Mindy shares her two postpartum experiences. Going into her first birth, she was hoping for a natural labor, but ended up being induced and getting an epidural. She felt present and in control, but still had to overcome feeling like this wasn’t a “real” birth experience. Her postpartum bliss was interrupted when doctors heard a murmur in the baby’s heart, and he was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect, specifically VSD (ventricular septal defect), PFO (patent foramen ovale), and mitral valve malformation. He went on to have open heart surgery at 13 months old.
She became pregnant with her second baby in February 2020, a month before the pandemic lockdown began. She describes her postpartum experience, and that baby, as so easy. She said the biggest challenge was parenting her first, who of course was used to having all the attention on him.
Here are a few of the resources mentioned in the episode:
The Children's Heart Foundation: https://www.childrensheartfoundation.org/
Their "It's My Heart" book is available here:
https://www.childrensheartfoundation.org/about-chds/resources.html
The support group that gave her a gift bag in the waiting room is Mended Little Hearts: https://mendedhearts.org/
The Facebook group she found very early in her journey:
Babies and children with VSD (ventricular septal defect) and CHD support
https://www.facebook.com/groups/268526583311618
Mindy's email is: mindyseamail (at) gmail (dot) com
Join us on the Facebook group to talk more about this episode and all things postpartum: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fourthtrimesterpostpartumstories/
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