74. Rachel's VBAC Birth Story: VBA2C at a Birthing Center

When my sister Rachel set out on her mission for a Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC), the stakes were incredibly high. With the echoes of past cesareans in the back of her mind, she embarked on a journey that would challenge her emotionally, physically, and spiritually—a story she bravely shares with us, imparting wisdom and strength that reaches beyond the delivery room.

Throughout the episode, Rachel's candid retelling of her labor paints a picture filled with anticipation, pain management strategies, and the importance of a nurturing environment. Each contraction brought her closer not only to the birth of her child but also to an intimate understanding of her own capacity for resilience. The laughter, the support from loved ones, and the natural remedies—they all wove together into a tapestry of preparation that would guide her through the transformative act of childbirth. Her story is a vibrant illustration of the courage it takes to trust one's body and the people who stand by to support the process.

The crescendo of Rachel's narrative reaches its peak as she shares the raw, unfiltered moments of her birth, her encounters with unexpected challenges, and the spiritual awakening that accompanied her final push. Listeners will find themselves immersed in the profound transition from a state of overwhelming intensity to the miraculous first breath of new life. This episode isn't just a recount of a birth experience—it's a deep reflection on the empowerment that comes from owning one's birth experience, and the divine presence felt throughout this incredible journey of life-giving.

Transcript

Rebecca Twomey: 0:32

Hello and welcome to the Radiant Mission podcast. My name is Rebecca Twomey and I'm here with my amazing sister and co-host, rachel Smith. Hi, guys, we are on a mission to encourage and inspire you as you're navigating through your life and with your relationship with Christ, and today we are back for part two of Rachel's birth story. It's here, guys. Last week we talked about how she prepared for a V-Back, which stands for vaginal birth. After cesarean, she had two C-sections. Her first two births were breech, which was why she was scheduled for C-section in the state of California, and Rachel learned after that experience that she could attempt to give birth naturally, whether she's breech or not. So she shared some of that last episode. So go back If you haven't. Also, episodes 10 and 11 are her original birth story so you can kind of hear about what she went through having C-sections, having breech babies. All of the details about those births are in those episodes. So, yeah, now we're going to start with your birth.

Rebecca Twomey: 1:47

So you did all this awesome prep. Mom and I flew in. Our mom and myself flew to Texas. Our mom lives in Florida. I live in Tennessee. I brought my whole family with me, obviously because I had two kids. I was also pregnant at the time. So what I can't. You said I came at 39 and five. I didn't realize it was that close, I believe so, because I was due on a Monday and you came on the Friday before. That's true. You actually came for Mother's Day weekend because I kind of my prediction was I was going to have him on Mother's Day, so I was due the day after Mother's Day, okay, and you came on Friday and yeah, it was. I mean the fact that you brought your whole family and none of us knew when I was going to give birth, that part, I will say, was a little bit intimidating of like. Not that everybody was like sitting around staring at me waiting for me to give birth, but there was a lot going on in this house, with what was it? Five adults and four kids and two pregnant women, it was, you know. And then everyone's just waiting on the show to start, which is me. It actually is pretty incredible that you even went into labor, because they say that a lot of people have a hard time going into labor if they're stressed or if their kids are even around. And not only were your kids around, but then you had two more kids. That were mine and your baby. And my house is not baby proofed and that's right. That was. Another big thing was Ben is getting, was getting into everything. At that time he had just turned one, he was fine, it wasn't that big of a change. So he was touching, grabbing everything, and yeah, it was.

Rebecca Twomey: 3:40

I just think it's. I just think it's a really big deal that you and Mike stopped your whole life to bring your family To live in my guest room indefinitely. And Mike kept saying and you would like snap at him, what if she goes to 42 weeks? And then you everybody would be, you know, waiting for weeks in that situation, like I think we all would have been in not a good place. Michael's running around telling everybody she's going to go wait, she's going to go like two weeks late, and I'm like, why are you wishing that upon anyone? In this scenario? First of all, the person who is actually pregnant does not want to hear that from you. What if you go to wait? No, no one wants to hear that. And also, like what we're going to be here for weeks and weeks Because you guys are so working through you.

Rebecca Twomey: 4:34

Yes, yeah, it was, it was, and I remember when we were planning it, thinking like when you would come, you guys could work from home and mom and I would take all of the kids to do things. But in reality, being 40 weeks pregnant, I could barely do anything because I was just exhausted, like, and you're, I was massive, I gain a lot of weight and pregnancy no matter what I do. And so, yeah, there was. It was physically, I was, you know, you're like this is the crazy thing about giving birth is it's like? I read this statistic during my pregnancy that, as far as energy output, every day that you're pregnant, you expend as much energy as someone does running a marathon. So it's like you're running a marathon every day. So imagine doing that every day for 40 weeks and then you actually have to go through the most physically tolling experience of your life. So, yeah, I was physically.

Rebecca Twomey: 5:40

I think that you had a very good attitude. You were very positive. You were not as cranky as you could have gotten away with being. You know, like you could have been worse, for sure. I think that you were in a good place and I also feel like, even though all of us were all stacked together, everybody got along pretty well. I don't think there was anything crazy or major that was going on, so, but it still is pretty amazing that you had all these people in your house as you're trying to focus and get into that birth space zone.

Rebecca Twomey: 6:17

But I will say there probably aren't two better people meaning Mike and myself to have been with you during that time, because we understand the anticipation of labor coming, and so at least we were there to encourage you and it was yeah well, who are very pro what you were doing and just allowing you to go into labor when it's right for you. Yes, you know, not like, oh my gosh, you haven't had a baby yet. Oh, you want to take castor oil, you're going to induce, you want to do this, you want to do that. You know we're not those type of people. So I think that that was probably what you needed was just, yeah, we will come when he is ready. Yeah, absolutely yeah. I definitely didn't. I didn't feel pressure other than like, okay, this is what everybody's here for, let's get this show on the road. So I got that. I also got away as soon as mom comes into it. So, his mom, I have my labor's impending. I'm like, oh my gosh, I got to go, come on. But at the same time you have to, just exactly. And our mom has come for every one of our births because she takes care of our other kids. I mean, I guess not our first, but yeah, my mom has come to help.

Rebecca Twomey: 7:38

Because that's the thing is like, once you've had kids before, like there's so much that you have to plan and prep to be able to be in your focused in your birthing time and not be slinging snacks for your kids. I actually would joke to. In the last episodes we talked about why I chose a birthing center birth and not a home birth and I joked a lot like I don't want to be in the same house as my kids while I'm in labor with them. I'm like, can I have a snack? I'm hungry, mom. I'm like trying to get through contractions, like I really wanted.

Rebecca Twomey: 8:12

I mean, obviously I love my kids and would do anything for them, but once my labor time began, I wanted to be able to go to that place that I had no ability and it was our plan. Was it to just be you and my husband, chris were? They're going to be the ones present at my birth and my doula and my midwife and my doula actually is training to be a midwife under my midwife, anita, who I chose. So it was, that was our plan for the team of who would be present and I felt so confident with my mom handling my kids that I wouldn't even have to worry. I don't have to tell her, oh, they need this, then he can hear in there and you know, so she knows that really is a yeah, yeah, that really is a big, a big step as a already a mom going into your labor time, of of knowing every you know who's going to be there, who's going to be taking care of your home and everything you need.

Rebecca Twomey: 9:13

So I will say, like, as far as oh, is this going to be weeks? I really didn't think I was going to go. I just kind of knew, even though I'd never been in labor, and I didn't know what to expect. I really thought I was going to have him the day before my due day, on Mother's Day, just like it was just my guess. But pretty much the week before labor I started feeling things happening that I had never really felt before, because I barely even experienced Bracken, brackson, hicks in my previous or drama labor, whatever you want to call it, I don't know if they're the same or different.

Rebecca Twomey: 9:50

What gestation were you with your C? Sections 37 and 39, 30, yeah, 37 and 39. Okay so, and I didn't have any signs of labor either. Didn't have signs of labor and so didn't go through Brackson, hicks slash or drama labor slash, whatever you want to call it. Yes, yeah, so this time, starting around 39 weeks I remember it was when I would drive in the car to let pick my kids up from their co op, which was kind of a far drive there and back I started feeling crampiness, things happening that I was like, oh, is this it? And there is one day when I and it was always when I was driving and there was one day when I came home and it was still happening, I laid on the couch and I'm like, should I time this? Like I don't know. And my husband even and this was before you were there, and he even came home from work because he was very excited for things to get going, because neither of us knew what to expect, so, but then it just stopped and then I didn't feel anything and then we talked about this a lot, but you were like a first time mom, even though you yes to kids previously. You were going through labor for the first time, so it was like it was like being a first time mom. Yes, it really was, yes. So, yeah, once you guys got into town and we had a nice Mother's Day together and which was like the first time in years that we've both been with our mama Mother's Day, and then you had a nice day, right like, we got a pet, we got our nails done, we went to dinner together, just us moms and the men also. Oh yeah, our husbands woke up and made us breakfast. Yeah, yeah, so, yeah, so it was a really nice day.

Rebecca Twomey: 11:33

I went for walk. I was walking every day. You were walking. Good, at the end there, yeah, you were taking your walks, curb step, I was stuff, yeah, and at that point, especially, once you guys got in town, I was like I wasn't going to do any intervention to get the baby out, but I was also like I want to get this and it was like at 40 weeks. So I was like I don't want to be pregnant anymore, but also, like I said, I didn't want to go to my life. Yes, so, yeah, I was definitely walking and resting when I should.

Rebecca Twomey: 12:05

So then the day before, on that Monday, I don't remember a ton of what we did but I do remember you and I laughing and joking about that Starbucks pink drink that people drink and boosted labor. And you, there was a Starbucks like at the outside of my neighborhood and you wanted to go get a, a coffee and I went with you and I was like we were joking, like let's get the drink because we, like we talked about in the last episode, I drink a lot of red raspberry tea and tea and stuff that actually helps prepare you for labor. But there is a misconception. This stuff does not put you into labor. Red bad, a raspberry leaf tea dates. They're not going to start your labor, they're just going to help prepare and possibly shorten. Because they say that. But raspberry leaf what it does physically for your body is it helps tone your uterus. You're not going to tone your uterus in one to drink of tea, like you're not going to get abs from one crunch, so right. But the irony also of the Starbucks pink drink is it's it's red raspberry syrup. It's not red raspberry longer. And so we joked. How funny it is that people get that and say it put it into labor. And so we went and you order it, and they're like we don't have any more, we have strawberry. And I was like, whatever, just get it. We got it. And so that's how it was. We got it anyway, and we were joking that if you went into labor we could accredited it to this sugar tree, because I did go into labor the next day.

Rebecca Twomey: 13:47

But yeah, I do also remember I think it was either the evening of Mother's Day or it was that Monday that I was really feeling a lot Like I started texting my doula and what we're all evaluating is is this padrama labor Because you have a lot of insights on that or was I starting to feel contractions? And like I'm like having you explain to me what a contraction feels like, because I was feeling tightness and cramping and then I would try to time, but like timing to me it was like the tightness and cramming would just last a long time, like it wasn't. Like I was like if I downloaded the app to start tracking contractions, I'm like this is a 15 minute contraction. You're like that's not possible, that doesn't exist. That's probably not it. Not that one. Yeah, but what this was was my body was preparing. It was preparing, like it was getting ready to go, and then this part lasts a different amount of time for everyone. So, yeah, then I had felt that for a few days and didn't, like you know, I was kind of like first time mom, so I didn't know what to expect, I didn't know where this was going to lead. And then, oh, this is important too, this is one of the things we did.

Rebecca Twomey: 14:59

On that Monday I had an appointment with my midwife. Oh, when I was feeling those contractions, I was kind of feeling a little bit in my back and for about a week I was feeling almost like his head in my hip and I had mentioned it to my chiropractor and because I was still going towards a week and she did some certain things and my midwife had said, maybe it was the week before, like that, his head was a little bit in my hip. And then that Sunday and Monday, when I was feeling contractions and I talked to my doula and I mentioned my back, she asked me how are you sleeping at night? And I said I try to sleep on my left side, but my hip, because when you're like a 5,000 pounds at the end of your pregnancy, staying on one side all night long. It hurts, like. So what I would do is when I would get up to pee every hour, I would flip sides throughout the night so that my hip wouldn't hurt. And when I said that to my midwife she's like do not lay on your right side again, only be on your left side from now on. And I know that you, that is a big thing for you of like.

Rebecca Twomey: 16:11

How you sleep, the position you sleep in, is important for positioning of the baby because of the posterior thing and the way that their head can settle. Went with my first. Just to give a quick aside here, you can listen back on those birth stories. They're back in the beginning as well, before Rachel, so they were like eight and nine. My first was her head was asynclitic and she was also posterior. And I learned after that pregnancy that there are things you can do to encourage positive position for baby and sleeping on the left side is one of them.

Rebecca Twomey: 16:44

Aggressively sleeping on the left side, not just like once in a while, but even really more specifically, not sleeping on your back, is, yes, it's kind of a highlight there I did learn in my pregnancy. Unfortunately this was after you had already had Haven. So we didn't get to learn this. But because of the pressure of sleeping your hips when they're compressing on each other, even if you put pillows in between your legs, they're soft, so they kind of squish back together. It causes can cause a lot of pain and I don't know why. But for some reason I thought, well, they use peanut balls during labor to help relieve. I think the reason why is because you went through my labor. You saw how I use that. That's right. It was your labor was what taught me this. You're absolutely right.

Rebecca Twomey: 17:28

I learned something from Rachel's labor and that was about the peanut ball. You learned a lot, I learned a lot. I'll just pass this one along now. So, after Rachel's baby, I slept with a peanut ball between my legs, sleeping on my left side. So of course, it's going to be pretty big when you sleep like that, but it relieved so much pain and pressure. So if you run into this in the future, both of us know now, sleep on your left side and put that peanut ball between your legs. But yeah, I did learn it from you.

Rebecca Twomey: 17:57

Okay, keep going with your story. So, yes, you go to labor. Yes, so I mentioned that because it's going to be important later in the story. Yes, but that night that I was like committed to being on my left side. I was so uncomfortable that night because, like my hip was hurting, only being in that one position. We didn't know about the peanut ball. Yes, yeah, so about 4.30 in the morning I woke up uncomfortable and I initially thought that that's why I was uncomfortable, and then I was feeling those waves that I didn't know what to make of for a few days, but it was more intense, it was. It wasn't painful and it wasn't, it was just uncomfortable and it was definitely like, oh, like I could feel it as a wave, like it's getting intense and then it tapers off, but it was happening in minutes and to the point I couldn't fall back asleep. But it felt different than what you had been feeling previously. Yeah, it was similar, but it was like faster and more, that's more and that's more intensity, would you say, a more tightening feel to it. Yeah, yeah, just much more uncomfortable and definitely undeniably timeable, because before it was like feeling all this tightness for a long time and then not feeling anything at all, and now it was like feeling a lot of tightness and then, fine, and then feeling a lot of tightness and so at that point I'm like, oh, something might be happening, I don't know.

Rebecca Twomey: 19:38

And I would sit on my ball a lot and do rotations for my hips. That was kind of part of the spinning babies prep I did, and so it. And I say that because it's so normal to me. By sitting on my ball, what I mean is an exercise ball, what people do. That's what I mean. So it was in my bedroom, so I was like, oh, I can't fall back asleep with this. So I got up and and sat on my ball and just like leaning over I would like to lean over on it a lot too, because it would stretch out my back and my belly and I just I love the exercise ball for a lot of things.

Rebecca Twomey: 20:14

So, and as I was sitting there leaning against my bed, I was really feeling it a lot more, and so then I took out my phone and I started doing that timer and they were like two and three minutes apart and then I was like but I also didn't want to be like the boy who cried Wolf, because you know, one of my biggest not fears, but like apprehensions with my birthing center being an hour away is. I really didn't want to call it wrong and drive all the way up there and then it'd be nothing. But my midwife was so sweet and she had told me like you can come days in advance and stay there if you want, and you're stressed about it, because my big thing that I did not want was to be an active labor in the car for an hour. So I really did want to go early in labor and labor at the birthing center. It's a great space. It's set up like a bedroom. I felt like I was going to be the most comfortable there to like really let go. So I knew I wanted to go there early in labor, but I also it's like a fine line between when to call it, because I also didn't want to not be in labor and I didn't know what that was going to be like. And so he's sitting at the end of the bed or whatever.

Rebecca Twomey: 21:27

At some point Chris got up to go to the bathroom and he was getting back in bed and I said to him I think this might be it and he's like really, and then he wasn't going back to sleep once I said that and I'm like I don't know. And he's like, well, call Tristan, that's my doula, call Tristan. And I'm like I don't. It was at this point, maybe like five in the morning. I'm like I don't want to call her and wake her up. Like all, all texture. He's like how about you wait another 30 minutes? And if it's still happening, then call her. And I'm like, okay, and so it kept going and going and they really were like I think the first ones I tracked I guess I could probably bring up the app and we can go through it, but I think it was like five minutes. But then there were really like two to three minutes and but I also was like is this it? And so around 530, I think it was that.

Rebecca Twomey: 22:21

I called her and I was like I'm so sorry if you're sleeping and she's like I just woke up, but I think she just said that to be nice and and and she asked me what I was feeling, what the app was saying, and I under exaggerated things. Yeah, they're like five minutes apart, because that's what it had been in the beginning. And then my last 10 contractions. She's like well, once they get to two to three minutes apart, then call me and I'm like on the phone where they're like well, they are, but I was, I was kind of under exaggerating because I wanted to you didn't want everybody to get too alarmed, or yes, and I wanted to like see what was going to happen and like what the next step would be. So I was like okay, and so we got off the phone and I got in the shower, because I've heard before that the shower can, or like water can, actually make things stop or it can relieve, like it can have different uses.

Rebecca Twomey: 23:19

So I got in the shower and I think at that point Chris went and woke you up and because I remember you coming in the bathroom when I was in the shower and talking through it and I loved being in the shower, like if I was, if not leaving, I feel like I would have just stayed in the shower for hours, like it was great, like I have a pretty big shower. So it was, it was, it felt good being in there, but things were not stopping. It was, it was picking up, yeah. And so by the time I got out, I think I think my doula Tristan also was like really felt like, because we had been talking for a few days like this was probably it, and so she was like really calling me, like how are you feeling now? I'm like, yeah, they're two to three minutes apart. Now I'm like, but at what point do I leave and I come? And she, she told me to trust my intuition to when you're ready to leave, get ready to go, just let me know and I will meet you there. But you know, whenever you feel ready, and I was like, okay, and so by that point it was, you know, well, after six, and I was like, let's get ready to go, like I want to go, because then our kids are starting to wake up. That's right. And that, yeah, was. I was like, yeah, let's get out of here. Yeah, I gotta get out of here.

Rebecca Twomey: 24:41

Actually I kind of wanted to leave before they were really up and I remember you guys were getting everything ready, getting everything in the car. I had like packed a cooler and snacks and all the things I had prepped for and the go bags and the diaper bag and everything. So I was very prepared. Everything was ready by the door and I realized like I wasn't going to say goodbye to my boys and so I sat down and I wrote them and it was funny because my oldest had been asking me like he just randomly asked all the time like can you write me letters? Like I had bought a box of like thank you notes to give to people and he's like, can you write me one? And he'd been saying that for a week. So I took one of the thank you notes and I wrote them a note and you know, I'm feeling these contractions and I'm writing to them and I think that was really the only time that I actually cried emotionally in my labor. I mean, there's probably crying later.

Rebecca Twomey: 25:47

That happened for a different reason, but I it kind of was, I guess I should say, an emotional release, and you kind of hear this in birth stories a lot of. There's a point where you like just have an emotional release of things and it was writing that little note to my boys and how proud I was to be their mom and and excited I was to see them with their baby brother and how they were going to be the best big brothers, and so I left that on the table for them and then they woke up right when we were leaving, so I actually was able to say bye to them and they like you know we're out in the yard waiting as we drove off and I remember getting in the car, we got pillows for me to lay in the back seat while you and Chris were in the front. And you know, if you've listened to some of our past episodes, like about the sun and stuff like that you and I don't like sunglasses, we don't wear sunglasses. And you made sure to grab sunglasses and have me wear sunglasses because you want us to. Why? Because it's the one instance where I would say wear sunglasses because you want to not have sunlight or light, because you want to encourage all of the hormones that are rushing through your body when you are in labor and actually melatonin and other serotonin and there are a bunch of things that need to release. And when you're in the blazing sun like think about it, when a cat or dog goes into labor they go into a dark corner somewhere, as we should not into this bright. That's why not as little as making a Seven o'clock in the morning outside, yes, so I encouraged you and I made sure that you had sunglasses so that you could just lay in the seat, and I even told you I think I said, like, have a mask if you wanted to wear a mask.

Rebecca Twomey: 27:53

So you had your headphones in, too, right, you had music on on your headphones. No, no, I had music. It was the car. Yeah, I had a birth playlist that I had meticulously crafted for months. It was mostly worship music, but also just like other positive music or music that, like I knew, would bring me to a certain emotional or mental place, and you put it on in the car and then you were timing my contractions. I remember I started timing. I didn't remember if you had headphones on or not, because I remember Chris and I talking and during the drive, and so for some reason, I thought you must have had headphones on. Yeah, yeah.

Rebecca Twomey: 28:37

So in the car I just like, laid with my eyes closed, listening to my playlist, you were having me tell you when contractions started and stopped. And then I remember, like because I was laying with my eyes closed, like I didn't want to answer anymore because I was falling asleep yes, so I actually slept in the car drive. You fell asleep, yes, in just despite the contractions, and I do remember. But we were getting. I was woken up by a pretty strong one, and then we were like 10 minutes away, and so we got there and we went in and my Dula was already there waiting and she was like you look so beautiful. This is what's so great about like being surrounded by women, and birth is, like everyone is just so encouraging and like it's just it's amazing to be surrounded by women when you go through the most womanly experience and we.

Rebecca Twomey: 29:35

She immediately got me set up on the bed with a peanut ball between my legs, laying on my left side. She took vitals. My, I remember my blood pressure was a little bit high. She gave me some herbs. It wasn't like high, it was just like a little elevated, yeah, and that actually kind of, I think, happened even after I gave birth. So I don't know what was going on with that, but it was fine. But she gave me some herbs to kind of help that a little bit. She should give you Hawthorne Berry, yeah, hawthorne, yeah. And so she once I was in the bed for a while and this is where you can start helping me feeling gas because, like we said, this is the first birth story we'll tell on this podcast and probably the only one that we were both there for.

Rebecca Twomey: 30:22

Yes, so yeah, pretty soon, if I remember correctly, she's like do you want to get this going and start doing some things to get it moving, like, get on what is called the labor station, which is the toilet. Yeah, go sit on the. Is that right? That was the point. Yeah, dilation station is what it's called Dilation station. Yes, yes, sorry, the toilet. There was a toilet, or there was a bathroom in the room that you were in. It didn't have a shower, but it had a toilet. The shower was in a different part of the birthing center and I only mentioned that to say it, because we spent time at a lot of stations.

Rebecca Twomey: 31:04

Things were moving on quickly for Rachel, but at the same time they weren't, and it didn't make sense in the moment, but it made sense later. So, yes, we got you on the toilet and then things started to get more intense. Yes, yes, she got me real comfortable on the toilet too. It was like facing the tank, with the pillow over the tank, and I laid with my head like that, and I guess the position of being on a toilet helps Oops, knocked my mic it helps open up everything and it helps you dilate. So it's kind of one of the reasons people deliver on the toilet, I guess. And so, yeah, things started getting intense there, but it also I remember feeling like pretty good, like in between contractions we were all laughing and joking still, you and Chris, a lot more than me.

Rebecca Twomey: 31:54

I do really feel like once I got there, I got in a zone that nobody else was really in with me, like that's what I mean when I say it's like labor land, like it's probably the hormones, it's the experience it's being in my body. But I really was focused pretty much you were, I think. I was very in a zone without even you know, having earplugs or headphones or anything. You were focused and not paying attention to anything that was going on around you. Which is very, very important is being able to tune out everything else and just going into yourself and into your body. Because even though we talked last episode about how Hypno Babies wasn't a good fit for Rachel but me having done Hypno Babies at least we had conversations about certain things like imagine your cervix opening. Imagine every time that you're having a wave or a contraction that your baby's moving down and your cervix is opening, and I think some of that stuff helped you to get into focus. As you were getting into that time was like you were really. I don't know what were you thinking? What were you imagining? Were those the things that you were thinking? I was not.

Rebecca Twomey: 33:08

I had a hard time visualizing during my birth. You had a hard time visualizing, yeah, and that, yeah, I'll, I'll and I don't mean that in a new age, but just I'm using the word visualization yeah, but like, like, like what you're saying of like visualizing opening or oh, I'll mention again in a second when we get closer to the baby actually coming out, because there was a significant moment with that that I realized like picturing something happening, like actual putting that visual in your mind I was having a hard time with. So the place that I was thinking in my head was at was to just focus on getting through the contraction that was in front of me. So, like, I guess what helped me is hearing people saying, like riding the waves, like I was just going inside myself to ride each wave, like so it. I didn't feel like I was panicking or I didn't feel like it was coming on top of me, like I was riding with it, and so, in a way, like and this is where I really have lost a lot of my memory, because I will tell you the first like week after this birth. I feel like I remembered every single second of the labor.

Rebecca Twomey: 34:25

But now, six months later, like a lot of it is fuzzy, but I do remember feeling like it wasn't that bad and I remember you and Chris joking around a lot and even though I wasn't like in it with you guys, the energy was helpful for me or it just felt light. It didn't feel like heavy and like there were a lot of times like in the bathroom where everyone is just kind of staring at me, cause like I'm the one but I essentially had my eyes shut 90% of my labor. I feel like I barely ever opened my eyes and I think it was a part of my focus and so I like knew you guys were around and it was a light and happy energy. But I do also remember Chris his voice was like an anchor to me that I didn't know how he was gonna do in labor.

Rebecca Twomey: 35:14

I was actually a little bit concerned if he would handle things well, because he's very much a fixer and he struggles to see me hurting or in pain or something like that in the past and I had a little bit of preconceptions from our past C-sections of kind of wishing he handled things differently, like you know, emotionally, and this time and we talked about all that a lot before so he knew what I needed and that I told him what I needed and he our doula too also like would show him like how to do counter pressures or like to rub my back, and then he would just, you know, so it was helpful and that, honestly, we decided we wanted the doula there for him. Like I had made this decision. I'm like she's really there to coach you, rebecca's there for me and the midwives, you know like. So it really was. I wanted her there for him and I remember that point in labor when he, I think it was like I was on the toilet and he was rubbing my back, and then my doula would like rub my back and I thought it was Chris and I was like, oh, that was you. No, no, no, no, no. He kissed you on the head and they, he kissed me on my neck, on your neck. It was your intimate, yes, yes, but there was a transition between you and the doula and it was just kind of funny, like we ended up all laughing and making a joke because he's like you didn't question that, you just got kissed on the neck by your doula, because for all of you who knew it was still her that was rubbing your back or something like that. There's something funny to that.

Rebecca Twomey: 37:10

I will say I think Chris did an awesome job. He did great. I think it was probably helpful that he was with people that trust birth, because all of us were just cool, all of us were, we were just in it with you, there was, we weren't raising any alarms and you could tell certain things were maybe uncomfortable for him or he didn't know what to expect, but because we were all calm, he was calm, yes, yeah, and that's important for dads, for the husband, and these situations is that's why it's so important for you to choose a care team that you feel comfortable with and your husband, so that everybody absolutely yeah, yeah, and he would just, he would repeat the things that other people were saying, like breathe you know low sounds and breathe. And I do remember, as things progressed, the things that he was saying, because he was like the main person in my ear. He, like I said, he was my anchor, like that was the voice I was listening to.

Rebecca Twomey: 38:13

And there was a point where it did start to mildly annoy me as it got more intense of like you know, like when you're breathing through and you're making like the moaning noises and you're trying to keep low, and then you're starting to get higher because, oh, this is not, doesn't you know? This is intense. And he's like low, low. And I remember thinking like stop telling me that, be quiet. But it can be a good reminder. But also people need to know when to zip it. Yeah, and so we were on the. We did that for a while.

Rebecca Twomey: 38:47

Then my doula asked if I wanted to go into the shower because on my back that could cause some relief. So I was sitting on some kind of squatty potty type stool in the shower for a while, laboring. It really started to get intense in there, but it was also relieving with the water. And then I don't remember, I think I asked to get out of there. I think I was getting uncomfortable. Yeah, I think you were done. You were done with that. Yeah, I just didn't want to sit like that anymore. So we went back in.

Rebecca Twomey: 39:16

I don't remember if this was the first time or it had happened before, but they had me get on the birthing stool in the room and that was crazy, like so intense, it was just like it. It felt like it was like fast line to dilation is sitting on the birthing stool, like that's where the contractions really really were getting very intense, that I was like really squeezing onto Chris and he was, you know, really helping me through the breathing and they were doing the counter pressures. And then at some point after that I got back in the bed and I was things were getting more intense but I really wasn't feeling like like I was just going along with the process and I remember my doula coming right by my face and saying we're getting close now, you're in transition. I remember her saying that to me when I was laying in the bed and when she said that I'm like really, because to me, never having gone through this before and hearing other people's stories, transition is like right before the end, yeah, and so that was exciting to me and I also was like it hasn't been that bad, like I'm not saying. Anything I experienced was like a walk in the park, but I felt like I was handling it really well and to be in transition like wow and this is important to know if her saying that was based on what I was displaying.

Rebecca Twomey: 40:38

Nobody ever at this point, checked me, put their hands in me, like my midwife is not. She does not advocate for dilation checks because it can change at any time and a dilation is not the best indicator of when the baby's going to come, because you could go from a two to a 10 and 10 minutes. It could take hours, Yep. You could go from eight back to a five, you know. So it can bounce around. And so my midwife felt very strongly and I, you know, trusted her without. This is kind of one of the things we had pre-planned, so nobody was going to check me. So, with her saying that it's like oh, wow. And so she's like, let's get back on the stool, to like really get through the finish line, and and they got me back on the stool and as soon as I got back on that stool, I was like I want to get in the tub, I want to get like, get me out of here, I don't want to do this. This is. I hate this. This is.

Rebecca Twomey: 41:38

That was when it was really getting intense and I wanted the, because I are. We were shooting for a water birth, but you know, it was kind of funny, it's. I don't know if you were one of the people, but I know people asked me before if I was planning for a water birth and I had said I'll just see what happens, like. And it's kind of funny because my dream was to have a water birth with my first, and now that I actually had the opportunity, I just had this feeling of like I don't know how he's going to be born, and you know there's all kinds of different ways, but I wasn't like, so stuck in that it had to be a water birth. But I did know that being in the water can really help with relief, and so I really wanted to get in the tub once it started getting intense and so they started filling it up at that point and it was not filling up fast enough. I remember even asking, like, can I get in while you're filling it up? Because I was. It was getting very, very intense and finally they were done and they got me in and Chris got in with me and was sitting behind me and that's when things like, really like, were so intense.

Rebecca Twomey: 42:45

You started feeling pushy when you got in in the pool, right, yes, I started. What started happening is the con with each contraction, my body started pushing on its own, like I couldn't not push, and that was pro. I mean, I could go back and look at all the videos you took of and, but I think it was within 10 minutes of being in the water. Oh, sooner than that, sooner than that. Yeah, it probably felt like 10 minutes. It was probably like yeah, yeah.

Rebecca Twomey: 43:15

And I remember one point when I was in the water I said I feel like I'm going to throw up. Yes, and so they gave me a plastic bag throw up thing, and then they put peppermint and oil in it, which was like amazing because it actually took the nausea away. But it's kind of funny to think about now, because that feeling of I'm going to throw up is one of the last stages of labor, right, yeah, yeah, puking and pooping. If you've got those feelings, the chances are you're getting closer. Yes, so I was moving around in different positions in the, in the bathtub, and there baths have had a heater in it to keep the water warm and I every contraction, I was pushing like I could not push, and so I was really getting going in the tub and and I people were putting flashlights down there checking his heart rate.

Rebecca Twomey: 44:13

I remember multiple times they're, you know, like I said, my eyes were closed 90% of my labor, so I didn't see a lot going on, but I was aware of what you guys were all doing, didn't your? Your, um, your water broke a little bit too. In the water, at least a piece of your bag came out. You told me that after. So that's what's interesting about this labor is, at no point did I experience my water breaking. It happened in the tub, but I didn't feel that moment. I don't think your water broke all in one completely. I think that you were having slow leaking going on, but at that point a larger part of your water must have broken.

Rebecca Twomey: 44:56

And this is just kind of a observer's point of view. That was interesting was so she's getting this kind of can't, can't control, feeling like she needs to push, and I see her pushing and I see stuff come out, and whatever came out didn't come out all the way, it just came out a little bit and I couldn't tell what it was. It looked almost like it could be a part of the cord, but I my job is to be there for my sister and to make sure that she stays calm and cool, so I'm not speaking out loud, asking crazy dumb questions to these midwives. I was just watching them to ensure that if they weren't concerned I was not going to be concerned, and I just kept waiting for her to put the flashlight in there so I could just see a little bit more, see a little bit more, and then, as it kind of started to come out more and like float around, I could tell it wasn't the cord, so obviously not anything to be worried about. And as soon as I realized it wasn't, I'm like, oh, it must be a part of the sack, that's interesting. So I was kind of having this cool little educational moment about birth, not realizing all of the random fluids and things that come out during the birth experience. Again, we're so shut off from birth as a society and we only see the glamorized parts of birth on Instagram. Right when we have these short clip videos, we don't necessarily see that there's going to be all the stuff that comes out. So I got really excited because I thought that that was like things are are coming out. But we'll continue.

Rebecca Twomey: 46:26

Yes, so at this point I think my midwife Anita, she had, I think she was there most of the time and she had come in to check on me at various times, but if I remember correctly, by the time I was in the water, that's when she was there and never left again. Yes, because it's coming in a kind of before that which I appreciated about her as a midwife, that she wasn't hovering over you Right, it was just my doula room, do your thing. Your doula was there and me and Chris, and even the doula kind of was not always like on top, like in the small spaces and stuff. It was mostly just you and Chris and so yeah, but I do remember by the time I was in the water, like Anita never left me and and so I got to the point where I started feeling like I was going to pass out on the water because I was so hot. People were putting hot or cold cloth on my head and my neck and I was getting very, very exhausted of the pushing that I was like on my hands and knees, like like kind of like hovering over the water, and Chris was physically holding my head out of the water because he said later he thought I was going to drown because my face was like in the water, as I was like Mony in the water, and at that point I was feeling so exhausted really already, and I'm pretty sure it was at that point that Anita said Rachel, I think his position he's coming down a little bit, his head a little sideways. So if we get you out of the tub and we can try some different positions, I think that will help you. Do you want to get out? And I really appreciated throughout the whole process she would ask, she would tell me what she thought and she would ask me my permission of what I wanted to do. And when she said that I wanted to get out because I was so hot in there, I felt like I was going to pass out. So this is something that was interesting for my labor, because you had asked me before if I was like feeling instincts to get in certain positions or something I felt like I like died to myself in my labor and I just fully trusted everyone around me Chris and his voice, my midwife, like when she was like, do you want to get out and try different positions? Yes, like I just like put my trust in, like her. And this is why I feel it is so important to choose your provider carefully and someone you trust, because when I didn't know what to do, because I didn't know what to do.

Rebecca Twomey: 49:04

I was in that tub for a while, getting in different positions, and he wasn't out and I thought he was going to be out and so, because he wasn't, it's like all I had left to do was like okay, like whatever you say essentially, and so we got out and I remember like getting over to the bed was like a contraction came on and it was like really getting every contraction I was pushing and it honestly I'm going to be very honest and upfront it hurt badly. I did not have a pain-free birth at this point. It was now not not a fun laughing time, so it got intense. It got really intense when they got, you know, you got on the bed and then started to try different positions for a couple of contractions each and, yes, the baby to. So now let's go back to my viewpoint. Being the one observing this, we could see his head. His head was there. Yes, when I was in the bed, you guys could see his head. Yeah, we could see his head. He was coming out and turtling, kind of turtling back in and out. And so I'm just going to say this now I have 500 videos of Rachel's birth 500, at least maybe 800. I forget what it was. It was like a ridiculous amount because I kept recording for a couple of seconds because any moment he could have come out. Yes, first of all, I was definitely going to be bored. I was also your birth photographer, birth videographer. I wanted to make sure I was getting video of each stage and so I was getting video through the whole thing and at the end it was like a lot of videos of you and all these really crazy positions.

Rebecca Twomey: 50:53

I don't know if this is the time that we want to share your greatest fear, that you did have one fear about labor. I did. I didn't talk about that. I didn't talk about one fear in labor that my midwife and I had talked about before, and that was pooping on the baby, and I know that that's a normal part of birth. She told me that she's like actually it's a good sign when you poop during labor, because it means you're pushing and you know it's close. So at this point there was a lot of that going on.

Rebecca Twomey: 51:30

Once we were in the bed, they were having me change the positions. People say like, oh, you're going to do it and you're not going to care. I wouldn't say I necessarily cared, but I was aware that it was happening and I was aware that I didn't want that to happen. But it was also like what am I going to do? So everyone knows this about Rachel. That was at her birth. They knew she did not want anything to do with number two during her birth and I'm recording her and this is happening. And Chris is looking at me like, are you serious? This is going to be? This is her video of the baby coming out and this is a part of it right now. And so when I'm recording these videos, I'm just like, oh my gosh, this is exactly the opposite of what she wanted to happen. Yes, yes. So by this point they were having me get a lot of different positions and I remember at his head was in and out because everyone would get so excited. Yes, yeah, keep going, keep going. And so this is. This is what is in.

Rebecca Twomey: 52:34

Why I really did stop caring about pooping during like pushing is because what I realized is when everyone was getting excited seeing his head, is when it felt like kind of poop pushing, like that same kind of pushing. That's when you guys all got excited. If I did any other kind of pushing it was, I guess, not happening. So that really is, I guess. Yeah, it worked in that way, but he still was going in and out and he wasn't coming out. And so she had me do a very specific technique with the ball in between my legs and and told me to try not to push for a few contractions in a certain position because essentially his head, he was acynclitic just like your first, and so he was coming out by the side of his head first and it was having a hard time getting through the birth canal.

Rebecca Twomey: 53:30

And in that moment, in those positions where they were trying to have me be in a certain way so that he could maneuver himself, so that I could actually push him, that was the absolute worst thing I've ever gone through in my life. It was the most painful thing. I think I screamed at the top of my lungs. I just started screaming, I feel like for hours, and that was the point of hours. But yeah, at that point I remember I I've equated it since then to it being like fever dreams, because the contractions would last about a minute and then I would have like two minutes in between, or sometimes less. So it was like when the contraction would stop. I would have this opportunity to just be inside myself and I I went through everything in those in between. They say you died your whole, remembering birth. Huh, do you feel like, yes, true, absolutely.

Rebecca Twomey: 54:26

I remember thinking why did I decide to do this? I remember thinking which we joked about later, why did I let Rebecca talk me into this? I remember thinking is this really better than a C-section? I remember begging, the like I couldn't pray more than just begging. Please, let this be the last contraction, like my prayer was to the Lord was just please, end it, please. You're like remember, rip the baby out. At one point, yes, yes. I asked Anita if she could just pull him out and she's like no, you have to do this, you can do it. I remember Chris praying over me. I remember Anita telling him to pray over me and he prayed over me.

Rebecca Twomey: 55:12

And I remember, at the lowest point, thinking if I, I can't even get in a car right now, I could not physically at that point, because I he was halfway out, practically. You know, his head was right there. I could not get up and walk and get an ambulance. I remember thinking this like if I wanted to get out of this situation. And then that moment that's when I really that was when I hit the bottom is that there is no way out of this. And then my next thought and this is where I really feel like birth is spiritual is my next thought is the only way out of this is through through this. I have to get through this if I want to get out of this.

Rebecca Twomey: 55:51

Because I felt stuck and I I wanted to ask you guys how long I had been pushing at that point, but I knew nobody would tell me if I asked. So at that point, after having these maneuvering, anita asked me if she said I can try to maneuver his head myself, if it's okay, if you know you're okay with me putting my hands in there. And I said yes, and that hurt real bad, that was very painful. And then after that she's like if you get back on this birthing stool, you can get him out. And I was like I remember going no, please, because I knew how bad the birthing stool hurt. But I just did it, and this is what I mean of just like trusting her and trusting all of you.

Rebecca Twomey: 56:38

And I remember sometime around there and this is what I wanted to bring up that you briefly mentioned earlier. You came over to me and said to me Rachel, visualize you catching him in your arms, visualize him coming out. Because I think you saw that I was stuck at the point that I almost like I don't want to say I didn't believe he was gonna be born, but it almost felt like I was like toiling and not keeping in perspective working. What I was, yeah, what my goal was was to get it out, like I was just stuck in the part of experiencing everything. That you came over to me and said visualize him coming out, like, imagine him coming out. And that, I think, was was like invaluable to me to hear because, yeah, I, I needed to hear that in that moment. And so we got on the stool and there's a, just to be clear, there's a stool you're sitting on and there's a what do they call the rope, robozo, I think. Oh, so we're both over, yeah, hanging from the ceiling, hanging from the ceiling.

Rebecca Twomey: 57:44

So, with every contraction, they told me to pull on that rope like I was climbing it, and to push with everything I had. And that's where everybody was getting excited, like we were really making progress, and that is what I wanted to mention at the end of the last episode where physical fitness and me actually prioritizing in my pregnancy, working out especially my upper body, would have helped, because I had not lifted a weight and since my whole entire pregnancy and so pulling on that was physically like I was not strong enough. But this is what is so miraculous is I wasn't strong enough to do what I did in my own strength. But that's where I feel like the Lord poured into me his supernatural strength that I was able to do what I did because at that point I had been pushing for three hours. I didn't know it until after, but we're at the three-hour mark of me pushing and being at the end of myself and now I am doing the physically hardest part of climbing this rope and pushing with everything I had.

Rebecca Twomey: 58:59

And then things really started happening and I remember taking my hand because everyone was cheering and excited and you were in there with the camera and and and. Again I'm like my eyes are barely open, but I reached down and I could feel his head. It was the first time I felt myself and as soon as I felt his head I was resolved. He's coming out. Right now I am getting him out and in the next contraction I pushed like crazy. And then everyone is excited and Anita is getting in there with Chris and his head was out and everyone's freaking out and apparently the cord was around his neck and she very carefully slipped it off his neck and she's like get ready, daddy, and she's like getting Chris ready. This is what they were doing. That I saw in the video.

Rebecca Twomey: 59:50

My perspective was I'm getting him out right now. I've been begging people to rip him out of me for hours. Nobody. I remember feeling annoyed of like I want this baby out of me. And so in my perspective, they're like fiddling around and it's just like what are you doing? Just get him out, just pull him out of his head is out.

Rebecca Twomey: 1:00:13

And so I reached down on the next contraction as I'm, I'm pushing. I shoved their hands out of the way and I grabbed that little body and I ripped him out myself. I mean, he was coming out, was out, but I you pulled him out as I was pushing him out and snatched him to my chest myself and in that moment I it was like it. It felt like I essentially like died and came back to life and was like what just happened, like that was crazy. And then I had him on my chest and it was just like incredibly it was, it was surreal, there was like almost no word I can't think of to explain it that my baby was there and in a few seconds he started crying and I am just like, I did it, we did it, like it was just, it was crazy. I was just. That was all I said.

Rebecca Twomey: 1:01:14

I think is, we did it and and do you want to share anything from your perspective? Real quick, it was amazing. It was seriously amazing to watch because, first of all, the craziest part about this is that you did what the people at the hospital didn't think I could do. If you think about it, with my first birth, yeah, they didn't believe that my baby was gonna come out. She was asymptotic, posterior, I was pushing for three hours and they said you've been pushing too long, we're gonna move you to a C-section. So now imagine this position that I'm in now watching you labor, inactive labor for three hours, same situation, and you push that baby out. I was so freaking proud of you because you achieved what?

Rebecca Twomey: 1:02:11

If you had been at a hospital, you would have been coerced to quit, and that's the thing that I think is very important for us to all consider and think about is the Location and the scenario in the situation. How many other women are in your position and then get moved to a C-section Because, simply, they're at the hospital and it's hard and you're in pain, and all those kinds of things? I Just think it's so beautiful that you were in the right spot, with the right people who are supporting you, saying you're going, you can do this, and I knew you do it Because I saw that he was right there. So of course, I'm gonna keep encouraging you and just I just remember laughing, like out loud laughing, and it's in the video too when he comes on, just like because it was such a joyous moment of you did it. He's here and I knew you could do it all along, of course, but now, yeah, it was done.

Rebecca Twomey: 1:03:10

Yes, and because I was on the stool, I was kind of sitting above everyone and I remember just looking at Anita sitting on the floor below below me Crying, and she said no, like I, this is gonna make me Terry, but she said You're the reason that I'm a midwife, this is why I'm a midwife to To be at a V back like this, yes, and she shared with me before that. That is the reason she became a midwife is because of experiences with V back. So Seeing that like everybody was crying, but when she said that to me right after I gave birth, like that was, that was like the whole thing was really special of like everyone who was there and who was meant to be there and also, like you just said, of it kind of reflecting your first birth but it going completely differently at a hospital. If this, if I would have chose the hospital and not this situation, this 100% would have been a third C-section. This would not. They would not have allowed me to push for that long. Most of the nurses and all that don't know about the different positions that my doula and my midwife got me in. That that's what gets. That's what got him moving down my birth canal the way that he needed to, because of his head being kind of cockeyed, was because of that, like they're both of their knowledge and their trust in Birth and my body is the reason that we had success, absolutely so. I. I was so grateful that we, that the Lord, led me to this path and while it was hard, it was the heart I soon after the Like, a minute later, I think One of the first things I said was that was crazy.

Rebecca Twomey: 1:05:02

Because it was crazy, it felt like like you and I have talked about since then. I took me a while to watch my, my birth videos you took, but I joked that this is rated our birth because it was a mess like bloody Body fluids of all kinds. The baby pooped coming out, yep. So one quick wrapping this up, but just a quick, funniest side of like. As he came out, when I said in that moment that I Pulled him out myself, as Chris's perspective was, his hands were right there like he Anita had him prepped to catch the baby and when I just went rogue in that moment which I had never planned, it was just my instinct and Reach my hands down, I actually shoved his hand out of the way into a pile of poop. I Think it was the babies, but I don't know. All mixed together it was. There was all kinds of stuff going on but yeah, it was that. But it was amazing like I did not plan to catch my own baby and it was the most empowering experience I have ever felt and that. So to just wrap this up like it was. This could not have been done without, without the Lord there with me and, like I said, without his strength I never would have made it and I'm just so grateful for that.

Rebecca Twomey: 1:06:38

It was, in its own ways, redemptive. It did feel like those first hours and days I just kept being like that was crazy. I kept wanting to like go over the details with you and Chris, because it's like that happened Right. Like that was crazy Because it honestly felt like I just went to a war and like saw them and experienced the most atrocious things. And I came back and so it. It didn't necessarily feel like you know this, like amazing, ethereal experience, like it was wild and and not fun, but it was the most redemptive and rewarding experience of my life. And so in the end you're not mad at me for Convincing you to do this you told me after that there was a point that you were crying with what I was watching, what I was going through, because you said that you were thinking she's gonna kill me.

Rebecca Twomey: 1:07:47

For, yeah, what did you say? When you first got into the pool, you started. When you really first started feeling that push Instinct, you started screaming and I immediately started crying because I felt for you in that moment, because I know it's like I knew where you were. I knew exactly what you were going through. I could feel what you were going through because I'd been there with you before and I was physically with you in person this time. It was hard for me to see you going through pain, but also, just I knew the spiritual experience you are going through too. And then, as Time went on, like that moment happened and you know crying, and then we move forward and then, if everybody recalls Everything that's happened after that, she moved to the bed, she moved here, she moved there. Later, when you are screaming, I'm like she's gonna kill me because this is taking a long time, like I don't Anticipated it being this long.

Rebecca Twomey: 1:08:49

But I also have to say that you God led you to the right people for that birth. For example, if I had quote talked you into having a home birth with just me, I think that you and I would have been very nervous, or we may have become Nervous in that situation, with how long, with how much pushing. And so I think my point, or what I'm trying to say, is that God did put the right people there, because I had learning to do too. So did Chris, so did you, and we were with people that were teaching us and we were learning yeah, all of us together about Physiological birth, you know, even though we've been through some, so it was just. It was a beautiful experience to see that end and you come to fruition and me get to be like Girl. I know what you just did Because I went through and I went through it on an epidural.

Rebecca Twomey: 1:09:48

You went through it naturally and then, at the end of it, your baby came out, and that is the biggest of all of this is just. God created our bodies to grow these babies and birth these babies, and when we really Surrender and really died to the self is, I think, the lesson that we're we've both learned in this is there is a breaking down of self. That needs to happen. Where that does happen, yeah, absolutely. So that's, yeah, it's been awesome.

Rebecca Twomey: 1:10:23

Um, next week we're gonna talk about, we're gonna Talk about some of the lessons learned, because there's a lot of things that a lot of takeaways right Takeaways things that you learned either during pregnancy like you said about working out and being more physical or during the labor part itself. I think that there are some things that we can take away from, just like I take away from, obviously, every Birth and pregnancy experience. So we'll talk about that next week. And then also what it's been like postpartum, third time around, post natural birth very different than a C-section, different recovery yeah, different things that happen to you. You've also Been five years in between nursing, five years in between a newborn, getting them to sleep. So there's been a lot of other stuff that will continue to debrief on, but thank you for sharing your story. Yeah, I love mine. You I was. How pregnant? Was I 30 something? Oh, yeah, you were. You were. Yes, and this is one tiny little tidbit you were like having sympathy contractions this whole day. Remember that like mentioned was I was having contractions right along. We joked, it was like my hormones like were responding with hers and it was causing her to have contractions, or it was pretty crazy. Yeah, and I also was still nursing Ben, but kind of on the cusp of weaning him and so when a full day and a half without nursing him, and that whole thing was interesting. Yeah, so to From the start of this story, the start of the 4 30 am Wake up from contractions to him out was about 11 hours and I pushed for three.

Rebecca Twomey: 1:12:14

So let's say, hypothetically, he was positioned, you know, he wasn't acynclinic and he would have just flew out with pushing in the tub. It would have really been more of like an eight-hour Labor. But because, yeah, pushing faith, it was 11 hours, which, honestly, I am, I'm pretty. I think that's pretty good for a first time labor. I think 11 hours isn't bad. I mean, eight would have been great. And so this is.

Rebecca Twomey: 1:12:41

I just wanted to mention that like what, it was like a full day for all of us, but it wasn't extreme, like it wasn't no, and I think that the first hour, the first few hours until we got to the birthing center, and even the first Change at the, you know, the first couple of hours at the birthing center, I felt like we're very Just manageable for you. You did great, you handled it. Yeah, the pushing part, the three hour, that was obviously the hardest part of all of it. So you did great. Yeah, crush, you crushed natural birth, you did it, I did it. Yeah, no, I never want to do it again, I'm just kidding. No, it was great. I'm so glad I, I'm so glad that I, I, that my story went the way I did. Yes, I mean, it would be nice if it was like I pushed for 30 minutes, but this I learned a lot. I learned a lot for sure, and we'll debrief on that next time. So, rachel, thank you for sharing your story with us, and Thank you, everyone, for tuning in and for being on this journey with us. If you'd like to follow along outside the podcast, you can do so on Instagram and Facebook, or you can watch this podcast and video format on YouTube.

Rebecca Twomey: 1:13:58

Today we are going to close with Isaiah 12. To Do you want to read this, since this is, uh, your birth, one of your birth verses? Yeah, yeah, sure I will. So Isaiah 12 to surely Yahweh is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. Yahweh himself is my strength and my defense. He has become my salvation, and we are wishing you a radiant week. Thanks for listening, guys. Bye, see you next time.