[SPEAKER_00]: What happens when your baby weighs 11 pounds in your labor is just three and a half hours.

[SPEAKER_00]: Leah joins me to share her incredible planned home birth story.

[SPEAKER_00]: And trust me, it's one you want to hear from a fast and tense labor.

[SPEAKER_00]: to navigating insurance challenges, postpartum planning, and be imposed in the eye by a toddler mid-contraction.

[SPEAKER_00]: This story is full of insight, humor, and empowerment.

[SPEAKER_00]: Listen up for a story that reminds us, just how powerful and intuitive birth can be.

[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the birth with Power Podcast, where knowledge is power and power transforms birth.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Dr.

Nicole Callaway Rankin's mom of two, and practicing board certified OBGYN with over 20 years of experience and nearly 2,000 births attended.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've seen firsthand how the hospital system can leave women feeling unheard and uncertain, but that doesn't have to be your story.

[SPEAKER_00]: Here, you'll get the knowledge, support, and strategies to take charge of your birth experience.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you can walk into the hospital feeling calm, confident, and empowered.

[SPEAKER_00]: Note, this podcast is for educational purposes only, and it's not a substitute for medical advice.

[SPEAKER_00]: See the full disclaimer at Dr.

Oklahoma against.com, full of slash disclaimer.

[SPEAKER_00]: Hello there, welcome to another episode of the podcast.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is episode number 311, whether this is your first time listening or you've been here before.

[SPEAKER_00]: I am so glad you're spending some time with me today.

[SPEAKER_00]: I am thrilled to share a burst story that honestly should have been aired a while ago in the shuffle of life, the files got misplaced, but I'm so glad they've been found because [SPEAKER_00]: Now, I don't typically feature a lot of homework stories on the podcast, but I do think it's important to give you a sense of what planned home birth can be like.

[SPEAKER_00]: It may not be the right choice for you and very well, may not even be on your radio or radio or radio or especially since I've talked a lot about hospital birth, but understanding the full range of options, especially when it comes to supportive low intervention care is a key part of feeling empowered in your birth journey.

[SPEAKER_00]: Lea lives in central Massachusetts with her husband, there are two daughters in their cat.

[SPEAKER_00]: She works as a content writer and marketer for an educational book publisher.

[SPEAKER_00]: She's currently pursuing her childbirth educator certification.

[SPEAKER_00]: Actually, by the time this is air, she may already have it to help empower expecting parents with knowledge and tools to have the best birth possible.

[SPEAKER_00]: When she's not chasing after her kiddos or nerding out about birth, you can find her sewing, baking, or exploring new England.

[SPEAKER_00]: In this episode, Leah shares the story of her second birth, a plant home birth after a positive, but impersonal hospital birth with her first.

[SPEAKER_00]: We chat about how she planned her home birth, the hurdle she faced with insurance, how she prepared mentally and physically and why investing in a postpartum dule and psychiatrist before giving birth made all the difference for her.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is a fast, powerful burst story, and you won't want to miss it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much Leah for agreeing to come on to the podcast.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm really excited to have you share your first story today about your home birth.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I'm excited to share too.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's like, it's a really fun story tell.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it sounds like it.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, and why don't we start up by having you tell us a bit about yourself and your family.

[SPEAKER_02]: Sure, yeah, so I live in Massachusetts right now, but I was living in Vermont when I had my babies.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I live with my husband, Atlas, and our two daughters, Louise, and Violet, they're five and two.

[SPEAKER_02]: So the brick I'll be talking to you about today, that was about the shoes boarded May 2020.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: I love those names.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_00]: So in your case, your first birth was a hospital birth.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm curious about if you can just kind of give us a summary of what happened, good-and-bad with your hospital birth, and then what made you decide to pursue a planned home birth the next time.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sure.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so I would say overall it was a positive birth experience.

[SPEAKER_02]: I decided to go with midwives in a hospital setting.

[SPEAKER_02]: So the team of midwives about seven in the midwives, so they were [SPEAKER_02]: and I had always been interested in the idea of a home birth, but we lived in an apartment like a one bedroom apartment, and it just didn't seem feasible, and it just felt like too much to do with a first birth.

[SPEAKER_03]: Gotcha.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I decided to do like the best of both worlds and kind of.

[SPEAKER_02]: to it in the middle there.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so it was a fairly fast birth with her.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's about eight hours long.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: And she was late and she was big.

[SPEAKER_02]: So she was nine days late and she was nine pounds 11 ounces.

[SPEAKER_02]: Gotcha.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I wasn't surprised about either of those.

[SPEAKER_02]: My mom had all three babies but 41 plus weeks.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: And we were all big babies.

[SPEAKER_02]: I was got you 10 and a half pounds.

[SPEAKER_02]: I don't think so.

[SPEAKER_02]: I did not surprise by any of them.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm six-one.

[SPEAKER_02]: I can't tell from the video, but right.

[SPEAKER_02]: So you know, it was a big baby.

[SPEAKER_02]: Exactly, a big baby.

[SPEAKER_02]: And it was an unmedicated bird.

[SPEAKER_02]: I went in the tub to labor, but it was like one of those.

[SPEAKER_02]: like fitted tubs that you get like a bath fitter tub and the hospital and I was like you want me to go in there to look at it.

[SPEAKER_02]: So it wasn't exactly what I imagined for like laboring of the tub.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: And then when I was when I was ready to push, they just kind of had me sit in the normal position and I'm back and grabbing my feet.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, and it all went fine.

[SPEAKER_02]: I did have some tearing, but the immediate postpartum was where I was kind of like, um, I don't know if it was the hospital, it's like the right place for me, just with the number of different people that came in the room, and the number of different opinions about breastfeeding, especially I had a hard time breastfeeding my first.

[SPEAKER_02]: And it would be like every hour there'd be a new person, and they'd have to think new to tell me, and it was like, [SPEAKER_02]: God.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: God.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: So there was nothing like that was terrible.

[SPEAKER_00]: No.

[SPEAKER_00]: Do you ever felt like you were mistreated or anything like that?

[SPEAKER_02]: No.

[SPEAKER_02]: I just thought I could have, I could do better.

[SPEAKER_02]: You know what I mean?

[SPEAKER_02]: Like, I ended funny because my husband, he was like, well, but he broke, don't fix those.

[SPEAKER_02]: He's exactly the same.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: But we had actually moved farther away from the hospital.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I, he [SPEAKER_02]: hear that your second birth is shorter than your first birth.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I was like, well, the shorter than eight hours, like, I don't want to give birth in the car.

[SPEAKER_02]: You know, I'm excited to the road.

[SPEAKER_02]: And you know, spoiler alert, my birth was three and a half hours long.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I, I don't know if I could have made it fast.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you got pregnant the next time.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that time he said, let's see about playing home birth.

[SPEAKER_02]: Is that right?

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: or home birth midwives in my area in the years between which was like COVID time.

[SPEAKER_02]: So my first was born on 2019 and we decided we're like not going to have a COVID baby.

[SPEAKER_02]: If we could help it right.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I had already really found who I wanted before I was pregnant.

[SPEAKER_02]: the day I found out pregnant, I was like, you know, in her, like, my gosh.

[SPEAKER_02]: Can you be with me?

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I decided to go with my charity home birth.

[SPEAKER_02]: They're in central Vermont.

[SPEAKER_02]: And it was just really from Googling like home birth midwives, beer me and I loved her website.

[SPEAKER_02]: And then I met her.

[SPEAKER_02]: because I met with her, and this was September 2021, and she just checked all the boxes.

[SPEAKER_02]: She also had on her website that she had taken the health at every size pledge.

[SPEAKER_02]: If you've heard of that, just to, and that was important to me because I, and like technically, you know, I always have it, I had an obese BMI, and I was just like, I don't want this to make me high risk, if you look like I wanted it to be, I [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I'm to make sure, like, I have a low, low risk comb worth, you know, and so she really checked all the boxes for me in that initial meeting.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, but then it got a little complicated because my insurance wouldn't cover a home birth Yeah, and so I was like darn like I don't have this money up like on cash on on-hand And so but I was also trying to find a new job at the same time like [SPEAKER_02]: Uh, for anyone out there who tries to find a job while you're pregnant, it's challenging.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_02]: To read through the lines, it might not like their maternity leave falls.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_00]: They'd like that in their insurance.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: So a lot of my first trimester was trying to find a new job, not just for the home birth, of course, but just to get settled before I was going on leave.

[SPEAKER_02]: You know, I had a deadline basically.

[SPEAKER_02]: It was like, yes, I don't find a job by.

[SPEAKER_02]: 30 weeks.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm just staying, you know.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so I did find a job and really like, it was just crazy because that was the first thing I was doing was, you know, look, we've shielded home birth coverage.

[SPEAKER_02]: You were like, you will be like, do you cover it?

[SPEAKER_02]: And they're like, are you even employed?

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like, right.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm like, [SPEAKER_02]: They're like, what's your idea number?

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm like, I don't know, but like, I'd technically free.

[SPEAKER_02]: Great.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, you know, long for a short good look, that was that they did cover the home birth.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so, in that meantime, between September and January, I went back to my old midwives.

[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, fine, I'll just do the hospital birth with the midwives.

[SPEAKER_02]: And knowing what was, [SPEAKER_02]: what could be different.

[SPEAKER_02]: But at that level of care you get with homework, my wife, the hour-long appointment, and it just really feels like she knew who I was.

[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know how getting that from those, the CNMC.

[SPEAKER_02]: The appointments, you know, there were 15 minutes long, they'd weigh me, they'd say, how are you feeling?

[SPEAKER_02]: Good, okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: carry on, you know, um, which I've never actually seen in OBGYN, but I, you know, I'd imagine kind of similar.

[SPEAKER_02]: Um, and I was like, I don't know if I want this that, like, it's good enough.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I was busy trying to find new drops.

[SPEAKER_02]: I won't show or complaining.

[SPEAKER_02]: Got to, uh, [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, but so I was really excited when I could eventually switch to the home birth midwife.

[SPEAKER_02]: Another thing that really was kind of a final straw for me was that they said my daughter, my older daughter, couldn't visit any of the hospital.

[SPEAKER_02]: So this is 22, so it was still a COVID policy and I was where we were in Vermont, we don't have any family in Vermont.

[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, it was gonna watch her, you know, over my head, my husband gonna have to go home.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like it was just like, it just upset me that day.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now we can have her at home and it'll be fine with okay okay all right so then it what how far along were you when you switch to the home birth no way?

[SPEAKER_02]: I, it was pretty late.

[SPEAKER_02]: I was in, I just, just in my third trimester, I think.

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, wow.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: And did she have any reservations about she switched in that late?

[SPEAKER_02]: No, she, since we already had a, had started our relationship.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm she knew the basics there.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: It was, yeah, nothing really an issue.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: You had already talked about my birth.

[SPEAKER_02]: like plans.

[SPEAKER_02]: It was a lot of a break.

[SPEAKER_02]: And my husband had a warmed up to the idea.

[SPEAKER_02]: Especially when he met her in person.

[SPEAKER_02]: So since we have an older, since we had a toddler, I was the only one going to the appointment.

[SPEAKER_02]: And later in the trimest, I think it was 36 weeks, 30.

[SPEAKER_02]: up thing weeks.

[SPEAKER_02]: She, she entered a system midwife and I do actually talk more about that but they came to our house.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: She's like, see, the lay of the land like houses going down.

[SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: And the life husband saw that when he was like, okay, yeah, they know what they're doing.

[SPEAKER_02]: You know, and he, they kind of answered his questions about emergency equipment they have.

[SPEAKER_02]: So they have oxygen.

[SPEAKER_02]: They've, I do foods.

[SPEAKER_02]: They have like recitation equipment.

[SPEAKER_02]: So he was like, [SPEAKER_02]: We were far there from the hospital, but we were still, we already five minutes.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: So in the emergency, that was, that was our plan, just go to the hospital.

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, gosh.

[SPEAKER_00]: Gotcha.

[SPEAKER_00]: Gotcha.

[UNKNOWN]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then so this was a CPM, a certified professional midwife?

[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, that's right.

[SPEAKER_02]: And she has a assistant midwife.

[SPEAKER_02]: So Allison was my main new wife and Heidi was her assistant.

[SPEAKER_02]: And they both had so many births under their belt.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so I really, just, [SPEAKER_02]: trusted that they made me with their doing.

[SPEAKER_02]: Gotcha.

[SPEAKER_00]: Gotcha.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: So then what was your prenatal care like with them and then how did it compare to the care you had before?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: It was just so caring and welcoming.

[SPEAKER_02]: I would go to her office and it was just a cozy space.

[SPEAKER_02]: And we would talk about [SPEAKER_02]: everything, you know, depending on really how nervous I was feeling or what I was focused on that week about my symptoms that then or the birth logistics and puts part of care and just really anything I could take of and she would do the exam exam, you know, she would [SPEAKER_02]: kind of do the normal stuff like measuring my belly, checking the heartbeat or my vitals.

[SPEAKER_02]: One nice thing was she didn't weigh me.

[SPEAKER_02]: Pat was something that I asked, hey, is it possible if you don't weigh me, just because that's in my history, it's just, [SPEAKER_02]: I wouldn't call it triggering, but it's just difficult to get weighed, especially when you're pregnant.

[SPEAKER_02]: When you're just trying to focus on growing a baby, so that was nice, that wasn't a worry that I had going into post-pointed.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I should ask, did the...

[SPEAKER_00]: did the midwives in the hospital ever make a big deal about your weight or the implications about that for your care?

[SPEAKER_02]: It was never an issue that they brought up.

[SPEAKER_02]: I [SPEAKER_02]: they, which I, I'm glad about, but there was a few times where I would hop on the scale and I'd, you know, turn around, do my thing and just ignore it and they would stay the way out loud and I'd be like, like, like, like, read the root.

[SPEAKER_02]: It had to, then dad got to, okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I, otherwise, [SPEAKER_02]: if you will help me.

[SPEAKER_02]: And had already had a successful birth of a large baby and so that was nice to have that like evidence of my child.

[SPEAKER_02]: I had to before.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right, exactly exactly.

[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.

[SPEAKER_00]: So then what did you do to prepare for your birth?

[SPEAKER_00]: If anything, if you feel like you needed to do anything, [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, well, it's funny that the first time around I was doing all the things, you know, prenatal yoga and like stretches and movements and trying to do relaxation exercises.

[SPEAKER_02]: And the second time I had a toddler, like, like, oh, darn it, I'm already in my third tracer, right?

[SPEAKER_02]: But I did some of those things.

[SPEAKER_02]: I got the book with my first pregnancy called Natural Child Birth the Bradley Way and I never took a Bradley method class or anything But I loved that book because it really explained exactly what was going on in labor like Your uterus is a muscle and it's like like skim muscle and you're at the stages of labor not by like yes By what's going on in your body, but also like mentally like how you're feeling [SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so I kind of just re-learned all that stuff about, okay, if I feel like I can't do it anymore, that's might be transition, you know?

[SPEAKER_02]: Like, though we're fine, maybe filming, and that was really helpful.

[SPEAKER_02]: I re-read that and I did do some of the re-lexation exercise that they have in the book where you're you're trying to release all tension.

[SPEAKER_02]: And just it's not the same.

[SPEAKER_02]: I've heard it's different from like, [SPEAKER_02]: hypno babies that kind of think we're focusing on like some an image in your mind.

[SPEAKER_02]: You're trying to just release every muscle your whole body was totally limp.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I did practice that some in my pregnancy.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then what are some things that you wanted for your birth?

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I had for both birth, I wanted it to be, I say, low intervention.

[SPEAKER_02]: I had listened to Tarn's birth stories, but on the birth hour podcast.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yep.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I know you're, your podcast, you have made birth stories to story.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so I just, [SPEAKER_02]: knew that like learning as much as I could about birth would really help me.

[SPEAKER_02]: I feel like knowledge is power.

[SPEAKER_02]: Some people may be or like don't chat like I don't want to know.

[SPEAKER_00]: Knowledge is power.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: So really just low intervention.

[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously you wanted to be at home.

[SPEAKER_00]: Was there anything that you were afraid about giving birth at home?

[SPEAKER_02]: I would say I was just more afraid that I wouldn't get to do it.

[SPEAKER_02]: I wasn't really thinking about if I'd have to transfer to the hospital because I figured if that happened, I was more thinking at the days when on, and my baby was measuring large and I would go to the hospital and they would do the ultrasound at like 32 weeks, 36 weeks, and they're like babies really big.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so I was more, I was just like afraid that at some point, [SPEAKER_02]: my homework midwife would say, like, sorry, you got to induce you, you got to, you're ready to speak or whatever it might be, and I just didn't want to get induce, like I was saying on the podcast, I would hear these stories of, you know, you go ahead and you get the potassium and then you get the epidural and then things stall and then it's it or it's it or it said itself, I was just trying to [SPEAKER_02]: avoid that if I could.

[SPEAKER_02]: I know you can't avoid playing your home.

[SPEAKER_02]: Sure.

[SPEAKER_02]: But I actually felt like my option that home were more in.

[SPEAKER_02]: more in line with what I wanted, like I just knew what to expect more than at the hospital.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: And did you tell the hospital based midwives that you were planning to do a homework?

[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, I mean, they weren't supported of it.

[SPEAKER_02]: I was just like, I'm going to change providers.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think they may have asked me if there's no anything that could have done differently.

[SPEAKER_02]: Mm-hmm.

[SPEAKER_02]: And it was...

[SPEAKER_02]: One other thing I didn't mention is like your changing provider is every tidy though in and so that was part of it It's like it's hard to tell my story every single point night about what I wanted and then I never knew who would Birth my baby like my first birth.

[SPEAKER_02]: I didn't mention this, but [SPEAKER_02]: I gave birth to her at UVM Hospital, and so the person who caught my baby was the resident OBGYN.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I was like, I had never met this person before.

[SPEAKER_02]: She was like, I came in, probably baby, and I was like, wait, I thought it was going to be one of these seven midwives, can I?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, how did that happen?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's just because [SPEAKER_02]: I think that she was in the room because I guess that there was Maconium, the Petricians, was in the room too.

[SPEAKER_02]: There were just a lot of people there.

[SPEAKER_02]: Sure.

[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know.

[SPEAKER_02]: It was like a crowded room.

[SPEAKER_02]: And that was an outfit I just didn't really want.

[SPEAKER_02]: I wanted to know who would be there.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I can understand that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, did you have, or what was the transfer plan that you all discussed?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it was fairly simple.

[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, if things weren't going according to plan, I would go to UVM, which was 35 minutes away.

[SPEAKER_02]: There was another closer hospital in St.

Albans, which is a northern Vermont, but it just didn't have the NICU, you know, it was just a little amount of good.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, [SPEAKER_02]: You know, there were two really pretty good hospitals to choose from and there were two main things we were looking at for my mission I would talk about one was shoulder distocia because with a large baby [SPEAKER_02]: that was something we should be aware of.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so she and I and we talk with this in our prenatal moments.

[SPEAKER_02]: She would say, well, there are some positions you could try.

[SPEAKER_02]: She'd like to get the baby to come out if she stuck.

[SPEAKER_02]: And then another thing was postpartum like hemorrhaging.

[SPEAKER_02]: because I had blood a lot with my first, which I didn't realize until I saw my record.

[SPEAKER_02]: It was more than normal, and so she, you know, I was really diligent about to iron pills on my pregnancy, and they, you know, I just felt reassured that she knew these when my concerns she had solutions, and so it was never anything that I, there really weren't anything [SPEAKER_02]: My mother-in-law told me, oh, you're so brave when I told her I was doing a home birth, and I was like, thank you, but I almost feel like I'm just trying to do it this way, because I'm afraid of like the hospital, like what might happen at the hospital, you know?

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: I felt like it was the state for option.

[SPEAKER_02]: Got to.

[SPEAKER_02]: Of course, you know, I had looked at all the research and I saw that like, [SPEAKER_02]: low-risk patients, low-risk births at home are just a safe as that hospitals or birth centers.

[SPEAKER_02]: So it's like great.

[SPEAKER_02]: Why not?

[SPEAKER_00]: Kevin, okay, all right, and then had your, had your midwife to she share about, like, did she have a relationship with either of these hospitals for transfer, did she ever transfer folks?

[SPEAKER_00]: Did you all talk about that?

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, there are, there's one other hospital that was a little farther from me, but cluster her practice where she was very familiar with.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so there are three that she's been to.

[SPEAKER_02]: So she shared with me why she's transferred in the past.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like, here's the actual, like, here stories.

[SPEAKER_02]: And most of the time, it was, [SPEAKER_02]: a slow progression of labor, okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's like, oh, there's still a labor 20 hours later or whatever it is and you're still a four or something like that.

[SPEAKER_02]: Or they're so tired, they're like, they need to sleep.

[SPEAKER_02]: So we get them in the hospital, get them some other an epidural, get them sleep.

[SPEAKER_02]: So she said she shared that every time they transfer to the hospital, it wasn't.

[SPEAKER_02]: urgent.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it was kind of slow.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like, all right, it was going to hospital.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's packed.

[SPEAKER_02]: You're bad.

[SPEAKER_02]: It was on the car.

[SPEAKER_02]: It wasn't like, you know, alarm bells going off.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: Tyrants don't none of that.

[SPEAKER_02]: So that was reassuring to me as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: So then let's talk about what what was your labor and birth like.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I was, I had [SPEAKER_02]: I maybe naively thinking my birth would be the same as my first, and see we all do.

[SPEAKER_02]: So it was only two days after my due date.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so I was like, she and I come in like, it was Memorial Day weekend, right?

[SPEAKER_02]: This Saturday.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I had invited my parents to come visit because they live in Central Mass, like, near where I am now.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, come through the weekend.

[SPEAKER_02]: We'll go swimming in your pool at the hotel and like it'll be great.

[SPEAKER_02]: And we'll take my mind off of this baby that's not coming.

[SPEAKER_02]: And, uh, Flutty, you know, of course, I, we're having breakfast, my family, and I felt a contraction.

[SPEAKER_02]: It was super mild.

[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, I think that was a contraction.

[SPEAKER_02]: And then a few minutes after that, I got another contraction.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I was like, yep, I don't remember.

[SPEAKER_02]: And immediately I called my mid-life.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like, I was looking at my phone record and the, and I only called it like six minutes after.

[SPEAKER_02]: I've never been having a person's action, but I just knew I don't know.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so I called her, I was like, I think I'm in labor, and she was kind of far-for-leashes like for unit.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I wanted to give her a little heads up, and because we expected my labor will be fast.

[SPEAKER_02]: And then I took a shower, I got ready for the day, and I remember in the shower, I put my hands against the wall and was like leaning forward to get through the contractions already, like 20 minutes later.

[SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: And meanwhile, my husband had an idea.

[SPEAKER_02]: He's like getting my older daughter ready for the day.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right, right.

[SPEAKER_02]: And then I called my du-la.

[SPEAKER_02]: I didn't mention that my du-la was Mary Humphrey.

[SPEAKER_02]: She's a full circle du-la serviceist.

[SPEAKER_02]: And that was, [SPEAKER_02]: my back up babysitting plan, right before that.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like maybe my husband will watch her.

[SPEAKER_02]: Maybe I can do a little watch her.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: It didn't end up being an issue because my parents were down.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, and I wanted to do a little regardless.

[SPEAKER_02]: You know, I looked at all the research and outcomes on the shore.

[SPEAKER_00]: Do you have a do for your first birth?

[SPEAKER_02]: No, I didn't, and yeah, maybe I would have liked to have one.

[SPEAKER_02]: They felt like I was in a hospital for such a little amount of time.

[SPEAKER_02]: I mostly was like trying to sleep when I was [SPEAKER_02]: So, maybe it would have been different, but that was something I definitely did.

[SPEAKER_02]: When I got my new job, I had a higher income and I was like, we're gonna do us, got it, got it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, all right, so then you can't cause your dula and then she come over, what happened after that?

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so, um, that she, [SPEAKER_02]: While she was on her way, she watched, she's funny, she asked, she's like, I'm in a middle of having a family breakfast right now and everyone would pick, he takes her something like big, she's like, should I come right now?

[SPEAKER_02]: Or what, I was like, you could eat your breakfast, and then come most, okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, it's not an urgent, right, the second, but I think, and she lived a little closer to me, so got to.

[SPEAKER_02]: I went upstairs into our bedroom, and I made it this nice comma waces.

[SPEAKER_02]: I turned lights off, turned the twigly lights on, I turned AC on, because it was really hot that time of year actually.

[SPEAKER_02]: And it got my ball, I was like riff ball, and I put my headphones on, and the thing to like is the playlist that I made, and that was like very in the zone, because I could feel so at peace because they both, [SPEAKER_02]: new and they were both on their way.

[SPEAKER_02]: And it wasn't at this point, I remember I took a selfie, and I was like in the middle of contractions, so I clearly wasn't like it was still early lately.

[SPEAKER_02]: So at that point they, my Julia arrived first, and that was probably it like, [SPEAKER_02]: ten-thirty or something, and so this was two hours off my first injection.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think at my time life, and closely.

[SPEAKER_02]: And by that point I had moved to the bed, and I was lying on my side, and I was trying to do the releasing tension Bradley method kind of thing.

[SPEAKER_02]: So something had changed in the, you know, hour, since I had talked to them all.

[SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so she got right to work sitting up the [SPEAKER_02]: which I had that was one thing I really wanted because I loved laboring in the top.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: I, and I, with my maybe I, we could rent a top, it's like a birth pool.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: Funny, it's like one of those blow up little kitty pools.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: For adult, right?

[SPEAKER_02]: So she and my husband were setting it up, and I was, you know, in my own zone.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I had to do things super pair for the home birth.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like I got about just supplies.

[SPEAKER_02]: So they could adapt to the, I got a clean brand new hose and adapter for our stink.

[SPEAKER_02]: So they filled it up that way.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I had about jettiles and sheets and things for the bed.

[SPEAKER_02]: Underneath our sheets were like a plastic shower curtain.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: People are always worried about like, what, they wouldn't ask a mess like that, yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's really like, that's the basics of it.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like you put just stuff you don't care about on your bed.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's been when you have the birth you need to take it all off and right, be done with it.

[SPEAKER_02]: Gotcha.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I was like really waiting for them to get the top set up at this flight because I was like having a little trouble getting through the contractions.

[SPEAKER_02]: I would have some success with the Bradley method and then the next contraction would come and I'd be like riding.

[SPEAKER_02]: You felt got it.

[SPEAKER_02]: It kind of just felt like I'm getting like ringed out in my middle.

[SPEAKER_02]: okay do you know it wasn't it wasn't terrible at this point but it was I was thinking like did I have to be in the pool and that warm water right so they I got in the tub around 1115 and then my midwife arrived and she had all this stuff with her and so she was setting up her kit in my daughter's bedroom and where was your husband during all this oh so he was helping my [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, he was helping the duo set up the tub.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: He was around, he was like, on call.

[SPEAKER_02]: I didn't need anyone next to me like doing anything at this point.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: And he, he got my pants to watch my daughter.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, okay, one hilarious thing, which I'll never forget.

[SPEAKER_02]: It was more or less weekend.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so, my daughter had a flag, a good American flag, and she had been playing with for a week.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: And when she came to say goodbye to me, she poked me in the eyes while I was in labor.

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I barked, I was like, like if I'm trying to have a baby here and now I got hooked in the eye.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I mean, that was a huge really having her taken care because I'm worried about what to do with this.

[SPEAKER_02]: which are in a whole pregnancy.

[SPEAKER_02]: I know some people have their older children at births, but that's just one of what I want, and she was only two and a half.

[SPEAKER_02]: She would be more trouble.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that was worth it.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and then so my midwife is here to choose unpacking everything, and I, but I was in the tub, and it was just like such a big relief to be in the water out there.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I would just channel out there and work through with attractions where I could.

[SPEAKER_02]: And it started to feel like, oh, maybe I do need someone in my faith, like tell me, you got this, that kind of thing.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I said that to my husband and the Julia, because they were kind of just sitting and watching, which at some point wasn't having a attraction, it was weird.

[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, why are you looking at me?

[SPEAKER_02]: So I, I almost told her I was like, okay, now it's time to like, [SPEAKER_02]: you know, wrote me on and then they both were, you know, saying encouraging things to me.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, but I was like, I think something's different.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like it feels like I'm ready to be done.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I said to Mary, my duels, I can you have Alice and check me, the midwife who's in the other room.

[SPEAKER_02]: And has she checked, has she checked you before then?

[SPEAKER_02]: I had not been checked.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: that day.

[SPEAKER_02]: I forgot to mention I was I was four seven meters on my on the day before my due date.

[SPEAKER_00]: Got it.

[SPEAKER_02]: So three days before and I did get a I did elect to get a membrane sweep.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay on Wednesday.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I on Wednesday I got the membrane sweep and then Saturday I gave birth.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I know [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, if it was related, I mean, I was also, that was that four weeks, right?

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: Because I was worried about the, the, I have it to be induced, and you know, I was like, I'll try it.

[SPEAKER_02]: If it worked, it worked.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: So all I knew at that point was like, I was four centimeters a few days ago, which is, that's great, right?

[SPEAKER_02]: And so she checked me, and I was 10 centimeters.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: At, you know, 1140, which was three hours after, and my very first baby [SPEAKER_02]: but I didn't feel the urge to push at all with my first.

[SPEAKER_02]: My body was like bucking on and like pushing me out.

[SPEAKER_02]: But this one I didn't, and I think it was because my water hadn't broken.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: And it's funny because just at my last appointment with my midwife, I was saying, oh, wouldn't be cool.

[SPEAKER_02]: She was born on call, like, [SPEAKER_02]: I know that happens very rarely, and she's like, maybe it'll if you have a warrant file.

[SPEAKER_02]: But why don't you try and push, she said, because you're ready, and just see how it feels.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I did maybe two pushes, and then it was like, giant explosion by water painting.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm in the tub, thank you.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: But I could see it exploding.

[SPEAKER_02]: So like, it was the risk of conium.

[SPEAKER_02]: So if it was just water in the water, I wouldn't be able to see it.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: But it was like, [SPEAKER_02]: And I was like, okay, I got the baby out, all right.

[SPEAKER_02]: And then I could feel it, the urge to push a little more.

[SPEAKER_02]: I still felt like I needed guidance.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like I was like, tell me what to do.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like I don't feel like I know how to push the baby out.

[SPEAKER_02]: And they asked me, do you want changed positions?

[SPEAKER_02]: Because I was lying there, like you would just sit in a hot tub.

[SPEAKER_02]: I was just like, lounging, right.

[SPEAKER_02]: Now, do you want changed positions?

[SPEAKER_02]: And at that point, I was like, I don't know who would.

[SPEAKER_02]: which is so funny because part of my first birth was like I had to give that birth my back while I walk and here I was like I'm just going to stay here like the idea of squatting or getting out all fours I was like I'm not moving.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I was pushing without really any resistance you know because you pick about it's just like an inflatable tub right I'm pushing again like right a herk yeah but [SPEAKER_02]: My midwife was right there, you know, she was kneeling outside of the tub, but she was like there, her, you know, and everything she was ready to go.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so I did, I pushed the head out, she came out until like here.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so my midwife checked to make sure it wasn't a chord raptor out there, or even keeping her from coming out all the way, she was fine.

[SPEAKER_02]: I pushed again, her whole head [SPEAKER_02]: hurt more like there's more pain than my first birth with pushing.

[SPEAKER_02]: I really felt like the what do you call it?

[SPEAKER_02]: What she was crowning, it was like the other ring of fire.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I really felt like the ring of fire was like stinging it.

[SPEAKER_02]: I remember being like, out, out, out, out, out.

[SPEAKER_02]: Whereas in general, I'd say my contractions were manageable.

[SPEAKER_02]: But then that pain that was more like, I'll get the city out.

[SPEAKER_03]: Right, right.

[SPEAKER_02]: And then there was a big gap between my contractions.

[SPEAKER_02]: where I was just waiting and I didn't push.

[SPEAKER_02]: And it's also weird, I was like, everyone's staring at me.

[SPEAKER_02]: And the hat baby sets out, you're like, and then I pushed and then her shoulders and her whole body came out and so I was like, no, I wish you could shoot him.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: So there was head came out and then she said, wait till the next contraction and then push the rest of the baby.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, which is crazy because you're looking at a baby under water.

[SPEAKER_01]: Uh-huh.

[SPEAKER_02]: And naturally you're like, get this baby out.

[SPEAKER_02]: are breathing in water inside of you, you know, it's just the same sort of environment.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, it was this weird thing to say, but I knew I know it's they sure.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: So then my mom handed her right to me and I held her up against the, and I was just like, it felt like such a relief fabric out like, physically.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like, ah, I feel so [SPEAKER_02]: So, and I remember saying, I look at this brown hair, and what's funny is she's too now, and she has the blondest hair ever, I'm like, where'd it go?

[SPEAKER_02]: Right, right.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so she was born at LM55, oh, and I didn't mention the midwife assistant a ride like right when I was pushing, so she like just made it, and she was the [SPEAKER_02]: So all it all was a three and a half hour labor and we all knew she's going to be big, you know, but I thought she's only two days late.

[SPEAKER_02]: She bought nine days late when I first.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: There's no way.

[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, maybe she's tip out.

[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so, but the next thing we do is waiting for the placenta and it's.

[SPEAKER_02]: for whatever reason is taking its time and I had thinking about hemorrhaging.

[SPEAKER_02]: I was kind of long.

[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, just get it.

[SPEAKER_02]: I want this to be done.

[SPEAKER_02]: You know, I couldn't relax and be like, enjoying my baby.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, but the funny thing was her court is really short.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: We hadn't cut yet.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's so they wanted, I wanted to move to the bed.

[SPEAKER_02]: And they did too.

[SPEAKER_02]: They were like, that's moved to the bed.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so someone was helping me out of the tub.

[SPEAKER_02]: Someone was holding the baby.

[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, she's attached to me, so I remember her, like, mind-waste level.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm like, like, holding my hand.

[SPEAKER_02]: We're like walking the two feet to the bed.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like, I created the parade.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'll just, uh, just a wild blue.

[SPEAKER_02]: Me and my baby.

[SPEAKER_02]: And, um, let me get on the bed.

[SPEAKER_02]: And...

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, then the both of the did come out and it was fine and even, and there was no, um, no, have her ginger or anything like that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, um, before I forget how were they checking the baby's heart rate during your labor?

[SPEAKER_00]: Do you remember that?

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_02]: There were no monitors on me that I didn't have any IVs either.

[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I was glad to be [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, what's called the GBS?

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, right.

[SPEAKER_02]: GBS?

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, negative.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: Because I just thought I would be a kind of inconvenient to have, sure.

[SPEAKER_02]: Louis, I mean, it or Antibiotics, you know?

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I had nothing on me.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Did they listen like with the spot like with the Doppler, like listen to the baby's heart rate?

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think so.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it went so quickly, you know?

[SPEAKER_00]: They did.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: My good wife got there and she was catching a baby again.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so maybe there wasn't even time to really like it all the time here.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, if they would listen to her heartbeat, you know, prenatally.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, during the births, they just would come up.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you got on the bed, we'll send a came out.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, they left this alone for about an hour, I think.

[SPEAKER_02]: So you get that initial bonding time?

[SPEAKER_02]: Well, I shouldn't say left us alone.

[SPEAKER_02]: They were in the room, but they were cleaning up everything.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: Which, again, they have this, I didn't note, I don't know how too much of the details, because I was not paying attention.

[SPEAKER_02]: But they have this thing that, like, [SPEAKER_02]: that get through it of all the water, the dirty water.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's like what you put in your basement is it flush?

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like I think the, I think it's called a sump pump maybe.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, and it has a sump pump.

[SPEAKER_02]: So they put the sump pump in, they suck all the water.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so I was like, I don't know how they, they did.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: And it was clean.

[SPEAKER_02]: And these women are experts.

[SPEAKER_02]: So my dola has also attended a bunch of home births.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so she knew everything about how to set it up and [SPEAKER_02]: And they get all that taken care of while it's just my husband, me, and the baby on the bed, and I'm starting to try breastfeeding with her.

[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, did you get any stitches or anything?

[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, no.

[SPEAKER_02]: I didn't.

[SPEAKER_02]: I had no chairs or anything for this baby.

[SPEAKER_02]: I had a fucking degree chair with my first.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: Which I was like surprised about because the first size on the speed and like the pain.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: I thought of something would happen.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: So it's just so we're lacked compared to my first.

[SPEAKER_02]: for it because they were stitching me up and they were really concerned about if I have to pee like they were putting a cap that earned me and like doing lots of things when I had had my first baby, which I understand and mathematically you have to give me stitches and stuff, but it was just was nice to be like, ah, we're just here right now, right now, right now, [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and so then they did the newborn exam, and I went to some point they did cut the court.

[SPEAKER_02]: We just did delayed court camping, nothing, nothing wild, you know, and they have that scale where you like hold the ring up in the baby's, like in a little fabric, the hammock, and so she's holding the baby up, and we're all thinking like, what's it going to be, you know, nine pounds, it pounds whatever, and she said, 11 pounds even, and I'm like, why [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I'm fine, David, for a perfectly on-time baby, three hours, no tearing, no sold shoulder distortion, no nothing.

[SPEAKER_02]: Nothing.

[SPEAKER_02]: No, I was like, oh, I'm in, and she was 23 inches long, so she was a tall baby, she's just, yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: So she, I would say if you saw her, you would just think she's, [SPEAKER_02]: three or four got like you wouldn't think she doesn't she's proportional if you felt right right right she's big she's like in the 90s something percent of all the time got you yeah so she's she's started out solid big girl and she's gonna continue to be tall she's gonna probably be tall just like you are so yeah my oldest daughter's already she's taking her basketball lessons already [SPEAKER_02]: Both of you will have a little NBA team.

[SPEAKER_00]: So then how long did they stay?

[SPEAKER_00]: And what was postpartum like for you?

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, they didn't stay for much longer than that.

[SPEAKER_02]: It was, they were helping me with breastfeeding a bit.

[SPEAKER_02]: But that was just another thing I was night and day.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think it's also a big experience.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like I did breastfeed my first, but it was mostly, [SPEAKER_02]: like we would also do bottles, so it's like mostly bottles from breastfeeding, and I think a lot of that was because of my initial experience, breastfeeding her, most challenging, and like I used the nipple shield really.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right, early.

[SPEAKER_02]: They put back that I only learned after the fact that we're maybe not good.

[SPEAKER_02]: And she didn't, I didn't breastfeed her in the first hour, my first daughter.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I just tried to really do everything I could to prioritize breastfeeding.

[SPEAKER_02]: I took a breastfeeding class, [SPEAKER_02]: before my second birth.

[SPEAKER_02]: Even though I've already breastfed, I just wanted to [SPEAKER_02]: really relearn everything.

[SPEAKER_02]: Sure.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so one of my one of the things that I took away from that class was that the first 10 days are the most important for breastfeeding.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so they were like trying to commit to 10 days.

[SPEAKER_02]: And just remember if you're breastfeeding, it's going to be all you're doing.

[SPEAKER_02]: And just they were saying, and if it's through WIC, so I had had this cook of the breastfeed that's through WIC.

[SPEAKER_02]: They were saying like, just don't wait for the baby [SPEAKER_02]: Well, all the time.

[SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so I just had that in my head because with my first, I was so obsessed with like what time is it?

[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: And as she do to eat, even when she was a newborn.

[SPEAKER_02]: And this second one, I was just like, I'm just going to breastfeed you.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like, especially when she's that little, I was just like, I'm just going to breastfeed you.

[SPEAKER_02]: And then if you're asleep, that's fine.

[SPEAKER_02]: And then I'm going to wake up and breastfeed you.

[SPEAKER_02]: It was like, gosh, honestly, it was all I cared about.

[SPEAKER_02]: So that was basically like my job of giving birth to her head.

[SPEAKER_02]: And that was my job of breastfeeding her husband coming.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: Well, postpartum, like primarily was about breastfeeding for me, but also I had, I had gotten a postpartum psychiatrist ahead of time.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, to just Have someone on the books in case I needed them right and so I had my first appointment is on like that Monday So I gave birth Saturday and just happened.

[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, wow.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay Monday and I'm like, I like you're the baby, you know [SPEAKER_02]: And even though I don't, it's hard to say what, what caused what?

[SPEAKER_02]: But I don't think I really experienced any postpartum anxiety or depression, but it just was such a nice, a smoother experience.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I had that support if I needed it and was at home.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[SPEAKER_00]: So was it like a virtual appointment kind of thing?

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, I would just be with her.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think it was that every other week or every and then every month after that.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, quick little appointments and they're just having that, I think.

[SPEAKER_02]: That would be my advice if you're pregnant and here at all, concerned about postpartum mood disorders, just like have someone now because the waiting list are so long.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and you can always cancel.

[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: And there'll be somebody else who will snap up that spot.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know it totally.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: So then when did the midwife come back to check on you?

[SPEAKER_02]: That was another wonderful benefit of home birth that she would do home visits for the first few appointments.

[SPEAKER_02]: So she came the next day.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I believe the second day to check on me and the baby.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: And then her visits counted as pediatric visits.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so we never had to leave the house until like a week, a week or two.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, to actually visit her real pediatrician, got to.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I had called the peat, I was like, by the way, I'm having homework, so I want the you have hospital, but like, you know, yeah, yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so they knew that she was coming.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, got to.

[SPEAKER_02]: Then see her until probably choose to be sold.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Did they have any concerns about her being born at home?

[SPEAKER_02]: No, I'm there.

[SPEAKER_02]: Vermont is very...

[SPEAKER_00]: I was a little bit afraid of it.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's pretty common.

[SPEAKER_02]: I don't think compared to maybe other states, even Massachusetts, Massachusetts, very hospital oriented or multiple, there's such a big part of the culture here.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: But the insurances in Vermont all have to come or homperies, at least when I was sick of the North and Dealia.

[SPEAKER_02]: So it wasn't, I never got any negative feedback.

[SPEAKER_02]: When I would go to the get my ultrasounds, it was, sometimes they'd be like, oh, in a like, right.

[SPEAKER_02]: But that would be, that was it, really.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, all right.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then how hard was it to get like, first certificate and things like that?

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, my midwife took care of everything.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: I would have to fill out some of the forms ahead of time, but they did all the administrative stuff and got the births to get such a curie car.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's tough like that.

[SPEAKER_02]: And it's cool because on her births, it says, [SPEAKER_02]: you know, that she was born in Fairfax for months, which is a tiny child of like a thousand people and it's like, I don't know how many people were born here in the past 15 years.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I had to mount of something to the town.

[SPEAKER_02]: And again, there's so there's some, it's a little stuff going on here.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it didn't take for some time.

[SPEAKER_02]: Gotcha.

[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, yeah, we talked about that ahead, it's fine.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Is there anything that you didn't like about having the homework?

[SPEAKER_02]: I think that the insurance stuff was the hardest part and that, you know, that's just a problem with that.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, just basically what health insurance is covered because it was such a hassle to get a clear answer, even when it was ultimately covered by my private health insurance.

[SPEAKER_02]: It, the people who are talking to on the phone, they, when I'd call for help and support, they'd be like, no, we don't cover that, but then I'd say, open it Vermont, like you have to cover, and they'd be like, I don't know, I don't know.

[SPEAKER_02]: You know, like, okay, you don't like it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that's right.

[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, yeah, because my insurance was based in a different state, actually was based in Massachusetts, and so if I had given birth in Massachusetts with that health insurance, they wouldn't have covered it.

[SPEAKER_02]: But so it was in Vermont, they covered it.

[SPEAKER_02]: So it's just like, [SPEAKER_02]: And dealing with, we were also on Medicaid for the, for the children, so, and for me when I was pregnant, and just dealing with that coverage was just complicated, like I glad we had it, because it was just extra insurance, and it was, you know, charged us, and qualified for a wick benefit, but it's just like a lot of administrative tasks and wipes to jump through, and I think that's the pain.

[SPEAKER_02]: might have been a little easier with half the book.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Gotcha.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now is there anything that as I assume, if you have more children, you would plan to do another homework.

[SPEAKER_00]: We probably don't know how many more children, but I would [SPEAKER_02]: I think I would, for that, luckily I don't have to worry about it, because we are in Massachusetts now, so I don't know.

[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what I would be.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've got to, I totally get, like, I mean, we have two girls and we're done.

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, two girls.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, two girls.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, two girls.

[SPEAKER_00]: And do you, do you think that there is anything that the hospital setting could do differently [SPEAKER_00]: more appealing.

[SPEAKER_02]: That's a great question.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think that the immediate postpartum period, it would be nice if that could be a little more like protected and more peaceful.

[SPEAKER_02]: I know that, you know, I really loved some of the nurses who helped me when I was in labor the first time, but [SPEAKER_02]: than having them come in constantly and you have the pediatrician and you have the OB and you have the lactation consultants and they're all at different lactations.

[SPEAKER_02]: But I thought my and visitors I will admit it was 2019.

[SPEAKER_02]: We had a lot of visitors at the hospital.

[SPEAKER_02]: If I did it again, I would not do that.

[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: I couldn't even imagine doing that anymore in this post-Covid work.

[SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[SPEAKER_02]: But yeah, having it a little more like, I've never been to a birth center, but like, but I imagine a birth center is like just calming and peaceful and encouraging like bonding with baby.

[SPEAKER_02]: That to me, I think could be really helpful.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that makes sense, that makes sense.

[SPEAKER_00]: As we wrap up, what would you say is you're one piece of advice?

[SPEAKER_00]: You may have said it already, or the thing that you would tell someone who's getting ready to ensure.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I think that listening to birth stories is amazing and so valuable to just get an idea of what can happen.

[SPEAKER_02]: Just practically, like, don't listen so much to just the people talking to you about their terrible births.

[SPEAKER_02]: Sorry, like, in mine at Starbucks or whatever, [SPEAKER_02]: And another thing would be, get a Julia for labor and for postpartum is possible.

[SPEAKER_02]: We did our same Julia has postpartum services and it was just so nice to have someone over who could just do the dishes or like make us food or take care of the baby and I wish we could have had her even more because she also offered overnight services to stay with the baby and I could sleep.

[SPEAKER_02]: So that, I would say postpartum dulem, and the post tube visitors, again with my first baby, we had a lot of people over and as much as I tried to have it be clear like, okay, make yourself useful.

[SPEAKER_02]: It was still, I felt like I was entertaining them.

[SPEAKER_02]: Gotcha.

[SPEAKER_02]: Gotcha.

[SPEAKER_00]: and you don't want to be entertaining while you're trying to bond with your new baby.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, but look at another thing that my midwife told me, she was, I was on the second floor of our apartment or house.

[SPEAKER_02]: She said, don't kick the stairs for a week.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I was like, I'm leaving her out.

[SPEAKER_02]: I can't go to my living room.

[SPEAKER_02]: And she was like, [SPEAKER_02]: I really don't think you should like try and stay in your room and for your healing and I was like okay and I did maybe lose my mind a little bit there but I tried to stay upstairs and stay in bed as much as I could and just have other people take care of me for that week okay and then even the next week I'd say I kept that in mind like the first 10 days the first two weeks even of like prioritizing [SPEAKER_02]: Don't walk around even like don't even be vertical.

[SPEAKER_02]: Let's try to be horizontal and that helped me heal much better than my first where I was like go on a walk like God, you don't got to got to okay, okay, all right, I love it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I love it.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for agreeing to come on to the podcast.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm so fascinated by learning about, about home worth and home worth stories.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I really appreciate hearing your perspective and I'm sure other people will too.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's just really important topic that we need to talk more about.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, thank you guys so great to talk about.

[SPEAKER_02]: I actually have a sticker on my laptop that says, Ask me about my home worth.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm so happy to talk to anyone about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I love it.

[SPEAKER_02]: I love it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I love it.

[SPEAKER_00]: wasn't that a great episode.

[SPEAKER_00]: I so enjoyed hearing Leah's birth story and learning that new perspective about home birth.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, after every episode when I have a guest on, I do something called Dr.

Nicole's Notes, which are my top takeaways from the conversation.

[SPEAKER_00]: Here are my Dr.

Nicole's notes from my conversation with Leah number one, knowledge is power, but only if it's balanced and realistic.

[SPEAKER_00]: Leah highlighted how important it was for her to listen to burstories and learn as much as she could.

[SPEAKER_00]: I love that.

[SPEAKER_00]: But here's the thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not just about collecting information.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's about digesting it in a way that prepares you for the inherent unpredictable nature of birth.

[SPEAKER_00]: It really is important to seek out all types of stories, the joyful, the heart, the complicated, because doing so will create a fuller, more honest picture of what birth can look like, and that kind of preparation helps build resilience, not just expectations.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, next up, you better start your postpartum plan during pregnancy and think beyond the baby.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was so impressed that Leah scheduled an appointment with the psychiatrist while she was still pregnant.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's the kind of proactive mental health care that needs to happen.

[SPEAKER_00]: Preparing for postpartum isn't just about onesies and swadles, although of course that stuff is so much fun.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's also about your emotional well-being and if you know support might be helpful or even if you're unsure, go ahead and get that therapist that psychiatrist on your calendar before your baby comes.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can always cancel the appointment if need be and having those pieces in place can be incredibly protective.

[SPEAKER_00]: Once the baby is born.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, number three, the kind of support you get matters.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's a big difference between having a people around you and having a lot of right people around you.

[SPEAKER_00]: My mom told me that my grandmother, when she came to visit my mom after my older sister was born.

[SPEAKER_00]: My grandmother didn't really do anything to help my mom.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, my mom had to take care of the baby and take care of her parents, and I love my grandma, but that is not support.

[SPEAKER_00]: Leia's postpartum du la provided meaningful, hands-on help that respected her needs and not just her babies, and this is exactly the kind of support I encourage you to ask for.

[SPEAKER_00]: or invest in if it's possible, people who can feed you, tidy up, hold space for your recovery without expecting to be entertained.

[SPEAKER_00]: That is real true postpartum care.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then finally, home birth can be a great option for the right person and with the right preparation.

[SPEAKER_00]: Again, I don't often feature home birth stories, but I wanted to share Leah's because it shows what's possible with excellent midwifra care.

[SPEAKER_00]: Low risk pregnancy.

[SPEAKER_00]: Her birth team was prepared for complication, shitty solitary transfer plan, and clinical skills and compassion were brought to the table.

[SPEAKER_00]: Home birth isn't for everyone, but it can be a safe and reasonable option for appropriate candidates with appropriate planning and understanding how it works helps us all have more informed conversations about choice in birth.

[SPEAKER_00]: Alright, so that is it for this episode.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for listening today.

[SPEAKER_00]: This episode helped you please.

[SPEAKER_00]: Please share with a friend.

[SPEAKER_00]: Also, hit subscribe so you don't miss a thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: And if we're not connected yet, come follow me on Instagram at Dr.

Nicole Rankin's.

[SPEAKER_00]: My DMs are open.

[SPEAKER_00]: I love love loves you here from you.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then do me that one last favor and come on back next week.

[SPEAKER_00]: And remember to trust your power and take charge of your bread.