This week I’m joined by my friend Katie, who thought she wanted a large family until she had a bumpy start to motherhood with her first. Her experiences include a long, difficult labor that resulted in a 3rd degree tear that took almost a year to recover from, and a baby who struggled to breastfeed and therefore struggled to sleep. Luckily, her second brought a better delivery and postpartum experience because of what she learned from her first. 

Through all of this, Katie learned how to trust her own instincts and let go of advice that simply wasn’t helpful. If you’re trying to find your voice and learn to laugh at your mistakes, Katie’s episode is the one for you! 

Full episode transcript available at thelaborline.com/episodes

Chapters:

00:00 - Meet Katie 

07:29 - 1st Pregnancy: 6 Months of Trying + Weight Gain Comments 

13:57 - 1st Labor: Broken Water, Lack of Sleep, & Almost 3 Hours of Pushing

18:49 - 1st Postpartum: 3rd Degree Tear, Breastfeeding Struggles, & Co-Sleeping 

31:56 - 2nd Pregnancy: Positive Pregnancy + Mild Gender Disappointment 

38:37 - 2nd Labor: Fainting Husband, Quick Labor, Out in 3 Pushes 

41:58 - 2nd Postpartum: Learning from Last Time + Formula Supplementation 

48:40 - To My Pre-Mom Self…