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Alle had her heart set on an unmedicated birth. She spent her entire pregnancy educating herself on what that might look like with being overweight; however, she also had to deal with fear mongering from her OB. She was encouraged by her support team, which included her husband and her mother, but constantly questioned by her medical care provider.
She was tested for gestational diabetes early, but wasn’t diagnosed with it until 28 weeks and was later diagnosed with gestational hypertension – which ended up being a misdiagnosis. At Alle’s anatomy scan, a technician claimed it was difficult to get the best read on the baby because of her weight. However, in later scans Alle was told that her weight should not be a problem and that technician should not have told her that. They also found a calcium deposit on baby’s heart called an EIF. The gestational hypertension diagnosis led to twice-weekly non-stress tests, a mention of scheduling a c-section at her 33 week appointment, 2 growth scans, and the constant talk of induction.
Alle wrote a detailed birth plan with everything that she wanted for herself during labor and delivery, and advocated for herself during appointments throughout her pregnancy to inform her medical care professionals that she would not make any of these drastic decisions unless it was medically necessary. At her 38 week appointment, the doctor sent her to Labor and Delivery for a failed non-stress test. At this time her doctor yet again mentioned induction, and also found protein in her urine. Instead, Alle asked for a membrane sweep. With her birth plan in hand, she headed to the hospital for monitoring. On the way there, she had her first contraction in the car. Only 6 hours later she was holding her baby boy after having the best birth experience she could have dreamed of.
Alle Sanchez Bio Summary
Alle lives in the Metro Detroit area with her husband, William, their 18 month old son, Henrik, and their dog Boba. She is a photographer, aspiring birth worker, and is currently working as a marketing coordinator/event planner.
Alle and William met in High School and started dating her freshman year in college. She graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree concentrating in photography. William proposed at the Detroit Institute of Arts after 6 years of dating, they got married in October of 2016. One year later, to the day, they conceived their first child, Henrik Wolf. He was born in June 2018. Alle is currently expecting their surprise gender baby #2 in March.
Alle is working on building her photography business to become her full time job, with a focus on women, their growing families, and the beautiful process they go through to become mothers. She has goals to become a doula and birth educator in the near future. Connect with her on Instagram: @allesanchezphoto or @alle.wolfmama and Facebook: Alle Sanchez: Photographer or via her website www.allesanchezphoto.com.
Resources
- Sweet Momma Yoga for the southeast Michigan Momma’s
- Expressions! Lactation Services Facebook Group run by lactation specialists
- Birth Becomes Her – find a local birth photographer
- The Wonder Weeks App
- The Birth Hour
- Aeroflow Breastpumps
- Grove.co
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I enjoyed this episode, but I think it’s important to explicitly point out the weight stigma that women in larger bodies face in medicine. It was very obvious throughout the episode, but I think it’s not pointed out explicitly enough that she was treated differently and stigmatized for her size, which is incredibly fatphobic. Being in a larger body is not bad or inherently unhealthy. I think it’s importantly to understand Health at Every Size, the idea that weight is a poor indicator of health and people at all body sizes can be healthy. I think it also important to acknowledge how fatphobia negatively impacts one’s experience of pregnancy and childbirth.