Many of those who have given birth before speak of redemptive births. One where the birth has been a path both chosen and walked by them, as opposed to a previous birth that felt out of control or just not what was planned or wished for. Well, Amanda got her joyous home birth after cesarean here and I know that you will very much enjoy reading it.

My water broke Thursday October 7th (40+1 weeks) at 8:04pm. I had been having bits of prodromal Labor for a couple of weeks. I had just come downstairs from Breastfeeding Malakai to sleep. Cayman had been kicking a lot. I peed and then went to get a snack. From the time it took me to get from the bathroom to the kitchen my shorts were already soaked. I went back to the bathroom and saw it was clear and kept coming. I called my midwife (Tiffany) and doula (Tara) to give them a heads up and then got a snack and went to bed.

I woke up around 12:30am with contractions about 5 minutes apart and then had Jeff call Tara around 1:30am. During that early part of Labor her light touch and massage inbetween contractions got me to relax and almost fall asleep. Jeff started filling the birth pool because I had lectured him earlier on how it was his job to make sure it was ready in time. Labor kept progressing smoothly and we called my Tiffany around 7am. My 3yo also woke up at that time and came on our bed and cuddled a bit. We had been preparing him for birth since 1st trimester and he was excited. He was so in tune with the ebbs and flows of my Labor.

Tiffany arrived and checked all vitals and everything was good. She checked Caymans position because he had been flipping back and forth and he was head down at that time. After, I got up to pee and during the next contraction Tara did a hip squeeze as I leaned over the dresser. Then Cayman started moving a lot and Labor stalled. We think that's when he flipped breech.

Throughout the day I ate (honeysticks were life), went for walks, took naps, and did some spinning babies and miles circuit. Malakai breastfed a few times throughout the day. Tiffany started a homeopathic regiment and kept checking vitals every 2 hours and everything was good. We never did cervical checks but based on the purple line we figured I was around 6cm when Labor stalled. Tiffany and Tara took a little break to get some rest and see their families. My contractions remained strong but inconsistent around every 7-10 minutes.

Around 12:30am the next night/morning I entered transition and called Tara. On her way back I got in the shower contractions were strong, powerful and fast but never painful. When she arrived she had me get out of the shower and called Tiffany who stayed on speaker phone as she burned rubber getting to my house. I had a strong urge to squat and push. They had me down on all 4s butt in the air panting like a dog until she arrived.

She checked vitals and then I got in the birth pool which was the most amazing feeling ever! Malakai stayed right next to the birth pool the whole time. He really wanted to catch his baby brother. Tara's daughter Katelyn held Malakai in her lap and took all the amazing pictures! They're best friends now! Tara used her fan to keep me cool in between contractions. The room was steamy after adding boiling water to the birth pool! I ended up pushing slow and steady for 3 hours allowing my perineum to stretch and Cayman to descend.

When Caymans butt started coming out Tiffany confirmed with a flashlight and then took my hands and said ok Amanda your baby is breech. I was like ok cool we got this. She called an elder midwife to help support her virtually and ems as a precaution. After the next contraction we flipped me onto my knees. Most of his body was born in the pool and I stood up to birth his head and let gravity help. More like Tiffany used her serious midwife voice and told me to get out of the pool this way and I did. He was born at 4:36am. He needed a little bit of help breathing but his resuscitation was so calm. He stayed on my chest, cord kept in tack, I held his hand, and talked to him.

Malakai stayed awake and by my side the whole time and didn't fall asleep until I had showered post birth and got in bed with him to nap. I finally had my dream HBAC after Malakai's preventable traumatic emergency C section! Only thing I'd change in the future is teaching Malakai about breech birth so he can catch because he still talks about catching babies weekly!

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