November 12, 2025 • 39 mins
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:
- Miranda returns to share her third birth story, check out episode 18 of MyMaine Birth to hear the first part of her story
- What happens when your baby doesn't pass a bio physical profile at 42 weeks gestation
- Choosing Hospital Induction with Autonomy
- Midwifery care in Maine
- A Waldo Hospital Birth Story in Belfast, Maine
- ….and a whole lot more!
Additional Resources you’ll LOVE…
If you're ready to prepare for an autonomous birth experience, where you’re respected as the authority over your body and your baby… regardless of where you plan on birthing -
CLICK HERE for 10% off the MyAutonomous Birth self-paced, online course!
Not sure where to start? I’ve got you covered! Check out my FREE resource, 37 Questions to Ask Your Care Provider. Whether you’re interviewing new providers or have already established care, this FREE resource offers guidance on important topics to discuss with your provider.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Miranda (00:00):
I had lots of like evenings where it seemed like I
was maybe going into laborstarting even like like two
weeks before my due date.
My official due date wasDecember 31st.
So even two weeks before I wasfeeling like, well, maybe
something's happening.
But nothing really lastedthrough the night all the way up
(00:21):
until again I was two weekspast my due date, past my real
due date that like based onovulation.
And so I definitely was feelinglike he was not engaged, he
wasn't moving down.
I would have my check withMorgan and she would say, you
(00:43):
know, like he's still kind ofhigh up in your pelvis, and it
was always like off to theright.
And so I was doing lots ofexercises and lots of inversions
and stuff like that.
I went swimming, um, not evenreally to start labor, just to
like get him moved down.
And nothing really seemed tostick.
(01:06):
But I also I wasn't too worriedabout it because I knew that
you could even go to labor intolabor without your baby being
moved all the way down andthey're gonna move down.
So I wasn't too worried aboutit, and even I got to 42 weeks
and had my biophysical scanplanned for that day, which I
(01:28):
had had with Nora because shewas more than two weeks overdue.
And when I went in, everythinglooked fine.
So I assumed it was gonna bethe same thing, and so I went in
and it was not the same, it wasnot good.
He did not pass thebiophysical, and I I just didn't
(01:48):
even realize what was happeningthat she was just doing the
scan, and I was like, I didn'tknow any difference.
So when it got to the end, shewas like, Okay, well, I'm gonna
send you up to the midwifebecause you need to make a plan
for the rest of the day.
I was like, I don't, what areyou talking about?
And she was like, Well, wereached our 30-minute time.
Like, I can't wait any longerto get these things checked off.
(02:11):
And like, he does not meet thecriteria, like he doesn't pass.
I was like, oh, okay, this iskind of getting intense now.
Angela (02:20):
I'm Angela, and I'm a certified birth photographer,
experienced duela, 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's biggesthospitals to birth center births
(02:40):
and home births, every birthstory deserves to be heard and
celebrated.
Whether you're a seem-to-bemom, a seasoned mother, or
simply interested in the worldof birth, these episodes are for
you.
Welcome back.
You're listening to episode 137of My Main Birth.
(03:01):
Today's birth story guest isMiranda, and Miranda shared her
first two birth stories back inepisode 18.
So go check that out to hearthe first part of her story.
And today she's back to shareher third birth story with us.
Hi Miranda, welcome back to MyMain Birth.
(03:21):
Hi.
So you shared your first twobirth stories back in episode 18
of the podcast.
But for anyone that might nothave heard that, would you start
by sharing a little bit aboutyou and your family?
Miranda (03:35):
Yes.
Um, my name is Miranda.
I we have three kids with myhusband, Ian.
He's a pastor.
We live in rural Maine.
I'm a stay-at-home mom.
I'm a homemaker.
Angela (03:48):
Awesome.
So you shared your first twobirth stories back in episode 18
of the podcast in this one.
And just for anyone that mightnot have heard that, would you
just share like briefly aboutyour first two stories?
Miranda (04:03):
Yeah.
So um, my firstborn, mydaughter, she is now four and a
half.
Um, she was born at Hollynumber seven.
Um, she was like a prettyuncomplicated birth,
uncomplicated pregnancy.
Um, but then she had a heartdefect that we found postpartum,
just like one day postpartum.
(04:24):
So we did the whole BostonChildren's Hospital and heart
surgery and everything.
Um, and now she's like healthyand thriving and stuff.
But that was definitely like anintense transition into
motherhood.
Um and then at probably 10 or11 months postpartum, I found
(04:47):
out I was pregnant, had a reallyearly loss at like six weeks,
and then found out I waspregnant with my son.
And he was born in April of2023, and he was a home birth
here at our parsonage inLiberty, easy pregnancy,
(05:09):
pregnancy, easy labor.
He was pretty fast.
The only tricky thing with hisbirth was just that like our
family had had a stomach bug,and so we were all sick, and it
was on his due date, and I waslike, there's no way I'm gonna
go into labor.
Like her her birth was she waslike two and a half weeks over
due, so I was like not worriedabout it.
(05:30):
And then after we'd all beensick during the day, I started
having contractions.
I think just from like throwingup so much, you know, it just
activated it, and then he wasborn, I think maybe like six
hours later.
So he was pretty fast.
Angela (05:46):
So, how did you find out you were pregnant for the third
time?
Yeah, and what were yourthoughts in choosing your care
after that?
Miranda (05:53):
So I did have another early loss, a same thing around
six weeks in between my secondand third, and that was just
about one year postpartum.
And so after I found out I waspregnant again, I had been kind
of researching like theprogesterone link with early
(06:15):
losses, and so found out I waspregnant again, and that day I
called Waldo, which doesn't havea birth center now, but used
to, and asked them aboutprogesterone.
And they had kind of alreadyhad my medical history from
seeing them.
I've done like dual care forall of them where I've done a
few things just for likeinsurance and stuff, um, some
(06:37):
tests or like needing to checkin when my midwife wasn't
available.
So I have a I had a pretty goodrelationship with the hospital
in Belfast Midwives, and theysaid, like, yeah, you know, you
you meet the criteria for tryingthe progesterone, and they
didn't even need to see me oranything, they just called it in
for that day, which was reallyreally sweet.
(06:57):
And so I started taking thatthat day, and everything went
pretty smoothly from then.
And I knew that like even if Iwaited until the first time that
I would be able to see someone,like based on my history, that
it would already be too latebecause if you keep having these
like at right at the six-weekmark, that's like pretty clear
(07:20):
what's going on.
So, or at least it was for me.
Um, and so I had uh goodsuccess with that, and I did
dual care again with thehospital midwives, and I started
seeing Morgan Titus Rao for myhome birth plan.
Shh, so I went and saw her, andeverything went pretty smoothly
(07:42):
for that first trimester.
I think maybe I even didn't seeher until the second trimester
because she was kind of on onvacation.
I found out I was pregnant umwith this baby just like a few
days before my second son'sfirst birthday.
So it's all in the kind of thesame time range.
Yeah, and then his pregnancywent really smoothly.
(08:04):
It was just like every time Itried to go off progesterone,
because at the hospital, they'llsay like there's no benefits of
staying on past like 12 weeksor whatever.
And so I would try for a fewdays and I would get so much
morning sickness and I wouldlike break out really badly.
I had all of these like bigpregnancy symptoms that would
(08:25):
come back, and so I would goback on it and everything would
go away and it would be reallyeasy.
So I talked to Morgan about it,and I was like, all of these
things are so helped.
Like, is there any way that Ican stay on?
And she was like, Oh yeah,totally.
So she um she got me aprescription, she switched me
from like the suppository tojust an oral progesterone of a
(08:48):
little bit lower dose.
Um, and I took that all the waythrough even postpartum because
it can help with likepostpartum depression and stuff
like that, too.
So yeah, it was really good.
I I really liked Morgan, shewas really sweet, and the
hospital midwives were great.
I did have a dating ultrasoundbecause I just had some kind of
(09:11):
intuition or something, somefeeling that if I ended up in
the hospital, my due date wasgonna be completely wrong
because the last time I had aquote bleed was my miscarriage.
And so they in the hospitalthey were calculating my due
date as from that, which I knewwas not going to be correct, and
(09:34):
like I knew when I ovulated andall this stuff, so I had the
dating ultrasound and it linedup exactly with what I said it
would have been from based onthe ovulation.
So that was good.
It was nice to have thatconfirmation, and then I had
that on record and just in case,and then ended up needing to
use it.
Angela (09:54):
So wow.
So how are you feelingthroughout this pregnancy, like
overall?
Miranda (10:00):
Yeah, so I felt really good.
I think this was kind of myeasiest, like I felt the best in
my body, and getting towardsthe end, we did have to fly, or
we chose to fly at around like37 weeks, which is pretty late,
but it was some quick flights,like hour and a half, um, out
(10:25):
for a wedding for mybrother-in-law.
So we chose to do that andtried to like plan for
everything, like swelling andall that kind of stuff.
And my midwife said she wascomfortable with it.
I felt comfortable with it.
I had no kind of like swellingor high blood pressure or
anything like that.
So um we did that.
(10:46):
It was definitely intense justbecause being so pregnant, it's
really intense to do anything,but it was good.
I'm glad we did it.
And then we kind of got backfrom that and started waiting.
I had lots of like eveningswhere it seemed like I was maybe
going into labor, starting evenlike two weeks before my due
(11:08):
date.
My official due date wasDecember 31st.
So even two weeks before, I wasfeeling like, well, maybe
something's happening, butnothing really lasted through
the night all the way up untilagain I was two weeks past my
due date, past my real due datethat like based on ovulation.
(11:30):
And so I definitely was feelinglike he was not engaged, he
wasn't moving down.
I would have my check withMorgan, and she would say, you
know, like he's still kind ofhigh up in your pelvis, and it
was always like off to theright, and so I was doing lots
(11:51):
of exercises and lots ofinversions and stuff like that.
I went swimming, um, not evenreally to start labor, just to
like get moved down.
And nothing really seemed tostick, but I also I wasn't too
worried about it because I knewthat you could even go to labor
(12:11):
into labor without your babybeing moved all the way down and
they're gonna move down.
So I wasn't too worried aboutit, and even I got to 42 weeks
and had my biophysical scanplanned for that day, which I
had had with Nora because shewas more than two weeks overdue,
(12:31):
and when I went in, everythinglooked fine.
So I assumed it was gonna bethe same thing, and so I went in
and it was not the same, it wasnot good.
Um, he did not pass thebiophysical, and I I just didn't
even realize what was happeningthat she was just doing the
scan, and I was like, I didn'tknow any different.
(12:55):
So when it got to the end, shewas like, Okay, well, I'm gonna
send you up to the midwifebecause you need to make a plan
for the rest of the day.
I was like, I don't, what areyou talking about?
And she was like, Well, wereached our 30-minute time, like
I can't wait any longer to getthese things checked off, and
like he does not meet thecriteria, like he doesn't pass.
I was like, Oh, okay, this iskind of getting intense now.
(13:19):
And so I went up to the midwifeupstairs, and it was someone
that I hadn't seen during theearly part of my pregnancy.
So she just kind of was like,you know that your baby needs to
be born today, right?
And I was like, No, like whatare you talking about?
(13:40):
She was like, um, it's it's notan emergency, but it needs to
happen today.
And so I was like, okay, andthings were kind of slowly
unfolding, like what they wereactually talking about.
Like, okay, he's not doingpractice breathing.
He, your amniotic food looksgood, but he's pretty limp in
(14:01):
there, like he's not movingaround a lot.
And so it was a little bittricky getting information back
and forth between the hospitaland Morgan because she was
waiting to hear how everythinghad gone.
And based on what they said tome when I called her, I thought
there was still an option oflike, well, maybe I'll go home
and we'll try something.
(14:21):
Like, maybe we'll try castoroil.
And so she had left it up to meon the phone.
She said, based on what itsounds like, we could go home
and try something.
I said, okay.
But she said, she said, youknow, babies only have a few
ways of telling us whensomething is wrong.
(14:42):
And so that kind of stuck withme.
I was like, okay, you're that'sright.
That's there's only a fewthings we can look at to see if
baby's doing okay.
And so I just felt like stayingin the hospital was the right
thing to do.
And then even I heard aboutthis afterwards, but she said
when the ultrasound results werefinally faxed through to her, I
(15:04):
had already made the decision.
We'd already been off thephone.
But when she got the fax, shewas like, Oh no, we I can't do
this at home.
Like it was far beyond, which Ididn't know at the time.
So it was kind of nice to haveit feel like it was open and to
be able to make the decision andfeel at peace about it.
And then even finding outafterwards is like it's we're
(15:28):
not gonna be going home to dothis.
But I did um I did go home andpack up my bag.
They said they said to go rightup to labor and delivery, but I
wasn't quite ready to do thatbecause I was still like, this
wasn't the plan.
So we're only 20 minutes fromthe hospital.
(15:50):
So I drove home and packed upmy stuff.
I also got a membrane sweep inthe office, so that was probably
like around noon.
She offered to do that for me,and they said I really wasn't
having any contractions, Iwasn't really in early labor,
and I started to have crampsfrom the membrane sweep, even
(16:10):
just driving home and gettingstuff, and I picked up my
husband, and I was like, I'm alittle freaked out, like, I
don't want to go into thehospital, and it was even just
like slowly dawning on me thatwe were gonna be starting an
induction process, which is likeaside from being in the
(16:32):
hospital, that's like evenfurther away from what I wanted
to do, and so that was kind ofdawning on me.
So that was making me sad andstressed, and so I was even like
trying to talk my way out of itwhen we were in the hospital
because we started to do thenon-stress test, and then all of
a sudden he was moving a bunch.
(16:54):
So I was like, if he's moving abunch, can we just go home and
wait to see if I go into labor?
And they were like, No, notreally.
Like, it's like okay, andeveryone was sweet, they all
kind of understood that I didn'twant to be there, so they were
(17:14):
like, We're gonna try to makethis the best experience we can,
even though we know you wouldrather be at home, but no one
was like snarky about it oranything, everyone was really
sweet, and so trying to see thetime, we went into the hospital.
We got up to into labor anddelivery at like one, and they
(17:37):
gave me a couple differentoptions for induction.
They said we could do thefoleybulb, we could do some
pitocin, or you could take acouple doses of cytotech through
the night, and so I opted forthat because I hate IVs and I
didn't want anything likephysically on me or in me.
(17:59):
That just freaked me out.
And I pushed back a little biton the hand IV because I just
have a very low tolerance forany like anything touching me in
labor, and like the the IV justreally freaks me out.
So I tried to tell them like,no, I would rather be in labor
(18:23):
than have you put an IV in.
And they were like, it's reallynot that bad.
I was like, no, for me it is,for me it is.
So I did I did the IV withnothing attached to it, and I
had the belly band with themonitor, and they gave me a dose
of cytotech, and then everyonejust cleared it out.
(18:44):
They wanted to give me space toprocess, which I appreciate,
and everyone kind of anticipatedthat they would be checking in
in maybe like five hours beforeshift change, and then letting
nighttime like most likely thisbaby was going to be born early
the next day or you know, mid tolate next day.
(19:05):
And so everyone left, midwifeleft, there was no nurses.
We contacted Morgan just to lether know that we were settled
in, but I didn't want anyone tocome and just hang out with me
at the hospital.
I was like, I'm fine with justIan, just my husband here.
I didn't want to have my momcome in and be here forever.
(19:26):
I was thinking we were probablyeven gonna sleep during the
night.
Like, I just didn't know whatto anticipate, so we didn't have
anyone come in.
And Ian went and like got food.
He was gonna get lunch, so hewas gone for a little bit, and I
was by myself, and the crampsand everything just kept getting
(19:48):
really intense, and I was like,I feel really sick, like this
is like really bad, like periodcramping, and I felt like so
gassy and everything hurt, and Iwas like, man, if this is from
the membrane sweep, like this isreally intense.
And I thought there's no wayit's from the side of tech
because I took it 15 minutes agoat one, and so I just kept
(20:14):
going back and forth from thebathroom, and then Ian finally
got back from getting food, andI was like, I just it really
hurts.
And we had someone come in.
I was like pretty intenselyworking through contractions,
and but it had only been like ahalf an hour, so someone came
in, he was like, I'm here to doa uh blood draw.
(20:36):
Can we get a blood draw on you?
And I was like sweating.
I was like, um, maybe we cantry.
So I was sitting on the birthball and I had like my hand on
the bed and I was just slumpedover, and he was trying to get
it, and then I think likefinally he understood the vibe
in the room.
He was like, Um, I think I'mgonna come back in a little bit.
We're like, okay, thank you.
(20:59):
And I just kept going back intothe bathroom because the only
thing that was comfortable wasjust sitting on the toilet, and
so I didn't want anyone to comein.
I just wanted to be by myself.
And because I thought that wewere gonna be doing this all
night, I was very upset andanxious, like that I was going
(21:20):
to be feeling this way allnight.
And I did not know how I wasgoing to cope with this.
Like, this is harder than anykind of early labor that I had
experienced.
Um, and so I waited for thenurse to come back in and I was
like, Can you please just tellme if I'm having real
(21:43):
contractions?
Because I don't even know whatthis is.
Like, this is still justcramping from the membrane
sweep.
I don't know what I'm gonna do.
And she's like, No, I thinkthese are real contractions.
I was like, Okay, good, that'sat least something.
And um, she kind of checked onme, whatever, and I asked to
(22:05):
fill up the tub.
She's like, totally, we can dothat.
And so we started filling upthe tub, and I was just
completely out of it.
And I was like, I don't knowwhat I'm gonna do, and kind of
spiraling.
And so getting in the tub wasreally good.
That helped me like feelsettled and like, okay, maybe I
(22:27):
can, I don't know, like just Ifelt like I had lost control and
it was too early to losecontrol.
Like, you can lose control atthe end of labor, but like I
felt like I wasn't managing andI still had a long way to go.
So it was good to hear thatthere were real contractions,
and it was good to get in thetub, and she kind of just left
(22:49):
again.
She was making some notes onher computer, and then I knew
that he was gonna come out.
I had been in the tub for like15 minutes, and I was like, uh,
his head's in my hand, hishead's in my hand, and he came
so fast.
The nurse ran over.
(23:10):
She was completely freaked out.
I was fully in the water.
She was like, um, stand up,stand up.
I was like, no, I can't.
Um, oh, before I'd gotten thetub, I told her I was gonna take
the belly band off, and I toldher I was gonna take the IV out.
And she was like, I really wantyou to keep the IV in.
And I was like, no, I can't.
(23:31):
It's gonna come out.
And now in retrospect, I knowthat's because I was in
transition and I like needed tobe free of anything.
Like I needed to just be me.
Angela (23:44):
Did you pull it out or did you ask them to take it out?
Miranda (23:47):
Um, no, she came over and she did the tape and like
kind of pull it out, so that wasgood.
But I had taken the belly bandoff and um yeah, and he his head
came out in the tub.
It was like fully fetalejection reflex in the tub, and
she wanted me to stand up.
She had like rung with theemergency bell, and it was her.
(24:09):
Ian was there, and then anotherwoman, I don't know what her
job was, but like she wasn't inscrubs, she was in like a suit,
and she was standing there.
She was like, Ah, I can help ifI need to.
They all had gloves on, and sohe was born in the water, he was
born in the sack, he was bornon call under the water, and
(24:32):
they kind of helped me um pullhim up out of the water, and
then I was just kind of standingagainst the wall, and he was
there, he was born at 444, sofrom one to four forty four was
my whole labor, and it was veryintense, but then even just the
(24:54):
minute that his head came out, Iwas like, Oh, of course, this
has been like I now I know thatthat was transition, that was
everything, it just was verycondensed, and so they kind of
helped me dry him off a littlebit when we were standing up,
and then I was able to step outof the tub.
Um, I had never had a baby bornin the water, so I hadn't
(25:19):
needed to like get up and walkso quickly, so I was a little
like freaked out about that, andof course, because babies
aren't supposed to be born inthe water in Waldo Hospital,
they wanted me to get out assoon as possible.
So they were like, Let's getyou to the bed.
Um, and then I had him in thebed, and I was fully in the bed,
(25:41):
dried off.
He was on me.
We were all wrapped up beforethe midwife came in and she was
like sprinting.
She had been on the other sideof the hospital, and she was
like, I'm here, and then she saweverything.
She's like, Okay, everythingalready happened, I guess.
So that was pretty cool.
Yeah, and it was awesome.
And everyone was very sweet andcongratulatory and impressed.
(26:07):
And then I think Ian must havecalled my mom and the midwife
when I got in the tub and said,you know, you guys should
probably head over here.
So they got to the hospitalmaybe 10 minutes after I had
gotten dried off and everything.
And so they came in and huggedus and everything.
(26:30):
It was very sweet.
And and I'm so glad that Morgancame to the hospital after he
was born because she helped usmanage everything afterwards
because we hadn't really had tomanage with any hospital people
before because it was so fast.
Then afterwards, we had her sowe could kind of just check out,
and she handled all thequestions and everything, and it
(26:54):
was basically just a lot of nothank yous, and she helped us
get out really quickly.
They said an hour was, I don'tknow if that's like a legal
thing, but they were like, weneed you to stay for an hour,
and we were like, we can giveyou an hour, that's it.
And I needed to go pee beforewe could leave, which was hard
(27:14):
because it was so fast, it tookme a while to be able to go, but
yeah, people brought me foodand drinks, and we hung out for
I think maybe we were there fortwo hours because we were home
and in bed before six o'clock.
So it was like basically justyeah, getting weighed and
(27:39):
measured, and I didn't have anytearing, I don't think, not that
needed to be stitched up.
And yeah, Morgan was really,really the hero afterwards,
handling everything and even alllike the newborn exam stuff.
She's like, we're gonna do thatin the morning.
I'll be there in the morning.
Like, don't worry about it.
(28:00):
So I really didn't have to likehave him away from me at all.
So yeah.
Angela (28:06):
Wow, oh my gosh, that's amazing.
That's yeah, helpful to haveher there postpartum.
So did you have to sign like anAMA paper to leave that soon,
or was it kind of like she wasthere to like facilitate that?
So she was like, I'll check bechecking on them, and they
didn't make you sign that.
Miranda (28:21):
Yeah, it wasn't it, yeah, it wasn't like a a denial
of medical care.
It was more like we're gonna dothese things when we get home.
Like, so yeah, they didn't makeus feel too stressed about like
the legal aspect of it.
Like everyone kind of justunderstood that we were gonna
kind of proceed as if it hadbeen a home birth when we got
(28:44):
home.
So it was pretty easy.
And honestly, it was like rightbefore shift change, and they
were at the end, it was onlygonna be a couple months before
they were closed, anyways.
So it kind of felt like you'reyou're good.
We believe that you're takingcare of your baby and Morgan's
taking care of you.
So we're we're not really gonnaconcern ourselves with what's
(29:06):
going on there.
Angela (29:07):
Wow, that's so good.
Wow.
So going back to like when yourbaby was born, did you end up
standing up for the birth or didyou stay sitting down and kind
of just ignore them because youknew like what you're doing?
Miranda (29:19):
I didn't, yeah.
I didn't get out of the tub.
I was kind of already on myknees.
Yeah, I was just squatting inthe water and I was have I had
my um hands on the tub becausethose tubs are so tall, like
they are good for laboring in.
And yeah, I I I couldn't, Idon't think I could have even
stood up and gotten out of thetub if I wanted to.
(29:41):
Like that was just so crazy tome.
So yeah, he was born, he wasfully under the water.
Um, and afterwards, our nursewas like, that was my first baby
that I've ever got.
And um, yeah.
The only thing is I wish that Icould have seen the the sack.
This is the Second time my sonwas also born, like his head
(30:04):
came out in the in the sack, andI didn't get to see that.
My husband did, but I didn't.
But that's pretty cool to havea double, double water baby.
Angela (30:13):
Yeah, wow, that is awesome.
So, how was your placentabirthed?
Miranda (30:19):
Yeah, that was on the bed, you know, a little bit
later.
I think that was really the theonly tricky thing was after the
midwife, the hospital midwifecame in.
I think she just wanted to havesomething to do.
And so she was like, Well,let's get this placenta out.
And so she's like doing thecircles with the cord.
(30:39):
And I was like, please, this istoo much.
It did come out fairly quickly,but I felt a little annoyed.
Like, I think you you justwanted to have your hands on
something.
I get it.
You missed the birth, but wecan give the placenta a minute.
Angela (30:54):
Yeah, definitely.
It was okay.
How was your like earlypostpartum?
And yeah, how's your yourpostpartum been since then?
Miranda (31:02):
It was pretty good.
Um, it was good to go homeright away.
I think the the first two-ishweeks were really good and
really easy, and then it got alittle bit more difficult after
that, just like with pelvic painand you know, wearing him in
the carrier and stuff, and hegot pretty big pretty quickly.
(31:26):
So kind of the like two to fourmonth range was tricky on my
core for sure.
But early postpartum was good,he nursed really well, and like
I said, I stayed on theprogesterone, which really
helped a lot with the nursingaversion, and I did like tons of
(31:49):
magnesium for that too.
But nursing was good, the painwas okay.
It's interesting, like withransom with my second son, he
was also pretty fast, but I hadhad like a few more hours of
labor before then, so I think itwas a little bit easier to
(32:11):
heal.
I didn't have any tearing, butI still just felt like I was
really crampy, really sore for away longer time after.
But other than that, it wasgood.
He was my first baby with notongue tie and no lip tie, so I
was excited about that.
That was cool.
So yeah.
Angela (32:32):
Wow, awesome.
Miranda (32:33):
And so you're just doing good.
How old is he now?
He is almost 10 months.
Yeah, he was he has he was bornon January 15th.
Angela (32:43):
So awesome.
So now, as a final question, ifyou were to give advice to
someone who's expecting or evennew parents at this point in
your journey, what's the biggestthing you'd want to share?
Miranda (33:00):
I don't know, it's so hard.
Like, I knew the things thatwere gonna be the same were
gonna be the same, and thethings that were gonna be
different, there was almost noway to anticipate.
So, in terms of like labor anddelivery, I've always kind of
been like, I'm just gonna go inand the baby's gonna be born no
(33:24):
matter what.
And like, I know the thingsthat I'm not gonna like cross a
line with, I know the thingsthat I'm not gonna do.
And outside of that, likethankfully, I've just been able
to let you know, whateverhappens happen.
And I had no way to anticipatethat it was gonna be in the
hospital, that it was gonna beinduction, that was gonna be so
(33:44):
fast, and so just kind ofleaving those things up to the
Lord and praying about it, andeven just like in the time
between finding out that heneeded to be induced and going
into the hospital, just likeletting that go.
Like it's too late to doanything different, and we need
to move forward with kind oflike grace and humility and just
(34:07):
make the best of of thesituation.
But I feel really thankful tohave a really supportive birth
partner, and um, even though mymom wasn't there for this birth,
she's been there in the past,and she's a good, she's a good
birth partner too.
So yeah, having those peoplethat support you and who let you
(34:31):
feel like you can tap into thatintuition.
Angela (34:35):
Yeah, and especially when your plans change, I think
just maintaining that autonomy,like you know, you took the time
to go home and pack your baginstead of going straight up to
labor and delivery, where likeyou have to go up to labor and
delivery, you're like, no, I'mgonna take an hour, you know,
let's go home.
And like I think that's wherelike that trap that like a lot
of women get into, they go tothe appointment and they're
(34:57):
like, you have to go up to laborand delivery.
And it's like, maybe you do,but if your intuition is telling
you you need to go, you know,down and get like a sandwich or
something, or you have to dothat.
Miranda (35:05):
And I stopped at the co-op to get snacks, like, and
and maybe it had been differentif she had said, like, we need
to wheel you into the operatingroom.
Like the way she said it, Ithink was even gave me the
ability to make those choicesbecause it was like things need
to start moving.
It's not like things need tohappen right now, but if you
(35:30):
tell someone your baby needs tobe born today and it's only 11
in the morning, you have time tomake some other decisions.
And I think it made a bigdifference in how I felt about
it to be able to drive home andlike have that time to process
and also make sure that I hadall the stuff that I wanted
because I wasn't going to gohome and I was on the phone with
(35:51):
my husband and I was liketrying to explain things.
I was like, no, not thatbasket, this basket, this in the
hallway, whatever.
And um, so it was good to beable to kind of come home and
look around and see if there'sanything I needed.
And I didn't use most of itbecause we were only there for a
few hours, but it was good toum to have that chance.
Angela (36:13):
Yeah, having that autonomy really makes a big
difference when you know you'rein that situation, even the spot
where you were like, I'm goingto take this IV out.
I'm sure they were like, no,no, don't take it out.
But you're like, no, removethis IV.
And like you can say no to likelittle things like that if it's
yeah, needing it.
Miranda (36:32):
Yeah.
And I felt like I could haveeven, I could have said no at
the beginning, like and pushedit even more.
But in the moment, I was justlike, it's not, that's not at
the top of my list right now.
Like, I even had it in the backof my mind.
I was like, maybe when everyoneclears out, I'm just gonna take
it out anyways.
(36:52):
Um, and like the belly band islike, okay, if if it starts to
be a problem, I will, you know,take it off.
But then there was other thingsthat were like a definite no,
and it was kind of easy to tosay no to those things.
Um especially being a a plannedhome birth, I felt like they
(37:17):
were already anticipating a lotof stuff.
Maybe if it was a plannedhospital birth and I was trying
to say no to all these things,they might have pushed harder.
But being almost like a homebirth transfer, they kind of
anticipated a lot of thingsbeing a no.
And also, I think partly theydidn't think that they were
(37:38):
gonna even be around for most ofmy labor.
So they were like, maybe we'lljust let the other people deal
with this woman.
Um, so it was it was all good.
Yeah.
Angela (37:50):
Yeah.
Well, I'm so glad it all workedout for you.
Miranda (37:53):
Yeah, as close to a home birth in the hospital, I
think, as you can get, which Iwas really thankful for.
And yeah.
Angela (38:02):
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much,Miranda, for coming back on the
podcast and taking the time tochat with me today and share
your stories.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for invitingme.
Before you go, I just want toremind 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
(38:25):
because I have some freetrainings and free downloads
that you can sign up for, aswell as the link to access
MyLibroflow, a comprehensive,self-paced online childbirth
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 teachyou everything that I know so
(38:49):
that you can prepare for anautonomous birth experience and
prepare to step into your roleas the leader of your birth
journey.
So, click to the show notes,check out all of those links,
and if you ever have anyquestions, feel free to DM me at
my mainbirth over on Instagram.
I had lots of like evenings where it seemed like I
was maybe going into laborstarting even like like two
weeks before my due date.
My official due date wasDecember 31st.
So even two weeks before I wasfeeling like, well, maybe
something's happening.
But nothing really lastedthrough the night all the way up
(00:21):
until again I was two weekspast my due date, past my real
due date that like based onovulation.
And so I definitely was feelinglike he was not engaged, he
wasn't moving down.
I would have my check withMorgan and she would say, you
(00:43):
know, like he's still kind ofhigh up in your pelvis, and it
was always like off to theright.
And so I was doing lots ofexercises and lots of inversions
and stuff like that.
I went swimming, um, not evenreally to start labor, just to
like get him moved down.
And nothing really seemed tostick.
(01:06):
But I also I wasn't too worriedabout it because I knew that
you could even go to labor intolabor without your baby being
moved all the way down andthey're gonna move down.
So I wasn't too worried aboutit, and even I got to 42 weeks
and had my biophysical scanplanned for that day, which I
(01:28):
had had with Nora because shewas more than two weeks overdue.
And when I went in, everythinglooked fine.
So I assumed it was gonna bethe same thing, and so I went in
and it was not the same, it wasnot good.
He did not pass thebiophysical, and I I just didn't
(01:48):
even realize what was happeningthat she was just doing the
scan, and I was like, I didn'tknow any difference.
So when it got to the end, shewas like, Okay, well, I'm gonna
send you up to the midwifebecause you need to make a plan
for the rest of the day.
I was like, I don't, what areyou talking about?
And she was like, Well, wereached our 30-minute time.
Like, I can't wait any longerto get these things checked off.
(02:11):
And like, he does not meet thecriteria, like he doesn't pass.
I was like, oh, okay, this iskind of getting intense now.
Angela (02:20):
I'm Angela, and I'm a certified birth photographer,
experienced duela, 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's biggesthospitals to birth center births
(02:40):
and home births, every birthstory deserves to be heard and
celebrated.
Whether you're a seem-to-bemom, a seasoned mother, or
simply interested in the worldof birth, these episodes are for
you.
Welcome back.
You're listening to episode 137of My Main Birth.
(03:01):
Today's birth story guest isMiranda, and Miranda shared her
first two birth stories back inepisode 18.
So go check that out to hearthe first part of her story.
And today she's back to shareher third birth story with us.
Hi Miranda, welcome back to MyMain Birth.
(03:21):
Hi.
So you shared your first twobirth stories back in episode 18
of the podcast.
But for anyone that might nothave heard that, would you start
by sharing a little bit aboutyou and your family?
Miranda (03:35):
Yes.
Um, my name is Miranda.
I we have three kids with myhusband, Ian.
He's a pastor.
We live in rural Maine.
I'm a stay-at-home mom.
I'm a homemaker.
Angela (03:48):
Awesome.
So you shared your first twobirth stories back in episode 18
of the podcast in this one.
And just for anyone that mightnot have heard that, would you
just share like briefly aboutyour first two stories?
Miranda (04:03):
Yeah.
So um, my firstborn, mydaughter, she is now four and a
half.
Um, she was born at Hollynumber seven.
Um, she was like a prettyuncomplicated birth,
uncomplicated pregnancy.
Um, but then she had a heartdefect that we found postpartum,
just like one day postpartum.
(04:24):
So we did the whole BostonChildren's Hospital and heart
surgery and everything.
Um, and now she's like healthyand thriving and stuff.
But that was definitely like anintense transition into
motherhood.
Um and then at probably 10 or11 months postpartum, I found
(04:47):
out I was pregnant, had a reallyearly loss at like six weeks,
and then found out I waspregnant with my son.
And he was born in April of2023, and he was a home birth
here at our parsonage inLiberty, easy pregnancy,
(05:09):
pregnancy, easy labor.
He was pretty fast.
The only tricky thing with hisbirth was just that like our
family had had a stomach bug,and so we were all sick, and it
was on his due date, and I waslike, there's no way I'm gonna
go into labor.
Like her her birth was she waslike two and a half weeks over
due, so I was like not worriedabout it.
(05:30):
And then after we'd all beensick during the day, I started
having contractions.
I think just from like throwingup so much, you know, it just
activated it, and then he wasborn, I think maybe like six
hours later.
So he was pretty fast.
Angela (05:46):
So, how did you find out you were pregnant for the third
time?
Yeah, and what were yourthoughts in choosing your care
after that?
Miranda (05:53):
So I did have another early loss, a same thing around
six weeks in between my secondand third, and that was just
about one year postpartum.
And so after I found out I waspregnant again, I had been kind
of researching like theprogesterone link with early
(06:15):
losses, and so found out I waspregnant again, and that day I
called Waldo, which doesn't havea birth center now, but used
to, and asked them aboutprogesterone.
And they had kind of alreadyhad my medical history from
seeing them.
I've done like dual care forall of them where I've done a
few things just for likeinsurance and stuff, um, some
(06:37):
tests or like needing to checkin when my midwife wasn't
available.
So I have a I had a pretty goodrelationship with the hospital
in Belfast Midwives, and theysaid, like, yeah, you know, you
you meet the criteria for tryingthe progesterone, and they
didn't even need to see me oranything, they just called it in
for that day, which was reallyreally sweet.
(06:57):
And so I started taking thatthat day, and everything went
pretty smoothly from then.
And I knew that like even if Iwaited until the first time that
I would be able to see someone,like based on my history, that
it would already be too latebecause if you keep having these
like at right at the six-weekmark, that's like pretty clear
(07:20):
what's going on.
So, or at least it was for me.
Um, and so I had uh goodsuccess with that, and I did
dual care again with thehospital midwives, and I started
seeing Morgan Titus Rao for myhome birth plan.
Shh, so I went and saw her, andeverything went pretty smoothly
(07:42):
for that first trimester.
I think maybe I even didn't seeher until the second trimester
because she was kind of on onvacation.
I found out I was pregnant umwith this baby just like a few
days before my second son'sfirst birthday.
So it's all in the kind of thesame time range.
Yeah, and then his pregnancywent really smoothly.
(08:04):
It was just like every time Itried to go off progesterone,
because at the hospital, they'llsay like there's no benefits of
staying on past like 12 weeksor whatever.
And so I would try for a fewdays and I would get so much
morning sickness and I wouldlike break out really badly.
I had all of these like bigpregnancy symptoms that would
(08:25):
come back, and so I would goback on it and everything would
go away and it would be reallyeasy.
So I talked to Morgan about it,and I was like, all of these
things are so helped.
Like, is there any way that Ican stay on?
And she was like, Oh yeah,totally.
So she um she got me aprescription, she switched me
from like the suppository tojust an oral progesterone of a
(08:48):
little bit lower dose.
Um, and I took that all the waythrough even postpartum because
it can help with likepostpartum depression and stuff
like that, too.
So yeah, it was really good.
I I really liked Morgan, shewas really sweet, and the
hospital midwives were great.
I did have a dating ultrasoundbecause I just had some kind of
(09:11):
intuition or something, somefeeling that if I ended up in
the hospital, my due date wasgonna be completely wrong
because the last time I had aquote bleed was my miscarriage.
And so they in the hospitalthey were calculating my due
date as from that, which I knewwas not going to be correct, and
(09:34):
like I knew when I ovulated andall this stuff, so I had the
dating ultrasound and it linedup exactly with what I said it
would have been from based onthe ovulation.
So that was good.
It was nice to have thatconfirmation, and then I had
that on record and just in case,and then ended up needing to
use it.
Angela (09:54):
So wow.
So how are you feelingthroughout this pregnancy, like
overall?
Miranda (10:00):
Yeah, so I felt really good.
I think this was kind of myeasiest, like I felt the best in
my body, and getting towardsthe end, we did have to fly, or
we chose to fly at around like37 weeks, which is pretty late,
but it was some quick flights,like hour and a half, um, out
(10:25):
for a wedding for mybrother-in-law.
So we chose to do that andtried to like plan for
everything, like swelling andall that kind of stuff.
And my midwife said she wascomfortable with it.
I felt comfortable with it.
I had no kind of like swellingor high blood pressure or
anything like that.
So um we did that.
(10:46):
It was definitely intense justbecause being so pregnant, it's
really intense to do anything,but it was good.
I'm glad we did it.
And then we kind of got backfrom that and started waiting.
I had lots of like eveningswhere it seemed like I was maybe
going into labor, starting evenlike two weeks before my due
(11:08):
date.
My official due date wasDecember 31st.
So even two weeks before, I wasfeeling like, well, maybe
something's happening, butnothing really lasted through
the night all the way up untilagain I was two weeks past my
due date, past my real due datethat like based on ovulation.
(11:30):
And so I definitely was feelinglike he was not engaged, he
wasn't moving down.
I would have my check withMorgan, and she would say, you
know, like he's still kind ofhigh up in your pelvis, and it
was always like off to theright, and so I was doing lots
(11:51):
of exercises and lots ofinversions and stuff like that.
I went swimming, um, not evenreally to start labor, just to
like get moved down.
And nothing really seemed tostick, but I also I wasn't too
worried about it because I knewthat you could even go to labor
(12:11):
into labor without your babybeing moved all the way down and
they're gonna move down.
So I wasn't too worried aboutit, and even I got to 42 weeks
and had my biophysical scanplanned for that day, which I
had had with Nora because shewas more than two weeks overdue,
(12:31):
and when I went in, everythinglooked fine.
So I assumed it was gonna bethe same thing, and so I went in
and it was not the same, it wasnot good.
Um, he did not pass thebiophysical, and I I just didn't
even realize what was happeningthat she was just doing the
scan, and I was like, I didn'tknow any different.
(12:55):
So when it got to the end, shewas like, Okay, well, I'm gonna
send you up to the midwifebecause you need to make a plan
for the rest of the day.
I was like, I don't, what areyou talking about?
And she was like, Well, wereached our 30-minute time, like
I can't wait any longer to getthese things checked off, and
like he does not meet thecriteria, like he doesn't pass.
I was like, Oh, okay, this iskind of getting intense now.
(13:19):
And so I went up to the midwifeupstairs, and it was someone
that I hadn't seen during theearly part of my pregnancy.
So she just kind of was like,you know that your baby needs to
be born today, right?
And I was like, No, like whatare you talking about?
(13:40):
She was like, um, it's it's notan emergency, but it needs to
happen today.
And so I was like, okay, andthings were kind of slowly
unfolding, like what they wereactually talking about.
Like, okay, he's not doingpractice breathing.
He, your amniotic food looksgood, but he's pretty limp in
(14:01):
there, like he's not movingaround a lot.
And so it was a little bittricky getting information back
and forth between the hospitaland Morgan because she was
waiting to hear how everythinghad gone.
And based on what they said tome when I called her, I thought
there was still an option oflike, well, maybe I'll go home
and we'll try something.
(14:21):
Like, maybe we'll try castoroil.
And so she had left it up to meon the phone.
She said, based on what itsounds like, we could go home
and try something.
I said, okay.
But she said, she said, youknow, babies only have a few
ways of telling us whensomething is wrong.
(14:42):
And so that kind of stuck withme.
I was like, okay, you're that'sright.
That's there's only a fewthings we can look at to see if
baby's doing okay.
And so I just felt like stayingin the hospital was the right
thing to do.
And then even I heard aboutthis afterwards, but she said
when the ultrasound results werefinally faxed through to her, I
(15:04):
had already made the decision.
We'd already been off thephone.
But when she got the fax, shewas like, Oh no, we I can't do
this at home.
Like it was far beyond, which Ididn't know at the time.
So it was kind of nice to haveit feel like it was open and to
be able to make the decision andfeel at peace about it.
And then even finding outafterwards is like it's we're
(15:28):
not gonna be going home to dothis.
But I did um I did go home andpack up my bag.
They said they said to go rightup to labor and delivery, but I
wasn't quite ready to do thatbecause I was still like, this
wasn't the plan.
So we're only 20 minutes fromthe hospital.
(15:50):
So I drove home and packed upmy stuff.
I also got a membrane sweep inthe office, so that was probably
like around noon.
She offered to do that for me,and they said I really wasn't
having any contractions, Iwasn't really in early labor,
and I started to have crampsfrom the membrane sweep, even
(16:10):
just driving home and gettingstuff, and I picked up my
husband, and I was like, I'm alittle freaked out, like, I
don't want to go into thehospital, and it was even just
like slowly dawning on me thatwe were gonna be starting an
induction process, which is likeaside from being in the
(16:32):
hospital, that's like evenfurther away from what I wanted
to do, and so that was kind ofdawning on me.
So that was making me sad andstressed, and so I was even like
trying to talk my way out of itwhen we were in the hospital
because we started to do thenon-stress test, and then all of
a sudden he was moving a bunch.
(16:54):
So I was like, if he's moving abunch, can we just go home and
wait to see if I go into labor?
And they were like, No, notreally.
Like, it's like okay, andeveryone was sweet, they all
kind of understood that I didn'twant to be there, so they were
(17:14):
like, We're gonna try to makethis the best experience we can,
even though we know you wouldrather be at home, but no one
was like snarky about it oranything, everyone was really
sweet, and so trying to see thetime, we went into the hospital.
We got up to into labor anddelivery at like one, and they
(17:37):
gave me a couple differentoptions for induction.
They said we could do thefoleybulb, we could do some
pitocin, or you could take acouple doses of cytotech through
the night, and so I opted forthat because I hate IVs and I
didn't want anything likephysically on me or in me.
(17:59):
That just freaked me out.
And I pushed back a little biton the hand IV because I just
have a very low tolerance forany like anything touching me in
labor, and like the the IV justreally freaks me out.
So I tried to tell them like,no, I would rather be in labor
(18:23):
than have you put an IV in.
And they were like, it's reallynot that bad.
I was like, no, for me it is,for me it is.
So I did I did the IV withnothing attached to it, and I
had the belly band with themonitor, and they gave me a dose
of cytotech, and then everyonejust cleared it out.
(18:44):
They wanted to give me space toprocess, which I appreciate,
and everyone kind of anticipatedthat they would be checking in
in maybe like five hours beforeshift change, and then letting
nighttime like most likely thisbaby was going to be born early
the next day or you know, mid tolate next day.
(19:05):
And so everyone left, midwifeleft, there was no nurses.
We contacted Morgan just to lether know that we were settled
in, but I didn't want anyone tocome and just hang out with me
at the hospital.
I was like, I'm fine with justIan, just my husband here.
I didn't want to have my momcome in and be here forever.
(19:26):
I was thinking we were probablyeven gonna sleep during the
night.
Like, I just didn't know whatto anticipate, so we didn't have
anyone come in.
And Ian went and like got food.
He was gonna get lunch, so hewas gone for a little bit, and I
was by myself, and the crampsand everything just kept getting
(19:48):
really intense, and I was like,I feel really sick, like this
is like really bad, like periodcramping, and I felt like so
gassy and everything hurt, and Iwas like, man, if this is from
the membrane sweep, like this isreally intense.
And I thought there's no wayit's from the side of tech
because I took it 15 minutes agoat one, and so I just kept
(20:14):
going back and forth from thebathroom, and then Ian finally
got back from getting food, andI was like, I just it really
hurts.
And we had someone come in.
I was like pretty intenselyworking through contractions,
and but it had only been like ahalf an hour, so someone came
in, he was like, I'm here to doa uh blood draw.
(20:36):
Can we get a blood draw on you?
And I was like sweating.
I was like, um, maybe we cantry.
So I was sitting on the birthball and I had like my hand on
the bed and I was just slumpedover, and he was trying to get
it, and then I think likefinally he understood the vibe
in the room.
He was like, Um, I think I'mgonna come back in a little bit.
We're like, okay, thank you.
(20:59):
And I just kept going back intothe bathroom because the only
thing that was comfortable wasjust sitting on the toilet, and
so I didn't want anyone to comein.
I just wanted to be by myself.
And because I thought that wewere gonna be doing this all
night, I was very upset andanxious, like that I was going
(21:20):
to be feeling this way allnight.
And I did not know how I wasgoing to cope with this.
Like, this is harder than anykind of early labor that I had
experienced.
Um, and so I waited for thenurse to come back in and I was
like, Can you please just tellme if I'm having real
(21:43):
contractions?
Because I don't even know whatthis is.
Like, this is still justcramping from the membrane
sweep.
I don't know what I'm gonna do.
And she's like, No, I thinkthese are real contractions.
I was like, Okay, good, that'sat least something.
And um, she kind of checked onme, whatever, and I asked to
(22:05):
fill up the tub.
She's like, totally, we can dothat.
And so we started filling upthe tub, and I was just
completely out of it.
And I was like, I don't knowwhat I'm gonna do, and kind of
spiraling.
And so getting in the tub wasreally good.
That helped me like feelsettled and like, okay, maybe I
(22:27):
can, I don't know, like just Ifelt like I had lost control and
it was too early to losecontrol.
Like, you can lose control atthe end of labor, but like I
felt like I wasn't managing andI still had a long way to go.
So it was good to hear thatthere were real contractions,
and it was good to get in thetub, and she kind of just left
(22:49):
again.
She was making some notes onher computer, and then I knew
that he was gonna come out.
I had been in the tub for like15 minutes, and I was like, uh,
his head's in my hand, hishead's in my hand, and he came
so fast.
The nurse ran over.
(23:10):
She was completely freaked out.
I was fully in the water.
She was like, um, stand up,stand up.
I was like, no, I can't.
Um, oh, before I'd gotten thetub, I told her I was gonna take
the belly band off, and I toldher I was gonna take the IV out.
And she was like, I really wantyou to keep the IV in.
And I was like, no, I can't.
(23:31):
It's gonna come out.
And now in retrospect, I knowthat's because I was in
transition and I like needed tobe free of anything.
Like I needed to just be me.
Angela (23:44):
Did you pull it out or did you ask them to take it out?
Miranda (23:47):
Um, no, she came over and she did the tape and like
kind of pull it out, so that wasgood.
But I had taken the belly bandoff and um yeah, and he his head
came out in the tub.
It was like fully fetalejection reflex in the tub, and
she wanted me to stand up.
She had like rung with theemergency bell, and it was her.
(24:09):
Ian was there, and then anotherwoman, I don't know what her
job was, but like she wasn't inscrubs, she was in like a suit,
and she was standing there.
She was like, Ah, I can help ifI need to.
They all had gloves on, and sohe was born in the water, he was
born in the sack, he was bornon call under the water, and
(24:32):
they kind of helped me um pullhim up out of the water, and
then I was just kind of standingagainst the wall, and he was
there, he was born at 444, sofrom one to four forty four was
my whole labor, and it was veryintense, but then even just the
(24:54):
minute that his head came out, Iwas like, Oh, of course, this
has been like I now I know thatthat was transition, that was
everything, it just was verycondensed, and so they kind of
helped me dry him off a littlebit when we were standing up,
and then I was able to step outof the tub.
Um, I had never had a baby bornin the water, so I hadn't
(25:19):
needed to like get up and walkso quickly, so I was a little
like freaked out about that, andof course, because babies
aren't supposed to be born inthe water in Waldo Hospital,
they wanted me to get out assoon as possible.
So they were like, Let's getyou to the bed.
Um, and then I had him in thebed, and I was fully in the bed,
(25:41):
dried off.
He was on me.
We were all wrapped up beforethe midwife came in and she was
like sprinting.
She had been on the other sideof the hospital, and she was
like, I'm here, and then she saweverything.
She's like, Okay, everythingalready happened, I guess.
So that was pretty cool.
Yeah, and it was awesome.
And everyone was very sweet andcongratulatory and impressed.
(26:07):
And then I think Ian must havecalled my mom and the midwife
when I got in the tub and said,you know, you guys should
probably head over here.
So they got to the hospitalmaybe 10 minutes after I had
gotten dried off and everything.
And so they came in and huggedus and everything.
(26:30):
It was very sweet.
And and I'm so glad that Morgancame to the hospital after he
was born because she helped usmanage everything afterwards
because we hadn't really had tomanage with any hospital people
before because it was so fast.
Then afterwards, we had her sowe could kind of just check out,
and she handled all thequestions and everything, and it
(26:54):
was basically just a lot of nothank yous, and she helped us
get out really quickly.
They said an hour was, I don'tknow if that's like a legal
thing, but they were like, weneed you to stay for an hour,
and we were like, we can giveyou an hour, that's it.
And I needed to go pee beforewe could leave, which was hard
(27:14):
because it was so fast, it tookme a while to be able to go, but
yeah, people brought me foodand drinks, and we hung out for
I think maybe we were there fortwo hours because we were home
and in bed before six o'clock.
So it was like basically justyeah, getting weighed and
(27:39):
measured, and I didn't have anytearing, I don't think, not that
needed to be stitched up.
And yeah, Morgan was really,really the hero afterwards,
handling everything and even alllike the newborn exam stuff.
She's like, we're gonna do thatin the morning.
I'll be there in the morning.
Like, don't worry about it.
(28:00):
So I really didn't have to likehave him away from me at all.
So yeah.
Angela (28:06):
Wow, oh my gosh, that's amazing.
That's yeah, helpful to haveher there postpartum.
So did you have to sign like anAMA paper to leave that soon,
or was it kind of like she wasthere to like facilitate that?
So she was like, I'll check bechecking on them, and they
didn't make you sign that.
Miranda (28:21):
Yeah, it wasn't it, yeah, it wasn't like a a denial
of medical care.
It was more like we're gonna dothese things when we get home.
Like, so yeah, they didn't makeus feel too stressed about like
the legal aspect of it.
Like everyone kind of justunderstood that we were gonna
kind of proceed as if it hadbeen a home birth when we got
(28:44):
home.
So it was pretty easy.
And honestly, it was like rightbefore shift change, and they
were at the end, it was onlygonna be a couple months before
they were closed, anyways.
So it kind of felt like you'reyou're good.
We believe that you're takingcare of your baby and Morgan's
taking care of you.
So we're we're not really gonnaconcern ourselves with what's
(29:06):
going on there.
Angela (29:07):
Wow, that's so good.
Wow.
So going back to like when yourbaby was born, did you end up
standing up for the birth or didyou stay sitting down and kind
of just ignore them because youknew like what you're doing?
Miranda (29:19):
I didn't, yeah.
I didn't get out of the tub.
I was kind of already on myknees.
Yeah, I was just squatting inthe water and I was have I had
my um hands on the tub becausethose tubs are so tall, like
they are good for laboring in.
And yeah, I I I couldn't, Idon't think I could have even
stood up and gotten out of thetub if I wanted to.
(29:41):
Like that was just so crazy tome.
So yeah, he was born, he wasfully under the water.
Um, and afterwards, our nursewas like, that was my first baby
that I've ever got.
And um, yeah.
The only thing is I wish that Icould have seen the the sack.
This is the Second time my sonwas also born, like his head
(30:04):
came out in the in the sack, andI didn't get to see that.
My husband did, but I didn't.
But that's pretty cool to havea double, double water baby.
Angela (30:13):
Yeah, wow, that is awesome.
So, how was your placentabirthed?
Miranda (30:19):
Yeah, that was on the bed, you know, a little bit
later.
I think that was really the theonly tricky thing was after the
midwife, the hospital midwifecame in.
I think she just wanted to havesomething to do.
And so she was like, Well,let's get this placenta out.
And so she's like doing thecircles with the cord.
(30:39):
And I was like, please, this istoo much.
It did come out fairly quickly,but I felt a little annoyed.
Like, I think you you justwanted to have your hands on
something.
I get it.
You missed the birth, but wecan give the placenta a minute.
Angela (30:54):
Yeah, definitely.
It was okay.
How was your like earlypostpartum?
And yeah, how's your yourpostpartum been since then?
Miranda (31:02):
It was pretty good.
Um, it was good to go homeright away.
I think the the first two-ishweeks were really good and
really easy, and then it got alittle bit more difficult after
that, just like with pelvic painand you know, wearing him in
the carrier and stuff, and hegot pretty big pretty quickly.
(31:26):
So kind of the like two to fourmonth range was tricky on my
core for sure.
But early postpartum was good,he nursed really well, and like
I said, I stayed on theprogesterone, which really
helped a lot with the nursingaversion, and I did like tons of
(31:49):
magnesium for that too.
But nursing was good, the painwas okay.
It's interesting, like withransom with my second son, he
was also pretty fast, but I hadhad like a few more hours of
labor before then, so I think itwas a little bit easier to
(32:11):
heal.
I didn't have any tearing, butI still just felt like I was
really crampy, really sore for away longer time after.
But other than that, it wasgood.
He was my first baby with notongue tie and no lip tie, so I
was excited about that.
That was cool.
So yeah.
Angela (32:32):
Wow, awesome.
Miranda (32:33):
And so you're just doing good.
How old is he now?
He is almost 10 months.
Yeah, he was he has he was bornon January 15th.
Angela (32:43):
So awesome.
So now, as a final question, ifyou were to give advice to
someone who's expecting or evennew parents at this point in
your journey, what's the biggestthing you'd want to share?
Miranda (33:00):
I don't know, it's so hard.
Like, I knew the things thatwere gonna be the same were
gonna be the same, and thethings that were gonna be
different, there was almost noway to anticipate.
So, in terms of like labor anddelivery, I've always kind of
been like, I'm just gonna go inand the baby's gonna be born no
(33:24):
matter what.
And like, I know the thingsthat I'm not gonna like cross a
line with, I know the thingsthat I'm not gonna do.
And outside of that, likethankfully, I've just been able
to let you know, whateverhappens happen.
And I had no way to anticipatethat it was gonna be in the
hospital, that it was gonna beinduction, that was gonna be so
(33:44):
fast, and so just kind ofleaving those things up to the
Lord and praying about it, andeven just like in the time
between finding out that heneeded to be induced and going
into the hospital, just likeletting that go.
Like it's too late to doanything different, and we need
to move forward with kind oflike grace and humility and just
(34:07):
make the best of of thesituation.
But I feel really thankful tohave a really supportive birth
partner, and um, even though mymom wasn't there for this birth,
she's been there in the past,and she's a good, she's a good
birth partner too.
So yeah, having those peoplethat support you and who let you
(34:31):
feel like you can tap into thatintuition.
Angela (34:35):
Yeah, and especially when your plans change, I think
just maintaining that autonomy,like you know, you took the time
to go home and pack your baginstead of going straight up to
labor and delivery, where likeyou have to go up to labor and
delivery, you're like, no, I'mgonna take an hour, you know,
let's go home.
And like I think that's wherelike that trap that like a lot
of women get into, they go tothe appointment and they're
(34:57):
like, you have to go up to laborand delivery.
And it's like, maybe you do,but if your intuition is telling
you you need to go, you know,down and get like a sandwich or
something, or you have to dothat.
Miranda (35:05):
And I stopped at the co-op to get snacks, like, and
and maybe it had been differentif she had said, like, we need
to wheel you into the operatingroom.
Like the way she said it, Ithink was even gave me the
ability to make those choicesbecause it was like things need
to start moving.
It's not like things need tohappen right now, but if you
(35:30):
tell someone your baby needs tobe born today and it's only 11
in the morning, you have time tomake some other decisions.
And I think it made a bigdifference in how I felt about
it to be able to drive home andlike have that time to process
and also make sure that I hadall the stuff that I wanted
because I wasn't going to gohome and I was on the phone with
(35:51):
my husband and I was liketrying to explain things.
I was like, no, not thatbasket, this basket, this in the
hallway, whatever.
And um, so it was good to beable to kind of come home and
look around and see if there'sanything I needed.
And I didn't use most of itbecause we were only there for a
few hours, but it was good toum to have that chance.
Angela (36:13):
Yeah, having that autonomy really makes a big
difference when you know you'rein that situation, even the spot
where you were like, I'm goingto take this IV out.
I'm sure they were like, no,no, don't take it out.
But you're like, no, removethis IV.
And like you can say no to likelittle things like that if it's
yeah, needing it.
Miranda (36:32):
Yeah.
And I felt like I could haveeven, I could have said no at
the beginning, like and pushedit even more.
But in the moment, I was justlike, it's not, that's not at
the top of my list right now.
Like, I even had it in the backof my mind.
I was like, maybe when everyoneclears out, I'm just gonna take
it out anyways.
(36:52):
Um, and like the belly band islike, okay, if if it starts to
be a problem, I will, you know,take it off.
But then there was other thingsthat were like a definite no,
and it was kind of easy to tosay no to those things.
Um especially being a a plannedhome birth, I felt like they
(37:17):
were already anticipating a lotof stuff.
Maybe if it was a plannedhospital birth and I was trying
to say no to all these things,they might have pushed harder.
But being almost like a homebirth transfer, they kind of
anticipated a lot of thingsbeing a no.
And also, I think partly theydidn't think that they were
(37:38):
gonna even be around for most ofmy labor.
So they were like, maybe we'lljust let the other people deal
with this woman.
Um, so it was it was all good.
Yeah.
Angela (37:50):
Yeah.
Well, I'm so glad it all workedout for you.
Miranda (37:53):
Yeah, as close to a home birth in the hospital, I
think, as you can get, which Iwas really thankful for.
And yeah.
Angela (38:02):
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much,Miranda, for coming back on the
podcast and taking the time tochat with me today and share
your stories.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for invitingme.
Before you go, I just want toremind 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
(38:25):
because I have some freetrainings and free downloads
that you can sign up for, aswell as the link to access
MyLibroflow, a comprehensive,self-paced online childbirth
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 teachyou everything that I know so
(38:49):
that you can prepare for anautonomous birth experience and
prepare to step into your roleas the leader of your birth
journey.
So, click to the show notes,check out all of those links,
and if you ever have anyquestions, feel free to DM me at
my mainbirth over on Instagram.
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