And here is our story...
So around 4:15pm on Friday, I realized that I was having some fairly consistent contractions so I started writing them down. About an hour and a half or so later I called my best friend and I called my midwife and let them know what was going on. I was worried it was still false labor because I've always lost my mucous plug first and hadn't yet. I ended up losing my mucous plug about 30 mins, I think, after I had called them. When I did, my kids and I went about setting up the pool and making sure everything was all set to go. My midwife showed up around 9 or 9:30, I think. That's when I started getting into a more active labor. My best friend showed up about 11:15 and my midwife checked me to see if she could feel a bum or a foot. My bag was bulging, though, so she couldn't. I was 8cm at that time, so we all thought it wouldn't be too long. I had a short labor with ds1. I labored on the toilet, kneeling beside my bed, standing, and in the pool. I don't remember when hard labor hit, but it was intense. It was made worse by the fact that I was super tired since I woke up at 6:15 or so on Friday morning and I hadn't had a nap. Thankfully I was able to nap between contractions at some point. I did reach a point, because for me things seemed to be taking a long time, where I felt like I was failing and I lost focus. Thankfully I had a great team there to bring me back and remind me to listen to my body. At 4:58 or so my water finally broke. I felt like that's what we'd been waiting for all that time. The first contraction after that hit me really hard, and I had a fight or flight reaction, but I was brought back to focus very quickly by my team. I was just so tired! My son was fully out at 5:04. First his bum came out, then his legs came out together, followed by one arm. When the second arm came out his head popped right on out too. I'm a really good pusher, from what I've been told. It did feel like fire a little bit, but it was also amazing. I reached down to catch him. He did have the cord wrapped around, but we got it off as soon as I had him up to my chest. He had no bruising. No troubles coming out. Nothing. It was awesome. He hasn't held his legs up at all like they were in the womb. He does have the breech baby football head, which I think is really cute. As soon as he was born I had him against my chest for skin to skin and within probably 10 mins I had delivered the placenta and was working on nursing. Another amazing thing is, I didn't tear. After he was born the family came in to meet him. They'd all been sleeping. It was just beautiful and wonderful. I'm so thankful that it turned out as perfectly as it did and that my body was allowed to work they way it was built to. That my son is here and has had no issue or anything. I was a breech baby too, and my mom's only c-section. Although, I was also a stargazer. This little one, thankfully, wasn't.
Breech doesn't have to be scary or dealt with surgically. It's just an alternative to the head down position. As long as you have faith, take good care of your mind and body, educate yourself, and have an educated, supportive team, breech birth is just as safe as a non-breech. My son is evidence of that.
