This birth was always promised to me. When we lost our second baby boy early in pregnancy in November of 2020, I told Yahweh that I was trusting Him with my womb and all the lives to come from it, and that with our next child I would fully trust in Him to guide and lead my pregnancy and birth. After an unnecessary and traumatic cesarean with the birth of our first child, my heart’s desire was to return fully to the design God created for birth, and to fully immerse in a natural and intervention-free pregnancy and birth experience completely led by Him. Yahweh is good and the giver of gifts - and I was given this birth experience in the most beautiful way.
I was given her name even before her creation. Rebekah meaning secured, was one of the Biblical matriarchs most known for her unquestioned trust in the plan of Adonai, and her willingness to go where He led. When we found out we were expecting, I knew in my heart this was Rebekah, our secure promise and that Yahweh would unquestionably be leading this journey.
Through a complicated series of events in securing prenatal care, which I know was the hand of God completely leading me away from those who would rob me of this birth-gift, I was placed miraculously with what I believe to be the BEST and most skilled, knowledgeable pregnancy care & birth team to exist. I can’t begin to express my awe, gratitude, and respect for each of them, and my thankfulness to Yeshua for placing me in the care of a Spirit-filled and led birth team.
Monday August 30th, 2021:
Braxton Hicks contractions were not a new experience by this point. It had been happening for many weeks, and they were fairly strong and uncomfortable on a regular basis. I woke up this day and immediately threw up at 7:30am. In the back of my mind I wondered if it could be the beginning of labor, by mostly I just was thinking I was getting a stomach bug. As with all the days before, I had random and drawn out Braxton Hicks all day, with nothing consistent. I went about my day, resting ‘just in case’ and didn’t think much about it.
My water broke that night as soon as we laid down for bed, at 10:38pm. I told My husband my water had just broken, but he was sure I probably peed myself. I called doula and midwife to let them know, and Hannah (my midwife) had me use a swab from my birth kit to test the fluid and sure enough, it WAS my waters. We let our parents know, and then went to bed and waited for things to get going while we tried to get some sleep. I had some contractions through the night. Things got very consistent at 10 minutes apart, then 8 and 7 minutes apart, then back to 10, from 12a-4:30a, then completely stalled out and stopped. I was thankful for the break and took it as a sign my body was resting to store energy for the main event.
Tuesday, Aug 31, 2021
When I woke up things were still at a standstill. I started doing spinning babies/miles circuit exercises when I got up, which are a combination of stretches and positional rotations that can help to get baby in exactly the right position for birth. I did some curb walking, and contractions picked back up around 10 minutes apart. Adam had went to work that morning but came home at lunch because things seemed to be picking up and Hanna, my doula, was going to be coming over shortly to see how things were progressing. I had a chiropractor appointment to have one more adjustment and just make sure everything was in the right alignment for baby’s arrival as well.
At this point I was doing all the things - using the birthing ball, doing inversions, walking, etc and things were just stop/start all day. That evening around 6pm my midwives decided to come and check on me, because now we were nearing the 24 hour mark after my waters had broken and she wanted to get things moving along. We did more inversions, curb walking again, etc and nothing was happening. I would have contractions while curb walking especially, but when I stopped or changed position the contractions faded. Not a thing. So when it was close to 9pm, everyone decided to head home in case things picked up overnight. My midwife left me with herbal infection preventatives as well as Vitamin C drink, and I started those right away. She also left caster oil to be used the following day as a ‘last alternative’. We made a plan to check in by morning and my midwives and doula went home to rest.
Truthfully,I was extremely frustrated with the situation and how things were going, and I was getting very exhausted from the constant start-stop of pretty intense contractions, as well as my own mental state wondering why on earth this was taking so long. At one point I just swore I would be pregnant and in labor forever and she was never going to come out. Though there was no cause for concern, I realized that even though I didn’t have clear cut vision or expectations for my birth, I DID expect an 18 hour timeframe at most and I knew I needed to let go of that and go with the flow if I wanted things to progress as they should.
Everyone left, and we all went to bed. More of the same through the night. I tried to sleep between contractions, but I was so tired that I couldn’t sleep well. At some point in the middle of the night I had a couple hour stretch with no contractions so I was able to sleep solid then, and that helped so much.
**It’s important to note that there is absolutely nothing wrong with a long labor. This was not a complication or concern. It’s not a complication, or a problem for the vast majority of cases. It’s a VARIATION OF NORMAL! Birth is full of variations because birth is not a carbon copy experience for every woman. There is no step by step instructional manual for how birth should look. Variations of normal ARE normal! **
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
We got up the next morning, I checked in with my birth team, and we decided to start the caster oil and see if that would do anything. Caster oil is NOT pleasant, but if you hide it in a milkshake it’s totally doable. My mom took our son out for the day because I was too distracted by him being home to allow my body to get in the flow. I had wanted him to be here for the birth so badly, to have the birth be a family experience, but as it turns out it’s hard to relax and meet your new baby when you’re busy mom-ing your other kids. At least it was for me. So for awhile it was just my husband and I at home while I contracted off and on, nothing still really happening. The caster oil had given me some strong contractions but there was no pattern or consistency at all. My doula, Hanna, came in the early afternoon to be with me and try to help things move along. We did spinning babies, curb walking, the Miles circuit, and around 2pm I finally had some STRONG contractions, by far the strongest I’d had up to this point. But they were still spaced out - 10 minutes apart, 7 minutes apart, etc. Then, boom. It was like a storm broke. Hard and quickly, contractions began rolling in at 3 minutes apart and these were by far the most intense I’d experienced yet. After almost exactly half an hour, they were 1:30-2 minutes apart consistently, and more intense with every one.
By this time, my midwives had arrived and we knew it was go time. Hannah, my midwife began to talk with me, and what she said changed not only my mindset but the trajectory of my birth experience. She is a very in-tune, anointed woman and her sensitivity to the Ruach, the Holy Spirit, is what I believe put my birth on track to the supernatural. She had been praying for me and my baby while driving to our home, and she felt the Ruach impress on her that my baby was breech, and that was the reason for my labor pattern (as well as vomiting that Monday morning; we believe she spontaneously flipped after being head down for the last several months.) She asked if she could check me to confirm baby’s position, and though cervical checks/vaginal exams are not her standard practice, we both felt the situation made it necessary to know for sure. She checked me and sure enough, not only was baby surprise breech (upside down) but we confirmed her as posterior (backwards) as well. Our work was cut out for us!
**Many people have been shocked that I continued at home and had a very successful vaginal delivery with a breech baby. I believe that’s because as a society, we view breech as an emergency. It is not. It’s not even a complication, provided your team is trained and knowledgeable in the delivery of a breech baby. Being breech is yet just another variation of normal! A provider that tells you you “have to have a c-section because your baby is breech” is lying to you. What they mean is they do not know how to vaginally deliver a breech baby, and it’s easier for them for you to undergo major surgery to accommodate their lack of training. I have no doubt that had I been in a hospital, or even with a lesser skilled and not Spirit-led midwife, my delivery would have ended in another cesarean and I would have severe trauma to unpack all over again. But Yahweh is good, and His design for birth is perfect as is His entire creation. I don’t say this to boast, but I truly had no fear or hesitation on hearing the term ‘breech’. Complete peace was resting on my labor thus far, and I had no doubt that Yeshua was to remain my deliverer in this birth. So, we remained steadfast with the task at hand. **
Not long after this, contractions were about 1 minute apart lasting for almost 1 minute, and my body wasn’t getting much of a break in between. I believe this is where I began to go through transition, things felt like they couldn’t possibly get any more intense and with contractions back to back, I was consumed with the task of managing my breathing and vocalizing. Needless to say, I was not a quiet birther the way I’d hoped to be. Finally it was time to get in the pool, and the relief the water brought was HEAVENLY. (So much so, in fact, that I eventually had to get out to be fully engaged in pushing). I labored several hours in the pool, and I’ll never have another birth without one. I was a believer in water labor before, but experiencing it yourself is truly next level. I wasn’t thrilled about not getting my water birth - BUT God had a plan. While in the water, I had a minor cervical lip that my midwives skillfully and quickly resolved by putting me in a position to move the baby out from behind it, and after three contractions in this position it was no longer there.
The time from then to near the moment of birth is fuzzy. I labored a long time in the water, which was such a relief to the back labor I was experiencing, and much of the time was spent immersed in my worship playlist and hearing the sounds of birth work around me. I was given sips of water, honey for energy and strength, being prayed and spoken over with authority and reminders of where our Help is. At one point as I labored, the whole room wept and worshipped as the Ruach moved through a song playing. (This is what would be her birth song.) The contractions were so strong now even in the water my AMAZING doula, in whom the Lord found for me a best friend to work and do life with, plunged into the pool with me to give me hip compression throughout them. Shoutout to Hanna, she wins the gold medal for labor support this round!
When I got out of the water, we tried several different pushing positions without any luck. She was presenting labia first due to her posterior position, so there was a lot of effort required to work her into the right angle to begin to come through. I can’t find the words to describe how my body felt towards the last section of time in the pushing stage, but if you’ve done it...you just know. It was at this point her birth song began to play, and I knew it was almost time. The Lord had impressed in my heart many months before that this would be the song we would meet our daughter to, and I’d listened to it dozens of times through my pregnancy and sang it over her. It became a source of worship moments filled with peace and strength, and when it began to play then it ushered in the Spirit with a blanket of peace.
You can listen to it here:
As we all worshipped and I pushed, our daughter began her entrance into the world. Her posterior position flipped halfway through delivery, so she turned herself mid exit and it’s amazing to see on the video. Her buttocks first, then one leg and the other, torso, arms straight down and shoulders together, then her head. I’ll be forever thankful the first sounds she heard were a room full of worship and me speaking the Shema over her. Due to her position, she was very stunned upon exit and came out essentially asleep and was not wanting to wake or draw breaths through her nose, so stimulation and a homeopathic was applied to rouse her. This took several minutes and out of precaution, EMS was called so that if things became emergent, they would already be there to take over. This seems scary if you didn’t know what was going on, and our neighbors were definitely concerned and prayed for us as they waited to see how things were. (We love and appreciate them!) After those several minutes of stimulation, baby girl was awake and alert and ready for skin to skin!
**it’s important to note that never at any time was our daughter in any distress, nor was this an emergency situation. If it had been, we would have taken the necessary steps and proceeded to a hospital for emergency assistance. But because we did not immediately clamp or cut her cord, she was still drawing all the oxygen she needed from the placenta. Delayed cord clamping is beneficial in a plethora of ways, and this is one of them. The placenta is still viable long after delivery and capable of supporting baby for quite some time. She never had deceleration in any way, and her heart rate and breaths were absolutely fantastic- BECAUSE she was being supported by the placenta while we stimulated her to being outside the womb. If a provider tells you they can’t delay cord clamping, it’s dangerous, or some other insane claim, they’re lying. Know yours and baby’s rights, and do your research for the birth you want. The benefits are astounding. You can learn more about delayed cord clamping here: https://www.birthsongbotanicals.com/.../benefits-of... **
The Golden Hour(s) were phenomenal. She was so alert, looking around taking everything in and turning her head when she heard us speak. She latched and we nursed right away, and she was so content through all her checks and weighing. And so Rebekah Leigh was born VBAC, (vaginal birth after cesarean) HBAC, (home birth after cesarean) surprise frank breech/posterior (with only a minor superficial 1” tear for me!) 7lbs 8oz, 21” long and a full head of dark hair. 47 hours of labor, 6 hours of hard, active labor, and 2.5 hours of pushing - our sweet baby girl was here at last!
Thank you to my phenomenal midwives (Hannah & Amber) and my amazing doula. I will never be able to repay you. Special thanks to my sweet friend Sierra for capturing this birth for us, and for doing it so perfectly! Thank you to my mom for watching Ethan while I delivered his new sister, and to my brother and soon-to-be sister in law for helping set up the birth pool with Adam and for managing the massive leak that it caused in our downstairs bathroom! Thank you to my husband, who’s an incredible labor partner and my daily source of inspiration in this parenting life together. And thank you to all our family friends for the support and prayers along this incredible journey!
When I would pray about her birth, I asked God very specifically to form my birth experience in such a way that I would know beyond a shadow of a doubt, from my own experience, that the birth process WORKS. That our bodies work as perfectly as they were created to. Undisturbed, intervention free, that I would see His design for deliverance in its fullness. I am beyond blessed to have had this prayer answered.
“When Elisheva heard Miryam’s greeting, the baby in her womb stirred. Elisheva was filled with the Ruach HaKodesh and spoke up in a loud voice, “How blessed are you among women! And how blessed is the child in your womb! Indeed you are blessed, because you have trusted that the promise Adonai has made to you will be fulfilled.”
Luke 1:41-42 & 45