First home birth
After 8 hours of back labor and a small scare with a compressed cord, Mika birthed her first child (a rainbow baby) in the comfort and serenity of her own home at 41 weeks pregnant. She was elated to discover she had delivered a healthy 8.10lb baby boy safely into the hands of his loving daddy. Aside from a 2nd degree tear and a postpartum hemorrhage that her midwife handled quickly and efficiently, Mika had a fast and easy recovery. Mika was truly beyond grateful for such a beautiful and life-changing first birth experience.
Second home birth
Mika and her husband had always hoped to have their children close in age, so when she discovered she was pregnant a few weeks after her son’s first birthday, Mika was beyond excited. Unfortunately, due to her first midwife relocating, Mika found herself under the care of a new midwifery team. She had been transferred into their care at 6 months pregnant and while she never felt 100% comfortable with them, she also didn’t have many options otherwise. At 41 weeks, labor began almost identically to her first; however, when her new birth team arrived, everything seemed to stall. Mika felt extremely uncomfortable around them and struggled to allow her body to open up. After 14+ hours of labor, Mika’s second child, an 8lb baby boy, was born safely in water. Immediately after delivering the placenta, Mika experienced another postpartum hemorrhage. Unfortunately, this time her new midwife was not proficient in her handling of the hemorrhage, which lead to Mika bleeding out for over 5 hours. After a week with no guidance from her care provider, she went in for what was an extremely necessary blood transfusion. Naturally, this made recovery difficult. Mika could hardly talk without passing out, dealt with postpartum depression, and struggled greatly to bond with her second baby simply because she was so weak. It was an unfortunate turn of events, but Mika was grateful to have birthed her babe at home despite the improper care she received. She felt she learned some valuable lessons about self-advocation and knew more than ever to always trust her intuition.
Third home birth
Loving the 20 month age gap between her first and second child, Mika was excited her second and third babe would have a similar age difference. After a military move north, she set out to find a new home birth midwife in her new location with hopes of having a healing birth after her last experience. With lots of research and interviews,Mika found someone she knew was competent and felt an instant connection. Mika’s third pregnancy was healthy and uneventful. She had fully expected to go past her estimated due date as she did with her last 2 children; so, when 40 weeks came and went she wasn’t the least bit surprised. Then came 41, then 42, then 42+5 and it seemed labor had finally begun. After almost a full day of consistent contractions and making it to 6cm, everything stopped. Feeling frustrated and concerned her husband would miss the birth due to military orders, Mika did her best to trust the process and have patience.
Together with her midwife, Mika made a plan to hold space for normal and allow baby to come when baby was ready. Naturally, Mika struggled with self doubt and questioned her body daily, but she knew that “due dates” meant nothing and this was just a variation of normal. Finally, at 43+5, only 2 days shy of her midwife wanting to send her in for a hospital induction, Mika went into labor. It was hard and fast, only an hour of active labor, and Mika was feeling the urge to push. After getting baby’s head out, it became clear that baby’s anterior shoulder was stuck. No amount of pushing was budging baby forward so Mika and her midwife quickly sprang into action. Having had an intuitive feeling about shoulder dystocia, Mika had researched the topic the last few weeks of her pregnancy. Because of this, she knew exactly what maneuvers/positions to try to help baby out and immediately tried the gaskin maneuver. That in combination with the Running Man and her midwife also doing the Woods Corkscrew maneuver, Mika pushed and got baby out quickly, and without any broken/dislocated bones, bruising or tearing! Mika was relieved and and excited to discover she’d given birth to a 10.4lbs baby girl.
Unlike her last, this birth left Mika feeling empowered. Not only did she advocate for herself when she went postdates but she was able to take immediate action with confidence during birth to get baby out safely. To top it off, Mika had minimal bleeding after birth and experienced her easiest recovery yet!
Mika Rascon Bio
Mika is the wife to her greatest love and most cherished companion who is currently serving in the US Army. Together they live an intentional life and enjoy exploring the world around them with their sweet babes in tow. Before Mika was blessed with her 3 beautiful children, she encountered a trying and emotional battle with infertility. Fortunately, after years of treatment, multiple losses, and surgery she was finally able to carry her baby to term and experience the life-changing beauty of a raw, uninhibited birth. It was this struggle with infertility that lead her to a natural lifestyle and ultimately motivated her to birth all 3 of her babes at home. She has a deep passion for holistic, gentle, and attachment parenting and strives daily to embrace the biological and physiological design for motherhood. Additionally, Mika is a business owner and photographer who focuses and draws her inspiration from capturing genuine, storytelling moments. Sharing her life with authenticity, raising awareness, and supporting other mamas in this season of life has been a great comfort to her while raising children despite not having a close tribe due to their military lifestyle. Feel free to connect with her on instagram @mygreatestwonders
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