Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Welcome to Birth, Baby!, your go-to podcast hosted by Ciarra Morgan and Samantha Kelly, seasoned birth doulas and childbirth educators from Austin, Texas. Join us as we navigate the intricate journey of pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care, offering invaluable insights and expert advice. Through candid interviews, personal anecdotes, and evidence-backed content, we aim to empower families with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions. Whether you're seeking guidance on prenatal care, birth planning, or navigating the early days with your newborn, we've got you covered. Tune in to Birth, Baby! and embark on your parenthood journey with confidence.
The information provided on this podcast is for general information purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Always seek the advice of your qualified health provider with any questions you may have.
Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast.
Reliance on any information provided here is solely at your own risk.
Welcome, this is Birth, Baby.
Your hosts are Ciarra Morgan and Samantha Kelly.
Ciarra is a birth doula, hypnobirthing educator, and pediatric sleep consultant.
Samantha is a birth doula, childbirth educator, and lactation counselor.
Join us as we guide you through your options for your pregnancy, birth, and postpartum journey.
Hi, my name is Yvonne Tyler.
I go by Eva.
My husband's name is Josh.
We have a two-year-old named Maya and a five-month-old daughter named Vera.
We live in the suburbs of Austin, Texas with our golden doodle named Moose.
And we love the outdoors.
I love to swim and hike in my free time.
And my husband loves to build things with his hands.
He's currently building a cabin just for fun.
And I work in tech, and my husband works in sales.
We're so excited to have you today, Eva.
We were your doulas for your second birth, but we weren't around for your first birth.
So we'll go ahead and have you start off talking a little bit about your journey for your first pregnancy, birth, postpartum, whatever you want to share with us.
Sure.
So with Maya, this was during 2020.
And it was the time where we had the COVID lockdown.
So we had to reschedule our marriage like the week before the president had told us that we couldn't gather with more than 10 people.
And so it was pretty fascinating to just like cancel all of our wedding four days before.
And we already had people in town.
Oh my gosh.
So yeah, we didn't get married on our...
So we actually had a reschedule our wedding date to October, but we ended up getting married on our wedding day, like in our kitchen with my parents and then Josh's parents on Zoom and they officiated us.
And it was actually way more like emotional, and it was so sweet doing it in our kitchen.
And so like fast forward to, we knew that we just, our house was so special to us, like getting married in it.
And we knew that we wanted to do a home birth in our like current, in our current house.
So fast forward to October, we got married and then we got pregnant shortly right after.
So we were very happy and blessed that like getting pregnant, I know can be really hard for some people, but we were really happy that we got pregnant and were expecting right after.
That's amazing.
How special that you got to do it all at home.
I didn't know that whole story.
That's so sweet.
I don't think I knew that piece either.
I love that that you ended up having your babies at home after getting married at home.
Like it's just a theme.
Pregnancy with Maya was great.
I just feel like the Lord just blesses me with really great supernatural pregnancies.
So I didn't have any morning sickness.
I didn't have any crazy food aversions or any of that.
So it was very smooth for both my pregnancies actually.
Yeah, Maya's was great.
So how did labor start for you with her and how did your birth go?
Yeah, so with Maya, it was very long.
Yeah, so with Maya, I had a really long labor in papers.
It says 56 hours.
So the only difference is that I didn't get checked very often for Maya.
I think I got checked only twice.
So with the timing of the 56 hours, I'm not too sure if it was for drama labor or early labor, since I didn't get checked that often.
I got checked.
And I remember when you were hiring us for your second birth, we were like, okay, we better buckle up.
This is going to be a long ride.
If they're the first one, the second one's usually faster, but we don't know what's going on here.
So yeah, that was a little intimidating for sure.
It just, I would get very close contractions, but they just didn't progress.
And I was getting really tired.
By the second day, I was getting, I had an emotional breakdown because I was just like, I'm scared I'm going to get too tired and they'll get transferred to the hospital.
Because my goal was to have a home birth for my first.
But so my midwife checked me on the second day and I was at a four.
And so she was like, just keep relaxing.
You got this.
And let's keep praying that she comes tonight.
And so not getting much sleep that night.
And at 3 a.m.
my water broke.
And that's when like I knew everything.
I guess when my water breaks, I know that everything gets, I don't know this, but looking back, my water breaks and things get very like intense from then on.
So right when my water broke, I felt like it was just, I got into labor land.
And so from, it was 3 a.m.
that my water broke.
And then 10 a.m.
she was born, but I was in and out of, I had a ton of back labor with her.
So she must have also been stuck in a different position.
And I had a different dual at that time.
And we were trying to do all different positionings and work with the peanut ball and being on the side, being on all fours, getting into the birthing pool.
My thing about getting into birthing pool is that I get really relaxed.
And so, you know, my midwife likes to get me to stand and maybe do some lunges, so that I don't relax too much, because I just really like the water.
I like to keep people moving, that's for sure.
And was your team with you through that whole 56 hours, or did they kind of come and go as they checked you?
Yeah, so they only came, they came on the second day to check me just to see when I was at the four, and then when she told me to call her with her water breaks, or like if I think it's the 411 or the 511.
3 a.m.
I texted everyone, called everyone, told them my water broke, so they decided to come out to me, which is my midwife assistant, my doula.
Yeah, and then they were with me.
So I felt like everything was fine, just going through labor and labor land and in the water.
And then it wasn't until the very end, my midwife told me to try standing up.
So I stood up, and that's when I felt a lot of pressure.
And I think it was just two more pushes that my daughter came out of me.
So she came out standing up.
I was trying to go for a water birth, but it didn't happen.
That's okay.
I'm really impressed that you were able to, on a first birth, with that long of a labor, to maintain a home birth.
Like many people, and no fault, I mean, I get it.
They tap out.
They're like, I don't want to do this anymore.
I'm exhausted.
So it's really, really impressive.
And also that you had a birth team around you that was willing to go the long haul.
Yeah, for sure.
I think when I'm in labor, I do like moans or groans, like every single contraction.
And to me, I felt like it just, it's almost like white noise, like to just continue to own through every contract.
I did the same thing.
I was like, I sound like a dying cow, but it's fine.
Yeah, I like lost my voice the day after birth too.
But if I can just focus on my voice and opening my jaw and keeping relaxed, then I'm not even thinking about how tired I am.
So yeah, she came out and everything was great with her postpartum.
The thing with her is during that golden hour, she didn't latch.
We tried trying to latch her and she just wouldn't latch.
I'm just, I'm not sure.
I mean, I guess we were told that maybe she swallowed some amniotic fluid, and she was really full, and she'll latch later.
And so.
And how many weeks were you when she was born?
Oh, yes, she was born at 38 and five.
38 and five, okay.
Yeah, she did come early, but not crazy early.
Yeah, not crazy early, not too early to be like, oh, they're not going to go to school or anything like that.
Yeah.
So did she kind of how was that process?
Did you have a lactation consultant or did your midwives just keep helping you?
Yes, my both of the main, my midwife and my midwife assistant, she, they told me that she had a tongue or they suspected that she had a lip tie or tongue tie.
So we should probably go to a pediatric dentist to get that checked out.
Because we were first time parents, we didn't take it as seriously as we thought.
We were like, oh, she'll just latch, like, it'll be fine.
I think it was like two weeks that we finally were like, oh, we should probably look into this.
And we had scheduled an appointment and we went and yes, she had both tongue, tongue tie, lip tie, cheek tie, like, I don't know all the things.
And so we ended up getting, but I guess she's the dentist had told us that the lip tie wasn't as severe and as she grows, it might stretch.
And so we knew, but the tongue tie was severe.
And so we got the tongue tie released, but we waited on the lip tie to see how things would go.
Until then, we, I was still, I felt like, you know, healing in the postpartum was intense for me and working on trying to latch her and feed her.
And she was dropping weight and she was jaundice.
And so it was very stressful.
I was going to a lactation consultant every week and sometimes twice a week.
I also went to a chiropractor and I also went there, did some cranial sacral appointments with her to try to stretch her out and see if they would help.
So she did and threw everything at it.
And you're just like, come on, something has to work.
That sounds like a really like she gave you a run for your money in your labor and then postpartum too.
Yeah, she ended up latching, but she wouldn't pull a full feed.
And so we kept doing weighted feeds to see if she could keep pulling.
Then we went back, I think two months, we went back to get her lip tie to try to help that.
And that didn't also work either.
I mean, she was pulling a little bit more, but still not a full feed.
And she wasn't getting, she wasn't growing, like gaining a ton of weight.
By four months, I just decided I was going to, and I was triple feeding, which is nursing, pumping and bottle feeding.
And it was just so much on my mentality.
Four months of triple feeding is a lot.
Oh my goodness.
Yeah.
So at four months, I decided to just, I'm going to exclusively pump because I really wanted to nurse.
And I thought that this was, I guess I didn't prepare for breastfeeding as much as I thought it would be.
It just come naturally.
So I just decided to exclusively pump for the rest of the year.
And that was just hard in itself when you're pumping and bring, you're bringing a cooler and pumps and washing bottles and everything, everywhere you go.
I think my postpartum with Maya was very hard on my mental.
And I felt like I even had put like PTSD from it.
So I knew I wanted to change things up for my second birth.
Yeah, that sounds like a very overwhelming experience.
So going into your second birth, how did you kind of decide to, you know, that it was time to have another baby?
And what did that process look like for you after coming from such a difficult first experience?
Yeah.
So I am with Maya.
I weaned from breastfeeding at one.
And so then we were saying like, oh, maybe we could just start trying for a second one and we'll see how it goes.
And to our surprise, we got pregnant on the first try.
So our girls are 20 months apart.
And so it was pretty quick.
And after such an experience, especially with your birth, just like a labor and birth, did were you hesitant to have another home birth or like, shoot, if I could do that, I can do anything?
The latter.
So I was like, if I can do that, I mean, she's at the bar, I can definitely, it's definitely got to be faster this time around.
And everybody says, but the second it's faster.
So I was like, okay, I got this.
And keeping your birth team and like, was it the same midwives the second time?
Yes, I love my midwife.
I had a great experience with her.
Just when you have a midwife, you're spending hours with them.
Each appointment is so long and you build this great relationship.
So I didn't want to start over again.
And I really, I really enjoyed my midwife.
And then as my doula, I wanted to see what else was out there.
And I found your website and I was excited to see, I was looking for just a lot of, like a lot of like resources.
And I also like that y'all were believers, and that's a big reason why I chose you guys to be my doula.
Yeah, I remember our first call was really sweet.
And I just attached to you kind of right away.
I think both Samantha and I were like, she's so precious and I hope she picks us.
You know, there's every once in a while, those kind of people, you just your spirit and your energy were so kind and sweet.
And I was like, we want her to have a shorter birth this time.
I was like invested right away.
Yeah.
I think we even had a couple of conversations, just her and I about like, okay, well, I wonder like, what things might have been going on last time and what do we think might help her this time so that we don't have to deal with that again.
And we were kind of doing that behind the scenes game planning because we just wanted it to go so differently for you after we knew how hard that first one was.
Yeah, for sure.
Yes.
For my second one, I was hoping to go for a shorter birth, that's for sure.
And I wanted to strive for a water birth.
I also wanted to, I didn't get to catch the baby or Josh didn't get to catch the first one, so I was hoping for my second one that that could happen.
I also think something kind of unique with you guys, and I hope it's okay that I share, was that when you interviewed us, it was very much a, hey guys, we know what worked and what didn't work.
And we know that Eva needs a really wonderful female presence very close to her.
And so Josh was like, I'm going to make the food and I'm going to take care of you guys.
And I'm going to fill up your water and I'm going to work on the birth pool.
And he did, like he had all the things and he made this really cool thing that went from the faucet in the kitchen to the birth pool.
And, you know, he was a doer and he knew that you just need to be loved on by the females in the room.
And so, you know, that's kind of unique.
A lot of times people, the partner wants to be close and have us do kind of the outside things.
So that was a really cool piece of that too, I think.
Exactly.
Yes, he is gifted in different areas that I'm not gifted in.
So we wanted to just play on our gifts for Birth.
You know, for our first Birth, he had tried to do some comfort measures on me and some hip squeezes and some counter pressure, and it just wasn't working.
Or try to massage me, and I'd be like, don't touch me, please don't touch me, because he's just...
So we know that we know where our lanes are, and we could stay at our lanes for the second birth.
So that is a good point that you bring up.
I also knew I wanted to work through the sutures part.
I had just an intent.
I prepared for Maya's birth with some HypnoBirthing, some relaxation, but more for the labor part.
I didn't think to use those tools in the sutures part, and so I wanted to try to handle the sutures if I needed them for my second birth a little bit differently.
So that was something during pregnancy I was trying to, you know, prey upon and think about and relax and just really think about it.
Yeah, I think a lot of people don't really think about that part, or maybe they think too much about it, but it's kind of just a part of the process.
Most of the time, it's not necessarily going to be any better or worse than the birth.
That's just kind of part of it, but it's definitely a part, I think, that gets forgotten about.
And a lot of people just don't know to expect it or know how to prepare for it, but it is a huge part of the process.
I think it was the same for me in my second birth when I was, you know, my first unmedicated delivery.
I was like, oh, I have this whole other thing that I did not put a single thought into that I was not very well prepared for.
And it was, it's kind of weird.
It's just, you know, like your baby's there.
It feels like the work is done, but oh, we've got this other thing to do still.
Yeah.
I've forgotten about that.
That was another one of our big kind of to-dos for your labor was like afterward.
You know, a lot of people don't, again, don't think of that.
So that was something very high on our to-do list.
And you're like, I just know I'm going to need you really close if I need that again.
Right.
And with my first, you know, my, I was difficult to handle during the sutures.
And so my midwife was saying, you know, if you want, you could go to the hospital, you can get the epidural and continue the sutures.
But I had done the whole birth and the labor without epidural that I was like, no, when am I going to go to the hospital to get sutures?
So, you know, I mean, an epidural during the sutures to numb, so I couldn't feel it.
So that was the other, I was just, yeah, for my second birth, I wanted to focus on, I can do this.
That's something I'm going to get in the right head space around.
But yeah.
So for the difference between the pregnancy with Maya and Vera is that I, at around like the 30, 32 week appointment, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes.
And that was like a huge shock to me because I just, I considered myself, I didn't know like my sugars to be so high.
They were high in the fasting numbers, not the eating.
And I guess with the fasting numbers, they're a lot harder to control.
And some of it can do with like the hormones of the placenta.
So that was something I had to like navigate through for the last few weeks of pregnancy.
But we forgot about that.
You were totally blindsided by that.
You're like, what in the world?
You know, we were kind of surprised.
And then you're like, wait, what does this mean for having a home birth?
Yes.
Yep.
Everything, it was a shock the second time.
There was a lot of shocks with surprising with my second.
Yeah, just wait, buckle up.
So she, yeah, they're surprised us with gestational diabetes.
But thankfully, Josh and I were praying a lot and, you know, keeping our sugar numbers in line.
And so everything ended up being fine.
I kept my numbers.
I had to track all my sugar numbers every day until birth.
And because I was doing okay with my numbers, my midwife didn't have to put me on any medication.
And she wasn't concerned about, you know, transferring to the hospital because of gestational diabetes.
And I was just really shocked.
And on the other side of it, I did have a worry that I was going to produce a 10 pound baby, because with midwifery, we just have one ultrasound, which is the halfway 20 week anatomy scan, at least through my provider.
If you want to do other ultrasounds, you could, but you'd have to go to like a private ultrasound or a hospital or something on the extra to get it.
So in my head, I didn't know what size my baby was.
And so I'm like, with my sugars being down, I hope she's not 10 pounds.
And people can't see you through a podcast, but you're a pretty petite lady.
That's like you're like, I don't really want a 10 pound baby.
No, I was so scared.
I wasn't.
I did not want to have a C-section.
I was a little scared of that with gestational diabetes.
So that was a big difference between my first and second pregnancy.
All right.
Hit us with the other shockers.
What else happened?
So you went into labor.
Yes.
So I was 36 weeks and six days.
I had just taken like maternity photos.
There were things coming from Amazon that I hadn't even gotten yet.
I hadn't even worked on my worship playlist that I wanted during birth.
I also wanted like charcuterie boards and just food and all these things.
But at 36 and six weeks, I started feeling some at night.
I had two like swirly feelings in my belly, and I kept clawing on belly swirls because that's what they felt like.
They didn't feel like a contraction to me, and nothing was like tightening.
And I guess I thought it was Braxton Hicks or my body getting ready for labor.
But I figured, you know, go back to sleep.
I had two of them in the night.
They woke up that morning and I texted Josh.
I said, Hey, I had some like belly swirls.
This is Saturday morning, and every Saturday morning he goes out to our other land where he's building a cabin.
And so he's out of town, and I just wanted to let him know.
And so then as the day went on, I kept getting a couple more belly swirls that I kept calling him.
So then I was like, OK, I think I should at least give like my midwife and doula a heads up that I'm feeling these belly swirls.
But I didn't think anything like of it at that time.
And that was a first for me.
I had never had anyone say they were having belly swirls.
So I was like, What do I do with that?
This is her second birth.
She knows what quote unquote contractions or waves feel like.
What's a belly swirl?
And no idea.
It felt way different than Maya's birth.
But Maya was a lot of back labor.
So maybe this is a contraction.
So probably about lunchtime, I still kept feeling them.
They were getting a little bit closer together.
My midwife said, like, just keep resting.
You might be an early, or like if it's early labor time, we'll tell.
And I, because I was 36 and six or five, sorry, 36 and five days.
I didn't want to have the baby early.
It's like, this doesn't, you know, if it's 30, if it's before 37 weeks, my midwife doesn't deliver.
If it's after 37 weeks, then she will deliver a home birth.
And so I was just like, maybe wait one more day.
But I just was so not thinking that I was in labor.
So I just wanted to rest.
I took a nap.
I tried to take a nap with my daughter, but I couldn't nap because I kept feeling them.
And that's when I texted midwife and doulas again, that, hey, I think I keep feeling them.
I'm starting to time them now.
And that's when you recommended to do the Three Sisters of Balance through spinning babies.
But one of the exercises needed, the sideline release needed another person to help me.
And Josh was out of town.
So I texted Josh, hey, you know, once you leave the farmhouse today, like maybe you can close up and just in case baby's coming, you know, take your tools home.
And so if you could get going, that would be great.
So he started heading back to me.
And so once he got back, we finished the Three Sisters of Balance, but I kept feeling them coming.
So that's when I kind of felt forward.
That's when I kind of like, I think these actually are contractions.
Oh my goodness.
So I think fast forward to 4 p.m.
they were getting really close.
And that's when I was more like things were getting more, I felt like things were more serious.
I remember you telling me, well, Josh and Maya are going to go to the pool.
So should I go to the pool?
And I was like, I think you should sleep.
Like if you're going to have an opportunity to not have your family in the house, how about you take a nap?
You're like, okay, I'll do that.
So they went to the pool and you tried to nap.
Yeah, I just didn't, I was going to go in denial.
I just had no idea.
So yeah, they went, he came home and he took Maya to the pool and he was like, just get ready or you relax.
And I didn't get, I didn't relax.
I like cleaned, tidied up the house.
I'm like, what am I doing?
I was just trying to clean in case anything.
So that's when I texted everyone again.
I was like, hey, like, peace.
I think like these are this much apart.
I think this is actually like contractions.
So then my midwife says like, I think you're in early labor.
And so I was like, what does that mean?
Does that mean like a few days?
Like she's like, I think it might mean hours.
And I was like, hours?
Like, what?
So that, so yeah.
And this is all still on the same day.
So you're still like what?
36 and five or six at this point?
Yeah.
Yeah.
One day.
I think that was, I think that was 36 and six.
Oh, six.
Okay.
Yeah, that was 36 and six.
And I can say later why I know that, but keep going.
One day before 37 weeks.
And when you called me to come and you were like, because I said, you know, your first birth was so long that we didn't anticipate that you would need us anytime soon.
And it wasn't even feeling like normal contractions like you had the first time.
So when we were, I was like, okay, I'll come.
I remember I was in the middle of dinner with my husband and our son and our friends and their kids.
And I was like, I'm going to need it to go box, even though this was just delivered.
I got to go and drove right to you because like, we just don't know.
And I was almost an hour away with the time of day it was.
Yeah.
So midwives beat me, which usually midwives don't beat me.
Yeah.
So 530, my water breaks.
And I know that when my water breaks, I think just, I just get into the zone.
And so I quickly, it broke in the kitchen when I was cleaning.
And then, and I had, I fell, I like went onto my all floors for that one, because I just, it was just like, it took some concentration to go through that one.
So I remember my dog coming over to me and checking on me to make sure I was okay.
So that was really sweet.
But I have a ton of white furniture in my house, like chairs, rugs, everything.
I was so scared to get anything like dirty, I don't know, like wobbled to the bathroom to just check the color of it.
It was clear.
I had some mucus plug leftover in it.
But that's when I called my midwife, or texted my midwife, Andula, like, hey, my water just broke.
And that's when everyone started to like come head over to me.
So my parents were coming back from a funeral.
They were three hours away, but they're an hour away coming back.
So we wanted to let them know because they were going to pick up Maya.
So I would love to have Maya at the birth, but she's at a toddler age where it'd be too hard to have her at the birth.
So everyone was about like an hour away coming to me, and I grabbed the birth ball and just labored on that on the bathroom floor because I was too scared to get any white things dirty just in case.
I don't know.
Fair enough.
Fair enough.
I remember when all of this was happening.
I was actually on vacation.
I was on a cruise ship and I wasn't supposed to be checking my phone.
But then because I'm on family vacation and this is the rules I have set for myself, but I saw your text and I was like, oh my gosh, that's kind of crazy.
Like she's, you know, it was before 37 weeks.
We just didn't expect it.
And it seemed like things were going so fast.
Like I was like, oh my goodness, I just I can't wait to hear how all of this goes.
I was like checking my phone throughout the afternoon and evening and I think I was sitting at dinner in like the fancy dining room with my whole family.
Like when everybody got there and things kind of started getting interesting.
Yeah.
So when I got there, she's not kidding you guys about being worried about the furniture.
There were covers over everything.
Like there were sheets and blankets and all of this on the couch and everywhere.
Because she did not want anything to be getting dirty.
You're so funny.
And I remember you mentioning during labor that we didn't have the charcuterie boards that you were hoping for.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It was really bummed.
Priorities.
We didn't have food ready.
We didn't have music.
I didn't have candles like I wanted to, but that's okay.
So fast forward.
So my midwife arrives, I'm on the bed laboring, and I start to shiver.
And I was getting really cold.
And so she asked if she can check me, and I said, yes.
And she checked me, and she, I think she was checking me, and I was like, whoa, that feels weird.
And she was like, she was like, oh, you're at an eight, and I don't see a head.
So I think baby's breached.
And I was like, what?
Like, what does that mean?
Well, not that what does that mean, I know what that means, but it's just another big surprise.
So she had, I was in labor land at this time.
So she had turned to Josh, and she had just said, hey, baby's breach.
Would you like to continue to have a home birth?
Or would you like to go to the hospital?
The hospital is about 30 minutes away.
So if we go to the hospital, we kind of kind of get going, especially at me being eight centimeters.
And so Josh took a little prayer, and he just decided after that, that we were going to continue at home being a breech birth, and my midwife felt confident that she could deliver a breech birth.
So that was a nice looking back that she, we had a really good relationship as well.
So she honored our request, and I'm not sure, were you there, Ciarra, were you here?
I wasn't there for that part.
And I got there maybe 20 minutes after that, because my drive was further.
And when I walked in and I saw your midwife and said hi to her, and she said, well, we're eight centimeters and we're breech.
And I said, oh, and I knew that that midwife would do breech birth.
And I said, did they want to stay?
And she said, I gave them the option.
And Josh says, we're staying.
And I looked at him and I said, okay, that's the decision.
And he goes, yep.
And I think what he said was, we believe in the power of the Lord and we're staying home.
And I got chills all over.
And I said, okay.
And your midwife was a believer and she was praying over you.
And I remember at one point, and I'm sure you'll go into this, but I remember at one point when your mom came and she was praying over you.
And it was just so beautiful and you had Christian hypnobirthing tracks going on the whole time and you were so focused.
And this was my first breech birth.
And this was also my 99th birth, which I thought was pretty neat, like that number and then having it be a breech baby.
And I text Sam and I was like, uh, this baby's breech and we're having a home birth.
And she was like, I can't believe I'm missing this.
And she was throwing a hissy fit on her cruise.
I was sitting in the main dining room with my family when she texts me this.
And I was like, oh my gosh, I said it out loud, like, oh my gosh, she's having a breech baby without me.
I was so mad about it.
And then I, you know, I leaned over and I told my husband what was, what was going on because he gets to hear all the birth drama and he was like, oh my goodness.
And we actually prayed right there at the table too, just for safety for you and your family and the baby and your team.
And so, I mean, you really had people all across the country praying for you in that moment.
Oh, thank you.
Yeah, it was great.
The rest of the labor that like, I love that everyone was praying over me.
I mean, I couldn't see it in the moment, but I saw pictures of it and they were so beautiful.
But yeah, I labored like on the bed for the rest of the time.
And the other thing is, my midwife had told us that if you go to the hospital for a breech birth, this is an automatic C-section.
And that was something I didn't want.
So I was very happy that my midwife was confident to deliver the breech birth at home.
And it was also at that time when she found out that the baby was breeched, she also called another midwife to come over.
So we had two midwives, a midwife assistant, and then Ciarra Ardulla was there for at our house.
Let's see, so I labored on the bed, I used the peanut ball.
I like to be on my side a lot, in all fours and just rest on that peanut ball.
I felt like was like my best friend.
I labored on the toilet and like Ciarra was great holding me up a lot.
We have great sweet pictures of that.
Let's just say what it is.
It's that you were walking and how tall are you?
I'm 5'1.
Y'all, I'm 5'7.
And so we're lucky that Samantha wasn't there because she's even taller than I am.
I was squat walking the whole way because you were holding on to me, which was great.
But it was just hilarious, like the positions that I was getting into because you couldn't stand up straight when you were walking.
So I was literally so low, but it was so sweet.
Like, I don't know that there were many moments that we weren't touching.
We were just like connected the whole time.
Yeah, yes.
Ciarra was right by my side the whole time and holding my hand, which was really nice.
And even though I didn't even open my eyes when I'm in labor, they're closed the whole time.
I was just in the zone.
And that was the other thing that I did to prepare for both births.
I just love the Christian hypno-birthing tracks.
They're great to relax to.
They speak God's scriptures over you.
And that's my zone is when I listen to those, I still love them.
I even listen to them during postpartum.
So that's playing in the background.
Even though I don't have my worship music, at least I have that playing.
So then I think it was just time.
I mean, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but time to get in the water and the birth pool.
And that's my favorite part.
So I was excited.
It sounded like it was going go time.
So we got into the pool and I, again, I got too relaxed.
I think I got too relaxed.
Like it just, things aren't progressing.
So the other thing that my midwife said is that when it's breech, you know, the heaviest part is their head.
If you don't have their head pushing.
So I felt like I was pushing.
I had a hard time pushing.
I had a hard time pushing with both births, but this one, it felt like I had more of a hard time.
I just didn't feel as much urge to push, or at least a big urge to push.
I was trying to breathe baby down.
It was just taking a little while.
So we were trying to get in all these different positions.
One of the midwives had a birthing stool that she brought out.
And so, oh, I was trying to, I got out of the pool and I tried to do labor squatting.
And I was getting too tired squatting.
So once she brought out the birthing stool, which basically looks like a squatty potty, that was nice to relax and sit on.
So I sat on that and continued to labor on that.
So from when I was eight centimeters to when baby starts to come, it's like had already been four hours.
So I don't, the pushing of around four hours is a very long time.
But so last word to when she's actually coming.
So she's in a Frank breech position, which is her bum is first and her legs are up.
And then she had both of her arms straight up by her ears.
So if you can like imagine like a kid stuck in like a tire swing, that's kind of like the position that Vera was in in the birth canal.
So, you know, during this part, I felt pretty in control until she started crowning or maybe not, I don't know, crowning because it's not her head, it's her bum.
But so during this part was pretty intense for me.
The cool thing that Ciarra did was that she reached for my hands and so I'm squatting and I'm facing Ciarra and she, we did this thing where she would pull, pull like against me and it's basically a tug of war and I would pull back.
And I felt really relaxed during labor until the crowning part.
So I would use like all my, like, I don't know, competitiveness, like aggressiveness that it's hard for me to find.
She is small, but she is mighty, y'all.
So she is real strong.
This came out during like the crowning part.
And so I would squeeze everything in Ciarra's hands.
I was probably crushing them.
I'm not gonna lie.
There was one point that I was like, she might break my hand.
She might, like...
You were so strong.
But then I would like reposition my hand to try to get out of that little breaking point.
And I tried to take my...
It feels kind of like that's like the doula status.
Like if you're there, you've kind of reached it, right?
I took off my wedding ring at one point because I was like, that is what's bothering me is that the rock of the wedding ring is like pushing into my skin.
But you were so strong.
And that was finally what worked for you with pushing was us pulling against each other and kind of focusing that energy and then just being able to bear down.
And that's when Vera started to really make way.
And I was so impressed because your midwife is not a spring chicken.
She is not some young midwife.
She is a very experienced midwife.
And she was lying on the ground underneath you, like trying to be able to see.
And she knows that breech birth needs to be very hands off.
So she was trying to not touch too much, but also still making sure everything was okay.
And I was just so impressed with her, with all the positions she was getting into.
And I remember thinking, I really wish I could see what she was seeing, but you needed me in front of you and that's okay.
But, and Josh was kind of just watching from the kitchen table, because we were in the living room.
Yeah.
Looking back at photos, my midwife was literally like, she could be in the splits under me, like in the tiny under, she was under this birth stool, which looks like a squatty potty.
So there's not much like room that she's under me looking with a flashlight and everything.
And then, yeah, Ciarra is like above and holding my hands.
And so, yeah, it was really nice to just bring out, I could think I needed that push that Ciarra knew I needed.
I was relaxing too much and trying to just breathe baby down, but I needed some of that like urge to get her out.
So yeah, her bum came out, her legs came out and then let's see.
So during this part, her arms were left in her head and my midwife, I think by this point, we were told to just do little pushes.
And so I was trying to just do little pushes to get her out.
My midwife helped get her both one arm out and the other arm out and then left was her head.
And then, during Breach Births, like Ciarra said, you have to be hands off.
We don't want to be pulling on the baby or tugging anything.
So I was told to flip around and bring my legs up.
So I flipped around quickly and I laid back kind of like when you're just in your typical, on your back at a hospital with your legs up.
And everyone was telling me to push at this point, just little pushes, push.
Ciarra was telling me to push in my ears, every midwife.
And it just felt like the longest, like I don't know, it probably wasn't too long, maybe a couple of minutes or something.
But in your head, it just feels so long when you're trying to push the head out, which is the biggest part of the baby.
It really did feel so long.
Yeah.
And I think my arms were underneath your armpits.
I was kind of holding you up because you were leaning back against the couch.
And so that's how I was in your ear.
And then they were all in front of you.
And my legs did feel like a long time.
Yeah, one midwife had one leg, the other midwife had the other leg.
So yeah, finally, after everyone telling me to push, the head came out, but she was purple or blue.
And so my midwife had told my assistant to quickly grab the oxygen, brought baby up to my chest, and my wife assistant put the oxygen on her because she hadn't been crying.
And of course, this is that moment that I'm telling you that just felt like forever.
Looking back at the video, my midwife is trying to rub the baby and Ciarra's telling me to speak to her because we're trying to just, right now, I think she had been stuck in the birth canal with her head for a little bit, so her oxygen was depleted.
And so I was talking to her.
I didn't know what to say, but I was like, hi, I love you, hi.
Like, come on, baby.
And everyone was praying over.
And Joss was filming this whole time, but during that last minute, he threw the camera and put his arms up and just prayed to the Lord because we were scared at this moment because she was blue and it felt like she was lifeless.
Ciarra was kissing me on the face, which was really sweet.
But yeah, eventually she...
I was just trying to comfort you.
I don't even know what I was doing, but I was just like, you're doing okay, you're doing so good.
Oh, it was really powerful.
Yeah, she let out a cry and we were just so happy that she finally opened her eyes and cried.
And we were like, that's the best sound ever, at least in my head, I was so happy.
So yeah, we did it.
But every birth team, every like looking back, like every birth person there, or the team was the perfect team that I could have.
Every person had a role that was so important for-
It was so powerful.
Yeah.
And your trust in your body through that process and Josh's trust in the process and in the people there was just amazing.
Like not many husbands and dads are gonna be like, yeah, sure, let's do this at home.
And that he just sat and prayed about it and thought about it and made that decision as the head of your family and the one that was caring for you because you said, I can't really make this decision right now on my own was just really great.
And afterward we did have a little bit of tearing, but you did really well with your-
We did what we said we were gonna do.
We really huddled together and made it through that.
And you want to tell them about breastfeeding her?
Yeah, she latched this year.
Helped me with latching.
And she did latch.
So that was amazing.
She did have a tongue tie, but we went the day after to get it released.
We didn't want to wait this time like we do with Maya.
And so we were so happy that we got it released and she latch and she like gained her birth weight and back to her birth weight after just a week.
And I was also scared she was going to be like 10 pounds, but she was actually 6'2, so she was smaller than Maya.
And she was a pretty smaller baby, which was a perfect size for Breech.
And I don't think I could deliver a bigger baby, but yeah, she's big now.
She's a chunker and she nurses super well and postpartum I stopped bleeding like a week and a half after and it was completely day and night from Maya's.
And I'm not in a fog and I don't have postpartum depression.
So second time postpartum has been like nothing short but amazing.
So I'm very, very happy.
What a wildly different story.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And when the baby latched after she was born and Josh saw, he was like, she's eating.
He was so excited because he just knew how much that meant to you and how hard it was last time, and it was so cute how excited he was that she was nursing.
They're so happy.
When I came postpartum, I remember just being just in awe of how well you were doing.
You had such great support from your parents afterward helping take care of Maya so that you could kind of have a slow transition into parenting too.
And I came to the house and you were like dressed and had your makeup done and you felt great and the baby was great.
You weren't even holding her.
She was lying down and sleeping on her own.
And I was just like, oh my gosh, what a night and day experience from your first birth, even though they were both wonderful and beautiful, just night and day.
So do you have any advice for anyone going into this process that you would give based on your experiences?
You can do anything.
No, just that a breech is a variation of normal.
I mean, I know that Ciarra, you had given amazing statistics if you want to share about the breech.
So that was so cool.
I was so thankful that my midwife felt confident about it.
If you can find providers that are comfortable with breech births, it's okay, and that you can do it.
And also prepare yourself mentally that that could happen as well during the process.
I also recommend hypnobirthing courses that's really helpful during my labor in birth and also doing a childbirth education to get yourself empowered and prepared and know what's coming for birth.
And don't just take the hospital, take an actual course.
Amen, sister.
Yeah.
Yeah, we preach that a lot and people think it's because we're trying to make money on those courses.
No, I don't care if you take it with just, please don't just take a hospital course.
It's just a different, different thing.
Yeah.
Well, we are so excited that you came to share your story with us.
When we were thinking about episodes we wanted to do, I was like, holy cow, we have a personal breach story to do.
How cool is that?
And we've just loved getting to know you guys and being part of your process.
And thank you for being vulnerable enough to share it here.
Yeah.
Thank you guys.
Thanks.
Thanks so much for making this birth amazing.
And it's seriously my the best.
It's a miracle.
I mean, Vera's name is True Faith.
And literally every person had True Faith during that night.
And she's she's a miracle.
It's been amazing to have her here.
So I'm happy that I've had such a good, positive experience with you guys.
Thanks.
Thank you so much for coming on.
This was beautiful.
And I can't wait to share this with all of our all of our listeners and, you know, you like you said, you can do anything.
We are so powerful.
Women are so powerful.
Mothers are so powerful.
So thank you so much for coming on and and sharing this with us.
Thank you for joining us on Birth, Baby.
Thanks again to Longing for Orpheus for our music.
You can look him up on Spotify.
Remember to leave a review, share and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
See you next week.