115. MyMaine Birth: Lindsey's Four EMMC Bangor, Maine Birth Stories

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Are you a soon to be mom, a seasoned mother, or simply interested in the world of birth?  You’re in the right place! 

In this episode, we discuss:

• Four EMMC Bangor, Maine birth stories
• The importance of choosing support you align with
• Nurse Midwifery care at a hospital
• ….and a whole lot more!

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Episode Transcript

Lindsey (00:01):
Okay, so this is the story.
This is the story of a lifetime.
So I had continued nursing mythird baby and she let's see the
summer that we found out aboutmy youngest.
My third baby would have beenabout 14, 15 months old, so she
was still nursing, you know,maybe once or twice at night,

(00:23):
few times during the day.
I hadn't had much of apostpartum period and I was also
on birth control that preventedme from having a period I
believe it was the mini pill.
So I had not really hadanything to track as far as
cycles and we had gone my kidsand I had gone to the beach one

(00:45):
day and I had noticed, carryingmy third in a carrier, that my
stomach was kind of hurting,like it felt painful in a
certain spot and I noticed abulge above my belly button.
So I called my mom over to lookat it and she came over and she
was like I think you have ahernia.
Mom over to look at it, and shecame over and she was like I

(01:07):
think you have a hernia.
So I go to my doctor, I end upgetting an ultrasound and I do
find out that I have anumbilical hernia, and so I'm
thinking all right, you knowI've got to get this taken care
of and we go on vacation, so Idon't schedule any appointments
immediately because we're goingto see family for a couple weeks
and I start to kind of noticesome signs that I could be

(01:32):
pregnant.
I start having heartburn, I'mtrying to think what else.
I start having some sensitivitywhen my third is nursing and
I'm starting to think I could bepregnant.
So I end up taking a pregnancytest when we come back from our
vacation and it, I mean itturned positive immediately, so

(01:56):
so fast.
So I'm telling my husband andI'm kind of freaking out
thinking, oh my goodness, fourkids.
I mean I didn't see myselfhaving more than two, but four.
You know, I'm honestly mostlyworried and he's very excited,
very happy, but I'm just kind ofin that worry, anxiety mode.

(02:16):
So I call my OB midwife practiceand get an appointment
scheduled practice and get anappointment scheduled and I tell
them look, I have not had anyperiod, so I don't know how far
along I am.
And thankfully there was anincredibly kind nurse or medical

(02:37):
assistant who looked at theschedule for the ultrasounds for
that day and she said we havean emergency appointment left.
Can you be here in 30 minutesand I said, yes, I will be there
.
So she was really willing tohelp me out and just make sure
that that I felt at ease andthat everything was good.
So I was able to make it forthat appointment and the

(03:01):
ultrasound tech is scanning andI'm at first not really wanting
to watch.
You know, I'm kind of thinkingyou know, how far along am I
really?
You know, maybe nine, 10 weeksat the most, and she finishes
her measurements and I asked herto turn on the monitor and she
says that I'm 23 weeks.

(03:21):
So I was already more thanhalfway through my pregnancy.
And so I asked her about thedue date.
She says at the end of Novemberand this is beginning of August
.

Angela (03:35):
I'm Angela and I'm a certified birth photographer,
experienced doula, childbirtheducator and your host here on
the my Main Birth podcast.
This is a space where we sharethe real-life stories of
families and their unique birthexperiences in the beautiful
state of Maine, from our state'sbiggest hospitals to birth
center births and home births.

(03:56):
Every birth story deserves tobe heard and celebrated.
Whether you're a soon-to-be mom, a seasoned mother or simply
interested in the world of birth, these episodes are for you.
Hey, everyone, welcome back.
This is episode 115 of the myMain Birth podcast.

(04:18):
I wanted to share that I don'tselectively pick any of the
birth stories that are shared onthis platform.
I accept all of the storiesthat are submitted to me
hospital births, birth centerbirths, all different types of
home births and everything inbetween.
The only requirement forsharing a birth story on this
podcast is that at least one ofyour birth stories is a Maine

(04:42):
birth story.
Other than that, I just wantthis to be a free resource for
Maine families to hear about thedifferent options available
throughout the state forpregnancy, birth and postpartum.
As an added bonus, all of mypodcast guests receive a gift
certificate for a familyadventure photo session with me
on the session day of yourchoice.

(05:03):
I host session days for mypodcast guests at iconic
locations across Mainethroughout the spring, summer
and fall.
So if you'd like to join thecommunity of Maine moms sharing
birth stories on the podcast,you can fill out the form over
on my website, mymainbirthcom.
Just click over to the podcastpage, or you can always send me
a message over on Instagram.

(05:24):
At mymainth, today's birthstory guest is Lindsay, and she
is here to share her four birthstories with us today, all of
which were at Northern LightsEastern Maine Medical Center in
Bangor.
Hi, lindsay, welcome toMyMainBirth.
Hi, so to get started, wouldyou share a little bit about you

(05:48):
and your family.

Lindsey (05:49):
Yes, so my name is Lindsay and I'm a local teacher.
I teach elementary school and Ihave four kids ranging in age
from one to 11.
And we live in a rural part ofMaine, outside of Bangor.
Thankfully we have my familyhere locally.
My husband's family is abouthalfway across the country, but

(06:14):
we do have great support andthen also chances to go visit
them.
So you know we love being home.
We're homebodies but we do liketo get out and visit our family
and travel a little bit.
But yeah, that's just a littlebit about us.

Angela (06:29):
Cool.
So to jump into your birthstories now.
Will you share about how youfound out you were pregnant for
the first time and what yourthoughts were on choosing your
care?

Lindsey (06:41):
Definitely.
So my husband and I wereactually living separately.
He was finishing up a job, sowe were seeing each other maybe
once a month at the time and wefigured that we would.
You know we would notnecessarily start trying.
We didn't want to put a lot ofpressure on it, but we weren't
going to prevent either, and soI just figured okay, you know

(07:02):
I'm tracking things, I'm a fewdays late, I'll go ahead and
test.
And so we actually weren't evenliving together when I found
out I was pregnant.
So I took a test, found out, wasable to call him and tell him
over the phone and you know hewas just very excited.
So we were able to start makingplans for him to finish up what

(07:23):
he was doing and move back toMaine here with me.
And I knew that my parents haveboth worked in the local
hospital system.
So I knew just through themthat there were some really
great care providers.
And in my own research Ifigured that I probably would
want a practice that had theoption of working with a midwife

(07:45):
.
And so I was able to findwomen's health care right at the
Northern Light Eastern MaineMedical Center that has both
OBGYNs and midwives.
So that ended up being a reallygood fit for me.

Angela (07:59):
Awesome.
So how are you feelingthroughout that pregnancy and
what were your kind of likeappointments looking like as
things progressed?

Lindsey (08:06):
Well, thankfully, as my midwife used to say, you know,
it's just very boring, it's avery boring appointment.
So that to me was a good signthat everything was really
healthy and everything wentreally well In the first
trimester.
I did have a lot of foodaversions.
Thankfully I was not super sick.
I can only remember one timeactually vomiting in the morning

(08:32):
, having that like traditionalmorning sickness.
It was kind of like an all daynausea for me for the first
trimester.
You know, but being a teacheryou have to get up, you have to
kind of be ready for your day.
So it helped me get through theday, I think you being a
teacher and working with youngchildren, because I didn't

(08:52):
really have much of an option.
But I felt great through mysecond trimester.
I always felt like it was veryexciting to see how my body was
changing and, yeah, it wasalways just great updates that
she was growing super well.
My husband is quite a bittaller than I am, so you know we
only got a couple ofultrasounds with my first

(09:15):
pregnancy, lots more with theother three, but they were
telling us that she was going tobe quite a big baby and she was
so how were things as you gottowards the final kind of weeks
and then days leading up to whenyour labor started?

Angela (09:32):
And, yeah, how was your birth?

Lindsey (09:34):
Yeah, I was very, very tired leading up to my birth.
I was also very excited butnervous, so just that kind of
anxious preparation.
I was due just after the newyear and I think most first time
moms at least the ones thatI've talked to you're so focused
on that due date and I knewthat it was definitely a chance

(09:59):
that I was not going to have herby my due date.
But just all of that anxiety,like okay, is today going to be
the day?
When you wake up those last fewweeks in your third trimester,
you just never know what toexpect.
I had read a little bit abouthypnobirthing and I had done
some practicing with it on myown at home and I had read the

(10:22):
book.
So I was feeling like I had atleast done some things to help
prepare myself.
I really felt like in thoselast few weeks, just a lot of
anxiety, a lot of excitementaround everything, and I felt
super prepared.
With hypnobirthing I didn'tfeel like I really knew what

(10:42):
contractions were going to feellike.
So that was the one thing thatI was a little worried about and
I know myself pretty well.
I feel like I have a decentpain tolerance, but not anything
, you know, over the top.
So I went into the birth hopingthat maybe I could birth my

(11:05):
baby without an epidural, butknowing that it was a
possibility and I would be okaywith that if that's what ended
up happening.
So I, my due date came and wentand I, you know, was back to
work as a teacher after the newyear and just really anxious
about everything happening.
And so I had one of my lastmidwife appointments and she

(11:29):
could tell that the baby wasgoing to be on the bigger side.
And she just said, okay, likeyou're over 40 weeks, would you
be okay with us inducing if wehave to?
And I said, sure, you know, Iwas just kind of ready to get
things going at that point.
So we had set a date forinduction that I think was about

(11:49):
five days after my due date.
And I go to bed the night beforethinking, okay, I'm going to
have this nice extra day offfrom work, I have a day to get
all the baby's clothes doublechecked, I have some time to get
a few things done.
And my water ended up breakingin the middle of the night, that

(12:11):
night around midnight.
So I was not really expectingthat.
I got up to kind of roll overin bed and my water broke.
So I woke my husband up.
He had only been to sleep forabout an hour, poor guy.
I had been asleep for a while,so I had at least gotten a
little bit of rest.
And, yeah, we ended up callingdriving to the hospital and I

(12:37):
was not really feeling a ton ofcontractions at first.
I just remember having afeeling of I wouldn't want to
call it pressure, but maybe alittle extra weight.
Things just felt different inmy belly without the water in
there, without all of thatamniotic fluid.
So it was definitely aninteresting car ride.

(12:57):
I was sitting on top of a towelbecause my amniotic fluid was
still leaking.
We made it to the hospital andgot all checked in and in our
room and we had a wonderfulnurse who wanted to make sure
that everything was good.
She had me on the monitors andI was contracting pretty
regularly and doing a great jobhandling them, I think until I

(13:19):
was about four or fivecentimeters, and then the
intensity really started to pickup and that was that was
difficult for me.
I was having a hard time kindof handling that intensity and
so I asked for an epiduralaround.
I think it was 7am that morningand so we had been there for a
few hours.
I got the epidural, we wereable to rest for a couple of

(13:42):
hours and all of a sudden I was10 centimeters, so I was ready
to start pushing and thankfullymy midwife had a wonderful
student midwife with her and shewas the one that was actually
able to be there and help withmy daughter when she was born.
So that was really exciting,that I kind of had a team there

(14:05):
with me.
My sister and my mom were thereat the hospital when I started
pushing.
They ended up staying in thewaiting room just kind of
hanging out, but I really diduse some of those hypnobirthing
strategies when I was pushing.
It was definitely, I think, alittle tougher for me as a
first-time mom, like not reallyknowing what to do, how it was
supposed to feel when I waspushing, but I pushed, for I

(14:27):
think it was about an hour and ahalf, almost two hours, and
then my daughter was born.
I just remember it feelingquite peaceful.
You know I was hearing somemoms in other rooms.
Obviously things can get reallyintense and that was a little
like oh my goodness.
You know they're in a lot ofpain and that was a little scary

(14:48):
for me, but I thankfully wasable to, you know, keep things
as peaceful as possible formyself, so that felt really good
the first time around.

Angela (14:58):
Do you remember how your placenta?

Lindsey (14:59):
was born.
Yes, so my daughter came out,she was born and then, probably
within the next one to twominutes, I was able to deliver
the placenta and I really didn'tI think because of the epidural
feel much.
I will say pushing for me wasnot super painful for probably

(15:20):
you know 90% of it.
It was really the last maybelike five to ten minutes.
The epidural definitely did itsthing to help make sure that I
wasn't feeling much, especiallyof those contractions.
But yeah, the placenta wasdelivered just fine and my
daughter was doing great.
She was nine pounds one ounceand I'm quite a short person, so

(15:40):
that was a big baby, but shewas very healthy.
I do remember now talking moreabout it that when my water
broke there was some meconium inthe water.
So the NICU staff was in theroom and thankfully my care
staff did let me know that thatwould be happening.

(16:02):
They didn't want me to feelnervous, with extra people being
there, that anything was wrong,but I think they just wanted to
make sure that they wereprepared in case she had
difficulty breathing, butthankfully she didn't.
She was all good to go and, youknow, doing really well.

Angela (16:18):
So how was your postpartum time with her?

Lindsey (16:21):
It was really interesting.
I think overall it was lovely,it was fantastic.
But the breastfeeding wassomething that I was really
really wanting to do and for thefirst probably week or so it
was quite painful, so it was abig adjustment for both of us.
Thankfully, she did wonderfullynursing.

(16:44):
It was really more of me justmaking sure I was in the right
position and taking care of myown body.
I ended up being quite anoverproducer of milk.
So the engorgement phase, andespecially that second or third
day when my milk came in, it wasvery painful.
But thankfully I have a coupleof mom friends that had babies

(17:08):
before me and also chose tobreastfeed, so I was able to get
in touch with them and use someof my online resources that I
had used in the past, just kindof looking things up and finding
information that I needed.
So we were able to make itthrough and I my husband was
super supportive and you know hewould tell me, you know that we

(17:29):
can get formula and I would say, no, I not that I'm against it,
but I was really.
It was important to me to tryto make it work more than just a
week, and so once we gotthrough that first week
everything was smooth sailingfrom there.

Angela (17:43):
Yeah, that's amazing that you had the support of your
community there to help youthrough that and can really make
a difference.

Lindsey (17:51):
Yes, definitely.

Angela (17:53):
Now, when did you find out you were pregnant for the
second time?

Lindsey (18:00):
So my daughter my oldest was about a year and a
half old and we all of a suddenjust realized oh my gosh, I
haven't had my period.
You know, I'm probably a coupleweeks late, maybe even a few
weeks late.
At this point I had actuallyjust weaned her off of
breastfeeding and so my periodswere kind of here and there.

(18:23):
I didn't really have aconsistent period at that point,
and so I decided to take apregnancy test and found out I
was pregnant, and when I went togo find out from the dating
ultrasound I was already nineweeks along, so it had already
been a few additional weeks.

(18:43):
You know, if I had probablybeen keeping better track of
things, I would have known totest sooner.
But I do remember at first beingsad for my oldest because she
wasn't going to be the only oneanymore.
I was very used to giving her100% of my attention.
You know it was a lot of timesjust the two of us at home,

(19:05):
because, being a teacher, I'mhome during the summer.
So I was initially a little sadfor her, but then I realized
that she was going to get to bea big sister and have a sibling,
and a lot of our family andfriends were very excited and I
was happy that they were goingto be so close in age and I was
happy that they were going to beso close in age.

Angela (19:25):
Yeah, that's fun, but it is always a challenge, kind of
working through the mentalaspect, when you have, like more
than one, like there's alwaysdifferent mixed feelings about
it, whether it's, whatever it is, for each woman.
Yeah, yeah, so what were yourthoughts in choosing your care
this second time around?

Lindsey (19:44):
Yeah, I was just really excited to call and, you know,
get my first appointment with mymidwife.
We had developed a really greatrelationship through my first
pregnancy so I was super pleasedthat I was going to be able to
continue care with that samepractice.
And, yeah, I just had a greatfirst appointment with her.
She was so excited for ourfamily that we would be adding

(20:06):
another baby and, you know,thankfully from the beginning
things were very healthy with myson, just because my daughter
was on the bigger side.
And I believe when I went formy glucose testing, I believe I

(20:35):
did not pass the one hour testand so that was the first time I
had to do the three hourglucose test and thankfully I
did pass that one.
So I was not diagnosed withgestational diabetes at that
point with him, but it was alittle bit of a concern.
So she wanted to keep a closeeye and we did do a few extra
ultrasounds with my son than wedid with my first pregnancy with

(20:57):
my daughter.

Angela (20:58):
Do you care to share who your midwife that you love at
Northern Lights is?

Lindsey (21:03):
Yeah, her name is Bob Bobby Melvin.
She no longer works there.
She did retire I think it wasright after I found out I was
pregnant with my third.
But Bobby was just so caringand kind and especially during
the birth I needed somebody atcertain points in, you know, in

(21:23):
the labor to say, okay, this iswhat it's time for, and to be a
little more direct with me.
I was always involved in sports, growing up, so kind of that
coach, and you know I needed herto do that for me and she was
ready and willing to do that.
She was just wonderful, lovedher so much.

Angela (21:42):
So how are you feeling throughout that second pregnancy
?

Lindsey (21:51):
Well, honestly, I felt pretty good I mean, I was pretty
much through the firsttrimester by the time I found
out that I was pregnant with myson.
We were super thrilled to findout that we were having a boy,
you know, having a girl as ouroldest.
So we were just excited that wewere going to get to experience
being parents of a girl and aboy.
And we had some new neighborsmove in, which was wonderful.

(22:11):
They had a little girl the sameage and they were also pregnant
with a little boy and he wasborn just a couple months after
our son.
So our kids have neighbors thatare almost exactly the same age
and they get to play togetherall the time, which is really
lovely.

Angela (22:27):
So how are things looking towards the end of your
pregnancy and how are those kindof final weeks leading up to
when your labor started going?

Lindsey (22:36):
Yeah.
So let's see, that would havebeen the final weeks, would have
been after the new year in 2016.
After the new year in 2016.
And I just remember feelingvery, very big this time around,
all the time and I work withyoung children in my job, like
I've said before, and justfeeling like, you know, anytime

(22:57):
I needed to get around kids,like I was bumping them with my
belly, you know, I would seestaff members around the
building that would look at meand go, oh my goodness, like how
much time do you have left?
You know I'm quite a shortperson, like I said before, so I
really was all belly,thankfully still healthy I
wasn't sick, you know,everything was very good in that

(23:20):
respect but just feeling verybig all the time.
He was actually born in thefirst few days of February
vacation that year, so I waslucky enough to get a few days
of rest before he was born.
I, you know, technically workedup until he was born, but did
get the first few days ofvacation off, which was really

(23:41):
nice to be able to rest and feellike I had some time to, you
know, kind of take care ofmyself before he was born.

Angela (23:51):
Yeah, you really kind of need that time and space to go
inward towards the end of yourpregnancy and really focus on
yourself.
Yes, for sure.
So how did your labor start?

Lindsey (24:04):
Okay, so for him.
Let's see.
My water also broke with mysecond labor and I was just
sitting down with my daughter onthe couch after dinner and all
of a sudden my water broke.
So my husband called my parentsbecause that was going to be.
Our care plan for our oldestwas to have my parents come over
to our house and take care ofher, so we were able to give her

(24:29):
a bath and put her to bedbefore we left for the hospital.
So you know, thankfully myhusband was able to do all the
same things he did the firsttime around.
You know, call the hospital forme, make sure our bags were
packed in the car while I got tofinish up things with my
daughter.
I was having a hard time leavingher.
We had not been apart for anight at that point.

(24:50):
I mean, she wasn't even two yet.
So you know that was going tobe really hard for me.
And then, once we arrived atthe hospital, I still had some
amniotic fluid leaking.
So they sent me in the bathroomto go change.
They were quite full thatevening and had to put us into
kind of an overflow space for alittle while.
So I had to change in like ahallway bathroom, but I did

(25:14):
notice some meconium in thewater again, so I made sure to
mention that to my nurse, and soit was kind of the same thing
just to having that NICU staffin the room when I did start
pushing and when he was ready tobe born.
But thankfully I knew at thatpoint that that was probably
going to happen, so that wasn'ta big surprise to me.

(25:35):
I did opt for the epidural againthis time, and with my son,
since everything started withlabor around dinnertime.
He was born just beforemidnight and I am the kind of
person that the earlier I go tobed the better, the earlier I go

(25:59):
to bed the better.
So when I started pushing I wasnot exhausted from the labor,
but just exhausted from the day.
I remember saying over and overI'm so tired, I'm so tired, and
I really only pushed for 10minutes.
It was a very quick progressinglabor and quite intense.
Actually the epidural startedto give me the shakes and it

(26:21):
could have been the transitionof the labor as well.
But I did start shakinguncontrollably, which I did not
like that feeling at all.
That was very uncomfortable forme, to feel like I couldn't
control my body in that waycomfortable for me to feel like
I couldn't control my body inthat way.
But yeah, like I said, I thinkI pushed for five to 10 minutes

(26:42):
and he was born.
He was just under 40 weeks, buthe was still like eight and a
half pounds and quite a long,long baby.
Oh, my goodness, and how aboutthe placenta yeah, same with my
daughter, with my oldest,thankfully it was, you know,
just a few minutes later I wasable to give a couple of small

(27:03):
pushes and I was able to deliverthe placenta, everything intact
, and, yeah, and I forgot tomention that my midwife was on
duty for that labor, so she wasable to be there for the second
labor and delivery as well.

Angela (27:19):
That's awesome.
It is like kind of a chancewhen you go with those practices
, because you sort of get who'son call, but yay, your midwife
was there twice in a row.
That's awesome, yes.

Lindsey (27:29):
Yeah, especially with it being an evening.
But thankfully it was her nighton call and one of the other
OBs on the practice that is wellknown oh gosh, I can't think of
her name all of a sudden, butshe's lovely.
She was actually there for mythird delivery and she was
coming in and checking on meeven though I wasn't her patient

(27:51):
.
So you know they have a reallygreat team there and had a
really great team at that timeand I've always had exceptional
care, especially with thenursing staff in any of my
deliveries and postpartum.
I was very blessed to have somereally great people.

Angela (28:10):
Wow.
So how was your postpartum withhim?

Lindsey (28:14):
So with my son, since he was my second, obviously
breastfeeding was a lot morefamiliar to me.
Oh, she's stuck in the tree.
I think she climbed the tree.
Honey, she's not stuck.
Okay, it's okay.
How about you play on the slideor find the swing?
Okay, okay, on the slide.

(28:34):
Or find the swing?
Okay, okay, yeah, my with myson breastfeeding went really
well.
He seemed to know what he wasdoing right away and I felt like
I did as well.
The first month or so was prettydifficult, though.
I think my milk came in very,very early and he ended up
suffering from a lot of reflux.
My first baby was not a spit upbaby.

(28:59):
She was didn't really have anyissues with, you know, burping,
spitting up.
All of that was very easy forher.
And so my son.
He would have these massivespit ups after a feeding and I
just thought maybe he's a babythat spits up all the time.
And it ended up going on for solong that my husband really

(29:21):
encouraged me.
He was like something is notright.
You know we really need to gethim checked out.
So I brought him into thepediatrician's office and they
diagnosed him with reflux.
He didn't do a lot of sleepingthat first month either.
He was usually okay during theday, but it's like when
nighttime came and he was laiddown he was in a lot of pain.

(29:42):
I would try driving him aroundat night too, and we would get
back and I would think that hewas sleeping and I would open up
the back seat and he'd just bein his car seat wide awake.
So we spent a lot of nights upand just kind of you know,
watching TV, watching movies.
That was very difficult for me.
I love sleep and I know with anewborn I didn't expect sleep,

(30:06):
but I also was not expecting nosleep.
So that was a big challenge,especially having a toddler to
care for as well.
But, like I said, I've got greatfamily support.
So we were able to make itthrough and my husband and I
felt comfortable putting him onsome oral medication.
It was like a like a Zantacsort of medication.

(30:30):
So we did that and he he wasable to finally start sleeping
and, I think, feeling better allaround and he eventually grew
out of it.
Then I mean, she, my olderdaughter, really didn't pay him
too much mind.
She wasn't too interested inhim, which I was kind of
surprised by.
She was really just kind ofoften doing her own thing.

(30:51):
But she, she did love.
You know they do a lot togethernow, now that they're older.

Angela (30:57):
Yeah right, it changes so much.
It's so cool, so fun, yeah.
So how did you find out youwere pregnant now with your
third?
How much time had passed?

Lindsey (31:09):
Okay.
So quite a bit of time hadpassed.
Let's see.
In January of 2021, I found outthat I was pregnant again and
we were very surprised but alsovery excited.
Both of my older children weresuper thrilled and we went to
our nine-week appointment forthe dating ultrasound and found

(31:35):
out that it was actually a twinpregnancy, but one of the sacs
had not developed a baby, andthen the other one.
The heartbeat was quite low.
If I remember correctly, it wasonly 54 beats per minute.
I really didn't know what thatmeant until I got home and
started Googling, but theultrasound technician had us

(31:56):
make an appointment for a weeklater and once I really realized
what that meant, I was a totalmess.
For like an entire week I couldnot get out of bed, I was
sleeping a lot and I honestly Iwas just scared to like move,
because I felt like there maybewas a chance that I could keep
this pregnancy and I didn't wantto do anything to affect that.

(32:17):
But we did go back to theultrasound a week later and
found out that there was noheartbeat, so that was really
devastating.
I yeah, my husband was reallyable to be there for me, and I
know that my older kids werereally sad and heartbroken
because they thought they weregetting another sibling and we

(32:40):
had never really envisionedhaving more than two kids.
So it was quite a surprise thatwe were really feeling like,
okay, we want to grow our familymore.
We thought we were done, but Iguess not.
And even though I was really,really devastated about losing
that pregnancy, we felt likeonce it was medically okay and

(33:03):
it was recommended by my midwifethat we could start trying
again.
So I would say it was probablyI don't know six to eight months
later we found out that we werepregnant again and I I cried, I
was just worried, I was worriedthat it was going to happen
again and I was just so worriedof getting attached and I know

(33:27):
that my midwife knew that and soshe was able to schedule an
appointment for us to come in alittle earlier than most
patients would normally come in,which kind of helped alleviate
my anxiety, and so everythinglooked great at that first
appointment.
So that was really reallywonderful.

(33:47):
I remember not really knowinghow to react.
I was just so relieved.
It was just such a relief tosee that the heartbeat was nice
and strong and that she wasgrowing right on track.
So that was.
That was wonderful.
And at that point I was let'ssee, I think I must have been

(34:09):
just turned 35, maybe 36.
So I was now able to get lotsof you know testing ordered and
things that maybe in my firstpregnancy we wouldn't have been
so concerned about.
So we did opt for the genetictesting that is able to tell you
if it's a boy or girl early,which is nice.

(34:29):
We loved that.
Let's see, I'm trying to thinkif there's anything else that
happened during that time.
I mean, our older kids werewere very thrilled.
I was feeling good overall.
A little bit of nausea later inthe first trimester, um, but I

(34:49):
was just really excited that wehad a healthy pregnancy so far.

Angela (34:55):
You know, in the beginning part, so how are
things looking as your pregnancy?

Lindsey (35:00):
progressed.
So I went in for my secondappointment and I had found out
that there had been a situationwhere my midwife had all of a
sudden had to retire.
So I was really shocked.
The office had said they hadleft me a voicemail, that they
had tried to call that.
I did not receive anything likethat.

(35:21):
I'm not sure what happened ifit was my phone, or they maybe
marked me down that they hadcalled me and they didn't.
I don't know what happened, butI was just in tears, in tears at
the office and obviously theycould tell.
I was quite upset.
I think it was a mix of youknow, I've just gone through
this miscarriage and my midwifewas was with me caring for me

(35:45):
during that time, and now all ofa sudden I'm in this new
pregnancy experience and she'snot here.
So that was really difficult.
But thankfully the studentmidwife that delivered my first
daughter, she um, she's on staff, um, erin Thor is her name, and

(36:05):
so I told them.
I said I would like to be puton Erin's caseload.
I know her, I feel comfortablewith her, and they were able to
make that happen and Erin waswilling to see me that day.

Angela (36:15):
So they got you right in with her.

Lindsey (36:17):
Yes, and I mean, I don't even know if she had, you
know, another patient that shewas supposed to be seeing, but
they put me in a room and, yeah,erin was willing to come see me
and come talk to me and she hasbeen nothing but amazing.
She and Bobby both took greatcare of me and all my babies.

Angela (36:40):
So, as things sort of settled with that whole
situation, how was your sort ofappointments looking and how are
you feeling throughout yourpregnancy?

Lindsey (36:49):
Yeah.
So I felt really great overall,you know, really healthy.
But I did end up again notpassing my one hour glucose test
and then I also did not pass mythree hour glucose test with
this third pregnancy.
So I was diagnosed withgestational diabetes for the

(37:10):
first time, which to me was verystressful.
I love food.
I love eating.
I have a major sweet tooth, soit was really difficult for me
to think about having to changeup not my diet but, I guess,
just the kinds of foods that Ireach for.
Having to change that up sodrastically.

(37:32):
That felt very stressful to me.
But I worked with a greatdietician who was able to
explain everything to me and,being a little bit more of a
type A personality and a rulefollower, I really wanted to do
everything that was explicitlytold to me by the team at the
diabetes practice.
It was quite a challengefiguring out how I was going to

(37:58):
test my blood sugars at thecorrect times while teaching a
classroom full of 18 children,because there were times that I
would have to kind of stop inthe middle of my lesson and take
my blood sugar.
So it was taken at the correcttime.
I was able to figure out, youknow, eating at the correct

(38:18):
times so that it didn't disturbtoo much of my teaching day.
But yeah, I would be taking myblood sugars in the middle of
teaching a lesson, which thatwas.
It was a lot to think about.

Angela (38:32):
Yeah, oh, that is a lot.

Lindsey (38:34):
So were you referred to a different office to manage
the gestational diabetes, whilealso still continuing with your
midwife, or yeah, I was, and Ithink you know they all kind of
worked, worked in tandem, theyworked together as a team.
But I did have some virtualappointments with the dietician

(38:54):
and then I did go in person tosee I know it was a nurse within
the diabetes practice and thenI did see the doctor for just a
few minutes, but it was more tojust say that she had an eye on
my sugars.
The monitor, the blood sugarmonitor that they gave me, could
sync to an app which the officewould have access to.

(39:18):
So it was nice.
I didn't have to, you know,bring my numbers over to the
office.
They could automatically justcheck on me.
So that was something that Ireally liked, that.
You know they were all kind ofspeaking and discussing and
thankfully everything lookedreally good.
I did not have to get on insulinuntil it was the last couple

(39:41):
weeks Because my numbers firstthing in the morning, my fasting
numbers, were always thebiggest concern.
I was very much diet controlledduring the daytime but my
number when I woke up firstthing in the morning was always
a little bit too high.
So I did end up having to starta low dose of insulin in the
evenings and that was quitestressful.

(40:04):
I don't like needles, I don'tlike shots, I don't like looking
when that's happening.
So having to take care of thatmyself was a lot to learn.
To take care of that myself wasa lot to learn, but my father
has type 2 diabetes and I'veseen him do it and I just
remembered this was for thehealth of me and my baby, and

(40:24):
thinking about that definitelywas what got me through.

Angela (40:30):
So how are the final days leading up to when your
labor started?

Lindsey (40:35):
Yeah, so I I worked right up until my, my due date
and actually my.
My midwife had told me that,because of the history of my
babies being on the bigger sideand the diagnosis of gestational
diabetes, that she would feelmore comfortable, you know, kind
of continuing to look atultrasounds, because I think at

(40:55):
that point I might have evenbeen having weekly growth scans
just to monitor her growth,because they were noticing that
her height and weight were onthe bigger side, and I know that
one of those Hallmark signs ofa baby with a mom that has
gestational diabetes is a biggerbelly, and she was, you know,

(41:17):
showing signs of that.
So my midwife really just said,you know, I really feel
comfortable only allowing you togo till about 39 weeks, and I
was okay with that, I reallyfelt comfortable with whatever
she recommended, which meant Igot to meet my baby a little
earlier.
So I had everything arrangedwith work before.

(41:39):
One of my last ultrasoundappointments and a scheduled
midwife appointment were on thesame day, and so I went to my
ultrasound that morning.
You know it kind of mirrors myfirst experience, thinking, okay
, like I've got the rest of thisday, I'll be able to finish up
some laundry, clean up the housea little bit, and I go to my
ultrasound and as I'm watchingthe tech measure everything that

(42:01):
they usually measure, you know,I've kind of noticed their
patterns and what they'relooking for.
I'm noticing that there's not alot of fluid, like as she's
measuring around the baby.
The numbers are quite small.
They're not usually what theyare and she does tell me that.
You know you're, there's notmuch fluid in there, it looks
quite low.

(42:21):
So I'm going to go speak withthe um, the high risk doctor,
over the phone and they willtalk with your midwife
downstairs and I'll come back ina few minutes and let them let
you know what they recommend.
Few minutes and let them letyou know what they recommend.
And so I did have her come backin about five to 10 minutes and
I had been furiously texting myhusband all the things that I

(42:43):
was going to need and my motherletting her know what was going
on and basically telling themthat, yeah, they're sending me
to labor and delivery right nowbecause I have low fluid and I
don't know that.
It was at that point reallyfeeling like emergency to me,
but I was definitely like, okay,here we go, this is what's
happening.
So I got induced for the firsttime and again, awesome nursing

(43:09):
staff.
When we went in my husband wasable to meet me at the hospital
with all of our stuff.
My husband was able to meet meat the hospital with all of our
stuff and I was just excited.
I was feeling ready.
It was May 4.
So feeling like she has thatspecial Star Wars birthday was
kind of fun.
Yeah, we were just superexcited to meet with her.
So we got the Pitocin going andmy midwife was not on call that

(43:35):
evening but she did come to seeme before she left for the day.
I know she's got a family andkids of her own, so I knew that
I was going to be in great hands.
Oh, I'm remembering the name ofthe OB now.
Dr Rinaldi was the one whodelivered my third baby.
So Dr Rinaldi was with us and Idid opt for the epidural again,

(43:55):
especially with havingcontraction started with Pitocin
.
I was not going to try to youknow, hero myself through that.
So they they started thePitocin.
I opted for the epidural when Iwas at a certain point I was
able to get a little bit of restand a little bit of sleep.
But all of a sudden I startedfeeling massive amounts of

(44:18):
pressure with every contractionand so I let it go for probably
10 to 15 minutes and I decidedto hit the call button because I
was like, all right, if ithappens one more time, then
something's going on Likesomebody should probably come
check me.
And as soon as my nurse came into check me, dr Rinaldi was in

(44:42):
there within a couple minutesand I was pushing.
So you know it was time herhead was right there and similar
situation to my son, I think.
I pushed for three pushes andshe was born.
It was very quick.
Thankfully she was breathingjust fine.
I did not have any meconium inmy water this time, but

(45:05):
everything was very smooth and Ifelt super confident with how I
was cared for.

Angela (45:14):
Oh, that's amazing.
Do you remember how yourplacenta was born with him?

Lindsey (45:39):
believe that I did have a little bit of excess bleeding
.
I do remember that the nursingstaff asking if it was okay to
start, you know, to up thePitocin dosage I believe it was
or add in some other kind ofmedication because I was
bleeding a little too much.
But within a few minutes thatconcern was no longer a concern.
So whatever they gave me workedand honestly, I felt great.

(46:00):
That was probably the best Ifelt out of all of the three
births I had had.
At that point I was just so, so, relieved that she was here and
born and that was definitelythe feeling that kind of
overtook everything for a while.
So how was your postpartum withher?
So postpartum with my third wasjust lovely all around.

(46:23):
I felt super confident aboutbreastfeeding.
With her being my third.
She really took to it very,very well.
She was always hungry, but thatdidn't bother me.
My older two were just soexcited to have her home and it
was just a really wonderfulexperience.
You know it was springtime so Iwas able to get outside with

(46:45):
her during my maternity leaveand my older two kids were
involved in quite a bit at thatpoint.
So you know it was great tojust feel like okay, like we can
continue our same life asbefore with a newborn.
She was a fairly easy babyoverall.
She did not like sleeping onher own and I did not

(47:06):
necessarily intend to co -sleepwith her, but you know doing my
best to make sure that thingswere safe for you know, all of
us in the bed and, yeah, she,she eventually got it on her own
, but we did start out, you know, doing some co-sleeping just so
that I was not awake all nightlong.

Angela (47:28):
Yeah, she was a wonder.

Lindsey (47:31):
Yes, yeah, it's, it's important for that healing, for
sure.
But I, yeah, I just felt superhappy with how the whole
maternity leave experience was.
I would, in the mornings, dropmy older two off at school, come
home, she would sleep for awhile, we would take naps and oh
, it was lovely.

Angela (47:48):
And then you probably had summer vacation soon after
that, right?

Lindsey (47:52):
So yes, so it was a bit of an extended maternity leave,
just by chance.
It was really wonderful.
I was able to, you know, go onmy leave and have a substitute
continue through the end of theyear and then still have my
summer vacation.
So, yeah, it was lovely.
It was, I think, about fourmonths total, which is nothing

(48:15):
you know that I would get if Iwere just doing it during the
school year.

Angela (48:21):
How special.

Lindsey (48:22):
Yes, it was.

Angela (48:25):
When did you find out you were pregnant with your
youngest.
Now your fourth.

Lindsey (48:29):
Okay, so this is.
This is the story.
This is the story of a lifetime.
So I had continued nursing mythird baby and she let's see the
summer that we found out aboutmy youngest.
My third baby would have beenabout 14, 15 months old, so she
was still nursing, you know,maybe once or twice at night, a

(48:52):
few times during the day.
I hadn't had much of apostpartum period and I was also
on birth control that preventedme from having a period I
believe it was the mini pill.
So I had not really hadanything to track as far as
cycles and we had gone my kidsand I had gone to the beach one

(49:17):
day and I had noticed, carryingmy third in a carrier, that my
stomach was kind of hurting,like it felt painful in a
certain spot and I noticed abulge above my belly button.
So I called my mom over to lookat it and she came over and she
was like I think you have ahernia.
So I go to my doctor, I end upgetting an ultrasound and I do

(49:39):
find out that I have anumbilical hernia and so I'm
thinking all right, you know,I've got to get this taken care
of and we go on vacation.
So I don't schedule anyappointments immediately because
we're going to see family for acouple of weeks and I start to

(49:59):
kind of notice some signs that Icould be pregnant.
I start having heartburn, I'mtrying to think what else.
I start having some sensitivitywhen my third is nursing and
I'm starting to think I could bepregnant.
So I end up taking a pregnancytest when we come back from our

(50:20):
vacation and it, I mean itturned positive immediately, so
so fast.
So I'm telling my husband andI'm kind of freaking out
thinking, oh my goodness, fourkids.
I mean, I didn't see myselfhaving more than two, but four.
You know, I'm honestly mostlyworried and he's very excited,

(50:41):
very happy, but I'm just kind ofin that worry, anxiety mode.
So I call my OB midwife practiceand get an appointment
scheduled and I tell them look,I have not had any period, so I
don't know how far along I am.

(51:02):
And thankfully there was anincredibly kind nurse or medical
assistant who looked at theschedule for the ultrasounds for
that day and she said we havean emergency appointment left.
Can you be here in 30 minutes?
And I said, yes, I will bethere.
So she was really willing tohelp me out and just make sure

(51:24):
that I felt at ease and thateverything was good.
So I was able to make it forthat appointment and the
ultrasound tech is scanning andI'm at first not really wanting
to watch.
You know, I'm kind of thinkingyou know how far along am I
really?
You know, maybe nine, 10 weeksat the most, and she finishes

(51:46):
her measurements and I asked herto turn on the monitor and she
says that I'm 23 weeks.
So I was already more thanhalfway through my pregnancy and
so I asked her about the duedate.
She says at the end of Novemberand this is beginning of August
.
Total shock, total shock.

(52:07):
So I leave with some picturesthat they printed for me and I'm
calling my husband, like okay,here's what's happening.
This baby is going to be herein like weeks, at this point,
you know, just a short amount ofmonths.
Yes, and you know they did putthat she was a girl into an

(52:28):
envelope for us because weweren't sure.
You know, everything was so allof a sudden and my husband and
I opened it when I got home fromthe appointment and I felt like
I knew because she did somescans after she turned the
monitor on and I, you know, withit being my fourth baby,
watching that, I felt like Ireally could see what was going

(52:50):
on.
But yeah, we were just kind ofin shock and it was a little bit
like, okay, how do we tellpeople, you know, not only that
we're pregnant again, but thatthe baby is coming this fall?
So it was definitely.
It took me like a solid, I'dprobably say, five to seven days

(53:11):
.
You know, I was slowly tellingsome of the closer people in my
life and by that time, you know,once my brain and body kind of
connected, I noticed that Ireally popped.
You know that umbilical hernia,I think, was, is definitely
there.
But I had also thought likemaybe I just gained a little

(53:32):
weight.
You know I haven't really beenexercising and you know things
don't fit me like they used to,but it was definitely the baby.
It was, it was her, she wasmaking her appearance, that is
incredible Wow.
What a shock.
Yeah, it's definitely somethingreally special.
I I will never, ever forgetthat.

Angela (53:55):
Oh my goodness.
So how are you feeling then?
As, like the next few weekswent on?

Lindsey (54:02):
So it was mostly it was a lot of overwhelm but also a
lot of excitement.
I think just having another,knowing it was going to be
another girl as my fourth, andhaving just had a girl, I was
feeling like okay, like we'vealready got a lot of the things.
You know I can just check a lotof things off of my to do and

(54:22):
to buy list because we just hada baby.
You know, she's barely evenover a year, so we have all of
these things and I felt, youknow, in that respect ready.
But I think there was also inmy own mind four felt like such
a large number and I really,especially with my older two,

(54:45):
you know we would get out and godo things and just I felt very
independent and thinking abouthow challenging it can be going
out with young children andbabies and toddlers.
It's like, okay, I could handleone, but what am I going to do
when they're both not walkingyet?
Or you know, how is that goingto look for me going out and

(55:06):
going on adventures with my kidsand how is that going to change
the lives of my older two,because the younger two are
going to need a lot more of myattention.
So I think some of thatoverwhelm kind of changed into a
lot of anxiety thinking.
You know I was super gratefulthat she was healthy and so so

(55:27):
thankful that she was.
And even in that datingultrasound you know they were
able to to see that everythinglooked great.
You know she had zero healthconcerns.
To see that everything lookedgreat.
You know she had zero healthconcerns.
You know, just perfect, healthybaby for her size and her

(55:47):
gestation.
So it was definitely acombination of a lot of feelings
and I did know right away thatthere was a high risk of me
having gestational diabetesagain.
So pretty much right away whenI found out, I dragged out my
paperwork from my thirdpregnancy and started probably
90% of the time following thegestational diabetes diet,

(56:11):
figuring that I'd probably beheaded in the same direction.
My midwife was able to get methe one hour test pretty much
right away after that ultrasoundand I passed it.
But she was like, okay, youknow, let's, let's wait a few
more weeks and I'm going to haveyou do the one hour again just

(56:31):
to make sure that we're notmissing anything.
And when that did turn up, Idid.
I did not pass the next timethat I took the one hour and she
took mercy on me and said let'snot even do the three hour,
let's just go ahead and referyou to the diabetes clinic.
And I said I think that soundsgreat.

(56:51):
The three hour is so tricky.
And thinking back on it again, Ido remember during my third
pregnancy, after I took thethree hour, I ended up very,
very sick.
My blood sugar was extremely,extremely low by the third hour.
I was down into like the 50sand 60s and I do remember, on my

(57:15):
way to get something to eat,feeling very woozy.
So I just felt like it probablywasn't the best thing for me to
do yet again.
You know, I don't want to putmyself in a situation of, you
know, starting out too high witha blood sugar in the morning
and then going super low becauseI can't have anything to eat at
all.
Yeah so, yeah it was.

(57:39):
It was a little scary having tothink about doing that again.
So I was very happy that sheoffered pretty much right away
for me to just get referred andstart seeing the staff at the
diabetes clinic again and Iunfortunately did have to go on
a dose of insulin pretty earlyin my time with the diabetes
clinic.

(57:59):
I think it was probably for thelast two months of my pregnancy
that I was giving myself aninsulin shot in the evenings
before bed and I did have to upthe dosage of my insulin with
their recommendations.
You know they told me if thingslook like this, then you'll
need to up it to this amount.
So I was definitely very wellversed, thankfully, in taking

(58:21):
the blood sugars and doing allthat.
So I felt pretty confident.
It was just kind of a repeat ofthe thing I had done a year and
a half before.
But yeah, having to starttaking more of the insulin and
then understanding that I mighthave to start taking it during
the day too was a big kind ofmental hurdle, I think.

(58:43):
And she, thankfully, the wholeway through, was very, very
healthy.
But there was a lot of extramonitoring, a lot of extra
ultrasounds, lots ofappointments and, especially
with having three other childrenat home, it was quite stressful
to feel like, okay, I'm neededat my job, I'm needed at home,

(59:05):
but I also, for the health ofmyself and my baby, need to go
to these appointments.
Thankfully, my parents aresuper helpful.
You know my husband does a jobwhere he is sometimes working
odd hours.
So they have been a hugesupport in you know me just

(59:26):
saying, hey, can I drop so andso off at this time and come
back and pick them up, and it'salways a yes.
So that is.
I don't know what I would havedone without them.
Yeah, it can be really hard.
Yeah, it was especially duringthose ultrasounds and I was
having a lot of those andthankfully, my midwife was
always fine with whoever neededto come to appointments, which I

(59:49):
was very grateful for, becausethere were times, I think at
least once or twice, where I didhave to bring somebody with me
but, you know, driving 20 to 30minutes just to get to an
appointment.
I'd be leaving my school as thestudents were getting on the
bus and having one of mycoworkers check and make sure
that everybody was good, andthen I'd be running to my car.

(01:00:11):
But yeah, it was.
It was all worth it, you know,definitely for the health of us
both.
But we were taken care of verywell and I felt really good
about being able to get suchquick care, especially not
knowing what was really going onand how far along she was, and

(01:00:32):
being able to get such a quickanswer was really, you know that
made me feel so much betterabout about her being healthy.

Angela (01:00:41):
So how are the final weeks and then days leading up
to her labor and birth?

Lindsey (01:00:49):
So again, just like with my third and my second two
just feeling so big toward theend, just oh man.
And I had actually done reallywell, especially with the
gestational diabetes diet, notgaining a ton of weight.
I mean, when I, you know, gotpregnant with my fourth I was
definitely the heaviest that Ihad ever been and was a little

(01:01:10):
concerned about that, just formy, my own health, and you know
I have also been diagnosed withrheumatoid arthritis.
So just putting that extrastress on my joints and my
immune system, you know, I justwanted to hopefully not gain as
much weight, but definitelyeating in a different way, I

(01:01:31):
think, was helpful for that.
And again, my midwife didn'twant me to really go past a
certain stage of pregnancybecause my fourth was yet again
measuring quite big.
Same with the bigger belly.
Thankfully my fluid the wholeway through looked fantastic.
But there was a little bit of aconcern with her changing

(01:01:55):
positions and how she was movingaround in there.
So for quite some time she waskind of laying horizontally
across my belly and she hadchanged to head down.
And then in the next ultrasoundshe was again horizontal and so
my midwife called me and shesaid, like I'm not trying to

(01:02:17):
alarm you and this is totally upto you, but with her changing
positions like this, I reallywould like to set a certain date
for her induction.
She said I'm looking at thecalendar.
I wasn't going to let you gopast 39 weeks anyway.
I can take you the Saturdaybefore you hit 39 weeks.
I will be at the hospital allday, all night.

(01:02:39):
I'm there that day.
Let's just schedule you then.
And I said perfect, let's do it.
So I worked the day before.
We cleaned the house that night, made sure we were all packed
up and ready, and my mom cameover the next morning bright and
early and my husband and I leftto go to the ready.
And my mom came over the nextmorning bright and early and my
husband and I left to go to thehospital and I was induced for

(01:03:01):
my fourth.
And again awesome nurses, Ifeel like we had another great
team that during those toughpoints, was really able to kind
of be the coach and help me out.
I did max out on the Pitocindosage.
My contractions would start andthen they would fade.

(01:03:22):
So I kind of think my body mayjust have not been ready for
labor yet.
So it was a high, high dosageof Pitocin and again I did opt
for the epidural because of thePitocin and the induction.
The nurses tried me in quite afew different positions but

(01:03:44):
unfortunately one of thepositions seemed to have the
epidural kind of stuck on oneside and probably, I'd say,
within the last half hour of mylabor the epidural wore off
completely on one side of mybody and so I was doing a lot of

(01:04:07):
breathing just trying to workthrough the pain.
I had a nurse right there withme on one side, my husband on
the other side, just trying tohelp me through.
But it was extremely, extremelypainful, and when it was time to
start pushing was when I couldpretty much feel the entire
contraction and it was nothinglike I had ever felt, even with
three labors before that.

(01:04:28):
So it was very, very intense.
You know I was able to push,but I was my husband said he was
like out of all four, that wasthe loudest you have ever been.
I was really just, you know,using all of my energy, and it
felt much better to get it outthrough.

(01:04:49):
You know being really loud andyou know my hands were holding
on tight to the hand rails.
One of the nurses was trying toencourage me to put my hands
behind my legs, but I just feltso much stronger with my hands
on the rails instead of behindmy legs.
So she and my husband held mylegs for me and I was just
pushing as hard as I could andshe, thankfully, was out in just

(01:05:13):
a few pushes and was doingfantastic from the beginning in
just a few pushes and was doingfantastic from the beginning.
She was definitely big for hergestational age, because I think
we were just a few days over 38weeks and she was about eight
and a half pounds.
So she was.
She was a pretty big girl.
They were all tall you know myhusband's a tall guy, like I
said so but she was doingfantastic.

(01:05:37):
She was quite sleepy after birth.
She was not super interested innursing, so the nurses in the
postpartum area of the floorwere really great about
reminding me like okay, you know, we need to try again.
It's time to try to get her fed.
I think that there was alsoquite a concern with me not

(01:05:59):
finding out about the pregnancyuntil so far into the pregnancy.
So they were doing a fewadditional tests on her and had
me save some of excuse me, hadme save some of her first few
diapers for testing.
But you know everything cameback healthy and you know the

(01:06:19):
pediatrician was able to let usgo home at the 24 hour mark.
I have never been one to wantto stay longer than I absolutely
have to and if she had said wereally would like for you to
stay, I would have.
But pretty much every singletime I left as soon as they
would allow me to, every singletime I left as soon as they

(01:06:39):
would allow me to.

Angela (01:06:43):
Yeah, it can be really hard with those Pitocin
contractions, for you, you knowwith the intensity, and then
also for your baby you know it's, it's a lot for them.

Lindsey (01:06:49):
And I do remember, thankfully, no, no issues with
her heart rate during the labor.
It was always just the issuewith my body kind of responding
to the medication and thecontractions because I would be
watching, especially after I gotthe epidural, because I
couldn't always feel it watchingthe monitor and just noticing
like hey, it's been like 13minutes since my last

(01:07:11):
contraction and they were comingvery consistently every four
minutes a little bit ago.
So and I know that the nursewas a little concerned about
that she just she kept a reallyclose eye on us so I was very
thankful that she was soproactive in making sure that,
you know, we were both doing OK.

Angela (01:07:32):
Do you remember how your placenta was birthed with her?

Lindsey (01:07:36):
Yes.
So they did have me wait just acouple minutes, but I,
thankfully I had her on my chestand I think they wanted me to
kind of like catch my breath fora couple minutes because
everything was so intense at thepushing stage.
But again, everything was theplacenta was delivered after
just you know, a little bit of ashort push and everything was

(01:07:59):
good.
I believe I did tear just alittle bit, so there was some
time for repair needed after theplacenta was delivered.
But at that point, you know,I've just I've got my newborn
baby and she's healthy and I'mgood, and so I didn't really pay
much attention to that part.
Yeah, it's just the best.

Angela (01:08:19):
It is, it really is.
So how is your postpartum?
How old is your youngest now?

Lindsey (01:08:24):
So she will be 18 months in the middle of May.
So she's almost a year and ahalf old.
Yeah, she's almost 18 months.
She's doing super amazing.
She's starting to say a fewwords, which has been really fun
.

Angela (01:08:39):
And you had a.
You've had a good postpartuminitially with her.

Lindsey (01:08:44):
Yeah, I really did.
It was nice that she was bornjust before Thanksgiving so I
didn't have to follow thatgestational diabetes diet during
the holidays.
I definitely had a little pigout of you know my favorite
things as soon as my third andfourth were born after being on
that specialized diet.

(01:09:05):
But yeah, it was prettywonderful.
We were able to come home andmy older two kids had school for
a couple days and then it wasThanksgiving.
So it was really lovely to justkind of have lots of family time
right after my fourth was bornand my younger sister had had a

(01:09:26):
baby in between my second andthird just before my third was
born.
So there was you know, there'sother young family members
around for my little people toplay with.
And yeah, it was wonderfulsnuggling a baby all December
long in front of the Christmastree and just making things
special for that month andreally being able to focus on

(01:09:49):
being a mom, because that's not,that's not usually what I get
in the month of December.
I've got, you know, my hand anda lot of different pots, so
it's it was really lovely tofocus on taking care of her and
my other kids during that time.

Angela (01:10:06):
How special, yeah, it was.
So, as a final question, if youwere to give advice to someone
who's expecting, or even newparents, what's the biggest
thing you'd want to share?

Lindsey (01:10:16):
or even new parents.
What's the biggest thing you'dwant to share?
Oh gosh.
Well, I know that I alwaysheard this from all kinds of
people, but you really can'tever be prepared for parenthood
and what it's going to be liketo have a baby.
And you know I am definitely ofthe prepared mind.
I love to research things, Ilove to know about things ahead

(01:10:39):
of time, and that was veryhelpful to kind of learn as much
as I can from articles andbooks and people that I know.
But you really have to justkind of get to know the baby
that you have.
All four of mine are similar insome ways but very different in
their own ways, and I feel likewith my older two, you know, I

(01:11:04):
felt so confident about them asthey were newborns.
But I'm I'm learning so muchabout being a parent again with
my third and fourth, becausethere was that gap between my
second and third and fourthbecause there was that gap
between my second and third, andI feel like, you know, I look
back on things that I did withmy first and second and I'm like

(01:11:25):
, oh my gosh, why did I even doit that way?
But there's a lot of learningthat happens through parenthood.
So, as much as you feelprepared, there's just sometimes
no way, and that's okay.
Like we're, we're all doing ourbest and just being as honest
about it as you can is is thebest way to go.

Angela (01:11:41):
Yeah, it's that natural evolution of consciousness
really.

Lindsey (01:11:46):
For sure, and you know, I've always been very honest
with my older two.
When I'm realizing that, hey,maybe I should have handled that
situation differently, you know, if it's in recent times, I'll,
you know, mention to them, hey,I feel really bad about how
that happened and I wish I wouldhave done it differently,
because now I know with yoursisters that you know that maybe

(01:12:07):
felt really bad for you or thatthat made you not feel so great
.
So it's, it's definitely analways learning situation.
It's definitely an alwayslearning situation.
You're always figuring out newways to handle the stuff that
parenting throws at you.

Angela (01:12:26):
Yeah, I completely agree with that.
It's so true and it just yeah,it all comes in phases and you
really learn so much with eachstage and then yeah going
through it again.

Lindsey (01:12:41):
It is really interesting how you do things
differently.
Yeah, it's pretty incrediblekind of getting like a second
chance, in a way you know, tofigure out how to make things
better for my younger two.
And you know it's okay that noteverything's perfect all the
time as well.
I have to remind myself of that.

Angela (01:13:01):
Yeah Well, thank you so much for taking the time to chat
with me today, Lindsay, andshare your stories.
It's been such a pleasurechatting with you.

Lindsey (01:13:09):
Yeah, well, thank you, it was.
It's really fun to talk aboutit.
I mean, I think all of us momswe love to share our birth
stories.
When we have somebody that willlisten, it's always for I think
, most of us that have had thosepositive experiences it's nice
to be able to talk about it.

Angela (01:13:28):
Before you go, I just want to remind you I have a ton
of resources for pregnancy andbirth.
If you're pregnant, whetheryou're a first-time mom or if
this is your fifth baby, I wantyou to check out the show notes,
because I have some freetrainings and free downloads
that you can sign up for, aswell as the link to access my
Labor of Love, a comprehensive,self-paced online childbirth

(01:13:51):
education course.
I created this coursespecifically for moms who don't
want to be told what to do,regardless of where you're
birthing or who you're birthingwith, and I'd honestly love to
teach you everything that I knowso that you can prepare for an
autonomous birth experience andprepare to step into your role
as the leader of your birthjourney.

(01:14:11):
So click to the show notes,check out all of those links and
, if you ever have any questions, feel free to DM me at my main
birth over on Instagram.