(Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.)
Welcome to the birth prep podcast. I'm Taylor, your birth bestie, who's here to support you as you plan and prepare for the unmedicated birth of your dreams. If you're ready to ditch the fear, conquer the hospital hustle, support that bum and bod, and walk into the delivery room like the HGIC you were born to be, then buckle up, babe.
This is where it all goes down. Hello, hello, and welcome back to the birth prep podcast. I have missed you guys.
It's been way too long since I've put on an episode over here, and I miss hanging out with you guys. I'm happy to be back though. I have been busy, at least lately, finding rhythm as a mama of six.
We had our baby, gosh, two weeks ago tomorrow. It flies by way too fast. It made me sad.
Anyways, she's almost two weeks old, and it has been a beautiful couple weeks with her and adjusting to life with six babies. Crazy, but gosh, the kids love her. She's a freaking angel.
She's literal perfection. I'm nursing her right now. Probably going to be the vibe from here on out.
Late night nursing sessions while I record a podcast episode. Anyways, I wanted to tell you guys my birth story with her, and I wasn't going to. My whole pregnancy, I went not really talking much about my plan, not really being, especially on the internet and stuff.
Obviously, I was planning and things like that, but I wasn't really open and vocal about things because I talk about a much different experience for birth with you guys versus what I was aiming for and preparing and planning for. I made this decision, not lightly. I made this decision after a lot of thinking and processing and a lot of time with the Lord and all that, but we had a wild pregnancy and our very first free birth.
Honestly, I never thought that would be in the cards or never really planned on that. I've always been super happy for the girls that chose that, super excited for them, but that's for them, not for me. After my experience last time with going as late as I did and feeling the pressure to induce from my provider, even though she was very holistic and really supported physiological birth, she also operated under her license.
There was a lot of reasons that led me to make that decision, but I'm not here to justify anything, but that's the decision that we made. And I'll tell you what, that was insane in the best way, but it was so different from what I've ever experienced ever before, so different from what I even envisioned and imagined. And it was just wild.
It was really crazy to do it by ourselves and have that experience together. And gosh, I can't even really put it into words. I'm going to try my best.
I was getting pretty late in the game. I was 40 weeks and six days the day that I started having contractions. And then she was born early the next morning when I was 41 weeks.
So I knew that she was coming soon, obviously, right? It's getting very close to the end at that point. So I knew she was coming, but that was not the first day that I had contractions. I had had lots of contractions throughout the last several weeks of pregnancy.
And grateful for the contractions, know that my body is doing work, work that it won't have to do later, all the things, right? We managed the thoughts. But every single time that I had contractions, it was like, no, this isn't it. I know it's not it.
It's just my body just preparing for the big day, but it's not the big day. Okay, so fast forward, then we're finally at the big day. But Taylor's still like, oh, this isn't it.
Still in denial. No, I'm probably going to be another week or so before she's actually here. No, I was in contact with everybody.
I told them like, hey, guys, I'm having contractions. My husband was planning to work that night and he did. And I just, you know, I was having contractions, but I was just going about life normally.
We played Legos. We played Play-Doh. I cleaned the house.
I cleaned my room. I cleaned my room literally at midnight. It was like midnight when I started.
And I think I finally got in bed at like one o'clock. But at midnight, I was like, really coming to terms with the fact that it might be real. And like, I might actually be in labor because I was having contractions.
But like, there was only an hour where they were actually like timable and they were only every 10 minutes. So, you know, I was keeping an eye on them. But I was just like letting it roll and just like going about life.
You know, I don't know. I kept saying my whole pregnancy that I wanted it to be just another day. And then a baby comes in the middle of it.
And then that's it. That's that's it. It's uneventful.
It's easy in the, you know, easy, but like, obviously, like birth is hard work. Like, don't get me wrong. But just wanted a very relaxed, chill, natural, just kind of experience.
I don't know. I don't know how else to describe it. But that was kind of the vibe, like just another day and a baby shows up.
That's what I wanted. And so I just went about it as another day. And I realized that like midnight, I was like, okay, this baby's actually coming.
Like, I had set up my room as my labor space. I'm like, gosh, I need to clean this room. Because for some reason, no, I know why, because I'm always in here.
So my kids are always in here. And like, it's like the hub, you know, and it gets so messy so fast. So I made the bed, did all the things.
And just, you know, spent the evening cleaning up. Matt got home, my husband got home around the time that I was ready for bed. I was, and I told him, he went upstairs to take a shower.
And I told him that, I told him to come check on me after he was done, because I was still having contractions. And I was, I went to sleep. I did sleep.
I was up several times with contractions and peeing and all that. And at like 4.15 ish in the morning, I got up. And that was the last time that I, that was the last time I got up.
Because I never went back down. I had a really painful contraction. I was like, oh gosh.
And I asked Matt for help. So he got up out of bed. He helped me like with my hip squeezes and stuff.
I was having really bad back pain, of course. And I had that contraction. I was like, okay.
I'm like, I think that this is it. Like it's go time. And basically I was in transition at that point.
So we labored together in the bathroom. I was on my hands and knees for a lot of it. I sat on the yoga ball for a lot of it.
He gave me my hip squeezes every time I had a contraction, we were timing them just because I just wanted some answers, you know, and like, there's no one to turn to for answers. No one to ask questions. There's no cervical checks.
There's no, you know, there's no nothing. And it's just me and him just riding it out. And so we were in the bathroom for a while and I was leaning on the yoga ball on my knees and I, I started like feeling her start to descend.
And I was like, okay, it's time. Like my body is feeling the urge to push. So I was like talking through all of it and describing to Matt what I was feeling.
And I wish I had, gosh, we both said that we wish we had set up a camera and I had had my little camera charging, but I never made it. Obviously like that wasn't a priority, but I wish that I had even just the audio of us like talking through everything. It was crazy.
It was really crazy. And I just wish that I had that, you know? Um, but anyways, so I was talking through things with him at one point. It was just funny.
I was talking to the Lord as well while I was having contractions and stuff like that, speaking promises, all of that. And one of the things that kept coming up, especially as I was working through the mindset stuff, I had a lot of family members that were concerned, rightfully so. I understand the concern.
Um, but every time it was brought up, it was very difficult for me because they just, you know, like I, I heard their fears and everything and like their fears are valid and they can definitely have their own fears. Like that's totally okay. But hearing them was just like, okay, like kind of like, I've already been through all these fears.
Like I've already, if you've had the fear, I've had the fear and I've already worked through it and all the things. So there's just like all this stuff coming back up, um, for me towards the end of pregnancy with everybody being concerned. Again, I understand.
And also it was hard for me. So like having to work through those things was difficult. But one of the things that just kept me through going through everything was the Lord's promise that it was already done.
Like he already promised me that it was going to happen and that the plan was good and that I was making this choice with him and he wanted me to have this experience for whatever reason. I did learn a lot. So it was a good experience.
I don't know if we'll do it this way ever again in the future. If there are future babies, um, I don't know. That's going to be, uh, we get there when we get there kind of thing.
Um, but anyways, I, like one of the promises that he kept telling me over and over again, that it's already done. So I would, I said that during one of my contractions, it was, I was really hard and I was in so much pain and Matt was doing the hip squeezes and those are the, those things that like, you don't realize how much they're helping until they stop. And it's like, ah, Lord help me.
Um, and I said out loud that it's already done, you know, repeating the Lord's promises over myself and my baby, my birth, all the things, you know, really in the zone. And Matt heard me and thought that my contraction was already done like probably like right at the peak, you know, like I'm like stressing during this contraction. And so he lets go.
And I was like, no, no, no, no, not you. It was funny. It was funny.
And also it was awful in the moment. Um, but now I can laugh about it now that it's over. Um, so I did have a very painful experience, a lot of back labor.
Um, but it was only really for like the hour that I was in that transition period. I think that's like really where I was at. Like when I woke up at four 15, she was born at five 17 for reference.
I don't think I said that yet. Um, but anyways, so we were walking through talking through all the things and I was, you know, feeling like telling him what I was feeling and it was just crazy how it happened. And I told him when her head was coming and he was behind me, I was on my hands and knees and he was going to catch her.
Um, we were in the bathroom trying to keep a mess to a minimum, you know, cause we had to do the cleanup and all that by ourselves. So, Oh, are we ready for the other boob? Hang on, pause. Okay.
Sorry about that. Um, anyhow, where was I? Oh, the baby was descending through the birth canal and I was describing what I was feeling and I could feel her head and all the things. So he could see her head and I birthed her head and he could see her and that she had cord around her neck.
So he was able to see that. And then, Oh, quick side note. I have had water births the last two times with my babies at home.
And I felt, um, not, I felt very led to have a quote unquote land birth. I don't like that term. That's a weird term.
A normal birth, in my opinion. Um, I felt like I needed to do that this time. And a lot of stuff came up during my, well, maybe before my pregnancy, actually, because I've been thinking about this rebirth since I had our last baby and she's almost three.
So it's been a couple of years, but I started really looking into water births and how they affect the physiological experience and all the things. And having a free birth, I felt like it was safest and best to have a birth outside of the water. So we had a birthing tub and we set it up.
I never filled it and never got the liner. My husband set it up for me in my room. Um, and we did have it set up even on the day of the birth, but we never filled it.
And, um, I had set it up because I wanted to get in it and like, enjoy the water. We tried the pool, but it was way too cold. Um, but I, yeah, so that's why we had set it up, all the things, but I, I had planned from the get-go to not use it during the actual birth.
Um, maybe to use it during labor. Like I just wanted to have it just in case. Anyways, we, I opted for a land birth and I'm glad that I did because he would not have been able to see her in the water because he's, you know, he caught our last baby.
So he isn't new to catching, so he can compare it to last time. He's like, I would not have been able to see that. So he saw that.
I'm glad that he did because then when she was actually born, when I birthed her shoulders and the rest of her, obviously she kind of like, they slide out after that. Right. Um, thank God.
And he was able to immediately unwrap her having that information. So it was wrapped around her body once and then her neck three times. So he quickly unwrapped her and held her for a moment while I turned around and she, you know, gave her her time to take her first breath.
She took a second, but not any longer than previous kids have and stuff. So she was good. Her air, you know, her airways were all clear.
She sounded really great. And she was there. And I was like, mind blown.
I was like, Holy cow. I cannot believe like, I could not believe that we had just done that. And the, I have the picture like of like the minute after she was born of Matt holding her in his face.
He just looks like shocked, like, Holy cow. Like we actually just did that. And we just took a few minutes to relax.
I knew I'd have to birth the placenta soon. Um, so I went and sat on the couch with her and just sat for a minute, relaxed. And then I was like, okay, it's time.
Like, I need to go get this thing out of me. And it was like, just ready to be done with that whole process. You know? So we went back to the bathroom and grabbed a bowl from the kitchen.
And I just, I stood and birthed the placenta. Matt caught it and then put it in the bowl. Poor guy almost threw up on that part, which is fair.
Placentas are gross. Like I put gloves on to mess around with it and look at it and stuff afterwards. So like, I get like not wanting to touch it.
It's gross. It's beautiful and amazing. And like, Holy cow, God is so awesome.
And his creation is literally beautiful and perfect and amazing. But also like, I don't know. It's just like gross.
I mean, I can't even process meat in our house. Like my husband does all that for us. Like I can't even trim the chicken guys.
It's so gross. So she doesn't do well with placentas either. It shouldn't be shocking.
But he, so he, you know, he obviously handled it like a champ. And also it was a lot. It was funny.
But we did that, birthed the placenta. And then we kept her on the cord for an hour, I think total almost. It was almost an hour.
And I was just like kind of ready to not have the bull carrying her around and stuff. And the cord was, was mostly white and done like emptying and stuff. There was a little left, but it was, it was enough for me to call it good.
It wasn't like pulsing or anything. It just seemed like it had slowed down and stopped. So I was just ready to call it.
So we, uh, clamped her cord and caught her cord. Crazy. Did it all, but you know, did it all by ourselves.
Um, we weighed her, we did our skin to skin. We did our, uh, you know, all of the typical things, first feed, all of that, and just enjoyed her. And it was crazy.
It was insane. I put a, I put my very first adult diaper on, like, I don't know, I've heard about using diapers instead of those giant pads. I like the giant pads and the mesh undies and stuff.
That's what I usually use like for the first couple of days. Um, but that stuff usually came in my birth kit and I didn't have a birth kit this time. We ordered little umbilical cord clamps from Amazon.
I'm pretty sure they're for goats and pigs and dogs and stuff. And that's what we used. They were teeny tiny, but they did the trick.
They were good. They worked. Um, and what else? That was really it.
And I got adult diapers for myself, but anyways, I used those, I don't know, I probably made it a day and a half and I was done. I was like, these are, I don't know, God bless y'all that can wear those for two weeks straight. I can't, but thankfully, like, I don't have the need for them, I guess I should say, but like after two days it was like, fine.
I'm like, all right, we're done with those. Um, so yeah, that was interesting. Like just doing the whole, I don't know, it was just insane.
Like I literally, I'm going to keep saying that because it was, I still can't wrap my head around it, that we just did it by ourselves. And it's like, it was so uneventful, but in like the best way, like obviously you don't want to have a complicated experience. And it's just like, it was so chill and so normal and natural and just like, okay, yep, we're done.
We're good. That's it. I, um, I felt like I normally feel after birth, the last couple of births that I've had, I should say after my physiological births, I felt pretty good.
I felt like as far as my downstairs went, I didn't tear, not that I felt anyways. And it's just like, everything was super easy, quick, quick healing. Um, just, yeah, I don't know.
It was just great. It was just insane how well it all went and how uneventful it was, um, uneventful in the best way. That's all I can describe it as.
And it's just, I don't know, I just grateful that it all went the way it needed to. And she was born at five in the morning, 517. And then one by one, all of our kids woke up and that was super great.
They all got to have their own little moment meeting her for the first time. And it was just so sweet how it all unfolded, like literally beautiful, everything I could have asked for. Cause we wanted the kids to be here, but we didn't necessarily like want them super involved.
We didn't want to have to like, it just, it all worked out so beautifully. Like the Lord already had a plan for it all. And it was just wonderful.
After that, we just chilled all morning. Uh, it was Sunday. So we watched church in bed and just enjoyed our sweet little newborn and the literal gift from God that she is, uh, she's literally perfection and just enjoying the kids meeting her for the first time.
And it was just beautiful time. And I wanted to share that with you guys and it was insane and crazy and wild and hard. It was hard.
It was, um, I don't know. My last birth was pain-free. So I was not that I was expecting this to be pain-free.
I was expecting it to be a lot different. Um, but wasn't sure like what to prepare for obviously. So it was interesting, very different experience.
My waters broke when like I started to push. And I think that's like maybe the difference. Cause my waters broke first with my last baby and it was a very different experience.
Cause I didn't really feel the contractions like at all. I don't know. I don't know what was different about it, but that was one of the key differences that I can like pinpoint.
But anyhow, it was, it was good. It was a lot of work and I'm grateful that she's here and it's all behind us and I'm feeling good. Um, and she's doing really well and we love her very much.
Anyhow, thanks for listening. Um, I will chat with you guys next week and I promise it'll be something educational and helpful for your journey. I don't know.
Listening to other people's birth stories can be really helpful and really encouraging and all the things. Um, so that's my story and I am grateful for it and happy to have done it and everything gone accordingly. That was such a relief because obviously the fears are very real and very scary when you're doing things on your own, not knowing how to manage, um, if things escalated or whatever.
Not like obviously we had plans and stuff and if things escalated to an emergency situation, but not knowing what that would really truly look like and how that would pan out. So anyways, I could go on and on, you know, I can, so I'm going to end it there. Thank you again for listening.
Thank you for being here and I'll chat with you next week.
(Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.)
