My son’s beautiful birth story

This is not just a story of my son’s birth. It’s also a story of God being present. When I first began telling others this story, the title was different. The title was the story of my son’s traumatic birth. And when we regularly call something a name, it becomes a reality.

I had in my mind for the longest time that I had a traumatic birth story. I lived, breathed, and dreamt this idea. Until one day, as I told my story out loud, my perception changed. This story is now about my beautiful birth story, a story of how God was present in my life, and how it all happened the way it was supposed to.

I was very lucky to have an overall easy pregnancy. I worked out, walked, ate healthy, and really enjoyed being pregnant. Well, that was until week 36 crept up on me. My ultrasounds were great, and at 35 weeks pregnant, my OB told me that the baby was head down and engaged. WOW! Engaged, I mean I guess he is ready to come and make an appearance I thought. When I went into my last 36-week ultrasound, I went in happily and excited, excited to see my baby whom I would come to meet in the next few weeks! When I lay down in the ultrasound room, the tech asked me a wild question. She asked, “Do you have a c-section planned’? I almost laughed and looked at her, and said no. She then began to tell me how my baby was breech”.

Breech at 36 weeks, how is this even possible when he was just engaged a week before? I held in my tears, as this is the last thing I wanted to hear, the last thing I wanted to cross my mind before having a baby. I was such an “I am going natural” girl, and even after hearing all the stories of other women telling me, I need to let go and what will be will be. I thought, no, God created me to have a baby naturally, and I will do all I can do to have that natural birth. What’s the golden saying? God laughs when we make plans? Well, let me tell you, God got a kick out of my plans. My OB then came in and as I was still trying to hold in my tears, she said she is going to be on vacation during my C-section and if I was OK with having another doctor do the surgery. In my mind, I was freaking out. I was told awful stories about c-sections and now I am about to have one? I read all the Google things saying how my baby won’t feel connected to me. I will lose the skin-to-skin time at delivery. My baby will have health issues later in life. I did it, I went down the Instagram and Google train and now wish I had never boarded it.

Once I got home, and began the denial process, I started looking up all the things to help flip my baby. I thought, people have done it, and I have some time, so I am going to make this happen! I would spend my days sitting in a warm bath and would put an ice pack on where my baby’s head was. I did all of the spinning exercises and lost a lot of sleep. When I should have been resting and sleeping and trying to relax in the last weeks, because let’s be honest postpartum lack of sleep, no one prepares you for. I was panicking internally. I would be up at 2AM in tears, in fear. At 37 weeks, one evening, I was getting up from using the bathroom, (I know, so glamorous) I felt a huge pain in my stomach. I cried in pain and ran over to my husband to tell him. I didn’t know what had happened, but In the back of my mind, I thought, did he turn?

I went in for my 38-week appointment. I told my OB what had happened and I thought that he turned. My OB felt the baby and continued to tell me she “thought” he was breech still. Fast forward to week 39, when I go back to the OB because now you basically live there, so it seems. I went to do an NST, and it came back that there were a few decels. (I blame it on the nurse helping, messing up the machine) But of course, OB wants a safe birth, as do I, so we get sent to the hospital. At the hospital, they run some tests, and then I am told I need to have an ultrasound. As I am preparing, my husband tells the nurse that the baby is breech and I am upset about it. We go into the room, and I lay down for the ultrasound. The nurse looks at me and says, your baby is head down. EXCUSE ME? Did I hear her correctly? Yep, the baby’s head is DOWN.

The week my doctor was on vacation and I was supposed to have my planned c-section, I met with a midwife, Michelle. (now she is going to become very important to this story, so don’t forget her) Michelle told me how things would happen in the hospital, explained everything, was so kind and we got along great! She also was a delivery nurse, so I asked her which days she was at the hospital so maybe she would be there to deliver my baby. I chose a practice where my doctor would not deliver my baby, but would be consistent in my prenatal care. Anyway, Michelle was amazing, and I hoped to see her in the hospital. I thought, wow, hard work and miracles do come true. (as yes they do) Now for the rest of my pregnancy, I get to relax, sleep, and await the arrival of my new baby boy! That was, until 40.5 weeks came, tons of false labor and no baby! That’s right, this story is only beginning.