Our best friend, McKenna Seymour, joins us to share her inspiring and powerful birth story of her first born, Ryder Seymour. She gets super honest about what giving birth naturally feels like and everything she experienced. Get excited, because she leaves no detail out. McKenna also talks about how getting pregnant completely shifted her mindset and actually relieved the severe anxiety she had been struggling with.

Full show notes: www.realgirlseries.com/episode7

Topics We Discuss:

• Ryder’s birth story
• Natural birth
• Post partum
• Anxiety

In the Episode We Learn:

• McKenna’s take on being adopted.
• How her mindset changed and her anxiety subsided after she got pregnant.
• How her and her husband were unintentionally making their bodies more fertile.
• The book McKenna read to prepare her for her natural childbirth: Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth (link in resources).
• How she coped with contractions - thinking of them as waves instead of pain.
• Her cravings during pregnancy.
• Her water broke 2 weeks early.
• She labored at home for 5 hours.
• She told her nurse that she didn’t want an epidural right when she got to the hospital and her nurse completely supported and respected that wish.
• She didn’t have a Doula, but would want one for her next pregnancy.
• The different techniques she used during her contractions - laying on her left side.
  
• How she almost gave into getting the epidural, but her nurse was amazing and empowered her to keep going.
• Pushing felt like a relief.
• What happens after you give childbirth (pushing out the placenta and blood clots).
• The challenges of breastfeeding for the first time.
• About what her experience was like being at home alone after giving birth.
• How giving birth naturally gave her a new perspective on how strong the female body is.

Resources: 

• Connect with McKenna on Instagram @mckenna_kathleen
• Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth
• www.YourZenMama.com blog and instagram (@yourzenmama) with Teresa Palmer (@teresapalmer) and Sarah Wright Olsen (@swrightolsen)