You’ve found out you’re pregnant and after the initial excitement (and sometimes shock!) wears off you start to wonder about all of the ‘do’s and don’ts’ of pregnancy. Some of those ‘don’ts’ like soft cheese, lunch meat, and caffeine may have you a little perplexed but one thing that most people know for sure is that you have to be very careful about alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
While giving up alcohol for nine months is a small price to pay to ensure a healthy start for your baby, it can be hard when you’re used to enjoying a glass of wine at the end of a long day or to mark a special occasion with friends.
We’ve tried quite a few non-alcoholic imitations here at The Birth Hour but have never felt confident recommending them because well, they just didn’t taste very good. This is where Surely comes in. Surely non-alcoholic wines actually taste like wine and they are delicious! Surely is made from natural ingredients and is low sugar and low calorie (30-45 calories per glass) which may be important to anyone who needs to monitor their blood glucose levels during pregnancy as well. Surely wines are also gluten-free and vegan friendly if those are important to you.
But the most standout feature of Surely is just how good it is and how much it tastes like real wine! It tastes like real wine because it is! Rather than bottle a poor wine imitation, Surely partnered with the finest winemakers in Northern California to make wine. Then, they use a dealcoholization process that removes the alcohol.
Surely spent nearly a year working with the best craft winemakers in California to make non-alcoholic wine that tastes amazing. They source grapes from premium California regions and carefully remove the alcohol to retain the natural aroma and flavor of the wine.
In addition to enjoying a glass of wine on the couch with your feet up at the end of the day, we especially love this option for special celebrations during your pregnancy. It would be so fun to have an assortment of Surely wines at your baby shower or take a bottle of sparkling rose on your babymoon to celebrate!
Birth Hour readers get 20% off + free shipping on all Surely products. Hurry, this is a limited-time deal that ends in 48 hours! Use code BIRTHHOUR at checkout to get your discount.
If you’re still skeptical, Surely offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all orders. If you don’t love it, they’ll refund you no questions asked. We can’t wait for you to try Surely wines and let us know what you think! Cheers!
After dealing with infertility, Olivia and Isaac turned to embryo adoption to grow their family. Even still, they dealt with a miscarriage before becoming pregnant with their son. 35 weeks later, Olivia realized that her water had been broken for several days, so she and her husband headed to the hospital for an induction. The birth plan went out the window and after 43 hours of induction, their son came into their lives healthy and happy.
Olivia Hall Bio
Olivia is a former second grade teacher, married to her preacher husband Isaac. They live in a small town in Kentucky with their 10 month old son, Elias and cat baby, Lucy. Olivia and Isaac tried to conceive for about 3 years before deciding to go to the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) in Knoxville, TN and pursue embryo adoption to grow their family. After a healthy pregnancy and beautiful baby boy, Olivia now has her dream job, being a stay at home mom. The three of them are homebodies and love spending time with family. Connect with her via email at oliviamcmillan314@gmail.com.
Today’s episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Pregnancy and new parenthood can be extremely stressful and many struggle with their mental health. Which is why we want you to Check out BetterHelp.combirthhour. BetterHelp will assess your needs and match you with your own licensed professional therapist so you can Connect in a safe and private online environment and you can start within 48 hours of signing up!
BetterHelp matches you with a counselor based on questions you answer during sign up AND they make it easy and free to change counselors if needed. BetterHelp is more affordable than traditional offline counseling and financial aid is available. As a listener, you’ll get 10% off your first month by visiting our sponsor at BetterHelp.com/birthhour.
Wisdom Talk
Join Bryn for a Wisdom chat where she will share her birth stories and invite those on the call to ask questions or share your own stories. The Q&A will be on December 27 at 10am CT on the Wisdom app: https://joinwisdom.audio/thebirthhour
Whitney imagined her ideal birth without being attached to machines, going in to spontaneous labor at home & laboring in her bathtub, birthing completely naturally without any medications.
Her labor and delivery did NOT go according to her plan, but her baby arrived HAPPY & HEALTHY… and she realized that is the very most important thing after all!
Her reality was GBS+ and PROM. Which landed her in the hospital on an IV, 27 hours before her baby was born. Whitney experienced antibiotics, induction, more antibiotics, more induction, a stretch & sweep, a fentanyl “nap” during transition & a fast delivery.
Whitney McClintock Rini Bio
Whitney has been married to Matt for 4 years. They live in Central Florida with their little man- Zane (who is 16 mos old). Whitney is a world champion waterskier & REALTOR. Whitney enjoys attending & volunteering at HOPE Church in Winter Garden; working out at New Dimensions Wellness; and she & Zane love spending their days at her husband, Matt Rini’s Waterski school in Orlando. Connect with her via Instagram @WhitMcClintock
Emily’s first birth was a c section. She was planning to give birth unmedicated, with midwives and her doula at the Connecticut birthing center in Danbury. After she found out her son was breech, she did everything she could to try to get her son to flip. Wanting to still give birth vaginally, Emily desperately tried to find a breech provider to no avail. She was absolutely devastated and finally decided on a planned, family centered c section.
It took years to work through the pain and disappointment of not being “allowed” to birth her baby. She spent three years preparing her mind, body, and soul to have a triumphant, healing VBAC.
At 37 weeks and 4 days into her next pregnancy, Emily attended a family wedding in Lancaster, PA. After the wedding, she and her husband, Travis, went back to the hotel room to go to sleep. A half hour later at midnight, her water breaks. Labor hadn’t started and she knew she probably had a long night/day ahead of her, so she decided to get some rest before they drove back to New York, and eventually to Danbury, CT. At 3am, contractions started and were immediately intense and close together. They packed up the hotel room and hopped in the car around 4am making their way back. All Emily had was her gentlebirth contraction timer and a water bottle in the back seat.
A whirlwind 1 hour and 45 minute later, their daughter, Rosemary, was born unassisted while her husband was still driving. She didn’t know she was that close until she felt her head crowning. Emily credits her calm, empowering birth to all her birth preparation and training as an opera singer. The total labor from first contraction to baby was 2 hours and 45 minutes! Emily’s birth story has gone viral, and has been featured on the Today show, Inside Edition, USA Today, Good Morning America, People, and more.
Emily Geller Hardman Bio
Emily is a professional opera singer and mom to Wesley (3 years old) and Rosemary (6 months). She lives with her husband, Travis, in Westchester, NY. She’s passionate about all things birth and is happy to connect via social media. www.emilygeller.cominsta:@emilygellerfacebook: Emily Geller Contralto
Resources
ICAN meetings
Gentlebirth App and contraction timer
Webster certified chiropractor and spinning babies
Today’s episode is sponsored by Aeroflow Breastpumps. Aeroflow has helped millions of new and expecting parents discover the breastfeeding and postpartum essentials covered by their insurance including breast pumps, maternity compression, and lactation education & support.
They take care of everything – including all paperwork, working with your insurance company, and explaining your options to get these free essentials shipped straight to your door. Aeroflow offers all major breast pump brands including Medela, Spectra, Motif, Lansinoh, Ameda, Elvie, Willow and more.
All you have to do is go to the Aeroflow Breastpumps website and fill out their free and easy Qualify Through Insurance form. Be sure to go to aeroflowbreastpumps.com/birthhour so they will know we sent you! Bonus — use the promo code “BIRTHHOUR15” in their online shop for 15% off all supplies and accessories.
Melissa sometimes hears that she leads a charmed life, and the fact that her baby arrived on his due date was no surprise. She was fortunate to have what they call a “textbook pregnancy”, in which she was swimming and running until the day before the baby came. She had some minor contractions on the day before her due date – which her husband recognized as contractions before she did. She woke up to strong contractions at 2 am, and spent a few hours at home before heading to the hospital. Her doula Nicole met her there shortly, which was a good thing because Melissa was clinging to the side of the hospital bed and didn’t want to move until Nicole coaxed her away. Melissa was aiming to have an unmedicated birth experience if it was possible, and she was successful in that goal. Having her doula and her husband by her side were immensely helpful, as well as the support from the hospital’s nurses in achieving a natural birth.
After only 4.5 hours at the hospital, it was time for the baby to enter the world – though labor took an unexpected turn just as she started pushing. The baby’s heart was decelerating with each push, and the doctor thought it might be necessary to do an emergency C-section. Melissa was wheeled to the operating room, where she was greeted by bright lights, a cold sterile table, and eight clinicians in the room. There she was given one more opportunity to push, and push she did. With the help of six nurses cheering for her, she was able to deliver the baby in only a few minutes. (Melissa was very glad that she had trained for a half Ironman prior to birth).
After almost two days in the hospital, she and her husband decided to name their son Emerson. The next few days were the absolute highest that Melissa has ever been on life, as she was so thrilled to have Emerson join their family. With the help of physical therapy and gradual recovery, Melissa is back to her regular active lifestyle. Emerson is now 16 months old and continues to be her greatest joy.
Melissa Noel Bio
Melissa lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her husband Mark, her son Emerson, and goldendoodle named Griffey. She works at the Mayo Clinic where she partners with clinicians to bring innovative care models and new clinical services to life. Melissa holds degrees in bioengineering, mechanical engineering, and business administration from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of St. Thomas. She enjoys competing in triathlons, spending time outdoors with her family, and traveling the globe. She can be contacted on Instagram at @melissa.m.noel.
This episode was sponsored by Motif Medical. Motif designs insurance-eligible products for busy moms. With a focus on innovation and empowerment, Motif’s line of breast pumps and maternity compression garments are sophisticated, yet discreet, and made to support mothers as they navigate new motherhood. Discover why moms are reporting more milk in less time with the Luna breast pump, and see how you can get it covered through insurance at motifmedical.com/birthhour.
Kelly shares her birth stories in episodes 639 and 640. Kelly’s birth journey began with her first pregnancy, which despite the long bout of nausea, was smooth and low-risk. She had a hospital induction at 40+3, and delivered her daughter after 36 exhausting hours of labor with the aid of an epidural.
A few years later and after a miscarriage at 8 weeks, she got pregnant with her second daughter. Though this pregnancy, like her first, was relatively smooth and low-risk, it was anxiety-inducing after her recent loss. However, after a lot of prayer, she felt at peace and eventual excitement for the new baby.
After the birth experience with her first daughter, which was long and not particularly empowering, Kelly knew she wanted something different this time around. After researching and listening to various birth stories, she decided she wanted a birth center birth. Her second daughter came as a result of spontaneous labor with her water breaking at 40+3. After laboring for 13 hours, though only 3 hours were active labor, Kelly got the water birth she’d dreamed of, and the empowering birth experience she’d wanted this second birth to be.
Postpartum Story
Kelly came back on the podcast to share her postpartum journey in episode 671 and had some great tips for listeners on how to incorporate your partner and the big sibling in bonding with a new baby.
Kelly’s baby’s eye shortly after birth. It ended up being a clogged tear duct.Big sister “diaper bag” full of supplies for the baby!
Kelly Batchelder Bio
Kelly is 37 and lives in Marietta, Georgia with her husband Steven of 11 years and their two daughters, Estella (age 4) and Pearl (1 month). She teaches English at Kennesaw State University for her professional gig, and teaches group fitness at a local gym for her personal gig. While both of those jobs bring her joy, the most fulfilling parts of her life are being a wife and mother. You can connect with Kelly via Instagram @kellybatchelder
Today’s episode is sponsored by Ergobaby. Founded in 2003, Ergobaby has pioneered the gold standard for comfortable, ergonomic soft structured carriers. Their commitment to providing parents with the foundation to thrive has launched the company into creating a broad range of award-winning products that fit into families’ daily lives seamlessly, comfortably, and safely – where function and quality are not compromised. In 2020, they launched Everlove by Ergobaby, a first of its kind baby carrier buy back and resale program, a sustainability effort to support families and the planet. Check out Ergobaby’s Embrace in Soft Air Mesh that we discussed on the podcast!
After preparing for an unmedicated hospital birth, Annie and Eric were taken by surprise when Annie’s water broke and labor didn’t start on its own. They ended up with quite a few interventions they were hoping to avoid but eventually, 43 hours after her water breaking, Annie gave birth to their first son, Alexander (“Lex”). Postpartum was challenging and just as things started settling down, Annie and Eric were faced with Eric being diagnosed with leukemia and the roller coaster that sent them on. The 2+ years of treatment that followed were really difficult but thankfully Eric did really well with it all. Knowing they wanted to grow their family, they preserved their options by banking sperm before Eric’s treatment began.
Once Eric was doing well and out of the most intense treatment stages, they went through 2 rounds of IUIs and then a round of IVF to conceive their second baby. The second birth was a totally different experience than the first, beginning with a long early labor at home and a very fast active labor at the hospital where Annie went from 2cm to pushing in just over 2 hours and they welcomed their second son, Theodore (“Theo”). Even though it was a whirlwind birth, it was the unmedicated birth they had wanted and was redeeming in a lot of ways after the difficulty of their first birth.
When they began thinking of having a third, they debated going back to IVF but decided to try on their own first and were surprised to conceive right away. For this pregnancy they began pursuing a home birth with a midwife practice, something Annie had always wanted but which hadn’t been an option until now. Sadly, that pregnancy ended in a miscarriage at almost 11 weeks. After processing and recovering from the loss and experiencing a chemical pregnancy a few months later, they decided to go back to the fertility clinic to explore doing a frozen embryo transfer cycle. The day before their appointment to move forward with the cycle, they got a positive pregnancy test. They were cautiously optimistic that this would be their rainbow baby and began planning again for a home birth. The pregnancy went smoothly, everything was very normal, and it was a surprise when the night before 38 weeks Annie rolled over in bed and felt her water break. Despite fears that this birth might go similarly to their first, labor kicked in (with the help of a few suggestions from the midwives) and the next evening Annie gave birth to their third son, Finnian (“Finn”), in the water at home after another whirlwind active labor (the midwives only arrived about an hour and a half before Finn was born).
They decided to try for one more baby and on their wedding anniversary, March 3, they found out they were pregnant again. Although this pregnancy was challenging, it was bittersweet for Annie knowing it would likely be her last. They again planned for a home waterbirth with a nurse midwife but things didn’t go quite according to plan. After more than a week of on and off contractions Annie second guessed whether it was the real thing when contractions started on the night of her due date. Not wanting to wake anyone up in the middle of the night, she labored mostly alone and was surprised by a swift labor which resulted in the midwives arriving only minutes before baby (another boy) was born.
Annie Kerwin Bio
Annie lives in southern New Hampshire with her husband, Eric, and their 4 children – Alexander (Lex), Theodore (Theo), Finnian (Finn), and Oliver (Ollie).
Resources
Biologically Normal Infant Sleep (Facebook group)
The Beyond Sleep Training Project (Facebook group)
Jess found out she was pregnant with her first child in January 2019. After an initial ectopic pregnancy scare she had an easy and straightforward pregnancy. Jess didn’t experience any negative pregnancy symptoms and loved being pregnant. She stayed active her entire pregnancy working as a nanny and caring for seven children, long-lining her horse, cleaning stalls, and taking yoga classes. She chose to see midwives and planned a birth center birth. She loved the individualized care that comes with choosing midwifery and especially the extensive postpartum care her midwives offered.
As her due date came and went Jess did everything she could to encourage labor. She started experiencing prodromal labor at 40+3 that continued until she went into labor after taking castor oil at 42 weeks the day before her scheduled induction. Her water broke on the way to a scheduled appointment with her midwife and upon arrival she was 3cm dilated and 85% effaced. After laboring all day without progress they made the decision to transfer to a hospital.
The hospital experience was positive for Jess and she was still able to have many of the experiences she hoped for when choosing a birth center birth. After a 36 hour labor and 6 hours of pushing Jess delivered her baby girl with vacuum assistance and discovered she had a nuchal hand that was the cause of the weird labor patterns and difficulty pushing. Her daughter Ailey was born September 27th (42+1) weighing 9lbs 6oz. Jess had a relatively easy postpartum experience despite needing to have stitches redone at one week postpartum.
Almost exactly two years later Jess found out she was pregnant again and was due just 4 days before her daughter’s due date. She had another enjoyable pregnancy but was less active this time around due to the Covid-19 pandemic. She chose to have care with the same midwife group and planned to have a birth center birth. This time she expected to go post dates and told anyone who asked that the baby was due by September 23rd (42+1). She was not surprised when her due date came and went with no sign of labor.
After a sweep at 41+6 Jess began to have consistent contractions at 10:05 PM. An hour later she checked in with her midwife and was instructed to call back when contractions were 5 minutes apart and lasting 1 minute for an hour. When contractions reached this point around midnight Jess called back and during that call began to shake uncontrollably and had 3 contractions on top of each other. Jess and her husband jumped in the car and headed to the birth center and their midwife left her home to meet them there. Once in the car Jess’ contractions slowed down and she actually enjoyed laboring in the car.
At 12:24am her midwife called to check in and they were both about 25 minutes from the birth center. After hanging up Jess had another contraction, felt her water break, and immediately felt the baby drop into the birth canal. At 12:33am they were pulled over on the side of the road and calling 911 as the fetal ejection reflex kicked in. A firefighter escorted them to a fire station a mile up the road (exactly halfway to the birth center) where Jess delivered her son in the parking lot in the front seat of their car with the help of firefighters and EMTs. Sean was born at 1:05AM on September 22nd (42w) exactly 3 hours after labor had started.
He was a very calm baby and didn’t cry at all but was perfectly healthy. After delivering the placenta they were taken to the hospital where they learned Sean weighed 9lbs 8oz. They were discharged to the care of their midwives and were settled at home by 4pm that day, less than 24 hours after labor had started. Jess loved both of her births and felt positive and empowered despite having two births that didn’t go to plan!
Jess Maki Bio
Jess lives in a small town in central Massachusetts with her husband Pat and their two children Ailey and Sean. She found her calling in early childcare and has worked as a nanny for the past six years. Jess finds the most joy working with infants and toddlers. She is passionate about respectful childcare and loves to share this passion with the families she works with. She would love to connect through Instagram @jessmaki or by email jmaki0116@gmail.com
All of Charity’s babies were born in the UK. Her oldest son was born vaginally on the operating table as preparations were being made for an emergency cesarean section, and her second son was born in the complete opposite atmosphere – peacefully in a birth tub in the living room of her small flat in central London. When Charity found out her third pregnancy was a twin pregnancy, she was utterly shocked. She immediately went to work preparing and advocating for an unmedicated twin birth in hospital, and the arrival of her babies after a gentle induction and through-the-night labor was powerful.
Charity is a mom of four that recently relocated from London, England (where all her babies were born) to Provo, Utah. Her oldest had just turned four years old when her twins were born – so her stay-at-home mom life is chock full of chaos … and joy! Charity’s professional background is in education, and she is passionate about women educating themselves about the wonder and power of pregnancy and childbirth. Connect with her on IG @CharityEyreWright or via wrightnowblog.com.
Betterhelp
Today’s episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Pregnancy and new parenthood can be extremely stressful and many struggle with their mental health. Which is why we want you to Check out BetterHelp.combirthhour. BetterHelp will assess your needs and match you with your own licensed professional therapist so you can Connect in a safe and private online environment and you can start within 48 hours of signing up!
BetterHelp matches you with a counselor based on questions you answer during sign up AND they make it easy and free to change counselors if needed. BetterHelp is more affordable than traditional offline counseling and financial aid is available. As a listener, you’ll get 10% off your first month by visiting our sponsor at BetterHelp.com/birthhour.
After trying to conceive for 7 months and and experiencing an early loss Sionann fell pregnant with her first child, Goldie, in May of 2019.
Her pregnancy with Goldie was mostly uneventful other than navigating a decision to change insurance providers in order to open up Birth Centers as an option. Sionann chose to have an out of hospital birth and loved the midwifery model of care.
Going “post dates,” Sionann resorted to taking a midwives brew of castor oil to induce labor at 41+5. It worked and Sionann worked through early labor by walking laps around their property (unbeknownst to her husband who was doing yard work with huge ear protection on so he couldn’t hear her in labor).
They eventually made their way to the BC (a harrowing drive) and Sionann was 6-7cm! It was go-time! After coping well through a manageable labor through lots of position changes, nitrous oxide, tears, and long pushing phase due to an asynclitic presentation and cervical lip, Goldie Jo finally joined us in the world on 2/10/2018 after almost 15 hours of labor. 8lbs 5oz!
LAYLA JUNE
The choice to have a second child came easily but conceiving took some work. Sionann suffered 3 miscarriages before becoming pregnant with Layla in May of 2019.
They were excited to plan a home birth for this 2nd baby but a placenta previa diagnosis changed those plans. They decided to pursue a hospital birth due to being in limbo about whether Sionann would be cleared for a vaginal birth.
In the end she was cleared and things moved forward! Sionann finally went into labor at 40+5 (late again lol) after a rough membrane sweep. The hospital experience was much different than the birth center and Sionann wasn’t as prepared for that as she could have been.
She was admitted at 4cm but in pretty excruciating pain the entire labor. This was just different than her previous experience, likely made Worse by her anxiety surrounding hospitals in general and unneeded intervention. She wasn’t coping well this time and needed some relief. The nitrous oxide the hospital provided wasn’t working well (it was later discovered that the tank had been empty the whole time!)
Morphine was administered for some relief while at the same time Sionann’s bulging water bag was broken. The water bag had been preventing baby’s descent and after a few short minutes it was time to start pushing. No long pushing phase this time! Baby Layla was born after 20 hours of labor on 2/8/2020 (narrowly avoiding all the Covid insanity). 8lbs 7oz!
AUSTRA MOON
Sionann and Cyrus had always wanted at least 3 kids and planned to start trying for #3 (their last baby) around Layla’s 1st birthday. Sionann began tracking ovulation early to get the hang of it and get a feel for her cycle. They kind of randomly conceived around Christmas of 2020 as a result. They were thrilled fit the opportunity to finally have a home birth!
The pregnancy was much harder this time due to having multiple littles to care for. Sionann’s morning sickness was awful and it was hard for those first couple months.
Things were moving along smoothly until an NIPT result flagged the baby for something called 22q Deletion Syndrome. It’s a “grey diagnosis” with a wide spectrum of things that can be affected. This was gutting news and not knowing how the baby’s quality of life would be was so hard. After a lot of testing and an amniocentesis it was determined that both Sionann AND the baby had 22q Duplication (so not the deletion). This served as a little relief because at least Sionann knew she was a living example of the duplication having minimal interference in her ability to live a happy and healthy life.
The diagnosis required more testing and scans than a usual pregnancy so they were tied to an OB practice until around 36 weeks.
Things with the midwives were so amazing and supportive the entire time. When Sionann went post dates AGAIN they helped her come up with a plan for homeopathics and castor oil that eventually put her into labor at 41+5 after a full day of walking curbs and taking herbs
She was joined by her amazing doula Katie and team midwives in their home around 9pm and worked through the contractions using her hypnobabies techniques and watching the Office on the birth ball. After a couple of hours everyone decided to go to sleep and get some rest. Sionann tried to just meditate and breathe but needed to move around more. She decided to labor on hand and knees in the shower and quickly realized she was going to need an extra set of hands soon. The doula and midwives came and held space while Sionann mooed, spit, and growled her way through transition. At 12:47 after just 5 hours of labor Austra (Ozzy) was born into Cyrus’ hands. 9lbs 8oz!
It was a really amazing experience to get back the agency she felt had been taken in the hospital. Being able to follow her intuition and birth the way that felt right was so positive and redemptive for everyone.
Through all three postpartum experiences low-supply/ IGT in breastfeeding and postpartum OCD were common themes.
Sionann Ghahremani and her husband, Cyrus, recently relocated to the Bay Area from Los Angeles, CA. They live with their 3 young daughters (Goldie, Layla, and Ozzy), their pug Tallulah, and their cat Marcella. Sionann works as a stay at home mom and Cyrus is in creative marketing and content development. Sionann can be reached on Instagram @sionann_shreds
Today’s episode is sponsored by Ergobaby. Founded in 2003, Ergobaby has pioneered the gold standard for comfortable, ergonomic soft structured carriers. Ergobaby is dedicated to helping families bond, grow, and thrive by creating premium baby products where function and quality are not compromised. Ergobaby has created a broad range of award-winning baby carriers, strollers, swaddlers, nursing pillows, and related products that fit into families’ daily lives seamlessly, comfortably and safely. In 2020, they launched Everlove by Ergobaby, a first of its kind baby carrier buy back and resale program, a sustainability effort to support families and the planet.
Lauren’s birth journey began with her first pregnancy, which was easy and uneventful. She planned on a drug-free delivery, but was pleasantly surprised with her experience of getting an epidural after being induced and laboring 8 hours without pain medication on Pitocin. Her first birth was followed by an early miscarriage on her daughters first birthday. She got pregnant again a few months later with her son, Jack. The pregnancy was going smoothly until the 20 week anatomy scan when she discovered he had a fatal condition called bilateral renal agenesis – when the baby’s kidneys are completely absent. She and her husband made the heart wrenching decision to end her pregnancy with Jack instead of having him potentially suffer. Lauren wanted to give birth to Jack naturally, but placenta previa prevented her from doing so and at 21.5 weeks gestation she needed a D&E.
Two months after Jack passed away Lauren fell pregnant again but she knew something was off from the start. After weeks of what was presumed to be an ectopic pregnancy, she miscarried naturally on the day she was to get an injection of methotrexate – a medication that would have delayed another attempt at conception for at least three months. A month later she became pregnant with her second daughter, who was conceived on Jack’s due date. She went on to have a healthy, yet heavily anxiety-riddled pregnancy and gave birth to a healthy baby girl at 39.5 weeks after an elective hospital induction.
This episode was sponsored by Motif Medical. Motif designs insurance-eligible products for busy moms. With a focus on innovation and empowerment, Motif’s line of breast pumps and maternity compression garments are sophisticated, yet discreet, and made to support mothers as they navigate new motherhood. Discover why moms are reporting more milk in less time with the Luna breast pump, and see how you can get it covered through insurance at motifmedical.com/birthhour.
Sarit and Jakob lived in Geneva, Switzerland when they first started trying to have a baby. Sarit was diagnosed shortly thereafter with PCOS, so she learned to advocate for herself within the Swiss medical system. Almost a year later and with the help of letrozole, she was pregnant. Sarit then used her newfound skill of self-advocacy and the privilege of good health insurance to surround herself with kind, evidence-based providers for the birth of their son. This eventually translated into choosing a birth center in central Geneva close to the university hospital and hiring a doula. Sarit and Jakob also self-educated and prepared for the birth as much as possible, taking multiple courses including the Know Your Options birth course, and practicing coping techniques such as Hypnobabies hypnobirthing.
Their son’s birth, 48 hours from start to finish, was a powerfully positive experience and almost entirely painless. Elena Piantino, their doula, was instrumental support, preventing the need for a hospital transfer on two occasions. Though the labor itself was calm, Sarit and Jakob’s son August entered the world to the sound of Guns N’ Roses Sweet Child O’ Mine and Sarit roaring “ow, my asshole!”.
Almost two years later, Sarit and Jakob found out they were pregnant again. By this time, they had moved to Bonn, Germany, and the only birth center was booked out by the time Sarit was 7 weeks pregnant. Through a friend, they had the luck of hiring a midwife that could attend both hospital and home births. Though Jakob and Sarit planned a hospital birth, Sarit had a feeling it may be worthwhile to prepare for a home birth. This time, they mostly prepared by rewatching the Know Your Options videos and using them as dialogue prompts, and skimming The Birth Partner book. Sarit also meditated with Hypnobabies and Expectful meditations.
On the day they were meant to induce, Sarit woke up from a nap with a mild, painless contraction. Less than 4 hours later, a very surprised Jakob caught baby Aurelia, using what he remembered from their son’s birth. While waiting for the midwife to arrive, Jakob ran to the bookshelf for The Birth Partner and double checked the unassisted birth checklist. Luckily everyone was healthy and it was another positive and empowering birth.
Sarit Quirin Bio
Sarit lives in Bonn, Germany with her husband Jakob and children August and Aurelia. She feels lucky to have lived in New York City, Buenos Aires, Hamburg, and Geneva after growing up in the Northeast United States. Now she works in next-generation computing and in her free time joyfully makes spreadsheets about everything from social movements to Halloween parties to the birth of her children. She would love to connect via Instagram @saritish or via email at saritquirin (at) gmail.com.
Aeroflow Breastpumps has helped thousands of new and expecting parents discover the breastfeeding and postpartum essentials covered by their insurance including breast pumps and maternity compression and postpartum recovery products, they take care of everything – including all paperwork, working with your insurance company, and explaining your options to get these free essentials shipped straight to your door.
Aeroflow offers all major breast pump brands including Medela, Spectra, Motif, Lansinoh, Ameda, Elvie, Willow and more.
All you have to do is go to the Aeroflow Breastpumps website and fill out their free and easy Qualify Through Insurance form. Be sure to go to aeroflowbreastpumps.com/birthhour so they will know we sent you! Bonus — use the promo code “TBH15” in their online shop for 15% off all supplies and accessories.
