In this episode, I am joined by my husband to share our daughter’s birth story. I posted a question box in my Instagram stories a while back, so we will be covering a lot of topics from what we did for labor prep, how I managed pain, lots of questions on homebirth, and the birth process in general. I also got some questions for partners that my husband shares his perspective on. I hope you enjoy this episode!
Links/Resources:
• Free Training: Optimizing Hormone Health with Mineral Balance 
• Mineral Imbalance Quiz 
• Third Trimester Update Episode
• Pregnancy Journey Episode 
• Vaginal Steaming Episode 
• Homebirth Online Course
• Happy Homebirth Podcast
• Pregnancy Adrenal Cocktail
• Chocolate Date Ball Recipe
• Safety of Homebirth
• Purple Line Blog

Transcript:
Amanda Montalvo 0:00
Hey, this is Amanda Women’s Health dietitian. And I’m Emily nutritional therapy practitioner. And this is the RU menstrual podcast where we help you navigate the confusing world of women’s hormones in teach you how to have healthy periods. Each week we will be diving into a different topic on women’s health and sharing our perspective using nutrition, female physiology and metabolic health. Our goal is to help you wade through conflicting health information and empower you on your healing journey. We hope you enjoy it

Okay, we are here to do our birth story episode, which I feel like we’ve been trying to do forever, but we’re finally doing it. You guys don’t know my husband says my husband. If you guys are watching on YouTube, you’ll be able to see him. My husband Ian Eliana is here, our new baby. And we’re going to talk about our birth story, our home birth, and then I had posted a question box in my stories like a few months ago to see like what you guys want to know about the birth story and everything. So we’re going to make sure we address all that stuff, like as we go through the timeline. But I’m excited.

I’m excited. I’m usually usually there’s a bit of a height differences here as well. Yeah, so if you’re watching, I’m like a very short person, and

it’s just awkward. So we’re trying I have to stay on because I’m like, Eliana isn’t a carrier than a rap. So if I sit down, she will not like it. So we’re going to hope that we get through this whole per story with her as like.

Alright, so let’s start with the labor prep stuff. And like, we’re going to kind of go through like what we did before the actual birth, and then a little bit after, when you guys had a lot of homebirth questions. So we’ll talk about that stuff. So what did we do to prep for labor specifically, like, you know, leaving the days leading up, I had a lot of questions did we try to induce labor with all that stuff? So I would say like to prep for labor. The biggest I talked a lot about it in the third trimester podcast, which I’m going to link in the show notes. But I did do steaming. I didn’t do that to like the weekend before. But we did some steaming we did some foot reflexology, which was really cool. I ate a ton of dates leading up to it. I have the college invites that are on my website, I’ll link those.

And he got a pedicure while I foot reflexology. It was really cool as recommended to me. It so basically, we went on Saturday and our due date was Tuesday, May 3, so we went the Saturday before. I didn’t want to try to have her any earlier than that just because like we weren’t really ready yet. Like we were like finishing up stuff for her like, nursery. You still were working. Yeah, I don’t really know what to expect. So it was kind of just if it came happened early, that was great. But we’re gonna try stick to the same schedule just for kind of our own sanity and make sure we had the best plan. I was like, Please don’t come early because I’m I’m like not actually ready. I’m still finishing up stuff for maternity leave. So she we ended up we’re like, alright, Saturday, we’re ready. If she were to come today, we’d be fine. So that’s when I started steaming. And I have unlinking a podcast episode that I did on steaming with kit from Katara. We talked about steaming for pregnancy and postpartum. I also talked about that in the third trimester episode, but basically I use the specific herbal blend that she recommends only get in the show notes. And then I deemed I did twice a day Saturday, twice a day Sunday. And then I don’t think I assume that for that. I don’t think you did Monday. Yeah, basically like the weekend. I was like, Alright, I’m gonna try to get things moving. If it happens, cool. If not, but I also did foot reflexology. And I’ll tell you what, it was crazy. It was insane. We went to this like Korean spa in Fayetteville UPS we’re near Fort Bragg. We’re Rayford and it was the only place around the offers it. But it was I’m so happy we went there. So the woman was amazing. The owner. And yeah, they just made you feel really comfortable. They’re all like rubbing my belly telling me like if she’s ready or not like it was yeah, they’re very they’re very hands on, but very sweet and very nice. And yeah, they mean the head pin pretty good. Yeah. They said like, she’s I’m sitting in the chair. The woman was rubbing my belly and she’s like, not ready yet. She’s not ready yet. Yes, few more days and I was like, Okay, and so then like 10 minutes into the foot reflexology? I think it was like an hour long. I started getting cramping. And I was like, Oh my gosh, I’m gonna have those babies. And you’re going to the bathroom after and they were looking at me and they’re like a couple, maybe two maybe after the weekend. Maybe Monday maybe Tuesday so it was like they had it they had a response pretty fine. And then months so I was like cramping during that and like a little bit the rest of the day. I didn’t have any bleeding or anything. They definitely were not contractions. It was like just felt like period cramps. But they started literally during the foot reflexology it was really cool that I did some more steaming that day. The next day I steamed twice. What it was honestly just so relaxing. Like it felt really good.

had to do it. So even if it didn’t induce labor for me I was like this is it’s kind of like prepping, it’s supposed to be creating moisture. So that in lubrication. That’s like kind of the benefits leading up to birth, but it can help induce labor. So we were kind of hanging out just doing that fun stuff on the weekend. Monday I start I woke up with contractions like in the middle of the night.

And they weren’t terrible. They weren’t that bad, but they were definitely stronger than period cramps. But they were still like, very erratic super far apart. And then, but Monday night, we thought it was gonna happen. We like that for sure. Yeah, absolutely. And then Tuesday morning, we had our appointment with the midwife. It was like 40 weeks, that was our due date may 3. So she came in the morning, she checked me kind of it hurt really bad. So I like jumped. And I was like, get out to get out of there. But she was able to tell that I was like 50% of face. Yeah, we thought we had another day for sure. I mean, I personally thought we had another day. It was pretty painful watching you go to that, like you were like, very, like tense and freaking out a little bit about it. And I was like, okay, cool. So maybe it’s not that time. I didn’t know that that apparently that’s normal. Apparently, it does hurt when they check you. I just didn’t know. I thought people didn’t want to get checked just because it’s invasive. It can expose you to bacteria. And it’s just like another intervention. So I just wanted to know, to see where it was at. So she couldn’t tell her how dilated I was. But she was able to tell that. Okay, you’re 50% effaced. And I was like, Cool. That’s like a really good sign. And that honestly, that they told me that that’s even more important than dilation. So we were like, cool, this is definitely going to happen soon. Ish. And for sure, yeah. Our midwife for us said she was like, most of the time, like, on the day of that 40 week appointment, she often like ends up coming back. So she’s like, I’ll probably see you guys later. I was like, Okay. And then like that day, it was just kind of like, often on contractions, they still felt like just strong period cramps, and they were definitely still like in my uterus. And then that night at like 10 o’clock. Ish, you tend to love it. Yeah, they got really bad. And I had my first like, back labor contraction. And that’s kind of like when I was like, Oh, my gosh, this is really happening now. Yeah, there’s a good stuff and discomfort in your face. Yeah, we were like, having a hard time trying to like kind of get comfy on the couch and then went to the room, we were on the floor, and then kind of kicked off from there. Yeah. And like, nothing felt good. And like I was on the I mostly use the exercise ball that’s like behind him or now. Like the yoga ball, birth ball, whatever you want to call it. I was like, leaning on that pretty much all for just like the only thing that felt good to me the whole time. We’re like, we did a first class together and all this stuff. And we’re like, going to trial this counterpressure and like partner stuff. And I was like, no. Yeah, medicine ball, was it? No, I mean, that workup? What was it and then just laying on the floor, and the heating the bed? Yeah. Those were those were like the big things. So that’s kind of like what happened. A lot of people asked about, like, how do we mentally prepare for this? I would say I think like just educating ourselves was the biggest thing, especially for me, like I did the happy homebirth course to learn more about homebirth. And she has a great podcast to them. And I refer to a ton throughout this. And then I also did the pain free birth course. My birth was very painful just was I’m not gonna act like it wasn’t good. It was really painful. I think just the back labor in generals, it just exhausting. And I don’t have not the kind of person that has like chronic back cramps, and I have my period. So it was like pretty shocking to me. And then I ended up doing we did a childbirth class with our doula. So all those like really helped me just understand, like, what’s going to happen? What can we do to like make myself more comfortable? And then, you know, just the different interventions that might come up?

How did you prepare,

are basically just going through the list of what we had for what was required for the home birth. So there’s some little stuff TD stuff that wasn’t on the house, I was deployed and came back in the beginning of March. So there’s kind of like a huge to do list of things between the baby shower and all that stuff that Finn wants to be involved with, and then kind of hunkering down and getting ready for the actual birth. So kind of juggling those two things was really important to make sure that we communicated when I was deployed, and then kind of had ourselves on the same schedule as far as what what are the expectations and when I got back, so just kind of going through that checklist, making sure that I was available for any kind of education stuff that she was doing or appointments and being there and present for that. So I can get the word of mouth direct from the people and then also ask any questions that I had on the fly. So I’m not just getting stuff secondhand. Don’t really have a say, yeah, and then just being supportive, like as supportive as I could be for her and then making sure that I was making myself as available as I could during that time. I do think it’s important that like, you did a childbirth class he did so he did every like he didn’t do like the pain free birth, like

Not the courses that were more like, thing. They were giving me things to do he but he did more of like the here’s the physiological like what’s happening the childbirth class with me and then the breastfeeding class, which was helpful. And then we had a home birth class or like meeting kind of safety meeting with our homebirth. Assistant. Yeah, what that was, which was great. Yeah, we broke down so many cool things there. And then we had like, kind of the anatomy class that we took previous to that helped me understand a lot of stuff. I really enjoyed that, like that kind of stuff. To know, like, yeah, they’re like, here’s what it’s going to be like, here’s what transition can look like. Like, here’s how long this might take. But just kind of knowing those things were really helpful. And then we actually went through birth, like, you kind of like recognize what’s going on? Yeah, it was funny. This is pretty normal. Yeah, right. Yeah. So someone extended, and I so basically, for mindset, I, I honestly think that the homebirths stuff was the most important for us, because we chose to do a home birth. So like going through the safety, things like that was huge for me, because while I felt very confident in our birth team, I mean, we had midwife, a midwife, Assistant, who’s also a doula, our own doula. And then we had another midwife assistant who was in training to be a midwife who was also attending. And so I mean, we had a great team of people, we had a lot of people there to support us. I didn’t, I wasn’t worried that if something went wrong, they wouldn’t be able to figure it out. But going through each thing that could go wrong beforehand. Yeah, really, although it’s not like the most fun thing to talk about. It just was like, Okay, if this happens, here’s your list of options. And then, of course, they’re gonna share what they recommend. But we would ultimately make the choice, but it was really cool. That is my mind that’s extremely realistic. And it kind of like, brings it home, because you’re talking to this person about what could go wrong. And then to up to that point, like, it’s kind of everything is like, almost fake, you know, you’re prepping for something that you’ve never really done before. So then finally, I say, Hey, listen, we’re prepared. Because everybody comes to the house, you have the midwife and lactation consultant. And they’re very nice. And if you feel very good, but it’s also like, okay, so like, what are you doing to be good at your job? And then during that appointment, I really felt like, hey, this goes wrong. This is what we’re gonna do this goes wrong. This is what we’re gonna do. And here’s how many times we’ve had to do that. And the last, yeah, once a year, two years, or ever. Yeah. And it’s like, okay, so that’s super rare that stuff to happen. We’ve already qualified to have a home birth, which I think people don’t realize don’t realize it all. And then I’m like, okay, that a warm and fuzzy feeling that they know what they’re doing. And then they really trust us in our process to do that. Yeah. And in, I think it was just really cool to know that like, well, certain things are obviously an emergency and you need, they need to be addressed in a timely manner, there is still time to think and make a decision. So they gave us a bunch of examples of like, hey, this happened to this family in the past. Here’s like, what they decided, here’s what we recommended. It was great to get examples like that. Not every midwife and like home birth team is going to do that. So I would ask a lot of questions about that and say, like, Hey, do you talk about like, the different safety things and like, what can go wrong in a home birth? And what we do, they even went through, like what they have on them, right? So like, if I ended up bleeding, like, here’s the different medications they carry, here’s the more natural options, like and then here’s, you know, what we recommend based on the situation. So and they give us a handout with all that information so that we could kind of reference it and think about it before the birth to be like, Okay, if this went wrong, like what would we want to do? So that was a huge, like mindset plus, because I think, while someone may want a home birth, and be like, I love the idea that I want to be home, I want this stress free, stress free setting. Ultimately, if you’re not educated on that stuff, and you are like anxious about, you know, safety going into the birth, you’re going to be stressed out. And that’s not good for labor at all. So those were, I think those are like the biggest things, the happy home birth course, which I’m like, I’m not sure how much longer she’s offering that hopefully for a while. But she has a whole lesson on that in there that was very similar to what we did with our birth assistant. So that’s an option too. And she has a bunch of stuff on her podcast, too. So that’s kind of like how we prepared mindset wise. painfree birth course has a lot of great mindset stuff. She’s got this one lesson, I forget what it’s called, but it’s something about like, getting to the mountaintop. And it’s like 20 minutes. It’s it. It has like light music in the background. And it feels like a motivational, like speech the whole time. But it’s so good. And it’s like it’s all about the transition. And it’s like, you know, she describes it like you’re going from like, made into motherhood and like how much you’re going to change and you’re going to meet your baby. And like when I was having a really hard time like that’s what I thought about. A lot of people asked if I thought about giving up and I did many times, but I didn’t say it out loud. A

You didn’t even say it to you. Because I just didn’t want to. I didn’t want him to doubt anything. So I just was like, Okay, I was already on edge, pretty much. So it was probably better than I appreciate.

For you guys, it was it’s just, you’re just like what’s happening? Because you’ve both never done it, you know? So yeah, it was wild, but I definitely did doubt it. I did not say it out loud. I just didn’t want anyone else to get that vibe or that feeling that like, Okay, this might not happen, you know, because in my mind, I was kind of like, I was very determined to do it. But I was also like, this is so hard and so painful. And like, I need her to come out. So yeah, it was it was a lot. I think just the other big thing I recommend doing is talking to your partner about like, what you’re scared of beforehand, like we that was one thing our birth team recommended to us. And I think it was Jenny, the birth assistant. Like what are you afraid of? And kind of getting that out and just talking it out? Because pretty much like there’s you can just go through the worst case scenario and you realize, like, it’s not that bad for the most part, depending on what your fears are. But like, I was just really scared of transferring to the hospital. I just really didn’t want to transfer. But we talked about it. And we’re like, okay, cool. We’d go to Womack, which is like the it’s a nice house. Yeah. It’s like a nice military hospital nearby. And so many people I know have delivered there and love their experience. Isn’t a midwife used to work there. Right? Yeah. Like you still work there. Our doula she goes, she attends first there all the time. But it really wasn’t that big of a deal. Nice, warm, fuzzy, but still, just like really got my like, I just was afraid I wouldn’t be able to do it, honestly. And so, you know, we talked through that. Yeah, he was mostly free to safety things. So yeah. So that meeting really helps keep me healthy is really what I was concerned with. But just like, that meeting helped us understand like what health really means. It’s like, if we have to transfer this mean, the bad is happening. Like too bad. Like, everything is pretty salvageable. They can work on stuff, but just kind of wrap your head around that. Like even if she needed breaths, like if she was not, if she did not come out breathing. It’s like, there’s so many things that you would do before you transferred that like I never would have known. Yeah, I would have just been freaking out. So all that kind of stuff was like so, so helpful. Do you have any advice for birth partners? Just like we said before, like the communication aspect and making himself available. I was apprehensive at first when you mentioned having a home birth, right? I was like, Okay, well, that’s different than I’ve ever been told my whole life. So I kind of put like a little like a little shield up and didn’t really want to talk about that kind of stuff. And then we kind of hashed it out and have the conversation over

pretty long period of time. Yeah, you know, and then once you start looking at that stuff, and then

not going to a hospital post COVID. And all that kind of stuff was kinda like, Okay, I feel probably a lot better at this. And then seeing how much she trusted that process and how much research that you do all the time. But everything, I felt really comfortable decision that you were making, which would be feel good. So just communicate with your partner, what you’re apprehensive about what issues you have, and then just make yourself as available as you can and being present for it. Because it’s, it did pay off during the actual birth. Subconsciously, I’m doing things that are helping out the whole situation. And I didn’t really realize that and the doula and the midwife after giving you kind of like, reinforce it saying, Hey, good job on this good job on that, like, that’s really good that you did that. And I’m like, What are you talking about? Yeah, but like because we have done the classes and just because we have a good methods of communication naturally and we understand each other that was able to really kind of shed light on that so yeah, so just communicate if your partner is afraid of homebirth there’s a podcast that I’ll I’m gonna link to a bunch of them the happy homebirth podcast like listen to those she interviews a lot of people about their experience. I know that a lot of like, like a lot of people in his work like thought think we’re hippies or that I’m a hippie because I wanted a home birth in it. And I get I get this sentiment and the idea behind it but it’s like we just wanted a stress free birth that was ultimately my goal, you know, as little stress as possible. The only stress was the birth exactly where there was no other factors that were producing exterior stressors. Yeah, that would freak us out like if I had to pee I’m in my own bathroom if you had to eat or if they had to eat like everything was at home so yeah, we’re super relaxed in that retrospect Yeah. So and we’re the kind of people were like we didn’t really want outside help after. So like, I’ve talked to a lot of people they’re like I loved having the nurses I didn’t want to leave the hospital because I didn’t want to not have help when I went home. And like I get some people are like that but I’m like let me do it myself. kind of situation. I just didn’t want you know, I just I didn’t want that invasiveness on like such a special time for us. Like that’s personally how we felt and that’s what we got like with our home birth, but the birth actual birth process because we talked about how it started that

contractions and everything. I had my first like back contractions. And then really it was like, they started getting closer and closer. We were timing them. We had an app on our Yeah, I mean, that whole day was they were within 45 minutes of each other and then they kind of dwindled down as and that got on at around between 10 and 11. When stuff started getting weird. I texted doula. I was kind of crazy about that a little bit more. So then you were well, I just We texted them like a little bit earlier, we kind of let give everyone a heads up, right? Like, hey, we think that here’s what’s happening, obviously don’t come yet. They told us like we’ll come whenever you want. So they recommend they recommend that they don’t come in. So your contractions are three to five minutes apart for an hour. Like if your contractions are coming kind of like, like they were but they Yeah, they kept going on and on. Yeah. And they were pretty intense. And then your verbal communication with them. I was like, Okay, well, they’re maybe four to six minutes apart. But like, they sound really intense. I needed help. I needed nothing that I could provide, like, whatever classes we did didn’t help. So nothing, nothing was helping other than heat. So I did like, it was like earlier before I because basically you get to this point where you can’t you don’t even know where you are, you’re like definitely not going to use your phone. So he had the number for our midwife and our doula, which is very important to do, because I could not text right. I was like, Nope, I needed I needed all my rests in between each contraction until like, I was very focused on my breathing because I didn’t want to be in pain. But I did text my midwife before it got that bad. And I was like, Can I use a heating pad? So I was like, trying to get some, like, I didn’t want to like, like 20 minutes at a time or something like yeah, just because it’s like, if you use too much heat, it can slow things down. And I was scared because it hurt really bad. I was like, I kind of just want to get this over with so I’m not gonna Yeah, I didn’t want to like hinder it. So I was getting advice from her. But eventually, I was like, I need help. And we need them here. So that’s when he knew they were great. Like, like, during the time between, they ended up showing up around 1:45am. So for the two and a half, three hours, we were texting, like I would text them, like all the details. And then they would just give me a really concise message back. Like, here’s what you need to do. Here’s looking at, let me know when this happens. And then once we have those little milestones we hit him, but around 131 18 I was like, Hey, man, she’s in the shower. I was dying. Yeah, like yelling, right? And I’m like, like, if this comes now, like, I don’t know what to do. So they didn’t she wasn’t going to call me out. But mostly like, I just really wanted more support, like you were great support, but we’re just kind of like, there’s gotta be more that we can do. Right? There’s got to be something else that can reduce my pain and make me more comfortable. And I have the experts there did that. Yeah, so sure. 100% So then they came which was great. The doula got their first Yeah, Mama, stay fit on Instagram. She’s amazing. It’s great. Truly made a huge, huge difference in the birth didn’t come in or Jack just came sat gave advice and just observed. Yeah, which was like, I’m like, okay, she’s not saying anything. I’m like, what you’re just looking at her. And it’s like, what she’s like, meticulous how she’s looking at you. And then she’d say, Okay, do this. And then we’re doing it and like, oh, okay, cool. Yeah. So it was great. I was gonna help. Yeah, like one of the first thing she she like, watched me and she was like, why don’t you try something more inverted, because I was like, on all fours on the birth ball lot. So I tried to like do an inversion, kind of like on the cat with my, my knees up on the couch. But that was like too much. So then I just went on the floor, which was like, such a tiny inversion, but even just like being in like a, almost like a child’s pose like a puppy pose, basically. And it felt so much better for the contraction, you would think that position would not be comfortable, but it really, really helped. So like little things like that, and I was trying to like, not be constantly in the hot water because again, like things would start to slow down a little bit once I got in there. And I wanted to like keep things moving. So that was like really helpful. We did that for a while. I think next time I would try to have some homeopathic remedies available for different types of pain. Just if I back labor again, I want to have something there. Just because it was just

like there’s like Arnica depends on like the type of pain but there’s different ones you can do. Just so even if it didn’t work, I think just having it something else to try because there’s only so much that you can do. But I when the birth team got there like Gina was there. I was in the shower, kind of like in and out and then the birth team got there. I was back in the shower because I just couldn’t take like 230 Shane

230

Hey, Amanda here, just giving you a quick break, hopefully a break for your brain in the middle of this podcast episode to remind you that if you haven’t gone through our free training, optimizing hormone health or mineral balance, we really

They do recommend starting there. And the main reason for that is because you’re going to hear us say things like mineral foundation, having a solid foundation, are you putting the foundations in place, especially what as we get deeper and deeper into different hormonal topics and specific imbalances in the body, the, the mineral foundation is always going to be so essential. So if you haven’t watched the free training, you can find it in our show notes. Or you can go to hormone healing rd.com. And it’s going to be right on that front page there. But we really recommend starting there so you can understand how is your current mineral status? How do you assess this? And how to get started with all that just so you can get as much as you possibly can out of the rest of the podcast episodes. But that’s it. I hope you enjoy the rest of this episode.

Yeah, it was in the you know, they get there. And I had talked to our midwife beforehand. And because we were we weren’t sure about the whole checking thing. Like, what, like, When will she checked me? And in my mind, I thought that when she gets there, I’ll let her check me. Like, before I went into labor, and then they were there. And I was like, No, she can’t check me because she checked me that are you know that earlier that morning, at our 40 week appointment, and it hurts so bad. And I was already in so much pain that I was like, I can’t do that right now. So they got creative. And they used that like purple line that you can see what’s the name of it.

I’m gonna link I’m gonna link to it and everything. Okay, so well, they call it

purple line dilation? Technically. Yeah. And you’re all fours in the pool. Yeah. So it’s like, it’s this purple line that you’ll see. When you’re approaching like, Yeah, I’ll just read you the definition because I’m gonna say it wrong. When you’re in or purchasing labor, you may develop a thin purple line that runs vertically from your anus to the top of your natal cleft in between your butt cheeks. So like up your butt crack, basically, to the very like top part. This purple buntline, as it’s often called, is set to first appear when the cervix is between zero and two centimeters dilated. It may be very faint, or very bold and dark, but it seems to be present in about 90% of cases. So the further up the line goes of that crack, the more dilated you’re supposed to be. So I’m going to link a blog on this because it’s really cool, right? Like, it’s to me, I’m like, why don’t more people use this because when you check someone, it’s very painful, and it is invasive. And if you think about it, like if someone were going to if they wanted to like check your progress throughout, like, I feel like this is such a great way to do it. So they were doing that probably like whatever hour

you were you like we’re firm on like not getting checked, because of experience today, and you were going through a lot of stuff already. I didn’t want it to mess with my hand because your actions are pretty crazy. We’re in the water, so you’re comfortable. And the cool part about this was like I had no idea what’s going on because I’m in the room with her in the pool. And then the burden. So the doula Gina was with us in the room the whole time, pretty much, who was also pregnant. Yeah, but after, and then the birth team was in the living room, and they’re just kind of hanging out. And as they’re hanging out their game planning everything right. So like, they’re pretty much like, figuring out, you know, what’s the first the second, the third thing they’re gonna do? And then once they realized that she was like, hey, nobody’s gonna when they’re checking, ever Yeah, basically. So the breathing assistant came in with a flashlight. And she’s like, Okay, I’m just gonna look at something real quick. And then like, she’d know, she very clearly explained it and asked permission, right? Yeah, it’s true. Yeah. They’re very, very good at that sexer thing, looks at it, and then goes to the living room and comes back. And then they’re like, Okay, cool. We’ll check you later. Yeah. And I’m like, okay, that’s, you know, and I just like, like, my opinion, what was going on? Yeah, I pretty much was like, I just don’t want anything that’s going to discourage me. And I think and they all knew me at this point, because that’s the other great thing about home birth is your appointments and appointments. Yeah, like you see, you spend so much time with your midwife, they also made sure that I had plenty of appointments with Jenny, beforehand, like we you met with her once I met with her twice. And they were, they were like three hour appointment. Like most of them won’t be that long. But we just like, got to talking and they kind of went on. But you could really get to know these people. So they knew me, they knew Okay, she’s in a lot of pain, we know that she can handle it, because that’s the kind of person that she is, and we know that she really wants this homebirth so they didn’t share anything that I didn’t need to know. Right. And that’s kind of like their what, how they work as a team. Like they don’t basically they don’t even have to communicate because they already know each other’s thinking. It’s pretty crazy. They just glance like look at each other. And then all of a sudden, like the solution is there. It’s almost like a like a like a pit team and like racing or whatever. Like they’re just like, they work like in this fluidity that’s really well, and it’s like you kind of have to be like that in that homebirth environment because it’s like everything’s I mean it for

whereas it was like it was dark, we had like the like dim lights up. And it was very relaxing. Yeah, it was very specific. So like, they’re not disrupting that at all, which was just like, so appreciated. So they were checking me that way looking at that purple line. And I guess it was pretty accurate because eventually I did let the midwife checked me because I was like, in and out of the birth tub. I think this was after I had they there. They told me to sit on the toilet because my water wouldn’t break. And we have a Squatty Potty so I was sitting on the toilet with my feet up on the squatty potty, the best noises, having so many contractions, it was so painful in that position are scary. I don’t recommend it. And he’s just standing there like holding my hands and like shaking, great, great support. She wasn’t yelling at me. So it’s like, Oh, it’s fine. And but but it still wouldn’t break. And I don’t know, I was probably on there for like 45 minutes. Yeah, it was back and forth a couple of times. And it’s just like, I’m just like, to me, like I’m thinking, Okay, if this water breaks, what if the baby just flies out and fly on the toilet?

You know, yeah, but it’s just it’s it was yeah, it was pretty nerve wracking. Yeah, it was how many I hope you guys are all these baby noises.

But anyways, so I’m trying to break my water. It did not break. Yeah, so my water didn’t break before my contractions. I know, like, that’s what happens in the movies. But in real life, that actually happens like a very small percentage of the time, apparently. And it’s actually a good thing. If your water doesn’t break right away, because it it’s like a sign of like health and like strength. So but it turns out most of my waters were just behind her. So that’s why they took so long. So I was like, in an off the toilet. I’m like, kind of feeling defeated. At this point. I’m exhausted. I don’t know what time it is. I do not like 838 30 Yeah, I had no idea. I didn’t want to know, I felt like I had been in labor for like two days at that point

was a banana. So the goal is should I get a lot of adrenal cocktail? Like five bottles or coconut? Water? Yeah. And the goal is try to get her to eat something because but at this point, this is when I let her check me. Yeah, so I was finally like, I was getting scared. I was getting nervous because I was so exhausted, like, am I gonna have to transfer so that I can rest? Because you I just could not rest between the contractions. And so I let her check me. And again, it was so painful but less painful than the morning. I’m so exhausted to. She said something about like, as things start to move, and you’re in labor, it’s not as painful as checking you like before Labor apparently. So I let her drag me I was six centimeters dilated and fully effaced. So I was like, okay, like, I can deal with that. And like, again, this centimeters dilated are not that important. It’s it’s the effacement that at least that’s what they told us is the most important. So I knew that she was going to come soon. And that’s kind of like everyone was excited when she said it. You know, the whole birth team Gina. They’re all like, Oh, cool. We’re gonna have a baby soon. So I’m like, sweet, did you throw it before after that after that, okay, so I’m like, sweet, we’re gonna have a baby soon. And then after that, I just kind of I kept that’s when they’re like, let’s get you up, let’s, let’s eat some food. And they’re like, let’s shower first and clean you up. And I felt like this was basically a trick to just get me moving around. Because I really favored being on all fours I did the runner’s lunge pose a ton, and it was a good one for me. But once I got comfortable in it, everything slowed down. Like it’s like, it would be it’s like, I’d get some really bad contractions and there’d be like progress. And then I would still have contractions, but they wouldn’t be as strong. So I basically was like, battling, like wanting to be really comfortable and not in as much pain and like progressing the labor. So having them like, trick me and get me out of the birth tub. Like really helped me because I wouldn’t have done it myself. Because, I mean, at that point, you were not enough. Pretty heavy. Yeah. You know, she’s asleep in, you know, and I’m like, like, I mean, I know is leaving too. I was I was very tired. Also just pouring water on your butt the whole time. That was my job. I gotta put up the shirt and just pour, I gotta put that picture isn’t like three to like, 8am to scoop and pour water. No, but you’re super tired. And I could see the exhaust in your face. And then you’re just like, it was almost like you were like, okay, cool. I’m gonna take it like a quick like 30 seconds off and like, not off. And then once you nobody said anything to you, you’re like, because we were under the impression that if you were getting too tired, we’d have to transfer. Yeah. And if you’re gonna fall asleep, like that’s a no, no. And then we they didn’t tell us that. Yes. Didn’t know. So you’re just kind of like that and I’ll hand off and say, Okay, let’s get her moving. And I was like, okay, cool. That was so so then so I get up and standing was the worst thing but we ended up having her standing because that’s what really got my contractions going apparently. So I like stand up and I have a contraction. And then like every step to the shower, I have a contraction and our bathrooms attached to our bedroom so it’s not that far, but it took me like 10 minutes to get to the shower, or master or mastered

Aaron’s on the first floor. So within proximity of the kitchen, which is good. So the one we got her up and moving after the shower, we tried to get her eat some food and brought her into the kitchen dining room area. And she was on the stool in like a in like kind of like a kneeling position. Yeah. And they put the 10s unit on you like the legit one. Yeah, so that that was another thing that did help my pain. So like the heating pad, definitely get that hot water is great. If you have back labor like I did on your back. If you have regular contractions, a lot of people like to get the sprayer and like spray it on the front, or just like stand facing forward. Those were great. The birth pool, obviously is amazing. That’s pretty much my one homebirth and then finally the 10s unit I had one but it’s not meant for labor. The one that our birth assistant had had like three nodes. It was so strong that was like that works pretty well if I still wasn’t good amount of pain, but it was like I could eat like it

kind of kicked off some like the whole combination of things like you moving that 10s unit like being in the position you work because it was almost like a kind of like a half standing position at the table. I was like kneeling on this like bench the bench dinner table. The birth team needed a break to I think that some people kind of like they come in the middle of night and they’re like working relentlessly. Yeah, so they’re chowing down on Chick fil A. And then something happens. I had like, I felt like it was one bag of water broke. Yeah. But I was like, oh my god, something happened.

A little like, put a diaper on me. So I could walk around the house and not make giant ran outside. I’m like, something came out, you know? And then they came inside and they’re like, so like they’re eating their Chick fil A and they go, yes. And I’m like, okay, so this is all planned. They knew they knew what they’re doing, you know, but I’m just kind of crazy and freaking out. So they came inside. They were excited. And and then they just went to work. Yeah. And from there. When they come in, they look at the discharge inside there. Hi, Mommy. They look at the discharge inside. They’re like, this is great. You know, and they’re, you know, Jenny’s got her hand in there. I mean, it’s Yeah. And it was pretty funny. It was cool, though. So then my water, one of my waters breaks and they say she goes, it’s not that much water. You probably only broke like one of your bags. And I was like, but then as soon as that happened, I felt the urge to push and I wasn’t even really pushing. Like my I was just kind of like, kneeling there in shock, like because my body was just doing it itself. So they’re like, Alright, let’s get you back to the birth pool. So then they brought me back to the birth pool, I had a million contractions on the way. I’m pushing. Like when I’m walking, it was the weirdest thing. When you started out on fours in the birth pool, kind of interesting. And then Gina recommended the runners launch but it was transitional. So it was almost like you were like, three contractions and three contractions and you’re moving to and I think that really helped kick something. Yeah, it’s, it’s like I for me, I had to change positions like going the next time I give birth. Like the one thing that I wanted to do differently. Because a lot of you would ask, like, what would you have done differently? And what would you have done the same like I would, I still would not have gotten checked because for me, it really helps my mindset. And I didn’t I all I could do was hope that I was making progress rather than think, oh my gosh, I’m only three centimeters, like, nothing is happening. I’m in so much pain, how, like, how am I going to do this? For me? I was like, you know, I could be I could be eight centimeters, you know, like it doesn’t we don’t know. And then the but the thing I would do differently is because I now I know that like it was worth it to keep moving and I probably could have had a quicker labor if I did do it is I would have gotten myself more uncomfortable. I really would have done that sooner. Like I would have stood up every couple minutes, you know, even just standing like really moved me along. So that’s like the one thing I would have done differently. And they saw that like I was in the birth pool for a while pushing, and I stopped making progress. So they’re like, let’s get you up. Let’s go over to the toilet. And I’m like, Okay, I didn’t even make it there. They want to do the pee. Oh, yeah, they want to pee. Yeah, cuz because that can like really slow down contractions and everything else like that’s gonna happen to pee and then we’re walking to the toilet. You were sitting there, I think Yeah. Like, I know it can sorry, it can cause more pain. It can make your contractions more painful if you have a full bladder. Yeah. So you have three or four contractions on the toilet. And then we tried to get you up to go back to the pool. And you looked at me right in the eyes, and he said, I’m gonna have it right now. Yeah, I knew it so funny. And they tell you that you’re gonna know but you’re like, what does that mean? Like, I’m not going back to the pool. And I was like, what? Oh my gosh.

So we’re standing up in the bathroom very glamorous. He he ended up going on a stool because I needed to like put my weight on him. I’m like, exhausted at this point. I just, I mean, I could barely stand I was like shaking. So he said

on this stool that we have, and I’m like, all my weight is on him. I’m like, squeezing him. I’m sweating profusely all over him. And then like, I was pushing for two and a half hours ish. Yeah, I was watching half hours and you were kinda like hunched over on me and it will be would just rotate like hands on my shoulders, me holding your hands, hands on my legs, and then you were pushing on their cues or just kind of naturally pushing with contractions, ultimately running positions. And then we ended up bringing the Squatty Potty in and he put one leg on the Squatty Potty. Yeah, that really helped like putting one leg up so strange. Yeah, but it was weird. Because from my perspective, we’re sitting there and we plan for this whole thing and all this other stuff going on. And then we’re here we are on the, on the bathroom floor. So before I even said anything, like they brought extra blankets and pillows and putting into the car, just in case, you know, and I’m like, Okay, well, this is gonna get really weird. How safe is this? And they’re like, well, we’ll help you catch her. And like, cuz she’s freaking out. And like, Amanda is very strong. And I’ve you know, I’m a big guy. So she’s, she’s like, we can be fight her counter pushes, you know, and I’m like, Dude, this is like, legit, you know, sweating my mouth. Yeah, it was it was intense. And I had no i concept of time. Like, I thought I was maybe pushing for like, half an hour. And they’re like, yeah, no, you push for like two and a half hours. It makes sense. Because I was so exhausted. Yeah, we got the bathroom just after 10 or so. So that was it was pretty good. Because we spent about an hour and changed in the pool, which was kind of crazy. So we’re there. A lot of people ask what is pushing you feel like you won’t even have to, like, I don’t think you really have to try until you’re like, she was crowning. Basically, my body just kind of did it. So when I was pushing one thing, I shook her head like kept coming out, she was crying, and then it would go back in and I was it was driving me insane. I was like, this is awful. I just felt like she was never going to come out. And one cue that Gina our doula gave me that now I will, I will never forget this. And I will definitely use it next time. She was like, try to do that pelvic floor breathing while you’re pushing and like, hold it down there. So when you’re doing that pelvic floor breathing, like you’re breathing in and letting your pelvic floor relax. And that’s like when you feel it expanding. So you if you think about it, you would feel like your butthole relax, really, should that scowl. That’s what she came out with if you’re watching this on YouTube, and so like, but you want to like hold it there. So instead of letting that pelvic floor tighten back up like you would when you breathe out during the breath, so you breathe in and things open up, your pelvic floor relaxes, and then you breathe out and it goes back up. So instead of letting it go back up, she was like, keep pushing it down. So that was the concept of pushing that really helped for me. So when it relaxed I would keep when it got to that bottom part, I would just push so hard. And when I breathed in, it was like I just kept everything pushing, pushing, pushing, even though I was breathing in. And before that I was not doing that. So her head would just go right back. So once I started doing that I really got the hang of it drawing. I don’t know how far how long I’d been pushing at that point. But it was definitely like close to when she came out. I would say like probably the last like it was our that was maybe even less than that. Less than that. Yeah. Because you’re you kind of hunkered down. You kind of hunkered down when that happened. Like when you I think like that progress that they were saying, hey, like, we can see her like she’s there like you kind of that’s when he really kind of like latched in and started to get uncomfortable. Yeah, I mean, I just didn’t know how to do it. Like you don’t really know how to push until you’re there doing it. So if I could give any advice, I would say like, one do your pelvic floor breathing beforehand. And there’s so many resources on how to do this online. I did a podcast episode with Dr. Ryan Bailey. She’s expecting pelvic health on Instagram. We talked about it in the episode, but I think she has videos on her Instagram as well. So it’s at expecting pelvic health. And basically you want to do that breathing. I did that the whole like for the entire time I was pregnant. I did it while I was working out it and I still do that now. So it’s one of those things I highly recommend doing beforehand while you’re pregnant. So then in labor, I was very I could genius at it and I was like got it. I know exactly what to do. And then I finally she ended up coming out and she had a very nice look on her face. She pooped on me. She pooped on in her eyes were wide open. I was like in shock. She came out looking at me straight. She came out looking at me right in her eyes. Kind of like this. You know, a little bit for the YouTube peeps. There you go. No, she came out. I was able to catch her. Then the rest of the water came out with it and blood and mucus and all that good.

stuff and and then it was like, Wow, this baby is enormous. Yeah, she she was eight pounds seven ounces. And yeah, it was it was pretty crazy. So she came out and everyone’s like, did you feel so much better when she came out? She? I did to an extent, obviously like my contraction stuff. So I’d had back labor. I was like, I feel great. They helped me get onto the ground. And we’ll try to book I’ll put our birth photos so that you guys like no, you can like get a visual. And then he was behind me and I was holding her and she had already she was already trying to latch which was just crazy. I was like, she was like looking for my boob. It was so cool. And then my placenta, like the cord was very short. So that made it a little tricky to like, have her and like, the scent is still inside me. I’m like kind of uncomfortable. And it was like tugging a little bit. So they got us up, they put us in bed. And then they were trying to pass the placenta. So I think it was probably maybe like half an hour on my own trying to pass it. Just kind of waiting for some contractions to start. They did not. And then they gave me some herbs. They asked her like, do you want to take some herbs to speed this up? I said yes. Because I was so uncomfortable. It just like I felt this really, really deep, heaviness still. And I couldn’t really like enjoy everything. So it was so uncomfortable. So I took the herbs. I passed it probably like 10 minutes later. So within an hour groupID the placenta was out. It was huge. It was so big. It hurt. I mean, I know everyone says it doesn’t have bones. So it doesn’t it’s not like that painful when you pass it, but it hurt me. So I did tear. So I’m sure that that had something to do with it. And I was just so sick of pushing. I was like I cannot push anymore. So big good. Yeah, she did have a really big head. But it was great. They put le le I was on my chest the whole time. This whole time. They she’s laughing. Funny. She’s talking about you, Mom. Oh my goodness. She is cute, guys. I just I hope you’re watching the YouTube. Yeah, 40 minutes in the YouTube, check it out.

Smiling baby, the little girl. So it did her we did save the placenta in our freezer. It’s like a plastic bag in our freezer. We haven’t done anything with it. I know a lot of people encapsulate it. But I just I didn’t know if I wanted to, we’ll probably just put it in movies because it’s frozen. But I just I felt really good after I still feel really good. So I just I didn’t want to add anything to the mix. If that makes sense. I have had some people and there’s actually one of my friends midwives told her that if you take the placenta too soon it can actually hinder your milk supply. So that was interesting. There is a study on that. And then I’ve actually heard that it’s better to take it like further down the road like eight around the eight to 10 month mark because it can help support your milk supply. So I’ll probably use it later on. Right now I’m I’m just kind of doing my typical routine everything I was doing during pregnancy for supplements of just trying to prioritize eating and I feel really good. Eliana is a good sleeper at night though. So that that really helps to be a lot of you asked if I tore I did tear, I had a first degree to first screw tears on my inner labia on each side. And then I had one like vaginal tear, it was like almost second degree, I did not do stitches. So I kind of assumed that they were going to tell me to do them. My midwife actually mentioned that like it just wasn’t that bad. It was like in between the first and second grade. And she was like, if you want to do them, we can. But unless it’s like second degree or hire, She usually doesn’t recommend it because it can cause more inflammation. So I just couldn’t imagine anyone stitching anything up. So I was like, Yeah, I think I’m good. She’s like, just keep your legs closed. And I went to my five week I was like, I was five weeks when I saw my pelvic floor physical therapist, and I was completely healed. So you know, do with that what you will if you end up tearing, but don’t those of us isn’t for sure. Yeah, just don’t like stretch. Don’t be like terrified if you tear like, honestly, I was not in that much pain after birth. I just mostly felt so weird because my organs were constantly moving around if I got up so that was like, I feel like the worst part. And breastfeeding is way harder than anything. So I feel like that like overshadowed stuff. So that’s kind of the birth stuff. We’re going to wrap it up. I’ll talk about some home birth things testing that we did. And then a little bit on like, setting up a home birth. So everyone asked what I homebirths again, 100% I think you would, right? Yes. So we would definitely do it again. I don’t think there were any cons people like What are the cons of home birth? I just think it depends on the type of person. Yeah, no, might you do it again? She agreed.

She had a great time. She loved everyone. All the dogs. This is you know, that was there. Yeah, I think

If there could be the only kind of homebirth is like you can’t get an epidural and you’re not like in hospitals, so you could possibly have to transfer depending on what you have going on. But if I mean if, if you don’t want any of those interventions, and I would say like, there aren’t really any cons of homebirth safety from like being like a, kind of like, apprehensive at first and then go into the experience, I probably wouldn’t ever want to do it another way. Yeah, to be honest, like 100%. Like,

the birthing team was great. They cleaned up after themselves. Yeah, they stayed for a long time after they really had our best interests and Eliana is best interested in? And it was good. Like, it was the seamless like, yeah, I wouldn’t do it any other way. I think if you have a great provider, and a team that you really trust in like I don’t, I can’t imagine wanting to do anything else. Safety, I’m gonna link to a podcast episode from happy homebirth podcast, kind of goes through a lot of those things we mentioned, like things that can come up, whether that’s like they come out and they’re not breathing, if maybe the that can, that’s one of the more common ones and then like bleeding from the mom. So that’s a really helpful episode. Someone asked, like, why is everyone taking the risk of homebirth it’s really not any riskier than a hospital birth. And honestly, the way that I look at it is, the whole goal of home birth is to have the least amount of interventions as possible. So that’s, I mean, at least that my midwife was like, my birth team was like that. I can’t imagine that other midwives homebirth midwives are not like that, how, obviously, a hospital midwife is going to be different. But just the fact that we, the goal is to not have as many interventions like that, to me that is safer. It’s, you know, pregnancy and birth are not emergencies. Until they are, of course, unless you have risks or complications arise. But if you don’t, then to me like, which we didn’t, we did not have any complications or anything come up just I was in a lot of pain that was it, then it you shouldn’t really need the interventions that you would need at a hospital. So I don’t think it’s risky, if you are, you know, cleared for home birth. And one really good quote that I do want to mention from the happy home birth podcast, because she does talk about this, as she says, when it comes to giving birth, what’s your risk tolerance? Are you more comfortable with the risk of giving birth at home and assessing the situation as it comes? Or are you more comfortable with the risk of the often unnecessary interventions and Fallout come from them at the hospital. So that’s kind of like how I feel. And then at home, you can do whatever you need to to feel comfortable, which for me was really important, especially because I did have back labor. So I’m really happy with it. homebirth must haves, I would say a really good 10s unit like I will definitely get like a burst level 10s unit next time like not the like the one that I have a heating pad that will definitely come in handy. twinkle lights, my friend Madison sent me a bunch of extra twinkle lights that she had from her homebirth. And so that was just great, because nothing is like too bright. Birth tub or shower. I really liked both honestly, I liked having both adrenal cocktails made in bulk. He went through the whole job that we had, and then had to make them after but try to have a ton made ahead of time. doula and a birth team that you trust. I think that’s honestly the most important one because you don’t have to know everything like this is the best part of having a team there is that they help you. They give you suggestions, and you can say no to anything that you want. Like I definitely took a lot of their suggestions. But there’s also plenty times I said no. And they don’t care. Their feelings aren’t hurt. They’re just trying to like find what works for you. So honestly, I feel like if you have the team you want that’s really all that you need. And then easy foods to eat like fruit i Obviously I Nana, I had like date balls, beef sticks, stuff like that are good to have on hand. Excellent husband, did you add that?

To the notes? It’s really funny. You’re welcome. Well, he was feeding me the whole time. And for the whole time after which we’ll talk about in our postpartum episode. Someone asked, What are my thoughts on free birth? I honestly am not incredibly educated on free birth, because I did choose to have a midwife. I don’t personally think that I would do it for my first birth or future when I just I’m just like, I don’t know, I I’d have to look into it a lot more. So was your family supportive of home birth? If not, how did you approach this with them? What did you say? My family? I mean, they just don’t really question like the choices that I make. I feel like they trust me. I’m also like in the medical field, so I’m sure that that helps. My mom did ask questions like she was she’s, I mean, she’s heard of midwives before. So she was just like, curious. She did ask questions, but no one like gave me a hard time. Your mom thought we were crazy. But she’s crazy. So yeah, she’s crazy. So it didn’t really matter. But if if someone had given me a hard time, I didn’t talk to like my extended family.

out, and I’m sure one of them might have had something to say. But I just would have said that it’s none of their business because you have to remember, like, you’ve done the research. I mean, for me, I did the research. And we knew, you know, what the risks were, we also knew the risks of having a baby in a hospital. So if you educate yourself and you feel good in your decision, I just think like, you shouldn’t really have to justify that to someone else. It’s your decision for your family. And then was there any point? You wish you were in a hospital? Would you rather have chosen a hospital? Definitely not? Definitely not. Even when I was in a lot of pain I, I don’t I don’t think I would have wanted to be at a hospital because I didn’t want an epidural. So I just would have been like, really uncomfortable and not had the freedom that I did at home, testing for the baby. So a lot of you guys have questions about this, did I do the metabolic testing for things like PKU and all that we did do the metabolic testing, he has a health history of sickle cell tree. So that’s one of the things that they test for. And I’m glad that we did it because she does have sickle cell trait. So we chose to do it. I don’t think there’s any harm in doing it. And if you have the health history that I think it’s a good choice, it’s good to know. And then, did you do vitamin K, we did not. We’re doing a liquid vitamin K drops with her, because they’re asking about the vitamin K shot. So we did not do that. So for planning a home birth some tips, I have a friend that’s a doula in North Carolina, and she also did a home birth. So that was really helpful for me. But even then, like she gave me the names of some midwives, like homebirth midwives, but I even found one that she didn’t share with me on a Facebook group. So there’s like a North Carolina homebirths Facebook group. I don’t know the link off top my head anymore. I don’t even think I have it anywhere. But depending on where you live, if you’re trying to do a homebirth, I would look, I mean, obviously, like Google Search homebirth midwives in your area, and they will come up like most of them came up when I did do some searching, but I did. I got like recommendations in the Facebook group, which was really nice. There’s also a lot of people that also had TRICARE that are military families, and they kind of broke down like, here’s what happens depending on if you have like TRICARE selector tracker, is it prime prime? I’m like, Am I making that up because of Amazon.

It is tricare prime. So basically, you know, just getting advice on that that was really helpful. So I would see if there’s a homebirth Facebook group for your state where you are. But yeah, so that’s, that’s like, that’s how we planned it. I was five weeks pregnant when I saw my home birth midwife. So that was like, I mean, to me, that was probably the trickiest thing. I was pretty much like, Okay, I have to find this person like, tomorrow, because they fill up very quickly, at least where I live. So that’s just something to keep in mind is I wouldn’t necessarily wait if you know, you want to do home births, they they do tend to fill up fast, because there’s depending on where you live, there’s not usually many around building our our midwife wanted us to births a month. Yeah. So you were the last slot for May. And you had booked it like I was eight months in advance or seven months advance? Yeah, it was I was literally like six weeks pregnant when I paid my deposit. So it’s pretty crazy. I also found my Doula right away. I did. She has a gym in my area. So that was really helpful. Again, my friend is a doula in North Carolina. So that was also very helpful giving advice of like, she’s, she’s like, I think that you would do really well with Gina. So I reached out to her. But I think the earlier you can do it, the better. So if you’re not pregnant yet, you know, maybe you do, but you know, you want to do this, do some searching in your area and see, like who’s available, because it also can help you know, like, Okay, if if I can’t do a home birth, because there’s not availability, or there’s no one in my area that can do it. Maybe you find a really good hospital that you know, a ton of people have had a good experience at or birthing center. But for home birth, you do want to do your research plan as early as you can, and get on someone’s list. One thing to quickly note too, is that even when we did the online birthing classes together, there were some couples on there that were not even pregnant, they were just doing like preliminary research. And at first we kind of thought, wow, that’s kind of crazy. Like you guys aren’t even like pregnant yet, but you’re trying to be like thinking about having a baby, but they’re taking these birth classes. And kind of in hindsight, it’s like, not that not a terrible idea to do, especially nowadays where there’s such a shortage on so many different things. It’s just as much preparation as you can do is probably more beneficial for you guys. Yeah, so I know we were kind of like what the heck but I’m also like, I get it because you some people are planners, but yeah, so that’s that’s our birth story. This is our very cute baby Eliana. very chunky level maybe. And we’re gonna do a postpartum episode too. But if you don’t listen to that, and the only thing I want everyone to take away basically, is to not move for seven days. Like if you just don’t move, you’ll be fine. So we’ll talk more about that in the postpartum episode. But I hope you guys enjoyed our story.

Bye bye

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