My best friend since college, Xaviera {Ha-Vee-Era} recently had a baby and while we were all out to dinner she started talking to me about her delivery. I thought I knew this girl inside and out {not literally}, but when I heard her entire story I was seriously like…wait….you did what? No seriously, huh??? {insert total puzzled perplexed confused look with eyeballs quite possibly bulging}. And then I immediately knew she had to write it down for me. Here’s her story!
I did it Myyyyyyyyy Waaaaaay (que the Frank Sinatra song)
EVERYONE will think one thing or another of what I did during my pregnancy or delivery or after the delivery is weird. But ultimately, it was mine, and I did it my way. And I. LOVED. IT.
I’m from a small town outside San Antonio, so I grew up mostly in and out of the city. Although I’ve lived in Austin for 14 years now, San Antonio is still my home. My sister’s best friend and now a close friend of mine Dr. Karen Hasty has a wonderful practice in San Antonio, and since she was with me for a while before we got pregnant I decided she would be my doctor for the long haul. I’m so glad I did. She treated me like a “princess” as she would say, and no time of day or night was off limits for a text or call. A first pregnancy, as you may know, can be scary and full of questions…poor Karen put up with texts like – ummmm, my stomach feels weird and I feel like I have gas, is everything okay with the baby? Karen’s response – you have gas, go to sleep, trust your doctor. She was worth driving to San Antonio for every single appointment even when it came down to the last 2 months of weekly visits. Yes, we also delivered in San Antonio and it all worked out so I didn’t give birth on the side of I-35. Most women would look at me horrified trying to hide their true feelings when I’d tell them I’m delivering an hour away. However, Karen was just that worth it!! I ended up having preeclampsia so I was induced and all was under control so I didn’t have to be in labor while on the long drive from Austin to San Antonio. When it came time to deliver, Karen got her tushy out of bed at 2am, even though she wasn’t on call, and came in just to perform my c-section and since it was a little dramatic for us, I was so happy to have her steady hand at the ready and she will always be special to our family. Anyhow, that’s thing one I did my way – deliver in San Antonio and I’d do it again.
Get a Doula!
Since I didn’t want to go to the birth classes at the hospital and we ended us missing a lot of them, we decided it was best if we had someone in the room on our team who knew what to expect and what to do. We wanted to have a doula there by our side to walk us through the pre-delivery needs such as: prepare our birth plan, meet with us before the birth to talk about what could happen, go to doctor appointments with us, and prompt quality questions. Veronica (our doula) was a rockstar, she came to San Antonio to help us deliver. She was there for the whole thing and was a great addition to our delivery team. It just made sense to have a birth assistant. I have an assist at work, my husband and I assist each other at home, why wouldn’t I get someone to help me at the most intense time in my life!! While I was in severe pain, she helped me focus, breathe and helped get me to 6cm without an epidural. My desire was to go as long as I could past 4cm without any medication. Her strength, pain relief techniques, pep talks, and strong massaging hands helped me through it. Unfortunately, I developed a severe infection and was whisked off to have a quick c-section so I didn’t have the vaginal birth I had planned. But she was there with me after the birth to help the baby latch and breastfeed. She also came to the house a couple times after Gibson came home to do light cleaning, chat, check on our breastfeeding progress, and make TACOS!! I highly recommend a doula. I would certainly do it for our 2nd.
Placenta Encapsulation!
Our doula recommended we encapsulate my placenta. At first I was hesitant because I didn’t know how it worked or how to get it done. But Veronica (doula) took the lead and found a great resource in San Antonio. The service picks up your placenta at the hospital then gets it back to you in vitamin/pill form the very next day. The placenta vitamins promote breast milk production, help with the regulation of hormones, and help with post-partum depression. You take them 3 times a day for the first two weeks. I loved them. I feel that our great success of health after birth and my quick recovery and weight loss had a lot to do with the placenta vitamins. Sure, you are in a way “eating” your own placenta…but it supports life for 9 months and is SO full of life giving vitamins and nutrients. I want some of that too!! If I could, I’d rub it on my face to get rid of wrinkles, KIDDING… kinda….
Placenta Art & Umbilical Cord Ornament!
Now, this is where I’ll admit it gets a little strange. At the time I thought having placenta art was beautiful (see pictures). And the dried umbilical cord shaped as a heart that “could be hung on our Christmas Tree” as the woman who made our placenta vitamins suggested was really neat. I was still reeling from giving birth a couple hours before and full of medication, so forgive me for thinking it was an amazing addition to the package we purchased with the vitamins. NOW I’m not quite sure what to do with it. It freaks me out a little to look at the placenta art and ornament (or whatever it is). I feel bad throwing it away, but can’t keep it in Gibson’s baby book so in 30 years it freaks him out. I’m still undecided on what to do with this aspect of it. All in all, I’d for sure encapsulate my placenta again, but I would skip the placenta art and ornament.
Lastly, we ended up banking Gibson’s cord blood. Our doctor said it’s not really necessary unless you or your family have a history of certain diseases, one of them being Type 1diabetes. Our family unfortunately suffers with this disease so I decided to move forward with the banking. We ended up going with CBR – Cord Blood Registry. My mother in law is a nurse and researched ALL the options. She went with CBR mostly due to their ability to separate plasma and blood. She also wanted somewhere that stored the blood in a location that had less natural disasters. I thought that was smart since you can’t necessarily “backup” your cord blood. If a hurricane hit or an earthquake happened and the facility was destroyed, your cord blood would be gone. It is irreplaceable (unless you have another baby). I love that we have this, however since this blood can be used for Gibson, me, Chris, or any future children. I probably won’t do it again due to the high cost and yearly fee that will go on into perpetuity.
In Summary, the San Antonio Spurs are awesome and I’m glad Gibson’s birth certificate says he was born there. Eating your placenta in pill form is great, hanging it on your wall or Christmas Tree…not so much. Banking cord blood is smart if you have the need, but it’s not necessary and you only need to do it once.
That’s my weird, my way birth story.
Now talk amongst yourselves while I cuddle my little bundle.
