Aaron’s first full-term pregnancy and birth followed two first-trimester miscarriages. Aaron was referred to a hematologist to rule out any blood clotting issues and was encouraged to be on a blood thinner for the subsequent pregnancy. Due to a spinal surgery that prevented spinal pain control, Aaron planned for an unmedicated, out-of-hospital birth at a birth center. After a first trimester of being on blood thinners, her OB and MFM agreed that the blood thinners were unnecessary and that she could plan for the unmedicated, out-of-hospital birth she wanted. After an uneventful final two trimesters, she went into labor spontaneously in the 39th week. After 21 hours of challenging active labor and 2.5 hours of pushing, Oliver entered the world. Aaron was challenged by severe nausea from early labor through delivery, inconsistent but intense contractions, and scar tissue on the cervix, which prevented typical progression and had to be manually extracted. Aaron struggled with feeling well-resourced during the long labor.
Almost three years later, Aaron found herself in a similar situation: pregnant after another two miscarriages. This time Aaron was put on a progesterone regime for the first trimester. For this birth, Aaron planned for a home birth with midwives. The only thing getting in the way of this plan was a stubbornly breech baby. After unsuccessful attempts to turn the baby at home, Aaron and her spouse decided to do an ECV in the 38th week. While nerve-wracking, the procedure was successful and ultimately an empowering experience of using evidence-based resources to make the best decision for their family. Aaron went on to go slightly over her due date and began feeling contractions at 40 + 5. Expecting a prolonged dilation, Aaron didn’t feel ready to call the midwives, but luckily, her husband insisted, and they arrived just in time to help deliver their baby girl in the tub after 4 hours of active labor. During this labor, Aaron worked on moving, eating, drinking, and taking Zofran to maintain her strength.
Aaron Brame Bio
lives in Gainesville, FL, with her spouse, Jason, children Oliver, 3, Lula, seven months old, and pup Penny. Aaron works at an educational non-profit, and her spouse owns a fine woodworking business. Oliver and Lula specialize in making each other laugh and generally being really great kids. Aaron can be reached on Instagram at aaron_brame and also by email at abrame06@gmail.com
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 learn about the new wearable Aura pump, plus see how you can get it covered through insurance at motifmedical.com/birthhour.
Lilly gave birth with the support of her husband, Ryan, and her doula, Kaitlyn Wozniak. She gave birth at Sibley Memorial Hospital, and her Obgyn (who she highly recommends!) is Dr. Sharon Kressel from the Liv by Advantia Health doctor’s office in the heart of Washington, DC. Lilly shares the story of her induced hospital birth done without pain medication after a complicated pregnancy of low-lying placenta, breech baby, hypertension, and gaining over 60lbs. She discusses coping with the death of a friend who passed from birth complications and the residual fear that she coped with due to her friend’s passing. Lilly also shares about being a small business owner while pregnant and how she turned to TikTok to find support in her journey.
Lilly Scott Bio
Lilly lives in Washington, DC, and her Daughter, Waverly was born on May 19th, 2022. Wavey has two puppy-sisters, mini golden doodles named Maui and Bali. Lilly was a lawyer lobbyist who left the corporate world in 2020 to pursue her passion for teaching group fitness and inspiring others. Before the pandemic, she was a top instructor at Corepower Yoga and Equinox. Now Lilly has a fitness app and business of her own called Electric Collective, where she leads challenging workouts that transform how people see themselves, one squat at a time.
Lilly is also very active on social media. Her Instagram content focuses on body acceptance and celebrating who you are; her TikTok content focuses on her pregnancy and postpartum journey. Her handle on Instagram is @lillyscott, and her TikTok handle is @thelillyscott.
Use Code BIRTHHOUR to get 75% off of access to Electric Collective’s 500+ virtual fitness classes for 3 months! Sign up here.
Aeroflow Breastpumps
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 “TBH15” in their online shop for 15% off all supplies and accessories.
With her first pregnancy, Grace was lucky enough to get pregnant when ‘trying, but not trying’. She had a straightforward pregnancy and was planning to have a homebirth under the care of an excellent midwife with a lot of experience. At 38 weeks Grace’s water broke on a Monday afternoon, contractions started, they quickly became regular with 3-4 decent contractions every 10 minutes that she had to work through. Grace labored at home through the night with her husband, sister and midwife supporting her. By Tuesday morning labor was stalling and was stop and start all day. On Wednesday Grace spent the day doing the Miles circuit and having acupuncture to try and get things moving.
On Thursday, Grace opted to go into the hospital to get induced and was only 2cm. She was given Cervidil midday, progressed to 3cm and then was put on a Pitocin drip and given antibiotics since it had now been 3 days since her waters had broken. By 2am on Friday there was still no progress and it was decided that the best course of action was a C-section. At 4am on Friday (nearly 4 days after labor first began) Ezra was delivered and much to everyone’s surprise he was Breech.
As it turns out Grace has a partial bicornuate uterus which hadn’t been picked up in any scans – this results in your uterus being a heart shape with two pockets. Ezra’s head was lodged in one of the pockets so it didn’t present as a typical breech and in all vaginal examinations and palpations of baby nobody had realized.
Despite labor being the opposite to what Grace imagined, it was a very positive birth. Grace had an amazing team around her who made sure she got to make decisions and have a voice during her time at the hospital.
Grace went on to have a beautiful postpartum period. Ezra was an excellent feeder and she was cared for well by her midwife, friends, family and church.
Grace’s journey to her second pregnancy was longer than expected. After a year of trying Grace was diagnosed with secondary infertility with no obvious answers as to why. It was thought the uterus shape may have been contributing. 2.5 years in to trying Grace was booked in for an investigative surgery to see if they could snip the septum and the uterus could resume a more normal shape. A week before surgery Grace found out she was pregnant.
Grace felt anxious in the first 12 weeks as there is a high chance of miscarriage with partial bicornuate uterus as the embryo can implant into the septum and not get enough nutrients. Thankfully there were no issues and Grace had an uneventful pregnancy up until 31 weeks when she developed an “irritable uterus”. This meant hours of sore tightening’s every few days until she gave birth at 39 weeks.
This time it was obvious by 28 weeks this baby was also breech so the decision was made to have an elective C-section, however Grace was hoping to go into spontaneous labor and then have the C-section. When Grace was 38 weeks pregnant, New Zealand was put into a strict lockdown for 8 weeks. Everyone was to remain at home and not see anybody outside of their homes. It also meant Grace’s husband was not allowed to stay once she was in recovery and would not be able to see her again until she came home. At 39 weeks, Grace woke at 1am to her waters breaking, within 10 minutes she was having regular strong contractions. She went in to the hospital with her midwife and husband and by 4am Micah was delivered via C-section. Grace spent one night in the hospital and was able to go home to be with her family the next day. Grace had another great recovery and felt well supported even if it was more from afar this time around.
Grace Sheat Bio
Grace lives in Christchurch, New Zealand with her husband James and two energetic boys, Ezra and Micah. She is a Speech and Language Therapist who loves getting to work closely with families in the community. In her spare time she can be found exploring all the beautiful places NZ has to offer with her family. Connect with Grace via email at grace.j.sheat@gmail.com.
Podcasts: The Birth Hour/ Kiwi Birth Tales/ Australian Birth stories
BabyIt from Fairhaven Health
This episode is sponsored by Fairhaven Health. Fairhaven Health offers a wide range of products for fertility, pregnancy, breastfeeding and women’s health. Today, we’re highlighting a product from their vaginal care line – BabyIt Perineal Massage and Postpartum Gel. BabyIt is a water-based, isotonic and paraben-free gel designed specifically for perineal massage during pregnancy, and to soothe sore tissues postpartum. Fairhaven Health is generously offering 15% off of all products with the code BirthHour15 at www.fairhavenhealth.com
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.
Surprised to find her baby had “flipped” near to term, Amanda discusses her experience with version as well as a dural puncture postpartum. Her struggles with breastfeeding postpartum ignited a desire to directly address a national problem of suboptimal breastfeeding rates by creating a national network of virtual lactation consultants and her company, Nest Collaborative.
Amanda Gorman Bio
Amanda Gorman is a board-certified pediatric nurse practitioner, specializing in primary and urgent pediatric care. An early adopter of health technology for the family, she founded Nest Collaborative in early 2017 to address the growing need for affordable and easy access to reliable healthcare for families with young children.
Amanda holds undergraduate degrees in Nursing and Psychology from Columbia and Fordham Universities, and received her graduate nursing education in Pediatric Primary Care at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Prior to her transition to primary care in 2011, Amanda spent 6 years in emergency and peri-operative nursing at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Washington Hospital Center, Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles and UCSF. Additionally she has consulted for the US Department of Labor’s Job Corps program, as well as provided patient support for One Medical Group’s virtual clinical support team.
She and her husband, a family physician, have two small children, and now live in Connecticut. She can be contacted through www.NestCollaborative.com, and on FB and IG @nestcollaborative.
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.
After over 4 years of dealing with infertility Gisselle and her husband Lynneric found out they were pregnant due to an IUI. A few weeks later they found out they were having twins! After a mostly uneventful pregnancy to that point, Gisselle was diagnosed with cholestasis at 30 weeks. At 32 weeks they found out both babies were breech and began to plan to have a cesarean. She delivered at 36 weeks and the babies never had to go the NICU. Postpartum she dealt with some postpartum depression and sought help from her doctor for medication and also attended therapy on a regular basis.
Gisselle Topham Bio
Gisselle and her husband Lynneric live in Ogden, Utah with their 4 yr. old boy girl twins. Her husband works for the government and she is a trained doula and childbirth educator working on her certification. She became involved in the infertility world while trying to get pregnant and has since also joined her local twin moms club. She enjoys watching movies and reading books. With her family she likes to have dance parties. Her kids keep her busy and she loves laughing at the crazy things they say and do. Connect with her via Facebook (gisselletopham) or by email gisselle.topham@gmail.com. Gisselle is also an active member of The Birth Hour Patreon group!
When You’re Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads by Barbara Luke
What to do when you’re having two – Natalie Diaz
Searched twins in podcast app and google
PSI International
Facebook groups for infertility and twins
Asking about a therapist and psychiatrist
Local Twins club
Other twin moms
Wumblekin
This episode is sponsored by Wumblekin. Life’s busy and there’s a lot of noise out there, that can be especially true during pregnancy. Wumblekin breaks down pregnancy, labor and birth with evidence-based education and expert-curated products for mom and baby. Easily buy or gift single boxes, or subscribe to receive them throughout pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Be informed and prepared by ordering Wumblekin pregnancy, birth and postpartum essentials, today! Get 15% off your first box by using promo code BIRTHHOUR at checkout. Visit wumblekin.com to order or subscribe, today!
