28 Birthing in Canada and Breaking Down Socialized Medicine For Moms to Have Their Own Perfect Birth Story

For this episode, Heidi features and interviews Lianne, a remarkable woman who achieved an all-natural and intervention-free labor and delivery at a birth center in Canada. Lianne walks Heidi through her experiences with socialized medicine and the center’s midwifery model. Her favorite baby product is the Young Living Natural Oils Lavender Lotion, which she used to help with her daughter Olivia's eczema.

Looking for a Virtual Doula to create a custom birthing experience and guide you through your journey to parenthood in the United States? Contact Heidi at www.mydoulaheidi.com

For additional free birth education resources and to purchase Heidi’s book, Birth Story: Pregnancy Guidebook + Journal, visit www.birthstory.com.

Want to share your thoughts on the episode? Leave a review and send a message directly to Heidi on Instagram.

TRANSCRIPTION

Does a contraction feel like? How do I know if I'm in labor and what does the day of labor look like? Wait, is this normal? Hey, I'm Heidi. My best friends. Call me hides. I'm a certified birth doula host of this podcast and author of birth story and interactive pregnancy guidebook. I have supported hundreds of women through their labor and deliveries, and I believe every one of them and you deserves a microphone and a stage.

So here we are, listen each week to get answers to these tough questions, birth story. Where we talk about pregnancy labor deliveries, where we tell our stories and share our feelings and of course chat about our favorite baby products and motherhood. And because I'm passionate about birth outcomes, you will hear from some of the top experts in labor and delivery, whether you are pregnant, trying desperately to get pregnant, or you just love a good birth story.

I hope you will stick around and be part of this birth story family. Welcome Leanne to the birth story podcast or excited to have you today. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Alright. Well, I am from, um, Quebec, Canada. I am a mother of two little girls, uh, is almost nine months old. I would say eight and a half months.

And the other is two and a half years old. I am with the, my first loves. So him and I I've known him ever since. Uh, we're a 15 and 16 years old. His name is Wandy and I love him so much. He's such an amazing father and husband and everything. Do you work at home or out of the home? Yeah, so I work at home.

So I work with a company called young living currently. Um, I'm also an aspiring doula, so I really, really want to become a doula someday. That's like one of my dreams in life because I love everything about birth and postpartum and breastfeeding. And that's like a really big passion of mine. I am here to encourage you to become a doula after this interview, we can stay connected and I hope that I could mentor you or like, Urge you on that journey.

Yep. So for everyone out there that doesn't know what young living is. I mean, I do, but, um, tell us a little bit about your business. So young living are they're the company that sells essential oils. Um, I'm all about plant goodness. I'm also a vegan, so I believe in the power of plants and, um, yeah, so they sell essential oil cause they also sell.

Um, all kinds of nontoxic, cleaning supplies, house, hair care, skin care, baby care, kid care, pet care. There are all kinds of natural goodness for everyone in the household, basically. And there. All of their stuff is infused with essential oils. So that's another thing that I'm super passionate about, and I hope that I'll be able to include my essential oils in my doula practice someday as well.

Absolutely you will. So in the show notes, I will put a link to how to get in touch with Lee. And if anyone's interested in learning more about her young living business, um, so Leanne isn't. Very first intern national, since I'm a headquartered in the United States. So very first international interview, which is a really exciting for me, even though we're really close by.

And she reached out to me on Instagram and shared with me. The only thing I know about this story that we're about to hear. Is that she had two natural childbirths, so she wanted to share and teach and there's so much to learn. So we are gonna dive right in Leanne. Let me know how old you are, if you don't mind.

And when. Um, you tried to get pregnant or maybe you just ended up pregnant. What did that look like for you? So I'm 26 years old. I fell pregnant with Olivia when I was 23, I believe. Yeah. It was 1223. Um, and we weren't necessarily trying, but we weren't preventing it either. Uh, we knew we wanted kids at a young age.

Um, but there were a lot of people like around us. Dealing with infertility issues. So we stopped like preventing it. And we were like, Oh, whatever happens, happens. And we wound up, we winded up like getting pregnant actually really quick, which was like a shock. How did you know you were pregnant? Um, I took a test.

I was just feeling like funny. Um, and I just had like this like weird gut feeling that I might be. So I took a test and there was the second pink line and it was like, y'all always dream about the moment, you know, of seeing that second pink line. And you're just like, when I saw that I was like in shock, I was like, Oh my gosh.

It's almost like not even what you expect to feel because you expect that you're going to be like, Well, a lot of people jump up joy, but I was just like shocked. I couldn't even like. Yeah, I am so glad that you just talked about like that moment that you always dream of, because I actually, about 50% of my clients have gone through IVF and when they do that, they will go and to confirm their pregnancy with a blood test.

Right. And so many of them will share with me when they find out that the blood test is positive, that they still go and buy a pregnancy. Yeah. And they just want to like, see it, like visually, they just want to see, like to being glides. She did that for like a good two weeks. I would take like pregnancy tests.

Cause I couldn't believe it. I literally just couldn't believe it. And I would just keep taking them and I was like, okay, well, this is weird. Now flip back, this is socialized medicine. Right? Okay. So I just want to have a few questions throughout the broadcast about that. Um, just because I'm personally curious and I think other people might be interested and I've been watching that show on Netflix called work in moms.

Okay. Have you seen it? No, I'm still bad with Netflix a well, it's a group. You have to watch it, but it's a group of moms and Canada and, um, an order. Yeah, it's really cool. And in order to get into this like school, they're required to go to these like weekly mommy meetup. You know, groups. So I was so curious, it's something that actually happens and candida, but we'll get more into that.

But when does the medical journey, or what did it look like for you? So you found out you were pregnant and then did you call the doctor right away or what happened to get, you know, the medical side involved. Yeah. So at the time I was actually living in Ontario, when I found out I was pregnant, but we were moving to Quebec.

So like I called my family doctor and I told her I was pregnant well from the test. And she was like, okay, come in. We'll just do like a quick, um, like exam and stuff like that. So, so I went in and then I told her that I was moving to Quebec. So she had to like, kind of stop my. Our meetings together. And I already knew that I wanted a middle of life.

This is actually something that I've always like, kind of known, um, high school school. Cause I hadn't watched the business of being born documentary on Netflix. And so I just always knew that. As scary as it sounded to have like a natural birth, like at the time, like not knowing, you know, like the unknown.

I knew that it was something that I wanted just because of all that I learned. And I was like, okay, like, I'm going to do this. So, um, so yeah, I went to see my family doctor. Yeah. And I found the, um, our local birthing center, wherever we were moving. And, and I gave them a call and I got put on the waiting list.

And, and then my midwife on me for my first appointment and. Yeah. So that very first appointment when you were Ontario, that was just a confirmation appointment, really. Okay. And then after you moved and you got established with a birth center now in Quebec, is it common or more common to deliver in a birthing center or in like a hospital setting?

Hi hospital. So birthing in a birth center was just like, it is here in the United States. It's very cool. But not the majority. And did your insurance cover it? Uh, yeah. So here in Canada versus like free. Okay. Okay. So regardless if you birth in a birth center or if you Bergen a hospital and are you, um, is home birth and option in Quebec?

Yeah. I actually wanted to try to do a home birth with my first, but I Wandy lame my husband. He, he was like, he was for the natural birth, but he was like, Oh, I like, I'd rather do it in the birthing center. Cause the birthing center is like two seconds. Ken's away from the nearest hospital. And then he's like, maybe with like the second weekend, think about like having a home birth, depending on how the first one goes, you know, on the table.

But you know, you kind of wanted the middle ground. Right. Which would be the birth center. Well, it's so exciting. So as a doula, I love midwives. I had a midwife for both of my sons, birds also, which was incredible. They just stay by your side and are so like loving and supportive. Did you have a doula that you hired?

No. So I just had my midwife, I intimate relationship. Did you rotate through multiple midwives or did you mostly see the same midwife throughout your pregnancy? So there where you get like assigned two of them. Cause they go on like rotation for like different shifts, I guess, like during the week. Um, so I had two of them.

Wow. That's really, I mean, that's kind of low and really amazing that continuity of care then, and I bet they were communicating a lot, you know, with each other also pretty incredible. So how did your pregnancy go? I went super well. Um, the, like for the first trimester, like I always get super sick, so incredibly sick nausea, like 24 seven puking the whole, the whole shebang.

Um, but after like the first time I saw her I'm. Pretty like I'm good. And at that time with my first pregnancy, I kept pretty active. I had, I had good pregnancies now for everyone listening. It is a very normal to have a response to that age CG and to get really sick and nauseous. And I always like to say that the kind of the worse you feel sometimes really means the better you're.

Doing and then better the baby's doing. So I used to just kind of say to myself, let's just welcome them. No Huncho, because it's a gift comes, you know, with the baby and, and you get through it. Now, did you take anything for your nausea, like with your oils? Did you use any oils or any medications? At the time I didn't have my oils.

So I w I did go on medicine because I was puking. So, so much that I had to do something about it. Do you mean the name of it? I don't know. Two common ones. The most common is probably Zofran or owned a Sartan. And then this second. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. They did give you like a medication for the nausea.

Now, since you are into essential oils. Now, if anyone's listening and they're pregnant and they don't want to take a pharmaceutical medicine, what oils would you recommend to treat the nausea? I'm so happy you asked, because I honestly wish I knew about oils. The time, a big ones that really, really help women are ginger essential oil, peppermint, essential oil lemon, essential oil and lavender essential oils.

So there's like different ways you can do it. You can diffuse them in your house. You can, um, put drops in your, the palms of your hand. That's and then like to take it and deep breaths there's rollers that you can roll onto the back of your ears, um, over your eyebrows and the back of your neck, um, to help as well.

Um, so there's, there's many uses for those ones for the, because I'm a big essential oil user as a doula. Which ones would you recommend? Ingesting? I actually ingested Frankin since this morning and my toddlers, I gave them a drop of frankincense on their tongue. Everyone kind of seemed to just wake up with, couldn't tell if it was allergies or if everyone was just feeling a little under the weather.

But for nausea, what would you recommend of those four ginger peppermint lemon lavender of ingesting? I would recommend the gin ginger and the, well, honestly, all four of them. Young living has an entire, um, line of ingestible oils, but the only ones that I would ever recommend ingesting are from young living because of their like rigorous testing and third party.

Testing like they're, they're a hundred percent pure and it's not regulated by the FDA for central oils. So a lot of companies can label them as like a hundred percent pure oil, but also just put like 5% of oil inside of the bottle and then the rest fillers and all kinds of junk that are actually more harmful than good.

So it ends up being more like just a fragrance in the end. Um, so I really re really only recommend young living for ingesting, but all four of those, the peppermint. Ginger lavender and lemon. Those four are in the, on the U S side. It's it's called the vitality line. And then in, in Canada, it's called the plus line, but those are ingested.

Okay. And then again, just a reminder to everyone, I will link. To you in the show notes so that if anyone is interested in learning more about the oils and how to use them in their pregnancy too, that they could reach out to you. I think that that's wonderful. Um, so you had a really great pregnancy aside from the nausea and the first trimester and you stayed active how much weight did alone, but I would say my first pregnancy was.

Around almost 50 pounds. So I would say 40 to 50 pounds. Um, and then with my second while I was like, I had to lose like another 15 pounds after I gave birth to my first to get back to my pre pregnancy. Okay. So with my second, I gained like 40 pounds. Well, 35 ish to 40 pounds. Proud of you on that one for staying active and not gaining too much.

I have mentioned many times on this podcast, but I gained 70 pounds. So I always tell people do not do what I did. No, do not do it. I didn't make it so good. I know everything. The senses are just heightened. Yeah. Tastes it either tastes so good or it's so bad, you know, so, you know, one or the other. Um, now let's talk about some of the testing that at least we do here in the United States, that I would be interested in what that looks like in Quebec.

And the first would be the big thing. Here is a 20 week anatomy scan. Did you have that done? Yes. Okay. And that's usually when we find out the sec, did you know what you were going to have or did you choose to not let them tell you. Both times I knew. How about, did you pass your glucose or your diabetes test?

Yeah. Yeah. So no diabetes and either gestational diabetes and either pregnancy. And then how about the group beta strep or the GBS test at 36 weeks. Both were negative. So I was good. Yeah. Both are negative there. Those are kind of like the, you know, some of the bigger tests that we look for here. Was there anything else that they were looking at or testing that you can remember throughout your pregnancy vitamins with Olivia?

Well, this is actually super interesting because with Olivia, yeah, I was not vegan. Okay. And with ever I was so right. Number one is Olivia and you were not a vegan? No. Exactly. Okay. Okay. So first pregnancy, not a vegan second pregnancy. You were a vegan with Olivia. I was tested like they, you know how they test like your iron and everything.

I was like, borderline, I need mic. And I mean, I was eating like my favorite foods when I was pregnant with her were like hamburgers. Um, Yeah, lots of hamburgers. So I ate that actually like a lot of like beef and I was surprised that I was like borderline anemic. Whereas with Emma, my iron levels were fine.

It was like the weirdest thing ever. So B this is totally off topic from birth, but this is me being someone who's kind of passionate about learning about nutrition. My children are on, what's called the Reed diet, which is I'm in most of them. You know, usually I follow this diet too, but as gluten free dairy free soy free and any artificial dye or flavoring free.

So essentially trying to remove glutamate from the body. But I can absolutely believe that if you are not following a vegan diet, right. I would guess that you probably weren't following much of any diet. And so there may have been other things that were present in your diet that were causing inflammation, where you are not absorbing nutrients, the way that your body needed to be absorbing nutrients.

But when we cut out those toxins, especially during pregnancy, those inflammatory foods like processed foods and those toxins, right. Then we give our body the opportunity and the chance to use and absorb what we are giving it. Yeah. So, so I absolutely think that there's a lot of validity to what you just said.

When you're not paying attention to the food, that's going into your body and you're showing anemia. And then on pregnancy, number two, where you were paying very particular attention to your diet and then showed healthy hemoglobin and iron levels. So kiddos, you know, well done. Well, let's talk about towards the end of your pregnancy, because you've chosen to deliver at a birth center with a midwife.

Aiming for a natural childbirth. You're totally healthy. No GBS, no diabetes. And let's talk about like, first of all, what week gestation did you deliver? So with Olivia, I gave birth at 39 weeks and six days. And with ever I gave birth at 42 weeks. Where I actually had to have my waters broken manually by my midwife for a, for an induction at 42 weeks.

Let's go into the birth story of Olivia baby number one, um, first and so 39 weeks, six days. So tell me about what you can remember from like week 37 week 38 week 39, just kind of leading. Up until birth. Like what signs and symptoms were you having or was your body giving you about going into labor? I didn't have very many signs.

I was just like, I was really enjoying taking walks at the end. Like I was taking like one hour walks every day and I just remember, um, feeling like. When it first started, my contractions were like, really, really the random, it was more like Braxton Hicks, but like a lot of them. And then eventually they started like getting a little bit stronger, but they were still like all over the place.

My, the first stage of labor for me was super duper long. Like I think like in total, my. My labor was like 48 hours because that's just how long the beginning was. Okay. Like, like the ramp up period. Yeah. Yeah. I remember at. When it first began and you know, you can still talk, you can still do a bunch of stuff.

Um, I was super ravenous. Like I was so hungry. I was eating like everything in science and honestly, I'm happy about it because I feel like it, yeah, really gave me a lots of energy and prepared me for like the marathon ahead because I hadn't eaten, you know, because I, some people can be like on nerves and.

Not eat, but for me it was like the complete opposite and I allowed myself to eat. Right. And yeah, so I was eating a lot and, um, taking walks with Wandy and I remember to see my midwife and telling her like, Oh, like, I'm, I feel like my con, like I'm getting contractions and they're becoming a little bit more consistent.

And she's like, Oh, you know what? Like, I think you're, you're going to like, Like give birth like next week. Like she's like, I don't think it's going to happen now. I think it's just your body preparing. And I was like, Oh, I was like, I don't know. And it's so funny because that day they started to become a lot more distant and I ended up calling her and she was like, okay, I'm going to come.

Over and check you. So she became, she ended up coming over and telling us like, yeah. So you're probably going to have a baby in the next 24 hours. Oh my goodness. Know, UC came over. She came to your home. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I love this. Okay. So she came to your home and she checked you. And how, what did your cervix look like?

Do you remember how far dilated you were. I asked her not to tell me, I didn't want to know how far I was, because I, I was like terrified that she would just tell me like some tiny number. And I would be like, Oh my God. Well, for anyone who's listening, if the midwife tells you you're going to give birth in the next 24 hours, then there's some indication in that cervical check Lake, the effacement, how thin the cervix is the station where the baby's head is.

And then the dilation, like how the cervix is actually. Opening. So there, and then you were having, as you mentioned, you were having consistent contractions. So you had mentioned your Braxton Hicks just became stronger and kind of more consistent, so, yeah. Okay. So the midwives says, Leanne, you're going to have a baby in the next 24 hours.

And then, so what did you do. I was just like, Oh my gosh. Like I started becoming like really excited, but like nervous, like excited. Yeah. I was like all over the place with my emotions, but I was mostly excited for like the adventure and Wandy is so nervous and excited. Like he just started like, Crazy cleaning our whole condo.

It was so fun. Yeah. It was like nervously cleaning, everything. Like it was so funny. And I was like, okay. I was like, Let's do this. And when did then wife tell you to go to the birth center? So they follow like them? I think it's like the five one, one rule. Sure. Yeah. So for anyone who's listening five one, one, or, you know, four, one, one is when your contractions are four to five minutes apart, they're lasting for at least one minute.

So 60 seconds long. And then that has been happening for at least one. Our, um, so your midwife was saying when you got to five, one, one that she was hoping that you would then transfer to the birth center for the rest of your labor and delivery. So is that what you did where you just timing contractions at home?

Yeah, so I was timing them and I was kind of driving myself crazy because they were, although they were getting like a little bit stronger, they were still super inconsistent with the timing because I had downloaded like an app on my phone and I was. I was checking them out and I was kind of driving myself crazy and I like halfway through the date.

The schedules of my midwife's shifted. So now I called my second midwife and I was like, they're becoming stronger, but they're still inconsistent. Like they're not at five minutes yet. Like some are, are, and some aren't. So she was like, Leon, just stop looking at the, at the phone. She's like, just call me when you feel like you're.

You can't do, you can't do it anymore? You know? So I was like, okay. Okay. So I gave it up just like, I stopped looking at my phone and I stopped typing them. And it actually worked, like, I feel like after I stopped looking, like I was just going with the flow of like each contraction. And then by that time time, I was like, for some reason, whenever I give birth or whatever, I'm in labor.

So I always have to be on hands and knees, like. And it's painful because being on your knees for like hours at a time is so painful on the knees, but that's just like how my body reacts for some reason. And like being in any other position is like, it just, the contractions feel more painful for some reason.

So I was like, my arms were on my sofa and my knees were on the ground and that's the position that I was in. And then I, one point I was like, okay, Juan, do you call, call her? So, um, he ended up calling her and she ended up coming and then she, so I had told my first midwife, I didn't want to, um, know how far along I was like dilated, but I, I guess I forgot to tell the second midwife.

So she goes and checks me and she's like, okay, so you're three centimeters. And I was like, Oh my God. Oh my God, I didn't want to know. But I was like, okay. That's okay. So, um, and it's funny because when she came in and I feel like the second she came in, things were right. Really starting to roll a lot faster.

It's like, I became more comfortable because she was there. Like, not that Wendy wasn't doing a good job, but you know, like that medical aspect and yeah. Stuff like that. So I feel like things really started to like rock and roll by the time that she came you and your body felt safe. Now that makes a lot of sense to me.

Now we're going to take a short break to just share a few things with you guys. It's me, Heidi. And I'm so excited that the launch of my book birth story is almost here. Pre-orders are going on right [email protected]. It's a 42 week guide to your pregnancy. It's a collection of birth stories. It has a ton of doula advice.

Of which I wrote from questions that my clients had asked me over the 14 years I've been practicing. It has a bunch of journaling prompts. So you can pick up a preorder copy [email protected]. So at this point you are five one, one, and your three Senate, your midwife next to you and your three centimeters dilated.

So there's still a lot of labor ahead of work, but you had immediately felt things start to pick up when you knew she was there for you. So then what happened. So, um, at that point it was like nighttime. And like, I could tell that my midwife was tired, so she was like, Kate she's like, I'm just going to go take a nap.

Can I take a nap on your cell phone? I'm like, yeah, sure. Go ahead. So, cause my knees were like, literally killing me so much. Like they were, I was focusing on my knee pain instead of like my contract almost. So she ended up putting, bring me on like positioning me on my bed in a way that it didn't feel as.

Painful for me so that I can like relax. My knees and windy was with me. Like he was rubbing my back and he ended up falling asleep on the bed beside me. So for like, I don't know how long it was, but they were sleeping. And I was like doing it by myself and I, because I won't lie. Like, I feel like I was like, I was a champ going through all of that by myself, but I knew that in my it's funny because throughout the wool, labor and delivery, My subconscious was always talking to myself.

I was like, Oh, I have to let them sleep. You know, like they need to rest because I need to them too. You need them late as much as, yeah, exactly. So them, I let them rest. And then, um, my midwife ended up waking up and then she came to see me. And by that time, I was seven centimeters. And wow. So you went from three to seven?

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And I was like, okay. And she's like, she's like, okay. She's like, I have to tell you that she's like, I'm 99.9%. Sure. That it's the head that I feel, but she's like, it's very soft. So it almost feels like maybe it could be a bum she's like, but that's like, 1% that it might be a bum, but she's like, I she's, like, I really would prefer to go, Oh, get an ultrasound done to see, just to make sure.

But she's like, we would have to go to the hospital and, you know, seven centimeters. That's like the transition. Yeah. That's intense. And I was like, Oh my God. And like, I, like, I've always had like this. Weird fear of hospitals for some reason. Like I'm just scared of, um, interventions, stuff like that, so, Oh.

But I was okay for the, for the sake of the baby, like, sure. Okay. Let's go. So at seven and we were driving. To the hospital. And let me tell you the worst part of my labor was that was frigging drive to the hospital. Oh my gosh. It was horrible because you felt like you were transitioning or you couldn't get comfortable.

Like what was horrible? I couldn't get comfortable. Like I, I naturally have to be on hands and knees. So sitting down in a car confined, like, no, it was horrible. Um, but then we arrived at the hospital. I had to wait the doctor who had to do the ultrasound, I think he was doing a C-section or something. So I had to wait almost an hour for him to come do the ultrasound.

And that was like, that was during transition. So that was like a super painful, like that whole time. I was like, Oh my God, get me out. Were you nauseous? No, but I ha I was shaking. Um, Yeah, I wish she can a lot. And Oh yeah. And by that time, like when it got really intense, I looked at my midwife and I was like, I can't anymore.

Like, not that it was, it was painful by that time, but it was mostly that I did. I feel like I didn't have the energy to continue. Yeah. Yeah. I was so exhausted and. I was like, I can't. And she was like, Leanne, she's like, you got this. Like, she's like, you're almost there. Like you got this, like, just keep going and where, like, she just knows me.

And that's like the type of. Encouragement that I needed, you know, just to let you know, there's more inside of you that you, then you think that there is even when I have clients and friends who get epidurals, just a little bit of encouragement, because you can say, Oh, I want an epidural right now. And it still could be like an hour before.

Like they give you fluids and the anesthesiologist. So just reminding. You like Leanne, you are strong. Keep going. Like it's the end when, by the time you got the shakes too, all the signs. So whenever I it's so crazy because like, you know, like that inner voice that I was talking to you about earlier when I said that out loud that I was too tired to keep going, like, I felt like I was too tired to keep going inside of me.

My subconscious was like, Oh my God, you must be almost there because usually when women start saying stuff like that, the end is near. Yeah. You know, like things will always get worse before they get back are so subconsciously. I was like, Oh my God, I think I'm almost there. So then finally the dr. King did the ultrasound and thankfully was the he head.

That was a, that was down. So then we like rushed. To the birthing center, which is like two seconds away, thanked the Lord. And then once I got to the birthing center, like I feel like things really calmed down weirdly. It's like the space between my contractions got longer, but the contractions, whenever they came were very strong.

So it gave me time to like breathe in between, but they were still super duper strong when they came. So, this is a very normal for him now. Neutral childbirth. You'll be laboring, laboring. They're so close together and they're so strong. And then all of a sudden you get this really, really long break. Like, and I mean, I would guess that you had like seven to 10 minutes break and then all of a sudden, instead of your contraction being 60 to 90 seconds, it was like a hundred and it was a two full minute long contraction.

Strong. Like, that's how I could describe it. Like, it was like, you know, when someone hits a big drum like bomb, like that's what it felt like, like just a big, like. Because, you know, the brick was stolen and then all of a sudden it was just like this. And it was like, I don't know. That's how I, yeah, it makes some people have described it to me as like, well, that one woke me up.

That's what they'll say. And then they'll fall back asleep. But I think it's a beautiful thing that our, our body naturally. Slows down and lets you like arrest for so long. This is normal. So I'm so glad to hear you share about this. Some people forget to talk about the break right before the delivery. So my mom came, so my Wandy call called my mom to tell her to come that the baby was coming soon.

Then all of a sudden things started to pick up a lot faster. So like that, that random like, like long break between. When contractions started to get smaller and smaller again, and then it started to become a lot more painful, but it didn't last long. But I remember at one point I grabbed Wondie's hair and I'm like pulling his hair.

That's all I remember. But yeah, I had to do it for some reason to squeeze on it. So you had no medical interventions at all. At all. And so, yeah, and then he was doing something where he was like towards the inside of my body and it felt very good. And at one point he had to like step away to do something.

So my mom tried to take over, but she could not do it properly. And I was, I was getting so angry. I was like, mom, you're not doing it. Right. So let's explain this. So you're in a, are you in a, like a bed at this point? Yeah. And were you on your side or your back? On my back. So you're on your back, but you're in a birthing suite at a birth center.

So you're in a place that looks like a bed bed. Yeah. Yeah. It's like a, yeah, not a hospital, but like a big bed bed. So you're laying down on your back and your husband's almost like pushing your legs up, like as if you were what? In a squat, but yeah. Laying down. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. It felt really good to you at the end.

I bet that, yeah, that, that did. Um, so your mom couldn't. Quite figure out the third thing position. Yeah. It's just, she didn't have the strength that he had, you know, like, yeah. But it's just a, really, a really tight squat, you know? Yeah. And then did you still have the shakes? Uh, no, but I started saying again that I was getting tired.

I was like, I was like, I'm exhausted. Like I don't have the energy again. So my midwife gave me these they're like little balls. I don't know. And you put them like underneath your tongue and those were to help with energy. So I guess it's like a homeopathic thing or a holistic thing. I don't know. Did they dissolve.

Yeah, they dissolve. Oh, okay. Yeah, they were homeopathics. Okay. She gave some to me and the one D um, and they really helped, like, I don't, I don't even care if it's a placebo effect to me. It helps. Have you ever talked to her? I would be curious to know what pathic she gave, but it, it gave you energy and calm.

Do you? I would imagine. Yeah, that was like right before pushing. Um, she gave me. That. And then she also gave me a glass of really cold pineapple juice. And when I was drinking that through the streets, it felt like liquid heaven. Like, that's just how I, I can describe it. Like when I was drinking that I was like, wow, this is like the best thing I've ever had my entire life.

And I'm not even that much like that big of a fan of pineapple juice. But at that moment it was. Cold. And it was, it was amazing. All of you. Yeah. Senses are just so heightened, especially right at delivery. You know, sound soft sounds can be piercing. Pineapple juice can taste like heaven. I mean, it's just, yeah.

You know, it's, it's definitely an altered state. I forgot to mention as well. Like during the whole labor I was drinking, I was sipping on coconut water. Okay. Good for hydration. Good job. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then all of a sudden, like I w I said like, Oh, like, I feel like pushing. And then my midwife came to check me and she's like, She's like, yeah, you can start pushing it.

It's just like, she's like at your next contraction. All. Cause I think I was like nine, almost 10. So she was like at your next contraction, I'm going to help stretch you out. Um, and I was terrified because I hate cervical checks. I hate like just, I just, I cannot like can either painful to me. I'm like, I just get so tense.

I don't know why, like I can give birth, but I serve go check. What did you do to relax through it? I just was making my grunting sounds whenever. Oh yeah. That's like an important thing too. So whenever I had my contractions, I would always like take a deep breath in when they would start. And then when I would let my breath out, I would let out like the lowest possible, like sound.

Uh, Oh, like super, super low. And I would do it like the whole contraction. And if I didn't have enough breath to do the whole contraction, then I would like take another one and like, do it again. I think that that is so important. I'm so glad that you stopped and went back to that because. When we talk about like the stages of labor we can, it's so caught up in dilation.

And I just told him enough about like, what does it look like? What does it sound like to be in labor? And like, you can probably attest like early labor. Yeah. Chatty and you're breathing and like, whatever. But when you really get to that seven plus. Centimeters dilated. It's so primal it's so like, Oh, he got her all like, uh, I always tell my clients to use wall.

Wow. Well, you know, that's a good one too. Yeah. An opening sound. And then as the, as you get that urge or that ejection reflex, as you were just getting to this point in your story, you go, you sound like, uh, Yes. Kinda like your guttural sound turns into a push and you like are like, Oh, I'm. Yeah. So, so you said that you kind of felt that, or like you could hear yourself pushing, you felt that margin.

So when they say you're nine to 10, Centimeters dilated. That's called usually there's a cervical lip and it's, um, can occur, um, like all around or just on one part of the cervix. And so it just, I think that that's what your midwife was trained to do is help them. Just that one little piece. So three fourths of the cervix could have been a 10, but then there was just that little lip on one side, which, um, they can just kind of try to push away around the head.

So your midwife is doing this. And all the time you're bearing down. And does it feel good to bear down? Amazing. Like when she was stretching me, like, I was scared of it when she said she was going to do it. But then when she was doing it, it felt like the most amazing thing ever. Like when I was like doing like my sound, like the hook.

Oh. And she was stretching me like. It felt amazing. Like I won't even lie. Like it literally felt amazing. Yes. I'm like, Oh, okay. That's probably good. So many women that labor naturally, we'll talk about this and they'll talk about that. The pushing stage just feels amazing. Like finally, like they can do something like, you know, finally you're back in control the congestions aren't happening to you, but you're, you know, you're pushing into them, but that it feels so good.

To Bush I'm. So I'm so glad that you felt that and experienced that. So how long did you push for, uh, with Olivia? I pushed for 28 minutes. Oh my gosh. So not long at all. So maybe, you know, I would guess 10 to 12 pushes. Yeah. Probably something like that. Yeah. Yeah. And then, um, she emerged how long. Did they wait till did to deliver your afterbirth or your placenta?

Um, Oh gosh. I think probably like, I would say like five to 10 minutes to, so they let the cord stop pulsating and all that and let the placenta detach naturally and all of that. And then how has your bleeding with the birth? Was it normal? Yeah, it was normal. It was fine. I didn't anything, thankfully, that went wrong with that, or that was like alarming.

And you felt good? Oh my gosh. Like when I was pushing, cause again, I was on hands and knees when I was partying. Of course. Yeah. Um, for 24 hours now. Yeah. Gosh, they were so red. Oh gosh. Um, but he, he ended up catching Olivia. Oh, he too. Oh, that's so weird. Oh, So he caught her and then they passed her to me and like, Oh, like it's.

So the second she came out, I was like, Oh my God. And like my adrenaline and like this rush of energy, like I was complaining about being tired the whole time. When she came out, I was, I was wrecked. I need to party. Like I was like, that was amazing. I was like, I have to do this again. This is the sickest experience and I love it.

Yes. I had that experience with my second, which was natural. My first was medicated, but my second and I just remember being like, okay, let's go home. I'm ready. Great. I can do it. I don't know, man. It was crazy. So what time was this in the morning? Uh, she was born at seven 43 in the morning, seven 42 at three in the morning.

So when we talked about this, like your prodromal labor started like about 48 hours beforehand, but how long would you say you think you were like an active LIBOR, like with consistent Teamable contractions? Well, active labor was only three hours, three hours and pushing was 28 minutes. So at the beginning of my labor was just super draggy, just so, so long and be, you know, but it's really important to share that.

Right. So like that for you. And you would probably agree with us, I assume that really, really, really difficult, difficult, like talk, you have to talk yourself into it. Bart was only about three hours for you. Yeah. And then all the rest of it was pretty manageable. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Sorry. All for you. All of it was manageable, but yeah, for Olivia is birth.

Like I like when I, after I gave birth to her, like, I don't describe her. Her birth is painful. Her, it was intense, very, very intense, but it was not painful. So it's seven 43 in the morning. When you deliver, how soon after did you get to go home? We left around four hours later. That's incredible. And you got to rest, rest and recover at home.

I wish every, Oh, I just wish every story was as yours is Leanne. It's beautiful. And I'm just so thankful that you shared it. Um, I do have a question about placenta encapsulation. Did you encapsulate your placenta? No, I was. I really wanted to, but at the time, like we were so tight on money that I just. We just couldn't afford it, but I really it's something I really wanted to do.

And I didn't even do whatever. I don't know why, but again, we were super tight on money as well, but it's something that I really believe in, like, and I think that it's, it could be super beneficial. And then how much does it cost and, um, get like Canadian dollars. I think it's like, I think I had found a woman who was charging like 250.

Okay. And then, um, that's, it's about $300 and well, it could vary whatever state you live in, in the United States. I'm in North Carolina and it's about 300. Dollars is on average, the current rate in 2019 for placenta encapsulation. So yeah, it is an investment again, there's tons of benefits. I was just curious.

That'd be what I had done it or not. Okay. So we're going to have to definitely have you on again to talk about birth. And before you go, please share with us what your favorite baby product is. Um, my favorite baby product, w I would say is my young living baby lotion. That is an infused with lavender oil.

That's like my favorite. It actually helped with Emma's exzema a lot on her cheeks, so it's my fave and anybody who's interested in it could get it from you. And I'll again, link to your site on the show notes. Thanks so much for being on Lee. And I appreciate all that you are and all that you did for Olivia's birth.

And I'm so proud of you.

Thank you for listening to birth story, Michael is you will walk away from each episode with a clear picture of how labor and delivery might go in that you will feel empowered by the end of your pregnancy to speak up plan and prepare for the birth you want. No matter what that looks like.