Those were the words Kaci whispered as she stumbled back into our bedroom after settling Clifford.

 

It was 2:30am. 

 

And everything was about to change.

 

Kaci had been up since 1:34am nursing Clifford back to sleep (while in the early stages of labour). 

 

I felt a rush of excitement kick in. 

 

After having our first child, I knew what we were in for (or so I thought).

 

This time round we planned to have a home birth. 

 

After our experience with Cliffy the first time, I knew a home birth would have been a much smoother (and faster) experience. 

 

In the lead up Kaci had been getting prepped.

 

 

As Kaci hopped back into bed, we expected to be in bed for the next four or five hours working through the contractions (like last time). 

 

But straight away I noticed the time between contractions was only a few minutes… 

 

And the intensity Kaci felt was high (you wouldn’t know it though – she handles birth like a superhuman). 

 

So I had a feeling things were going to move pretty fast this time round.  

 

We called the mid-wifery group hotline for some support. They asked for some photos which we sent through (but they never received).

 

As we eagerly waited for their call back,  

 

Kaci felt the urge to go to the toilet, in preparation for what was to come. 

 

 

Kaci screamed out from the bathroom.

 

 

I ran into the bathroom, and there she was in her dressing robe on hands and knees holding onto the toilet. 

 

I gently lifted the back of her dressing robe – and to my shock, there it was. The crown of our baby’s head, already emerging into the world. 

 

This was getting serious.

 

I raced down our hallway to the garage to find the prepped supplies. I laid down the drop sheet and old towels in the bathroom.   

 

I dialled ‘000’ for help. 

 

The woman on the other end of the line calmly talked us through the situation. Within moments, Kaci had another contraction and our baby’s head was fully out! 

 

There was blood all over my phone screen. Kaci was in a panic. I couldn’t hear the 000 operator over all the noise. In this moment, it felt like a life or death situation. We were scared because we didn’t know if our baby was breathing. 

 

Our baby’s body was still inside Kaci. And there I was, in my blue Hugh Hefner robe. Face to face with our baby’s face staring at me (their eyes closed). I can’t even begin to explain how strange that felt. 

 

For a brief moment, I panicked. I thought to myself… “Are they breathing?” 

 

The 000 operator instructed Kaci to give one last big push. 

 

I had my left hand on our baby’s head, ready to catch.    

 

With one last, primal PUSH, the rest of our baby emerged – a rush of fluid and blood followed. The bathroom looked like a crime scene… but amongst the chaos, was a beautiful new life. 

 

I felt relieved.  

 

Our baby was breathing and started to make some sounds. I passed our precious new baby into Kaci’s arms to stay warm. 

 

 

Thankfully, the ambo’s weren’t too far away. 

 

While Kaci had our baby close to her chest, I ran to the front door to let the ambo’s in. Then not long after the mid-wives came in to take over. At one stage there were six other people in our house.   

 

All of this was happening while Clifford was fast asleep in his room! 

 

The next couple hours felt like a whirl-wind. As the mid-wives worked their magic, we got to enjoy laying in our bed with our little Angel. 

 

We wanted a home birth. And boy oh boy did we experience one! 

 

At 6am, one of the mid-wives could hear Clifford had woken up. He was happily talking to himself in his bed. Usually Kaci goes in to get him in the morning, but Kaci was still with the mid-wives getting stitched up.  

 

I walked in and picked him up, and told him “mummy’s still sleeping”. 

 

Usually he would demand for ‘Mummy’ – but this time he accepted what I told him. It was as if on an instinctual level he knew what was happening.

 

All he wanted was his Weet-Bix!

 

We headed to the kitchen and crushed up three Weet-Bix with milk (not bad for a 2-year old). He sat in his high chair in the dining room as if it were a normal morning. 

 

As Cliffy shovelled spoonful’s of Weet-Bix into his mouth, the mid-wives would come out at different times. Cliffy would just stare at them as if thinking, 

 

 

It was hilarious!   

 

Thankfully, Nanny & Pop weren’t too far away – they were staying at a caravan park 10 minutes away. 

 

After giving them one almighty surprise (I didn’t tell them our baby had already arrived), they came and collected Clifford and took him back to their caravan.

 

This meant Kaci & I could soak in some precious moments with our gorgeous new baby.  

 

As I sit here writing this, it’s 1:03pm Wednesday afternoon. 

 

My mind is frazzled, but my heart is full. 

 

It’s crazy to reflect on what’s just happened. 

 

Our daughter, 

 

Florence Rhonda-Marie Marshall entered this world at 3:34am on Wednesday the 2nd of July 2025.