Episode 37
Doulaing the Doula: The Birth Story of Parker

0:31

Hello, and welcome to the aligned birth podcast. doula Rachel here and today I am interviewing Hannah Atterbury. She is my co doula partner as part of North Atlanta bar services. And today is part one of our two part interview because we have so much to talk about. But today we're gonna dive into Hannah's birth story of her sweet baby girl Parker, who I had the honor of witnessing because I was her doula, but we will talk more about that later. And today's interview about her birth story. I'm going to pretend like I wasn't there, so that you guys can get the real story and hear about all the amazing details and bits of information that she learned from her birth. So welcome, Hannah. Hi. So to begin, will you just tell us a little bit about yourself?

1:24

Yes. Hi, my name is Hannah and I am a birth and postpartum doula. I'm also a mom. I have three awesome bonus sons and one biological daughter, and amazing husband who is so incredibly supportive of my dreams. I love all things nature and kickboxing, and I love being a doula. Thank you for having me on here.

1:47

Oh, yay. I love all of that. And your family is amazing. And you're an amazing mama. Busy as you are running a business raising an awesome family and being a wife and carving out that time. It's just fun to witness. So tell us a little bit what were your desires for your birth? Maybe before you were pregnant, or as you became once you learned you were pregnant.

2:12

So I have obviously I was a doula before I gave birth to children. So I had a lot of information. I had a lot of education and a lot of background knowledge. So when it came time for thinking of birth preferences, I didn't have you know, like a really like, nailed out plan. But I did know that I didn't want a lot of people present. I wanted it to be pretty quiet. And ultimately, like I just wanted to catch my own baby that was like probably the biggest thing and the most important thing to me of my birth experience.

2:47

Now that's amazing. And that's a good thing to have. It's like a driving force, right? Like you knew that that was the ultimate thing you want. And so what did you have to do to prepare, so that that would be the end result and I apologize for the background noise listeners. I've got a little one home today and he's monkeying around behind us so we'll do the best we can to keep that quiet. Thank you for your patience. So that is so so beautiful. And also I want to point out to our listeners how rare it is. You know, it's less common for a doula to become a doula before having her own children. A lot of people become doulas after that experience.

3:25

Yes, absolutely. Um, I it was very interesting because when I first became a doula I wasn't very confident because I hadn't had children. And then it took my first few clients to have that faith in me to know that I was going to be able to support them in the best way even though I hadn't had children yet. And in ways that actually gave me a lot of advantages because I didn't have any personal experiences to pull from. So I just had my education and I just had my client experiences. But it's been really cool to see the doula side of things from from both sides with having a child and without having birth a child.

4:06

Yeah, that is such a unique experience. I don't have that I just have the post having a baby doula experience. So I love that I think that helps you be a very balanced, you know, well rounded doula. So from my perspective, so when you were preparing for your birth, where were you originally planning to give birth?

4:25

I was planning to have a home birth up until 37 weeks and then I had to quickly shift gears and find a new backup plan. My home birth midwife went on sabbatical, and I had to choose a different location. And so that was pretty difficult to figure out what my next step was. So I looked at all of my options. I looked at you know, continuing to give birth at home and finding a new home birth midwife. I looked at the Atlanta birth center and I looked at the hospital birth setting, and I ultimately decided on the Atlanta birth center because I felt like it was just a really good fit for me. And it kind of was the best of both worlds.

5:06

When you say best of both worlds. Can you help us understand a little bit more about how the birth center is that that best of both worlds?

5:14

Absolutely. I can only speak to the Atlanta birth center, but it's been awesome because they are very trusting in the client or the patient's intuition. And it's there's a lot of shared decision making these evidence based information. They're constantly diving deeper into the individual, which I thought was really great. They took time to get to know me very quickly. They didn't have a lot of time to get established with me. I didn't have time to meet all of the midwives. So the midwives that I didn't meet took that extra time to get to know me as an individual, which I thought was really awesome. And then the rooms are just incredible, and you really get that home vibe right because it's nice they have these nice candles and twinkly lights and full size beds and they're all decorated like a beautiful Airbnb would. Yes. Yeah, each room is themed and so you know, I was able to go and pick out my room. While I was in labor and just see what fit with me. And it was just really nice. I was able to go home the same day that I gave birth, which was really important. I wanted to be back in my own bed. I was able to have my own comforts of home like my own food. My own clothes. They encourage you to labor at home, which allows that process to just go smoother. So it was just a really, really great fit in comparison to the hospital where I felt a lot more limited on my birthing options. I felt more limited on you know, the environment. I wasn't able to change things around. I did I felt very stagnant. I felt very stale for me personally. And I just needed something a little bit more intimate. And I got that at the birth center.

7:03

Yes, yeah. Yeah, I have to agree that the home the birth center is that beautiful marriage of home and hospital and I will say that the birth center is pretty strict on accepting and supporting birth for healthy, low risk, birthing peoples. And so that was something that you were obviously and so that allowed you not allowed you but help them support you in the safest way possible for your pregnancy and birth. So how did you prepare during pregnancy for your birth?

7:39

I did a lot of meditation. I needed I'm a very high anxiety person just in general and I needed to let go of some of those anxieties. I needed to be able to really just learn how to release my muscles release my mind and find my surrender in the moment. So doing those just daily practices. It just in my own personal life, you know if I felt anxious at a stoplight I would just take a moment and breathe and feel my body relax. I became very cognizant of where I felt tension in my body. And I practice daily just to kind of release that and it really translated into birth well. So that's probably the thing that I focused on most of my birth. Had I not had all of the education about birth beforehand. I would have heavily focused on that. But I did dive deeper into some topics that were difficult choices that I had to make when it came to choices and care team interventions and you know, newborn care, and I really had to dive deep into that. So I did do a lot of informational prep, especially for like newborn care and those choices after the baby. But ultimately, I think the thing that I focused on most was just mind body connection.

8:58

That's awesome. And being the doula beforehand, you had that that framework for what you knew you needed to prepare for birth in a meaningful and effective way. And that is what you did and then you were able to kind of go deeper with it. It sounds like like yes, with that mind body connection because you already had that foundation and you knew like the resources and the places you need to go to kind of continue to build exactly that. That's, that's really beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. So what is something that? Well, let's get into a little bit before I ask that question, can you tell us your birth story?

9:33

Yeah. Absolutely. Buckle up, guys. It's good. It's good. It's good. It's long. My birth was very long. Um, so my birth story is, you know, it's not very dramatic or anything like that, but it's pretty fun. I went to sleep on a Thursday and I woke up at the wee hours of the morning to what I felt was like as pain, you know, woke me up out of my sleep. And I was like, Oh, my goodness, what is that? Oh, I think I have to go to the bathroom. So I got up and I felt fluid in my bed and I wasn't sure what this fluid was. I wasn't sure if it was like my mucus plug or if it was amniotic fluid, but it felt like a lot. So I thought maybe my water had broken in so I went to the restroom, tried to see know what was going on. And I couldn't really get a clear answer. My husband was at work. So I called him home. He came home and I called my midwife at the birth center and they asked me, you know, lots of lots of great questions that I didn't have a lot of really good answers for. And they asked me one question, they're like, Well, you know, have you felt movement and I said, you know, I was asleep. So I haven't felt Movement said okay, do a kick count. We'll give you an hour. Give us a call back in an hour. And so I laid in bed for a while I drink some juice. Then I took a bath. So wasn't feeling her move. And so I wasn't really too concerned. But you know, I was right at the hour mark and I still had not felt her mood at all. Oh, wow. And so I was actually supposed to call them back and I hadn't called them back and they were concerned about me. So they called me back and I told them you know, haven't felt her move. No more fluid has come but you know, this is what's going on. So they, you know, recommended that I come down and get checked out. And sure enough as soon as I get down it was probably four or five o'clock in the morning. I get down there knowing that I'm not in labor to the point where I need to stay there but they just wanted to make sure that everything was okay, I get her hooked up to the monitors that makes her very unhappy. In the sense of she's now awake. Apparently she was just sleeping very deeply which is very common for babies leading up to labor. So they saw her heart tones were great. I was having a few contractions, no fluid, so they recommended that I go home and rest

11:53

did they check? If your water had broken? They did they did a swab and that was in

11:59

it was no water. So I was good to go home and just continue life on as you know, normal still didn't really know what that fluid was. Um, so of course they told me to read and I did not. You know, you think as a doula that's the first thing I tell my clients when they go into labor,

12:19

especially in the middle of night, especially in

12:21

the middle of the night, like, eat some food, take a bath so you can go to sleep right? And I did not do that. I woke up the next day and I caught my mom and I was super excited and we went to I went to my chiropractor she drove me there. I was starting to have some contractions, right? They were very inconsistent. They were very mild. In fact, actually I take that back. I think I actually started having contractions the previous night. They're very mild, very, very sporadic, very spaced apart. Nothing to write home about. So then I went to the chiropractor and I got adjusted and then we went to Walmart and walked around. I don't even know why. I think just

13:03

also something I we tell our clients to do just to go try and distract yourself. Oh,

13:07

we just went to Walmart and I noticed that contractions after my adjustment started to pick up and then you'd think that I would go home and rest. No, I did not. Instead, I went out to lunch with my grandmother and contractions were definitely starting to pick up but still very manageable. So I went and picked up my kids from school and for whatever reason invited friends over to my house that night. So no sleep, no rest, just entertaining and it was just it was a lot. Definitely do not recommend that. But it also distracted me

13:41

Yeah, it's a balance of distraction but also not overdoing it.

13:45

So that evening contractions started to pick up and by the time I was putting my kids to bed, I was only focusing on my labor. You know, it was a struggle to get them into bed. You know, they were excited it was telling them you know, I'm there feeling my belly and feeling how hard it was. I was telling them that you know, we're getting ready to meet their sister. And so, I went to sleep that night and I you know, it was really hard to get to sleep. It was hard to get comfortable. But I knew that I was really tired and needed to rest. But then a few hours later contractions really started to pick up I could no longer lay down through them I could no longer sleep through them. And they were coming really quickly. You know, they kind of progressed throughout the day. And they got longer and stronger and closer together. And so by the middle of the night, probably around like one or two in the morning. They were pretty strong and I remember being in my bathtub and thinking oh my goodness, they're like, two minutes apart and they're lasting for a minute and I mean, they're strong and I got into the bathtub thinking they were going to slow down right because that's what often times early labor dies. But in fact they sped up. So I started getting really uncomfortable thinking that okay, maybe it's time to go my family has a history in short, Labor's everything is progressed really well. It's been a very like clear picture perfect like textbook labor. And I think I'm in transition. So I make my way down to the birth center and I call Rachel like we're on our way to the birth center. Yay. It's exciting. I'm in the back of a car because writing in the front seat was just too uncomfortable. We get to the birth center, and I do ask them to check me and they say your two centimeters. Like I'm having two minute apart contractions. What? Do centimeters we're not going to admit you. You know, they're very kind. I like I said I requested to be checked to they did not you know, ask if I needed to be checked. They did not force me to be checked. And it was all on my terms, which I really really appreciated. So at

15:50

home How did you feel leaving

15:53

discouraged but not overly discouraged? Right, because I hadn't seen this yet. Right. It's not like I was unfamiliar with this. And what I was probably experiencing most throughout the evening before and then in the previous day was a lot of that prodromal labor so they feel very intense but they aren't making a lot of cervical change. And it turns out that my daughter was in you know, a mount position. She was facing my hips so I was having these really strong contractions so my body would try to turn her and all the while I was not doing anything to help encourage that rotation. I was really just coping. Yeah, but when

16:34

contractions are coming in the fashion they were coming. That's all you can do, right?

16:37

Yeah, there is all I could do. And then I also thought that I wasn't needing to turn her because I thought my labor was progressing, progressing normal. Well, it is normal. But I thought it was faster at home, and I was like Rachel, you're awesome, but I'm really early. Please go home and after you drove down to Atlanta.

16:59

I happily did. She happily did. I took those distractions.

17:03

So she went home and rested and I went home and rested. Not very well I just kind of my go to was just stacking a huge stack of pillows up on my bed. I mean, this stack of pillows was almost as tall as I was when I was on my knees. And I just threw my body over it and just hung there and I just breathe and moan and groan and it was beautiful. Like the experience itself was actually really enjoyable. I enjoyed feeling those waves washed over me I enjoyed feeling the power that my body held within it. I enjoyed knowing that I was going through this transformative experience. I labored a lot on my own My husband was willing to be there and in for a lot of the labor he was but towards the earlier parts. You know he needed to rest he had been working and so he was resting. And you know it was okay it was okay being by myself. It actually felt pretty good. And then as my contractions started to build and build a build, he could hear me and so he came to check on me and he started laboring with me. And then I started feeling some transitioning sensations, my contractions again, they were still about two and three minutes. apart. They were lasting for about a minute, minute and a half and they were a lot stronger. You know, I started to get those those shakes, and then I was hot and I was cold and then I got nauseous and I threw up. And I think we called you again and you were coming to the house by the time it shouldn't take a long time to get there but I had just thrown up and I was like Oh, I'm transitioning

18:40

like I already was quote unquote tech. It felt it felt

18:43

textbook right and at this point, it has been over 24 hours since I started having contractions so you know and hours and hours before I was you know, two centimeters and I was like surely we were there. So almost as soon as she gets there we're back in the car. We're going to the birth center and I think we were trying to go so fast that we didn't wait for my parents to get there and you stayed

19:09

warm. I came right they came right after they came right after the

19:13

jet out and they opened the dirt like who is Rachel? They flowed with it. They were cool. Yeah, they were

19:20

great. And then so she met us down there and she was awesome. Always giving me support keeping me grounded. It was awesome. And I get there and they ask if they can check me and I say yes, but please don't tell me what it is like if you're not going to admit me. I don't need to know. Right, right. So they checked me. And at this point. I do have my water did break. I don't remember exactly when it wasn't a huge gash, but just like a little trickle. It did check me my water broke. And they said they just remember the midwife putting her hand on my knee going. You can leave her here for a while. If you want, but we're not gonna admit you yet. It was like that was your answer. I was like, okay, so she was like, we'll check on your like an hour or so I got to go into the room. And I was in the shower. My husband was just pouring water over me in the shower. And Rachel is there support and it was getting really tough because I was so tired. And I remember just like falling asleep in between contractions. And, you know, I was still managing the pain while I was still managing the experience while but I was going to sleep we were right. Exhausted and so they came in and they asked me about an hour or so later. Hey, do you feel any different? No, not at all. And I asked them to tell me what my last check was. And they're like three centimeters, but you are 80% of age. And your daughter is that a zero station so she was down there? She was low because I think I was actually to go back I'm sorry. To go back before what another reason why I thought I was in transition. I was I was actually having the urge to pay. Yeah, I remember. And so I was like what do we do with this urge to push I just don't push just breathe relax that muscle. She's just really, really low. So you're gonna feel that pressure. And they're like, Okay, well, you can go home. They offered me some therapeutic rest. And I did accept that because I was tired, right? I could feel my adrenaline starting to take over. I was becoming more shaky and I think that's why I was feeling those transition feelings. My body was just trying to keep myself awake. So they offered me that therapeutic rest, which is can you tell us absolutely. So I got some new Bane and Finnegan. So one is a narcotic and one is like an anti nausea medication. So what they do is they make you really really sleepy. I like to call them liquid margaritas because they don't take the pain away. They can take the edge off enough to where you don't really care. But then you are zonked out in between those contractions and you wake up just enough to manage through them. And then you go back to sleep and it's a short term pain management option. And it's a great option if you just need that little boost to sleep, right? It's four or five, six hours, four to five, six hours. And, you know, obviously, you know find out if it's a good fit for you. There's are risks. So it's good to have that question in the moment. Sure. Um, but it was a really good fit for me in that moment. Yes. And, you know, they recommended that either go walk around somewhere nearby, which was just before the rest and I said no, I'm gonna take the rest. I'm gonna go home and I'm going to go to sleep. And it's so funny because that's when I felt the most discouraged because I had to go back home because I had to go back home and I did not want to go in the car again. I was like, Please let me stay there like only gonna do you more harm than good if we let you stay right? Because then I can't check out I can't get out of that like labor land, am I progressing? Am I progressing like go home and your comfortable environment and just let this time pass by? So I remember getting in the car and like being very, very sleepy, but the medicine hadn't kicked in all the way and I started like to tear up and I started to feel really discouraged. And I said no, we're not doing this, right. Like I felt my feelings but like that's it. We're gonna leave those here in this parking lot. I can do this. I just need to sleep. And I remember my poor husband being so tired he's like yawning in the seat in the seat driving us home and I was like, I'll stay up with you sitting in the backseat like I'll stay up with you to like almost fall over because I'm home and I go to sleep and I sleep for what feels like 20 minutes but I think it was a few hours and I wake up and sometimes when you have therapeutic breaths and just narcotics, your body's hormones have to get some time to kind of catch back up to your pain

24:08

levels as you start feeling yes intense contractions again.

24:13

Yes. As you start to feel the contractions again and the medications wearing off your hormones have to catch back up so you can also this like rebound pain experience. It doesn't typically last very long. So when I woke up and I was no longer feeling the way I had felt before I was thinking, Oh, I'm experiencing this rebound pain. Okay, let's get to hands and knees because it can no longer lay down and breathe through it and I started really feeling this great urge to push like this. Like I could just feel like my bodies kind of bear down a little bit on it says breathing through blowing up my candles going it's not a time. We have to breathe. And so I get in the shower. My husband was sleeping beside me so I go get in the shower and I lay there for a while and he can hear me in there at this point and he comes in Are you okay then I said yeah, I'm just feeling like a lot of pressure. Just need to get into a gravity neutral position.

25:05

When you are doing

25:09

please need to get the gravity neutral position. Everything's gonna be fine. So I go get back onto the bed and go get enhanced knees at it, but it's just not as comfortable this time, right? I spent most of my labor in that position. But at this point of time, it's not very comfortable. So I said, Okay, well, I'm still feeling the urge to push. I was feeling it standing. I'm feeling it on my hands and knees. So let's just go get back in the shower. And we please get me some food love. So he brings me an apple, and I'm in the shower and I get into this awesome rhythm that I hadn't felt before and I had this ultimate peace because at this point, I mean things are strong. And I think, you know, this was probably a few hours after I had woken up maybe two hours if that. I was still feeling that urge to push. But I had just gotten into this rhythm and this intensity had grown to where I needed something to focus on. Like just focusing on my breath wasn't enough. So I was in the shower, and every time I'd feel a surge build, I would stand I would let the waterfall over my belly. And I would count as slowly as I could to four or five and then I would breathe out as slowly as I could to four or five and I knew if I could count to five, the peak of my contraction would be over and everything would be get getting better from there. And then as that contraction left me, I was able to turn around and let the water flow over my back. And I got into this awesome rhythm.

26:39

Yeah, a little bit of a ritual. And a rhythm. Yes, yes. And I became

26:43

really good and it really helped me cope. The things we of course were continuing to build and I was really trying not to bear down because I was in complete denial. Like I was like thinking I'm four centimeters. This is when things really start to pick up and like I'm worth centimeters. My husband was going are you sure you're good to stay here? I'm fine. Like let's stay here. He was like, Okay, I'm gonna step out really quick. So he's the stepped out and call the midwives and they heard me and they're like, Y'all need to come now we recognize that and it was me pushing and I was trying not to push. There's a like a little trick that you can like blow out your candle so it's blowing up my candles to not bear down on my pelvic floor. And I remember getting out of the shower because it's like, Okay, it's time to go like this is time like we're going and he you know he took charge because when you're in transition, a lot of times you need someone to take charge for you. And he took charge and he got me dressed in my bathrobe because I refused to wear clothes. And I told him I remember looking at him and I'm like if I'm not at least six centimeters, go into the hospital and I'm getting an epidural. Because I really was so discouraged. I just totally everything that I knew about birth at that point was out the window, right because I was so it just confused me. But that was fine. Like I was still totally content. I was enjoying my labor experience. Like I look back I'm like I would totally do that again. That's awesome. Yeah, that's the best and it we go pull out of our garage and it's torrential rain. And we have like a 45 minute trip to the birth center without traffic. We live super far north of the city and we have to go into the city and then the

28:31

others traffic rental rate. The first trips were in the middle of the night where there was no traffic and now there's traffic.

28:38

It's probably what two o'clock on a Saturday. Everyone's out and about and it's raining and it's raining and you know, we had to pass a few hospitals to get to the birth center and I'm not gonna lie there was a few times where I was like, I think it started to hit me. When I got into the car. That sensation was just getting greater and greater and greater. And I think by the time we got to like that Kennestone area, it was drive by I was like okay, I think this is a good idea that we went and I almost hadn't go to Kennestone but I really wanted this person her parents right so I was like okay, I'm just gonna say him blow up my candles and as we get towards the city, it is standstill traffic. And I am feeling very, very close to the end. I mean, I know that any moment I could have a baby and I knew my water was intact. So it was really in my head about that because we drove for Uber and Lyft at the time and I was in the backseat. I could not my water cannot break in the backseat. of this car. And there was a gentleman and a truck behind us. And I just wonder what he was thinking because we you know, it's bumper to bumper traffic and I'm just holding on to the back seats, staring lot blinking eyes with him and he's just like He obviously has no idea what's happening in the backseat of his car. And I'm just it's a great distraction because I or focal point, my focal point and I'm thinking what is he thinking? He sees woman like, you know, scrunched face and grunting at a bathroom in the back of the car. Like what's happening back here? Surprise. You didn't have like someone arrive? Yeah. So we get to the birth center. And Rachel meets us at her car and I was so happy to see her because I was very, very close to delivering and I knew my husband had to go park the car and unpack it. And she was able to walk in with me and the midwives and I remember them telling me before they're like come back when you're no longer smiling, and I walked into the door and I'm like power walking down to the room because I'm like in between contractions like I got to get there quickly. And I said, I'm still smiling.

0:00

was to me. And he was right there above my head and I could like, lean into him and I could use him to really ground myself. It was awesome. And then I started pushing. And after my water broke, things became a lot more intense. I started feeling that pressure, I think it probably moved her down a lot. And then as she as she began to emerge, and I started feeling that stretching and that burning, that was my first time in my labor where I felt fear. And I felt like I don't know if I can do this. This is really intense. And I don't know what's about to happen to my body. And this is the part where like, I'm like, it's out of my control. Right? What happens to me what happens to any damage to me how fast she comes out. I have no control over this and I am a control person. And so I felt fear. And I was able to lean into Shawn, and I was able to look over at Rachel because she was right in front of me across the pool. And then I had my midwife and I had a nurse and then a student midwife, who asked to come back to for my birth, she was actually off call and she we had become so close during this labor experience. I came to the person or so many times that she asked to come back and it was really, really awesome. I loved it. And I remember going so intense and Rachel goes, I know it hurts so bad, but you're okay. And I was like, Okay, we'll just Breathe out. Breathe out slowly by slowly, slowly, slowly, and then I reached down and I touched her head. Right and I am like, the first person to ever touch her. This is incredible. Okay, she's coming and like it feel felt very real. And although it was intense, and then felt manageable, right. I put some counter pressure on myself to help any tearing and that also helped. And then I slowly breathed her out and when her head emerged, it was just awesome because I could look down and they saw her and I saw her slowly rotate, no help, no assistance. She just slowly rotated and with her my next contraction. She came out very quickly. I mean, from the time her head was born to her rest of her body. It was like less than 30 seconds but it felt slow. And at first a little bit was a little bit west low and then she she came out and she was vigorous. Yeah. Why? Yeah, ready to go? Yeah, her arms are boiling everywhere and her eyes were wide and then I was able to bring her up to me and it was awesome. It was such a cool experience. And then they took such good care after me or took care of me after the birth. They helped me to the bed. They did delayed cord clamping I was able to cut the cord which I thought was really cool and then my nurse fed me my own food. Like she seriously just fed me and it was great. And

3:05

maybe it was you I don't know I have gotten some food.

3:08

Yeah, you definitely got I think you when heated up my food.

3:11

I remember I had the best post about what she wanted and you were very specific because you had brought that food and I heated it up but I don't know when you ate it but I think it was in the bed. Yeah,

3:20

I mean, I was starving ate two bowls of like he won sausage. It's like right, that's what it was. Yeah. So it's part of meal every was savory and filling. It was great.

3:32

And Sean's rolled up next to you in bed and just instantly

3:35

passed out. Because he was like, I can relax now everybody's safe. Everybody's taken care of and like we're all together. It was so

3:41

nice that he had a space to do that. And he was like all the stress and tension. He was able to let that go and relax. Hold it because of the space and because of your energy.

3:51

Yeah, yeah, he really was and like he knew that. I was good. And his daughter was good. And then we were taken care of and he felt safe and he felt comfortable. And after that experience. He's had three hospital birth experiences and one birth center birth experience. He's like, I could not imagine going back to the hospital birth experience. He's like, I don't understand why some of the things are done. The way they are. And it was very eye opening for him. It wasn't really really cool experience overall. And I would totally give birth again, even if it was as long as it was which I think it was a total of 39 hours. Wow.

4:27

And with contraction starting early and being pretty intense from the get go is that is very long. Yes. But you did exactly what you needed to do and you got the care you needed along the way. And you stay patient and you stayed centered and use your partner and listen to yourself and thank you so much for sharing that story. It gives me chills and gives like I got that like tears in my eyes just like walking back through that with you and that was like all you like you did such an amazing

4:58

job. I have a lot of support. And a lot of support.

5:01

Girl. You rocked it. It was such an honor witnessing that and being there for you. And I learned a lot from that birth to and being a doula to a doula is a unique experience that I've not gotten to do that. Yeah. Before that and since and so I'm just always grateful for that experience. And that sort of ignited our bond. Totally. But that is such a beautiful story. There's a few things in there. I kind of want to hear a little bit more about to tell me any tips for laboring in transition in a car. Oh, that's intense. Because I think I we hear clients all the time, say like that. They want to avoid that Right? Right. But if you're in a car and labor, what do you recommend?

5:46

So right safest thing to do is to sit in the seat and buckle up. Well, that was just not an option for me. And I was all about getting into the back seat and getting on hands and knees and I moved a lot still so sometimes I was handed me is on you know just the word like the seat like the bottom part of the seat and sometimes I was leaning over the back of the seat over like the headrest area. And just like really just still utilizing the same principles that you used while you're in labor, right? So you're still breathing slowly, meaningfully, meaningfully releasing that tension from your body and utilizing those brakes. Right? Yes, it's, especially in transition you really, really your body utilizes its brakes on its own right

6:38

to just do to get into that car, maximize the brake,

6:41

maximize the brakes, like your body naturally wants to put you kind of to sleep and transition a lot of times so if your body's trying to go to sleep, even if you're in the car and you're unsure if like how far it's going to be. Don't get wrapped up on maybe where are you at in relation to your hospital, like maybe keep your eyes closed, and that was really, really helpful. And then I wasn't worried about where I was I was I was very out of out of body. So anytime I opened my eyes what kind of like shot me back to reality and kind of took me out of that moment. That makes the pain Yeah, except when I was blinking eyes for that gentleman that was really helpful because I really was getting really pushy there and really had to like focus on not pushing right because if I had helped my body push it all she would have had been born in the car. Absolutely. Like it was a very intentional that she was not born in that car. Back in Marietta.

7:33

Were you doing blowing out the candles in the car? Yes, any horse slips or anything like that. I

7:38

wasn't doing horse lips I was doing I should have. I was doing a lot of blowing out the candles. And a lot of like any kind of body would like like starting to bear down like I would just have to like open my chest in my throat and just breathe it out like there was I could not allow any tension. And anytime my body would like bear down I would just have to breathe it out. There was no holding an air there was no like tensing up and muscling even my hands in my arms like it wasn't even like, like rubbing on anything. It was just like keep everything loose. Yeah, and that was really helpful. Although, you know, I sound like really peaceful during that time. There were moments where I mean I remember telling my shot my shot my husband like her like in the middle of pushing like an aisle like in he was like okay, like that's freaky because now I have to get here and I responsible to get you guys to this birthing location. But definitely like just finding a comfortable position. And breathing it out and staying focused, maybe listen to music, and just keep moving. You know, swivel your hips back and forth or tuck them up and you know, back and forth. Just movement is helpful because just helps everything just kind of stay loose.

8:58

Yeah, those are great tips. Awesome. And so for waterbirth How do you feel that benefited you or helped your your labor?

9:08

I know that I could have like, mentally I understand that it's possible to give birth outside of water right. I see it frequently. But I think back and I'm like I don't know like I know I could have but at the same time I'd question I don't know if I could have in the same way that water was so relaxing. Especially like to like my premium like it was really really really relaxing. And it's like an instant it's like an instant relaxing and I knew that the warm water would help by tissue stretch and just kind of that freedom of movement and I am a water baby in general. I feel really like that's like my go to if I'm upset if I'm sad if I'm sick if I'm hurt to take a shower or a bath so it's just a very familiar place to me. I used to swim like so that was just very beneficial for me personally, and it made me a lot more weightless. So I could stay in that squat. I squat deeply Anyway, like I can do that deep squat anyway, but then not having all of your body weight and then also without support behind me is really helpful.

10:23

Yeah, that position is really really useful in the tub. Especially when you're pushing. Yeah, that's so cool. Thank you. And so looking back on your birth, knowing what you know now, was there anything any advice you would give yourself pre birth or during labor?

10:41

Call my frickin doula. Like what I was so like, cuz I knew I was so early. Right? And I didn't want to call you and have you be there with me for two days, right? Because that's just a lot. And when I woke up that second time I should have called you. And I did it because I was just in denial. I thought it would match real.

11:11

There's no I mean, so I was in

11:13

my head a lot. So even if I hadn't had you with me, you know, before I went to the person of the second time, the time where I thought I was giving, like ready I knew it wasn't getting ready to like push my baby out. But I thought I was in a consistent labor pattern where they would let me stay. I should have called you and kind of like had you walk me through that because Shawn was trying to walk me through that but I have a hard time listening to people that are closest to you. Yeah, I'm a control person. Um, and so would have been nice for like another birth professional to just say, Okay, let's look at this logically. These are where your contractions are doing like this may be prodromal labor, get out of your head and like kind of walk me through that because I remember that being a really difficult time because I was like what is this like? I was kind of like timing my contractions a lot and it was just not surrendering. So getting to that point where I could surrender and just like let the labor happen would have been really nice. I think I could have saved myself a lot. And then also, you may have suggested some you know, puzzles. Yeah, instead of like saying the same two positions for 39 hours.

12:20

Yes, there's both. I mean, the positional things are always good, but also what the laboring person feels like they need to do and where your comfort where you find comfort. I'm always like, I always say that that trumps sometimes what I what the doula recommend, because finding what works for you is important too. And you were good about going and finding the positions like the hands and knees over pillows or in the shower. You know, you were finding what was working for you and when I see a client coping well, and even if it does take a while, like I'm not usually too much trying to change things, right. So you know,

12:52

and I didn't have a funky labor pattern and I didn't have back labor. I wasn't having like a lot of like, everything was like all in my belly. The only

12:58

thing was the intense contractions early on, close together and then learning you were two centimeters. I think that is indicative of Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely some things

13:11

but I mean, either way, I don't even know if positional changes would help because she had a short cord and I had an anterior placenta. So I truly believe that my fundus had to grow in such a way that it was pushing full uterus down so that she could come out because her cord was very short. I mean, I could hold her like not even on my chest after maybe it was like more on my Riley. Yeah, so some of those things. Some of those things maybe just weren't avoidable. So I'm kind of glad in a way that I didn't focus on that and it just surrender. So it's kind of it's one of those things. You look back you're like Okay, what if I had done this change that may not have changed, but Right, yeah, right. But I'm still like very, very satisfied with my birth experience. Yeah,

13:55

you rocked it. And I think the headspace you chose to stay in intentionally was really helpful for you for that long sort of confusing in the beginning, even though typical, even though somewhat typical, you know, you a lot of people could have gotten discouraged or defeated or in a negative headspace and you just resisted that and stay focused and I think that's what helped you once things got to where it was time to go. You were able to stay in that and you were so just elated that like positive feeling maintained because of how we chose to handle it. You know, and that's all you right. I mean, you were totally just like choosing that was very intentional. very intentional. Yeah. And that's so cool. So what about the postpartum at the birth center? How is that different than at a hospital?

14:47

Well, I think they're very patient with my daughter so she did not transition well. Right. So they want babies respiratory rates to be at a certain level and hers weren't. And I you know, I almost wonder if it was that therapeutic rest, right? Because that can slow respiration. And there wasn't a ton of time between the time that I got that and the time that I deliver it. I mean, it was less than I think five or six hours so it should have been out of her system, but maybe not. So they were taking that into consideration. Yeah, and she was she was right on that borderline of do we transfer her and go to the NICU? Or do we stay here? So they were very patient. And I was very like, Look, I know if she has to go, let's go but if we can just just see she's a fighter like I know she's a fighter, let's hold off until they're very patient. And but they were very mindful. I mean, they did not leave her side. And she wasn't having respirations at a dangerous rate by any means. Right when they were on the line. I was like it was like right there on that line.

15:49

What held her or stayed there if I felt there was an absolutely a need. Yeah.

15:55

So so I thought they're really great with that. As soon as I kind of like back up, I guess I should have gotten an order. I got out of the tab. We walked to the bed. They waited for my placenta to deliver on its own. No tension. I didn't need Pitocin I wasn't hemorrhaging or bleeding too much. So they just let it be. And they, you know, they let the cord pulsate as long as I wanted it to before we cut. And then they fed me which was great and they were like constantly refilling my food and my water and they helped so much with breastfeeding. Right. So the midwife came over. And she's like, Yo, this is you know, I recommend seeing lactation consultant. There's some you know, things that I see maybe in your daughter's mouth she may or may not she wasn't diagnosing but she's like, you know, there may be some, some lip tie or tongue tie issues that I think that you should, you know, go home and tomorrow make an appointment lactation consultant, because these are just some things that I see. They're really helpful. I mean, I had like multiple midwives, multiple nurses helping me to feed her but they also taught me how to hand Express and spoon feed her because they can see that

17:05

she was able to probably watch how she Yeah,

17:09

yeah. So they're really helpful with that. And we had to stay there a little bit longer just to make sure that she transitioned well, but during that time, I mean, they're so so nice and they gave me like natural pain relieving medication. Like they offered me Arnica instead of just saying, Hey, this is our only pharmaceutical option, right? They had pharmaceutical options, but like, they also had a more natural option, which I was able to take and it was fine. There wasn't a ton I don't remember like a ton of like fundus rubbing massages, we I'm sure there wasn't some but I don't remember it. And then they were so good about just reminding me this is a good time to rest and to come to sleep. And they were just so kind and gentle getting me cleaned up and getting us packed up. And cleaning up the room for I don't know, I just don't think it was like a family. Well

18:03

take your hair out. Yeah,

18:05

yeah. And then the next day, they sent a nurse to the house to come do the 24 hour newborn exam. And she was awesome. I mean, she was so so great.

18:15

So you were home within 24 hours. Yes, I was home. She had her respiratory and all that her vitals got good. You got home in that 24 hours. And then a nurse comes to the home. Yes and checks on baby. That's

18:26

awesome. I delivered at 319 and I was home probably by like 11 or 12. I don't know how many hours that it was dark. Yeah, that was not the next day.

18:42

That's an outside to the birth centers. You get to go home as soon as everything Yeah, as

18:46

soon as everything checks out. You're good. So it was awesome. And then when it came to like the postpartum care like in the follow ups, they were always, you know, very thorough. And they asked me about my maternal mental health and they asked me about, you know, options for preventing pregnancy and they walked me through just a load of options and they were very pleased with just how everything was going and I just could not be happier with my care that I received from the birth center.

19:16

How soon would you see a midwife after the birth? After you went home? Would we have a phone calls with them?

19:23

Or was saw them at like to me,

19:26

I think it was sooner than this traditional model of care, which is six weeks

19:29

I think I saw that two weeks and then at six weeks that's awesome. Yeah, that's

19:33

another advantage. Yeah. Is that additional layer and checking on you and

19:37

exactly so there it will check on me. I did have some tears, but I didn't have to be repaired. So it was nice to be able to go in and they were able to check those repairs if I needed them to

19:46

do any Monica. Did they recommend them in yoga? Honey, they did whatever they recommend for sometimes just doing little bit of minugahana when there's no sutures? They did

19:57

but I was too afraid to go down there and explore. So I wasn't sure I wasn't sure. Um, and so and I only had like a first degree. Okay, so it wasn't very deep at all. And then I'm trying to think, Oh, it was nice to that I went in at that too weak because we were really able to like dive into birth control options, which is, you know, something that most people have to think about. Yes, and it gives you time to really think what's going to be a good fit for me. If you're breastfeeding, what's going to be good fit for that one's going to be good fit for your next family planning journey. Right? So we're talking about all of that right away. And that was really awesome because then I could go home and think and

20:38

before like before the time is needed. Absolutely.

20:42

So yeah, I was just really happy there.

20:46

I love that such a great story. Such a great story. Thank you so much for sharing all those intimate details and with so much to learn from, you know, little pockets of things that happen so I can probably expected

20:59

my birth a lot Yeah, well

21:00

you retell it really well. So that's fun. So last three kind of quick questions. So your doula you are a mom to four bio mom to one. So I just want to get your like quick if you had like 60 seconds or less, to give someone a tip for pregnancy, what would it be?

21:22

Find a good provider. Take care of yourself and get a good chiropractor. Whoo. Yes, I could not have gone through my pregnancy without seeing a chiropractor.

21:32

Totally worth it. Yeah. Cool. That's a great tip. And so what about what would be your quick tip for childbirth, actual childbirth,

21:41

take your time. Don't get ahead of yourself more times than not your Labor's going to take a while. Maybe not as long as mine. But it's not typically going to be within a few hours. So take that time to rest and become intimate with your partner. And just become intimate with your body and your birth and just kind of breathe through it and surrender don't worry about when it's going to happen and when your baby's going to be here and how long this is going to take or what's going to happen. Just live in that moment. And when you can live in that moment. A lot easier to bite off one piece at a time. Just

22:16

surrender. Yeah, be patient be present. So good. So true. And what would be that quick tip for postpartum even though I know that's not an easy

22:27

answer. I'm very fiery about postpartum. So I will be quick though. Plan ahead. Know your limitations on what you can do and what your family can do and what your partner can do and have a lot of conversations about reality of what it's going to look like postpartum and expectations and then don't be afraid to ask for help. More than more often than not. People are willing to help you and they want to help you. They just help in the wrong way they help by I'm going to hold the baby for you. When in reality. You don't necessarily need to hold your baby you need somebody to run a load of laundry for you to learn in about sweep. So just yeah, it's just learning about what your body should and should not be doing and then asking for help and setting boundaries with family. Friends.

23:17

Very good. Very good. I'm sure we could probably go deeper on all of those.

23:21

I could talk for hours on postpartum.

23:23

I know I know all you are a postpartum doula. So I can understand that. I know that's very important to you. So but that will be all for today. We're going to save some more of the doula conversation for part two with Hannah so be sure and stay tuned where we talk all about birth doula business and newborn care and education and doula love and all the things so be sure to check that out part two. Thank you, Hannah, for being here. And we look forward to hearing more from you. Thanks for having me. It's been so much fun. Yes, girl. Bye, guys.