What You Didn't Expect in Fertility, Pregnancy & Birth: Real Stories & Expert Insights

In today's episode we hear part 2 (of 3) of Amy's story--she talks about her induction and her experience becoming the parent of a baby with a significant heart condition, the operation that saved his life, and tips for parents who might find themselves the new minders of a fetus with a congenital heart defect. 

I also include the insights of a doctor who performs fetal cardiac ultrasound to understand that technology better. 

And the last thing I'll add in the interest of transparency, is that like Amy, my partner and I had a child with a significant congenital heart defect that required emergency surgery when she was born, so a lot of what she says really resonates with my experience. 

We pick up where we left off last week. Amy is learning about her future son's congenital heart defect from her doctor.

In today's episode I speak with a woman who talks about her experience:
* growing her family as part of a same sex couple
* her experience with miscarriage and how that changed the way she approached her next pregnancy
* issues with breastfeeding when her supply didn't match her newborn's demand
* problems with thawed and refrozen sperm
* and IUI surprise (not common for same sex couples)  

 What follows is the first part or our conversation., 

This week we hear the rest of Jelena's story:

* How she manages a postpartum period marked by the mental and emotional struggles of her partner and a new baby. 

* Her use of Montessori Parenting

We pick up where we left off last week. Jelena was sharing that her partner was really impacted by the birth of the child and how he came to parenting with things that might have increased his risk for developing something like postpartum depression as well. 

In today's episode I speak with a woman who enjoyed a completely healthy pregnancy...until she didn't-- when cholestasis shows up.

 Cholestasis of pregnancy, I learned this week, is an issue with the liver that sometimes arrives in the second or third trimester.

We hear about how it's managed outside the hospital, and some of the surprises that awaited her in the postpartum. 

What follows is the first part of our conversation.

Today I finish my conversation with Dr. Brandy Cummings, who has an advanced degree in clinical nutrition. 

We talk about 
*all the challenges of her first birth in the hospital in contrast to her home birth and what it taught her

*how both experiences led her to her mission to change the standard of care for birthing people, including some specific ideas about eating in postpartum.

We pick up where we left off last week. Brandy is in the hospital, in the pushing phase of labor with her first child.

In today's episode I interview a woman who was in graduate school studying nutrition during her first sustained pregnancy; she experiences a lot of lapses in care, both for the miscarriage that precedes her first pregnancy, for the first trimester, and more during her first labor; but she learns a great deal about herself and the process.

She shares:
* What she thinks first trimester care should look like
*The concept of "Trimester Zero" and the panatal period
* What she wishes she'd done differently

You Can find Brandy's company, Pivotal Origins, here
Evidence Based Reasons for Never Ending Symptoms

Today I finish my conversation with Charlotte. We talk about her next two births, one which involved an issue with the placenta, the second of which was a precipitous labor--contractions and birth within an hour--and how those experiences taught her to accept the help on offer from her community.

In this episode my guest talks about a host of challenges she managed during her pregnancy including PCOS, miscarriage, an unexpected appendicitis that leads to a preterm birth. 

Through it all, she perseveres, learning something from each challenge:
* the benefits of preparation
* the benefits of hospital care
* the limits of her own control over pregnancy

 and takes these ideas into her reproductive future.
 I also include the insights of a fantastic OB. What follows is the first part of our conversation.

Today's guest is a well known author who wrote a book called Eleven Hours which follows the labor experience of a pregnant woman and her nurse.

It's beautifully written and we discuss the author's own experience and how that did and did not impact her approach to the beautiful novel she wrote.

One thing to note: we reference the old name of the podcast, War Stories from the Womb a few times..if you didn't know the show by that name, that's what we are talking about.

Find Pamela Erens here: https://www.pamelaerens.com/
Eleven Hours

Last week Jennifer talked about the different emotions she experienced when she unexpectedly got pregnant.

That crowd of differing emotions follows her through the birth and into postpartum.

 Her experience is one that many of us can relate to and giving voice to all the different aspects of the sometimes wonderful/sometimes painful or boring aspects of the transition from being an individual to someone's mother is powerful.

We pick up where we left off last week, Jennifer has given birth after 5 hours of pushing and is on her way to a surgical suite for a post delivery surgery.

Perineal Tears

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21212-vaginal-tears-during-childbirth

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/labor-and-delivery/in-depth/vaginal-tears/art-20546855

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559068/

You can Find Jennifer here: https://jennifererwincoaching.com/