Hannah’s Pregnancy Story

Jul 25

Hi, I’m Hannah, the founder and owner of Birth on the Daily. This is my pregnancy story.

I have PCOS so it took some time for us to conceive, I was tracking my cycles very closely and knew exactly when I ovulated. Usually you wait to test for pregnancy 12-14 days past ovulation(DPO), I am very impatient. I tested 9 days DPO at around 8pm at night and I saw the faintest of lines. I freaked out… I was fully expecting it to be negative, just because it was sooo early. I waited a day to tell my husband, I set up some cute stuff in our room, a onesie, a book and a little stuffed elephant with a digital test. I was expecting a huge reaction but instead I got, “alright, now what”. Looking back I know he was just in shock, it took him a couple days but he got excited.

A couple days later I went in to get my HcG levels drawn and some other bloodwork, because I have PCOS I have a higher chance of miscarage due to lower progesterone levels. My HcG was perfect, I did have low progesterone so I took a supplement for my entire first trimester.

My first trimester was relatively easy. I had minimal morning sickness, I was just tired ALL the time. I was nannying at the time and would show up to work while the baby was still sleeping and just go right back to sleep. I also had major food aversions and my sense of smell was insane. I pretty much only wanted to eat green grapes and could only drink water that was FREEZING cold. Our fridge always smelt bad to me and in turn made the ice taste bad (I don’t think it tasted bad to everyone else).

At my first OB appointment at 8 weeks I left crying, overwhelmed and extremely scared. With PCOS you are at a higher risk for gestational diabetes (GD). The OB that I saw basically told me that I shouldn’t eat anything other than lean meats and leafy greens and if I gained any more than 16lbs or had GD I would have no choice but to have a c-section. I went into work that day and the lady I was nannying for told me about her OB and I decided to start the process to transfer my care to that practice.

I had my 12 week appointment at the new practice and I felt great about it. I really liked my doctor and the practice overall just seemed more welcoming. At this appointment I did the genetic blood test to find out the gender. My in-laws were planning a gender reveal party and my sister in law was the keeper of the gender.

Our gender reveal party was incredible, we found out we were having a sweet little girl. We had a diaper raffle and got enough diapers to last her first 6 months of life. We had already decided on her name, Emerson Daly (Emmie Day) Emerson was the only name I could get my husband to agree on and Daly is my mom’s maiden name. We immediately started collecting cute little clothes and nursery decor.

Around 16 weeks is when I first heard of a doula, I had pretty much always known I wanted a low intervention birth, mostly because I was very very afraid of epidurals. I thought hiring a doula would be my best chance at getting the birth I wanted. I also started the process of looking into my options when it came to actually giving birth. I know how much water relaxes me so I really wanted to try and labor in the water and maybe even give birth in it. I knew that the current hospital I was at did not allow water births and we iffy about laboring in the tub or shower. While looking for water birth friendly hospitals I came across the Atlanta Birth Center and I fell in love. I decided to do their orientation and see if I was even a candidate for birthing there.

At my next appointment with my OB I asked about different laboring options, I told her how much I wanted to try for an unmedicated birth and that I would like to labor in the shower or tub. She told me that an unmedicated birth is really hard and people usually can’t do it and that I probably wouldn’t be stable enough to labor in the shower (what does that even mean?)

After that appointment I knew that if I wanted to have the birth I dreamed of I needed to get to the birth center. I started the onboarding process and having my records transferred. While waiting for my first appointment with them I was instructed to keep any upcoming visit with my current provider. At my last appointment with her she tried to scare me into staying in the hospital system. She said “you know if something goes wrong they will have to transfer you” “they can’t save your baby if she dies” and so on. This just really solidified the fact that I needed to get out of there.

During this process my doulas were my rock, we had a prenatal support group that met weekly and that was a huge refuge for me. I was able to talk about all my concerns while they really held space for me.

My first appointment at the birth center was at exactly 30 weeks. Walking into the lobby I almost cried, I felt at such peace. The midwife spent so much time talking to me about all of my concerns and fears and what my biggest goals were for birth. After touring the birth rooms I was able to rank them so when I went into labor they knew my preferences.

The care I received there was incredible, I was respected, heard and cared for. Everyone learned my name and I felt like I actually had control over what happened to me.

My baby shower was an actual fairy tale. It was an Alice in Wonderland Tea Party that my mom and one of her good friends worked so hard on. They collected vintage tea cups for everyone to use and made incredible centerpieces from tea pots and other tea cups. I felt so loved and spoiled that day. Our living room was filled with gifts when we came home, it took days to sort it all out.

At the end of my pregnancy I had a really hard time, I wasn’t sleeping well at all, I had restless leg syndrome and carpal tunnel. The sleep was by far the worst part, I was really only getting two-three hours a night. By this point I had stopped nanning and was spending most of my day in our nursery or in bed. I took multiple showers a day just to feel better and I was just so done being pregnant.

My due date came and went and it seemed like labor was nowhere in sight. I went in for my 40 week appointment and asked for a cervical exam and membrane sweep because I was so desperate. I was not dilated at all and my cervix was so closed the midwife couldn’t even do a membrane sweep. I felt so discouraged, my blood pressure was also elevated and they wanted me to monitor it at home just to be safe. A couple nights later I took my blood pressure and it was extremely high, I went into the birth center to be monitored and then to the hospital to be monitored and ultrasound. Luckily everything went down and Emmie looked perfect so I was sent home.

The next day I went to an acupuncture appointment because I had read that it could help start labor. It was interesting. I'm not sure if I would ever do it again. That same day the birth center called me and said I was a perfect candidate for their midwives brew induction. I was PUMPED! I called my husband, mom and doulas and we got the car loaded and headed off to the birth center.

Be sure to come back to read my birth story!

Vintage tea cups and favors for my shower

Hannah Ashby

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