Birth Story: Home Birth at 43+1 Weeks with Stephanie Bratton
Show Notes:
[1:10] Our reviewer of the week, informed.dad, says “Fantastic podcast! The information tips, recommendations, and stories really enable me to support my wife from a place of understanding and confidence. Excited to dive into more as we move into our third trimester. Recommend this highly so more men can support and engage in birthing discussion from an informed place. Cheers!”
I LOVE THIS! If I could have more dads join me on the podcast, I would absolutely love to hear from you! If you are a Dad listening, and you want to share some nuggets of knowledge that helped you support your birth partner, let me know! 💜
Whether you go right up to your guess date or pass it, having that number in your head can really throw you for a loop! But at the end of the day, your body and your baby know when the time is right. So trust that your body knows what it's doing. This week, Stephanie Bratton shares her home birth story after going 43+1 weeks with her sweet babe.
[2:16] We have another birth story on the podcast this week! Stephanie Bratton is from rural Missouri and had her first baby in March of 2022. 🌽
[2:49] Stephanie walks us through her pregnancy. The first trimester was mild nausea, tender breasts, and food aversions. Other than that, it was smooth sailing. She started out with an OB at a hospital, but after the first few appointments, she realized it was not the route she wanted to go. Her provider told her the due date was January 29th, but after the ultrasound, they were told the due date was February 6th. At the next appointment, they tried to keep the due date at January 29th. Later, she got in touch with a midwife, and after speaking for two hours, she knew that she wanted her in her birth space. 🤩
[6:26] I ask what her husband’s take was on all of this. Her husband was on board with switching providers. As an Enneagram 6, he had a lot of anxiety surrounding birth and his role. She and her husband sat down once a week to work through the birth course together. Stephanie would also have him listen to My Essential Birth podcast episodes whenever she could. He would often make sure she had enough protein, drank her water, and did her exercises. 🧘🏻♀️
[8:38] Stephanie tried to do some meditations and listened to birth affirmations. They bought the essential oils for relaxation. She did the three exercises, and her husband would help her into the squats. She did the pelvic tilts and forward leaning inversions as well. 💆🏻♀️
[10:07] Once she got to 36-37 weeks, she started drinking the red raspberry leaf tea, eating dates, and the miles circuit. She started ramping up once her due date passed. According to the providers, she was pregnant for 43 weeks +1. At her 43 week appointment, her midwife told her that her body knew what it was doing. She had two NSTs and everything was fine. Her mother went to 44 weeks with her sister so she knew it “ran in the family” to have babies later. Her midwife did a membrane sweep and after that she started cramping. 🗓️
[15:23] Stephanie walks us through her labor. She woke up due to some cramping but couldn’t get comfortable. Her contractions would come 15-20 minutes apart. She waited until they started getting more intense before she woke her husband up. He tried supporting her through the contractions and called the midwife. She arrived around 5:45 AM. The only position that felt good to Stephanie was standing and swaying her hips. She tried a few different positions, but she didn’t like any of them. She sat on the toilet for a while and vomited a few times. Her midwife said she was in transition and moved her to the birth pool. The hardest part to her was pushing because she was trying to figure out her breathing and different positions. Clary sage in front of her nose brought her contractions back on after she started to stall. 🌿
[20:30] She got out of the pool and laid down on the bed on her back. Her mom and midwife pushed her knees up towards her head and that seemed to help her baby work down her pelvis. After ten minutes, she bore down and the baby basically shot out and the midwife barely caught him! 😅
[21:38] She held her baby on her chest and pushed out the placenta. She was able to soak it all in. Her midwife helped with breastfeeding since her son was having trouble breastfeeding. The issues with breastfeeding were due to a lip and tongue tie. Her husband got some nipple shields to try to help with her latching. By the time they saw the pediatrician four days later, the baby had lost 12% of his body weight because he wasn’t able to eat. She was encouraged to buy formula to get his calories up, and she was disappointed that he wasn’t able to breastfeed, but his tongue and lip tie prevented him from getting what he needed. They started seeing a chiropractor and craniosacral specialist. He had two tongue revisions by the time he was five months old. 🍼
[25:34] If you could give any advice, what would you give? Stephanie recommends the podcast and birth course to her friends. Trust your body and trust your baby to know when the time is right. When baby is ready, it will happen! If you could give any advice to dads, what would you give? Take the birth course seriously. It will give you purpose and you’ll know what to do when your baby comes into the world. 🥰
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