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!).
Resources
- Birth Hour Podcast & FB Group for Patreon members
- Birth Partner by Penny Simkin
- Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
- Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Breastfeeding by Ina May Gaskin
- Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts by Karen Kleiman
- What About Us?: A New Parents Guide to Safeguarding Your Over-Anxious, Over-Extended, Sleep-Deprived Relationship
- First 40 Days by Heng Ou
- Good Inside by Dr. Becky Kennedy
- Expecting Better by Emily Oster
- Cribsheet by Emily Oster
- IG – Our Mama Village @ourmamavillage
- IG – Dr. Becky @drbeckyatgoodinside
- Nest Collaborative – Virtual Lactation Support
- Roots Family Collaborative in Bozeman
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!
Thank you for this story. It’s so much like mine except I only have one baby right now and he’s 9 months. So many times during the podcast I was saying yes! as she described her feelings of darkness postpartum. I feel so traumatized by my newborn experience that I’ve questioned whether or not I could ever go through it again, but this episode gives me hope and good ideas for how to prepare better next time.