Speaker 0
Welcome to the Free Birth Podcast, a supportive space for people who are learning, exploring, and celebrating their autonomous choices in childbirth. Together, we'll unpack truths, share personal stories, and claim our ability to birth freely and intuitively. Here's your host, Emilee Saldaya.
Speaker 1
Do you know it's your calling to become an authentic midwife? Do you dream of attending women in birth? Have you felt frustrated trying to be a birth worker in the system? Are you looking for a better way to walk with women in total integrity, supporting mother led physiological birth? Are you dreaming of building a thriving, profitable business as a birth coach? Well, we are thrilled to announce that enrollment for our radical birth keeper school is now open. Classes begin June first, so head over to our website and get the details. The time is now, and we need you to join us in this birth revolution. W w w dot radical birthkeeper school dot com.
Speaker 2
Today, I have my friend Simone, who tells us the story of her first baby who was born free outside under a tree in Mexico. Simone came to choose free birth from watching her own cat give birth and tells us how it all began with the thought, if a cat can do it, I can too. And so she did. Yay. This is, for me, a very long awaited episode to be bringing to be bringing into the world because, as I was saying before we started recording recording that you, Symone, have one of my most favorite birth stories.
Speaker 3
Thank you.
Speaker 2
And, for a little backstory, I'll say that, it's kinda cute how you and I met because you hit me up on Instagram. Right?
Speaker 3
Mhmm. Yeah.
Speaker 2
Yeah. And you had had a free birth in Mexico, which we're about to talk about, and you were in Colorado, and we went for a nice long walk and spent the day together, and and that was the start of our friendship. Yeah. It was so great.
Speaker 3
It was awesome.
Speaker 2
It was last winter, wasn't it?
Speaker 3
Yeah. It was roughly around this time.
Speaker 2
Because it was cold.
Speaker 3
Yeah.
Speaker 2
Yeah. We walked around that lake. Yeah. Yeah. Alright. Cool. So let's just go to where I usually where I usually invite women to start, which is take me to wherever you want, to start. When you when I when I ask the story when I ask the question, where does your mothering journey begin? What's like, the part of your life that pops up into your head?
Speaker 3
Well, I feel like I mean, I wasn't really thinking about anything pregnancy, birth. I honestly wasn't even thinking about, having a baby, you know, or that wasn't my mindset maybe eight years ago or so. I think what started was, I guess my journey of researching what pregnancy, birth, labor started when my really close dear friend of mine got pregnant, around eight years ago. And, for me, it's like I love to research everything. Like, I wanted to know everything. I wanted to support her. And in doing so, I had to kinda know a little bit about what it's all about. You know? Like, just the craft of it. So that kinda led me into this journey of, like, researching what birth and labor was about. And, I I watched this documentary, The Business of Being Born, years back. I probably have different opinions about it now. I haven't seen it. Right. Totally. But at least at that point, I was this is eight years ago, so I was, like, twenty two, twenty three. And, so I I watched it, and I was like, dude, there's different ways of birthing than just a hospital birth. And from that moment, I knew that if I were to have a child, I would not step foot in a hospital. It was just I knew that that wasn't the right choice for me. I didn't know whether I'm gonna have a free birth. Like, all that stuff wasn't, like, wasn't, like, I wasn't thinking about that, obviously, because I wasn't pregnant at that time, but I just knew that I didn't want a free birth. Oh, and I'm sorry. A hospital birth. And so I guess that led me to, where I'm at now, where, I was pregnant. I got pregnant, and that's when I started researching again. So from the moment where I'm like, my friend got pregnant till when I was pregnant, that's eight years apart, I wasn't really thinking about it. I knew, like, I you know, I was, like, researching, but, like, it kinda, like, faded off a little bit, and I wasn't that important or relevant to me until I got pregnant.
Speaker 2
And when you were pregnant, were you already living in Mexico?
Speaker 3
No. I was actually in Ohio, in Mex in in Ohio. Yeah. When I got pregnant. And then so when I got pregnant, the first thing was like, oh, yeah. I was so excited. I was like, oh, I'm gonna have my mom there. We're gonna look at midwives. You know, like, I I knew I would didn't want a hospital birth, but I wanted a home birth. So I was like, oh, my mom can come. She had two babies. She knows what's going on. And I was so excited about it. But then after, like, really thinking about it and realizing that I'm such a people pleaser that I would would like to please her or please everybody who is involved other than myself or at least take care of them, making sure they're okay. I won't be focusing on myself. Wow. And that was the most important thing. It was that I this is my chance to have the right birth, and this is my only chance to have the birth that I want. So I can't have I can't be nurturing and helping or trying to please somebody when, I'm doing something that it's a once in a lifetime chance. You know what I mean? So at that point, I was like, okay. Well, I have to reevaluate this. I have to understand where I'm coming from. And so that led me to do to researching about how can I birth and what steps or what other ways I can birth?
Speaker 2
So how did free birth even get on your radar?
Speaker 3
Free birth went came into me by okay. So, while I was pregnant, we looked at midwives, and I emailed a midwife, and we met up with her. And we chatted. We had, like, the typical, you know, conversations and the concerns and everything. I was just seeing if she resonated with me and whatnot. And so what really stood out to me is that she said that she's a very hands off midwife. She kinda allows the mother to do what she wanted to do, and she's there as, like, support and help in in case there's an emergency. Right? So after the, meeting with the midwife, I came home and I was like, well, what's the point of having a midwife? You know? If she's gonna be hands off, you know, like, I can do it myself. And I'm so such, like, a controlling type of person. On top of that, I would like to, you know, do it on my own because I I'm so controlling.
Speaker 2
Well, I guess the I I guess the idea is hands off midwife, and then unless you're one of those, you know, rare women that actually you or your baby needs help or support, obviously, the thinking then is that there's an experienced person there to step in, you know?
Speaker 3
But Yeah.
Speaker 2
As we know, that that's not really how it plays out.
Speaker 3
Yeah. And and maybe she was the midwife for the I needed to meet firsthand in order to build my confidence of being a complete, you know, free birth control of my birth. So when she said that, I was like, okay. Well, there's really no need for her to be there in case there is an emergency. So my next step would be that, okay. Gotta research what may go wrong and what may happen. And so I'm going through all this list of things that may go go long and what may happen. And, and a lot of the things that I was researching is pretty rare. And it doesn't happen all that often unless you're, you know, completely unhealthy and and, you know, not in tune with your body. So so, yeah, I didn't
Speaker 2
But even but even then, complications are still very rare.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2
You know?
Speaker 3
And, so so I wasn't yeah. I wasn't really thinking too much of it because I knew, like, we, as a society, wouldn't be here with, you know, without this, I guess, instinct of birthing, you know, this thing like, I'm I'm a woman. I know that I this is what I'm supposed to do, really. You know? So so, yeah, that went, so the the night that I, I met up with a midwife, I came home, I started researching, and and I I guess I came onto a blog or, like, I don't exactly know how I got there, but I was maybe writing, like, unassisted birth or, like, birth without midwives or things like that. And I led it that led me to your podcast and any birth podcast. And as I listened to all these stories, I was like, this is what it's meant to be. Yeah. This is how it should be. This is how I would love my book to be. I am in complete control of what I needed to do, and I trust myself, and I'm confident in myself. And I am a quite stubborn person. So when I made that decision that I wanted a completely unassisted autonomous free birth, that's it. You know? And prior to all this, I didn't tell anybody. I told my partner that, I didn't wanna tell anybody about my pregnancy until I made a decision of how I wanted to birth Because I didn't I wanted to make that decision on my own, and I didn't want other people to, you know, come in with their opinions, and their thoughts on how I should live and what not. I knew that I needed to make my own decision decisions, by myself. And so when I made that decision, that's been you know, I was probably, like, three and a half, four months long along. And that's when I, you know, started telling everybody that we were pregnant. But I I, yeah, I wanted not I didn't want anybody to have a opinion, I guess. I was kinda self Yeah. Totally.
Speaker 2
So how how did your partner feel and respond to this this decision that you made?
Speaker 3
He was for it. He was definitely for it. He's always really supportive of the decision I made. And partly because and people I get what like, my people get people laugh at me and, like, roll their eyes when I tell them this, but, like, in the midst of me researching and being pregnant, my, cat was pregnant and had seven kittens by herself. And that totally inspired me. I was like, a cat I guess. A cat can do this. Like, we came downstairs. Like, we knew she was pregnant. We I set her up with a birth box, you know, with little comfy towels and whatnot. And Aw. All of a sudden, we heard little kittens cry. You know? And we came down, and she already birth two or three kittens already without, like, anybody there. You know? So, like, if a cat who we raised, by the way, bottle fed because her mother abandoned her, and we had her, at least one no more than two weeks old. So she was very domesticated. She, like, she thought she was human. So for a cat that was completely, domesticated, that she had this instinct to birth on her own freely was a big, like, woah. Like, this you know, like, if the cat can do it, I can do it. And that was really disappointing to me.
Speaker 2
Oh, it's so good.
Speaker 3
And it's silly to think about that. And I I tell people that, and I get just, like, eye wails and and, you know, just giggles and laughs about that. But, like, it's true. Like, all animals do that, you know?
Speaker 2
Right. People don't want to remember that we're animals.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Exactly. We are animals. So yeah. So that's that's part of, like, my decision to have a free birth is because of my cat.
Speaker 2
Mhmm.
Speaker 3
And so, so yeah. So
Speaker 2
Okay. So then yeah. What do you do with your pregnancy? And I know at some point you go to Mexico. When when does that happen in your pregnancy?
Speaker 3
Probably around four months or so. We have some family drama. I won't get into
Speaker 2
into it, but, that kinda, like,
Speaker 3
led and pushed us to Mexico. We went to Mexico two years prior to us going there for when I was pregnant, and we fell in love with the city, San Miguel de Allende, and we completely just was in love with the city. And we kept talking about it. We brought it up several times. And, when that family drama kinda pushed us away a little bit, we were like, what the heck? Let's just go to Mexico and figure it out. We always wanted to go. We always wanted to possibly live there. So we were like, why not? Let's just go and see. And, so we went there, and I really didn't do any of my pregnancy, to be honest. I was like, my own doula I'm a herbalist, so I drank a lot of tea, like, nourishing, high mineral tea every single day. I ate really good. I that was my prenatal, really. I was just, like, me taking care of myself. I did yoga in the morning. I took it easy, took naps, went out for walks and hikes and sunbathe. And I guess the push to Mexico really helped that, you know, because in the States, I wasn't able to do that. I mean, I did yoga and meditation in the morning and blah blah blah. But, like, we were still stuck in the city, and I think I felt so much at home when I was in nature. You know? And and throughout my pregnancy, before I decided where I wanted to birth and whatnot, and and Mexico just happened to be, you know, what happened. But I kept thinking in my head that I wanted to be outside. Like, that vision in my head was, like, I wanted to be outside. Maybe not necessarily the birth itself, but I knew that I wanted to be in nature, whether we did it in, like, a yurt or somewhere or a cabin or whatever or go on a hike when I'm in labor. I don't know exactly. You know? I wasn't really thinking anything like that, but I just knew that I wanted to be in nature and that I wanted to be near water for some reason. Yeah. You know? I just had that feeling or that institutional feeling that that's where I needed to be. And, you know, to our benefit with all the family drama, it pushed us to Mexico into this little, like, little ranch. It's a little off grid off, off grid little, like, Rancho. You know? So that was really nice. And we lived there prior or we didn't live there, but we Airbnb'd that property prior two years ago. Right. So Yeah. That's so cool. So we already knew that place. And when we happened to go to Mexico, we didn't really had a plan. We didn't know anything. We just knew that we're gonna go to San Miguel and figure it out. And when we got there, the owner of the Airbnb that we rented two two years ago, we found out that the house is vacant. He's in France and he that house is vacant. So we were like, okay. We'll rent it. So it was like perfect timing. It was completely what it should have been. You know? Mhmm. So I would I was so soaked. The minute really, the minute that we crossed the border, we were so relieved and so happy. And when we got to, San Miguel and the fact that that house was vacant, the same property that we stayed at two years ago and the place that we fell in love with was Wow. Available, it was, like, it was totally meant to be.
Speaker 2
Well, talk about, like, taking the jump, taking the leap, and being caught and supported by the universe.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Totally. So cool. It was and then the fact that we we were there, everybody was supportive. I told them, like, I wanted a home birth. This is, you know, this is my birth plan. It was pretty simple. I want a home birth. And everybody was like, yeah. Like, here's a midwife you can talk to, or here's this person, you know, that had a home birth. You can talk to this person. And everybody was super supportive. You know? And maybe because it's still pretty regular and normal to have a home birth than a hospital birth. I don't know. I was just seeing like everybody was, like, on our side. You know? I mean, definitely, we had some people who, had pretty strong opinions about what we wanted to do, but that's you know, it comes with the territory. It always is. There's always gonna be some negativity. But,
Speaker 2
yeah. So take me through yeah. So take me through the rest of your pregnancy leading up leading up to the birth.
Speaker 3
Yeah. So, yeah. So when we got to Mexico, we got linked up to this amazing birth worker, Allison. If you have anybody listening and living in San Miguel, you should link up to Allison. She's awesome. She's a birth worker. She's not a midwife practicing there, but she has dedicated her life, doing birth work. And, we linked up with her, and not necessarily to have her as, like, a midwife, but just so we can have more information. You know? She offered a workshop or, like, a meeting where she can discuss, like, all goals and, and what her thoughts are and whatnot. And and and and so we met up before, and the meeting was supposed to be, like, like, a couple hours. And it turns out to be, like, this nice therapy session for, like, seven hours six, seven hours just talking about everything. She went she went through, like, what can go wrong or what may go wrong and how we can, how we can deal with it, you know, like, bleeding and how how we can deal with that or, like, the phases of birth, where you can go into, like, the often, beta and and, beta phases. You know? She went through all that. And and the minute I met her and I told her, like, look. I wanted a birth without any midwives or without anybody, she was like, go for it. You know? Do it. You you know? And I think that was the first person who, like, was really just trusted me, you know, trusted a woman to have such a birth like that, which we did which I didn't have, you know, that much of support. So that really was, like, was core to me and very motivating to me. And so she also gave me a list of other midwives, to link up if I were to choose to have one. And and so after the meeting, I still felt the same way. I was like, I don't kinda don't want anybody there still. But, we had this huge conversation. My partner and I had this conversation, and he, asked some very, like, tough questions, you know, things that, like, I felt at that moment, like, he didn't really trust me as a woman to birth. But to do to his defense, he was just making sure this is the right decision, and I this is what I wanted to do. And, so, so I kinda and at one point, I kinda, like, second guess myself a little bit. And so I kinda I, I did a compromise, I guess. So I was like, yeah. Let's just talk to a midwife and see. And if she's available, if she's willing, she can be on-site, in case something happens. But I just don't want her to be in, like, the actual birth. I mean, we have, like, a acre. We'll we were staying on it, roughly, an acre, so there's many that's a lot of space. So she can be on premises. And then, if anything happens, then she can come. So that was the agreement. And so we did met up one midwife, and we went through the interview and whatnot. And afterwards, I still felt like I didn't want her there. You know? And this was probably, like, a couple of weeks before Enzo was born. So his due date, which is silly, but we can go and talk about due dates. But, like, his due date was, like, the twenty fourth, I believe. So, like, towards, like, the end of February, he actually came early.
Speaker 2
Alright. I forgot about that.
Speaker 3
He came early. So what my intentions were, I was like, the first week of February, I'm gonna make sure everything is okay, make sure, like, maybe potentially, renting a bathtub, and getting all the materials, rent the like, buy the plastics and, like, get the towels and everything.
Speaker 2
You were, like, thirty seven weeks? Yep. Thirty six. Thirty Okay.
Speaker 3
I think. Thirty six, thirty seven. Yeah. So yeah, so the first week, I was like, first week of February, I'm gonna do all this, and he came on his second day. So we would definitely would would not prepared. We would definitely not prepare. And prior to that, which is funny, prior to that, that meeting with the midwife, we didn't officially hire her. We were just having a meeting to make sure, like, you know, she we resonate with her. So I would and I was going through other midwives that I potentially may, wanna use, but I never got the chance because he came so early. But He was
Speaker 2
like, we're having a free birth mom.
Speaker 3
Yeah. So, basically, that was the this like, to my benefit, that was that's what I really wanted anyway. So maybe I was, you know, lagging and procrastinating subconsciously, because I truly wanted a free birth. So what happened that day okay. So his birth was pretty simple. The day prior, I was meeting up with a bunch of friends, and I wasn't thinking anything of it. I had contractions throughout the whole day. Simple contractions, but there wasn't it wasn't painful or anything, but and I had contractions prior. So I wasn't thinking about anything. And, especially, I had contractions after going on long hikes and walks. So I, and that day, I walked the whole entire day. So I was meeting with a couple of friends, and I walked, the entire day. And throughout the day, I was having contractions and wasn't thinking about anything about that. And that night, that night, I continued to continued to have contractions. And we went to bed late, like,
Speaker 2
I don't
Speaker 3
know, like midnight or one o'clock. And I was like, I couldn't sleep. I kept going to the bathroom every hour, half hour. I kept going. And I was like, maybe I drink a lot of water. I mean, I walked the whole day, so I was like, drinking I drunk a bunch of water, so I was probably you know, I wasn't thinking anything of it. So I was like, oh, whatever. But I just couldn't sleep. And, so, honestly, my body was preparing for birth and, you know, eliminating itself, for birth. So I wasn't you know? Now looking back, I knew exactly what was happening, but I didn't know at that time. So around, like, five o'clock happened, I got up to go to the bathroom again, and this gush of water came out of me. And I was like, oh, shoot. Did I just fry myself? Like, that's impossible. I've been, like, going to the bathroom for the past three, four hours now. This can't be pee. You know? Like, this cannot be pee. So my water broke. I smelled it like, I smelled the sheets, and I was like, this doesn't smell like pee. And then that's when I had my big contractions. That's when I knew I was like, oh, okay. I'm in labor now. This is wonderful. So this is at, like, around five o'clock in the morning. I didn't bother to wake up my partner at all. Like, he's sleeping. I knew that, like, once my water breaks and labor starts, it's not like I'm gonna have a baby within, like, you know, an hour. Like, I knew, like, I had a lot of time. And so, I didn't even bother to wake him up. So I just went to the bathroom, sat on the toilet, and just hung to myself and just chanted and just meditated. I kept going from the bathroom to the living room, to the bathroom to the living room, and I just, like, was humming and chanting. And, the sun rose and he came in. I don't know exactly what time. I wasn't keeping time. I was just really in my zone at that moment. And, he came in and he was like, what are you doing? You know? Like, I was like, we're having a baby. I think the baby is coming. And the look in his eyes was like he kinda he panicked a little bit. He was like, oh, shoot. We we don't we're not prepared with this little midwives. Like, he kinda was, like, freaked out a little bit. So I was like, okay. This is what you gotta do. First of all, you gotta do laundry. We need clean towels, so let's do laundry. Because, also, we're off grid, so we don't have a dryer. So we need to, like, hang up towels to dry in the sun. So I was like, that's the first thing you need to do because we just needed towels. And so, so that's what he did, and he text the midwife. He's like, hey. We're in labor. Is it are you available? Or I don't know exactly what he said. He just texted the midwife, and she's like, I'm out of town. I won't be back until eight, nine o'clock that evening. And, so my partner was kinda freaking out a little bit, and I was like, nope. This is this is happening. Like, who cares? Like, I kinda reassured him. I was like, this is fine. It's not a big deal. You know? We are prepared. We watch a bunch of videos on febriirth. We studied a lot. We watched a ton of YouTube videos on breech birth. We watched a bunch of videos on complications. We we know. It's okay. It's fine. And so, so he so my partner is such a a, you know, he loves to, like he he he's trying to fix things. Do you know what I mean? He's, like, getting the towels ready, and he's trying to prepare and bring out the mattress into the living room. And, at one point, he was like, let's turn on the shower, you know, and get, you comfortable. But we ran out of propane that day. No. Yeah. So it just happened to be that day, and we'd have to, like, call in. So we got neighbors to call in and and Oh, yeah. The truck in to get propane to in order for the water to be heated up. And, so I'm, like, sitting because we didn't know this. So I'm, like, turning on the shower. I'm, like, sitting in this freaking cold shower of cold water, pouring on me. I was like, this is this is awful. As he was trying as he and our neighbors just trying to fix the hot water heater, not knowing that the propane is empty, and so they were trying to fix it. And I'm sitting here, like, so cold. Like, don't know what to do with myself. The contractions are getting heavier. And and so he came back. Oh, this is what happened. So he so my contractions actually stopped because I was kinda stressed out a little bit, because I wasn't comfortable. You know? Like, this is not how I wanted it to be. Like, I was uncomfortable. And so my contractions stopped, and that kinda was another eye opener after where all these other people, you know, in my face doing things, lifting my legs or whatever they do there. I can't imagine being in a hospital and having all these people running around me, let alone, like, just my partner, just one person running around me. Like, that completely was like, oh, man. Like, it's really important to be comfortable. It's really important to be safe or have the feeling of being safe. You know? So he's running around doing all these things, and he came back and I was like, okay, you gotta stop. He's stressing me out. I don't have, like, my contractions stopped because I'm clearly, like, I'm I'm I'm stressed out. I, it's fine. The water is fine. We don't need to be in the shower. I don't wanna be underwater anyways, so, like, it's fine. It's not a big deal. And so he kinda backed off a little bit, and which was really helpful. He, like, went on his computer or something and did his own thing, and I kinda just lat laid in the living room, and continue, like, chanting and continuing to go through my waves of contractions. And, and then at one point, he, approached me and he's like, it's really beautiful out. Why don't you sit outside? I can set up a blanket outside so you can, like, sit outside and sunbathe and, you know, feel the sun, and it's gonna help you. And I was like, okay. Do it. You know? And so he set it all up. He set, like, a little blanket up with water cups of water and, you know, and everything. And, which was beautiful because we had, probably, like, three, four days of just cloudy days. So this is, like, the first day that it was sunny and warm and and so it was just perfect timing. Yeah. So I laid out. I got to this nice relaxation state. I was half asleep. I was getting kinda tired at that point because I didn't suck at all. So I was at this, like, restful, still awake, but, very restful state of mind. And then all all of a sudden, I have this, like, feeling that I need to get on all fours. I was like, okay. I guess this is time. And Sean saw me. He was so the so the patio is kinda lifted up, and he was on his computer. He looked down and saw me on all fours. He jumped up from his computer. I remember this quote clearly. He jumped up, and he's like, it's time. Oh, something silly like that. It's like, the baby's coming. It's time or or something. So cute. So silly.
Speaker 2
Well, Anne, I love I love that he was on the porch on his computer, and you were just I love the image of you on the blanket outside under this tree by yourself, but he's he's there. He's just giving you all this
Speaker 3
Yeah. He was just holding space because there's nothing that he could do. Like, he came, brought me some fruit, some tea, some water, occasionally. But there's really nothing that he could do, you know. Like, he he's just there the whole space, and when he's ready, you know, to you know, he will know. And so, yeah, I I got on all fours, and I felt, bigger contractions. We didn't, like I didn't measure my waves or, you know, time in between. I didn't have my phone near me. I didn't know. Like, I was completely in my zone. Like, I don't know, like, what time it was. I didn't know anything that was going on. I just kinda, like, woke up from this restful state of mind to get on our floors, and I knew that, like, okay. This is time to push or time to, you know, blurf. So as I'm, like, on our floors breathing, he's setting up, like, the cameras and stuff like that. And and it was kinda dreamlike. Like, I really don't remember what he was doing. At one point, maybe he was playing his didgeridoo or, sitting. I don't really don't, honestly, like, don't exactly remember. It was kinda foggy. But, yeah, I got on all fours, and, he I got, like, pretty intense waves. And I think by, like, the third wave, I was breathing really heavily, and I, kinda screamed a little bit, you know, grunted heavily. And I felt like everybody said the ring of fire or whatever. I felt that heat within me. And I pushed him out. I breathed him out, and he came out with his arms spread open. It was funny. And Sean was right behind me, and he caught him. And and Sean I didn't even see him. I I oh, no. Okay. So prior I forgot this this, little detail. So when I got on all fours, Sean came. So after he, like, got up and was so excitedly, he he walked in at one point and brought a mirror, out, and and he was like, I can see the baby's head. And he gave me the mirror, and I looked at the mirror, and I saw his head. And I was like, oh, shoot. This is happening. Like, that that when I saw his head, I was like, oh, like, oh, shit. Like, I'm having the baby. Like, oh, this is real. And that's when my contractions got really heavy, and and then I breathed heavily and I grunted and pushed him out. But I think seeing his little head and all the little fuzz on his head, I was like, that really motivate motivated me. You know? Yeah. So he came out, open arms, spread out. I didn't really see him until I turned around, and Sean was like, it's it's a boy. He's a boy. We have a boy. And, and yeah. And I just held him. I just, like, held him. I was completely at bliss. I didn't know what was like, I didn't know anything else but, like, just happiness. And after the fact, I was kinda giggling to myself. Like, workers were probably out in the garden, probably heard me screaming. Our neighbors were I don't know where our neighbors were at, but maybe he was on the property working out on the garden or something. I was just, like, laughing to myself. Like, they probably heard me, like, scream my lungs up. But I thought that was kind of, like, a silly thought. You know?
Speaker 2
Yeah. Totally. Well, that happens so often. People are, like, convinced that I mean, I was convinced the entire neighborhood heard me and that my neighbors heard me and and then later my, husband mentioned it to our neighbor and he said, no, we didn't hear a thing. And I was, like, how is that literally possible? I was I was screaming for three days. How did you not hear me? Right. Yeah. I feel like we go into some sort of little protective bubble, I guess, when that
Speaker 3
happens. Yeah. I guess. Yeah.
Speaker 2
And so tell us about the the placenta being born.
Speaker 3
So he so, yeah, he was born and I just held him and, I knew the placenta was gonna come. So so, I told Sean, we had, like, this little book box with, like, paper towels and, like, menstrual pads and just, like, my sewing scissors. I had these really sharp sewing scissors that I kinda set aside, because we knew that, we gotta use it to cut the cord. And, so and we bought clamps. And so we had this little box to prepare ourselves just like, you know, just typical gauze and whatever. Nothing, like, huge or anything. So, I I just told Sean, like, go get the clamps and boil it for, you know, half an hour to sanitize it and get it ready. And as he was doing that, I, I felt a little pressure just the same as, you know, as I had poofed him, like a little,
Speaker 2
a
Speaker 3
little, you know what's with it? Cramp? Yeah. A little cramp on my my stomach, and I just we had a bowl next to me, and I just kinda squat down and booped the placenta into a bowl. And he came out, and he was like, he came out, and I was like, the placenta's here. And and we we knew that, the baby still needed you know, I we didn't wanna cut the cord as soon as, like, you know, I've left this placenta. I I knew that, like, the cord needed to be cold and it needed to, you know, give all its energy, to the baby. And, so we kinda I I kinda just sat with my baby in the sun holding him with the placenta next to me. So we just sat there for, I don't know, forty five minutes, an hour. I I really don't know, like, a pretty long time until I was like, okay. I guess I'm I'm ready. I noticed him. You know, like, he latched on really quickly, easily. I noticed him and sat there, and I was we were just in total bliss. You know? Sean, my partner, just sat next to me, and we just sat staring at our baby. It was
Speaker 2
That's what should be happening.
Speaker 3
No one Yeah. It was just perfect. No one was there to tell us, like, hey, you gotta cut the cord, or hey, you gotta wash up, or hey, like, you gotta clean your baby. We were all bloody and all juicy with, you know, with womb juice all over us and, you know, our towels were, you know, soaked and it was just, you know, off to the side in the grass. Like, we didn't care about anything. You know? There was just complete bliss.
Speaker 2
And What time of day was it?
Speaker 3
He came, three twenty three. And we really didn't know what time he came until, like because Sean was recording, so we had to go through our phone and, like, timed it. You know? So roughly three twenty, three twenty three.
Speaker 2
I just I love the image of you outside all bloody on the grass on a blanket with your baby and your man, and it being three thirty in the afternoon and just the warmth and the trees, and it's just such a such a beautiful image.
Speaker 3
Yeah. And we went we didn't feel rushed to do anything. You know? We didn't feel like we didn't feel like we had to do anything, you know, or, like, was forced to do anything. And that was, like, the most wonderful thing.
Speaker 2
Yeah. And So then how how was your postpartum and breastfeeding? And give us a little overview of that before we closed.
Speaker 3
Oh, funny thing before I I, get into that. So when we cut the cord, Sean had to, like, go on to YouTube and figure it all out last minute because maybe he doesn't prepare for any of those things. So it was just funny to I guess I wanna mention that because I was I just it was funny to me, the fact that he was sanitizing scissors and clamps as he was YouTubing, how
Speaker 2
to Totally.
Speaker 3
How to clamp a cord and how to tie a cord and and cut it. But, yeah, I thought that was kinda silly and funny. But, yeah, my postpartum went great. I was I wasn't, any complications. I didn't have any bleeding or anything like that. I didn't have any, like, pain or, tears or anything. I went to the bathroom fine. I mean, obviously, it was, like, sore a little bit, but it wasn't anything terrible, bad, or, like, anything like that. So that was wonderful. I just, you know, took care of it, put a little cool damp towel on it, and that was what I needed. And so I so in Vietnam, they have a, forty days also in Mexico, they have a forty days postpartum time period where you kinda just sit and bond with the baby, do nothing, period. You know? And so that's what I did. I did the forty days of just, like, enjoying my baby and enjoying the sun and enjoying being with my partner. And and as we were doing all forty days, Sean and our neighbor and Hal, I love him so much, but he and Sean built a Temescal, which is a, a a traditional, what do you wanna call it? Like a Like a sweat. Sweat lodge. Yeah. That's the way. So it's a traditional sweat lodge. So Hem and then Hao went out and got, like, chorizo bamboo out in, you know, the fields and, like, cut that up and built that. And and we got fabric to cover it up. And on the next moon, we had a ceremony in the to Moscow, and it was beautiful. Like, we set our intentions, and, we just and set our and and, you know, told our told the universe all our appreciation and and our love and everything. And they were there to our neighbors, and Harry and Mariana were there to celebrate with us and helped us through this journey. You know? So That is so special. Yeah. So it was it was really great. It was really simple. It was no complications at all, and that was what I wanted, you know. Yeah. And I was so thrilled. Really, I was so thrilled that the midwife wasn't there. Like, I was so happy that she was out of town. Like, I don't think I would have the book that I would have, if she was there. And Mhmm. I don't think I would have, what I wanted. You know? And so I was completely grateful for that. And so it's funny because, like, him being birth into this earth was so simple and easy, and his birth on paper, where we got our birth certificate and paperwork, that was, like, a whole new thing. Like, I was so happy that Sean was there to take care of everything because I was in such a mind state where, like, I just wanted to be with my baby and and take care of him, and he was Sean was there. So this is where he needed to be in the whole book. Like, he, you know, he was there to hold my space, and be supportive during labor, but this isn't where a man should be. It's like, you can and, like, deal with, like, the authority.
Speaker 2
Go handle go handle the system that you that you
Speaker 3
set up. I would never like, if it was up to me, I'm he wouldn't have a birth certificate at this point. You know? I would we wouldn't have a passport because I would probably just push it off to the side because I don't wanna deal with that type of stuff. I hate documents, and I hate paper, and I hate all that. And he and Sean was awesome. He was there to, like, do all that. So it was perfect. You know? Like, he did his part. I did my part, and we all did our part, perfectly.
Speaker 2
So good. I love it. It's such an inspiring story, and it's just, yeah. Like we said before we were recording, the simplicity of it and your, your willingness to actualize your dream, you know, and and your own confidence and just following your instincts and your intuition, and and it rendered a a freaking perfect beautiful experience. I it's so it's so beautiful.
Speaker 3
Yeah. And, really, I had fears. So I'm not saying that, like, I had this perfect birth without any fears, without any concerns. I did have a lot of fears, and I did have times where I felt like maybe this is not gonna be right, you know. Maybe I, you know, might
Speaker 2
Well, that's that's the not knowing. Right? Like, we don't know until we know.
Speaker 3
Yeah. And and there are complications. There are risks that we were completely aware of. It's not like, hey. I want a free birth, and I'm not you know, we did a lot of research. So sometimes when I talk about my birth, I feel like, it's not all this, like, happy, you know, butterflies and labels and whatnot. We did really did take the work to research everything, and we knew that, like, I could have died. I my baby could die. I or we both could die. I was willing to take that risk. You know what I mean? Like but I know that that was part of the journey of
Speaker 2
how But also yeah. Of course. And that we don't get out of that risk anywhere. Yeah. Yeah. There's nowhere where that risk goes away. Right? And so, you know, being alive is inherently risky because at some point, we're all going to definitely die. And so, you know, I mean, I'm a broken record on this podcast about all of this, but, yes, of course, there is inherent risk, to every place of birth and every choice in birth, but the risk of death comes with every single variation of birth.
Speaker 3
And of life, really. I could step out the door after this interview and get hit by a car and die, you know? So but that's the risk of life, you know? Yeah. So,
Speaker 2
Yeah. Right. It's how do we wanna how do we I mean, I really find for myself and for many women around me that that are choosing this stuff, it's like, okay, yeah, we got that and so what story do we want to
Speaker 3
tell? Exactly.
Speaker 2
What story do we wanna live? How do we want our life to go and to be? And by taking the reins of that and and stepping into the co creator realms, epic shit happens. We're able to manifest incredibly beautiful and sacred, experiences. You know, when you get past what for many is a paralysis of fear. And and I and I totally agree, it's not that we're fearless, it's that, it's that it's an acceptable, you know, element of being alive and that's okay.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Yeah. And I knew that, like, I wanna write my story and I knew that this is the only chance I can write it the way I wanted to write it. So and I wanted to tell a story to my son of how he came into this world, and I wanted it a certain way. And I know that, like Okay. You know, being in a hospital, being with people wasn't why I want it. You know? Mhmm.
Speaker 2
Go girl.
Speaker 3
Yeah.
Speaker 2
I'm so proud of you. I love your story and can't wait to get it out there.
Speaker 3
Thanks. Thank you.
Speaker 2
That's it for today, everyone. Join us next week for another episode of the Free Birth Podcast. Thanks for joining us, and remember, your body, your choice. Lots of love.
