The Most Important Cards

Announcing the arrival of our little girl named Sophia Lotus!

On Friday June 25th, at 38 weeks, we learned that our baby was breech after Maria did not feel the head descending into my pelvis. At our home visit, Maria suggested that I get an ultrasound and that’s when my partner and I found out our little one was breech. I was devastated but knew the mantra... Healthy mom, healthy baby. With 2 weeks left until the due date, we were determined to do everything we could to have our baby rotate so that we could proceed as planned, naturally & at home. We tried an external version at UCSF, we swam, we walked, did yoga, acupuncture and inversions. On June 28th, Sunday morning at 2am after taking a midnight walk on the beach, I was coming out of a 20 minute inversion and my water broke two days after the ultra sound and 10 days before my due date. We both immediately knew that this meant a c-section was almost inevitable.

All our fears and uncertainty about being able to do a homebirth were washed away (pun intended) and we committed ourselves to ensuring a healthy baby & mama. Maria met us at UCSF within the hour after our call to her. When I was being examined at UCSF they said it might be possible to to a vaginal breech delivery but the baby seemed over 8 lb which is the limit. Maria was very supportive during the journey and was by our side the whole time. we decided to take the lowest risk alternative which was c-section before labor began. I really wanted to feel labor at that point and this was a big disappointment. The c-section was also supported by Maria who prefaced to me that she does not advocate very often for a c-section but she thought it was a good idea for us and our situation. One disappointment was the fact that I could not have both Maria and my partner in the Operating Room at the same time, only one in at a time. For this reason, I may not have another birth at UCSF again but otherwise the experience was fine... Considering my situation.

Sophia Lotus chose the time and nature of her arrival (much like her parents...who love to do things differently than what's expected of them). She was born at 6:45 am on Sunday morning, weighing a healthy 8 lb, 14 oz. Had we tried a vaginal breech delivery it would have likely been a disaster with a much higher risk to both mama and babe. Sophia is healthy and perfect in every way.

In the end, we were not expecting a hospital delivery but we were thankful for the support we received with Maria. Through our birthing classes we were taught a very important lesson of acceptance that what we want, may not be what we get. we are super grateful that the most important cards never had to be flipped and we are delighted to welcome such a wonderful little human being into our family.

Mishka, Kima and Sophia Lotus