MyMaine Birth
MyMaine Birth 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, every birth story deserves to be heard and celebrated. Whether you are a soon to be mom, a seasoned mother, or simply interested in the world of birth, these episodes are for you.
As part of my commitment to capturing these incredible moments, as a certified Maine birth photographer and experienced doula, I offer services to families throughout the state. I also offer virtual birth coaching worldwide. As an experienced photographer I am dedicated to capturing the beauty and emotion of this special moment in your life. For all of the information head over to mymainebirth.com
Thank you again for tuning in, and I look forward to bringing you more amazing birth stories. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review! I'll see you back here again next week.
MyMaine Birth
76. A Planned Home Birth turned Hospital Birth, Two Maine Home Births, A Maine Birth Center Birth and then another Home Birth, Rachel's Story
Have you ever marveled at the sheer unpredictability of life, especially when it comes to the momentous journey of bringing new life into the world? Today on the podcast, we sit with Rachel, mom of 5 boys! Her first ended up being a hospital birth, although it was a planned home birth. Two home births following that, a Holly No.7 Birth Center Birth, and then finally another home birth.
She describes every experience as amazing and life changing and says she wouldn't change a thing. Her babies have ranged from 39 weeks gestation, to 42. From 8 pounds to 10 pounds. She has had 2 water births. She was a teen mom. She has had three different Maine Midwives and describes every single part of each pregnancy to each birth as magical.
MyMaine Birth 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, every birth story deserves to be heard and celebrated. Whether you are a soon to be mom, a seasoned mother, or simply interested in the world of birth, these episodes are for you.
Thank you again for tuning in and I look forward to bringing you more amazing birth stories. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! And I’ll See you back here again, next week.
there is no script, there is no protocol, there is no. This is how it's going to go, and I mean that for everything, all the way from the whole pregnancy to the actual labor itself and the baby coming out, it doesn't matter how many times somebody says that it'll be this fast or this slow, or you'll have them at 40 weeks, or if you're're sick, you can't have them at home, or if you're bleeding, you're miscarrying, like everything that I've been told. I think through all of my pregnancies I've experienced something that people go well, if this is happening, then you can't do this, or it means this and there just isn't. Every single person is different and I learned to really trust my body and I just kind of I knew. I knew in labor and I knew in birth what to do.
Rachel:Maybe, maybe that's not always the case, but I would say, don't. Don't think that you're going to follow some script that pregnancy and birth and everything is going to be textbook. It's just, it's not. And babies are born at home and in hospitals and at birth centers, at every gestation and every size, and 10-pound babies aren't harder to birth than 7-pound babies, and they come when you haven't had a contraction for 30 minutes and just there isn't a script. There is no script.
Angela:I'm Angela and you're listening to my Maine Birth, 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, every birth story deserves to be heard and celebrated. Whether you're a soon-to-be mom, a seasoned mother or simply interested in the world of birth, these episodes are for you. Today's birth story guest is Rachel. She has birthed five beautiful, healthy boys. Her first ended up being hospital birth, although a planned home birth, two home births following that, a birth center birth and then, finally, another home birth. All right, let's get right to it. Hi, rachel, welcome to my Main Birth. Hello, so to jump right into it, will you start by sharing a little bit about you and your family?
Rachel:Yeah, yeah, so I, we are a blended family. I had four, three little boys, and then I met my fiance about two years ago and he had four kids, and then this last September we had another little boy. So we had our ninth child together, um fifth for each of us. So we are a family of 11.
Angela:Wow, oh my gosh, that's amazing yeah it's a lot.
Rachel:We have eight boys. There's only one girl in the mix, and our oldest is 17, but then there's a gap and the rest are nine and under. So we're very busy.
Angela:Oh my goodness. So now to get into your birth stories. Will you tell me a little bit about when you found out you're pregnant for the first time and your thoughts in choosing your care?
Rachel:Yes, so I was 18. I had just gotten married. I was very excited to have a family got pregnant very quickly and I had never really had any other option than a home birth. In my mind, my mom had had four of the five of us at home and I remember being there when my brother was born and midwifery care and had never really just thought anything else of it. It was smooth and I was very excited for that and didn't see any reason not to so as soon as I was pregnant, I just did some research and found a midwife in my area. I lived up in Northern Maine and Greenville at the time, so it was my options were very limited and I think it was the second midwife that I met with. We fell in love with. She was just great. It was a very, very instant, comfortable connection. She was very confident, knew what she was doing and was comfortable with what I wanted to do, and it was just a very easy decision for me.
Angela:Would you like to share who your midwife was? Yeah, o'donnell. So how old were you then? Because you were fairly young when you got pregnant for the first time. Is that right?
Rachel:Yes, yeah, so I was 18. I just turned 19 when my son was born, but I was 18 most of my pregnancy, and yes, and then he was born in June, a couple months after my birthday.
Angela:So how are you feeling throughout that pregnancy?
Rachel:And did you do any testing or how is sort of the pregnancy looking for you? Yeah, so first, pregnancies are wild because you know you, you don't know any difference. So what I was experiencing was completely normal for me and I was. I was incredibly, incredibly sick, like bedridden about 25 weeks. Um, I could not. I could not do any smells. I could not. I could not shower because I could not smell the shampoo, I could not do laundry detergent and everybody just just told me it was morning sickness. I thought I had morning sickness and I was like man, this really stinks, um, you know. And then I found out later through other pregnancies that I actually have hyperemesis and which is very rare, and even a lot of people during that time didn't, didn't know when I told them that that's what I had.
Rachel:But the pregnancy was very, very rough and my midwife was great. You know she did all the things that you're supposed to do and we made sure that I was not losing weight and baby stayed very active. I was good at monitoring how he was moving and my visits with her were anytime I needed them. You know they're scheduled regularly, but if I needed them. You know the scheduled regularly, but if I needed to see her more often. We did, and I think the only testing that I did was a 20 week ultrasound and then the normal blood work.
Angela:So now walk me through kind of the last final days or weeks leading up to your labor and birth.
Rachel:Yeah, just very anxious, and not in a bad way, very excited for everything. But just getting ready to life is gonna completely change. There's no baby and you're gonna have a child. So I just I remember I was just very big. I was so big and so tired and ready, ready to be done with it for sure, but not really nervous about the birth, not anxious about anything not going the way I wanted it to, just just ready, honestly.
Angela:So how did your labor start?
Rachel:I woke up at about five in the morning I felt like I had to go pee and I made it about two steps out of bed and I felt a gush. And I remember looking over my husband and I'm like I didn't just pee and he's like, yeah, right, are you sure? And I'm like no. So I went to the bathroom and I was able to pee and I was like I really didn't just pee and, again, being first, you just don't know what to expect. So I called my midwife and I told her that my water had broken. So a few hours later, by the time she got there and we checked in and all of that, it wasn't my full water. I didn't realize how much there actually was. It was my four waters. There was a small little sack, um, and there's just enough pressure, uh, that he had broken that. It was only a few tablespoons, but that's how it got going and that was the beginning of my labor. So that's about five in the morning. You know there's a process. She showed up a few hours go by.
Rachel:I labored at home. I had wanted to possibly do a water birth, so I was in and out of the tub. I was having very, um, very regular and steady contractions. I was in and out of the tub. I was having very, very regular and steady contractions. I was in very active labor. I was in a lot of pain and I think it was about 12 hours after I had started labor that she checked me and I was still at five centimeters. It was 12 hours of being at five centimeters. I don't remember how many hours into labor, but I remember I had been checked and I was at five, and then 12 hours later I was still five centimeters. I don't remember how many hours into labor, but I remember I had been checked and I was at five, and then 12 hours later I was still five centimeters. And that was kind of shocking, like nothing had died off. My contractions were still very strong and regular and she checked me, thinking that I was probably fully dilated and ready, and I was still only halfway.
Rachel:So there was concern that it was that I was not, it was not progressing, and it was very hard to tell baby's position by feeling. At that point we were kind of wondering if maybe he had turned and so there wasn't enough pressure, and so we made the decision at that point to go to the hospital at least to get an ultrasound, just to make sure everything was safe. We I was kind of disappointed, so we talked about the fact that we didn't mean we have to stay. If everything was okay we could always come back home. But again, I lived in Greenville.
Rachel:The nearest hospital was 45 minutes to an hour depending on roads and conditions. So we Did you go to Dover, yes, yeah. So I went to Mayo. My midwife has a very good, has a standing reputation with them there, works with the doctor that I saw who actually she had us meet during the pregnancy so that we knew that if we transferred who I would be working with and I'd already met the OB, which was wonderful. I loved her. She ended up being my kid's pediatrician and, yeah, so we went there and you know, at that point, 20 something hours into labor, contractions just picked up from there, especially being in the car. I was not going home. There was no way I could get back in the car, I couldn't even walk through the hospital. So my planned home birth ended up being a hospital birth, just not for any emergency reasons, just for the mere fact that I was not driving an hour home in that much pain.
Angela:So yeah, so how did it go once you got to the hospital?
Rachel:Yeah, that was. It was just such a blur it was. It was a fog of being exhausted at that point, you know 20,. I labored all night long. It was 36 hours in total. I didn't sleep. I didn't end up having any pain meds or anything. I wanted to do it all naturally and wanted to be able to remember everything and feel everything. It was just important to me, not that it was the right or wrong way to do anything, that's just what I knew I wanted.
Rachel:And so the next day, when I was progressing and dilating just very slowly and my water hadn't broken yet, so there was no fear of an infection or anything like that they did end up breaking my water the next day in the morning to get things going and it did pick up. But I remember very little. Just because I was so exhausted and the pain was so constant, I slept in between pushing. I pushed for three hours and I remember like dozing off and I would wake up just enough to push. And they told me a lot about it afterwards. Honestly, I have very little recollection. Until maybe five minutes before he was born.
Rachel:I remember somebody looking at me and going okay, we are going to push him out right now. And my midwife was there and I looked and I said, even though I'm not having a contraction, and she's like, yes, push right now, so no contraction, nothing. I pushed and I found out later his heart rate dropped drastically. He went into distress and so I did. I pushed him right out the earth and pushed him, you know, right out and they took him away and not out of the room, but they took him from me and had to get him breathing and stuff and ended up needing very little intervention as far as that can go, you know now knowing a lot more typically they would take the baby from you and out of the room and and ICU and all those things are NICU and they didn't do any of those things. They just put him in a little bed next to me, got him breathing and then gave him right back so he was able to stay with me. But it was just very traumatizing for everyone.
Angela:Yeah, absolutely so. Do you remember when your placenta was born?
Rachel:I don't think I do with him I think he's probably the only one that there was just nothing. I had a third degree tear. They were stitching me up. I was so tired. Everything hurt. I don't remember much of anything. Honestly, it was so much of a blur.
Angela:Yeah, so how was your postpartum time then after that?
Rachel:Yeah, so that that was very. It was a very rough. It was my, my only postpartum that I would say. I had postpartum depression, um, pretty badly, you know, three or four months, and I didn't know my first again, and just not having a community of people or someone to talk to about it. I didn't know my first again, and just not having a community of people or someone to talk to about it.
Rachel:I didn't know that was common or what was going on, um, but I was bedridden because of how badly I had torn and then, um, it was very hard for to get stitched back up. I ended up having surgery twice immediately after he was born to try and repair that and it ended up never being repaired and I had some infection issues. So I here, I was at home, just me, with my newborn baby and I wasn't able to get out of bed for the first four months of his life. So I it was. It was kind of a hard time, but also he was such an easy baby good baby it wasn't, I wasn't super sleep deprived, he slept really well. So I know it definitely could have been worse, but it wasn't like this joyous, very easy time for me either.
Angela:Wow. So now, how long was it until you found out you were pregnant again for the second time?
Rachel:On my son's first birthday my oldest. I tested on his birthday that morning and I was. It was still I was only like five weeks, so it was very I always found out very early and yeah, the morning of his first birthday and that's I think I told a couple of my friends that came for his party and and it was just kind of a really cool day because I'll never forget the day that I found out.
Angela:Just kind of a really cool day, because I'll never forget the day that I found out. Oh yeah, that's so special. So what were your thoughts in choosing your care then?
Rachel:the second time around, Were you still living in Greenville? Oh no, no, I was not living in Greenville. We had moved right after my first was born. I had moved down near the Bangor area, where I'm from originally, and I just no doubt in my mind that my midwife was the right choice. Her care was great the first time. Even when we ended up transferring to the hospital, she never left. She stayed the whole time. She slept in my room. She ended up delivering him, just you know, top care. She didn't just hand me over to the doctor and leave and say good luck, she was wonderful and she did my postpartum follow-ups and all that. We love Cindy so much and I was really shooting for that home birth. So there was like we're going to try again, awesome.
Rachel:So how are you feeling? Throughout that pregnancy? It was amazing. That was my. It was the only pregnancy that I've ever had that I was not sick, I did not have um, did not have hyperemesis with that pregnancy and so that kind of actually sealed for me that. Oh, maybe I just had really bad morning sickness because it was my first baby, like I'm going to do fine, and it was easy because I just had one toddler and he was a really easy boy. So I think it was and I was. I was a stay at home mom, so I think it was and I was a stay at home mom, so I was able to nap every day.
Rachel:I feel like I was very prepared leading up to this birth because now I know what to expect. I've done this, I know what I need to be prepared for labor. I know that things can change drastically. Just, I did a lot more research, a lot more planning. I was a lot more active and fit this time. Having a child I was chasing around kept me moving a lot more than my first one, when I just didn't have anything I needed to be doing. It was definitely my easiest pregnancy.
Angela:Awesome. So did you do any testing with that one, or was it kind of minimal again?
Rachel:Just whatever. My midwife, she, she had a basis, I don't I don't really remember what it was, but she liked to know certain things. She did the, the glucose test, but a little bit different. I didn't do the the hospital drink there. We, we kind of came up with our own sugary meal and I do a glucose test at her house. And I always did the 20 week gestational scan. Just because I'm not good at surprises. I, we wanted, and I always did the 20-week gestational scan, just because I'm not good at surprises. We wanted to know what we were having and so we just did the hour-long scan, made sure everything was good those are the only ultrasounds that I had and then, I think, just a little bit of blood work. We did the glucose and gestational diabetes test, those kind of things, yeah.
Angela:So now will you tell me about the days?
Rachel:and weeks kind of leading up to when your labor started, just resting a lot. I think the one thing that stood out to me was how tired it actually makes you. You think, oh, who cares if it's 12 hours, I'm awake for 12 hours in the day anyway. But you don't realize, I think, before you've experienced it, how exhausting 12 hours of labor is. So I felt like I had to prepare constantly. You know, every single day. If it's tonight, I want to make sure I had a nap. If it's tonight, I want to make sure I had a nap. So a lot of resting, making sure that I got those naps, making sure I was very hydrated. I always had snacks on hand. You know, I wanted to know make sure I had what I needed to eat. And I had a really good friend at the time who was a photographer and I knew I wanted birth photos. So I had a. My friend did some, was on call to do birth photos for me and yeah, that was just the resting, I think.
Angela:Oh my gosh, that's so special. And, yeah, resting is so important, like you said, like every day, like is it going to happen? Today I'm going to be rested, like that's so good, like leading up to birth. So how did your lay brush start?
Rachel:Well, it was the day after my due date. My due date came and went and you know, that day, just kind of psychologically, I think, has something like like oh my goodness, dave was supposed to be here and he's not. Even though now obviously I understand, babies come and there's two weeks on either end, and that was hard. I was very emotional Again. She was so tired at the end and you're just ready, and the excitement of wanting to meet the baby. So I was very emotional that day and my oldest actually stayed up at my in-laws house in Greenville so that I could have a good night's sleep. We went home and the boy's dad had to work up in Greenville that next day. So we were like we'll just go get a good night's sleep and we'll go back up in the morning and get him.
Rachel:And I woke up that next morning really early and I was exhausted and I was sitting on the toilet and I was like this is very comfortable, I want to stay here. I feel like this feels nice. And he's like yeah, yeah, let's go, we get in the car and we get up there. And I just knew there was no clear sign. I didn't. It was no, you know, slutty show or mucus or um, I'd been having Braxton Hicks. Maybe they were a little bit stronger, but it just felt different. I bounced on the birth ball for a while and just kind of got that slightly more steady, slightly stronger contractions where I went okay, I think something's happening.
Rachel:Kind of went about our day. Um, my husband, you know, did his job, but by noon I was like all right, we've got over an hour drive home. I think everything's starting. So let's take all the back bumpy roads, take our time and work our way home. And it was definitely by the time we made it home which we took all the really bumpy roads from Greenville. There's lots of them. And by the time we got home I went okay, no, it's real, it's not going to stop, but it's not an emergency. So that was, like you know, maybe two in the afternoon that I'm going. Okay, now we're getting going, but it could still be a while.
Angela:Yeah, so how did things progress that afternoon?
Rachel:Yeah, I called my midwife because she lived a ways away and you know they like to have a heads up. They don't want to know when they're supposed to be headed out the door. So I called her or maybe maybe my husband called her and he was like, All right, I just want to listen in to what's going on. And she waited till I had a contraction. She listened to me and she was very cautious too. She wasn't one of those, you know. Okay, just do your thing, Like if she felt like she needed to be there, she'd rather be there and not be needed. So she listened to me and she goes no, that's actively where I should be there. And so she got ready to head out. It was probably maybe an hour and a half before she got there, but she didn't wait until we called her again and I had said initially that you know I don't need you yet, I just wanted to give you a heads up. But she really felt like she should be. So she showed up and you know it was really good she did. It progressed quickly from there.
Rachel:Um, as far as I'm concerned, some people have babies and you know, two hours I don't but it was very steady from there on out. So she showed up to my house maybe three in the afternoon. I only had her check me one time just to kind of figure out where I was at. I think by five o'clock that evening I was seven centimeters, seven or eight centimeters, and then he was born by eight o'clock that evening. So just did that one check and I just walked around.
Rachel:You know I'm not a very good sit still laborer, I used my ball, but I just did kind of a lot of pacing and ended up being born in our bathroom, because you know those frequent trips to go pee. And I was in there with, I think, my husband and my friends too, who was my photographer, and went to stand up from the toilet and my water exploded. It didn't, it didn't break, it exploded, it was. It was so loud that my midwife said from the living room it sounded like I fell down and it jumped my husband and he fell into the bathtub. Oh my gosh, it was crazy. I was just working through those contractions and my water broke and as soon as it did you could see half of his head was out, he was crowding. So they picked me up off of the toilet and just I squat was ended up squatting in front of the toilet and he was born in our very, very tiny little bathroom with five people oh my gosh, that's beautiful.
Angela:And yeah, like the movement, like you said, in labor is so helpful to kind of help things move along too it.
Rachel:It is very my style, you know. It's very been important to me. I don't sit still very well.
Angela:Yeah, so now, how was your immediate postpartum?
Rachel:Yeah, he, comparatively everything about him, everything with his pregnancy and birth was just very smooth. I think, maybe about that first week in. After that first week I had, you know, a day or two of the baby blues, you know, just being really weepy and kind of emotional and that mix of hormones and nursing and being very tired, but nothing, I wouldn't even say like it doesn't even stand out. I remember one evening of just being like I don't know why I'm crying, there's no reason to cry. I'm so happy and he's so sweet and and that's I mean, that was it. Everything was just so good in life at that time and the two little boys were just were a dream. He was such a good baby and nursing went so well and my oldest was such a good age they were 20 months apart.
Angela:So it was. It was very nice. Oh, did you? Did you have any tearing with this birth?
Rachel:and not now. No, I think where I had previously torn, like I said, never, never got repaired, so that tear already being there made it so that it really couldn't tear more there. And then, perineum wise, I just did, you know, some stretches and exercises that my midwife had given me beforehand and to make sure that that didn't happen, and so I I never tore there, so thankfully that was. That was very nice.
Angela:Yeah, and sometimes like that squatting position too can be really helpful.
Rachel:Definitely the problem with my first one was being in a bed. You know, in the hospital it is a little more confining in a bed on my back and then pushing him out without those contractions, without just working with my body. I just just push, you know, and that's obviously not advised. We had to in that situation, but I a hundred percent makes sense why I would have torn so bad. So, but with all of my others just doing what, what I needed for my body and the positioning, it was so nice and I never have had tearing.
Angela:Oh wow, that's great. Now, when did you find out you were pregnant with your third baby?
Rachel:Yeah, I'm trying to remember. I want to say our second was eight or nine months. He must have been like nine months old and it doesn't stand out to me particularly what day or how I found out. I remember my cycle had come back fairly early on with him and my cause, my supply kind of decreased and um. So I guess I knew that there was a chance, but we were, like you know, still nursing and we weren't trying or anything. So he was kind of a surprise where, you know, our second, our first and second worked and the third was like, oh wow, surprise. Where you know, our second, our first and second worked and the third was like, oh wow, we're not quite ready for that but, you know, excited Nonetheless, I did want more kids. It was just like, wow, I've still got a baby, oh my gosh.
Angela:So what were your thoughts in choosing your care this time around?
Rachel:Still same thing, like just having had such an amazing experience. I wasn't looking for anything different and I was very happy with. I wanted somebody that knew me and knew how I birthed and that has. That's important to me that I don't have to try and explain what I'm looking for to somebody. They are like hey and they're done that we know you, we've got this, we know how you are, and somebody that was very comfortable with me, so that they're not worried about what could happen and I'm like you know we, we love her and so I always called her first thing and if she was available, that that was great.
Rachel:So it was Cindy again, and the assistant that she had used, that I had had for my birth, that I absolutely loved, was pregnant as well at the same time and she was not going to be able to be there and so that was disappointing oh boy, so she had it.
Angela:Was she training someone new for that one, or?
Rachel:had. I don't. I'm not sure if I ever met who um again so long ago, like seven years ago. I'm not sure if I met the assistant that she was going to use or not at any of the appointments, because I think that would have been come later on, but it was just whoever she had available to her. Maybe another midwife in the area, possibly. Yeah.
Angela:So how were you feeling throughout that pregnancy?
Rachel:So this one I was very sick again almost almost immediately. I think it was by six weeks I it was really bad. I ended up going to the hospital around maybe it was 10 weeks to get some fluids because I had heard that that might help and also I was feeling very dehydrated. Had I known enough about it then? Still at this point I had not been diagnosed with hyperemesis. I was very sick and it was morning sickness. Nobody really knew, and I don't think people really knew to what extent I was sick because they didn't live with me or see me. It was just wow. I'm very nauseous Now, knowing and having been through it a couple more times. It was significantly worse.
Rachel:I think I was sick with him until about 33 weeks. So I had a lot of help from my family with the two boys at the time because there were days I could not even roll over in bed. I had a little bit of vomiting like blood and stuff. It was kind of nasty, but I got some fluids and it was my most fit pregnancy. I did some working out. I was into being really active and going on walks and I did just some regimen. I think I found maybe on Pinterest or something, but I was doing it really active and going on walks and I did just some regimen I think I found maybe on Pinterest or something, but I was doing it daily just to kind of keep in shape and see if that helps with the labor. And so when I look back now on pictures and stuff, I was, I was in really good shape pregnancy wise but I was very sick.
Angela:Yeah, did you take any medications throughout your pregnancy for it, or how are you managing it?
Rachel:Not at this point Again. Just, I don't think anybody really knew what I had. I had all the regular suggestions of try ginger, try this, everything that anybody would tell you to try, and no hyperemesis. There is no, there is no cure. I mean, I've taken, I've had, zofran before and that doesn't, that doesn't do anything. So I don't think with him there was anything that I took regularly. But everything that everyone suggested, I'm like are you sure this actually works? The vitamin B6 complex you're supposed to take vitamin B with something else. I don't remember what it was it's been years but that was like supposed to be the cure-all for sickness and I was like you're crazy, I can't even keep the vitamin B down.
Angela:Yeah, it's so hard, oh my gosh. So did you do kind of the same regular testing throughout this pregnancy that you did with your others?
Rachel:Yeah, yeah, I'd say it followed. It followed my second pregnancy to a T other than being, other than being sick. Same testing, same same every. The birth was was very similar. Everything was was, um, just my body followed a routine really well and knew what it was doing at this point.
Angela:Yeah, so will you tell me a little bit about what it was like leading up to when your birth started and how that went?
Rachel:Yeah, he was. He was born a few days before what I thought my due date was. So I wasn't quite expecting it at that point. I kind of figured my first was the day before his due date and my second was the day after. So I was like, okay, so I can pretty much bet on being right around then and I think he was five days early. So I wasn't mentally. I knew it would be soon but I wasn't waking up thinking it was going to be that day.
Rachel:And woke up with those same, just kind of felt like something was different. All of my, all my babies, was that early morning, get up at like you know, five or six and go. Okay, feels a little bit different today. So I had called my midwife and my mother-in-law and a few people, probably by eight o'clock that morning, walked around, wanted to see kind of what was going to happen. The progression was very, very similar to my second. The day was pretty much the same about as long as it took me. I had 12 hour labors with my second and my third, both started in the morning, with my second and my third both started in the morning, had a baby by eight o'clock that evening. So it was.
Rachel:It was really, really crazy deja vu, that labor I'm going. This is just like with Timothy Um, to the point that I remember every time I would go in and go to the bathroom I was like I want to go and get out of here, I don't want to have another baby in the bathroom, and again, very tiny bathroom. And I was like I that go and get out of here, I don't want to have another baby in the bathroom, and again, very tiny bathroom. And I was like that was just very stressful to try and cram everybody in there and you couldn't really see what was going on. So I kept telling them. I was like get me out of here right now, quick, I don't want to have a baby in the bathroom. And I voiced that so that right before he was born I was in there peeing and I just I felt, I felt something and I said I can't walk, but I need you to get me out of here. So I had one person under one elbow and one under the other and they pretty much kind of dragged me to the living room. I couldn't move my feet and I made it to the edge of the living room and I dropped to my knees on my birth ball. I leaned onto my birth ball and as soon as my knees hit the floor, my water exploded. So, oh my gosh, that happened and he was crowning again. So I just I could feel it. I knew I was like right there and I was, I was spot on. So he, he was born on the living room floor on my knees.
Rachel:Second, my water broke and it was you know a minute or two. It was like two or three pushes. So did you catch him? I did not. Nope, my husband caught. He didn't do the first Ben, I'm not actually even sure who caught our first one Cause. Again, I don't know if I was quite awake, but caught our second and third. And really weird for me, I remember my midwife saying I could reach down and feel him and I was like I don't, I don't want to, I don't think I want to. That feels very strange to me. Um, just was not interested in that.
Angela:Yes, it is a very strange thing to reach down and feel that. For sure, gosh. So how was your postpartum that time around?
Rachel:Again, very much the same. Um, not, I was living close to family at the time, living close to family, so I had a lot of support and help with the boys. But the kids were just, everyone was just so easy and good. I remember maybe about that same time frame of a week or two me going man this is really rough of a week or two me going man this is really rough. And I was kind of by myself with the boys because my husband had to go back to work so I didn't really have him for those. Maybe I had him for a day and a half or two days but then he was gone. So it was overwhelming maybe that first week or two. But all my babies were very good Nursers. My milk always came in really well. They all slept pretty good. Either that or I just don't really I'm not really bothered by the sleep deprivation. So it was, it wasn't anything that like stands out to me as being difficult.
Angela:Awesome, that's, that's amazing. So now, when did you find out you were pregnant for the fourth time?
Rachel:so now, when did you find out you were pregnant for the fourth time? Yeah, so a fourth time. My third was maybe five months old and I was on birth control because my cycle had come back at like six weeks and we were like no way, not yet we know how this happened last time. So I started taking um. I can't remember what it was, just I think just a pill or something, but I had never taken a birth control before. Um, so that was, that was different.
Rachel:And um, I'm not really sure if took it at the wrong time or I missed one, or just don't really know how it happened, or he was just meant to me, but it was. It was very sudden and I remember thinking, hey, maybe I'm pregnant, because I got nauseous, I the smell of something. One day, I think I was cooking something and I was like that just smells terrible, I don't, that's gross, and kind of looked at each other funny and I was like no, and um, you went to work and I took a test and then I called him. I was like you'll never believe it and both of us were like no, no, no, no, definitely not ready for that one.
Angela:So what were your thoughts in choosing your care? Did you do something different this time? I think you said right.
Rachel:It did, yes. So I called Cindy and she was due to be out of state. I think the whole month that I was due, like before and after and there was, it just was not going to be an option, and so that was hard for both of us. I, you know, I know that she definitely would have and wanted to. I can't. I think it was maybe one of her kids. She was going to see one of her kids but she was going to be gone for about a month and we're like that's just not going to be an option. And all of a sudden I was like I don't know what else I want to do, like I've had her three times.
Rachel:I and, being in Greenville where we were, a lot of midwives won't travel more than an hour. That's kind of their comfort zone, um, and there's not. There weren't a lot of options. I'm not sure what it's like these days, but there weren't a lot of time. And the one other lady that we had met way back in the beginning, uh, she wasn't available either. So I went without care, um for him, for I think the first half of the pregnancy and my hyperemesis was so extremely bad with my fourth that I did not get out of bed the whole entire nine months.
Rachel:We moved our bed to the living room so that I didn't have to get up or move and I went to the emergency room in town every two to three evenings to get fluids, to get nausea meds and to get. They were giving me potassium and magnesium through an IV. I was so seriously depleted. My nails were chipping, my hair kind of was falling out, I was definitely vomiting, you know blood and and it was, I think, the worst experience ever. It was. The whole pregnancy was terrible. I lost. I lost about 25 pounds. I think that pregnancy Wow, that's really hard.
Angela:So who did you end up going with?
Rachel:Yes, so I became. I was very good friends with the girl that had assisted at my other deliveries and I didn't get to mention I didn't get to mention this, but she was pregnant at the same time. I was with my third and she just happened to have a checkup with our midwife the day that I was in labor with my third. So she just came to my house, she kind of diverted and was like, oh, I was going to see her, anyway, I'll just pop in. And she got to be there for my delivery and help deliver. So that was amazing and we became. We were kind of close friends and she had changed providers. She started working under another midwife a little after that.
Rachel:So I reached out to her and she was working at the birth center at Bangor, holly number seven, and she was like, hey, I'm working for this midwife named Chris and maybe that would be an option for you. So I reached out to them and Chris had I can't remember now been a few years, but it was somewhere between like eight and 10 births in the same month as I was due and she was willing to take me on but not able to travel to me, so she could take me on as a patient if I could come to the birth center. And we were like, hey, you know something different. We've done the hospital, we've done home births. Why not try a birth center, you know? And it's not not that much different from a home birth.
Rachel:And so we kind of jumped on that. We're like this is going to be our best option. And I got to have my friend, was able to be there and assist on this one as well, and at that point we had a relationship and she had been at my birth, so she knew me really well, and so I think it was probably somewhere after 20 weeks I started care with them there. Wow, oh my gosh. So who's your?
Angela:friend, I'm so curious.
Rachel:Anna McGuire.
Angela:Oh, amazing.
Rachel:Yeah, she's been to do her own thing, but we've stayed in contact and stayed friends over the years.
Angela:Oh, yeah, everybody loves Anna.
Rachel:Sweetheart. I love her so much.
Angela:Oh no. How was it after you switched your or you started care at the birth center?
Rachel:Yeah, very, very different experience I was. I mean, I've loved every one of my providers no, you know no favorites or anything but I could not believe how hands off Chris was. And that was very much my style of that. I was very confident in my body and in being able to birth and I had decided after my first that I didn't think I wanted to do vaginal exams or checks. I just I'm very comfortable just letting my body do its thing.
Rachel:I don't want to know how many centimeters I am, and for a lot of midwives that can be uncomfortable, you know they they want to know what's going on and and kind of it helps them too. And so that with Cindy was kind of a conversation every time where she's like, all right, but I'd rather do it. So we did do it with my second and with my third. She was so great and she was like all right, if you don't want to know, we won't. And so I had no vaginal check during my third labor, but I know that kind of made her uncomfortable.
Rachel:Whatever you want to do, no worries. I told her kind of how I wanted it to go and she was able to help me a little bit. She is the one that helped diagnose me with hyperemesis and she was really good at getting me a standing prescription to go to the hospital to get my fluids and wrote me up to get potassium and magnesium and was just really connected and good with that but also was very. Whatever you want to do birth wise, like don't care, that was awesome.
Angela:Oh my gosh. Yeah, that is super nice to have, you know, the power to birth the way that you want to and to have that respect from your provider.
Rachel:Right, it was. It is very nice.
Angela:Yeah, now share with me those last few kind of weeks or days leading up to your labor and about your birth center.
Rachel:I was thinking and everyone was kind of saying, hey, he'll probably come early and he did not. So five days later waiting, I ended up going in on my due date and having my membrane swept because I was like this is crazy and I wasn't progressing. I did have vaginal exams during the last couple of days to just see if anything was happening and have my membrane swept, and so that was very discouraging. The whole pregnancy had been hard anyway and those last five days were just a nightmare. It felt like another whole nine months. So that was long, it was rough, but I did wake up very early in the morning, probably sometime towards the middle of the night, 3.30 or 4 in the morning, and it was real. I knew it was coming. I knew we had almost two hour drive to Bangor from Greenville, so we called our friend, stayed with the kids and headed in. I threw up a few times in the car on the way there and then this birth was just insane. It was not like I had expected and I had it planned in my mind because hey, my body's done this three times, now it's going to do the same thing. And I got there. I didn't have an exam or anything, but it was just very inconsistent. My contractions were not timeable, they were not getting closer together, it was acting exactly like a false labor. And at this point I was very discouraged because I'm going on five days late, I'm in false labor like there's no way this is gonna stop at five days past my due date. But I would sit on the bed for 20 minutes and not have a single contraction. But if I stood up I can make myself have one and I'm looking, I'm going. I know that that means it's not real. You know you're not supposed to be able to change.
Rachel:So I threw a little fit. It was. You know the midwife wasn't, uh, not Cindy. Um, chris was not in the room. You know she let us do our thing. And I stood up and I think I probably stomped my feet and I was like, since it's stupid, I want to get out of here, I need to go for a walk.
Rachel:So I threw a little fit and I was like, okay, whatever you want to do, I was like I'm going to pee first. I went in the bathroom to go pee and when I wiped I was like that's weird, it feels funny. So I reached down and it was squeaky and my water sack was coming out of me and I was not having a contraction, I was not in any pain whatsoever, and I could feel like I don't know make a half dollar size of my water sack and I was like, oh my goodness. So I kind of yelled and he came in and I was like you need to get the midwife, and again, not hurting, just in shock. So they all came in and got flashlights and looked and everyone was like, yeah, there's your water. And I was like does that mean I'm fully dilated? And they're like, yeah, probably. I was like this is nuts, I feel fine. I never hit transition. I never got tired or discouraged, like he was just coming and I was feeling great. So it was, it was crazy, it was really shocking. We were like all right then.
Rachel:So at that point I was like you know, I'm feeling really good and I've, I'm already there, let's fill up the birth tub and see about doing a water birth this time. So they did so Anna and Chris just got to filling up the tub and I walked around, maybe had a contraction or two, but again it was just. Everything was very mild and I'd reached up in there when the sack was out, to see if I could feel his head, and it wasn't too far up in, so that was really cool. And then as soon as the tub was full, you know, I got got in, put the music on that I wanted. I was kind of leaning back and having contractions every geez, I don't know, yeah, every like five to 10 minutes, and they were nice and strong when I was having them, for sure, but just spaced out so much. And I looked at, I looked at Chris and I was like if I go forward on my knees, my water will break. And she was like, all right, well, whenever you're ready and you want to.
Rachel:So I waited until my contraction was done and I shifted onto my knees to lean over that side of the top. And as soon as I did I had a contraction and my water broke, and so I kind of just gave him a play by play, because she was just sitting in her chair watching and I was like, all right, my water just broke. And then I could feel his head and I was like, all right, he's crowning, and I pushed his head out. But I was able to talk through the whole thing and tell them what was happening. So his head came out and it took a few minutes to have another contraction.
Rachel:I was waiting and it was just an awkward pause. He's, he's down there. And I was like, all right, let's go. And um, then I started to feel something and I thought Anna was behind me and I thought she was touching him. But I kind of snapped. I was like don't touch him. And she's like I'm not, he's moving his head, so he's down there and he was just twisting his head and kicking up inside of me and so the next contraction I was able to push him out and I actually caught him. So that was really cool.
Angela:Oh my gosh, that is amazing. So how did that feel, catching him on your own it?
Rachel:was the whole, the whole experience. His birth is. Birth was the most frustrating but my favorite Just really crazy how it did not follow the pattern that I thought my body was going to follow and that he just kind of proved it doesn't matter what people say or what the standard or the well, you have to have contractions two minutes apart to have a baby. I'm like I was having contractions 20 minutes apart and feeling great and I had a baby. So you just don't know what to expect and you know the water made all the difference in the world from pain wise. He was a big old, 10 pound baby and he was my easiest celebrity by far. Everything about it was just magical. It was amazing.
Angela:Oh my gosh, it sounds magical.
Rachel:Chris was great. She let me. I hung out in the tub until the placenta came out and she didn't like force that out or anything. Just when it happened it did and she kept him. I didn't I wanted to do delayed cord clamping and usually there was people that meant like five or 10 minutes and she kept him on there for an hour. It was wonderful. So that was just. The whole birth was so wonderful.
Angela:Oh my gosh Amazing. How was your um like immediate postpartum? How long did you guys stay at the birth center for?
Rachel:Only three hours. We were ready. We were ready to go. We just did the normal checks. They checked him again at three hours and made sure that I was able to pee and stand up and feeling great. We were so ready to go home, you know, and meet all the brothers, and it was evening at that point. He was born at maybe three in the afternoon. So you know, by 6, 630,. We're like all right, we've got two hours to drive home, we're ready to go. I was, for the first time in about 10 months I was not sick and I was hungry and it was so exciting. The first thing we did when we left I was like I want to eat something, stop anywhere. I want to eat and not have to worry about throwing up.
Angela:Yeah, that's crazy how it immediately like you feel better right after birth.
Rachel:Like instantaneous. It was insane.
Angela:Wow. So how was your postpartum that time as you got home and settled in?
Rachel:Yeah, I'm trying to remember, like maybe how my body felt and stuff, but emotionally I don't even remember. I don't even remember like having the baby blues or anything like that.
Angela:That's awesome. So now tell me about when you found out you were pregnant with your fifth, yeah, so my youngest at the time.
Rachel:Well, he just turned five. I'm trying to remember if he was five when I found out. But you know, little break, my boys died and I actually got divorced and I moved and I live in Southern Maine now. So a couple of years ago met my now fiance and we're not expecting this one, we're not trying or anything and then found out I was pregnant with him on January 1st, I believe it was and I was like, okay, something feels a little. I was just feeling off. And so I checked in.
Rachel:I was and just very crazy for me because it had been five years and I had all four of my other boys in a five-year period. So I had gone that same amount of time without having a baby and it was, I think, the most scared I've ever been. It was very foreign. I'm going I wonder how my body is going to do, you know, and also thinking about being sick again. That sick. I was terrified. I remember how it significantly got worse with each time I was sick and I told my fiance I said, if it's even, if it's not worse, if it's the same as it was my last one, but if it's worse I'm going to die. Like I can't do this. I'll have to live in the hospital and we have eight kids. Like what are we going to do?
Angela:Yeah, yeah, that's super scary. So were you sick with this? This?
Rachel:one I was. It hit a little bit later. It wasn't immediate, like from the first test. I waited a few weeks. I was like, okay, I'm going to be fine. And then by maybe between six and seven weeks I was like, all right, here it comes. But it didn't hit me. It didn't hit me like really, really bad. I had some really bad days where I kind of get a little PTSD and I'm like, oh no, here we go. But it only lasted about a month. By the time I was in my what was it? Third? Yeah, third month. It went away almost overnight. So I did have some really bad days. It wasn't morning sickness, it was all day I really couldn't eat. It was very similar to maybe my first, but it was amazing. It was better than I thought it was going to be.
Angela:So I'm very thankful, that's great, that it didn't last your whole pregnancy again, yeah. But that's interesting, yeah, how it pops up with each one and, like you said, it's not just morning sickness, you're sick for the whole day and it's like pretty severe. So what were your thoughts in choosing your care this time around?
Rachel:It was just such an interesting dynamic this time around. I knew that I wanted to do home birth. I knew that my body is really good with that, very comfortable with it. No reason to go to a hospital if I don't need to. And. But also, hey, I'm in a very new area.
Rachel:I don't know anybody down here, nobody is going to know anything about me or how I birth, and my fiance actually all four of his children were c-sections so he had never even seen an actual birth like a vaginal birth got to be part of a labor, which is a very in its own, like just the labor portion of it is a crazy experience. You know you've got 12 hours of a lot of emotion and a lot of pain and you know you need that. You need a lot of support. So, having never experienced any of that, it was like we were going to go from only ever seeing a surgery to at home nothing. And, um, I could not believe how supportive he was. He was like whatever you want to do, and then just asked so many questions like the whole pregnancy very involved, like well, what about this and what about that? And didn't again, didn't even know what a vaginal birth looked like what that was gonna be did not at all. And when I put myself in that I'm going oh my goodness, that's, that's so crazy. Being the first time, this is just going to be quite the experience, you know, and wanting to be involved. So so he was great, went to.
Rachel:We met a few different midwives. I found a birth center right near me that I started care at. I did end up switching care maybe halfway through, but we did start out there, met some midwives, had some appointments. It was great. I had a hemorrhage. I can't remember what it's called now. What are those hemorrhages called? I'm blanking, but very common.
Rachel:I guess I just never experienced it. I started bleeding. I thought I was miscarrying. I bled very, very bad for about five or six weeks, not a little bit like very much where every single day. I thought I was probably losing him and then went to the hospital quite a few times for ultrasounds, for care with him, which I'd never experienced before. So probably 15 or 20 ultrasounds during this pregnancy to make sure he was doing okay. And the hemorrhage ended up clearing up on its own. But the birth center wasn't super comfortable with continuing care. They were suggesting I birth in the hospital. So I did my own research and I found a midwife local to me, not part of a birth center, just a good old fashioned midwife, kind of like Cindy was, and she ended up being an amazing fit for us, picked up care immediately, very similar to Cindy, reminded me so much of her personality wise it just felt very natural to me and ended up finishing care with her. She was amazing and the rest of the pregnancy was very smooth, very nice.
Angela:Yeah, do you care to share who you ended up going with?
Rachel:Yeah, her name is Leslie Walters. She also works as a labor and delivery nurse at Midcoast here in Brunswick part time. Very well known at the hospital and among the, among other nurses and OBs and stuff. So that was cool too.
Angela:Awesome. So you started planning your home birth with her. Did you do any tests? Or like I mean, you said you went for a lot of the ultrasounds in the beginning. Did that sort of stop towards, like you know, after that the bleeding stopped, or what kind of stuff did you?
Rachel:After the hemorrhage cleared up yes, I definitely he was a lot more monitored than any of my other babies. I just trusted that I was just going to you know their movement and and just touching my body and I was very healthy, you know, so they were going to be fine with him. There was a lot more fear, so I did all of the things and all of the testing but after that hemorrhage cleared up and we kind of confirmed that with a few ultrasounds and I could start to feel him more and he was very, very active baby. And then, um, I just I got, I was very healthy and feeling good that after that last full scan ultrasound I I don't think I did anything further. You know I did the gestational diabetes test from home again and and then nothing from there, that was, he was good after that Now tell me about the last kind of few days leading up to your labor and about your birth.
Rachel:Yeah, so I I always have Braxton Hicks. I've always had them, you know. Yeah, so I always have Braxton Hicks. I've always had them very early and very strong and because of my hemorrhage I had started having contractions very, very, very early, like before I even had a belly. So those stayed consistent my whole pregnancy.
Rachel:It was kind of crazy. It was like being in early labor all 40 weeks. I was kind of worried that I wasn't going to know when it got real until it was kind of late, because I had contractions consistently and if he moved a lot I'd have a lot of contractions. So I think I had a lot of scares near the end and I kept thinking, oh, this is it, I'm going to be in labor, they're picking up. And I even called her a couple different times. I started going into labor early at one point and we went to the hospital because it was before 35 weeks and I had that shot that they give for the baby's lungs and they did something to try and stop labor and it did stop it. And then there was also some infusion with maybe the date that I was due because I had transferred care a few times and a couple of different things. So it is still hard for me to tell exactly how far along I was with him when he was due. In my head, with the date that I had come up with originally, I was past 42 weeks. I was about 43 weeks but based on his size when he was born and no meconium and the size I was and all of that, it was more like he was probably dead on at 40 weeks. So I think the dates kind of just got messed up with all of our testing and all the ultrasounds. But the end was so hard for me because in my head I was way past my due date, like weeks past, and I was like what is going on here? I feel like he is never coming. It was very, very discouraging. So the end was hard because both of us were like it was due weeks ago. What is happening? Is this even real? Is he coming? So that that was that was something different from my other ones where I was just like you know, whenever they come and yeah. So that was the different.
Rachel:The hardest part that was the difficult part with his pregnancy was that waiting and wondering what was going on with the due dates and also my midwife was not going to deliver after 42 weeks and I started getting very, very, very stressed. I had this deadline that I'd never had before. I never had to worry about it and I was very fearful that, even though I was healthy and that nothing was wrong with the baby, that I was going to end up having to go to the hospital. And it was one thing. When I had a baby up north at Mayo, in the hospital they were very like accommodating up my midwife and they knew the doctor and they're just really kind of meeting up my midwife and I knew the doctor and they're just really kind of very open to that. And down here they tend not to be not always a big fan of trying to do things naturally.
Rachel:And then, past 42 weeks, I knew that if I had to go in and be induced I just knew all the research it was very hard for me. I'm going. I never wanted to start doing those things because once you are induced, if my body really isn't ready for labor, I just had this panic of I don't want to have a C-section. That scares me. It scares me more than the pain, more than anything else. I don't want that. I hate all of that. This is going to end up spiraling into something. And so I got myself worked up, probably more than I needed to. It was the most stressful with all the other pregnancy it was. It was just waiting for my body to do its thing. I didn't, I didn't have to put any thought into it and I never went that far ahead that anybody even was talking about it not being a thing. And my midwife is very much preparing me for we had a date that that this is the last day that I can, that I can care for you, and then you. Then this is your induction date and I'm going. I've never had to experience this, but I don't want to be induced, and at that point you really don't have a choice unless I want to have an at home, like an unassisted birth. So I was mentally preparing at that point for having an unassisted birth.
Rachel:My sister I have a bunch of sisters and one of my sisters is training to be a doula and she had been at my birth before and she's had. She had the same midwife, she had Cindy for her son and she had experienced the you know, the whole home birth thing. So she had been in a lot of births but she's not certified or anything, and we had kind of talked about hey, I've done this four times before. I don't have complications, my babies are healthy, my labors are smooth, maybe you could just come over and we'll just do it here. But that was just so much to think about at the end, and especially with my partner having never done this, it was different the first time when my boy's dad had been there for three, four babies. He was in the medical field professionally, so that was one thing. But then I was like it will just be me, he doesn't even really know what's happening. It was a big consideration at the end. That was very stressful.
Angela:Well, yeah, yeah, that's super, super stressful to have that date, because you're like trying to relax, trying to get in the mind frame and you're like, well, I better do this before this date, like what?
Rachel:So Leslie ended up being great. She did some digging to make this all work, because we were getting closing in on that. So Leslie did a bunch of research and she took all the ultrasounds that I had had and she looked at all the dates and she found one, one random ultrasound that gave me a much later date than we had been going off of, just you know. I don't even know where it came from, but she's like hey, this one says September 16th, it's the only one we have. We're going to go with that one that buys us another two weeks. And at this point it was already like September 10th or something and I was like, great, I don't even care, let's do it. So we completely changed.
Angela:That's so nice that she did that for you. Oh wow, yeah, so, and then hopefully you went into labor with that time frame.
Rachel:So, with September 16th being my due date, we had two weeks after that, which gave us I don't even know what the date was, but it gave us two weeks from the 16th and on the 17th, the morning of the 17th, I woke up and had bloody show and for me that was always. That was always my sign. I didn't bleed until I was in labor with any of my kids, ever Didn't lose my mucus plug. And I woke up and I had some blood and so I told my fiance that I was like this is it. I was like I'm not having attractions yet, I'm not in active labor, but we're going to have a baby today. Again, funny, no, we're not, but it was very close. So I was like this is great, we're gonna have a baby. And we had plans for the day. Actually, we had our kids had jujitsu tournaments and about an hour away, and then I ended up talking to my midwife and, funny story, her daughter was going to be at the same jujitsu tournament. So we were like let's just, let's just keep these plans. It's like we'll just go. It's not that far away and I don't labor quickly anyway, so let's just keep it and see what happens. It's not that far away and I don't labor quickly anyway, so let's just keep it and see what happens. So that was kind of how labor started. We went, I had some really good contractions but it didn't get consistent and then it died off near the end of the day. Again kind of discouraged, but I still knew I was like, all right, I'm already this much past when I think I'm due and I'm bleeding, so it's going to happen sometimes. Due and I'm bleeding, so it's going to happen sometimes.
Rachel:So we went to bed that night, took a good walk, did all kinds of stuff that night and then went to bed and I woke up. Probably I woke up around two in the morning to very strong contractions and then 10 minutes later very strong contractions where I was like this hurts. So I called my sister who was here, who was down for the birth. I told her the day before hey, you might want to head down and get ready, and so she was staying down here and she came over and just kind of sat with me for a few hours in the morning before I called my midwife. I was like I'm not ready for anyone yet, but I just it's time. So she stayed with me and my labor was just really slow this time. It took my body a while to get into it again. Hey, it's been a while since you found a baby so very inconsistent through the morning.
Rachel:I called Leslie around eight but told her I didn't want her to come, I didn't need her yet, and kept her updated and she's like all right, call me in two hours. So I called her two hours later and I just kept her updated all day long and then by one o'clock in the afternoon it picked up I was. And then by one o'clock in the afternoon it picked up I was. I think it started to be active. Active like I was like five or six centimeters at that point. So I had I all right, it's happening. At least we know it's not going to stop. It'll let my body do its thing and I planned for a water birth.
Rachel:We have a really big jacuzzi tub in our bathroom and we had kind of prepped the whole house and set it up. That was what we were going to do. So we filled the tub up. I got in at one point but then realized that I wasn't quite ready yet. It wasn't there, it was just slowing it down. So I got out and did my normal thing. I like to walk around, I like to bounce on the ball and I like to sit on the toilet. So those were the things I did, and I had given my partner a lot of prep on. Okay, no, you haven't done this. This is how I labor, this is how I birth.
Rachel:When I start getting emotional, when I start saying I can't do it anymore, when I start getting very tired and I hit that wall, I'm transitioning. It's real. I just need you to just keep encouraging me, keep telling me that it is happening, that I am doing it, that we're almost there. And he was amazing. You would have thought I had been at every single one of my births. So he was my biggest support. I didn't really need anyone else around. I like just having just me and my partner, and everyone did good to just kind of keep busy and stayed away. And it was just him and I.
Rachel:I'm so thankful that he listened to everything that I had told him about my previous births, because I was sitting on the toilet and I started crying and I said I'm hurting so bad, I cannot do this anymore. I said I am hurting so bad, I cannot do this anymore. And he was like honey, he's like I think it's time for you to get in the tub. You should try the tub again, let's try the tub. And I was like all right, whatever. So he helps me into the tub and I was maybe in there for two or three minutes and I was like I think my water's going to break. And so it went exactly as the other ones had. I knew that was happening. As soon as my water broke, he was crowning and so I had another beautiful water birth and he had wanted to catch him and he did so. He caught, he caught his first baby and picked him up and handed him to me and it was the sweetest.
Angela:Oh my gosh, that is so special. So how were your first? How was like your golden hour?
Rachel:so how were your first? How was like your golden hour, sweet, so sweet, yeah, just, oh, he's, it's just, it was just amazing. Every, every story is amazing. It has that one aspect of oh, it's your first baby or it's your first home birth, and they all have such a magical thing to them, just something about, about him. You know, we it was our first baby together and he just kind of like, completed the family and tied everyone together.
Rachel:And it being my partner's first birth to be a part of, and not only to watch and, you know, see a vaginal birth, but to have it at home and be the main, the main person and be the one to deliver your own child, he couldn couldn't have been more excited, like I thought he'd be scared and he just couldn't wait. And my oldest son, who is nine, he had always wanted to be at all of my births and he had wanted to be at my for my fourth pregnancy. He was only five, but he had wanted to be there and he didn't get to be, so he had begged me. So we, we all the kids were home, but we called him up and he got to be there and watch him be born. And he was crying and it was just so sweet.
Angela:Oh my gosh, I love that. He wanted to be part of it and was able to. For that so special Wow. So how's your postpartum been?
Rachel:going this time A little bit rough Emotionally. This was a very hard pregnancy for me and so I actually did some preparing and anticipated that postpartum might be emotional because definitely my most hormonal pregnancy. In fact, I was convinced I was pregnant with a girl this time because I said there are no, there's no way that there's not female hormones inside of me. I have never been so sad in all of my life, like just it was like postpartum. For the whole pregnancy I I had a lot of anxiety, I had a few panic attacks, um, I actually ended up getting some meds, um from my midwife that I've, which I'd never done before, I've never taken anything and um, I really, really needed to. I really struggled, really struggled pregnancy wise, not for any reason, not for being unhappy, just just hormonally it was very rough. So I did some preparation and my sister got me some really good herbs too and I had some meds on backup. So a lot of hormones but as far as, as, as far as healing up um, the labor, the delivery, was my easiest, um easiest recovery no bleeding, no tearing, really no swelling. My midwife and my sister both told me that they had never, never, seen so little swelling or bleeding that it almost looked like I. It didn't even look like I had had a baby. I was able to just get up and get moving. We were into soccer season with all the boys three days after he was born.
Rachel:Just a lot of hormones as everything shifted back, a lot of tears. But because I had prepared so well and I had had that conversation with my fiance and I told my sister I thought this was going to happen. I had everything on hands that I needed. So I've been. I took some. I've been taking ashwagandha um ever since he was born, which is a really good hormone balancing herb. In fact I use it for some of my kids sometimes when, when hormones get out of balance and everyone's emotional Um. So it's great to take something with, you know, no side effects, nothing I have to worry about and I can breastfeed and all of that. But I will say I was prepared for it this time, so that helped. It was there, but I felt better knowing that. I kind of knew that was probably going to happen and I knew what to do. So that was good.
Angela:Yeah, wow, those are some amazing birth stories. Now, as a final question, if you were to give advice to someone who's expecting, or even new parents, what would be the biggest thing that you would want to say?
Rachel:Oh, my goodness. Well, there is no. There is no script, there is no protocol there. There is no. This is how it's going to go, and I mean that for everything, all the way from the whole pregnancy to the actual labor itself and the baby coming out. It doesn't matter how many times somebody says that it'll be this fast or this slow, or you'll have them at 40 weeks, or if you're sick, you can't have them at home, or if you're bleeding, you're miscarrying Everything that I've been told.
Rachel:I think through all of my pregnancies I've experienced something that people go well, if this is happening, then you can't do this, or it means this and there just isn't. Every single person is different and I learned to really trust my body and I just kind of I knew, I knew in labor and I knew in birth what to do. Maybe, maybe that's not always the case, but I would say don't, don't think that you're going to follow some script that pregnancy and birth and everything is going to be textbook. It's just, it's. It's not. And babies are born at home and in hospitals and at birth centers, at every gestation and every size, and 10-pound babies aren't harder to birth than 7-pound babies and they come when you haven't had a contraction for 30 minutes and just there isn't a script. There is no script.
Angela:So don't just don't be concerned with trying to fit into into that. Yeah, absolutely. I could not agree more with that. It's always so different and even if, like, the situation is same from one person to another, it's like it's still not the same because everybody is different, you know, even if, like, the same thing's happening to different people. So, yes, I totally agree. That is great advice and thank you so much, rachel, for sharing your stories today and for taking the time to chat with me.
Rachel:Yeah, of course. Thank you for having me. This is so exciting. I love talking about my births.
Angela:And that's the end of another episode of the my Main Birth podcast. Thank you for joining me and listening. If you're looking to document your birth story or if you're interested in doula support for your upcoming birth, head over to my website, mymainbirthcom and check out my packages. I am a certified professional birth photographer and an experienced doula, and I offer in-person services to families throughout the state of Maine, as well as virtual birth coaching worldwide. I want to invite you to grab my top free resource for newly pregnant moms. It's called 37 questions to ask your care provider whether you've already established care or if you're in the process of interviewing new providers. This is for you. Not only are you going to get the questions to ask, but I also share how to assess their answers and the major red flags that you should be looking for. So go grab that. It's at mymainbirthcom slash download. Thank you again for tuning in and I look forward to bringing you more amazing birth stories. Don't forget to subscribe and leave me a review, and I'll see you back here again next week.