Episode 82
Our Labor Story Part 2
This podcast episode delves into the intricacies and challenges of childbirth, emphasizing the significance of proactive communication and preparation in the context of labor. I reflect upon my experience with my partner during the labor process, highlighting moments of vulnerability and the emotional turbulence that accompanied it. One of the salient points discussed is the necessity for partners, particularly husbands, to be well-acquainted with the birth plan to alleviate stress during crucial moments, thereby enhancing the overall birthing experience. We also confront the unexpected dynamics of hospital procedures and the importance of advocating for one’s preferences amidst a flurry of medical personnel. Ultimately, this episode serves as a candid exploration of the realities of childbirth, underscoring the profound bond formed between partners through shared struggle and support during such a pivotal life event.
Takeaways:
- Effective communication between partners during childbirth is paramount for a smooth experience.
- Understanding the birth plan beforehand alleviates stress during labor for both parents involved.
- The importance of having a supportive birth team cannot be overstated, especially during challenging moments.
- It is essential to prioritize the mental and emotional well-being of both parents during the birthing process.
Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker A:I'm just saying it's a whole nother story.
Speaker A:I'm saying Jeremiah knows how to take over.
Speaker A:So looking back, I just wish that he.
Speaker A:A thing in our marriage is that I feel like sometimes he can go into fear mode instead of going into leadership mode, which then I feel like I have to lead and I have to do these things.
Speaker A:And, like, it's a.
Speaker A:And then I. I do this thing where then I'm in fear, and then I try to become the leader, which is.
Speaker A:It's not a healthy.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:Neither of us are being fruitful at that time.
Speaker A:So I'm sorry for that.
Speaker A:But it's not a thing that I wanted you to apologize for.
Speaker A:It's just looking back, I'm realizing, like, I did that because I, Like, I felt like I was.
Speaker A:I'm, like, in the most vulnerable position in my entire life.
Speaker A:And then someone's challenging me at that time, which sucks.
Speaker A:So I will say for any husband listening, if at any point in time, I would say, memorize the birth plan.
Speaker A:Understand it to the point where you can explain it to your wife better than she could ever even explain it.
Speaker A:Because if she has to think about those things during contractions, it's horrible.
Speaker A:And then you can't really relax through your contractions as well and then give birth as easily.
Speaker A:So I do wish we went over the birth plan more.
Speaker B:Well, it wasn't even the birth plan.
Speaker B:She was asking you questions on it.
Speaker B:She had a list of questions.
Speaker B:She was asking for your blood type.
Speaker B:She was asking for if you.
Speaker B:You've ever had herpes.
Speaker B:And all these other questions which I can't answer.
Speaker A:She asked if I had any raw milk or dairy within the past month.
Speaker B:If you've traveled and stuff like that.
Speaker B:But, like.
Speaker A:And I had been drinking it, and I totally lied.
Speaker A:I was like, no.
Speaker A:And I literally had some earlier that day.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:But what I'm saying is, like, there.
Speaker B:There is a level of.
Speaker B:They're directly talking to you, which I think is really stupid.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:All these questions should have been asked.
Speaker A:To, like, that's what I'm saying.
Speaker A:You.
Speaker A:The day before, you can step in and say, I'll answer for my wife instead.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And also, like, the whole billing and stuff.
Speaker B:They called you literally, like, a couple days before our birth and stressed you out, like, what in the heck is that?
Speaker A:If you can pay in advance?
Speaker A:And I was like, I'm not going to pay in advance.
Speaker A:I don't even know what you guys are going to be charging me for.
Speaker A:And I Also.
Speaker A:And I said, anyway, that's a whole other thing to get back to the actual labor.
Speaker A:That charge nurse was a piece of trash.
Speaker A:And she was.
Speaker A:And then also, too, she came back and said, you're obese.
Speaker A:Said that you have to sign a release form because you're not going to have a saline lock.
Speaker A:And then I was like, well, I actually heard you in the hallway.
Speaker A:He didn't say I had to.
Speaker A:You specifically told him, well, she's not letting me.
Speaker A:And then to which I heard him say, that's okay.
Speaker A:Just have her sign her release form, do whatever she wants on her birth plan.
Speaker A:Because my OB okayed my entire birth plan.
Speaker A:And when I called her out, I actually never saw her again after that.
Speaker A:I could tell the charge nurse was pissed off with me.
Speaker A:And that's the other thing, too.
Speaker A:You can fire any of your nurses and ask them to not come back into the room.
Speaker A:And I. I told Jeremy multiple times I hated her.
Speaker A:And I do wish that you were like, don't come back in here.
Speaker A:I mean, I think she got the gist, and I think God protected us.
Speaker A:But if we ever have to go through anything like that ever again, like, if you're ever in a hospital or I'm ever in hospital, and neither of you.
Speaker A:If we don't like the nurse, whoever's on the bed doesn't have to advocate.
Speaker A:I'm literally.
Speaker A:If you're in the bed and you're like, I hate this person, I'm gonna be like, you don't come back into this room.
Speaker A:We want a different nurse.
Speaker A:And I think Jeremiah and I are just kind of a little bit of people pleasers when it comes to that stuff.
Speaker A:We don't want to inconvenience people or make people feel bad, especially being Christians.
Speaker A:But we also got a giant duffel bag of snacks and goodies.
Speaker A:Literally a duffel bag for all the nurses on the floor.
Speaker A:Because we knew that we'd be the annoying Christians who didn't want to, like, go with the typical hospital plan.
Speaker A:So we were trying to buy people with treats to make it, I don't know, to be more convenient for people, so.
Speaker A:And it kind of worked, right?
Speaker A:People were really thankful.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So the night shift liked it.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:And that's the other thing.
Speaker A:I gave birth at night.
Speaker A:And the afternoon shift, I think they came around 4 o'.
Speaker A:Clock.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:When did they switch out?
Speaker A:3 or 4.
Speaker A:We were only with those other nurses for, like, a couple of hours.
Speaker A:And then the night shift came, so.
Speaker A:But before the night shift came, one Nurse did come in, and they knew that we were doing a natural birth.
Speaker A:And she's the one who said, like, hey, I'm noticing that you have a lot of pressure in your back.
Speaker A:Can I show you a bunch of different laboring positions?
Speaker A:And she showed Jeremiah how to counter pressure and different positions that we could do on the bed and even me standing and things like that.
Speaker A:That was super helpful.
Speaker A:Right, baby?
Speaker A:And then Sierra, also, my sister, is a huge part of this, and Jeremiah asked her to basically be there and help counter pressure the whole time too.
Speaker A:But I don't remember a lot of the next eight hours of labor, except for the pain becoming so excruciatingly intense and gnarly.
Speaker A:And I just thought this was, like, that's what labor was, and this was normal, because I didn't know I was in back labor, and I didn't know that my.
Speaker A:My contractions were literally off the charts.
Speaker A:Off the chart during that time.
Speaker A:But, Jeremiah, do you want to kind of explain, like, how you counterbalanced and, like, your situation through that?
Speaker A:Because you didn't really get a break.
Speaker A:And I feel like normal contractions, people get a break in between.
Speaker A:But there are photos of you laying with me at one point.
Speaker A:Like, I don't even remember any of that.
Speaker C:Wow.
Speaker B:See, we learned.
Speaker B:So there's a side position where you lift your leg up onto one of the harnesses.
Speaker A:The holster.
Speaker B:Yeah, for your ankles.
Speaker B:So normally used during pregnancy, when you're giving birth, they put your legs up.
Speaker A:On those legs during labor?
Speaker B:Yeah, during labor.
Speaker B:And so what we did is we did the left side, and then we put the left side down to the right side.
Speaker B:So she would just put the opposite leg up, and that would give her room for her pelvic floor to open up and to help the baby start crowning.
Speaker A:But that was, like, seven hours of that.
Speaker B:There was another position that we had where she was on her knees.
Speaker B:She was holding two to three pillows at a time, like, hugging them.
Speaker B:And under my chest.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I'd swaddle her butt, and then I would shake her butt left and right, like, kind of like.
Speaker B:Like a shake weight.
Speaker B:You know, how it's rocking back and forth?
Speaker B:So you would do that with her hips, and so that was also just creating a better pelvic floor separation.
Speaker B:And then also we were on.
Speaker B:I was on top of her, applying pressure directly down on her hips, spreading her hips, and then.
Speaker B:Let's see.
Speaker A:But it was so intense, even Jeremiah's full body weight of doing that didn't counterbalance enough.
Speaker A:So he put cups.
Speaker B:Yeah, I cupped her back.
Speaker B:I. Gosh, I. I would say I put at least 200 pounds of my own body weight onto her hips.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Just to help alleviate that pain.
Speaker B:When she was hugging the pillows on her knees and it still was not enough.
Speaker A:I barely felt it.
Speaker C:At.
Speaker B:I would say around 6 o' clock is when we stopped doing the thing where you were on your knees and she stayed on her side the whole time.
Speaker B:We would swap left and right.
Speaker B:And then around 8 o' clock, we just stuck on the left.
Speaker A:I couldn't move anymore.
Speaker A:It was too painful.
Speaker B:So one thing that I want to know is her contractions were about 2 minutes apart.
Speaker B:From 4 o' clock up until 8 o'.
Speaker B:Clock.
Speaker A:It was non stop.
Speaker B:And when they would hit, she would go all the way up to about 60.
Speaker B:And when I say 60, it's like one out of a hundred.
Speaker B:And that scale is to measure how big the contraction was.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Or like how strong it was.
Speaker B:And so it would hit 60 and then it would stay at 60 for about 90 seconds to 2 minutes.
Speaker B:And so then around 8 o' clock is when.
Speaker A:Well, before that, though, before that, I saw it going off the scale.
Speaker D:Fail.
Speaker A:Jeremiah.
Speaker A:When I was on, when I was.
Speaker B:Down in the pillows periodically, it would.
Speaker B:It would jump up.
Speaker B:But the 8 o' clock hit and your resting was 60.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it would skyrocket and it would be above 100.
Speaker B:Like it was no longer tracking her contraction or the pain she was in.
Speaker B:And it was gone for like minutes.
Speaker A:Yeah, three.
Speaker B:And it would come down all the way to like 80, 60 and start climbing right back up.
Speaker B:And it was insane.
Speaker B:So when she was on her left side, I had Savannah's sister.
Speaker B:She had her hand in her pelvic area, applying pressure, counterbalancing Savannah that way there.
Speaker B:She did not rest on the baby.
Speaker B:And that way there.
Speaker B:Her hips still stayed in alignment for the baby to come out from.
Speaker B:Gosh, this is 1 o' clock to about 8 o'.
Speaker A:Clock.
Speaker B:10.
Speaker C:17.
Speaker B:No, I would say 10 o'.
Speaker B:Clock.
Speaker B:I had pressure on her spine the entire time.
Speaker A:Yeah, that is true.
Speaker B:I think I. I walked away from you to go to the restroom once and then to eat a beef snack once.
Speaker A:And people didn't bring him water.
Speaker B:I didn't drink any water that entire time.
Speaker A:And they were at point.
Speaker A:I could feel Jeremiah's hand shaking behind me.
Speaker B:My hand turned purple.
Speaker A:Yeah, I could feel his legs quivering, like his body weight quivering.
Speaker A:I felt so bad.
Speaker A:And it sucks because, like, I felt horrible.
Speaker A:But then I Couldn't breathe and I couldn't go through the contractions without him.
Speaker A:And other people would try to step in and do it, and no one could hook in the same way that Jeremiah could.
Speaker A:And that's the other thing.
Speaker A:People would come in and offer help, like family members, and Jeremiah couldn't.
Speaker A:He didn't have the time to explain to them how to do these things.
Speaker A:And that also took away from him paying attention to me.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So, I mean, looking at it, I don't really care to have people come to our next birth.
Speaker A:Like, I would love it if it was just Jeremiah and I and then birth helpers.
Speaker B:Like, definitely.
Speaker A:Like a midwife and a couple doulas or whatever, you know, so that Jeremiah could get help and I can get help and then that's it.
Speaker A:And people can see the baby after.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, and that's if I. I told him at the time, I was like, we're adopting.
Speaker A:I'm never having a baby again.
Speaker A:It was so intense.
Speaker B:But Savannah did amazing, and she listened to me a lot.
Speaker B:Like, I had.
Speaker B:I did have to remind her, like, breathe deeper.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Box breathing.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker A:And the nighttime nurses also told me they're like, your husband's doing an amazing job.
Speaker A:Listen to your husband.
Speaker A:And he's coaching you perfectly.
Speaker A:He knows exactly.
Speaker A:Like, and that was really encouraging to hear.
Speaker A:And literally, after I gave birth, they were like, we're hiring your husband, dude.
Speaker A:Like, that was.
Speaker A:He was in that labor, like, a part of it.
Speaker A:And people were so impressed with Jeremiah.
Speaker A:Like, so impressed with how he coached me through labor with breathing and calming down and keeping my.
Speaker A:My screams low, too.
Speaker A:Like, my grunts.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:To like a.
Speaker A:Instead of the high pitched screams, which those 10.
Speaker A:Those came back for like the last.
Speaker A:My.
Speaker A:My three pushes with Penelope.
Speaker B:And there's gonna be other voices that try to come and give advice and honestly to the husbands.
Speaker B:Speak over them.
Speaker B:Yeah, speak over them because tell them to leave or.
Speaker B:Yeah, tell them to leave.
Speaker B:It was really hard for me to control the room while I was in it with you.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I'm not saying, like, I gave birth or anything like that, or I went through the same suffering or anything.
Speaker A:Like that, but he still went through suffering with.
Speaker B:I just.
Speaker B:There was a point in time where I just could no longer hold my own head up.
Speaker B:And so I didn't know who was in the room the last hour of that entire thing.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Jeremiah was just 100 focused on, and I had no idea.
Speaker A:Like, for six of the hours, I didn't know who was there when Terianne came in and held my hand.
Speaker A:I knew she was there.
Speaker A:Same with Liz at one point.
Speaker A:But like, in grandma, all my aunt, like, people come in and I acknowledge them for a millisecond.
Speaker A:And then I'd go through the contractions and just like.
Speaker A:I'm like, I don't give two hoots who's right next to me.
Speaker A:I just wanted Jeremiah there.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:One thing I do wish is and my sister.
Speaker B:I. I do wish the nurses looked at our plan more because we said we never wanted more than two people in there and people in, which meant.
Speaker A:Just Jeremiah and just Sierra and myself.
Speaker B:And this is also on kind of Savannah, because she asked for her mom, and then her mom, like, invited other people in and.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, I asked for my mom to be in there because it's my mom.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:And then she suggested, oh, this person would like to come in.
Speaker B:You're like, okay.
Speaker A:And I'm like, well, I say, okay.
Speaker B:She's wrong.
Speaker A:Well, that's when you just go up to my mom and then you say, savannah's in labor right now.
Speaker A:Don't ask her things.
Speaker A:I'm telling you, this is on our birth plan.
Speaker B:Oh, I did say that.
Speaker A:You told my mom.
Speaker B:I told, like, anyone.
Speaker B:Time anyone came in to ask you a question, I was like, don't ask your questions right now.
Speaker B:She can't answer him.
Speaker B:She's focused.
Speaker A:All right, so then if someone's asking to bring another person in, you just say no.
Speaker B:Yeah, I guess I should have done well.
Speaker B:I mean, both of our faults, in a way, I guess.
Speaker A:I'm in labor.
Speaker A:None of it's my fault.
Speaker B:We all have parts to play.
Speaker B:But I do think be aware of the type of stress you can handle and think about that extra to, like, the most extreme, because you can have an amazing birth and where you feel no pain and it's going to be perfect, and then you're going to hit that extreme.
Speaker B:You're not going to know what your limit was until you reach that new limit.
Speaker B:And I think it's very healthy to just think of not the worst case scenario, but what is that next step?
Speaker B:Like, one of the things that we talked about on our birth plan is we don't want any painkillers.
Speaker B:But there was a point in time.
Speaker A:Well, I did put if there.
Speaker A:If I had one there, I would want what I would want.
Speaker B:So she wanted the.
Speaker B:The gosh.
Speaker A:Nitrous oxide.
Speaker B:Yeah, she wanted the nos.
Speaker B:And so we did at the end.
Speaker A:I know, it's just funny.
Speaker B:Street name nos.
Speaker B:I'm from the hood, people.
Speaker A:So I couldn't even say to Jeremiah.
Speaker A:I put my hand over my mouth like a mask.
Speaker B:Knew exactly what she wanted.
Speaker B:Well, I mean, we did back in high school.
Speaker A:I was like, pain, please, pain.
Speaker A:And then Jeremiah ran to go get it, but it still took them, like, what, 45 minutes, dude.
Speaker B:They brought you one back.
Speaker B:And it was.
Speaker B:They were missing a part.
Speaker B:And so when they found the part to replace it, they found out the machine they brought in, the reason why it was missing the part is because it was already broken.
Speaker B:So it didn't have the parts bring with it.
Speaker B:So they had to go get a brand new one, bring that in, and hook it up, dude.
Speaker A:And by that time, too, when I.
Speaker B:Asked for it, it was like 20 minutes, and we were done.
Speaker D:Yeah, I. I was.
Speaker A:And by the way, it didn't work.
Speaker A:It didn't work at all.
Speaker A:They gave it to me, I put it over my face and I started breathing it in.
Speaker A:And I was like, it's not working.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And it's because.
Speaker A:Did nothing.
Speaker A:But I will say, just to kind of finish, I guess, our birth story.
Speaker B:I. I wanted to say one more thing, though, just because, like, whenever I let go and I like to take a break, you screamed.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:You were like, jeremiah, where are you?
Speaker A:I knew right away.
Speaker B:So painful.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:And there.
Speaker A:Jeremiah cried a lot, too.
Speaker A:And so did my sister.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Actually, anyone who went in there, they said they cried because they couldn't believe.
Speaker B:How much everybody cried except Savannah.
Speaker B:She was, like, the strongest one out of all of us.
Speaker B:But so when vomited, she did vomit.
Speaker B:That was gnarly.
Speaker B:There's a couple times you were like, I'm gonna vomit.
Speaker B:And you didn't vomit.
Speaker B:And it was literally.
Speaker B:The nurse literally says, like, minutes before you give birth, you will vomit.
Speaker A:Yeah, sometimes because it was my body pushing so hard that it pushed also upward.
Speaker B:So one of the really big things that I noticed while supporting Savannah and, like, holding her spine is.
Speaker B:Is every single time she had a contraction, I could feel it in her spine.
Speaker B:Like, in my hands.
Speaker B:I could feel.
Speaker A:Well, that's before I got to that part.
Speaker A:This is what I wanted to say.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Because the reason why my labor was only eight minutes or eight minutes, eight hours long, which is pretty short for the first time you give birth.
Speaker A:But I feel like she would have come a lot sooner.
Speaker A:I didn't do cervical checks.
Speaker A:I asked for sporadic cervical checks or only when we wanted to.
Speaker A:And around seven hours in.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Seven hours.
Speaker B:Seven hours.
Speaker B:That would be nine o' clock.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:I was telling them, like, I can feel, I want to push, but I'm not ready.
Speaker A:I said, I want to push.
Speaker A:I can feel something's wrong.
Speaker A:And so they said, well, can we do a cervical check?
Speaker A:And I think they'd only done two before that.
Speaker C:One, Two.
Speaker A:Yeah, they'd only done two before that.
Speaker A:And it went from like three centimeters.
Speaker A:Then I was at five and I was like, oh, my God, five centimeters, that's it.
Speaker A:And this is so painful.
Speaker A:And they said, okay, well, we need to check.
Speaker A:And they said, well, you're dilated to six, but the bag is not fully broken.
Speaker A:So this is why I had such a small gush beforehand, was because the outer bag of my amniotic fluid in my sack had broken.
Speaker A:But Penelope was so low in my cervix that her head suction cupped and sealed the.
Speaker A:The inner bag, which is a lot thicker and harder to break.
Speaker A:And sometimes babies are born, like, in their bag and they'll come out and it's actually, you know, like a beautiful thing.
Speaker A:And it's cool.
Speaker A:You get to pop the bag with them out of it.
Speaker A:And it looks really cool, but that's a lot easier to do in water birth.
Speaker A:And so she was actually stuck because the bag was pulling her back.
Speaker A:And then my body was contracting and trying to push her down, but it was creating.
Speaker A:It was a lot harder.
Speaker A:So when they went up to check, without asking, they popped the bag, which I put on my thing to ask if they wanted to do it.
Speaker A:But I think the girl, she just went in and she could tell I was in pain, so she popped it.
Speaker A:And then within an hour, I went from being a 9 or dilated at a 6, at 9 o' clock to a 10 o'.
Speaker C:Clock.
Speaker A:I was dilated to 10.
Speaker B:Yeah, I don't think she popped it, though.
Speaker A:She did.
Speaker A:She popped it.
Speaker B:So, like, the way they explained it to me is they stick their.
Speaker A:She finished popping it.
Speaker A:Well, is what the nurse told me.
Speaker B:So the way they explain it to me is like they stick their finger inside.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:And then they push the baby up and then they roll their finger all the way around.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so when they push the baby up and start rolling their finger inside.
Speaker A:Of the edge, she popped the rest of it.
Speaker B:Well, the hole that was already there just fully came out.
Speaker A:Okay, she popped it.
Speaker B:I mean, I don't count that as a pop.
Speaker A:I'm just saying she finished popping it is what I said.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker A:So I'm just saying they said it was, like, not purposeful, but I mean, I could feel.
Speaker A:I felt inside of me.
Speaker A:I felt her go and then shove up further.
Speaker A:So I felt her pop it more.
Speaker A:But then the biggest gush came out of me.
Speaker A:And then I continued to gush and then bleed a lot.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:A lot of fluid came out.
Speaker A:And then.
Speaker A:Now this is where Jeremiah started to feel her come down my vertebrae, Right?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Okay, so can you explain that more?
Speaker B:Gosh, I don't really know how to explain.
Speaker B:Was just something that you experience, like my hand.
Speaker B:So I would plant my entire hand on her, I guess.
Speaker B:What is it?
Speaker A:L. My sacrum and lumbar.
Speaker B:Lumbar spine all the way up to the tailbone, and I just.
Speaker B:Right up right above her pelvic floor, applying all this pressure.
Speaker B:And as the baby was coming down, I can feel each vertebrae push into my hand.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker A:And I wanted Jeremiah to follow it, too.
Speaker B:As.
Speaker B:As her head would go by.
Speaker B:Like, I can feel the next one start moving up.
Speaker B:And then one was falling down while the next one was going up.
Speaker A:And I was screaming, and I literally.
Speaker B:Turned to the nurse.
Speaker B:I was like, should I be feeling this?
Speaker B:Is this okay?
Speaker B:And Savannah heard me, and she.
Speaker B:I knew she was mad at me.
Speaker B:I was like, oh, gosh.
Speaker B:I was trying not to say that.
Speaker A:Loud, but I wasn't mad at you.
Speaker B:Oh, you got mad.
Speaker A:I just didn't want you to not do it.
Speaker A:Like, I. I didn't want you.
Speaker A:Like, if it felt better for me, I didn't care.
Speaker B:Oh, no.
Speaker B:What you said in the moment you told me, it's like, I don't want to hear this right now.
Speaker D:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Because I was like, I wasn't trying to tell you.
Speaker A:Yeah, well, because it did.
Speaker A:It freaked me out that I could hear Jeremiah freaking out, you know?
Speaker B:Yeah, it was.
Speaker B:No, none of this was explained to us.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Nobody told us I was gonna have to hold her spine.
Speaker B:Nobody told us we're gonna need another hand to hold her hip in place.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Nobody told us about back labor.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:These are things that warn you guys about.
Speaker B:Warn you about.
Speaker B:But also, I think this is a form of gosh, A way to get people to not know the pain that's good.
Speaker B:That can possibly come.
Speaker B:To scare them into getting those painkillers and stuff like that.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because if you don't know it's coming and it hits you and you're like, this doesn't feel normal.
Speaker B:It's because it's not 100% normal, but it is okay and healthy.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Just because it isn't normal for everybody doesn't Mean, it's not a healthy thing.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I think that's the thing that we.
Speaker D:Sorry.
Speaker A:I keep going away from the mic because Penelope, it's getting time to feed her, and this is a long episode.
Speaker A:Um, but, yeah, I think at the end of the day, it was one of those things where Jeremiah had no idea what he was doing.
Speaker A:I had no idea what I was doing.
Speaker A:It was the blind leading the blind.
Speaker A:And then we thought that the staff would actually help us.
Speaker A:And they made things more confusing because they were so vague.
Speaker A:But then finally, obviously, it got to the point where I could tell I wanted to put, like, it was.
Speaker A:My body was doing the fetal ejection push because I didn't want to push before that.
Speaker A:I didn't want to have a bunch of tears and thank the Lord.
Speaker A:I think I only pushed, like, twice before that because I could.
Speaker A:That one in the hour before where I felt like, I want to push with, there's something wrong.
Speaker A:I tested it and I pushed once.
Speaker A:I pushed a little twice.
Speaker A:And that's where I was like, I can feel she's stuck.
Speaker A:There's something wrong.
Speaker A:And that's why we did the cervical check.
Speaker A:Popped the bag more.
Speaker A:She came down.
Speaker A:And now my three actual pushes.
Speaker A:I could feel she was ready to come, and no one was going to stop me because my body was pushing her out.
Speaker A:And I could feel.
Speaker A:I did a push.
Speaker A:And then they were like, don't push, Savannah.
Speaker A:Don't push.
Speaker A:And I literally.
Speaker A:I think I said the F word to them.
Speaker B:No, you didn't.
Speaker A:I didn't.
Speaker A:In my head, I did.
Speaker A:I said, I don't effing care.
Speaker A:I was mad that they told me not to.
Speaker B:You said you cussed a lot, and I was like, I didn't hear you say bad words.
Speaker A:Oh, I think my brain said, like.
Speaker B:Two things out loud.
Speaker B:But it was not as much as you said it was.
Speaker A:I was repenting a lot.
Speaker B:You were holding captive those thoughts.
Speaker D:I will.
Speaker A:That's the other thing, too.
Speaker A:I was praying so much, you guys.
Speaker A:My sister.
Speaker A:I had my sister read scripture over me.
Speaker A:We were singing praise and worship songs the whole time.
Speaker B:We were so blessed.
Speaker B:Our night shift, she turned out to be a Christian.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:She helped us and supported us and encouraged us and loved on us.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:And she really.
Speaker B:She gave it her all.
Speaker A:And also, too, on my.
Speaker A:I wrote out a light part of my birth story on Instagram, and I put all the verses, the main things, I sang over and over again, Which Philippians.
Speaker A:That was a big one.
Speaker A:I can do all Things through Christ who strengthens me.
Speaker A:I said that probably a million times during birth.
Speaker B:She would start screaming, and I would just say, in all things.
Speaker A:And then she would strengthens me who cries of strength.
Speaker A:That's me.
Speaker A:And, yeah, it was really.
Speaker A:And singing, too, also helped a lot.
Speaker A:But, like, not.
Speaker B:It was hard to sing.
Speaker A:The first thing I did when I held Penelope was actually sing.
Speaker A:And I have that on recording, which is really cool.
Speaker A:Ah.
Speaker A:We said, oh, I know.
Speaker A:Oh, you want me to get you.
Speaker B:Milk and let you continue?
Speaker A:Yeah, sure.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:So I think the hardest thing, actually, can you take her love?
Speaker A:Because she's hot.
Speaker A:I think she's.
Speaker D:Are you okay?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker D:Oh, she's hot on me.
Speaker A:Feel how sweaty she is.
Speaker A:Sorry, you guys.
Speaker A:So anyway, during the last part of, like, labor, they were telling me not to push, and I literally.
Speaker A:My head was like, f, you guys, I'm gonna.
Speaker A:And then.
Speaker A:But I did say out loud, for sure.
Speaker A:I said, I'm gonna push.
Speaker A:And then that's when I saw all the nurses and a bajillion people run in.
Speaker A:And I was like, oh, okay, so now it's time.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:But I was surprised to see that my OB wasn't there.
Speaker A:And then I found out later that he had emergency C sections that he had to do and blah, blah, blah.
Speaker A:But it sucked because some rando guy came in and he very much hated my birth plan.
Speaker A:He was not.
Speaker A:He even tried to cut the umbilical cord.
Speaker A:But to sum it up really quickly, I didn't know this, but on the video, one, they weren't supposed to wipe off the Vernix, which is the white coating that's on the baby.
Speaker A:She comes out, and I did one push.
Speaker A:They told me not to push.
Speaker A:I basically was like, f, you guys.
Speaker A:I pushed again, and I felt her crowning, and then I pushed one last big time, and she came out.
Speaker A:But the nurse.
Speaker A:I could see in the video my mom took, the nurse pulled her neck, and she actually has a C1, C2 vertebrae misalignment now that we know of because of it, which has affected her whole spine and even her feeding.
Speaker A:And I've been doing alignment work on her every time she's eaten because of it.
Speaker A:And that's been helping a lot.
Speaker A:We've taken her to a chiropractor twice, but that's a whole other thing.
Speaker A:Um, so from that, there's a birth injury, and then she came out with her belly full of amniotic fluid, which, again, is not as a bad.
Speaker A:It's not a bad thing.
Speaker A:It's totally fine.
Speaker A:But it made her very swollen.
Speaker A: Penelope came out at: Speaker A:And it was cute, too, because literally a minute before, my dad and my cousin and my uncle and a few other people in the other room were praying directly over me and Penelope and Jeremiah for her to come out, like, soon, because they knew I was in so much pain.
Speaker A:So they.
Speaker A:God literally answered all their prayers, which was so awesome.
Speaker A:She came out, the nurse pulled her head a little bit.
Speaker A:Not the Christian one that we loved, but some other rando lady.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And then they wiped off a ton of her Vernix.
Speaker A:And then in the video, they hand her to me, and they're still wiping off Vernix.
Speaker A:And I have to tell them after having just pushed her out of me two seconds later, please stop wiping the Vernix off.
Speaker A:And the lady goes, it's fine.
Speaker A:There's not a lot on her anyway, which is dumb.
Speaker A:I mean, even if there was barely any, then leave it on her, you know?
Speaker A:So those kind of things really pissed me off, looking back at it.
Speaker A:And Jeremiah also was just so exhausted and so overwhelmed.
Speaker A:There's no way he could have advocated at that point.
Speaker A:And he was also just in shock because his wife just gave birth and he's seeing his newborn for the first time.
Speaker A:Then the OB walked in and he said, I don't know.
Speaker A:I don't even know if he introduced himself, but the OB walked in and he made it very clear, like, he wanted to be in and out of there very quickly.
Speaker A:Um, and so he started to cut the umbilical cord.
Speaker A:And I said, no, no, no.
Speaker A:Not until the umbilical cord was white and pulsating.
Speaker A:And I, like, kind of motioned Jeremiah to get the birth plan, but I could tell he was sweating and exhausted.
Speaker A:And at this point, I didn't really care if Jeremiah advocated for me or not, because I could tell he was more beat than me, you know, like, what I went through was like a natural and normal experience.
Speaker A:Jeremiah was literally in a lunging position for eight hours.
Speaker A:And, like, his hands were still, like, purple looking.
Speaker A:I could tell from when I was looking at him.
Speaker A:So he looked, like, dead.
Speaker A:And I.
Speaker A:He went and got water finally, I think, for the first time.
Speaker A:And what happened?
Speaker A:Oh, and then I had a grade two tear internally vaginally, which isn't too bad.
Speaker A:It required four stitches, but they told me I'd have to give birth to the placenta first before I could get stitched up.
Speaker A:So they aggressively shook my belly to get the placenta out.
Speaker A:And I told them, I was like, wait, this.
Speaker A:I could be up to 30 minutes for the.
Speaker A:For me to give birth to the placenta.
Speaker A:And I had to keep telling them no.
Speaker A:And I had to say ouch.
Speaker A:And I told them to.
Speaker A:I literally screamed at them twice to let me rest and let me relax.
Speaker B:The worry was.
Speaker B:The worry was, is that you were gonna bleed out possibly if they let you wait the 30 minutes to have the placenta naturally.
Speaker A:I mean, but what was the proof or evidence of that, you know?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:You were bleeding a lot.
Speaker B:Like there was a little waterfall coming.
Speaker A:Out of you of blood.
Speaker A:But that's kind of normal, though.
Speaker B:I don't know what was normal.
Speaker A:Yeah, I know.
Speaker A:I wonder what a midwife would have said.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, instead.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's just things like that.
Speaker A:They did end up giving me a shot for clotting.
Speaker A:They wanted me in my butt or my leg.
Speaker B:It was in inner thigh.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:I couldn't.
Speaker A:They're like, we know you're scared of needles.
Speaker A:And I was like, it's okay, just do it quickly and I'll look away.
Speaker A:So I remember them doing that.
Speaker A:And then they said if I had lost any more blood, they would have given me a blood transfusion.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker A:Which I'm really thankful that that didn't happen because I don't want some other randos blood with vaccinations and things like that in it.
Speaker A:So that wasn't the vibe.
Speaker A:So I don't know how much blood I actually lost.
Speaker A:And I don't know how they were even measuring it or how they knew how much I'd lost or If I lost 10 more or whatever.
Speaker B:So close.
Speaker B:I think they said something like 550.
Speaker B:If you would have hit 5.
Speaker B:550.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Then they would have been worried.
Speaker A:That's what I'm saying.
Speaker A:How do they even measure that?
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:I think with the monitor that was on your tummy.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker B:I don't know either.
Speaker A:I don't know how they measured it, but either way it felt like a lot of fear mongering instead of.
Speaker A:Instead of just like communicating.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:Anyway, so with that, the obvious, he.
Speaker A:Everyone was aggressively shaking my belly.
Speaker A:And then the placenta finally came out after five whole minutes, which is really fast.
Speaker B:He complained about it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:He literally took five minutes.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:He was like, I believe that.
Speaker A:Like, that took forever.
Speaker A:And I was like.
Speaker A:And then for like the fifth time, I was like, again, it could take up to 30 minutes for a woman to naturally deliver her placenta, but whatever.
Speaker A:And so then he was like, okay, Savannah, I'm gonna give you a local anesthetic, like a local anesthesia over where he was going to give me the stitches so that it would go numb and I wouldn't feel it.
Speaker A:So then he injects me with the anesthetic internally, vaginally, and then immediately doesn't wait any time for the anesthetic to actually kick in.
Speaker A:He starts sewing me up.
Speaker A:And my mom, still, to this day, my mom still wants to complain about him.
Speaker A:He started sewing me up.
Speaker A:I could feel every single stitch.
Speaker A:And I screamed every single time he stitched me.
Speaker A:And I would tell him to slow down and I told him to stop and he didn't.
Speaker A:So that was awful.
Speaker A:Anyway, he ended up stitching me up and I felt every ass.
Speaker A:I felt like I was in like the civil war, dude.
Speaker A:Like, you know when people like chop off a leg and they're like, just bite a towel.
Speaker A:Like that's what it felt like.
Speaker B:I mean, so that doesn't take all the pain away, period.
Speaker A:No, but it would have been nice for it to night lightly numb minutes.
Speaker B:And then do it.
Speaker B:So one of the things is like the OB's no longer.
Speaker B:He's not getting paid to pay.
Speaker B:Be there.
Speaker A:Yeah, no, cuz it was past that time.
Speaker A:Also, he tried to cut the umbilical cord.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:After.
Speaker A:So not only was he pissed that he had to wait for it to pulsate and stuff and turn white, but then he was like, okay, it's done and tried to cut it.
Speaker A:And I went, wait.
Speaker A:And I'm like, I have my daughter, my newborn on my chest and I'm dealing with all of this.
Speaker A:And I was like, I was like, can my husband cut it?
Speaker A:And thank God I said something cuz Jeremiah was paying attention to me and the baby.
Speaker A:And then he's like, oh yeah, you know.
Speaker A:And then did you.
Speaker A:You cut the umbilical cord?
Speaker C:I did.
Speaker A:Was it cool to cut it or was it weird?
Speaker B:It literally felt like I was cutting through arteries.
Speaker A:You.
Speaker A:You kind of are.
Speaker A:You are.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So it was a little weird because it felt like I was cutting flesh when I'm working.
Speaker B:When I cut meat, I could feel like when I hit an artery and it's a little.
Speaker B:It's kind of gross cutting through with scissors.
Speaker A:I was attached to your baby and your wife.
Speaker C:It'd be.
Speaker B:It would have been kind of fun to just have a knife there and done it.
Speaker A:Anyway.
Speaker A:If you guys want to know what we did with our placenta?
Speaker A:Our friend came and took it and then had it frozen, and it's still in our freezer, and we don't know what to do with it.
Speaker A:I just didn't want the.
Speaker A:I didn't want the hospital to make 5,000 or $50,000 off of me and my placenta.
Speaker A:So that wasn't going to happen.
Speaker A:Anyway, everyone left because then it was time for us to have our, quote, unquote, golden hour.
Speaker A:But the golden hour was Jeremiah and I basically sitting there overwhelmed, getting asked a bunch of questions and then them kind of lightly helping me, like, get up and then go into a new bed and then shift over.
Speaker A:And it wasn't really, like, alone time because it was just us and a bunch of nurses, you know.
Speaker B:So the cleanup was crazy.
Speaker D:Yeah, I.
Speaker A:There was fluid everywhere, and Jeremiah was slipping on the floor.
Speaker B:Yeah, I was in her ambiotic fluid, knees deep.
Speaker A:Anyway, all of that being said, then going into, you know, like, our friends and family were waiting until like, one in the morning to see us.
Speaker A:So then they all got to.
Speaker A:And I had family drive out from Vegas, like, it was just an insane time.
Speaker A:And we did.
Speaker A:We let everyone hold her that wanted to hold her.
Speaker A:We didn't mind as long as no one kissed her and no one was sick.
Speaker A:And it was pretty.
Speaker A:It was good after that.
Speaker A:But it was hard getting used to each other, the three of us in the hospital.
Speaker A:And then we had to get used to each other again once we got home.
Speaker A:Also, all three of the lactation consultants that we saw in the hospital were so confusing and all very different.
Speaker A:And the hospital doesn't feed your husband, so people had to come and bring food to Jeremiah, like breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Speaker A:And then Jeremiah ended up getting sick while in the hospital because we got no sleep and no one was taking care of him.
Speaker A:And then when he finally was getting sleep, the nurses that came that were taking care of us in the delivery ward because we did labor and delivery, and then the next one was like, just delivery.
Speaker A:So it's just you and your baby and your husband sleeping there.
Speaker A:They were, like, judging Jeremiah for sleeping a ton and me being awake.
Speaker B:I mean, they didn't know anything that happened to the side.
Speaker B:All they do is watch you.
Speaker A:I know, but it's annoying.
Speaker A:I felt like I had to advocate and tell them, like, my husband worked so hard, and they were looking at me like, okay, like, you're the one who pushed out a baby.
Speaker A:And I was like, yeah, but my husband wasn't pushing out a baby and his whole body was, like, convulsing for hours.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I could feel you shaking, so.
Speaker B:Oh, I see what you mean.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:And, like, what you were going through is, like, a hard workout.
Speaker A:What I was going through, like, is a natural process, and it is a hard workout, but still, it was natural.
Speaker A:I was also shaking for, like, days after.
Speaker A:Another thing that people don't talk about enough is, like, they do say that you'll get some contractions, you know, when your uterus is shrinking back.
Speaker A:Some contractions.
Speaker A:Felt like I was in labor again, like, over.
Speaker A:Especially the first week after I gave birth.
Speaker A:My cramping was so intense.
Speaker A:It felt like that back labor again.
Speaker A:I could feel it.
Speaker A:So wearing those diapers was.
Speaker A:Having diapers was super, super handy.
Speaker B:And bring your own diapers because they're not comfy.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:The ones at the hospital are awful.
Speaker A:They give you, like, an underwear, and then you have to put in three different pads.
Speaker A:It makes no sense.
Speaker A:So that's the one thing I would say bring to the hospital are your own diapers.
Speaker A:I also barely used that squirty bottle thing, even at home.
Speaker A:It didn't help a lot.
Speaker A:I still am releasing something I want to ask you.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:What was your favorite thing about labor.
Speaker A:But it being over?
Speaker B:What would you do over again?
Speaker A:What would I do over again?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:What went right for you?
Speaker A:I think getting the hospital when we did and not giving two hoots and fighting to stay to get settled, because then you were able to do essential oils, which was great.
Speaker A:We were able to set the room a little bit.
Speaker A:Yeah, that was the one.
Speaker A:Like, us getting there and kind of being like, I don't really care what you have to say, lady.
Speaker B:What's one thing you knew beforehand going in there?
Speaker A:One thing that.
Speaker B:Yeah, like, one thing that, like, you did all your research.
Speaker B:What's the, like, one.
Speaker B:The number one thing you wish you knew before you went into labor?
Speaker A:Oh, that.
Speaker A:I wish I knew.
Speaker A:Yeah, we.
Speaker A:I wish before going into labor, I made it really clear to the nurses, like, ask my husband if before someone else comes in, if he wants them there.
Speaker B:Yeah, the transition.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:I wish that I made it super clear to every nurse that my husband was in charge.
Speaker A:Like, if, like, before another person comes in that what's not my sister ask.
Speaker A:And then if my husband says no, the nurses would have to play the bad guy.
Speaker A:That's what I wish I told them when we made that clear once we were in the delivery area and if we didn't want someone there the nurses would be like, oh, sorry, they're sleeping.
Speaker A:You know, like, visiting hours are not the right time, but during labor, why that wasn't a thing is beyond me.
Speaker A:So that's one thing I really wish just to make.
Speaker A:To have taken pressure off of you so that we could have focused on each other more and so that you could have gotten the support that you needed more from the actual labor and delivery team.
Speaker B:What's one thing that you would do different this time around, like, for the next pregnancy that you can prepare for?
Speaker A:That I can prepare for?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:I don't think I feel comfortable enough, even though I follow a wild pregnancy and free birthing group.
Speaker A:Like, is that her?
Speaker B:That's a gnarly fart.
Speaker A:That's her pooping.
Speaker B:It's not.
Speaker B:It's not squeak, squeak or.
Speaker B:Yeah, they're like butterfly and rainbows.
Speaker B:I'll tell you that right now.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's a lot of yellow poo poo.
Speaker A:I love cloth diapering, I think.
Speaker A:Oh, my goodness, girl.
Speaker B:My little Penny.
Speaker A:I mean, I feel like I would love to have a home birth or.
Speaker A:I don't know, because of where we live and we share a wall with our neighbors.
Speaker A:I don't think I'd want to have a home birth.
Speaker D:I would.
Speaker A:Because I wouldn't feel comfortable, really.
Speaker A:Like, if I have a back labor again, I'm gonna be so loud.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I won't feel comfortable being, like, using my breath in my.
Speaker A:Not my screams, but, you know, like, my deep, like.
Speaker B:Yeah, your moans.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:That were helping me through it.
Speaker A:So for sure.
Speaker A:A birth center.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker A:I think you wouldn't do.
Speaker B:To do that over again.
Speaker A:No, I wouldn't do a hospital unless I had to ever again.
Speaker A:Because of how, like, we had our nurses.
Speaker A:I just thought, like, the three nurses that were helping us, that was going to be it.
Speaker A:But when the 12 people came in and that random nurse who pulled her out, like, I don't ever want that again.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:I don't want to deal with a random OB coming in, people who aren't on my birth team, who don't care about our birth plan, who don't care about her and her health, who don't care about me.
Speaker A:Who cares.
Speaker A:Don't care about you.
Speaker A:I don't want that ever again.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Especially if it's going to be around the same cost.
Speaker A:I mean.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:One's more up front, but I feel like financially now that you and I are really getting serious about our finances, saving for that and knowing that we do want that someday and just being prepared for that is more important to me than giving birth in a hospital.
Speaker A:I don't think I could do a free or a wild birth or whatever.
Speaker A:Free birthday.
Speaker A:Just because, like, even that blood thing, like, I don't know how much if I lose too much blood, what that looks like.
Speaker A:Yeah, like, whatever.
Speaker A:I don't know whether or not, like, to check if our baby's healthy or safe or whatever it is, that whole thing.
Speaker B:So our super baby.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:She came out with one arm flying.
Speaker A:She did.
Speaker C:She.
Speaker B:She literally flew out like Superman with.
Speaker A:One arm out first.
Speaker B:Great.
Speaker A:She's doing it right now, which is of kind.
Speaker A:So how about for you?
Speaker A:If there's one thing you.
Speaker A:You are proud of that we did.
Speaker C:Proud of.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker A:That you're, like, looking back, you're like, I'm glad we did that.
Speaker B:I'm glad you had the courage to ask for the gas.
Speaker B:And you were not stubborn.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I. I think it's good to know your pushing point and to have the humility to just be like, I need a little help.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Don't be afraid.
Speaker A:It did help me mentally relax a little bit too, where I felt like she came out easier because of it.
Speaker A:And then one thing.
Speaker A:If you could change anything, what would it be for the next birth?
Speaker A:If.
Speaker A:If I can forget what happened.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:If it was impertaining to going to the hospital again, I would say I would want a sign for everyone to.
Speaker B:Who walks in to read.
Speaker B:Like, this is a no.
Speaker B:This is a no.
Speaker A:So you could just point and be like, read the sign.
Speaker B:Read the sign before you get in here.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like, you have enough time to put gloves on.
Speaker B:Read the sign.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:For.
Speaker A:For nurses or for even guests?
Speaker B:No, just nurses.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker B:Just because, like, we only spoke to two of the nurses that night, and.
Speaker A:There was 12 that popped in.
Speaker B:That popped in to help.
Speaker B:And I'm like, who are you people?
Speaker B:And I didn't have an opportunity to talk to any of them.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, so that's what I'm saying.
Speaker B:It's discouraging that way.
Speaker A:It's discouraging.
Speaker B:Discouraging because I don't feel protected.
Speaker B:I don't feel like.
Speaker B:Like, the nurse can only do so much by herself.
Speaker B:She has to call for help.
Speaker B:And I didn't know that.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:I thought she was all we needed.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, I still didn't know, like, the whole floor comes when you give birth.
Speaker A:Like, what?
Speaker B:We learned a lot.
Speaker A:There are a lot of, like, random men and women in there, and I Was like, I don't even know if I want this.
Speaker A:Like, I don't know if I want all these people.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Looking at my hoo ha.
Speaker A:But, yeah, it was really.
Speaker B:I loved it.
Speaker B:Honestly, it was the best time for me to suffer.
Speaker B:And the outcome is amazing and beautiful.
Speaker B:And I'm really sorry that you've had to go through more pain than the average birth.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Our nurse told us at the very end.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:That in, like, 23 or 24 years of her working there, she's never seen someone go through painful birth.
Speaker B:She's ever seen.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:She's like, I've never seen anyone go under and go through those types of contractions ever for that long of a period and that intense.
Speaker A:And then she said, let alone be able to handle it naturally.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:She was, like, in shock.
Speaker A:She literally said.
Speaker A:She was like, I'm not surprised that you just leaned on the Lord, because I don't know how else you could have done that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Your strength and what you went through and just God is what kept me going.
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Literally, that is the reason why I was crying, because I was like, this is nothing like holding my hand here.
Speaker B:So what.
Speaker B:Compared to what Jesus went through, compared to what my wife's going through.
Speaker C:There'S nothing.
Speaker A:You're so sweet.
Speaker D:I love you.
Speaker A:Well, we can talk about more another time.
Speaker A:Like the next three days at the hospital.
Speaker A:I don't even know if that's necessary because I feel like I kind of went over that and I got sick.
Speaker A:Lactation consultants suck.
Speaker B:Hire a lactation consultant.
Speaker A:We did when we got home.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:If she.
Speaker B:If they're not latching immediately and a pro immediately, just call.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Schedule a little appointment.
Speaker B:Get one class.
Speaker A:Or you can have a lactation consultant, like a professional one outside of the hospital.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Come to the hospital.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Or come to your home.
Speaker A:But wait until.
Speaker A:At least.
Speaker A:You don't have to wait.
Speaker A:But it was nice that I had milk.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Though.
Speaker A:When we went there.
Speaker A:But just know, ultimately, you guys, like, God's gonna guide you through every single aspect of it.
Speaker A:And I swear, the Lord really did protect us through things because Jeremiah and I were so focused on each other.
Speaker A:There are things going on around us that we didn't even notice that Sierra was praying for my sister, who also was barely mentioned in the story, but she was.
Speaker B:She was a champion.
Speaker A:She was a huge help, my sister.
Speaker B:I couldn't be in two places.
Speaker B:She asked like, oh, do you want me to switch out and let somebody else.
Speaker B:I'm like, you're not leaving this room.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:I need you.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:There was no way we would have been able to do that without her.
Speaker A:And she had no preparation.
Speaker A:She had no idea what she was doing before walking into that room.
Speaker A:And she was all in a thousand percent.
Speaker A:An amazing auntie to Penelope, amazing sister to Jeremiah, and an amazing sister to me.
Speaker A:So she may be my blood sister, but she really was like Jeremiah's helper during that time.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So huge shout out.
Speaker B:Huge tip.
Speaker B:Colostrum does not work well with regular pumps.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:You didn't know that?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:You have to use a special colostrum pump.
Speaker A:Just rent the one from your hospital because it's so much cheaper.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Don't even if they tell you have to buy a whole new pump set when you get home.
Speaker A:Blah, blah.
Speaker A:No, just rent the one from the hospital.
Speaker B:You only need it for a week.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because you only pump.
Speaker A:You only have colostrum for like three to four days.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So don't worry about it.
Speaker A:And then your milk will start coming in.
Speaker A:They definitely did a lot of fear mongering for us.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:They're trying to sell us other machines and stuff in the hospital.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:For like another 300.
Speaker A:Oh, she's spitting up love.
Speaker B:Oh, she.
Speaker A:Here you go.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:It's all over her neck and face.
Speaker A:Anyway, we love you guys.
Speaker A:I hope and pray that this hearing, this story makes you hear that, like, even for Jeremiah and I, the most prepared, what we thought were the most prepared people ever.
Speaker A:Nothing is going to prepare you for God's plan except for just leaning into God and submitting to whatever is happening in the moment.
Speaker A:So that's all we could do and all we did do.
Speaker A:And that's what made our labor intensive labor bearable and then made it not feel like suffering so much, but made it enjoyable even.
Speaker A:Like Jeremiah and I can look back and there are really beautiful aspects of that.
Speaker A:And I've never appreciated my husband and my sister more than that moment, but especially my husband.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker A:With that, it is late for us.
Speaker A:And I can't believe how long this episode is.
Speaker A:Maybe we can break it up into two possibly so that you guys don't have to listen to it for so long.
Speaker A:Oh, and I guess.
Speaker A:I guess one last thing that we learned is the placenta.
Speaker A:When it's moving in your belly, it sounds like a sh.
Speaker A:Sound or a.
Speaker A:It's a consistent sound and a consistent movement of a sh.
Speaker A:Or.
Speaker A:And 1.
Speaker A:There are actually videos on YouTube where you can look up shushing sounds so you don't have to shush non stop, which is kind of nice.
Speaker A:They're also shushing machines.
Speaker A:And I was like, why do people buy these?
Speaker A:Now I know why.
Speaker A:But basically what you do is if your baby's super upset or super colic, which colic is also overused and over diagnosed.
Speaker A:I just did a post about that today about how to figure out if your baby's actually colic or if you're just overfeeding or all the things.
Speaker A:So go check that out.
Speaker A:Um, you'll see a photo of Penelope's little toesies and Jeremiah feeding her.
Speaker A:Um, but with that, if your baby is inconsolable and you need them to calm down for training for breastfeeding or a bottle or they just started screaming in the middle of the night, what you do is you put your baby's feet towards your chest.
Speaker A:You hold the back of their neck and their head with one hand, and then with another hand, you put your hand over their hands and put it on their chest.
Speaker B:So we should start doing little tutorial videos.
Speaker A:I know we can.
Speaker A:But you hold them and if you guys want, we can do a tutorial video.
Speaker A:And you bounce gently while supporting their neck.
Speaker A:You go up and down and go, shh.
Speaker A:But louder than their scream.
Speaker A:So if they're screaming bloody murder, you have to very loudly go.
Speaker A:And I don't want to do it super loudly in the mic, but you sound like a crazy person shushing over them or going over them.
Speaker A:And it makes them feel like they're in the womb slightly.
Speaker A:So you just hold it.
Speaker A:And that's the thing.
Speaker A:When you hold the back of their neck like that in their hands, it calms their parasympathetic nervous system and makes them feel like they're back in the womb.
Speaker A:So that was also a game changer for Jeremiah and I because the first few nights she was screaming non stop because she wasn't eating enough because I wasn't producing enough milk.
Speaker A:And that was the only thing that would give us like 5 seconds of her not screaming.
Speaker B:Grab extra swaddles while you're there.
Speaker A:Yeah, steal all the swaddles.
Speaker A:Steal all the things from the hospital, because guess what?
Speaker A:You're not stealing.
Speaker A:You're paying for those things anyway.
Speaker A:And the swaddles are literally perfect sized.
Speaker A:Okay, with that, finally, we really are going to Skadoodle because I'm exhausted, Jeremiah's exhausted.
Speaker A:Penelope, Atlas and Holly, we're all tired, and it's time to go.
Speaker A:Mimi's.
Speaker A:But we love you guys and we pray that this episode, whether it was a part of the Charlie Kirk aspect or Linda and Eric's story with the Bibles or, you know, even our birth story and learning about back labor and how we advocated for ourselves in the hospital, whether it was difficult and, you know, even Jeremiah and I getting so.
Speaker B:Big I can't swallow her with the hospital one anymore.
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I doesn't wrap around her well.
Speaker A:She's almost three weeks old, so.
Speaker A:And I'm like, sweaty and hot.
Speaker A:We have to turn the fan back on.
Speaker A:I'm like dying right now.
Speaker A:So with that, we love you guys.
Speaker A:It's time to finish burping Penelope and we need to get some sleep while she sleeps and prepare for church tomorrow.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah, we love you guys.
Speaker A:We pray that tomorrow you're able.
Speaker A:Like, as listeners, obviously you don't listen to this until Wednesday, but we pray that you guys are in a community.
Speaker A:We pray you're getting in the word daily, which is something Jeremiah and I are trying to to do right now.
Speaker A:And we pray that you guys are just in constant prayer again in repentance and thanksgiving for everything that God has given you.
Speaker A:And we are so thankful for you guys.
Speaker A:Prayers over Penelope and our family for Jeremiah and I and our finances for Jeremiah's work.
Speaker A:Now we're trying to figure out if it's time for him to go back to school, which is another exciting thing.
Speaker A:And, you know, just changing the lives of our family with that.
Speaker A:Always keep casting seeds.
Speaker A:And as you guys know, what that means is to be fruitful in the Lord and to not be afraid to remember that to die is gain.
Speaker A:There's no promise for tomorrow, you guys.
Speaker A:Even tonight, Jeremiah and myself, Penelope, there's no promise that we'll wake up tomorrow.
Speaker A:And if we don't, I pray that you guys can look at us and say, I know for a fact that I'll see my brother or sister in Christ in heaven.
Speaker A:That's all I could ask for.
Speaker A:Until then, keep casting seeds and keeping the amazing, wonderful audience that I know you guys are and don't hesitate to reach out.
Speaker A:Love you.
Speaker A:Bye.
Speaker A:We hope you enjoyed learning how to cultivate God's creation from a biblical perspective.
Speaker A:Holistic health is to prioritize whole person wellness through Christ like and comment on what topics we're casting seeds or casting pearls.
Speaker B:If you found this information provided useful, subscribe to our podcast for future updates.
Speaker B:Leave a review to help us improve and share this episode, we would like to remind you before we leave that perfect health cannot be attained in this world.
Speaker A:Only spiritual salvation through Sanctification and repentance to God and turning away from sin will give you a perfect body in the kingdom come.
Speaker A:Nourish yourself in the Word, in prayer, and in biblical fellowship daily.
Speaker B:Thank you for joining us today and a special thank you to our listeners for making this podcast possible.
Speaker A:Always praying.
Speaker B:Keep casting seeds.
