Episode 13 - Interview with chiropractor and doula Dr. Tijana Sefic Eby (Part 2/2)

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You are listening to the aligned verse podcast, and Dr. Shannon here today, and it's a follow up interview Part Two of speaking with Dr Tiana cific EB today and last time we went through lots of good things there so she is a prenatal pediatric chiropractor in the metro Atlanta area has lots of wonderful services that she offers her families and loves you know working with families as they're growing, but she also has this aspect of being a mom and how motherhood has helped shape her office so you need to go listen to the first interview because the first one we really go into how she found chiropractic, what were the differences, she noticed in her life. And she's also a doula, which is really cool because she adds that knowledge and expertise to the patients that she works with the office because she worked with so many pregnant women and families. So we definitely want to go listen to that first interview there but today is really exciting. We're going to talk a little bit about her birth story and how that has shaped her office, how that having a child has really impacted how she practices in the office, and then how she balances motherhood with working and how that has helped her with her patients as well, too. Hello and welcome to the aligned birth podcast.

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We are so glad you're here. I'm Dr. Shannon, prenatal chiropractic and I'm Rachel, a birth doula and childbirth educator, and we are the team behind the aligned birth podcast. Between us we have experienced a Syrian birth, a VBAC hospital births, and home birth, our personal experiences led us to where we are today,

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we share a lot in common. We are friends from high school and reconnected through our work, we both changed career paths after the verse of our own children, we light up when talking about health and birth, and we are both moms to two young boys.

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This podcast was created to share conversations and interviews about topics from pregnancy and birth to motherhood and the importance of a healthy body and mind through it all. Our goal is to bring you fun, interesting and helpful conversations that excite you and make you want to learn more.

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We believe that when you are aligned and body, mind, and your intuition, you can conquer anything. We hope you enjoy the episode. Today we have got Dr Tiana so welcome to the show again my friend. Hi, thank you for having me. It's always so good to talk to you. So, so you know and it's been kind of nice because we've been like checking in on each other you know with these little. Yeah, I am excited for today because, um, I do love your birth story, and, you know, in the last interview too we linked will link again all of your social media contacts and things in ways people can find you but I just remember you sharing such beautiful photos and words and thoughts on your birth story, and I think your birth story has really impacted you and how you are and who you are and your motherhood journey but also you know how you practice in the office so I would love to dive right in and just talk about your birth story.

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Yeah, it's you know it's like super fitting because my son is about to turn four in like two days so perfect timing. I know I know we might cry, we might cry, we might, we might, yeah So, four years ago, we, we had planned a home birth with a home birth midwife here to Atlanta area. Brenda Parrish and her, love her. Yes, she really, she's absolutely amazing. We did all our prenatal stuff with her. I was considered really low risk there was no complications or anything like that. Everything you know we're just kind of cruising by I was working, you know my regular schedule and all that, because you were

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a higher factor than right so like you had started a chiropractor and then got you know, became pregnant that sort of thing so you were already working

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and practicing. Okay, yeah, oh yeah, and it was, it was, that was really fun too, because I still had, like my last doula client who was like beginning of June, and I was pregnant and I had a couple other births earlier that year. So I was you know like I was feeling really good I was, you know, staying active working and all that. So I was feeling really good. And then, on a Tuesday, I was here in the office I was literally walking one of my friends out after their families adjustments and I did our plans with a girlfriend of mine, and I like was still standing in the foyer of my office and all of a sudden I'm like, weird I like kind of being myself, came out of nowhere. I was 30 weeks and five days pregnant and I was like, Huh, That's odd, but you know it happened I totally get it, you know, I'll let Dad and I just kind of like continue, I was like, oh you know I have a change of clothes in the car because you know what woman doesn't, um, I was like, Oh, I you know I just, I'll throw something on and you know, Go about the rest of my plans. Um, and so I called my husband to just kind of give him an update like oh you know I'm going out to dinner and I'll be back later or whatever. And during that time I was, you know, like kind of leaking, which you know, I'm sure all the women who are moms are gonna hear this and be like, oh okay, no big deal. Yeah, there's any male listeners, they're gonna say what I didn't know about that. First I was like oh this is just really unfortunate but you know, by the way, I was stopped by a store on my way out, and I got out of the car and I noticed like there was, you know, more fluid coming, and I kind of tightened my pelvic floor. But it didn't stop. And that was the first time that I was like, oh, yeah, everything's kind of off because I'm like, you know, cables and all that jazz like fish, this, this doesn't seem quite right, and I was still on the phone with my husband and I told him I was like, Hey, call Brenda. When we call our midwife and just kind of check in about this. Um, so her. Her office was used to be really close. Well, one of our offices still close to me but she wasn't she wasn't far and I told him what was going on, she's like well why don't you stop by the office, and let's swab you for amniotic fluid. Okay. And she actually wasn't in the office, but her office was open, so I drove over there and kind of started to get a little, you know, a little concern. Just a little time off like definitely didn't think. Right. You know, like I just didn't really think that that's the direction where we'll be heading in, but I was like, you know, I'll be fine. So I called a girlfriend. I'm supposed to have dinner with, and I was like hey, I might have to do a rain check because, you know, things are happening again. So I am going to Brenda's office and I swab and she said if it's, if the color on the drive with a Q tip, if it's anything other than yellow. It's embryonic fluid. And I was like, Wait a minute. What, so yeah, I was like trying to stay composed but I really wasn't. And I, you know, did the swab, and sure enough, it came out black. Wow. And so I was by myself, I was on the phone with a friend, and I was freaking out. Yeah, I mean, well yes, freaking out, so I called Brenda back and I'm like, yes, so this is what's going on. And so she's like, Okay, why don't you head home, let me call our backup. We call our backup doctor and you know make arrangements with him and we'll, you know, we'll go from there. So I'm calling my husband and I was like baby is my neonic fluid, and all that and he, he was actually laying out about to go to sleep because he works really early in the morning so yeah, he was kind of half asleep and I drove home, like, you know, freaking out as it would, as it would be. I came home, and one of the questions that Brenda had asked me, she said, Do you feel fetal movement,

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which is like,

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like a good and a bad question to get because it's good because it means that like, oh there's likely fetal movement and all that. And it's also bad and it's like, oh, well, could it potentially like not be fetal movement, which you know that's a major red flag. Right, so, and then all the panicking and the crying like I really couldn't tell you what I held. Right, I mean I literally did, so I came in the house I laid on our bed, and I told my husband I was like okay I need you to like feel to really put your ear to the belly or something. And the second he did that, the baby kick that was at the time we didn't know we were having a voice so I was like okay. So Brenda calls me and tells me like, Okay, we need to get you taken to the hospital and, you know, get evaluated and, you know, we'll kind of go from there. Okay, nope, so we headed to the hospital in the Atlanta Medical Center, our, our OB was Dr boots Taylor, and, yeah. And so we headed down there. And, on, off the drive, my husband was driving on the drive down there. I was rescheduling my patients from like Wednesday morning till I'm a bit. Thursday, cuz I was like I don't you know I'm seeing patients tomorrow so I

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will show in the office too so it's kind of like a,

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right, so I'm like texting everybody like hey, let's like do same time the next day, because typically I'm not in my office on Thursday so I'm like, we'll just do the same time next day. Yeah. And everybody's like, Oh, Okay, so I'm like, you know, doing administrative tasks while we're you know, going down there. And my mom met us down there and then there was a, another friend that came, and thankfully it wasn't like COVID time so like you could have more people. Yes, everybody you know was like, We really didn't know what to expect and like what was going to happen, and I'm not even sure that at the time. I mean I was acting like I don't know they were gonna like, put a plug in and like okay we're going to be checked out and then just going to finish up this you know pregnancy. Yeah. And so I was, I was like, kind of in delirium. We got there and kind of pretty early figured out and like I'm likely like not Oh, hold on a minute. And because everything was really still uncertain. It was kind of a day by day thing. One of the things that they wanted to the they first check me for infection because that's a very common. It's very common reason for preterm rupture of membranes so if you know when that happens a lot of times it's infection so they took me for a bunch of different things. They were waiting for cultures to come back and all that and then one of the other things they wanted to do was administers steroids, there's a specific steroid shot that helps maternity baby's lungs, they do happen to come really early to get that process. So, and they do that kind of a 20 to 24 hour increment so you get a shot, you have to wait 24 hours, a second shot and wait another 24 hours. So we knew that in the next 24, to 48 hours after the day first administer the first shot. We have to wait at least 48 hours so if labor was to come on, because at the time I wasn't on labor Waterbrook man no contractions like that, no, no contractions. Of course monitors in the hospital to check for contractions and all that. But yeah, initially there was no labor. So they had me scheduled for an ultrasound. The next morning, just to know to check the fluid levels and things like that. They were monitoring me off and on for contractions, just to see, you know if anything was to change. And for a while, I really have contractions. The next day I started like maybe once every hour, so I would get a contraction, and it was like super mild and all of that right for my second stairway in shot. The contractions kicked up. And I went from one in an hour to about five or six in a 15 minute increment

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this.

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We had this amazing nurse they came in and she like, got everything prep she got the okay from a doctor and they put me on a magnesium drip. To stop the contractions. And so they put those. They're done there's like these boots that they put on you to, to like basically create a muscle contraction. Oh yeah, there's a lot of crap.

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Yes yes yes.

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I had those so in the C section, I hated those things. Yeah, it was definitely, yeah not my favorite. There was like a few other things because I was now like officially bedridden. Yeah, do not get out of it, because it means easy it relaxes all the muscles in the body. So, yay. So they gave me. So then when they gave me the second shot I was on that for another 24 hours. And then I got a reaction to magnesium, which is not uncommon. It's not uncommon because it's you know your body just kind of, it's a lot. Yeah, so they, I mean, I felt like I was having this horrific panic attack my chest to like it was gonna jump up, like my heart felt like it was gonna jump out of my chest. It was, it was intense. So they got me off of that. And of course it happened like, I don't know, like 10 or 11 o'clock at night, so the rest of the night I was basically detoxing from it. Yeah, didn't sleep well or anything like that. So the next morning they took me off of magnesium completely, and I was able to like take a shower for the first time in like four days, yay.

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As you know we like. I like in the summer out like a two showers a day kind of girl. So, like my curly hair was very much a rat's nest, it was, it was kind of a mess, but like the nurses were able to like reset my bed and like, give me new sheets and all that, and this whole time I'm still making fluid. Yeah, so you know, that's, that's fun too. And then that evening. And basically what the decision we made that morning with our doctor was, we're just gonna see what happens, like I was officially after magnesium I've gotten my steroid shots, and it was basically a way to get the longer I was able to, you know, the longer I was able to go the better, for the baby. I, we had a consult with an acute team, and it was for the first time was when I heard the words like, oh, the chance of survival is like 90% and which never ever crossed my mind like preparing for a hummingbird and all that, like, I never questioned the safety of it. And then all of a sudden, now we're talking about like, you know, a chance of survival. Because you know preemie babies are more predisposed to getting brain bleeds or having breathing issues apnea issues all this stuff, all those Yeah. And you just never really never just know what's going to happen so my parents were actually in the room when the nuclear doctor came and talked to us. And so I'm like actually translating some of it for my parents, some of the technical terminology into Bosnian, and it was like, what, it got like really real there for a second. And at the time we were also really kind of keeping it like the not a lot of people knew that I was in hospital and not a lot of people, you know, knew what was going on, we're just kind of keeping really close ties to my family. So yeah. That evening, we, I mean, my sister was with us. My like my best friend was coming and going. She was taking her like our animals at home. You know all that. So, um, you know, it's amazing to have, you know, this really great group of people around you and that you make a friend of mine came and took some maternity pictures, which I had scheduled with her like for the following week. Oh, yeah, I remember those. I've seen those on Twitch man they're so gorgeous. Yeah, I mean it seems like it's no, that's tough, you know like, right, right, because we didn't know like we didn't know that I was still gonna be pregnant, you know, the following week, kind of, say, yeah. So she came and did some pictures and car, they're like super special because at least we had a great like Atlanta skyline in the background and in a second golden hour so yeah you know they turned out really pretty. And that night, they had these memories to,

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you know, that's, I think that's really really good. Yes, yes, and she.

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That night, my sister stayed in the room with us and my husband was there, and they gave me. Is it Ambien, like the sleeping pill. I forget the name of it, I think I said yes. Yeah, so my doctor recommended he's the one with crazy dreams. Well, I've heard some stories about it and I even told my doctor I was like, listen, I get it. He's like, I just really want you to get some rest. And I was like okay, I mean I hear that, but I'm like, I don't really take a lot of medication, and certainly not things like this. So I'm just like, Maureen he's like you're totally safe like everything's gonna be okay and I'm like, Okay, so my husband and my sister were in a room, they both fell asleep they gave it a medicine about nine o'clock. And that's also when my body was like relaxed enough and I started contracting. And, um, and so for the next couple hours, I was just kind of like dozing off a little bit and I'll get a contraction and I would just breathe through it and all that. And after about two ish hours, they were starting to get more intense, and I was because I was laying in the bed. If I moved in any other position other than being completely flat on my back. I would lose the baby's heartbeat, on the monitor. And after about like two, two and a half hours. I like I have to get out of this position, like, every, every cell in my body as a doula was like screaming like change position. So finally, I call finally overlook my husband out, and I was like, You need to go get the nurse because, like, I need to get into a different position. And so he said, Okay, so the one daughter, she came and she's like, Oh Are you in pain and I was like, No, I'm, I think you need to check me to see where this baby is because I'm, I'm feeling it. Yeah. And she was kind of trying to scold me a little bit and I get it, I get it but I was like no, I need you to check me and she's like, Okay, let me check with the doctor she comes back and she's like, Okay, well, while I was waiting for her I turn on my side. And I looked at my sister and I go, I feel this baby, and she goes, you know that's it's kind of an inside joke occurred I have, but she's like you know that's not how babies come. Yeah, but I know that, Like, there's babies out there. Yeah. So the nurse came back in and she went to check my cervical dilation, and I don't think that she got like an inch in. Um, she and her look gave it all the way, I mean no doctors are really trying to like keep our facial expression. Oh yeah, we try, but man her look gave it away and I was like, she goes, I'm gonna go ahead and go get the doctors. And I looked at I was like, what was that she's like, I'm going to go ahead and get up and basically what she was trying to avoid telling me was like, This baby's coming. No matter what, yeah. Yeah, so a couple of wishes later. The doctor came in and that's the first push that I gave, and then on the next push she's like okay let's push the rest of this baby out. I was like, okay. So if you came out in two questions, and it's kind of crazy like I have this slightly vague memory of what I just remembered it was like more and more people coming into the room as like everything intensified, because the next few team was coming in, all postpartum staff was coming in, it was just like, the room was filled in a matter of seconds. And they, the doctor got my husband to cut the cord, and they were like shifting the baby over than an EKG, and my husband goes, Well what is it, we still try not for the baby, and my husband's like poking his head around, he's like he hasn't seen us. So that's how I was born.

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She's gonna love that school.

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Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, so he. The Nikki team came in and we didn't do. We didn't get to do some of those typical things that most moms do postpartum like we didn't have to do the skin on skin. We didn't even let the court post like super long, but not super long, because then he had to attend to him and all that, and I got to hold him for a few. I mean when I say a few maybe like two minutes. My sister got those pictures and I haven't shared those because it's not, it's kind of a hot mess situation. But that's also. Yeah, I mean that's very raw, you know, yes, yes. and then I didn't realize how little I remember between then and when I woke up in the morning. So actually I found out a couple years later I was talking to a friend and my best friend was there. And she's like, Yeah, that's not how that happened at all. And I was like, What are you talking about, and she's like, Yeah, so she actually told me what had happened because she, she came back minutes after when I was born, and my sister kind of handled me from the labor room to the postpartum room and all that. And what I remember was like after they wheeled in way. The next thing I really recall is waking up in the morning, the sun was up, and, like, my sister and my husband, other friend were all like asleep, over to the room, and I woke up and I was like, okay I wanted to see my baby like let's, let's do this. Come on. And so they think I've walked like to the queue. And I walked in, in the queue and got to hold my baby like for real for the first time. And so he was three pounds 15 ounces at first, and key like fit on my chest like between my breasts can be much. He was like super tiny was really theory all over his body, which is really cute. And yeah, so we. He was in the queue for 26 days. And during that time I was, I got discharged. So he was born Saturday morning and I got the discharge Sunday night. So we drove with it in the queue every single day for 26 days.

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I know I remember talking with you about that too, and just obviously after the fact when we met after that. But, yeah, yeah. That's a lot. It's yeah.

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It is, it is. Thankfully, he was really healthy. He had a total of two acne apps, which basically be like forgot how to breathe for a second. But, you know he was monitored well and everything and that only happened like in the first few days, had been born. He was started as cluesive Lee pumping, pretty much right off the bat, so she only got breast milk, the nephew, they were super encouraging with that and I was, I was producing lots. We didn't actually watch him on, till he was about. He was in the queue for about three weeks. And, yeah, but he was, he was really damp he was gaining while he was eating well and all that, and it was, yeah, it was kind of a wild journey but he just really was like, had his heart, he just had his heart set on being here. He just like no one really want to wait around.

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He was ready, I'm ready to be.

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I mean, and that's, that's just so much, you know, but it's, I guess it's just that true testament to to

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how birth can unfold. You know, and Rachel and I talk a lot in these podcasts as far as, You know like having a plan, having that understanding that things can happen. You know, and, and that's, I mean, your story is very much a testament to that as well too and I think you were in a good position as far as you know, having that knowledge that you do, of being a doula so just being able to navigate that to with that knowledge that you have, you know, and maybe not feeling so so so helpless as someone that hadn't, you know, looked at anything else and just kind of put the blinders on, it's like this is, this is it, you know. Yeah,

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I was, I mean I felt really so so fortunate to have had, like the access and you know the knowledge to, to be able to connect with the people that, you know, helped me kind of go through that process. I mean our midwife was absolutely amazing. She was checking in on me constantly. We did a few extra postpartum visits with her a couple of them before he even came home and then even after he came home, where, you know, she was still, like all of our postpartum care continued with her outside of the hospital. Yeah, yeah, and she is so I mean she's really such a blessing. In such an amazing resource, I love referring my clients to her because she's just so good. Yeah, I mean, I, Our doctor, our OB was also absolutely amazing, and just really listening to you know what our concerns were and all of that. I mean, I worked with a lactation consultant from the breastfeed Atlanta, I worked with a mental health therapist about I started, I started postpartum like mental health. Six weeks postpartum. Yeah and, and I knew to like I knew to reach out to somebody that I could get a referral from, to make sure that, you know, that piece was taken care of as well. You know getting adjusted and adjusting the baby as well and all of that, I mean,

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yeah, it was your village that was your yeah your support team, especially in that postpartum. Yeah, I'm here, period. I know that's so essential, so how, how does that, or how has that shaped your, your office and the climate in your office and you know how you approach prenatal chiropractic care.

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I mean, I do think it's definitely, you know before, before I had my tail I was what we refer to as the child was doula like yeah like yes you attended birth and all that kind of stuff and you got it, But like you didn't really know what, what exactly was going on, kind of thing. And so, having that piece, it definitely, both as a chiropractor and it gave me a whole other layer of empathy for my clients. It also really made me realize how to, like, advocating for oneself is. That's definitely a huge piece, and also creating that village around you, and knowing who to go to I mean, I have a huge referral list for my clients, because, and I, you know, because I tend to see mom for a long time period three natal prenatally and for postpartum. There's things that I look out for when I'm working with them, both for them and a baby. So, even like solidifying the village around me, and around my clients has become a huge driving force in my practice, because it is, it's so vital. I mean it's so vital. And I love being able to know and be, you know, because then you know I kind of learned through trial by fire myself. I really have found like a whole other layer of empathy for my clients because I'm like, you know, you don't have to do it by yourself. Like there's no reason for you to have to suffer. You know, large or small scale, really, because that's a huge piece of it, it's like you don't have to suffer. You don't have to struggle like we've got people, we've got people that can help in this situation. Exactly.

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I think that's what's so neat that you probably add to it as well as like, Okay, you want to resource for this well I've used all of these resources, and you know them personally, you know and can refer that but I think it's huge to to that aspect of what you were saying as far as like noticing certain things in moms and families in kids and saying, Hey, let's try this area let's reach out for help here, you know, hey, yeah I think about this, because yeah sometimes too it's even, you know moms don't realize some of those resources that are out there that could be beneficial for them, you know, whether prenatal or postpartum.

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Yeah, absolutely, absolutely, and I feel like one of the biggest lessons that I've learned from like our birth journey has been really being vocal and sharing with people about it. Because there's, I mean there's a certain stigma about it, there's a certain, you know, there's this certain stigma about home births and hospital births and doing things, quote unquote, naturally or you know whatever, and really figuring out like what works for each individual person from a completely non judgmental place. Everybody gets to choose. I mean, sort of get to choose or at least get to have some ownership around your journey. And so, I didn't want to be a victim of my birth story and I really wanted to take ownership of that. Yeah, and, and one of the ways that I've done that is by sharing about it. And you know, because it, it hasn't been an easy journey, you know there's a lot. Trust me, There's a lot of had to unpack in therapy.

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I know, but the fact that you're talking about and that's so huge too and it's there's ways to share these birth stories without. I feel like some part of who is where moms are like, Oh, let me one up you with this birth story I had this, this and this and all this went wrong and that can be traumatizing like re traumatizing so that's not, you know, but how you share it as far as just,

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this is what unfolded what happened and how I can use this first story to help others and to become better, you know yourself,

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and use that as well. And, you know, I feel like are amongst moms like one of the most common shared stories are about how they've given birth. And so, it's, that's always such a unique thing, and because it sees so many, you know, because so many moms prenatally, it comes up, because they're like oh what happened for you I'm like, well let me tell you a story.

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Like, and, and I do and I, you know, I use my clients stories as well as like a great way to connect with other people and just, you know, share, like, there's lots of ways, these things happen, and feeling empowered by it, more so than just being like, Oh, well yeah, this was a great experience. So, yes,

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no and I totally agree with that as far as the, you know, being empowered by it too and I think it is important to go through and, like you talked about you unpack some of that stuff there. So, it is always such a good conversation that I have with Dr Tiana when she and I get together, and I'm just so thankful that she joined us on the show today and that we had such a wonderful ready to see us re-witness for what secret.

Keywords:

Birth, moms, postpartum, baby, check, doctor, office, husband, prenatal, gave, super, happened, clients, fetal movement, contractions, friend, prenatally, brenda, feel, queen