A Unique Way To Enter The World
A Successful HBAC and Breech Birth
The birth of our son, Lorenzo was the most peaceful, unique birth ever that I am honored to share with my family and others.
First let me start by giving you some background information about my pregnancy. At 26 weeks we found out that our son was breech, and from that moment on that was the position that he stayed in. I tried numerous things to try and help turn him such has pelvic tilts, inversions, external cephalic version (ECV), and a chiropractor who was trained in the Webster maneuver. After all was said and done, none of these things worked to turn our son. Around 36 weeks, my midwife Chris Duffy asked me to have another ultrasound to identify what type of breech he was. At this ultrasound appointment we discovered that he was in a footling breech position. My heart sank when I heard this! Right away I called Chris to let her know the news. She said he wasn’t in the ideal position, and that she needed to call the other midwife who would be assisting Chris in the birth of our breech son at home. Ultimately, up until the day our son was born we weren’t sure if Chris or the other midwife would be comfortable enough to deliver our son at home if he was still feet first. Fortunately, none of this would matter the day I went into labor.
In the days prior (2 to be exact) to Lorenzo’s birth I was having strong contractions, Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. These contractions were so strong that I believed I was going into actual labor, unfortunately, it was not true labor. However, I do believe that all of the contractions that I was having up until he was born was the onset of early labor and my body preparing itself for the real thing.
I was 39 weeks and 1 day the morning of November 8, 2012. That morning before I went to work my husband and I decided to have intercourse to help speed things along and to hopefully put me into labor. About an hour after intercourse I began having contractions. After the first few contractions I decided to start timing the length and frequency of them. The entire drive to work, I kept thinking to myself, “maybe this is the day”. Once I got to work it had been an hour since the first few contractions had started. I debated whether or not to call Chris, but decided to wait an extra hour just in case they stopped like in the days prior. I wasn’t sure if these contractions where due to the intercourse or if this was the beginning of true labor. After the 2nd hour of consistent contractions I decided to call Chris and let her know what was going on due to the position of our son. Chris told me to keep timing them and to call her back once they became more intense and that she was going to call Holly and call me back. When she called me back, she said that both she and Holly had agreed that I should call them when they became more intense or if my water broke. I had mentioned to Chris that I thought about taking a half day of work and going home to rest and she said that it was a good idea. Chris said that I should lie down and if it was true labor the contractions would keep coming, versus if it wasn’t true labor they would slowly subside and go away.
Soon after talking with Chris the contractions started to slow down. Once again I felt let down; I felt that this was not going to be the day. I was very upset and just didn’t understand why the contractions had come so frequently in the hours past and then all of the sudden they were slowing down. At this point I had decided that I was going to finish my work day, so I text Chris, my husband, mom, and sister to let them know that the contractions had slowed down and that maybe today wasn’t the day to have a baby. Of course, they all assured me that this was my body preparing itself for labor and that he would come when he was ready. Chris could sense my frustrations through my texts, so she suggested that I come in to her office that evening so that Holly could check me. Chris felt that if Holly checked me and was able to palpate me she would have more of an idea of what position the baby was in and what was exactly was going on down stairs. I agreed to come in that evening and went on about my day as usual.
That afternoon I left work at about 4:00 pm and went to pick up my other 2 kids up from the babysitters. My husband was working till 6:30 pm that night, so I had to hurry and get home to get my son ready for his last t-ball game and try and get myself ready for my appointment with Chris and Holly. At this point I was still having contractions that would last anywhere from 45 seconds to a minute, however they weren’t coming on a consistent basis. Once we arrived home around 5:00 pm, I got my son ready for t-ball and then decided to take a bath to help me relax. After my nice hot bath and got out and dried myself off. I noticed that I had a lot of discharge coming from my vagina and just figured that this was normal because I knew it picks up towards the end of pregnancy. I didn’t think much of it and went about putting my underwear on. As I bent down to put my underwear on I felt a trickle of something wet coming down my leg. I wiped my leg and just figured it was a little pee. I then went to the bathroom and bent down again and noticed more fluid coming out of my vagina. I this point I began to think, my water had broken, so to confirm my thought I gave a little push, like I was going to pee and fluid came running out. I quickly put the towel between my legs and called my mom. I explained to her that I believed my water had broken and that fluid kept leaking from my vagina. She said that it was probably my water and that she was leaving work and coming over to my house. At this point it was about 5:40 pm. The next person I called was Chris and I told her that my water had broken. She calmly asked me to check inside my vagina to see if I could feel my son’s feet. I quickly did as she asked and was thankful to not feel any feet. Chris instructed me to lie down, so that gravity wouldn’t help move the baby down. She said she was on her way and that she was going to call Holly and ask her to meet us at my house.
I immediately went to lie down on the couch in the living room with a large bath towel between my legs. I called my mother-in-law, Dianne who lived down the street. I told her my water broke and asked if she could come to my house and help me with the kids because Charles, my husband wasn’t home yet. She of course came right over and started picking up the house and got my kids ready to take to my sister-in-laws house. The next person I called was Charles, as soon as he answered he said he needed to call me back, and I said, “No, you can’t call me back because my water just broke”, and he replied with, “Okay, I’m coming home”! As I lied on the couch I began to feel anxious because I knew there was no turning back now and that today would be the day our son was born. As I watched my mother-in-law move around the house I tried to distract myself from my emotions by watching television. While lying on the couch a had maybe 3 contractions that I had to focus and breath through. Soon after that my sister-in-law was there to get my kids and it was just Dianne and I. Shortly thereafter Chris arrived and I immediately felt at ease knowing that she was there. Chris unloaded all of her supplies and then checked me, and I was 5 cm dilated, and she said she could still feel his feet presenting. Chris went ahead and called Holly to let her know her findings. At this point I’m not sure what time it was, but I know it was dark outside. Chris told me that if Holly wasn’t comfortable delivering him that I might possibly have to go to the hospital. I told her that I wasn’t against it, as long as my son and I were safe.
The next person to arrive was Holly, and boy was I glad to see her. Holly had this very sweet, kind personality about her that I gravitated toward. She immediately came in and checked me, I was 6 cm dilated and completely effaced and his feet were still presenting. As I can remember at this point my contractions were pretty frequent and strong, but bearable. No one spoke of me going to the hospital to deliver him, so I assumed all was well and were going to move right along with the birth of our son at home. My mom and husband finally showed up and were ready to help me in any way I needed. While I was still able to walk around I went and did my Hibiclens since I was Group B positive. When I think back on this night, I barely remember seeing my husband because he was so busy setting up the birthing pool and getting all of the birthing supplies ready. However, I do remember my contractions starting to intensify and I became very uncomfortable and wasn’t sure what I position I wanted to be in to help comfort me. I remember doing things like, hands and knees, pelvic tilts, swaying from side to side and back massages. All I wanted was for the pool to be ready so that I could get in it. I’ve never experienced laboring in water, so I was very excited about this and had high hopes that it would comfort me.
Finally the pool was ready and as soon as I got into the pool my contractions kicked into high gear. All of the sudden they became very painful and I felt like I was losing it. I remember my mom staring me in my highs and telling me to breathe and relax during the contractions and to let my body move with the contractions. My mom made me focus and helped me through each of those strong contractions, I am very thankful for her. While I was in the water Holly decided to check me again since I was in so much pain. She said I was 9cm and that the baby was low. I remember saying to them, “How much longer, I just want him out of me”! Chris and Holly kept telling me not to push and that I needed to let my body do the pushing on its own. I kept thinking to myself, they are crazy, how am I supposed to not push when that’s all I want to do? I remember panting like a dog helped me to focus my attention on that so that I wouldn’t feel the urge to push. I’m not sure how much time had passed but I finally said, “I feel like pushing”, so Holly checked me again and said I was 10 cm and she said I could start giving little grunt like pushes when I had a contraction. Let me tell you that this was the best feeling in the world, however after 2-3 contractions and me giving little pushes I was frustrated. I really believed that he was going to be here after those pushes, who was I kidding! To help put my mind at ease Holly and Chris told me that within 10 contractions I would be able to meet our son. I held on to this piece of information as I went through each contraction. Finally after a 2-3 more contractions they told me to insert my fingers into my vagina and that I would be able to feel my son’s feet. I quickly did, and to my amazement I could feel his little feet. This was the most amazing, exhilarating feeling ever and gave me the boost of adrenaline I needed to continue on!
The pool soon became very uncomfortable for me, so I moved from the pool to a squatting position. My husband was supporting my weight and holding me up while I squatted on the floor. I remember looking around me and seeing all of my support team and a peaceful, quiet environment to bring our son into. With each contraction I pushed with all my might and gave it all I had. I envisioned that with each contraction my son was moving down through the birth canal and finally into my arms. While I was pushing the midwives said, “Put your hands down here, you can feel his feet”. I remember being able to feel his little feet on the edge of my vagina, just needing a little more push to get them completely out and free. Everyone around me was so overjoyed with excitement at seeing his feet and they kept pushing me on and telling me he is almost here. Finally with one good push I birthed his feet and I immediately felt a huge relief. I looked down and saw his feet and then with more pushing I birthed his legs. I remember looking down and seeing his little legs and feet just dangling there. It was the neatest thing to see. I kept pushing as hard as I could and for as long as I could until his butt was birthed. As I peered down at his body the neatest thing began to happen, he started turning and wiggling his body so that he was in the right position to birth the rest of his body. Before I knew it I birthed his back, and then Holly came in to assist in birthing his shoulders and arms. At that point I knew the end was in site and all of the sudden I became extremely tired and exhausted. I remember laying my head on my husband’s shoulder and the midwives saying, “You have to keep pushing and push hard so you can deliver his head”. All I wanted to do was pass out and sleep, but I knew I had to give to my all at this point. So I mustered all of the energy I could and pushed long and hard even though I wasn’t having a contraction so that I could free him, and with some assistance from Holly my son’s head was delivered. Lorenzo Brice was born at 8:52 pm, just roughly over 3 hours from when my water broke. Lorenzo was quickly placed in my arms and I remember him looking at me and me looking at him and saying, “Its okay son, mommy is here!” He cried but not for very long, he was alert and looking around and the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen.
My birth experience was the most wonderful, unique, and peaceful birth I’ve ever experienced and I will forever always remember it! Thank you Chris and Holly for giving me this wonderful experience and for believing in myself and yourselves in that you could deliver my footling breech son! You ladies will always be in my heart!