Kayla shares her story on this episode of the podcast.  The story begins with her and her husband Jordan conceiving after about 5 months of trying.  The pregnancy went generally well but she struggled with nausea and vomiting and ended up being diagnosed with Gestational Hypertension early on in the pregnancy.  Although some care providers had talked about induction very early on, she was able to avoid it until the very end of her pregnancy.  They did end up inducing Kayla around her due date and she goes into detail about the lengthy process which ultimately ended in a c-section and her needing to be fully put under general anesthesia.  She then shares the next intense part of the story involving her son having breathing issues and needing to be flown to a NICU in another city with her husband while she had to stay behind.  

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Caitlyn from Queensland, Australia shares the pregnancy and birth story of her daughter Sunny.  Once Caitlyn and her husband started trying, she was able to get pregnant right away.  After a generally good first trimester, she went on to find out she had gestational diabetes in the second trimester.  At around 28 weeks, something felt wrong and Caitlyn talks about how and why she required immediate assessment and ultimately needed to be airlifted to another location and put on bedrest for several weeks.  When she made it to almost 38 weeks, she started having some pain and after discovering her amniotic fluid was low, she was induced and shares how that process went for her.  She also talks about her experience with baby blues in the very early days and the development of Postpartum Anxiety later on postpartum.

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Stefanie Antunes from Toronto, ON joins me on this episode of Moony Birth Stories to share her three birth stories.  When she unexpectedly got pregnant with her first baby, she didn't know much about birth and felt generally quite fearless and confident.  The pregnancy went well and though her birth would have been considered straight-forward from a medical perspective, there were many things about it that ended up leaving a bad taste in her mouth.  It was that experience that ultimately ignited her passion for birth support and started her down a new path.  Stefanie goes on to share her second and third birth stories and talks about how she shifted the power back into her possession.  She also shares helpful and encouraging wisdom she's gained in over 20 years of birth work.

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This extra episode of Moony Birth Stories is definitely different from the usual content and could be consider a follow-up to my first birth story from Season 1, Episode 3.  I had honestly mentally blocked this experience out for quite a while and didn't even think of it when I originally shared my story, which is wild to me since it was quite an intense period in my life.  It's the story of my experience with a copper IUD and the rare extreme reaction I had to it.  Unfortunately, it took several months and a lot of pain to determine the issue and heal it.

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Julia joins me on this episode from North Smithfield, Rhode Island to share her two birth stories.  She and her husband got pregnant with their first child after about 5-6 months of trying.  Julia's pregnancy wasn't too bad for her but she did struggle with some emotions during her 2nd trimester that caused her to question if she wanted to be a mother.  This did passed after she found out the sex of the baby and got away for a little bit.  She planned a hospital birth and was surprised when she ended up having gestational hypertension around 36 weeks and needed an early induction.  After a lengthy process and three hours of pushing, her baby arrived.  Julia then talks about some issues her daughter was having with regulating her breathing and the NICU stay that resulted. 

Julia's second pregnancy happened when her first baby was 11 months old and she unfortunately miscarried early on.  6 months later, they began trying and got pregnant right away.  This pregnancy was much more difficult than her first and Julia struggled quite a bit.  She planned for an unmedicated hospital birth and again ended up with pretty extreme hypertension late in pregnancy.  This time, her body was already quite ready to have the baby and with the assistance of having her water broken, things began to progress quickly.  Julia talks about how her second baby arrived and the issues she experienced immediately postpartum that resulted in her needing a D&C.

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Jesslyn from Edmonton, AB shares her three pregnancy and birth stories on this episode of Moony Birth Stories.  Her first pregnancy came as a surprise to her and her boyfriend (now husband) but they welcomed it with excitement.  Jesslyn was very excited to become a mother and looked forward to having her baby, fearlessly.  Under the care of an OBGYN, she delivered her first baby in hospital with an epidural and without complication.  It wasn't until 8 years later that Jesslyn and her husband decided to have a second child.  By this time, Jesslyn was training to be a full spectrum doula and had a lot more knowledge surrounding birth and her options.  This time she went with midwifery care and planned a home water birth which turned out to be just as she'd hoped for.  She talks about some bleeding issues immediately after this birth due to some retained placenta and how the midwives were able to manage this at home.  A year later, Jesslyn got pregnant with their third child and while this pregnancy was much more difficult, she looked forward to having another homebirth under the care of the same midwife that had supported her with her second.  Due to some unpredictable circumstances in the day or two after her due date, Jesslyn ended up deciding to transfer to a hospital birth and required an induction.  Things went smoothly and though she experienced a lot of bleeding again, it was managed well and postpartum went well.

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On this episode of Moony Birth Stories, we here the two pregnancy and birth stories from Janelle of Humboldt, SK.  Janelle sadly suffered a miscarriage at 11 weeks with her first pregnancy.  After processing that, she was able to get pregnant again and went on to have a really great pregnancy.  She LOVED being pregnant.  She wasn't nervous about birth was did have fears regarding cesarean sections.  Thankfully, her fears were not made reality and she was able to have an unmedicated birth in hospital after she went into labour quite early.  When Janelle's first child was around a year old, she got pregnant with her second and aside from a bit more nausea early on, it was another great pregnancy.  She shares the detail of another unmedicated birth at 39 weeks and the joys of having her birth photographer, Bri Coop of Driftwood & Co Photography, there.

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Ashlyn from Grandora, SK joins me on this episode of Moony Birth Stories to share the pregnancy and birth stories of her three children.  Ashlyn and her husband were fortunate to conceive easily for all three of their pregnancies.  Ashlyn's  first pregnancy was relatively easy on her and she planned to have a hospital birth since they live on an acreage.  Later in this pregnancy, it was discovered that the baby was breech and folded in half.  Ashlyn planned to try to deliver the baby vaginally but at the end of the pregnancy, the baby was measuring quite large and Ashlyn didn't have enough fluid remaining so an urgent c-section was recommended.  After a great recovery and smooth postpartum, time marched on and they got pregnant with their second.  This pregnancy was a little more challenging than the first and Ashlyn wanted to try for a VBAC.  She explains why that didn't happen a how her second, more planned, c-section went.  Ashlyn's third pregnancy was the most difficult of all and though she wanted to attempt a VBAC again, it didn't work out that way.  This c-section went well but her baby did end up needing to be in NICU for a period of time. 

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On this episode, Nat Rolland, owner of Altered Senses joins me all the way from Queensland, Australia to share her journey to getting pregnant and her hospital water birth.  Nat didn't always want children until she found out she may not be able to have them and her perspective and feelings about it changed.  Though she was able to get pregnant quite quickly, she sadly suffered a miscarriage and this was the beginning of a very unfortunate series of losses.  She eventually saw an infertility  specialist who offered some very unique treatments including a poppy seed oil flush, a particular immune protocol, and a natural killer cell biopsy, among other things.  She explains the various steps taken and how she ultimately was able to conceive their son Onyx and have a successful pregnancy.  She then shares her birth experience and what it was like to not have her husband there since he works away and how they balance life as a FIFO (fly-in, fly-out) family.

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Anais from Pembroke, ON shares the stories of her two pregnancies and homebirths on this episode.  

Anais got pregnant for the first time after about 7 months of trying and enjoyed her pregnancy.  When she was a week overdue, she started worrying about needing an induction and tried various things to get labour started.  Luckily, labour ended up starting on it's own and she was able to have the homebirth she'd hoped for.  She talks about her feeding difficulties as a result of her baby having severe lip and tongue ties, as well as her challenges with the physical healing. 

Anais got pregnant for the second time quite quickly.  She felt more overwhelmed than expected and unsure of the timing but this feeling did pass.  The pregnancy was more challenging this time with much worse nausea/morning sickness.  She decided she wanted to have another homebirth but did feel a bit nervous.  She shares how labour started and how her second homebirth went and also opens up about experiencing baby blues postpartum. 

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