from C.D. – Belize, Central America

Labor began around 12:20am on November 25th, about 10 minutes after my toddler came into my husband’s and I’s room distressed from a nightmare. As my husband took her back to her room to settle her, I was hit with an INTENSE wave. I went up to use the restroom and told myself that if I had another wave like that one then it was 100% baby time. I hadn’t even made it all the way back into bed yet before another intense wave hit and I knew baby was finally coming 🙏🏻 After about 2 hours of laboring, my husband was finally able to come be with me (toddler took forever to settle back down). The waves were super, super intense and by about 5am I was getting the shakes and shivers and felt like I was hitting transition, which I couldn’t believe because it felt so fast somehow. Around 6am my in-laws picked my toddler up, which was helpful to me as I felt like I couldn’t really focus well with her in the house. I got into the bath and started feeling lots of pushy waves but tried to breathe through them. Eventually my back labor was getting so intense that I got out of the tub and went back into my room to labor. From then on, my body started bearing down and all I could do was hold on for dear life. And thus began about four ish hours of my body pushing all on its own. By about 9am I was feeling so exhausted and started wondering why my body was wanting to push for so long, but still not even a crowning baby yet. I felt intuitively to reach inside and check myself. Then… I felt 5 perfect, chubby baby TOES. I looked at my husband wide-eyed and said, “honey it’s a foot.”

From what I could feel, it seemed baby was complete breech. I knew this could be a potential reason why my body was needing to work so hard. I also suspected malpositioning (besides the breech). I didn’t feel any anxiety with this newfound information, as I had felt baby moving normally throughout labor and trusted my baby and my body. I continued forward with labor and utilized movement and constant position changes to help baby navigate their way downwards. From 9am-10am I labored hard and held on as my body surged and surged. I’ve never worked so hard in my life, and my entire body was trembling through the surges. Around 10am, I really felt like I needed to be in a supported squat position and told my husband I wanted to try straddling/sitting on the toilet. Within a few minutes of being there, I could feel baby begin moving down very quickly. I felt like I was splitting open, and my lower back was in so much pain. Finally, a wee baby foot started peeking out, except baby kept pulling it back in! It was a WILD feeling!

The surges were absolutely insane, and I was just roaring through them, straddling the toilet and bracing myself against the tub/counter. Baby was coming down quickly, and finally one leg fully popped out. Soon after a little booty and another leg came, quickly followed by baby‘s trunk and arms. Then my contractions stopped, with baby’s head still inside of me. I had known that this could be a possibility in breech birth. I tried just pushing hard myself, but baby would not budge. I told my husband I needed some assistance and explained to him what a shoulder press was. I then looked down to see that he was struggling a bit, and that’s because baby was sideways and completely facing my left thigh! Not posterior or anterior, sideways! I put my foot up high in a runner’s/lunge position and pushed with everything I had while my husband pressed against baby’s shoulders. Finally her head came! The cord was wrapped 3 times around her neck. She was floppy and silent with zero tone, but her color was good, and the cord was juicy and pulsing. I unwrapped her necklaces and laid her on my thighs as I sat back down on the toilet. I greeted her and looked over her as I rubbed her body. She began making some rough gurgling noises, so I leaned down and sucked from her mouth and nose. I laid her over my arm and started rubbing her body and feet, gently telling her I wasn’t worried, told her how hard the birth was, and it was okay that she needed some time to transition. She began to become pinker, started to open her eyes, and continued to make attempts at breathing. About 3 minutes after her birth, she let out her first cry.

Just a few minutes after I felt something coming out of me and realized it was my placenta. I quickly reached down to catch it so that it wouldn’t land in the toilet. We then walked back to my bed, where I lay down and baby began crawling up my body and rooting for the breast! It was incredible. She latched about 15 minutes later and has basically been on the boob ever since.

This birth was incredibly painful and hard, BUT so empowering and healing for me. I’m so proud of the trust in my knowledge, my body, and my baby. I’m so grateful for this experience. I’ve never felt so powerful.