Latest / MyMaine Birth / 114. MyMaine Birth: When Birth Plans Change, Autonomy Can Remain - Gina's two Birth Stories

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114. MyMaine Birth: When Birth Plans Change, Autonomy Can Remain - Gina's two Birth Stories · MyMaine Birth

• 0:00
  Gina: I said to my midwife, as I was like on my side with a peanut ball in between my legs, I said to my midwife, like I feel like I have to poop and I know people say they have to poop when they need to push, but I don't think it's that, I think it's really that I need to poop.
• 0:12
  Gina: And she was like I don't know about that, you might need to push.
• 0:18
  Gina: So I had an anterior lip cervical lip.
• 0:24
  Gina: So I had an anterior lip cervical lip.
• 0:26
  Gina: So Shauna and my midwife helped me get into like a semi-squatting position on the bed, like sort of it was still reclined, but not totally reclined, and I started pushing in that position and very quickly I was complete and then I pushed for just under 45 minutes and then she was born and I like I couldn't believe it.
• 0:50
  Gina: It was, uh, yeah, it was totally surreal because, like I went in not at all expecting to have a vaginal birth, like I really thought it was going to be a c-section until I was very close to actually giving birth.
• 1:03
  Gina: So, yeah, that was that was.
• 1:05
  Gina: It was very surreal.
• 1:06
  Gina: It was really cool.
• 1:09
  Angela: I'm Angela and I'm a certified birth photographer, experienced doula, childbirth educator and your host here on the my Maine Birth podcast.
• 1:18
  Angela: This is a space where we share the real life stories of families and their unique birth experiences in the beautiful state of Maine, from our state's biggest hospitals to birth center births and home births.
• 1:30
  Angela: Every birth story deserves to be heard and celebrated.
• 1:34
  Angela: Whether you're a soon-to-be mom, a seasoned mother or simply interested in the world of birth, these episodes are for you.
• 1:43
  Angela: Hey, everyone, welcome back to the my Main Birth Podcast.
• 1:48
  Angela: It's been a few weeks since the last episode, so I wanted to take a couple quick minutes to share a little bit of a behind the scenes update.
• 1:56
  Angela: This past month has been incredibly busy for me in all of the best ways.
• 2:01
  Angela: I've had the privilege of witnessing so many truly remarkable births.
• 2:05
  Angela: Normally I work with two to three families per month maximum, but in just the last month I've witnessed three very different home births and four very different hospital births.
• 2:17
  Angela: It's been a powerful reminder of how diverse and unique each birth experience truly is.
• 2:23
  Angela: As a busy birth photographer and doula, I serve women in all kinds of settings and I absolutely love supporting women in claiming your power during pregnancy, birth and postpartum and in taking charge of your journey, regardless of where or how you choose to give birth.
• 2:40
  Angela: Currently, I'm booking births in November, december and January, but I do occasionally accept last minute families.
• 2:45
  Angela: If I'm booking births in November, december and January, but I do occasionally accept last-minute families if I can fit it into my schedule, like this past month, I offer complimentary consultations over Zoom for anyone who might be interested in working with me, and you can schedule these by filling out the form over on my website, mymainbirthcom, or you can always send me a message over on Instagram at mymainbirthcom, or you can always send me a message over on Instagram at mymainbirth.
• 3:06
  Angela: All right, I'm so excited to be back with new stories and conversations starting today.
• 3:13
  Angela: Today's birth story guest is Gina, and she shares her two birth stories with us.
• 3:18
  Angela: Her first was a planned home birth, but then shifted as she transferred to a hospital due to severe preeclampsia, where she eventually had a cesarean.
• 3:24
  Angela: This was in Virginia, but then shifted as she transferred to a hospital due to severe preeclampsia where she eventually had a cesarean.
• 3:27
  Angela: This was in Virginia.
• 3:28
  Angela: And then, for her second birth, after a move to Maine, she was again planning a home birth, but again plans changed, this time just after the 36 week mark and again due to severe preeclampsia.
• 3:40
  Angela: Gina originally was told at a smaller hospital that she would have to have another cesarean, but after she transferred to EMMC in Bangor she was pleasantly surprised to discover that she was given choices, options that she had thought were not even remotely possible.
• 3:56
  Angela: She was supported in trying for a VBAC.
• 3:59
  Angela: Okay, gina, hi, welcome to my Main Birth, hello, hello.
• 4:04
  Angela: Thank you so much for taking the welcome to my Main Birth, Hello, hello.
• 4:06
  Angela: Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me.
• 4:10
  Gina: Oh yeah, Thank you for having this platform.
• 4:12
  Gina: I enjoyed listening to the birth stories while I was pregnant.
• 4:15
  Gina: Oh, that's awesome.
• 4:18
  Angela: So, to get started, would you share a little bit about you and your family little bit about you and your family.
• 4:23
  Gina: Yeah, so we live in Southwest Harbor Myself, my husband, doug, and our two little girls.
• 4:28
  Gina: Our little river is two and Juniper is five weeks old today.
• 4:34
  Gina: Yeah, we moved up here about a year ago from Virginia.
• 4:42
  Gina: We lived out near the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia while we decided like where we wanted to plant roots and we had gotten married up here a few years prior on the cliffs of Acadia and just really really loved the area.
• 4:55
  Gina: So we we were looking for a place up here for probably about three years before we found found the perfect spot and I, yeah, I, yeah, I'm just so, so happy to be up here.
• 5:08
  Gina: We really wanted to be close to nature and it just seemed like such a nice place to raise kids.
• 5:15
  Gina: So we're really super excited to be here and just hearing like every person we meet tells us how amazing it was to raise their kids here, so it's like really validating.
• 5:25
  Gina: And, yeah, I, I work from home.
• 5:28
  Gina: Actually, both my husband and I work from home.
• 5:30
  Gina: I run a nonprofit that's based in DC.
• 5:33
  Gina: It's a, it's a breastfeeding center actually, so in the birth world, uh, but she's not in Maine and yeah, that's us.
• 5:42
  Angela: That's so cool.
• 5:42
  Angela: I love that and, yeah, so beautiful living out there on the islands.
• 5:47
  Angela: Huh, how do you like it out?
• 5:48
  Gina: there.
• 5:49
  Gina: Oh, we love it.
• 5:50
  Gina: We feel so, so, so lucky to be here.
• 5:54
  Gina: Yeah, it's really nice.
• 5:55
  Gina: We have a trail like walking distance from one of our, from our house here, flying Mountains walking distance, and there's just so many coves that we can explore right around here.
• 6:05
  Gina: And it's awesome with a toddler who, like, wants to be outside 100% of the time um, to have these, these things, in such close proximity oh, yeah, for sure.
• 6:17
  Angela: yeah, so River was born in Virginia and then, yes, obviously was born here in Maine.
• 6:22
  Angela: Yes, yes, exactly.
• 6:24
  Angela: So to jump into your birth stories now, would you share about how you found out you were pregnant with River and what your thoughts were in choosing your care?
• 6:37
  Gina: Yeah, sure.
• 6:38
  Gina: So we had decided to start a family and so I was tracking my cycle and all of that.
• 6:44
  Gina: And there was a day where I was going out on a hike by myself.
• 6:49
  Gina: Doug was away for work at the time and I was hiking and I was specifically not taking a pregnancy test until my luteal phase was longer than it normally was.
• 7:02
  Gina: I didn't want to set myself up for like disappointment, keeping you know, checking too much.
• 7:07
  Gina: So I was out on a hike and at one point during the hike I was just like I don't really feel like I'm alone.
• 7:15
  Gina: Like I'm alone, but I think I'm not actually alone.
• 7:19
  Gina: And so when I got home, even though I wasn't to that point where I said I would wait to test till you know, I took a pregnancy test and it was positive and I was super excited and also like a little bit nervous because we had we had gotten pregnant before and it ended in miscarriage around six weeks.
• 7:41
  Gina: And then I was.
• 7:42
  Gina: I was so excited but, like I, I felt like I couldn't tell Doug, cause I wanted to tell him in person and he was traveling for work.
• 7:48
  Gina: So I had to wait like almost a whole week.
• 7:50
  Gina: Just really hard, um, but yeah, when, when he got home I told him and he was really excited, I think he was also a little bit like, uh, there's some trepidation because of the loss prior.
• 8:05
  Gina: But no, we were, we were super, super excited and I I always knew that I would choose a home birth, like being.
• 8:15
  Gina: I've worked at the breastfeeding center my entire professional career, so I've always kind of been in in the birth world and exposed to different birth stories and different choices people make, and home birth just sounded like the right choice for me.
• 8:30
  Gina: I also feel like I was lucky to grow up with my mom's birth stories.
• 8:36
  Gina: She did birth in a hospital, but she was always very positive about birth.
• 8:41
  Gina: She had three unmedicated births in a hospital and she always kind of said I don't know why everyone freaks out about it, it just happens, it's fine.
• 8:51
  Gina: Yeah, it's intense, but you get over it quick.
• 8:55
  Gina: So I feel like I was lucky in having that as kind of like the programming for myself.
• 9:01
  Gina: So there was never a question as to what type of provider I was going to look for, although I was in a new area I had recently moved from Baltimore to rural Virginia, so I wasn't as familiar with the providers out there.
• 9:16
  Gina: So I was very familiar with providers in like the DC area, the Baltimore area because of my work, but not so much out in rural Virginia.
• 9:24
  Gina: So I had to do some research there pretty early on, decided I wanted to go with a CPM rather than a CNM.
• 9:32
  Gina: I was looking for certified professional midwives rather than certified nurse midwives and, yeah, just found a midwife I connected with pretty early on and established care around nine weeks.
• 9:45
  Angela: Yeah, so how were things looking?
• 9:47
  Angela: How are you feeling throughout your pregnancy?
• 9:57
  Gina: So early on, I think around six weeks, I started feeling sick, nauseous, you know, having to lay down at random points in the day because I just felt so sick.
• 10:01
  Gina: Back then, when there was only when I didn't have another baby yet, it was it was nice to have the time to lay down and relax in the middle of the day.
• 10:09
  Gina: But no, I was feeling pretty good.
• 10:11
  Gina: And at my first appointment with my midwife, again around nine weeks, I requested that she draw blood for progesterone levels.
• 10:23
  Gina: Just because of my prior miscarriage and how my cycles were historically, I wondered if that was a factor in the miscarriage.
• 10:31
  Gina: So I wanted to know where it was at with that pregnancy and it was low.
• 10:36
  Gina: And she suggested that I connect with a napro doctor.
• 10:40
  Gina: I can't even remember what that's, what's that, what that's short for, but it's someone who, who, like, works with natural family planning and stuff like that.
• 10:50
  Gina: So she prescribed, uh, bioidentical progesterone to supplement with throughout my pregnancy, which was at the time I was like, really happy to have that as a resource and felt like it was very necessary.
• 11:04
  Gina: But it also medicalized my pregnancy more than I had hoped it would.
• 11:09
  Gina: I mean, it was super nice I was able to see the doctor via telehealth.
• 11:13
  Gina: All the time.
• 11:13
  Gina: I never had to go into an office or anything, but I did have to get my blood drawn, I think it was like every two weeks, to check progesterone levels and then if there was any change in dosing every week.
• 11:25
  Gina: And I also I lived rurally, so it was like a 45 minute to an hour drive to the lab to get my blood drawn.
• 11:32
  Gina: So and now, looking back on it, I wonder, I do wonder if it was necessary.
• 11:37
  Gina: But that was a part of that pregnancy, that it was a big part of that pregnancy.
• 11:41
  Gina: That was yeah and otherwise otherwise.
• 11:45
  Gina: Yeah, the pregnancy was pretty uneventful until the end, which I'll get to um, but yeah, I felt, I felt generally really good after the first trimester.
• 11:55
  Gina: Um, we were hiking a lot.
• 11:57
  Gina: We lived on a mountain and did you know daily walks up and down the mountain, which was really really nice.
• 12:03
  Gina: And also we were in Virginia, so the winters weren't brutally cold, so I was able to hike throughout the winter and stuff.
• 12:10
  Angela: Yeah, so how were things looking like those last final?
• 12:15
  Gina: weeks.
• 12:15
  Gina: It was the third trimester that things started to come up.
• 12:18
  Gina: So I was from the start of my pregnancy actually from my very first appointment with my midwife at nine weeks I remember being paranoid about preeclampsia and I think that maybe it was intuition, maybe it was the time that I was pregnant it was 2022.
• 12:35
  Gina: And because I was very connected with a lot of birth workers, I'd heard many conversations in the past two years since COVID about like oh, wow, we're seeing a lot of preeclampsia.
• 12:50
  Gina: It seems to be happening so much.
• 12:51
  Gina: So it was very much on my mind.
• 12:52
  Gina: So I remember the first appointment.
• 12:53
  Gina: I was like, do you think I should be taking baby aspirin or something to try to lower my chances of getting preeclampsia?
• 13:01
  Gina: And my midwife was like no, you have no risk factors, like there's no reason to do that, like it, don't worry about that.
• 13:08
  Gina: And then in the third trimester I think pretty early on, I want to say like around 28 or 29 weeks I had an abnormally high reading at one of my appointments with my midwife and it was not unusual for me to have higher readings just because I do have a lot of medical anxiety outside of pregnancy.
• 13:31
  Gina: So I do have white coat syndrome and my blood pressure often retied.
• 13:35
  Gina: But this one was like outside of the normal high, and so we were like, okay, well, let's, let's keep an eye on it.
• 13:43
  Gina: Um, I was also going to the chiropractor regularly, which, amazing, 100% recommend every pregnant person to do that.
• 13:51
  Gina: So I had them take my blood pressure the next time I was there and it was totally normal.
• 13:56
  Gina: So I was like, oh, maybe it was just a one-off, like maybe we don't have to be too concerned about it.
• 14:00
  Gina: But then again, at the next appointment, it was reading a little high again, and so my midwife said well, why don't you just take your blood pressure at home, check it once a day, or once every couple of days, just to make sure nothing's going on?
• 14:14
  Gina: And then around 34 weeks, I was getting readings over 140, over 90, consistently.
• 14:22
  Gina: It wasn't coming back down.
• 14:23
  Gina: So I talked to my midwife and we started the emergency protocol with the brewer's diet.
• 14:30
  Gina: Up until now I had been trying to eat as high protein as I could anyway, but being vegetarian, it was challenging to hit those protein numbers.
• 14:40
  Gina: So we started oh my god, I ate so many eggs.
• 14:43
  Gina: After that point it was insane, like per day, the number of eggs I was eating, but we started the emergency protocol for the brewer's diet and also did some.
• 14:51
  Gina: I started some herbs to help bring my blood pressure down, which worked.
• 14:56
  Gina: Generally it was coming back down into normal ranges.
• 15:00
  Gina: Every couple of days I would get an abnormally high reading but then the next day it would be back into like acceptable ranges.
• 15:09
  Gina: And then I was like obviously this was bringing up a lot of fears about preeclampsia, like this is so in the front of my mind.
• 15:18
  Gina: But also it was like I'm so early on, I know if, if I'm diagnosed now like I don't want to have a 34 week or I don't want to have a 35 week or so it was yeah, it was.
• 15:28
  Gina: It was an interesting kind of uh time where it's like I think something's not right but also my blood pressures are generally okay, like all the stuff we're doing is generally keeping them Okay, so let's just keep waiting it out.
• 15:43
  Gina: And I was feeling fine, like, besides the anxiety, I thought I was feeling fine.
• 15:48
  Gina: I was like, oh well, there's some swelling, but like end of pregnancy, that could be normal.
• 15:52
  Gina: Some shortness of breath again end of pregnancy, that could be normal.
• 15:56
  Gina: So I was writing off some of those you know warning signs.
• 16:00
  Gina: And then at my 38 week appointment with my midwife, I was like I need.
• 16:03
  Gina: And then at my 38 week appointment with my midwife, I was like I think we need to run labs, like I'm really anxious that this is preeclampsia and I need to know whether or not I need to be anxious or not.
• 16:13
  Gina: So we did the urine test at that point.
• 16:15
  Gina: Yeah, so we did the protein in your urine test and that came back the next morning insanely high, like so high that my midwife thought it was a lab error.
• 16:27
  Gina: And so she had me come back for her office and redo that, plus the blood, the blood work too.
• 16:34
  Gina: And at that point my blood pressure was like really high, obviously, because I was just freaking out about it.
• 16:40
  Gina: And so at her office she was like well, we could wait for the labs to come back.
• 16:44
  Gina: We'll see what it says.
• 16:46
  Gina: If you want, we can.
• 16:48
  Gina: Also we can start a nat home induction, essentially, if you want to, because it's looking like this is pretty slancy and if that's the case we need to get this baby out of.
• 16:57
  Gina: You ate that.
• 16:59
  Gina: So at that point we did a membrane sweep.
• 17:03
  Gina: I consented to her doing a membrane sweep.
• 17:05
  Gina: I was like barely dilated enough to do that Like I was one centimeter dilated but did that and then also started a like an herbal induction plus castor oil.
• 17:17
  Gina: And then she expedited the labs.
• 17:20
  Gina: A few hours later we got the results Clearly severe crudiclampsia.
• 17:24
  Gina: All my levels were showing that.
• 17:26
  Gina: So we talked about my option and she was, she was comfortable with if I did want to still try for a home birth.
• 17:35
  Gina: She was comfortable with that If I did that at her, at her, at her house, because she lived very close to the hospital, to the big hospital in the area.
• 17:44
  Gina: And she said you know we could, we could to the big hospital in the area.
• 17:45
  Gina: And she said you know we could, we could try for it.
• 17:47
  Gina: We started the induction.
• 17:48
  Gina: Maybe things will pick up in the next couple hours and we just know, like if you're showing distress or if baby's showing distress, we will transfer, or we can transfer to the hospital now and start a medical induction and so at that point, so like up until now, like all I've wanted is a home birth.
• 18:05
  Gina: That's like it was so important to me.
• 18:07
  Gina: But what became more important was having some sort of like stay in the matter and I didn't want an emergency transfer.
• 18:17
  Gina: I did not want things to get to that point, so I chose to transfer to the hospital at that point and we, so we got there.
• 18:29
  Gina: There my midwife came with us, thankfully, and we.
• 18:32
  Gina: It was in the evening, it was like late, so they got us into a triage room and you know they hook you up to all the monitors and all that sort of stuff so they're tracking baby's heart rate.
• 18:46
  Gina: And while we're in triage, before they really started any medication or anything, baby had two D-cells without any contractions going on with it.
• 18:56
  Gina: It was, I was not in labor, and so I could tell the second time that it happened by my midwife's face that something was not Like, that wasn't normal, um, and that she was concerned.
• 19:08
  Gina: So it was just something I was, I was aware of.
• 19:11
  Gina: But we'd start.
• 19:12
  Gina: They started me on magnesium in that triage room and immediately as soon as that drip started.
• 19:18
  Gina: So the magnesium is to is given with severe preeclampsia to prevent seizures.
• 19:24
  Gina: So it's like it's a necessary thing.
• 19:26
  Gina: But it is brutal, it is terrible.
• 19:27
  Gina: Oh God, I hate it so much, the worst part of all of it.
• 19:30
  Gina: But as soon as they started the magnesium drip, I started vomiting violently and when I did.
• 19:38
  Gina: My water broke and it broke all over my husband who was trying to comfort me as I was throwing up.
• 19:44
  Gina: So, yeah, so my water broke at that point and I think they said I was like two centimeters dilated at that point.
• 19:53
  Gina: So then we get into the labor and delivery room and at that point they start the Pitocin and we could never increase the Pitocin past the two two like the first level that they started on um because baby kept having d cells and from the get-go I was having to I had to keep moving.
• 20:15
  Gina: I had turn on this side, no, turn on that side, no, get on hands and knees, try to sit up more like, try to get into a squatting position.
• 20:21
  Gina: Let's try to get baby in a better spot.
• 20:23
  Gina: So it was a constant yeah, it was a constant battle to keep baby's heart rate at a level that wasn't concerning.
• 20:32
  Gina: So I could, like I don't know, pretty early on I think I could see where this was going, that it wasn't going to end in a vaginal birth.
• 20:40
  Gina: But we tried for a few hours.
• 20:42
  Gina: I hadn't progressed at all, labor had not started, I wasn't getting any contractions, and so after a few hours, you know they come in and discuss.
• 20:49
  Gina: You know this isn't like we can keep trying, but this isn't looking great Like.
• 20:55
  Gina: Baby's heart rate keeps going down.
• 20:58
  Angela: How was your mindset, as things were kind of progressing that morning?
• 21:01
  Gina: I think I was very, at that point, very accepting of it.
• 21:07
  Gina: Like I knew, I knew baby was okay.
• 21:12
  Gina: I wasn't.
• 21:13
  Gina: I was nervous about if baby would be okay If we kept going that route, if we kept trying to to push an induction, and I don't know like it might have been the exception.
• 21:26
  Gina: Acceptance may have partially been the magnesium, to be honest, because that is it just really I don't know.
• 21:32
  Gina: For me it's a physical and psychological thing.
• 21:35
  Gina: It just really kills me.
• 21:37
  Gina: Um, but yeah, I was I.
• 21:41
  Gina: I told my husband on the drive to the hospital that like were a lot of things that I said I would never want.
• 21:47
  Gina: Like I said I'm never getting an epidural.
• 21:49
  Gina: On the way to the hospital I told him that's probably changing.
• 21:55
  Gina: Like, if I'm getting an induction with Pitocin, I may ask for an epidural, and I don't want to hear you trying to convince me that I shouldn't get it because I don't want it, because that's not this situation.
• 22:05
  Gina: I did tell him, like, but I'm going to fight against a C-section unless, like, either me or the baby is truly in trouble.
• 22:15
  Gina: Like that's not where I want to end up.
• 22:17
  Gina: But once I was in that situation where there were hours of me moving around, not progressing at all, just trying to keep baby's heart rate up.
• 22:28
  Gina: At that point I think I had accepted that a C-section was going to be necessary.
• 22:33
  Gina: Yeah, so you know, the doctor came in and had that conversation with me and I consented to a C-section at that point because, again it was.
• 22:42
  Gina: It was important to me that I was making the decisions and it wasn't like this is an emergency, now you have to do this thing, you know so which is really just autonomy?
• 22:55
  Gina: you know, like yes yeah, exactly, and I think that that was yeah, that was ultimately what was most important to me.
• 23:02
  Gina: I was like realizing, yes, a home birth would have been amazing, like that is ultimately what I wanted, but really what I want is the autonomy.
• 23:10
  Gina: Yeah, so, yeah.
• 23:12
  Gina: So once I consented this to the C-section, things happened quickly.
• 23:15
  Gina: As far as the C-section goes, I feel like it went pretty seamlessly, smoothly, non-traumatically, smoothly, non-traumatically, at least for me.
• 23:28
  Gina: My husband was not prepared for a c-section and, like, when they dropped the curtain to, you know, show me the baby being pulled out, he saw the incision and that was hard for him but yeah, it went pretty easily.
• 23:40
  Gina: When they did pull my daughter out, I which we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl we never found out her sex, so that was fun.
• 23:48
  Gina: We totally thought she was a girl.
• 23:51
  Gina: Neither of us thought there was any chance that she was a boy, but it was fun seeing that.
• 23:56
  Gina: But as they pulled her out, I saw how tiny she was and I'm like, oh my God, she's so small and I immediately got very my God, like she's so small and I immediately got very worried about them taking her to the NICU.
• 24:07
  Gina: But they assured me as long as she was healthy, they would not.
• 24:14
  Gina: They were a baby-friendly hospital so they didn't have any sort of like under five pound cutoff to go to the NICU.
• 24:18
  Gina: She was four pounds and 11 ounces, so thankfully she was perfectly healthy and she got to, you know.
• 24:22
  Gina: So thankfully she was perfectly healthy and she got to.
• 24:23
  Gina: You know, come onto my chest immediately and yeah, then we, we moved to postpartum.
• 24:31
  Gina: I remember them bringing in a lactation consultant immediately.
• 24:35
  Gina: So she did get to latch very early, you know, within that first hour, which was nice.
• 24:41
  Gina: But then after that, the magnesium made everything such a blur that the first 24 hours of her life are like, yeah, very fuzzy, because you stay on the magnesium for 24 hours past the birth.
• 24:54
  Gina: So, yeah, those first 24 hours are really fuzzy.
• 24:58
  Gina: I don't.
• 24:59
  Gina: I don't remember feeding her like super frequently because I was just was not with it, like I feel, like I wasn't in reality at that time, the way that the magnesium made me feel, you know, like at one point I remember her being in the bassinet next to me and like being confused as to like how this baby is even here and like, you know, it's just very surreal.
• 25:21
  Gina: Surreal would be the word to describe those first 24 hours.
• 25:25
  Gina: But yeah, but we were super, super happy that she was healthy after knowing how tiny she was.
• 25:32
  Gina: It was after.
• 25:33
  Gina: At that point it was suspected that there was um growth restriction due to the preeclampsia.
• 25:38
  Gina: That's why she was so small.
• 25:39
  Gina: Yeah, so that was the birth, and then the postpartum is a whole other story so how long did you stay in the hospital for?
• 25:47
  Gina: Yeah.
• 25:48
  Gina: So we stayed in the hospital the whole week, which was brutal.
• 25:52
  Gina: So, like her birth, even though it was a C-section, I don't find that traumatic, but the postpartum stay was brutal.
• 26:02
  Gina: It was like I felt like a prisoner.
• 26:05
  Gina: They couldn't get my blood pressure down, like within reason to discharge me.
• 26:12
  Gina: So I, like I said earlier, I have medical anxiety.
• 26:17
  Gina: I did not want to be in the hospital and I've always had white coat syndrome.
• 26:22
  Gina: And now to know that, like my blood pressure was actually an issue, plus that on top of it was, I could not get my anxiety under control.
• 26:31
  Gina: And so I knew that I needed 24 hours of reasonable blood pressures to be discharged, and every time, the one that the last one that would make 24 hours was always critically high.
• 26:45
  Gina: And so, yeah, we were there a whole week until they got me on so many blood pressure meds that it allowed me to be discharged.
• 26:54
  Gina: And then I was discharged in the afternoon and then the next morning my blood pressure dropped so low I almost fainted because I was on so many blood pressure meds.
• 27:03
  Gina: You know, because I didn't, I didn't actually need them, like I mean, I needed them in the hospital, cause my anxiety, but when I got home I did not.
• 27:11
  Gina: So I was like, immediately, I immediately dropped one of the medications that was on both my fetipine and labetalol um, dropped one of them and reduced the other drastically.
• 27:21
  Gina: So, yeah, that was.
• 27:22
  Gina: That was really hard being in the hospital that long and, yeah, and having a tiny baby who was having trouble latching and I was pumping around the clock to try to get my milk in.
• 27:34
  Gina: But because of I think because of the C-section and because of all the medications, there was a lot of delay in my milk coming in.
• 27:42
  Gina: And so, thankfully, we had some donor milk that my midwife had sourced from other clients, which was really great.
• 27:52
  Gina: And then I also advocated hard to get donor milk in the hospital as well.
• 27:57
  Gina: They said that it was only available for NICU patients and I was like, no, this baby's four pounds and 11 ounces, like she needs donor milk.
• 28:04
  Gina: We're not, you're not withholding donor milk from her.
• 28:08
  Gina: So we got that too.
• 28:10
  Gina: And then then the like six to eight weeks postpartum, there was still a lot of supplementing going on because my milk really didn't come in like full supply until I was off of the blood pressure medications around seven, eight weeks postpartum.
• 28:27
  Gina: And River also she had a tongue and lip tie that we got revised around six weeks, which helped her with latching and transferring better.
• 28:37
  Gina: So those first couple months it was a lot of finger feeding and syringe feeding and tube feeding and nipple shields and pumping and all the things.
• 28:47
  Gina: But I was like so determined for breastfeeding to work because the birth went the way it did.
• 28:52
  Gina: I was like I'm holding onto this one thing that I want to happen.
• 28:56
  Gina: So, yeah, we persevered.
• 28:58
  Gina: How long did you breastfeed?
• 29:01
  Angela: for.
• 29:01
  Gina: She weaned around 19 months when I was about 20 weeks pregnant with Juniper yeah.
• 29:09
  Gina: So it was kind of like a natural thing Like we.
• 29:11
  Gina: I wanted her to night wean because I didn't want to be getting up in the middle of the night with her anymore.
• 29:15
  Gina: So we night weaned by having my husband just do all the night wakings and then within like two weeks of night weaning she latched one day after daycare and then she unlatched and said yucky and then never came back again.
• 29:30
  Gina: So that's how that happened.
• 29:34
  Angela: Wow, yeah, now getting into her story, would you share about how you found out you were pregnant and yeah, we moved to Maine in May before I was pregnant and conceived her in July.
• 29:49
  Gina: June and July actually, funny enough, on the same full moon that we conceived River.
• 29:55
  Gina: Um, so, like the, the timeline of my pregnancy was exactly the same as with River.
• 30:02
  Gina: My due date was like nine days apart from river's due date.
• 30:05
  Gina: So we yeah, it was summer uh, doug was away for work again when I found out I was pregnant and so again, I had to wait until he got back to tell him, which it's so funny, how, like how, everything lined up in such a similar way again.
• 30:25
  Gina: But we were excited, but also like a little bit nervous because it was sooner than we had anticipated having a second.
• 30:33
  Gina: I think, like in my mind I had wanted to wait really till the fall to conceive again, and Doug he was like I don't know if I would have ever felt like I was ready otherwise.
• 30:47
  Gina: So it was, it was a little bit of a uh, you know something that we had to um, get used to the fact that we were going to have two so soon.
• 30:56
  Gina: But, yeah, I was really excited.
• 30:58
  Gina: And then I also wanted I wanted my progesterone tested again.
• 31:01
  Gina: So I because with River I was actually on progesterone all the way until like 36 weeks, like that's what the doctor told me to do, based on my levels.
• 31:13
  Gina: So I reached out to a local midwife here when I was like four weeks pregnant, I think, like really, really, really soon, and asked if you know if she does those blood draws or who she'd recommend.
• 31:26
  Gina: And she had me come out to her, her house, to do the draw.
• 31:29
  Gina: And yeah, it was.
• 31:31
  Gina: It was low but within normal limits, and so at that, at that point, I was like, okay, well then I'm, I'm not going to supplement.
• 31:38
  Gina: Like if it's within normal limits, I need to trust it's okay, like I need to not make a problem where there's not a problem.
• 31:46
  Gina: So I feel like Juniper's pregnancy, from the start, was much more leaning into trust.
• 31:53
  Gina: I think with River there was a lot more anxiety, there was a lot more Googling every single thing and wanting to know all the things about everything, and with Juniper it was more about leaning into trusting my body to do this.
• 32:05
  Gina: So that was, yeah, I saw my midwife Rachel around four or five weeks, I think it was, and then, yeah, I decided there was no doubt in my mind that I was planning a home birth after cesarean.
• 32:19
  Gina: So I did interview a couple other midwives, just because I knew.
• 32:22
  Gina: You know, I knew none of the midwives up here, so I thought I should interview the ones that were available so I could make an informed decision about who I'd hire.
• 32:33
  Gina: And I really loved both Rachel, rachel Cohen and Julie Havener, so I talked to them both about like could I have both of you as my midwives?
• 32:46
  Gina: Um, and they were open to that.
• 32:48
  Gina: So I actually hired both of them and they did co-care throughout my entire pregnancy, which was really really neat because they both bring such different things to the table.
• 32:59
  Gina: I really loved having and working with both of them and so, yeah, I knew early on that I was going to hire, hire them.
• 33:06
  Gina: But we didn't actually start care until 17 weeks, I think.
• 33:11
  Gina: So my first trimester was like just totally on my own, doing my own thing, which felt so nice after all.
• 33:19
  Gina: The anxiety of the first trimester with River yeah, not, not that they would have like added anxiety, it just it felt different to like have no appointments, no checking of anything, like being I was very sick, though Very nauseous, a lot of vomiting, which is a lot harder when there's also a toddler in the mix, but I'd say that you know that waned around 12 weeks or so and I started feeling better after that.
• 33:51
  Gina: I also felt juniper moving very early on, like around 13 weeks.
• 33:56
  Gina: I felt like little fishy movements.
• 33:59
  Gina: That was cool and reassuring and yeah, then we started care around 17 weeks.
• 34:05
  Angela: It must've been nice just enjoying that appointment free time it was probably fall, so just really just living your life, right.
• 34:14
  Gina: Yeah, exactly it was.
• 34:16
  Gina: It was very nice.
• 34:16
  Gina: Like I, I can totally understand why some people choose to to not see anyone during their pregnancy.
• 34:23
  Gina: Like I get it, it's nice, but yeah, so we started care around 17 weeks and I did the anatomy scan.
• 34:33
  Gina: I did the anatomy scan with River as well, both times.
• 34:36
  Gina: I don't know ultrasounds are just some people find them really fun and like to look at the.
• 34:41
  Gina: I don't find them fun.
• 34:42
  Gina: I find them very anxiety inducing.
• 34:44
  Gina: Yeah, it's not my favorite part of pregnancy but yeah, it was.
• 34:50
  Gina: You know, after afterwards you feel a sense of relief, although at this anatomy scan they didn't get to visualize all the things that they wanted to visualize and they wanted me to come back for another one, which was very annoying because it was so long and I yeah, I just was not interested in doing another, so I skipped it.
• 35:11
  Gina: I'm sorry.
• 35:12
  Gina: Yes, I had to go to the hospital for that.
• 35:13
  Gina: I went to Ellsworth for the anatomy scan.
• 35:16
  Gina: So, yeah, I just I decided against going back for the rescan, although during this anatomy scan we did see that my placenta was anterior and with a V-back placental location is important because of the scar.
• 35:34
  Gina: So because there was an anterior placenta, it did mean that I had to get a late third trimester ultrasound to make sure that the placenta was nowhere near my scar for a VBAC.
• 35:47
  Gina: So but yeah, it was.
• 35:49
  Gina: It was interesting.
• 35:49
  Gina: I was shocked that my placenta was anterior because I felt her moving so much throughout my pregnancy, like way more than I ever felt River moving.
• 35:59
  Gina: That was just kind of interesting.
• 36:02
  Angela: So yeah, how were things looking as you progressed into your third trimester?
• 36:08
  Gina: Yeah, everything was looking good.
• 36:10
  Gina: I felt again really good through my pregnancy Didn't get to do as much hiking as I did with River, because the winters here are not the same as the winters in Virginia.
• 36:19
  Gina: There was so much ice, so much ice.
• 36:22
  Gina: So, you know, I did walks when I could little neighborhood walks and smaller hikes.
• 36:26
  Gina: I also this time had a yoga class that I went to weekly.
• 36:31
  Gina: That was so nice.
• 36:32
  Gina: I loved doing that.
• 36:34
  Gina: And I also had regular chiropractic appointments and acupuncture too, which the acupuncture was so amazing and not something I had done in the past and I really, really enjoyed that.
• 36:47
  Gina: And so, as we got to the third trimester, everything was looking good.
• 36:52
  Gina: You know, I wasn't doing many tests.
• 36:55
  Gina: We did, like the gestational diabetes test as, like you know, eating food and then pricking my finger to see what my blood sugar levels were.
• 37:04
  Gina: Everything was good there.
• 37:06
  Gina: And then, yeah, I was feeling really good in my third trimester, feeling like I was trusting.
• 37:13
  Gina: I was trusting things is really how it felt.
• 37:16
  Gina: And as we got into, I think, around 32 weeks, one of my midwives suggested that I just start taking my blood pressure a couple of times a week just to make sure it doesn't start creeping up, or if it does that, we can catch it early.
• 37:32
  Gina: And so I did that.
• 37:34
  Gina: And then the ultrasound to check my placenta location was at 34 weeks and that morning I had a high blood pressure and I was like you know what?
• 37:46
  Gina: I think I'm just really anxious about this appointment.
• 37:49
  Gina: You know, like I don't like ultrasounds generally and this one, could you know I know it could mean a lot of other things, so I think I'm just anxious.
• 37:58
  Gina: So did the ultrasound, and this this time went to oh, I can't remember what it's called, but it's a private ultrasound place in Ellsworth, ohigo, and yes, uh-huh, yeah, so I didn't have to go into the hospital this time, which was nice, and so I went there and she had, she looked at the placental location and she also looked at a couple other measurements, which I was actually very grateful for at that point, because I was nervous then about the high blood pressure and I wanted to make sure like the baby looked good and baby didn't look small and things like that.
• 38:31
  Gina: So, yeah, I got some reassurance that baby looked fine, placental blood flow was great, like all of that was looking good, and my placenta was nowhere near the scar.
• 38:40
  Gina: So that was really great to know.
• 38:43
  Gina: And then over the next week, yeah, my blood pressure was creeping up.
• 38:47
  Gina: It wasn't over 140, over 90, but it was getting higher.
• 38:53
  Gina: And then the next weekend I was 35 and a half-ish weeks, had a couple higher readings again and Rachel and Julie suggested that it might be time to go to the hospital to get some lab work done so that we can know sooner than later what we're dealing with here and if it's just hypertension, just gestational hypertension, we treat it.
• 39:18
  Gina: But we need to know.
• 39:20
  Gina: So that was a hard, hard decision, but ultimately I decided to go.
• 39:22
  Gina: So that was a hard, hard decision, but ultimately I decided to go.
• 39:25
  Gina: So we went into Ellsworth and that was on a Sunday night and my blood pressure was through the roof in the hospital, like well over the 160, over 110 that they consider severe.
• 39:40
  Gina: So it was a lot of trying to calm myself down in the hospital and like me telling them over and over again this is anxiety, like I'm shaking from the adrenaline right now, like this is not like reflective of my true blood pressure, but it you know, it doesn't matter if your blood pressure is that high, it is that high.
• 40:03
  Gina: And like you're at risk for all of the things if it is that high.
• 40:06
  Gina: So it was a very stressful couple hours till my blood pressure came down and I think it finally came down.
• 40:13
  Gina: It wasn't even coming down.
• 40:15
  Gina: They gave me like the maximum amount of nifedipine they could and it still wasn't coming down.
• 40:21
  Gina: And then the doctor who was on call but not at the hospital finally came in and had a conversation with me about how, like we may be transferring to Bangor tonight and you might be having a baby tonight.
• 40:35
  Angela: Sorry, oh no, you're okay, take your time.
• 40:38
  Angela: Take your time.
• 40:39
  Angela: Yeah, this is hard.
• 40:42
  Gina: There's a, that's a, that's a lot yeah, it was a lot and it wasn't.
• 40:46
  Gina: I wasn't expecting it because my blood pressures at home weren't like they weren't concerning to me because I knew what they were like last pregnancy like it wasn't like that bad.
• 40:56
  Gina: So I just wasn't expecting it to be that bad when I went in.
• 41:00
  Gina: But once he said that I think there was like an acceptance came over me and I was like, okay, well, if that's what it is, that's what it is.
• 41:10
  Gina: And then my blood pressure came down.
• 41:13
  Gina: They did admit me for a night but then by some miracle, I was discharged by noon the next day.
• 41:22
  Gina: I did not, I didn't think I was going to be discharged.
• 41:28
  Gina: My midwife, rachel, who was with me, did not think I was going to be discharged.
• 41:30
  Gina: We both kind of thought that I was, I was staying until I had a baby.
• 41:32
  Gina: But yeah, my blood pressures were like totally fine 12 hours later.
• 41:37
  Gina: So they discharged me on like the very lowest dose of labetalol and then, yeah, with you know, of course, the promise of me coming back for a follow-up visit to make sure everything was okay.
• 41:49
  Gina: Oh, and I meant to mention as well that the first hour or two that I was in Ellsworth they did test my urine and my blood, and there was protein in my urine.
• 41:59
  Gina: So I was diagnosed with mild preeclampsia at that point in time Mild, because my blood pressure came back down.
• 42:05
  Gina: My blood work looked fine at that point in time though, so yeah.
• 42:09
  Gina: So then it was contending with what a diagnosis of mild preeclampsia meant, because with mild preeclampsia the recommendation is delivering at 37 weeks and Ellsworth, the community hospitals will not do an induction for a VBAC, so it meant a repeat C-section at 37, which I feel like I actually accepted that pretty quickly and was like you know, it'll be different, it's.
• 42:36
  Gina: I know what to expect, I can plan for it, I can ask for certain things.
• 42:41
  Gina: I can make it more of what I would want.
• 42:45
  Gina: So I did accept that pretty quickly, and there was also, you know, the off chance.
• 42:50
  Gina: My midwife was like you know, you never know, you could go into labor before that and, if that happens, like I'll still attend you at home.
• 42:57
  Gina: You know, we could just see what happens.
• 42:59
  Gina: I wasn't holding my breath for that, but I was anticipating going in for a repeat C-section at 37 weeks.
• 43:08
  Gina: Then I had my follow-up appointment a few days later, around 36 weeks, again at the Ellsworth Hospital, with the doctor there and my blood pressure again, of course, was high in the office and they did an NST in the office as well to just make sure that baby was doing well and she was.
• 43:31
  Gina: She was doing perfect.
• 43:32
  Gina: We did repeat blood work at that appointment as well.
• 43:35
  Gina: My blood pressure in the office the doctor said that appointment as well my blood pressure in the office, the doctor said was at a level that protocol says he needs to send me to LND immediately.
• 43:45
  Gina: He was really understanding about the white coat syndrome and like really compassionate about that.
• 43:52
  Gina: He's like you know, we'll just, we'll do the blood, repeat blood work, we'll do an NST instead of sending you to labor and delivery.
• 43:59
  Gina: We won't send you there as long as the NST is fine.
• 44:03
  Gina: So I really I did appreciate that a lot.
• 44:05
  Gina: That was really nice.
• 44:08
  Gina: So but yeah, we did the repeat blood work and by the time I got home I got a call from him saying that my liver enzymes were now elevated, which tips me into severe preeclampsia.
• 44:18
  Gina: Now elevated, which tips me into severe preeclampsia and with severe preeclampsia after like I think, 34 weeks, the indication is immediate delivery.
• 44:29
  Gina: So I was very upset about that because I didn't anticipate it this time I really didn't have any signs of preeclampsia, like symptoms of it besides the higher blood pressures.
• 44:37
  Gina: So I just I really didn't think it was going to go into the severe range and so I was 36 weeks.
• 44:43
  Gina: At that point he I thought as long as I was 36 weeks Ellsworth would still deliver.
• 44:50
  Gina: But he said that he had talked to the pediatrician at the hospital and they felt that I was too high risk and they would have to transfer me to Bangor, which is something I really didn't want.
• 45:01
  Gina: I was really nervous about going to, like the high risk, high volume hospital.
• 45:06
  Gina: I didn't want that.
• 45:07
  Gina: That's what I had in Virginia and while my birth in Virginia wasn't terrible, the postpartum stay really was.
• 45:13
  Gina: So I was like trying to be in a smaller, smaller hospital that might be more understanding and less policy driven.
• 45:20
  Gina: So I was really upset about having to transfer to Bangor.
• 45:23
  Gina: But you know I mean my midwife said we'll, we'll get there together, I'll walk in with you from start to finish, I'll be there.
• 45:31
  Gina: And we were prepared to go in for an immediate C-section.
• 45:35
  Gina: So that's what the doctor told me and that's what they also told my midwife that we were going in for an immediate C-section.
• 45:42
  Gina: So we get there, they already had an L&D room set up so I didn't have to go to triage this time, which was also nice.
• 45:48
  Gina: And so we get in there.
• 45:52
  Gina: They start magnesium, or no, they didn't start magnesium yet the OBGYN on call came in first and it was Dr Breda.
• 46:01
  Gina: Was the OB on call at that point in time?
• 46:02
  Gina: It was the end of her shift, I think it was like 6 PM and they switch at seven or something like that.
• 46:06
  Gina: And so she comes in and goes over the preeclampsia stuff, which I know all the risks, I know all of that stuff.
• 46:13
  Gina: It's not my first rodeo, but she tells me.
• 46:19
  Gina: She asked me she's like did you want to go for the repeat C-section, are you going to do a trial of labor?
• 46:22
  Gina: And I was like I was just floored because I was not expecting to have a choice.
• 46:27
  Gina: And I was like I was shocked and also like totally not prepared to to choose.
• 46:35
  Gina: And so, like my first question was because I had such a bad experience on the magnesium last time, I was like, well, if I consent to a C-section right now, can I avoid the magnesium?
• 46:47
  Gina: Because I think I would have.
• 46:49
  Gina: I would have consented to the C-section if I could have avoided the magnesium.
• 46:52
  Gina: But she said, no, either way, like you have severe preeclampsia, we need to start you on magnesium sulfate ASAP.
• 46:59
  Gina: And I was like, well, then I'll do a TOLAC.
• 47:01
  Gina: And I was really like pleasantly surprised to have that option.
• 47:06
  Gina: I did not think at that point that it would end in a vaginal birth.
• 47:11
  Gina: I definitely thought it was like it was going to end in c-section because it felt all of it was so familiar to what happened with river right like.
• 47:20
  Gina: But I thought you know, at least this time this baby seems like so active, so strong, like I don't have any reason to believe that this baby is in any sort of distress.
• 47:33
  Gina: Like maybe I could actually experience some of labor, like, if nothing else, I'll be able to experience some labor.
• 47:40
  Gina: So we started the yeah, they started the medications and all of that.
• 47:44
  Gina: This time, because of the experience I had last time with the magnesium sulfate and growing up, everything I ate and drank for you know whatever 30 hours I asked them if I could have Zofran as well to help with the nausea.
• 47:58
  Gina: So I got that with the magnesium sulfate, which helped a ton with the nausea, which was great.
• 48:05
  Gina: Still, all of the other effects of magnesium were there, but at least I wasn't throwing up, and they started the Pitocin at that point.
• 48:13
  Gina: I don't think I was even dilated at all when they started the induction, but we were able to get some rest that night.
• 48:24
  Gina: I asked them or I told them that I didn't want they wanted to do a Cooke's catheter, the Cooke's balloon, to help manually dilate my cervix.
• 48:35
  Gina: And I said you know my cervix?
• 48:42
  Gina: And I said you know I don't want that.
• 48:43
  Gina: Yet, like, I just want a night to rest before we do all the things.
• 48:44
  Gina: So I got that night to rest.
• 48:45
  Gina: I mean, they were increasing the pitocin throughout the night so I was having contractions, but they were so minimal that you know I was able to rest through them.
• 48:55
  Gina: I mean, I rested as much as you can in a hospital when you have preeclampsia, because they're checking your blood pressure constantly and coming in and out all the time.
• 49:02
  Gina: But yeah, so that was the start of the induction.
• 49:06
  Gina: And then in the morning we had another doctor in, dr Rinaldi, who was so funny she has such a big personality so she was in on Saturday and my midwife was also there with us the whole time.
• 49:23
  Gina: She went home to sleep for a little bit when things just had started.
• 49:27
  Gina: But she was there as well, and so Dr Rinaldi came in and was like to get things going here.
• 49:34
  Gina: We need to do something more than the Pitocin.
• 49:37
  Gina: The Pitocin is really not doing much for you.
• 49:40
  Gina: I was one centimeter dilated after 12, more than 12 hours on the Pitocin.
• 49:45
  Gina: So she asked if she could insert a Percocet at that time, which I consented to.
• 49:50
  Gina: That was probably the worst part of the entire experience.
• 49:55
  Gina: That was uncomfortable in a very, very intense way, but it did work.
• 50:01
  Gina: Within a few hours I dilated to like, I guess, around a four.
• 50:06
  Gina: So it came out at that point.
• 50:08
  Gina: And at this point I'm like really feeling the effects of the magnesium, because I'd been on it for almost 24 hours already, and which for me means like a feeling of heaviness that it's really it's hard to describe Like.
• 50:26
  Gina: It means like I can barely lift my arm to get a drink of water, like I'm so I just feel like stuck, stuck to the bed.
• 50:34
  Gina: I also can barely like opening my eyes feels like a Herculean effort.
• 50:39
  Gina: So that was, yeah, saturday afternoon-ish.
• 50:43
  Gina: So I'm around four centimeters dilated.
• 50:46
  Gina: Again, dr Rinaldi comes in to talk about breaking my waters and I was not thrilled about the idea.
• 50:55
  Gina: I hadn't wanted to do an artificial rupture, but I also knew that my body didn't really respond to the pitocin very well.
• 51:05
  Gina: So, yeah, dr Rinaldi was definitely recommending breaking the waters.
• 51:10
  Gina: After talking with her and realizing that it wouldn't put me on a clock, because I thought that hospital policy in general is okay is 24 hours after your waters are open, the baby has to be out one way or another, which was one of the big reasons I didn't want to do it.
• 51:27
  Gina: I didn't want to be put on that clock.
• 51:29
  Gina: But she said that that's not the case, that I could labor for however long I wanted, as long as I was good and baby was good.
• 51:36
  Gina: So I consented to that and at the same time started thinking about pain management, because up until now the contractions really were not I mean, they were totally manageable, totally like really very little.
• 51:52
  Gina: I didn't feel them much at all, to be honest.
• 51:55
  Gina: But I knew once active labor started that would be different, especially on Pitocin, and I literally couldn't move.
• 52:03
  Gina: And so I was thinking like how am I going to weather this without, you know, being able to move at all, without being able to get in water, without the coping mechanisms that I thought I would have.
• 52:16
  Gina: You know, I think this was at the point where I was thinking like, oh, maybe this is going to end in a vaginal birth and I had never considered the possibility of having a vaginal birth in the hospital.
• 52:28
  Gina: So, like I wasn't thinking about the different options available to be in a hospital, I was always thinking vaginal birth, it's home, all of those options available, and if I'm in a hospital, it's going to be a C-section.
• 52:40
  Gina: So yeah, that was a little bit.
• 52:44
  Gina: That was something I was contending with the different set of options that were available to me in a hospital.
• 52:50
  Gina: So I talked to my husband and my midwife about, you know, I think I think I need an epidural, like I don't midwife about, you know, I think I think I need an epidural.
• 53:01
  Gina: Like I don't.
• 53:01
  Gina: I don't know how else I will cope with the pain if I can't, if I can't move.
• 53:04
  Gina: So I, you know, I told the doctor that, or the nurses that at some point, and they started the epidural that evening and at that point things got a little crazy because the epidural caused my blood pressure to drop really, really low, which was very weird when it had been so high, and so they had to stop the epidural, stop the Pitocin.
• 53:29
  Gina: They gave me other drugs to bring my blood pressure back up and that wasn't working.
• 53:35
  Gina: And then they had to try another drug.
• 53:37
  Gina: It was a whole thing.
• 53:38
  Gina: And that wasn't working.
• 53:39
  Gina: And then they had to try another drug.
• 53:41
  Gina: It was a whole thing.
• 53:44
  Gina: During all of that my husband had left the hospital room for a moment and he was hearing the nurses at the nurse's station talking about a C-section.
• 53:48
  Gina: So he thought that at that point we would be going for a C-section.
• 53:51
  Gina: Luckily I had no idea that that was discussed.
• 53:55
  Gina: I didn't know that until after the fact because in my mind this wasn't again, probably because I was on the magnesium and not quite all there.
• 54:05
  Gina: It didn't seem that big of a deal to me.
• 54:09
  Gina: It just seemed like, okay, they're just figuring things out and it'll be fine in a second.
• 54:13
  Gina: But I guess it was more of a big deal than I realized in the moment.
• 54:17
  Gina: But ultimately they got my blood pressure back up and we they restarted the Pitocin, restarted the epidural, but only at like half power because I guess that's all my body could tolerate, which ultimately was a good thing, because I did want to be able to feel the contractions Like I wanted to.
• 54:33
  Gina: I wanted to feel labor.
• 54:34
  Gina: I just didn't want to be like totally overtaken by it and not be able to get through it and need a C-section.
• 54:41
  Gina: So yeah, so ultimately I think that was for the best and things really started picking up.
• 54:47
  Gina: I went from four to six centimeters in a few hours and then from six to nine and a half in like 40 minutes.
• 54:58
  Gina: And so I had an amazing nurse that night.
• 55:03
  Gina: Her name's Shauna.
• 55:04
  Gina: She teaches like independent spinning baby classes outside of the hospital.
• 55:10
  Gina: She was incredible.
• 55:11
  Gina: I feel so lucky that she was my nurse that night and she would.
• 55:14
  Gina: She's also so strong like she's able to get me into positions, cause again, I couldn't I couldn't even roll to my side, so she was like getting me into different positions to help help my cervix open and help the baby to get into a good position.
• 55:26
  Gina: And Rachel, my midwife, who is there, was also helping with that.
• 55:30
  Gina: And I just remember the entire time I had my eyes closed because I couldn't open them because of the magnesium, and I just remember chanting through contractions just open, open, open, open.
• 55:42
  Gina: Like just over and over and over again.
• 55:44
  Gina: That was my mantra and it was really intense.
• 55:47
  Gina: But I don't know if I'd call it painful, really it was just it was super intense.
• 55:53
  Gina: It felt like such immense expansion, each contraction, so yeah, so that that was Saturday midnight-ish and then it was time to start pushing.
• 56:08
  Gina: I said to my midwife, as I was like on my side with the peanut ball in between my legs, I said to my midwife, like I feel like I have to poop and I know people say they have to poop when they need to push, but I don't think it's that.
• 56:19
  Gina: I think it's really that I need to poop.
• 56:20
  Gina: And she's like, I don't know about that, you might need to push.
• 56:26
  Gina: So I had an anterior lip, cervical lip, so Shauna and my midwife helped me get into like a like semi-squatting position on the bed, like sort of.
• 56:41
  Gina: It was still still reclined, but not totally reclined, and I started pushing in that position and very quickly I was complete and then I pushed for just under 45 minutes.
• 56:55
  Gina: Um, and then she was born and I like I couldn't believe it.
• 56:59
  Gina: It was totally surreal because I went in not at all expecting to have a vaginal birth.
• 57:07
  Gina: I really thought it was going to be a C-section until I was very close to actually giving birth.
• 57:12
  Gina: So yeah, it was very surreal.
• 57:15
  Gina: It was really cool, very surreal.
• 57:22
  Gina: It was really cool.
• 57:23
  Gina: She came out in like one push, head and body.
• 57:25
  Gina: I was able to take a little breath, like once.
• 57:26
  Gina: Her head was sort of crowning, kind of got to wait until the next contraction so I was kind of just resting for a minute or two until the next contraction came and just pushed her out all in one.
• 57:37
  Gina: And yeah, it was really cool to learn that she was a girl because again, we didn't know and this time we really didn't know, like I had no idea if it was a boy or a girl.
• 57:48
  Gina: I had no intuition this time, and so that was really fun to learn that we had our second little girl and the placenta came in about 10 minutes.
• 57:59
  Gina: I'd say that was really the only weird part of my delivery, I'd say, is because I wasn't expecting a hospital birth, like am I clamping?
• 58:12
  Gina: How long?
• 58:12
  Gina: Blah, blah, blah, all of that sort of stuff I wasn't thinking about, because I was thinking if it's a vaginal birth, it's a home birth, I'll have the placenta, it'll just be, just be there like I'm not doing anything with it, you know.
• 58:22
  Gina: So the doctor who delivered, um Dr Anderson, was like well, what do you want to do here?
• 58:29
  Gina: And me, my midwife and Doug all were like kind of talking amongst ourselves like, well, wait, do we want to?
• 58:36
  Gina: No, we don't want to clamp what?
• 58:37
  Gina: No, but no, but how long.
• 58:38
  Gina: And he was, I think he was a little annoyed that we weren't like we didn't have a decision, so that was the only kind of like time I felt that was a little stressful during the birth, but otherwise it was, yeah, really smooth and yeah.
• 58:55
  Gina: So he, the placenta came out, he pulled it out and, you know, put it on top of me.
• 59:01
  Gina: She had a very short cord, so then I could finally pull her up to my chest, which was nice, because otherwise she could only reach to my belly.
• 59:08
  Gina: And then they just left us alone for three full hours.
• 59:12
  Gina: It was amazing.
• 59:13
  Gina: So she stayed connected to her placenta for that whole time and it was really just like me, Doug and Rachel and Juniper here and the nurses would come in occasionally to like, I guess, check my blood pressure.
• 59:29
  Gina: But yeah, I felt like we were really really left alone those three hours, which was amazing and totally unexpected.
• 59:36
  Gina: I did not think that that would happen.
• 59:39
  Gina: Which was amazing and totally unexpected.
• 59:40
  Gina: I did not think that that would happen and she latched within an hour and did like she.
• 59:44
  Gina: She really did great with latching, which was very cool.
• 59:47
  Gina: She was a whole, over a whole pound, bigger than River was when she was born, so that was that was great too, even though she was like two weeks earlier than river had come and yeah, that was, that was her birth, oh my gosh.
• 1:00:01
  Angela: So they let you keep the placenta attached to the baby for over three hours at the hospital.
• 1:00:07
  Angela: They were just like no big deal yeah, it was, it was.
• 1:00:11
  Gina: It was like almost three hours exactly that they came back.
• 1:00:13
  Gina: Yeah, um, yeah, no big deal, yeah it was.
• 1:00:16
  Gina: I feel like a lot of it was.
• 1:00:18
  Gina: I don't know I still don't know if we just got lucky with, like, the different providers who were around or if, I don't know, they were used to home birth transfers and we're like, oh, she doesn't want to be here, like let's just give her what she wants, like what we can.
• 1:00:33
  Gina: But yeah, I never expected that that would happen in a hospital and yeah, it did and it wasn't a big deal.
• 1:00:40
  Angela: They just like, respected your choices and supported you with that.
• 1:00:45
  Angela: You didn't even know you were going to be supported with.
• 1:00:48
  Gina: Oh my gosh, what an amazing thing.
• 1:00:50
  Gina: Yeah, yeah, no, it was.
• 1:00:52
  Gina: It was.
• 1:00:52
  Gina: I mean, I still I still can't believe it, and my midwife and I were talking about that as well.
• 1:00:58
  Gina: I still can't believe it, and my midwife and I were talking about that as well, and it's like, yeah, a lot of things happened, like positive things happened that neither of us expected, and so it was good.
• 1:01:06
  Angela: Yeah, so how has your postpartum been going?
• 1:01:10
  Angela: How long were you in the hospital for this?
• 1:01:12
  Gina: time we were just two days postpartum, so we got discharged on day two or day one, day two, day three on the morning of day three we again postpartum.
• 1:01:23
  Gina: Once they moved me to the postpartum room and I was off magnesium like there was.
• 1:01:26
  Gina: They barely came into our room, which again is something I wanted Like I know some people, you know, like having people check on you.
• 1:01:35
  Gina: I did not want that.
• 1:01:36
  Gina: So I really I really loved the like privacy and respect they gave us and again Juniper seemed to be doing great.
• 1:01:46
  Gina: There was some concern about jaundice.
• 1:01:48
  Gina: On that last night we were there and you know they were wanting to check that we had to do the heel prick to make sure that she wasn't like too jaundiced to need the lights.
• 1:01:59
  Gina: But ultimately we were able to be discharged and that was great because it was my daughter, river's second birthday that day.
• 1:02:08
  Gina: They were born two days apart, 323 and 325.
• 1:02:12
  Gina: So we were really happy to be able to go home to River and celebrate her birthday on her birthday, even though she has no idea, like she wouldn't have cared, but we cared and yeah, then we had to.
• 1:02:25
  Gina: We had to recheck her jaundice twice more.
• 1:02:28
  Gina: We had to go to we went to MDI hospital once we were back home to to get it tested there and by the time my milk came in it was totally fine.
• 1:02:37
  Gina: So, yeah, and breastfeeding has been going great, like it's just night and day.
• 1:02:44
  Gina: The difference between this postpartum and last, yeah, I feel so lucky to be able to just just nurse this time and there's no pumps, no, no tubes, no syringes, no nipple shields, just nursing and and Juniper is gaining weight.
• 1:03:00
  Gina: Great, my mom was here for like the first five weeks of Juniper's life.
• 1:03:05
  Gina: She just left two days ago.
• 1:03:08
  Gina: So that was a huge, huge help and really helped, I think, with the transition for River, because she had someone to pay like full attention to her, which was really nice.
• 1:03:18
  Gina: Yeah, it's been, it's been so much easier and like this time it just I think it shows me how, how important like the breastfeeding relationship could be, to like how your postpartum feels, cause it feels so easy this time.
• 1:03:35
  Angela: Oh yeah, that's amazing.
• 1:03:36
  Angela: Now, as a final question if you were to give advice to someone who's expecting, or even new parents, what's the biggest thing you'd want to share?
• 1:04:04
  Gina: that I carry with me in parenting as well is to do your research, be strong in your convictions and what you want and need for your family, but also be open to change and yeah, so even if things don't go the way that you think they're going to go because that is pregnancy, that's birth, that's parenting, that's going to happen at least you can come back to what your conviction is like what, what's the core of what I need here or want here, and how can I make that still still happen, even through this change.
• 1:04:32
  Gina: So, yeah, I feel like a lot of people, because of the unpredictability of pregnancy and birth, they're like, oh, I'll just go with the flow, i't learn anything, my doctor will just tell me what to do, and fine, if that's how you want to do it, good for you.
• 1:04:46
  Gina: I can never do it that way, but I do think it's important to kind of ground down into what is important to you and find ways to make that happen, no matter what what else goes on, whatever external things are happening.
• 1:05:03
  Angela: Yeah, having that mindset to be able to do that is really so important.
• 1:05:08
  Gina: Yeah.
• 1:05:08
  Angela: Yeah, exactly.
• 1:05:09
  Angela: Well, thank you so much, Gina, for taking the time to share your story today.
• 1:05:14
  Angela: It's been such a pleasure chatting with you.
• 1:05:17
  Gina: Oh well, thank you so much for having me I.
• 1:05:19
  Gina: It's been such a pleasure chatting with you.
• 1:05:21
  Gina: Oh well, thank you so much for having me I.
• 1:05:21
  Gina: Uh, I listened to birth stories well through my pregnancies, but like for five years before ever getting pregnant.
• 1:05:27
  Angela: I love birth stories and I'm glad to share mine before you go, I just want to remind you I have a ton of resources for pregnancy and birth.
• 1:05:38
  Angela: If you're pregnant, whether you're a first time mom or if this is your fifth baby, I want you to check out the show notes, because I have some free trainings and free downloads that you can sign up for, as well as the link to access my Labor of Love, a comprehensive, self-paced online childbirth education course.
• 1:05:56
  Angela: I created this course specifically for moms who don't want to be told what to do, regardless of where you're birthing or who you're birthing with, and I'd honestly love to teach you everything that I know so that you can prepare for an autonomous birth experience and prepare to step into your role as the leader of your birth journey.
• 1:06:15
  Angela: So click to the show notes, check out all of those links and, if you ever have any questions, feel free to DM me at my main birth over on Instagram.