Ep 47//"My Story is my own": The 2HBAC Birth Story of Elyse Marie
Welcome back to another episode of The Empowered Birth Podcast!
Season 2!
Today I’m going to be sharing the birth story of Elyse Marie
I had a I’m Pregnant Episode where I shared my dreams. Go back and listen.
This show is at nearly 10 k downloads! Share with someone who wants to feel empowered during her pregnancy, birth and postpartum time. We’re in this together! Sisterhood.
I fixed the birth planning site. Sorry to those who had trouble signing up! It’s open and working now! bit.ly/birthprepsession sign up for a 60 minute session to unpack fears and come up with a plan on how to have a blissful birth!
5 weeks postpartum and I feel ready to share
Postpartum has been fulfilling and challenging but overall amazing
Due Date 31st- gush of blood after nap. Scared, called attendant, tapped into intuition
2 Days of contractions from 1-4a. Hard, sharp, deceiving.
Jan 2nd woke up again at 1am, 2a started timing every 5 min. Woke up husband 4a. Called midwife shortly after. I thought it would be fast.
She arrived near 5a and checked baby’s heart. Everything looked good. I would alternate between strong and weak contractions. Back pressure felts great. My support team/sisters/friend all arrive around 6a.
Feelings when they arrived… hostess mode, pressure to perform, go fast.
Felt my body move and squat into positions to relieve pressure. I felt instinctual but like i was still putting this unneeded pressure on myself to go fast. It was my third baby, “it should be over by now”
Around 7a I got in bed to rest. Not so much physically but I wanted to surround myself with my blankets. I wanted to feel comforted. I was emotionally upset that it wasn’t going how i pictured it.
Internal Struggled- I was in my head, assessing, annoyed, discouraged.
Shower is happy place. I went in there alone, shut the door and spent a half hour trying to figure out why i was frustrated, not having fun. I knew i was asking questions noone could answer.
After shower my birth attendant, doula, husband do some body work with me. Sidelying release, rebozo, lift and tuck. I was grumpy. I crawled back into bed, tears in my eyes I told my husband I was done and just was going to stay in bed the rest of the day and not have a baby.
11a midwife came in asked 2 questions. 1. Is there too many people here. 2. Are you too much in your head? Cried. They left
Ate lunch, watched movie. During this time husband would pause movie and read me bible verses after each contraction. I decided to not ask any more questions that nobody could answer. 3p thought about calling chiro. Got adjusted, boom major shift. Called the team back around 4:45p. I was moaning “God, Jesus” I was shaking feeling like i was in transition when midwife walked back in the door. I choose not to think of it too much and just surrender. It didn’t matter if it was or it wasn’t transition. It was going to be what ever it was and i was going to have a baby.
Labored on toilet for a while and i started to feel a pinchy pain near my c-section scar. I felt assessing mode happen, turned it off. Followed intuition, everything was fine.
645 my midwife had me to position change to see if it would help the pinching. R, L, F, B 3 contractions each. It helped a bit but it was still noticeable.
Moved to birth stool and did lift and tuck. It felt better when i was leaning back. I couldn’t figure it out but i was starting to feel defeated. Midwife asked if i was open to an exam to see if we could find the source of this pinching. I thought about it, worried i would feel like i failed if i got the exam. I agreed.
Bulging bag, cervical lip. Talked to the lip, “melt away” held for 5 contractions. Water broke.
8:49 “rawr” baby fell threw pelvis, both hands on perineum, felt stretch, totally in control. Ease out baby
5 min later full crown, “you can push if you want” baby slipped right out.
Birth pause, I did it!
Bleeding, moved to bed. Total baby bliss. Placenta born, i did it!
Placenta in mouth, tinctures given. Felt great, energetic, birth high, snuggled with girls in bed. Oldest saw birth, youngest came right after
Lessons learned:
My story is my own. Don’t compare
Surrender. Visualize.
Find Joy
Empowered Birth choices won’t leave you with regret. (ie. cervical check)
I am so thankful for my team for supporting myself and my husband so we could be free to do what we needed to do to have Elyse. I find myself so in love with my husband after we have a baby. Oxytocin really is an amazing thing. I bond so strongly with my babies and my husband. It’s beautiful. You can have this too! Each labor is a learning experience. Each one I have and each one I attend I take away new things about birth. I had to do a lot of inner work, a lot of educating and a lot of rewiring of my brain to get to the place where I could look at birth as a wonderful experience. I want this for you too! If you’ve birthed before and you need to share your story with someone who is genuinely interested I’m your girl. If you have some fears about birth that you’d like to unpack, i’m here. If you’re looking for some practical ways to prepare your emotions and your body for birth, talk to me! The sisterhood you need is waiting for you. First join the free facebook group at facebook.com/groups/empoweredmamastribe and next go to bit.ly/birthprepsession and schedule a 60 minute birth planning session with me. This session is totally tailored to your needs. You don’t have to go into birth fearful and alone. You have options, you have an innate ability, let me help you access it!
Thanks so much for listening! See you nexttime for another episode of TEBP.