I knew I always had a desire for children, but the process in getting to that point was unnerving for a Type-A personality as myself. If I couldn’t have the proper control over something, I struggled to allow the value of something supersede my fear. Namely, pregnancy and childbirth: two extremely unpredictable experiences! My husband and I had been married one whole day shy of three years when we found out we were expecting. This “shattered” my perfect little plan to start trying for the following Spring. My husband was elated and I eventually followed suit with excitement!

The first trimester was challenging! It consisted of long days and nights spent in bed with the most outrageous nausea no stomach flu in my day could ever top. Though once it let up and I entered second trimester, I was golden! Energy was incredible, I was exercising again, eating well and thus began to “train” my body, mind and spirit for the marathon of childbirth ahead. My husband was actually the one who encouraged me to go the way of an unmediated, less intervention childbirth. We prayerfully decided we would go this direction. We were blessed enough to meet our midwife, Tammy, and thus began our preparations.

The pregnancy had progressed very well and fluidly. Until the day of my 36 week appointment, where I walk blissfully into the Midwife’s office only to find out my baby was in the breech position. Breech? That’s not possible because I’ve been doing everything I’m supposed to according to Spinning Babies. I’ve followed all the rules, all the advice everywhere! I have worked so hard this pregnancy!

Now I would do everything in my power to turn her. We tried an ECV, to every move on (you guessed it) Spinning Babies, the religious use of an inversion table, visits to the Chiropractor, “talking the baby into turning”…nothing. The birth we had hoped and prayed for was no longer an option for me. I would now need to ready my mind not only for the inevitable C-section that lay ahead, but also the deep disconnect I already felt between my baby and body. I knew that a safe baby was far more important than my plans, but I felt cheated and robbed of a special experience. I felt like I had failed. I didn’t stretch enough, exercise enough, find this problem sooner…I failed. Because I couldn’t control it, I failed. Or so the thoughts had plagued me…

Within a matter of days, I receive a phone call from my midwife saying that there is a Doctor in the area who performs vaginal breech deliveries. We meet with Dr. Flores and was instantly encouraged by her experience, knowledge and warmth. With this new wave of possibilities, we decided to go the way of a vaginal breech delivery.

It was now nine days pass my due date when I awoke to mild contractions at one am. They came in somewhat painful and sporadic waves. By three am, I woke my husband who began tracking them. He then told me to contact Dr. Flores. Making her way to my home at four in the morning, she performed a cervical exam and confirmed that I was three centimeters dilated and eighty percent effaced! It was show time!

I arrived at the birth center at six am and labored well for the first seven hours. By God’s grace, I felt controlled and was utilizing everything I had spent months and months preparing for. The pain was manageable.

However, once I hit active labor at around one pm (I’m not even going to sugar coat this or act like a hero) that pain was surreal. I felt like all my control went out the window for the next 4 hours of active labor. Thank God for the strength of numbers! My husband was praying over me, the midwives and doctor were encouraging me, massaging me and ultimately trying to keep me focused. 

At this point, I was nearly ready to push. I get on all fours as the doctor said and the urge to push set in quickly. So I began pushing. That was a relief! Eventually I was told to look down between my legs and I could see a cute little booty descending and that gave me all the gumption I needed to get my baby here. I really thought I would be pushing for hours, so I was encouraged to see that she was already making head way (or “butt way” in her case ). I continued to push as instructed. At one point, I felt all this weight hanging from my vagina (her body) and I could hear my husband’s excitement because he knew the gender of our baby that we had waited nine months to find out. My husband came quickly to me and said with tears in his eyes, “We have a little Evangeline!” The name we chose for a girl if we had one. With two more big pushes, I pushed her head out, all in 10 minutes, I was told. After a brief moment, they put her between my legs and I scooped my daughter onto my chest.

Glorious. That’s the only way to describe this entire process. God is the giver of life and I magnify Him for how wonderful He was in granting this baby and the ability to do something the rest of society says is not possible! Without Jesus Christ, I could do nothing. Many thanks and appreciation to my sweet midwives and wonderful Dr. Flores, who so bravely took on this noble career. And my husband, who from the beginning to the end never doubted me. I will forever cherish this day in my heart!