The Womb I Come From

For my birthday today, my 31^st, I thought I’d share the story of my birth and the womb I came from.

Before I landed in my mother’s womb, two siblings came before me. Because of lack of support and shame in Peru, they weren’t able to come all the way through.  So I’m conscious of the life that existed before me in my mother’s womb, and I carry them within me.

When my mother discovered she was pregnant with me, she was thrilled to be in the USA far from her family and able to carry my life in, regardless of the circumstances.  The culture of Peru had been so difficult to withstand that my mother had considered suicide in the past. Here she knew no one would judge her, point out her faults; she’d be able to get ahead with her baby on the way.

At first, she thought she was going to have a boy because people kept commenting that with the size and position of her belly, it showed her baby would be all boy.  Then one day she was walking on the street going home, she was always walking and taking buses. She was coming back from adult school and she found a pink rattle on the sidewalk.  In that moment, she knew she was having a girl.

On Tuesday March 12^th, she went in for her regular check-up and the doctor said she was 2cm dilated, and that she would deliver any minute because that was the due date. But she told me in utero to not be born yet and to wait until Friday or Saturday to come out, she wanted to work the full week so she could have more time off post-partum. Apparently I was a good listener and stayed put.

Saturday March 15th she went grocery shopping to stock up before giving birth. She cooked dinner and ate with her roommates, took a shower around 9pm and went to sleep. At midnight her water broke, she felt the rip of the water bag. She described feeling exhilarated that I was coming; she jumped in the shower. Then she called a taxi cab to take her to the hospital, and she gave him directions all the way there. She was having contractions every 5min, got to the hospital at 2am.

They checked and we were 8cm. Oh my god the baby can be born any minute, my mom wanted her Dr. Tyson, so she waited. They gave her something to poop.  They offered her an epidural when she came back, she said no because she was only going to have one kid, and she wanted to feel what it is like to become a mother.   At 3:40am I was crowning. Her doctor came in sat down, asked her to push, and push again. Then I was born, 3:46am. The doctor said, “What a precious little girl!” We had immediate skin to skin contact and the doctor cut the cord. Mom had to push one more time to get the placenta  out. She says she doesn’t remember the pain.  3hrs and 46 minutes of labor, no childbirth preparation classes. She read books in English and Spanish about birth. She said that this was the beginning of her strength, her will to keep on living, continue to struggle, and the desire to become someone better.  Thanks for choosing to have me mama! Sunday March 16^th @ 3:46am