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.
Jenny became pregnant quickly with her first baby in 2018 and had him after a smooth hospital induction with an epidural, but a prolonged pushing phase due to baby’s position. Postpartum was marked by significant issues nursing, which triggered post partum depression and anxiety. Then, at 6 weeks post partum she woke up with abdominal pain that turned out to be appendicitis and led to emergency surgery, further complicating post partum recovery.
Jenny went on to have two smooth homebirths. The postpartum experience after her second birth was much smoother with a baby who nursed super well, but Jenny felt like she rushed through the fourth trimester to “get it over with” and didn’t let herself enjoy it. Her third baby was born only weeks ago but this has been the smoothest transition so far despite baby having tongue and lip ties. Jenny has allowed herself to fully enjoy having a newborn and is the most emotionally healthy she’s ever been.
Jenny Burns Bio:
Jenny lives in Dayton Ohio with her husband, who is a travel nurse, and their three boys. She is a former social worker turned stay at home mom. She and her husband are in the process of renovating an old farmhouse on 6.5 acres and can’t wait to raise their boys there.
This 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 and new Evolve 3-in-1 Bouncer that we discussed on the podcast!
Sarah and her husband had their first daughter in 2018. After an uneventful pregnancy and relatively smooth birth, they got thrown into a very challenging postpartum season. Sarah experienced severe postpartum depression and anxiety made worse by nursing struggles that led to her exclusively pumping, dietary issues with her daughter, and colic that kept everyone from getting much sleep. After coming out of the fog of that experience, she was resolved to prepare for her second postpartum journey differently. She did a lot of emotional/spiritual work around her experience and also surrounded herself with as many supports as she could find. She enjoyed a much smoother postpartum season with her second and third, as well as a beautifully redemptive journey with her eldest daughter. She also experienced a precipitous labor that almost led to a car birth with her second as well as an unexpected transfer to a birth center at 38.5w with her third.
Sarah Gavin Bio
Sarah lives outside of Bozeman, Montana with her husband Kyle and their three daughters. She has a cookie business that she runs out of her home and also dabbles in a variety of other art mediums. She enjoys cooking, baking, hosting and gardening in the very short growing season she has up in Montana.
You can reach her on Instagram at her personal account @sgavin262 or her business account @secretgardencookieco (plus you get to see some cute cookies!).
This 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 and new Evolve 3-in-1 Bouncer that we discussed on the podcast!
Shortly after moving to a new state Kelly found out she was pregnant, and when Covid hit at the beginning of her third trimester she found herself feeling increasingly anxious and isolated. At 38 weeks she was diagnosed with gestational hypertension and an induction was recommended. Kelly was induced at 39 weeks and was still able to have an unmedicated birth and her son was born on June 5th. Kelly developed PPA and health anxiety right away and postpartum became clouded with mental and physical health struggles as well as breastfeeding issues. Eventually feeding became easier and the anxiety started to get a little better around 6 months postpartum and at 1 year postpartum they moved again but this time a little closer to family. Last spring Kelly completed a birth doula training and describes it as a very healing experience, now in therapy and with her anxiety controlled she has come to realize that there is no one size fits all definition of trauma and acknowledges that while some might see her birth as a “textbook” induction, to her it was a traumatic experience that needed to be processed.
Kelly Williamson Bio
Kelly is married to her husband Ben and together they have 1 son Julian who was born in June of 2020. After several moves around the country Kelly and Ben have settled down in Ann Arbor MI and are enjoying their time as Michiganders. Kelly works for a nonprofit that focuses on food equity and is also a trained doula.
You can reach out to Kelly on Instagram: @kellymaregan or her doula Instagram: @lovegrowbirth.
This 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 and new Evolve 3-in-1 Bouncer that we discussed on the podcast!
Andrea Faulkner Williams is the Head Mama and Co-founder of Tubby Todd Bath Co., which she launched in 2014 with her husband, Brian Todd, as a solution to their own family’s sensitive skin. Tubby Todd’s mission is to connect families through good, clean fun bodycare basics. The company started out by sharing products on Instagram with friends and family and they now have a cult following of a million+ community members across their channels. Andrea believes that bubbles are for everyone and is on a mission to provide families with connection opportunities. She lives in San Diego with Brian and their four little ones. Join her on Instagram @andreafaulknerwilliams
Tubby Todd Bath Co.
Today’s episode was sponsored by Tubby Todd Bath Co. Created with sensitive skin in mind, Tubby Todd’s line of bodycare basics are gentle, effective and fun for the whole family. You might have heard of their eczema miracle worker All Over Ointment (fondly referred to as AOO), but this family-owned brand offers a full line of sensitive skincare solutions that you’ll love to reach for every single day. Start with The Regulars or Baby Bundle to get your little one set up with their very first skincare routine. Join the TT fam and get 15% off your first purchase with code BIRTHHOUR15 at tubbytodd.com.
Needed
Today’s episode was also sponsored by Needed, the authority on perinatal and women’s nutrition. Needed is a nutrition platform dedicated to optimally nourishing women before, during, and after pregnancy. Needed is backed by the latest clinical research and 3,000+ perinatal nutrition practitioners. They’re the #1 women’s health supplement brand recommended by nutritionally-trained practitioners, and the first perinatal nutrition company to be B-Corp and Climate-Neutral Certified. Optimal nourishment is needed, and most prenatal vitamins are missing key nutrients and include bare minimum amounts. In fact, while 97% of women in the US take a prenatal supplement, 95%+ are still deficient in key nutrients. Needed’s Prenatal Multi was formulated in partnership with perinatal practitioners – using the latest research and by testing thousands of mamas’ nutrient levels to know what’s truly needed to thrive, not just survive. Optimally nourish yourself with their complete line of perinatal and women’s health supplements at thisisneeded.com. Use code BIRTHHOUR for 20% off at thisisneeded.com.
This Marielis’ first pregnancy/birth. She had a very normal/healthy pregnancy and has no history of mental illness. After planning a mostly unmedicated birth, she ended up having an unplanned c-section. Is he started off using nitrous oxide for some time but after 16 hours, was only dilated to 6cm. She was stuck at 9 cm for another 8 hours so they decided it was time for a c-section. After a week she started feeling a bit weird. At first she felt like she was fading in and out of her body. She’d feel normal for a few hours then felt like she wasn’t all there and during these times would feel extreme paranoia and manic episodes. She wasn’t able to sleep or eat and when she started to realize she wasn’t feeling herself her baby’s father started looking into getting her help and was able to find her a doctor who diagnosed her with postpartum psychosis (over zoom). She wasn’t able to care for her baby (when she looked at her she felt like she wasn’t really there/alive) It was an extremely scary time for her and everyone around her. She was checking into a mental health facility for 6 days and finally felt like herself again. Connect with her on Instagram at @hailmari__
Call the PSI emergency hotline 1-800-273-8255. Emergency Hotlines are available all the time. It is very important that you reach out right now and find the support and information you need to be safe. Call for yourself or someone you care about; available 24/7.
Ergobaby
This 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 and new Evolve 3-in-1 Bouncer that we discussed on the podcast!
