to say just for archive. This is Forra Solis interviewing for Creative
Push on December 15, 2016 at 2 p.m. Can you tell us your name and your age
? My name is Jamie Peralta and my age is 4. Awesome. So, um, tell us about
your first pregnancy. Were you,
I was only 19.
Um, I wasn't expecting it, um, it happened, um.
I didn't know that he was with another girl because I was living in San
Anedro with my mom and I moved back to our the house we have another house
on the bottom so but my brother stays there and um it happened and you
know my mom was, I was scared to tell my mom, but you know I had to tell
her so yeah.
He just, he likes, he, no, and then he um he um he likes making messes too.
So, uh, anyway, um, she told me keep it, you know, when we're not one to
, abort, we don't believe in that so we're I'm Catholic, so. So I kept him
and he's 21 now. He um graduated high school. Um it was just like hard
being here with his with his father because he was like In and out back
and forth like with her and me and it's just, it was hard but I have
family and my family was supportive. So you grew up on this reservation
um how many siblings do you have? I just have one. I have one with my
mother.
He does. I have one with my mom and then I have um. Um, two half brothers
, a half sister, but those are like my dad, and they're, they're full
Spanish. They live in Albuquerque and also. I rarely get to see them.
Get down.
It's not funny. Hey.
So anyway, um. So I grew up here, um, everything was good. Um, I just,
there's a lot of cultural stuff that goes on here. Um, we're limited to
the things we can say, like I said, um.
Um,
My family, my, my aunts, um. They graduated at um big colleges. Um, one
was a um pathologist. She's gone, so she, she's a speech pathologist. And
then um my, my other aunt, she's a social worker, so I had, you know, good
backup and cause his family was trying to take me to court for. You know,
it was just it was just a lot of BS, but we've grown up now and I still
keep in contact with the dad. Well, he stay, he lives here too, and then
I've had two kids with him, the oldest, the 21. And then the 18 year old,
he's a senior now in school, so. So were there any, um, you know,
traditions around birth that you guys had growing up or what was the
practice of birth on this reservation? Did you guys have a home or there's
a lot of things that they say that you can and cannot do while being
pregnant. Like you can't watch scary movies, um, because of the fact that
you never know how your baby, you know, will come out looking or something
like that and then like there's a lot of things like they see you can't
use scissors or so. Because you um you might so. His eyes shut or there's
a lot of things that they say, um.
Mm, what else? There's, there's just a lot of tradition and stuff that go
go on with it, but I'm like, while I was pregnant, I was going on my
Spanish side like I'm not even gonna think about. I gotta cut stuff. I
gotta sell stuff, you know, like that's the least of my least thing on my
mind, you know, like that happening to him, um, so it kind of goes both
ways for me though, you know, I'm just strictly not. Traditional wise, you
know, like I said, I was living in Albuquerque, but, uh, it was just
didn't work out. So that's a good thing, you know, we have somewhere to
come home to, um, that's the good thing about it, um. And we and living on
the reservation we have family we have a lot of family like it doesn't
just, it doesn't just go like from mom to dad to kids. It goes to aunts to
uncles to cousins to grandmas to grandpas, and that's the extent of it
here. I mean we, we have like 3 or 4 family houses like that's how it goes
, but with my boys it was kind of hard. um, I wasn't with their dad um
being a male, he. Um, They have a lot to learn and do with all the um the
traditional things that go on uh with me being a female, there's a big
role that females play here too, big, big roles, um, and in some families
like with my family, they rarely um spoke the language, so I wasn't
fortunate to, to pick it up or speak it. Some of, some of it I understand
but I don't, but. Um, my kids, their dad's family like is really um. Um,
Into their native their roots, so they, they know pretty much a lot of
stuff.
And I'm still going. I'm done after this one. I am so done.
It's up to my boys to have girls now. See, he's terrible. He just wants to
be. He does, he does, he does. And then um it's been like about 2 months.
We're going on 2 months since we left his dad in Albuquerque. Um he is
Navajo. um,
he met up with his old friends and he started going back down that wrong
path and I just couldn't see myself going down that path with him so I
said. We gotta go. I'm taking my son home and we're leaving and, you know
, take care and we came home. That's so brave and you have a support
network here. Yeah, well. It's kind of like that, it's just some people
are just bad, like with.
Especially on the reservations where you go, somebody's gonna say
something about the way people treat other people, you know, like,
especially if we're like um not full-blooded, if we're half free. Yeah,
they have a big thing about that and um. But then there's just some people
that will share what they know, just so you, you know, you won't literally
look stupid when you're, you know, you're trying to help out and stuff,
but there's a lot of tradition that goes on here that Yeah, but we can't
speak about it now. There's only one way in, one way out, so if something
goes on and you know what I mean, that's just. It's hard, but There's
peaceful.
It's very peaceful, get away from the city and stuff, but yeah, so, so did
you have all of your births in the hospital? Were they in? I've had, I've
had them um in Albuquerque, yeah. Um,
Yeah, all 4 of them. Were you by yourself? My mom. My mom, the 1st 2,
And that day. The other two, so was that helpful having your mother there
? It was helpful, but she's like, um.
She needed more attention than me. She just was like. She was, she wasn't
having it. Well, she was, she was, she was OK with it. It's just she was
like um trying to calm me down and it started getting her cause she had an
aneurysm. So she's like not her same self anymore so she like freaks out
and so the first two was like pretty much um her giving birth cause she
was like passing out and I'm like, mom, it was bad, but, but it was nice
having my mom there so the, the, these last two, their dad was there. So
did you have a plan of like if you wanted drugs or if you wanted to. Oh,
my, my 1st 3, I had them natural. I didn't wanna have to um have them go
through that, you know, like with the epidural and stuff, but. I could not
take it with this 10 my god, I had to have an epidural. He's a big head. I
had to have an epido.
See, I couldn't take the pain. Firstly, I. I, I took the pain, but this
one I had to get the epidural done. So how did you cope with the pain
before? Just breathing, just breathing and just knowing that it's only
gonna happen for a little much much longer. I'm not doing this no more
type of thing in my head. I did it 3 more times, but, but yeah, it was, it
was the pain was really bad. So first, my first one I had him on my knees
on my hands, so it was easier for me to push like that in the hospital,
yes, on the bed, yeah, well, they kind of like put the bed down for me to
have them, so yeah, that's great. I had them on my hands on my knees so
I tried on all three. They just wouldn't they just, they just wouldn't
take to match and. It was not maybe maybe the latching, but I needed to
get back to work also too so and it's kind of hard pumping and doing all
that. I just was like I'm just gonna use a bottle. It's just as good as,
you know, best man just depending on what kind of formula I use, but. And
then we have the work program with the tribes, so. They give, they would
give us like maybe 13, about 13 to 17 kinds of milk on, on a little
voucher, so. You know, being, being native, it does, it does, um. I guess
Help out, you know, with the, with some of the programs that we have um.
Other than that, um, you just, but you felt some prejudice because of the
Spanish. Well, well, they're finally getting, you know, because my boys
are well known here and um. Some people like they still, you know, shy
away, but I'll still say hi. I'm like uh whether you wanna like me or not
, you know, I'll still say hi and smile, but you know it's not my my fault
who I am and who my parents are and you know I'm back on, you know, I'm
back here and I try to, you know, do what I can and.
That's just my mentality here, like, I don't bother you, you don't bother
me. Oh God And you have your hands full. I know, and then I'm like I've
been trying to get this house clean cause we're gonna be here for for
Christmas and Everybody comes in and they're like you're still right there
at that point and I'm like dude like you gotta come see what how he is
during the day like nobody knows. I gotta put a video camera there to
literally show them what my day is with him because I'm serious. He'll get
, I had a bag of laundry the other day because I'll put them in bags until
I can get to fold them. And um he had a cup of Kool-Aid, so I had to get
him lied. He literally poured the whole cup in the laundry bag and he sat
on and jumped as high as do that whole laundry again. And when he has um
juice he'll jump on the bed and I'll go all over. He had a cup of milk the
other day and he spilled it on his head because he thought it was water.
He just, he just like that. He just, he's trouble, yeah he is and then he
had funs of the day and he was throwing them like little frisbees and then
he'll go step on them to smash them. He thinks it's funny. Yeah, he does
and irritating. And he, he knows he's getting to me, you know, um, I'm not
one to really spank my boys. I never done that because I think the more
you spank them, the more naughtdier they get, the more you yell at them,
the more worse they'll get. So I try to talk to him good and or I'll just
go ahead, do it. I'll wait till you take a nap, clean up, so I clean up
and he wakes up and then it happens all over again, but. That's just where
I'm at now. Are you working now? I'm trying to get him into childcare.
There's like a waiting list here because of lack of employees and stuff,
so I need to get back to work. I mean, I rarely get out. My mom, she lives
in San Esidro. Like I said, she's had an aneurysm, so.
And then my stepdad, um, he's Spanish also, um, they found out he's got
two forms of cancer so she's dealing with that. I got to help her out with
, you know, both of them and. My works just never. Never done, but. When
we need to get out and go get groceries or something, you know, she comes
and she, she stops by and she takes us other than that I care. Yeah
So do you have kids that have kids? Are you a grandma?
Tell me, were you at their births? I was at birth, but she she had a
C-section, so we couldn't go in. We're in the waiting room. Um, he was
born July 1st, um.
My oldest, my oldest is 21, um, he went to Job Corps for welding, so I'm
glad he's, uh, because there's, there's a lot of kids here that that don't
extend their school, you know, they just wanna be around here, be bums and
hang out and do stuff, but I try to instill in my boys, you know, I think
I did a good job being a single mother with my boys. Um, he, he finished
at Job Corps in Albuquerque for welding, you know, he's got a good job now.
Um, he's back and forth with his girlfriend too, so she comes and she
goes, and, but my grandson usually comes and stays here, but.
Him and his mom don't really like staying here cause he'll be up crying at
night like, oh my God, we we're both kind of trying to get off of the our
sickness we had the flu and stuff and. But he just.
See the way he sounds, we were both sick. Actually the other kids were
sick too. I know it's just that comes around. It's a tough season. Yeah,
yeah, she's my cousin, um, Julian's girlfriend, Bianca, she was in there.
No, she's probably at work. She's my cousin. She's my second cousin. Her
mom and my mom, their dads are brothers. So those are like my, those are
my nieces that Julian's nieces are Julian's kids are my nieces. And then
TJ he just his girlfriend just had her baby. Um, that was kind of like
unexpected too because she's like not the type to
it, you know,
do you think there's, you have any other questions? I was gonna ask if
there's anyone else in the neighborhood that you think would be good for
us to knock on their door.
Who's nice enough to open the door, um, and sometimes, you know, even if
they're not. Uh,
normally we can convince him that, you know,
like what?
Trying to see who's who's who's at home with the kids too. Hey.
You could go up to the to the mesa on that side. Like when you get to the
bridge, the end of the bridge, you'll just take a right and then um.
There's a bunch of houses up there. Um
Midwives. I'm actually, is it recording? OK, that they had midwives in it.
So had you considered a midwife or a homebirth or anything like that?
I've never heard of anybody doing that here in a long time though, you
know what I mean? Like, even, even when she had her line of midwives and
stuff, um. See her, her, her son's um daughter or daughter-in-law, Bianca
, my cousin. I don't know why she didn't go go with her, you know what I
mean? Like cause I know she had her baby so. And in the hospital, but then
again her daughters or her daughters were premature, so she needed that
care, so, um, and she had them teach her um
I don't really know. It's not part of the culture anymore. no, I don't
think so, but because, um.
You would think that that that it would be, but there's there's, I guess
not too many midwives that are really like young that will really go
around and like go see the people that are expecting, but I haven't heard
that in a long while. It's been a long while but then we're doing that.
All right. OK, that's the last question I wanted to ask when it stop.