub, she checked baby's heart rate and everything sounded good so she gloved up, did a cervical check, then looked at me and said "You need to call West. Tell him to come back home because you're going to have a baby". I WAS SHOCKED. I had no idea that I was in labor and the urgency in her voice made me realize that this was happening soon, that I would be meeting Garrison today!! So wild.

I called West and for some reason it went straight to voicemail...twice. Not the right time that you want that to happen but thankfully a few minutes later my midwife was able to get a hold of him and told him to get home as soon as possible.

While we were waiting for West and Noah to get back, my midwife told me that the next time I feel pressure/a "contraction" to just breathe through it and not to push so that we could wait until they got home because "it's too big of a moment for them to miss".

(waiting for West and Noah to get home)

9:47am--West and Noah got home, raced upstairs, and sat on the bed next to me. My midwife said, "the next time you feel a contraction come on, you're going to take a deep inhale and when you exhale, you're just going to breathe your baby out. He's right there!". The midwife's assistant held one of my legs up and West held the other leg and she had me pull back on my hamstrings while exhaling/pushing. Right as he started to crown, my water broke! It was like an explosion and my midwife kind of jumped back haha it was a little shocking. And then on the next contraction she told me to do the same thing and baby boy came right out in one push!

Hearing Garrison's first little cry and holding him to my chest with Noah and West right beside me is something that I will never forget. It was by far the most special moment of my life. Noah was so quiet and just sat next to me the entire time. After Garrison was born, he ran to his room to get me his favorite stuffie "Boo bunny" and handed it to me, it was so sweet.

18.46 inches and 6.38 lbs, Garrison Macen Sharkey made his debut on November 5th, 2025 at 9:47am. It may have seemed early as I was 35 weeks pregnant but perfectly on God's time and totally healthy.

We were all so surprised that Garrison got here 7 minutes after my midwife/assistant arrived and out in one push. I had no idea that I was in labor the entire time and there was zero pain throughout the whole delivery! CRAZY. These were all specific things that I had prayed about. I asked my midwife if I had any tearing and she checked and said "not even a scratch!". That was another thing that I had prayed for. I'll show my list of prayers at the bottom so you can see how God really came through on all of those prayers.

After the midwife and assistant left, it was just our family of four together resting at home. West was holding Noah and I was holding Garrison. It was such a surreal and special time. Then Noah says "more angel??". We were kind of confused at what he was saying so West clarified, "Did you say more angel? Did you see angels?" and Noah said "yeah! See more angel??". I truly believe that God's hand and protection was over us and our home that whole day. He answered my specific prayers and went above and beyond. My birth story is one of those things where it could only be God. All glory to Him because literally none of that could have happened without Him!

Little God treasures that happened that day:

*My midwife just so happened to be at someone's home visit appointment 5 min away from us when I texted her so she was thankfully close by or else she probably wouldn't have made it in time

*West's schedule was open that day where usually he'd be working all day so it was the perfect day for Garrison to come and not having to stress over rescheduling clients

*Noah seeing angels--I am convinced they were there in our home bringing peace and protection

*Noah staying so calm sitting next to me while I delivered Garrison was one of the most special experiences. He was able to see his brother come into this world.

*Noah took a long nap despite baby brother's arrival, which allowed me to get some good rest post-delivery

Specific prayers that I declared over my birth:

Experiencing God answer such specific prayers of mine was so encouraging. And while I prayed for Garrison to be born while Noah was asleep, God had a much better plan for my birth story! One that allowed Noah to be right by my side the whole time and seeing his brother being brought into this world. It was something that was so incredibly special and I couldn't have imagined a better birth story.

What this birth has taught me:

*God answers all prayers, it may be exactly what we asked for or it might be totally different. But either way, His plan is best and so much better than I could have ever dreamed up in my earthly mind.

*God gently taught me that He will meet me where my faith is. If I trust him completely and have big faith, He will meet me at my level of that faith. He says, "According to your faith will it be done to you" (Matthew 9:29)

*Power of prayer: daily prayer and reading Scripture aloud over myself helped build my trust and confidence in what God is capable of doing in my life. It first started as praying prayers that I hoped would happen and each day transitioned to what I believed would and could actually happen during my labor/delivery. It truly transformed and renewed my mind.

*Agreeing in prayer: Having West agree with me in prayer about having a supernatural and pain-free birth was so nice and helpful to have him believe with me even during days leading up where I had my doubts. He helped remind me that God is in control and to trust that the plans He has for me are ones to prosper me and not to harm me, and that pertains to my delivery (Jeremiah 29:11). I decided not to tell anyone (besides West) that I was praying to have a supernatural and pain-free birth. I didn't want people saying things that would bring fear or doubt into my mind and I didn't need to feel any outside judgment that might make me question if it would be possible for me to experience a pain-free delivery so having West agree with me was really important to me as I prepared for this birth.

Well, if you've made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read my birth story! It is something that I will treasure forever and I am so happy to share the experience that I've had and to spread God's glory throughout this whole birth story. I wanted to have a birth that was so clearly God-ordained and that was stamped with His presence from beginning to end and I'm happy to say that this was definitely the case for me. Everyone's birth story is unique and God has written each and every one of them. Long or short labor, painful or painless, they are each so beautiful and part of our own stories.

Thank you for reading!

xoxo, Macy and Garrison