59 Meet Jodi Part 2: Homebirth in the US after a homebirth in Colombia, South America

Wrapping up this two-part special, Heidi and Jodi discuss the differences between domestic and international healthcare as it pertains to pregnancy and childbirth. After a successful and happy birthing experience and life in Colombia, Jodi and her husband decide to move their family back to America to be closer to their families. They decided that the best option for the birth of their second child would be to utilize a midwife and have as natural of a homebirth as possible.

Jodi’s favorite baby products were milk catchers and cozy nursing nightgowns.

TRANSCRIPTION

Speaker 0 (0s): Hey everybody it's episode 59 or backward Jodi for part two. So if you are just starting with the Birth Story, Podcast rewind to episode 58 and catch Jodi is Homebirth in Columbia, South America. Then come back to this episode, episode 59 Part too. And we are going to hear all about Jody's Homebirth here in America and let's get to it.

Speaker 1 (31s): What does it

Speaker 2 (31s): Contraction? I feel like, how do I know if I'm in labor and what does the day of labor look like? Oh, wait, is this a 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 an 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

Speaker 0 (1m 28s): And 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. You guys. My book is out. I mean, it is out in the world. I can not believe it. I have been writing it for several years and it's just mindblowing BIRTH STORY pregnancy guide, book and journal is a one of a kind discovery into your pregnancy that provides you education through storytelling.

So what is it really about in the 16 years that I have served a women with every personality type I noticed there was a huge disconnect between what my clients were craving for childbirth education in a book and the books that were actually available on the market. There seemed to be unlimited resources. If you are looking for an unmedicated birth or a natural birth or a home birth, but there just weren't a lot of resources from my clients that are part of the 92% of women birthing in a hospital, and very much open to medical interventions, like an epidural, nitrous, oxide, and opioid medications.

So I wrote that book to fill the gap for you. Week by week throughout your pregnancy, you will engage with material meant to educate and empower you as you plan for your own birth Story hospital, medicated unmedicated, or something in between. You are welcomed each week with a postcard from the womb, which is an adorable note from your baby about their miraculous development, as well as the amazing changes occurring within you.

Then you are invited to use an uplifting Birth affirmation and to respond to an introspective journaling, prompt to document your feelings, curiosities and wonders every single week with room to memorialize your own birth story. This book will become a memory keeper and a legacy gift for your baby. You are encouraged to read one of my favorite BIRTH stories each week filled with childbirth education, tidbits, and explanations of important medical terms and procedures.

These are real life accounts shared with permission from the birth of this that I've attended during my career as a Doula. And I gave you a great mix in the 42 week guide to your pregnancy in 42 BIRTH stories, seven of them end in scenario. One section about half are unmedicated in the other half are medicated deliveries. This is a judgment free book. So take what you need from each element and leave the rest.

Okay. Are you ready to buy? I would love for you to go to BIRTH story.com and buy it directly from me, but I totally get it. If your, an Amazon girl you're going to add to amazon.com and just type in Birth Story pregnancy and the book should pop up, I'll deliver it straight to your doorstep. And I would venture to say that you might be an audio book, kind of a woman, because you are listening to a podcast. So if you would prefer to listen to this book, then I have recorded it, and it is available for [email protected] or on your audible app.

Thank you for being part of the BIRTH Story community. I am so excited for you to have this book in your hand, once you've purchased it, and it has arrived. I hope that you will give me your thoughts and feedback, and don't forget to take a selfie with your book and post it on Instagram and tag at Birth Story Podcast Jodi. I am so glad that we are continuing this conversation about your Homebirth here in the United States. And so I'm so curious, like all the ways in which it would be different from the previous episode that we recorded, that hopefully everyone's listened to your Homebirth in Columbia, South America.

And so first I need to just kind of understand. I feel like we are, we left off was like, you have this beautiful home birth in Columbia. And like, you had done this amazing ritual with your placenta, and now we're like jumping ahead. And all of a sudden you live in the United States and you have another baby girl joy who is six months old. And so why not? You just catch all of us up. Like, how did you get from Colombia back to the United States where it's home country?

Speaker 3 (5m 58s): Sure. So my husband and I lived in Columbia for four years after Quincy was born. We stayed in Columbia for two more years and right before her second birthday, and we, we moved back to the United States and that was mostly, we were very happy there. We love our city. We love your school that are friends. We we're mostly ready to do is to be closer to family and give Quincy, have the opportunity to build relationships with our family. And so we moved home and a summer of 2018.

So that was two years ago. And then April of our first year, full year back, we found out we were expecting joy. So that sort of the short version of how it, how we made our way.

Speaker 0 (6m 47s): Perfect. Now, were you trying to get pregnant?

Speaker 3 (6m 50s): We we're not. And we, we were, we found out on April 1st. And so it was kind of a funny joke for us. So with the Quincy, we found out on my husband's birthday. So that was like a birthday gift. And then with joy and we were surprised and I found out on April 1st, so that was on April fool's day. So that was kind of a joke for us.

Speaker 0 (7m 14s): So did your husband like believe you are like, did you pull you out?

Speaker 3 (7m 18s): I am not the kind of person to really be able to pull off a joke like that, but he did leave and I was like, this is not a joke. This is real. It is completely real. And I mean, when I took a pregnancy test, I remember was my first pregnancy. I took the test before it was, you know, recommended. And I was just like waiting, waiting, waiting, and C. But when I took this pregnancy test, I mean, it was immediately positive. There was no mistaking. It that it was definitely positive.

Awesome. I went to dinner with a friend and kept a pregnancy test in my pocket the whole time I had dinner and then told my husband and I got a home from dinner that night.

Speaker 0 (8m 1s): That's crazy. I don't even know how you keep that as like one second. I mean, I'm just like, I'm not a secret keeper. It's a very difficult for me to be a full blown anxiety attack. If I had to make it through that, I had to make it through dinner, especially without any alcohol, which I'm assuming you probably want to know exactly. Yeah. Well, you had this Homebirth and we, you know, we listened to your last story about how you ended up having a Homebirth in Colombia.

So now you are living in the United States. Did you know right away you wanted to have a home birth again?

Speaker 3 (8m 36s): No, we didn't know right away that we are going to have a home birth. We were looking at a birthing center that was very close by to where I was living. That ended up closing. I had scheduled an appointment and the birthing center closed just a few week or maybe a few days before my first appointment.

Speaker 0 (8m 57s): I am going to jump in right there. I actually had just conducted a, several other interviews where the moms were in the exact same situation. One was even 24 weeks pregnant when her birth center closed. And it's a really important, I just want to put a disclosure out there that like birth centers are closing around the country for different reasons. The one that I just interviewed in El Paso, Texas, they closed just because it was a tenant dispute and it was like, they just had to move a lot of the birth centers.

And I know the chain that you're talking about is a very hard to be profitable. So as everyone listening can imagine a hospital stay overnight with an epidural in your eyes and your IB port and all of your medicines in your blood pressure, cough every 15 minutes. And your monitoring in your internal exams. I mean, every single time someone looks at you, that's like a billing code or the hospital. And it's a very profitable, I mean, I think most of my clients that share their bills with me, if they have no medical interventions and are an epidural were like 25 to 60 plus a thousand dollars.

But if you're in a birth center and you have no interventions, I mean, there's just not a lot to bill for. And so it's not profitable. So I just want to make sure that people listening, aren't like, Oh, BIRTH center and come up in your head that it closed for any other reason, like BIRTH centers tend to close because it's hard for them to remain profitable. That's it, they're so safe to offer that.

Speaker 3 (10m 29s): And we went and we were very interested in that option as it was very close to our apartment. And it was also a very close to a hospital and that was a good middle ground for everyone. And for me in my husband and our family. But after that close, we went ahead and started a prenatal care with an OB and we kind of had Homebirth on the table, but we didn't really talk about it very much for the first part of the pregnancy. I went to the head of the regular typical prenatal appointments.

I saw the midwives at the OB practice and it was great. I got great care. And then after the anatomy scan around 20 weeks, I was starting to think more about actually giving birth. And we, we knew from the anatomy scan that there were no concerns or anything. And so I started to explore more and think about having another home birth and just thinking about my experience with my first birth and just how wonderful it was.

I just, I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I just couldn't let it go. And I'm really fortunate that my husband is really supportive. And, you know, at the end of the day, he was like, this is your body, your experience. He also had a great experience with our first child and he was supportive of whatever I decided to do. I think I S I switched to Homebirth midwife care. I think I was like 24 weeks around 24, 26.

Speaker 0 (12m 4s): Okay. You have to like dig in a little bit more. So someone's listening and their, like, they just went to their ultrasound and they had their anatomy scan and they're in that same Headspace. What was the first thing you did? Like, how did you connect with a home birth midwife?

Speaker 3 (12m 21s): So I was interested in, in finding a midwife that because my first home birth was in a different country, it was kind of like a whole new landscape for me here in the first. And I, I didn't know, one other friend to have had two previous home births here. And so I talked to her and then I also asked in some of the mom groups or the local mom groups that I'm in. And I found quickly, I found a home birth community was in the local mom groups.

That was the most helpful place that I got information. And pretty quickly I was in touch with the home birth midwives and I'm in our community. And I was able to give information and talk with them and interview them. And it was once I got my foot in the door, that was pretty easy.

Speaker 0 (13m 16s): The midwives in a group practice, or are they independent? Did you have an opportunity to like interview and choose the one particular person that you wanted to support you? Or how did that, what does that look like?

Speaker 3 (13m 28s): So they were to, there are two midwives main home birth midwives in the general area where I live and I was in touch with both of them. And one of them actually studied an apprentice under the other one. And so they were very well connected with each other, and they were both lovely, wonderful women with a lot of experience. And I ended up choosing the one that was closest to me and that lived within 10 minutes of my house.

And so that was convenient, more convenient for us in terms of prenatals. And also when it came time for birthing, I knew that she would be a nearby. Okay. So I have a lot,

Speaker 0 (14m 12s): Or like a couple of Homebirth questions that I want to ask you before you get into your BIRTH STORY. If anyone listening is considering a home birth, or maybe they had a hospital birth, and now they are interested in having a home birth for a subsequent baby, I really, really love Jodi. If you have to walk me through the midwifery model of care for your prenatal visit. So what that felt like, what that experience was like.

Speaker 3 (14m 41s): Sure. So the prenatal, it was just wonderful and lovely and connecting and personal. I want to add switched to the midwife prenatals. All of my appointments were, I mean, usually at least an hour, they were in her home. And I had plenty of time to talk about anything that I was feeling, any concerns that I had. She checked in on me physically, but also emotionally, when she listened to the baby's heartbeat, I was able to lay down on the bed.

My three-year-old daughter was able to come with me with FOR when I had the prenatal appointments with the OB, I had already always scheduled from my mom or someone to come and be with my daughter. But because I wasn't sure if we want to Quincy to be there for the birth that I wanted her to get to know the midwives with what was happening. And so she came to those appointments with me and it was really great. She was available all the time. If I had, you know, questions for her or any concerns in between appointments, she is always available.

And one thing that I really, really helped me trust her was that if there were things that I had questions about, and this happened one or maybe two times that I had a concern and she gave me some of her own suggestions, but then always followed it up with, if you still feel concerned, seeing an OB. And so all along my, the prenatal experience with her, I knew and trusted her experience, her expertise and her training, and knew that if something was out of her expertise and training, that she would direct you to go to a medical doctor, it was just a really lovely experience.

Speaker 0 (16m 37s): It's so different. Jodi to hear you say words like personal connection, lovely, trusted, together hour, long appointments, your child was with you. I mean, for anyone listening, like this is the midwifery model of care. It's continuity of care. It's very personalized, loving, and attentive care, and it's a very different and special, and you'll get this midwifery model of care in some senses when you choose a midwife and they're in a hospital environment, also its a different experience, but it's very, very different for Homebirth being.

And I, I just wanted you to share what that looked like, because if anyone's like on baby two or three and they birds at a hospital, like, you know what I'm talking about? Right? Like, like we remember what it was like to have a four and a half minute long appointment and then that doctor is gone and you're like, Oh, are we okay? I guess I'll just ask it next week. So yeah. So I mean, that sounds lovely having your three-year-old with you and just feeling love Don, you had mentioned in Columbia that your midwife basically had all the tools for you here in the United States.

How did that go? As far as like preparing your home for a home

Speaker 3 (18m 3s): Birth right. So that was, that was different here. She put me in contact and gave me the resources to purchase a Birth kit. And she actually in through the website, she had created her own kid or a personalized kit that had all of the things that she personally preferred and obviously the things that were needed, but then also within the things that were needed, the ones that she, the type or a brand or whatever that she had preference for.

And so as a part of her practice, she also required you to attend like a four hour class that she hosted it in her home with other mothers and their partners who were repairing for their BIRTH as well. And so at that class, she went through all the materials that we would need. They gave us time to ask questions and then directed us to where we need to go to access to it, to purchase the things. And so it came with like the umbilical cord clamp and all of the sterile gloves.

And I mean, it was just like a whole bunch of stuff that you need during that time. And then you could purchase your own tub, but she actually had several that she would lend out. So we borrowed her top and then purchase our own.

Speaker 0 (19m 29s): I'm just assuming every midwife has their different preferred and trusted brands, but what a cool resource too, like when you were just sharing about being in her home with these other couples that has made this autonomous decision, you know, and having that connection. So along with this wonderful class, like in her home with these other couples, did that like count as like childbirth education also like if, if some of those couples were first time.

Speaker 3 (20m 2s): So most of that, I think in my memory, there were maybe six or seven couples there. And I think that all of them were second time moms. And I was the only one who had had a previous Homebirth almost all of them. I mean, there may have been one other one, but I remember that overwhelmingly, they were moms who were choosing Homebirth for their second BIRTH because of a challenge that they had experienced in their first birth time.

And we're exploring other options for this experience.

Speaker 0 (20m 40s): You said that so delicately Jodi and I appreciate it, but everyone knows. I mean, the reason my exists is because I'm helping first time moms or something.

Speaker 3 (20m 56s): Right.

Speaker 0 (20m 57s): So that we have positive birth outcomes. But I mean, I wish I didn't even have to have my guts like this because I just want you to, everyone had a great first experience, but hear us loud and clear. We think that Homebirth and BIRTH center Birth are just as wonderful options for a birthing as hospital birth thing. Let's just celebrate that there is a, a third way, you know, and I say a third way because I'm like, there's a really like FOR in my mind FOR ways, right?

Like for the hospital or you can go to the first scenario and go to a home birth or you can pre-birth, you know, and there's probably people will probably correct me and say there's seven ways, you know, about how wonderful. Okay. So now I'm going to get into like, you've borrowed this tub, which is kind of, I don't even know how you tied that with six or seven other couples, but you borrowed it, you bought the liner, you got your Birth kit. You were like ready. And tell me about what it was like, kind of at the end of your pregnancy, how you were feeling and the number one question, everyone wants to know how the heck did you know you're in labor.

Speaker 3 (22m 9s): Okay. This is great because it was a very different than my first one. So towards the end. So my first daughter was born at 39 weeks and for days, and I know that you would never, you know, babies choose when they are going to be born. And so I know that you couldn't predict it. And even though I knew that I still thought that I was going to go early and I did not. I was my due date came and went and I was five days over.

And I was with my first daughter. I never reached that point where I was like, wow, I don't know that I can do this anymore. But with my second pregnancy, I was really, really big. And it was hard to move. It was hard to, to mother IN feeling so big. And I was feeling probably just as much pressure that I was putting on myself, but it seemed as if I was feeling pressure from people around me to have the baby.

And every day I wake up and my husband would look at each other and think is today the day? Or are we, you know, is it today? He's a teacher. So he would leave for school in the morning. And you know, he's really busy during the day. And so we, I was like, you've just got to be able to watch your phone. And so the day before I went into labor, I felt really ill. Like I just felt, I didn't feel good. I actually ended up throwing up.

And for the first time, towards the end of the pregnancy, my mother-in-law took my daughter for the day. And so I stay home right now, wasn't working and my husband had urged me, you know, cause he S he knew how tired I was. He was like, send Quincy to my mom and just rest. And I hadn't done it. But this day I was like, okay, I really need two. And for the first time, it seems like in my whole pregnancy, I just laid in bed all day. I just didn't feel well.

And then the next day I woke up and I felt so much better. I felt so much more refreshed. I had a lot more energy. I took my daughter to the park. We played, it was great. I felt so much better. And then that afternoon I took a shower and as I was getting dressed, I lifted my leg to put my pants on and I squirted on the floor. And it was so great.

Speaker 0 (24m 50s): You had to define, squirt for everyone's listening, blood and fluid, please. P like all of it.

Speaker 3 (24m 58s): Yeah. I thought it was P at first. Well, because I was like, at that point I felt so big that I was like, I don't know. I probably just peed on the floor. I don't know. And then I was like, I don't know that doesn't really seem like P and so I took a picture of it, like, you know, anyone would do and send it to my midwife. And I was like, I don't know if I peed on the floor or if my water is breaking, I don't know. And she was like, okay, you know, that could be your water breaking.

Just, you know, let me know if anything changes just rest and take your time. And so there was never, and that was like one o'clock in the afternoon. There was never a gush or anything that followed in, in the, over the course. And the next couple of hours, I would have little, tiny, tiny little gushes here and there when I would like change visitations. Or if that was sitting down, I stood up, I would have a tiny little gushes and my aunts, I was in touch with my midwife throughout this, but for several hours.

And didn't have any other signs at all. No sensations in my stomach, no cramping, no blood, nothing.

Speaker 0 (26m 16s): Okay. I'm going to jump in real quick with a teachable moment. So this is what's called premature rupture of the membranes or prom. It's when you're a water ruptures is the first sign of labor is like your water rupturing or your water leaking. Now data shows that most moms will begin to have contractions within six to eight hours. It can take 24 or 48 hours even, but most of the time, I don't know where you're going with the story, but most of the time within six or eight hours, you'll start to have some like cramping or some sensation.

Some women will have prom, premature rupture, and then, you know, right away they started having contractions. The reason I wanted to intervene though, is the tiny gushes, because, you know, we watch on TV, like, you know, this, this flooding, and one of the best examples that I love to share about your water breaking or your amniotic SAC, is it can create a tear anywhere in the sack. So like up where the baby's foot is or down by where the baby's head is a very low.

And so imagine if there you are carrying a cup of coffee and at the top of like your amniotic SAC, imagine as like the top of your cup of coffee, and you start walking and coffee starts to spilling out, you're a very, very full cup of coffee starts spilling out over the top, but you still have like a whole bunch of coffee in your mug, right. That could be what we call a Hi tear. So there is like a Hi tear. And so you have these. So when you get up and you start moving around, like you're trying to hold your very full cup of coffee and it just starts spilling over spilling out, but you still have the majority of your water's, you know, or your cup of coffee and the thing, there's also something else that happens with the tiny gushes, where the head is so low, it actually reseals.

So then when you move to your left or the right, and it wiggles that head a little bit, some of that fluid could like that is building up, can like slip out, passed the head because the head has kind of sealed up in the water from leaking out. So when I hear a story like yours Jodi, and I hear about these tiny little gushes, I think, you know, either you had a Hi terr or your head, the head was so low, it was a ceiling. So it was just letting a little bit of amniotic fluid out, you know, here and there as you moved around.

Speaker 3 (28m 48s): Yeah. That sounds exactly like what was happening, which was different because then my first labor and my water broke just moments before the baby was born. And so, yeah, that was happening. And then around a couple hours later, around three 30, my midwives, there were two wanted to come and just check in and they came and listened to the baby and just checked in with me and just face to face and, and connected, which was really nice.

And she said that, and I had read this, that a lot of times with a second baby, that your body knows when its okay. And that often labor will pick up after the older sibling is in bed

Speaker 0 (29m 39s): 1000%. Like I have had three birds in a row of a second time moms and they kind of have these puttsy labors during the day. And I told all three of them the same thing, when you put blah, blah, baby to bed tonight, your labor is going to get kicked into high gear. And when we did their followup postpartums or like, I can't believe it like you are right. So let's just honor that right now we're mammals. And so I guess they birthed their babies at night when they are they're young, as they are tucked away and asleep and are safe and that they can both protect their older child and safely for the baby because we go into our, our primal mammalian selves.

So what a wonderful thing for your midwives to have a shared with you so that you weren't like discouraged? I shouldn't say It's, Heidi, I'm interrupting the Podcast to let you know about a free resource that I've created for [email protected]. All you have to do is go to BIRTH story.com and then click the tab that says the workbook. Once you put your email address in an entire resource library, of all of my secret sauces are available to you for free as my thank you for listening to the Birth Story Podcast and being part of this [email protected] under the workbook, you will find a birth plan template articles on circumcision, delayed cord clamping, flipping a breech, baby, packing your hospital bag, acupressure points, placenta, encapsulation, and so much more.

There are over 20 free articles ready for you to [email protected]. Now let's get back to this amazing episode.

Speaker 3 (31m 34s): Yeah. My husband came home from work. He came home a little bit early and the midwives left and they said, you know, that they would expect things to pick up a little bit later in the evening and just to be in touch at that point, I was still not having contractions or anything. So then we just kind of went on with your evening. I had made bean burgers for dinner that night and we realized that we didn't have any catch-up for our French fries that I've made. And so my husband left to go to the grocery store and while he was gone, I was finishing, preparing dinner and I felt something.

I felt something. And my daughter was here with me and I didn't feel like I needed to use the bathroom, but I just felt like I need to be in the bathroom. And I remember saying to her, like, let's go to the bathroom. And she came with me and while I was in there, they reminded me of that feeling that I had my first Birth that just kind of want it to be in like a small space. I just want it be in like my own little space. And then once I was in the bathroom, I felt another contraction com and I texted my husband.

I was like, Hey, you might want to come home. I think that I'm starting to have contractions is that this was around 6:30 PM. So about five and a half hours after at had that first leak of amniotic fluids.

Speaker 0 (33m 5s): Yeah. Date right on with data. And like I said, six to eight hour or so five and a half hours. Now I have a question for you. So Quincy's with you and you're in the bathroom and she had gone to your prenatal appointments with you and stuff. Or had you wanted her to be part of the birth process or were you hoping to like Birth while she was sleeping?

Speaker 3 (33m 26s): I had had a lot of conflictual feelings about this. I wanted to leave that open, but I had prepared her and the ways that I've felt like I could, we, I had shown her many videos of live births and we had, there is a book that I have bread with her about Homebirth and I have talked to her about it. And she has seen the video or videos of, you can find lots of videos of like peaceful birds.

And so I showed her videos and we talked about the different sounds that she might hear. So I did want to prepare her in case it felt right for her to be there. And I wanted also to know that if it wasn't right for me or her that, or anyone involved that we had other options as well.

Speaker 0 (34m 24s): Got it. You're such a good mom. Jodi well, like, I mean, really it's so I don't know, just hearing you to go into such detail about planning is so beautiful and there you are, and you're in the bathroom and you're with Quincy and you know, is she, what's she doing? He's just kind of

Speaker 3 (34m 44s): Sticking around, you know, we had talked about it and I was telling her, you know, I think our baby is telling me that she's ready to come out. And the difference in this Labour is that it picked up very, very quickly, you know, with my first labor, I felt like I had, you know, it was a nine hour labor from first from start to finish. But I feel like I had like four or five hours of warming up. And the second one it's as if I was at the sink, washing dishes and getting dinner ready.

And then I was in active labor. But after that first and second contraction, I was in active labor. And by the time my husband got home from the grocery store that was half naked in the bathroom, like telling me, he was like, how are you doing? And I was like, I'm having a baby. I can't really talk to you right now. It, it happened really quick. It was a very quick,

Speaker 0 (35m 44s): Right. So your husband at home and you're like, honey, I'm having a baby like right now. And when did you call the midwives again?

Speaker 3 (35m 54s): So at that point I had started before he got home from a grocery store. I had already started timing the contractions with a timer app and on my phone. And they were, by the time he got home from the grocery store in the, I mean in the grocery store is like 10 minutes away or less. He, they were longer than a minute long and to the three minutes apart and my, he had texted the midwife, Hey, I think that, you know, Jody is having some contractions and told her that things were moving along.

And she said to just be in touch in that she imagined things, as we mentioned with pickup after my daughter was in bed. And then she asked how long, how far apart, where the contractions, if you told her, and she said, okay, I'm on my way now. So, you know, as we talked about, I had debated, I had a part of me really wanted my daughter to be there for it. But when the time came, I needed to be, Oh, I needed to be alone. And my husband was amazing.

He, he was checking on me and he had taken Quincy out into our living room area to give her a dinner. His mother came over to play with her and they played for a little while. And then I just felt like I needed space. I just needed was. And I had read that women experiences that, you know, there are women that experienced this, that I've felt like I needed to be able to focus and not have a part of my mind wanting to care for her and know that she was okay.

And so my mother-in-law, they packed a bag and she went to spend the night with my mother-in-law, which I'm glad that we had left that open because I think that was the right decision for us. And it just kind of played itself out. I don't think that I could have committed to that ahead of time that I was glad that we had a range of options for US then the midwife came. And so she read around 7:00 PM and when she arrived, my daughter was so here and it was really special because they started getting the, the, the burning pool ready right away.

And she was able to be a part of that. And, Oh, she's, she was just so precious. You would, I was in the bathroom of our bedroom and she would come in every few minutes. If a little while. And just check on me and just say, mom, and you are doing great. And it was just so, and she helped the midwife blow up the pool and she felt like she was a part of it. And then she was able to leave and be with her name off.

And so that worked out. And so as they're getting into pool ready, I was listening to my hypno, babies affirmations and, and tracks and my headphones and just staying in the zone. And my first labor, I had a little rug that I started on and I felt the same here. I'm not sure what the connection there is for me, but I was standing on our little bass man. And that was just my little safe place, the, where I have stayed and I swayed and just move my body back and forth, back and forth.

As all of the commotion happened around me, as they were preparing and laying out of the tools on the bed. And then as soon as the water was ready, I got in the pool and that was just heaven. Just, just such relief to be in the water. And things progressed, just kept going, just kept going. I listened to him and the babies the whole time and similar to my first Birth, I just started pushing and it just happened.

And right before this grab the Forrest or to pushing my legs were shaking. And I remember being kind of surprise a little startled by that. And the midwife later told me that that was part of the transition and that she could tell I was giving, ready to push. And so when she saw my, my legs are shaking my head

Speaker 0 (40m 19s): That we tend to call it the labor shakes, not everyone experiences it, and definitely not on every Birth, but I would say most women experience the labor shakes at some point. And it is indicating that you're getting very close to the end

Speaker 3 (40m 40s): <inaudible>. And so I started pushing and I mean, it's just, I can thinking about it now. I can recall that feeling. It's just like nothing you've ever experienced before until you have. And that, that feeling it, once I started pushing, it felt productive and it's not like something was happening. I could feel her to move down when she was crowning. She, her head came out until about her ears and then she kind of stalled and I pushed and pushed and pushed.

And she was kind of, I don't know if that she was stuck or why really, it kind of saw their, but the midwives helped me change positions. So I went from laying on my back to up on my knees with one leg up. And then once I was able to change the position positions that really helped her continue to come. And then once her head was out, I kind of pause and rested for a few breaths and then kept pushing and kept pushing and kept pushing.

And then finally she came out and she didn't cry right away. And the midwife gave her, we waited just a minute. And then the midwife gave her a little breath. We waited. And then it was, and we talked about an afterword. The midwife said that it was still within the range of what it is. Okay. And normal. And they were checking her heart rate the whole time. She was still giving blood and oxygen from the placenta. But it wasn't like some of the things that you see where the baby comes out and just cries right away.

It took a minute for her to cry. And the midwife gave her a few little puffs of air. And then she, she cried. And the other midway, one of the other midwives that was their assets, her name. And we said, her name is joy. And she said, call your baby to you. And we said, joy, joy. And it was just, and then she tried. And that was just a really beautiful moment of just seeing this baby come to life in my arms right there.

And it was wonderful. It was beautiful. She was nine, nine pounds, 14 ounces. She is a big baby. And she was born at 9:06 PM. So the labor was like two and a half hours long. Wow.

Speaker 0 (43m 16s): Oh, well, I'm glad you had planned for a home birth because you are probably having a home birth either way then. Oh, what a wonderful, beautiful STORY. I mean, and I love her name. Like, I mean, how joyous to have a joy, you know, come in. And so you had said earlier, like I was so bad, like you knew, you're probably having like this big, big, healthy baby. And you said at 40 weeks and five days

Speaker 3 (43m 49s): That's right. Yeah.

Speaker 0 (43m 52s): So they're, you are just basking and this beautiful moment. And for anyone listening or going to take a pause and just end Jody's BIRTH STORY right there. If you've loved it, then you can just stop here or you can keep listening. We just want to let you know, there's a trigger warning. Jody is about to share with us what happened after that moment. It could be a little hard to hear, and it's very rare.

And so as a Podcast that supporting you to prepare for the Birth that you want, no matter what it looks, this probably isn't going to happen to you, but just in case we want to give you some practical tools too. So I'm going to let Jodi go on and continue the rest of your story.

Speaker 3 (44m 46s): Thank you. So I was still in the pool and joy was doing great, and we were waiting and keeping an eye out for the placenta to come. And I was not having any contractions afterwards to, to help the placenta comma wasn't feeling anything. Then the midwives did as after we waited for a little while, they did give me a shot of Pitocin to help the placenta com.

And as we were, we continued to wait. They wanted me to move to the bed. So I passed a joy to my husband and I moved to the bed to help them get a better look and, and to weight for the placenta. And what we later learned was that the placenta, it was a condition called placenta accreta, where the placenta had adhered to the uterine wall and was having a difficult time releasing.

And so the midwife did try to manually remove the placenta. And then after a little while, there was some hemorrhaging and we decided to transfer to the hospital where they helped with a DNC to remove the placenta and help us manage the hemorrhaging.

Speaker 0 (46m 12s): I just want to take a minute right there and define placenta accreta. It's a serious pregnancy condition. And it occurs, like you said, when the placenta actually grows. So as the placenta is growing, it grows too deeply into the uterine wall. So it's not actually something that happens like at childbirth for, because of childbirth. It's something that's been, it's a condition that's been developing, but that we don't know about until you are trying to deliver your placenta. And it's so deeply grown into the uterine wall, that it doesn't detach from the uterine wall.

And so this is the condition that Jodi is talking about. Placenta accreta occurs only in 0.2% of all pregnancies, but if someone has experienced a placenta accreta with a previous pregnancy, they are at a higher risk for developing the condition in a subsequent pregnancy in a scenario and section is often recommended. So I just want to leave that if this story is unsettling, you it's 0.2% of all pregnancies only.

Speaker 3 (47m 28s): And you know, the, the doctors that I work with at the hospital, or assured me that it would have happened had I had a home birth or a hospital birth, you know, as you are mentioning it, wasn't related to the home birth at all. And the midwives were very professional and competent. The midwives were very competent in their work, and there came a moment. And to be honest, I, at first, I didn't really want to transfer to the hospital. There did come a time where they said, you know what, it's better if we do that.

And I really appreciate their professionalism in that moment, that really saved my life and, and protected me and my family and our baby. And Oh, one of the midwives stayed at home with the baby until my husband was able to get back home. And so she was able to stay safely at home.

Speaker 0 (48m 24s): Oh no. Wow. So joy was able to not transfer with you.

Speaker 3 (48m 29s): She did not transfer. Right? And so she was never admitted into the hospital. And amazingly this, one of the midwives contacted someone that she knew who was able to bring donor milk to joy at midnight on the night that she was born and the mother. And I didn't realize this until like a couple of days after that, but this angel mom who showed up at our home when I was not here, she nursed joy for the first time and then gave us her milk to add to that my husband spoonfed her until I was able to be reunited with her like 24 hours later.

Speaker 0 (49m 13s): So how long, or are you in the hospital

Speaker 3 (49m 16s): For him? It was three days and two nights.

Speaker 0 (49m 19s): Yeah. And then I had one more question. How long were you at home after delivery until you were in the hospital?

Speaker 3 (49m 30s): About an an hour after joy was born when we decided to go ahead and transfer.

Speaker 0 (49m 39s): Okay. And it was about one hour. Okay. The reason that I asked that is that typically with an all natural child birth, the placenta releases anywhere from right away to 30 minutes, sometimes it can take much longer than that, but typically when it goes around that hour or more, we start thinking that there might have been some growth into the, into the uterine wall. So 24 hours later, you are reunited with joy.

I wanted to know a little bit more about, like I had just asked you how long till you transferred. How did the transfer go?

Speaker 3 (50m 18s): My midwife came with me. She transferred with me and my husband and the midwife came with me and she stayed with me the whole time. There were two midwives. One of them stayed home in my home with the baby while the other midwife. And my husband came to the hospital with me. And then once we were clear on the care that I would receive in the hospital, my husband left and came back to our home to be with the baby. And, you know, the whole time that through, through the process of the transfer and while being at the hospital, she stayed with me the whole time that I felt so cared for.

So supported. And I just could not, I could never find it in my heart to think I could never find the words in my heart. Thank her for being by me during those moments. And she stayed with me until I think it was like four o'clock the next morning in the morning when my parents arrived at the hospital to be with me. So she'd stay with me all through the night.

And then when my parents arrived, she left and then she came back the next day and, and then the next day, and then the next day. And so once I was back at my house, she, she came and checked on us here to, and so she was just incredibly supportive and loving and nurturing, and I felt very protected. And I felt like she was a strong voice for me at the hospital. And I just, I owe her everything for those moments.

Speaker 0 (52m 2s): I love it. What an honor for your beautiful midwife. Hopefully we can share this episode with her and just know how much she is loved and appreciated and wanted, and this community and offering Homebirth for women. So I love it. Thank you for sharing both of your stories. Homebirth in Columbia, South America and the previous episode, and then Homebirth in the United States. So Jodi, I know that you mentioned the milk catchers were your favorite baby product, not in the last episode, but now I'm going to pressure you again for a second favorite baby product for a while.

Speaker 3 (52m 41s): So for me, with both of my pregnancies, I had a wonderful night gowns too, where that had buttons up to the front. And so I was able to nurse in bed and, you know, I'm not someone who really ever wear nightgowns before I had babies, but something about having a cozy night gown that made me feel comfortable and also allow me to nurse the baby easily. It was just a special feeling of like nesting in, in those first days.

So a nightgown that buttons in the front.

Speaker 0 (53m 15s): Okay, well that sounds like so cozy and so sensory to, and I'm going to make you find the link. So that weekend linked to the specific night gowns that you recommend along with the milk catchers in the show notes for both the episodes. Again, if you love Jodi, please listen to both episodes. Like the previous one where we talked about Homebirth in Columbia, South America. And then thank you for tuning in to this one also about this beautiful Homebirth and then Jodi are you on social media?

Like where can people connect with you if they want to talk to you about Homebirth or BIRTH being in another country? Yes. I love talking about how to Homebirth and natural birth and my Instagram is Jodi Piscatelli eight. You need to spell that please. Okay. J O D I P I S C I T E L L I S N the number eight.

All right. Jodi Piscatelli eight. I hope that some people reach out to you. Thank you for being one of the educators today on the show to teach us all about like autonomous birding and beautiful Homebirth and I've just really enjoyed getting to know you. So thank you so much for this platform, the opportunity to tell these stories, and they are so special to me.

Speaker 2 (54m 45s): Thank you for listening to BIRTH STORY. My goal is you'll 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.