Evelyn Joyce’s Birth Story
After working with a great midwife out in Tacoma for my entire pregnancy and two attempts at turning Evelyn I realized that my baby, little Evelyn, was truly breech and didn’t want to go head down. Thankfully the breech presentation that she was in is the most common and least complicated position, frank breech. Meaning that her bum was down in or close to the pelvis and her feet were up by her head, near my rib cage.
Having delivered Stetson at home naturally and knowing that I am perfectly capable of delivering a child as large as 9lbs 3oz I didn’t want to just be signed up for a cesarean. I wanted to do all that I could to get this child here naturally, without intervention as long as there were no complications.
I discovered, through a friend who delivered her first child breech, the only midwife in the state of Washington willing to deliver breech babies. The only problem was that she was in Africa until the day after my due date, August 28th. I did a lot of calling around, met with another great midwife, talked with my current midwife, looked at my hospital alternatives, prayed and hoped that this little lady wouldn’t come before a midwife willing to deliver her was committed to assisting me.
Thankfully I talked with the midwife, who was in Africa, the Monday after my due date and she assured me then that she would attend my birth and assist me with delivering my breech baby. I met with her in person for the first time two days later on Wednesday August 31st. I finally felt prepared to have this little one and comfortable with who was going to assist me. I had a midwife willing to deliver breech and I knew the risks and alternatives.
Saturday morning at 2am I woke to a very wet experience. My water had broken, which is the first thing to happen in 80% of breech deliveries. I checked the fluid, checked for a cord nothing abnormal on either account. Spencer set up our birthing tub, I cleaned up and we both tried to acquire more rest by returning to bed after that.
From approximately 3am until about 5am I breathed through contractions while remaining in bed. Spencer timed them at about 7 minutes apart and lasting 30 seconds in length. By 5am they started to intensify and I retired to our bathroom. Spencer aided me through contractions that came every 2 minutes and lasted approximately 90 seconds in length. I was feeling the urge to push at this point but knew I needed to resist due to the advice given me by my midwife to resist pushing as long as possible. Plus she wasn’t there yet and I was sure Spencer didn’t want to deliver this little baby on his own.
Somehow Spencer was able to sneak away from me and fill the pool in-between my quick contractions. He also was keeping our midwife notified of my progression and informed her that she better come quick.
I thankfully was able to get into the pool just after 5am and felt more comfortable but was not relieved of contractions in the least. Evelyn was determined to arrive. At this point I remember looking at the clock and thinking she would be here before 8am. My midwife and her two assistant midwifes arrived at about 6:15am and gave Spencer peace of mind, I’m sure.
My midwife checked for our baby’s heart beat to make sure that she was doing okay and then checked to see if I was completely dilated, I was. So that meant that I could stop resisting my urges to push and begin working with them, pushing felt much better.
As I was not able to observe the view of Evelyn coming out I will just tell you what my midwife told me. Evelyn’s bum came out just fine then as her legs came into view she rotated of her own accord so that both legs were released and then she rotated again to release her arms. After that her head came right out and I was able to hold her in the pool as we waited for her cord to stop pulsing. It seemed to take about 8 minutes for this to happen.
Holding Evelyn in my arms for the first time was amazing. She was wide eyed and very aware of everything around her. She had her mouth open and was working at breathing immediately but didn’t cry until after the cord was cut by Spencer.
I am so grateful to have had this great birth experience, for the midwifes that worked with me and for a very supportive loving husband who feels the same way I do about bringing our children into this world, at home.