Breech birth story of sol Bernard

Sol was a surprise pregnancy in my 40’s. When I discovered I was pregnant, I was very booked (as a midwife) with clients, all the way up until my due date. I was worried about how I would nurture my baby and how this would affect the care I would be able to provide my clients at the end.    I take great pride in being an attentive and loving mother - and - I take great pride in being an attentive and loving midwife.  I was very concerned that I would struggle maintaining this standard (for my boys - and for the many other people that trusted me), while also somehow figuring out how to care for myself and my growing baby appropriately.     Back Story: In early 2007, I injured my pelvis so badly that I was wheelchair bound.  I was told I wouldn’t walk again without surgery.  It eventually (mostly) healed without surgery.  However, with each pregnancy that I have, that beautiful hormone “relaxin” comes out to play, and leaves me struggling for basic mobility.  So, that was definitely on my mind…

I processed this a lot internally.

If you don’t know me well, one thing about me is that I hold myself to a high standard - and the anxiety I feel is from just the idea of screwing up. So, feeling like I might let someone down really weighed on me.

I had recently decided that I would be getting an abdominal muscle repair surgery in the beginning of April 2023. It was some thing I had been wanting to do for a while and there would never be a good time. Just a month or so before Sol was conceived, I let everyone know that I would not be taking any due dates from April through August, so that I had plenty of time to heal and recover. It’s funny how that played out to be a perfect maternity leave. I knew this sweet baby was part of a plan much bigger than I could comprehend, but this excuse to not accept due dates gave me enough time to internally process this news before announcing my pregnancy publicly.

I did share with a few people pretty quickly… I got mixed feedback from complete joy, to suggesting to abort, to asking me if I knew how babies were made. It felt as if I had done something wrong and I had explaining to do. I’d never felt this in a previous pregnancy, so this was something new to navigate. Although I have been married for 22 years this year, I felt like I could empathize with a teen hiding an unplanned pregnancy from their peers.

My husband was wonderful. He was as surprised as I was. However he verbalized affirmative thoughts, reassuring me how great this late surprise was. Our children were amazing too, so excited to meet this sweet surprise baby…. their baby… our baby. We were excited to watch our family grow. Who would this darling new person be?

Eventually I shared our good news with everyone. I felt supported and loved as everyone congratulated us!

I attended so many incredible births with amazing families during his pregnancy. I often wondered how he felt, being there with us, ushering in new life, as we were also awaiting his first breaths. What sacred work!

The week before I had sweet Sol, I attended a few back-to-back very long births. Births where the mothers and families all worked so incredibly hard to bring their babies into their arms. I remember also being so tired, yet knowing he was okay inside, regardless of how I was feeling. My students were so wonderful at each birth, picking up my slack wherever and whenever they could. I was so grateful for such amazing support all around. I was so grateful for all of the families that offered me so much grace.

Once I got caught up with the last home postpartum visit that week, I reached down and rubbed my belly. I was used to patting his little bottom under my right ribs… It no longer felt the same… It was now the home to his perfect little head. My sweet baby was all of a sudden very breech.

The next week, I bobbled his little head under my right ribs multiple times a day… Yep, still there. I questioned if I should just turn him. I turn babies all of the time. My grand-multip uterus is like a stretchy mansion… if anyone had space for a baby to move, it was me. Every time I tuned into him to see about turning him, I felt a strong no. So, I let him be. I didnt feel anxious at all about his birth. I just felt ease. I did have Ruben watch several breech birth videos so he could become familiar with what that looks like. I have attended many breech births as a midwife. I have even delivered breech myself before (Triplets: Baby A), but the whole baby just came out in one contraction. There was no time to see anything. Because of that, this still felt new for them. I wanted to make sure my family felt prepared as well.

Fast forward to Saturday, March 25th… I was 38+4 weeks. I should have been preparing my home for the birth, but I was so tired and missed my boys so much… So, I didn’t. Instead of doing all of the things I should have been doing, I sat in the family room with my boys and we watched a marathon of Spider-Man movies together. It was food for our souls. They missed me as much as I missed them. We had such a great day without any interruptions.

That evening before bed, I went up to our room and decided to see if I could get into hands and knees for a good stretch. I leaned forward for just a few minutes before I had to figure out how to get up. That position was far too painful for my injured pelvis. When I awkwardly adjusted to be able to sit upright, I felt a pop… and let me tell you about the gush that followed…. There was so much fluid that all of a sudden I questioned if I had polyhydramnios (lol). The next thought I had, as his fluid was waterfalling out of me, was fear of a cord prolapse (when you know too much, you can overthink things). I called for Ruben to find a Doppler - and quick. He did. The baby sounded perfect! He had appropriate variability and a good acceleration. After listening for awhile, and the kids literally jumping for joy, I got out of bed and got cleaned up. The whole family was excited. We knew our sweet baby would be coming earthside to meet us soon!

I let a handful of people know. One included one of my dear midwife friends who had agreed to attend. I also let my mom, my students, an amazing client, another dear midwife, and the photographer know. I also needed to make some aware that I wouldn’t be available, as I was in labor. I was so grateful for everyone’s support. Once I was done messaging everyone, I decided that I had better shower and look presentable before meeting our sweet baby face to face.

When I was curling my hair after I showered, I began noticing regular, light cramps. Labor had begun. I told Ruben that it might be a good idea to buy some snacks and easy things to have for the kids since they’d be up late. Sailor sent his friends home, and off they went to the grocery store for a late night snack run.

Once they returned, it was around 11pm. Judah and Cedar were bouncing around, giddy with excitement. Isaac was quietly doing something in his room (maybe college coursework), and Sailor was helping Ruben with whatever they were up to. I was dressed in a bathrobe and some socks - passing the time - happily thinking I had hours to go. I predicted baby would come around 3-4am based on my previous labor patterns. I was still chilling happily with my light and crampy contractions. They were only 30-40 seconds long, but coming every 2 minutes. Around 11:30pm, I suggested that we go to my office. Our home was not prepped (the way I wanted) for a homebirth and all of my disposable supplies were there. So, Isaac stayed home with Judah and Cedar while me and Ruben drove the few blocks over. Sailor decided to follow us in the dark on his bicycle.

I am so happy he did!

On the short drive there, I texted Caitlin (my midwife friend) and Jordan (my photographer friend) to update them. Once we got there, we began collecting some basic supplies. I used my office doppler to listen to him. He sounded great. Sailor took a picture of me happily listening to him at 11:43pm. Not long after that, they started to intensify some.

Little did I know…that in just a few minutes and only 3 strong contractions, he would be here.

1/3: Right before midnight, I went to the toilet. I got a STRONG contraction. REALLY STRONG. It took me by surprise. Out of curiosity I yelled for Ruben to get a glove. I quickly tried checking myself. I could barely tap something high. I wasn’t sure if it was his bottom or my cervix. I just knew there was nothing descending quite yet. Ruben helped me get a clean diaper on and I stood up.

2/3: I started to walk out of the restroom when another STRONG contraction came.

I dropped to my knees….. and said, “The baby is coming!” (12:03am) I felt my body begin to heave. The fetal ejection reflex had kicked in. I recognized what was happening and knew then that I wasn’t going to make it out of that bathroom.

Sailor grabbed a stack of chux pads and slid them under me - while Ruben called Isaac and told him to get his brothers and come to my office FAST!

3/3: A few minutes later, while still on my knees on the office bathroom floor, another contraction came. This time I could feel his descent. Ruben was next to me. Sailor was in front. I could hear Isaac, Judah, and Cedar excitedly arriving. I felt complete peace and ease with my team. We were all ready to welcome our sweet baby earth-side.

****There is a video (taken by my son Sailor and later edited by Dr. Rixa Freeze for Breech Without Borders) that follows that shows what happens next (begins at 12:05am with the 3rd strong contraction)… and before you watch it, I’d like to explain so you understand. Breech babies have to make several appropriate rotations to navigate their way through the pelvis. They rump in a sacrum transverse position.. This means that their hips will come down sideways in comparison to their mothers. Then they rotate to sacrum anterior, meaning their sacrum (butt bones) rotate to my anterior (front). If they don’t make that rotation, there is a problem. Back to the video: I cant see anything. My belly is totally blocking my view. I know that baby needs to rotate, but because I can’t see anything, I keep asking if he is sideways. After Ruben tells me his back is to my front, I reach down and orient myself before intuitively helping him come (Born at 12:08am). Another thing I’d like you to be aware of before watching - is that the baby needed some ventilation breaths. He was still attached to his pulsing cord, able to get oxygen the entire time. So, even though he wasn’t breathing yet (and did need help), he wasn’t hypoxic. His heart was still beating as he was still getting some oxygenated blood through his cord (I was still breathing for him). He came around quickly and was nothing less than vigorous after.

A fifth son! He was perfect. He looked so different than our other boys. That was such a fun surprise. After discovering and looking over this perfect son of ours, and his brother telling him some great jokes, it was time to start thinking about the placenta. I decided to get off the floor and into a seated position. So, Ruben and Sailor set the birth stool up for me and helped me get onto it. I occasionally felt for his cord (with a true knot) to stop pulsing while waiting for a separation gush (which occurs when the placenta naturally comes off the wall of the uterus), and watching for cord lengthening. All of this naturally occurred about 20 minutes after his birth. I also checked my fundal height (top of uterus) for firmness and height to rule out possible hidden bleeding. It was all normal. Once we experienced these healthy signs, I encouraged him to latch to help with uterine contractions. I then gave myself some cord traction with a contraction. I was upright while gently and intentionally bearing down. It was born within moments. Once the body of the placenta was out, I asked Ruben (my husband) to help hold it up and close to my body. The amniotic sac was caught up deeper inside and I didnt want it to break away. As he held it close (so it wouldn’t pull), I gently teased the trailing amniotic sac out, ensuring it stayed intact. There are pics below showing this. Discussion about this Third Stage (Placenta Delivery) here.

We stayed there, just snuggling and enjoying one another’s company. The boys all took turns holding him. They loved him. We were there until about 6am before deciding to head home to bed. I weighed and measured him once we were home. He was surely heavier at birth, but he was about 7lbs 10oz after LOTS of pee and poop, over 6 hours after being born. After we both got a nap, I gave him a thorough examination. He was perfect!

We weren’t sure what we were going to name this sweet new person, our 5th son. But it quickly became pretty clear: Sol Bernard Ruben Schultz (Behold, a son who is as warm as the sun and as brave as a bear). Sol is the Spanish word for sun (which carries endless powerful and beautiful symbolism). Bernard is his grandfather’s name (He always holds to his truth and maintains the utmost integrity in everything he does. He also caught me as a planned unassisted home birth and fully believed in my mother’s ability to have me at home, undisturbed). Ruben is my husband’s name. He always stands with me and the many adventures we have lived together in this life.

Sol is such a bright light in our lives. None of us can now imagine our lives without him. He is such a gift.

His birth was in many ways a rebirth for me. I am so grateful for his existence and my role in his life. What an epic surprise! Our best days are ahead.

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Click the play button to watch Emily’s birth video.