Hospital Birth—9 Weeks Postpartum Bleeding

by thebirthhour | May 16, 2019 | Birth Stories, Hospital

Brooke gave birth to baby Shiloh Lane on March 30th, 2018 at 4:12am. Her pregnancy was fairly textbook with the normal aches and pains towards the end. At 40 weeks Brooke and her Husband, Zack decided to allow the doctor to strip her membranes in hopes that that would give the extra bump she needed to get the birth going. Sure enough, 24 hours later labor started at 3:00pm. By 11pm things had really picked up, Zack called the doulas and they agreed that they should head to the hospital. Zack and Brooke arrived at the hospital at midnight where Brooke was checked and was 4cm with contractions 3 minutes apart. At 2:30am Brooke began to feel the urge to push but did not want to inform the nurses because she knew it could be a while of pushing and she wanted to stand as long as possible. At 3:15am the nurses heard she had been pushing and immediately checked her and made it very clear she was NOT to push until she was fully dilated to a 10 (she was only 7cm at this time). Lots of prayers were said during this time and 5 minutes after only being 7cm she was checked again and had fully dilated to 10cm. There was about 20 mins of active pushing and Shiloh was born. She was 9lbs 1oz and mama was left with a pretty significant 3rd degree tear.

Postpartum was a wild ride for Brooke who was not expecting the emotions and physically recovery that was needing to happen. Breastfeeding went well, with the occasional latch issue and fear that baby wasn’t getting enough but going to a lactation consultant set all of their fears aside. Brooke’s biggest hurdle was that she had postpartum bleeding for 9 weeks PP which everyone told her was “not normal” after many OB appointments and an extra ultrasound to make sure nothing was retained inside Brooke finally stopped bleeding and soon learned about the importance of seeing a Pelvic floor therapist postpartum.

Brooke Borough Bio

Brooke is a 29 year old Wedding photographer living in Ventura, California. She is happily married to her amazing husband Zack of 5 years, has a daughter named Shiloh who is now 1 years old and another baby on the way, due in October. In her spare time you can often find her at the beach with friends, advocating for better beauty regulations, and editing the many wedding + family photos that she has the honor of photographing. You can connect with her on Instagram @dayswithbrooke or her business page @brooke_borough

Resources

The Birth hour + private FB group
Natural birth class (ours was by Tracy Franklin Schmidt — Birth Matters, located in Santa Barbara CA)
Young living oils for during pregnancy + birth (along with Gentle babies book)
Kelly Mom website (troubleshooting w/ Breastfeeding)
Earth mama Birth plan Generator

Babylist

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Epidural Lumbar Puncture, Amnioinfusion & Postpartum Spinal Headache

by thebirthhour | May 2, 2019 | Birth Stories, Hospital

Preparing for an Unmedicated Birth and Confronting Interventions

Hannah is a first time mom who discovered the birth community during the middle of her pregnancy, and fully embraced it. After lots of research, planning, and self-discovery, she planned for an unmedicated hospital birth with little to no interventions. Hannah had a complication-free pregnancy, and went into labor at 40w3d. Although her contractions were intense and close together, she did not progress dilating and was very discouraged. With the help of her birth team, she then decided to opt for interventions to assist in moving her labor along. She labored in the tub and her water had broken. At this time, she opted to get an epidural. The anesthesiologist had difficulty placing the epidural, and subsequently, had caused a lumbar puncture that affected not only the way the rest of Hannah’s labor would go, but also postpartum.

Hannah’s birth team began to notice baby having late deceleration. Her doctor’s informed her that if baby continued having issues with deceleration they were going to bring her in for a c-section, and began preparing for this possibility. As a last effort they decided to try an amnio-infusion to try to change baby’s position, although this did not normally work for the type of deceleration they were seeing her baby have. Thankfully, it worked, allowing Hannah to avoid the need for a cesarean. Although the epidural did allow Hannah to have a break and rest, it completely stopped working at around 7cm. From there, Hannah and her doula did a lot of breathing work and vocalizing to bring baby down and continue dilating. After pushing for 15 minutes, her baby was born and responded beautifully.

Hannah, however, began to notice an intense headache develop almost immediately after birth. The incorrectly placed epidural caused a spinal headache that lasted over two weeks postpartum, and the only way she was not in pain was when she was laying down. In order to avoid the surgical procedure of an epidural blood patch, Hannah opted to wait it out until her body was able to heal itself. Despite her labor and postpartum time going much differently than expected, Hannah feels confident and empowered by her birth story, and credits that to education, preparation, and an incredible birth team.

Hannah Moody Bio

Hannah is 27 years old and lives in Columbia, South Carolina, with her husband, Brandon, and their three month old daughter, Millicent. She is a an immigration paralegal at a large law firm, a job she switched to during her second trimester. Connect with her on Instagram: @goosebear

Resources

Doula: babybirddoula@gmail.com
EBB website

Accinclitic Baby, Postpartum Hemorrhage & Struggling with Low Milk Supply

by thebirthhour | Apr 24, 2019 | Birth Stories, Hospital

Accinclitic Baby, Postpartum Hemorrhage & Low Milk Supply

Elisabeth gave birth to her first child, Owen, on April 5th, 2019. The pregnancy itself was mostly uneventful minus persistent nausea at 20 weeks that caused to switch from OBs to a midwife. Then a follow up ultrasound brought up concerns that Owen had a potential heart issue. This added some worry to the end of the pregnancy and required sticking with OBs. So, then Elisabeth’s plan was to have an unmedicated childbirth in the hospital. Her due date came and went and as her induction date loomed closer.

Luckily, after two acupuncture sessions, labor started on the day of her induction but she developed a high leak in her amniotic fluid. Instead of using any medications, her OB broke her water completely. She went from 1cm to 3 cms in 2 hours, then felt the urge to push 3.5 hours later. After almost 3 hours of pushing, Owen entered to world accinclitic and at 9lbs 1 oz! Elisabeth had an immediate severe postpartum hemorrhage that only got under control after administering multiple rounds of pitocin, misoprostol and methergine. About 2 hours later, she had another bleed that required more medications and eventually two blood transfusions. This may have contributed to her current struggles with low milk supply.

Elisabeth Marnik Bio

Elisabeth is 30-year-old research scientist living in Franklin, ME. Her research is focused on genetics and stem cells. She is married to Isaac, who she met after multiple failed online dates. Owen is their first child. In her spare time she is an avid hiker, marathon runner and reader. Find Elisabeth at:Instagram: @Lizmarnik; Facebook: Elisabeth Marnik

Resources

The Birth Hour
The Birthful Podcast
The Birth Kweens Podcast
Evidence Based Birth
The Expectant Father by Armin Brott
The New Father by Armin Brott

Baby Booster

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