027 - Anticipating the Onset of Labor (with Kayla Loflin)

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SHOW NOTES:

Today on the podcast I have the pleasure of having a guest back for the 3rd time! A record for Surrendered Birth Stories, if you don’t count my husband, Chris. Kayla Loflin joins us again to tell us the story of her most recent birth, and just how quickly it went! When you’re praying for a three hour labor, and the Lord decides to answer that prayer, things move fast!!

TRANSCRIPT:

Hi, and welcome to another episode of Surrendered Birth Stories.

Birth Stories, Birth Education, and the Pursuit of Surrendering It All to God.

Let's get started.

Okay, so funny story.

Hey, everybody.

I hope you're having a great week.

Let's start with a quick funny story.

So, I so far, since Indy, my fifth, has been born, I have only given him baths when I'm in the bath.

So I take a bath every Friday night.

It's my little sad bath ritual, and I just bring him in there with me.

I mean, newborns, they don't get that dirty other than like the stinky, sweaty milk stuff that gets stuck in their neck.

And, you know, sometimes blowouts up the back and all that fun stuff.

So, yeah, sure, they get dirty.

But anyways, he comes in with me, and it's so sweet.

I mean, the first several weeks, he would just like fall asleep on my chest, and I just put like a wet washcloth over his back to keep him warm.

And he just loves it.

I mean, he can be freaking out and crazy.

And then I put him in the bath with me, and he's just automatically relaxed or happy or just at peace.

And it's really honestly been a really good time of bonding and connection for us.

But anyways, so babies are newborns, right?

They're unpredictable.

So we're in the bath, we're hanging out.

I'm, you know, maybe working on his cradle cap a little bit or just looking, smiling, cooing at him.

And he gives me this face like, hey, I've got to do something and it's gonna happen right now.

And then, of course, baby poop everywhere, I mean.

And, you know, that happens, newborns poop.

But when he's sitting right on top of me, then it goes right on top of me.

And I've never actually really had that with any of my other babies.

I mean, I've taken a bath here or there with my other kids, but not like I have been with Indy.

And so I guess it was just a matter of time.

But yes, pooped all over me.

He spit up all over me in baths before, but that's, you know, a real quick, easy rinse.

But it was like this bath looked so gross by the end of it.

It had baby poop floating in it.

It had baby spit up floating in it.

It had like little pieces of cradle cap floating.

It was disgusting.

But anyways, we gave a little extra rinse off after that.

Got out of the bath.

But anywho, if you've never taken a bath with your baby, I highly suggest it.

But just be warned, you know, they still have stuff coming out of all parts of their bodies, even when they're in the bath.

But thankfully, you're in the bath, so you can clean it right off, which is really nice.

So anyways, hope you're having a great week.

I'm super excited because next week is our Q&A episode, our six-month anniversary for this podcast.

And we are having a Q&A episode.

Questions, answers, we are excited for it.

Can't wait for you guys to hear it.

We are pumped.

So make sure you tune in for that.

Also, if you haven't reviewed this show yet, please leave us a review.

It means so much to us, my husband and I both.

We both do this podcast.

Honestly, it feels like 50-50 together.

He does all of the editing, all of the putting it all together, uploading it, organizing it on the platform and all that stuff.

That's all him.

And then I, of course, do this part and organizing the interviews and all that fun stuff.

So it's a lot of work for us, but it's a lot of fun for us too.

We don't get paid anything for it.

We just are doing it because honestly, we feel God calling us to do this.

It's been something he stirred up in us and has opened the doors for us to do.

So we are excited to share this with other people and it gets shared with other people that we don't even know when you guys leave reviews.

So I'd really appreciate that.

Also, it would help us even more too if you would like to, you know, if you enjoy what you're listening to, if you would like to take a screenshot of this episode and share it on your Instagram story and tag us in your story, which is Surrendered Birth Services on Instagram.

Please, it would be amazing.

You can also link the episode too, if you're fancy enough to know how to do that, which that took me some time to learn when I was first doing Instagram stuff, but there's a way to do it.

If you don't know how, you can Google it, I guess.

Pretty simple.

Anyways, all of that means a lot to us, and it doesn't take very long at all for you, but it helps this show so much, helps spread the word, which we are super grateful for.

I'm also super excited because I have a guest on the show today, and this is her third time being on the show, which is so fun.

It's a record for our show, other than my husband, of course, but it's a record.

She's here for the third time.

What a blast.

Her name is Kayla, just like me, which is so cool.

And she gets to tell us today about her most recent birth because she has just had her fifth baby.

And she is going to tell us just how quickly it went.

So, you know, when you're praying for a three-hour labor and the Lord decides to answer that prayer, then things move pretty fast.

Welcome to another episode of Surrendered Birth Stories.

And for the first time ever, I have our friend, Kayla, our guest back for the third time.

Woohoo!

You've set a record that, well, okay, so I guess my husband has technically been on four episodes now.

Oh, okay, Chris.

We've got competition now.

But, you know, if you have another baby, you can...

Put me down for like two years.

That's usually my...

Usually your interval.

Yeah.

I get that.

Well, if you have not heard Kayla's first birth stories, they're back in episode 14.

And then she also...

We had the pleasure of having her on here to share her daughter's adoption story as well.

So check those out if you haven't.

But now she gets to share with us her latest birth story of her sweet, sweet daughter.

So I'm excited to hear about that.

All I know is that it was a quick one.

Short and sweet.

We like to keep them short and sweet.

Short and sweet.

But let's start off with the pregnancies.

So this was your fourth biological child, but fifth child.

So did you plan this pregnancy or was it something that just happened?

That's a good question.

So we have unofficially not planned or prevented any of our pregnancies.

We've just kind of put it in the Lord's hands.

And that's something we've been convicted on probably from the start.

We've always known the Lord's going to give us the children that he wants us to have.

And we just have to be open to receiving or choosing to accept whatever that is.

So we've always been open to more babies.

Always.

We love babies.

We love our kids so much.

They're such a blessing.

And so, yeah, so it wasn't a surprise pregnancy.

I actually, I had miscarried in October of 2022.

And then got my cycle back in November and got pregnant.

So it was a very exciting blessing because it was like, okay, we're doing this.

We had just lost.

We had just had a loss.

And we were able to get pregnant the first cycle after that loss.

So it was very exciting.

And we were excited.

But of course, pregnancy, my births are short and sweet.

Pregnancy is the exact opposite for me.

It is long.

And I don't know what the opposite of sweet is, but sour, I guess.

Bitter, sour, right, yeah.

Pregnancy does not treat me well.

I have hyperemesis with all of my pregnancies.

And it's been worse each time.

And so navigating that and pregnancy is rough.

I'm on the other side of it now.

So I'm like, yeah, we can do that again.

But in the thick of it, I'm always like, there has to be a cure for hyperemesis before we have more kids every time I say that, I think.

So pregnancy is just really a trial and error.

The first trimester is really trial and error for me to figuring out what works to help me survive.

And thankfully, I had other HG mamas.

Well, not thankfully, I feel terrible that they had to go through it too.

But thankfully, I had someone else pave the way and tell me what medications worked good for her that time.

And so I was able to switch up my medications pretty early on this time and figure out what helped.

So pregnancy wasn't terrible, terrible, but still just always traumatic when you feel like deaf every day for 40 weeks.

That's how I would describe it too, feeling like deaf.

Like I imagine this is what death feels like.

And my husband.

Which is crazy because you have life.

It's literally life.

It's literally life, but it does not feel like that.

I don't feel like we're thriving.

And to any moms out there who are not pregnant yet, we are not saying this to scare you.

This does not happen to everybody.

I know plenty of people who have beautiful pregnancies who never even get nauseous.

But Kayla and Kayla here, the Kayla's feel like they're dying.

And if your name is Kayla, maybe you're more prone to it.

Maybe that's a thing.

Maybe it's our name.

But yeah, so it wasn't too bad.

I was just really looking forward to birthing again because my birthing experiences have always been so beautiful.

And I had really held loosely to all of my plans this time around.

I wasn't sure if I wanted a water birth.

I wasn't sure if I wanted a land birth.

I knew if I had a land birth, I wanted to be outside of my flower garden.

Right.

So for those of you just tuning in, I heard Kayla's other stories.

She is a home birthing mom.

So it would be a planned thing, not like...

Whoops.

Yeah, not a whoopsie.

Yeah, no.

I strategically planted only flowers in my garden this year because I was like, listen, my baby's born...

my baby's due September 1st.

That's right in the middle of harvest time, and I don't want to be canning in a hot kitchen when I'm that pregnant.

So we're sacrificing the garden and planting flowers, and it's going to be a beautiful space.

And yeah, so we...

I have pro drama labor also with all of my babies, and it seems to start earlier on.

So my contractions start coming daily for periods of time, and they get closer together, and they get stronger, and then they just stop.

When does that start for you?

The last two have been around 36 weeks.

Or no, 32 weeks, because it was like eight weeks of pro drama labor.

Gravy.

And my midwife, bless her heart, she's like, your body just loves to contract.

You're just doing it.

That's probably why you have such fast labors, because your uterus is buff and ready to go.

I'm convinced that I've done all this toning and exercising by the time labor really starts, that we're just like, shoot, shoot a baby out.

But the thing is with my pro drama labor, and maybe, I don't know, maybe we got too confident in my pro drama labor, because I have this labor for weeks and weeks and weeks that never amounts to anything and never does anything, but I've always been able to tell when true labor is starting.

Like I've always had that one contraction where I'm like, yep, this is it, we're doing it.

This is the real thing.

Yep, because it's slightly different.

And there's never been a doubt in my mind.

And so we had even talked about that throughout the pregnancy, and my midwife had even asked me to talk to another mom that was like worried that she wasn't going to know.

And I'm like, no, you'll know, you're definitely going to know.

Yeah, I didn't know this time.

Oh, really?

It was not the case for me.

And I was like, OK, so part of that is the reason why things happened the way they did.

Things escalated quickly.

So I had pajama labor, like always, and I expected this big shift like I have with the previous three births.

And I woke up Sunday.

It was a Sunday morning.

And I remember I took this long shower, I shaved my legs.

I was like thirty nine and two because she was born the next day, thirty nine and three.

And it was my earliest I've ever gone.

I usually go right on my due date.

But I took this long shower.

I shaved my legs like thirty nine and two weeks pregnant, shaving your legs.

That's a big deal.

That's impressive.

Because I'm now three weeks, three months postpartum.

And I can't remember the last time I shaved my legs.

But anyways, it was like I had this nice long shower and we were getting everybody ready for church.

The kids were all dressed and I started having before this, I text my friend.

I was sitting on the couch and I think I was just wearing my bathrobe because I was like, that was too much effort.

I just spent the shower.

I just need to sit for a minute and chill.

And I was texting her and I was like, I do not have the motivation to get ready for church right now.

And she's like, it's okay if you just need to rest today.

I'm like, I might just need to rest.

But I went to the bathroom and lost my mucus plug.

Like as I was going to get ready to start getting ready for church.

And I was like, praise the Lord, we're having a baby today.

It's going to happen.

I'm like, this is it.

Baby's coming.

We're not going to church.

Cancel all of our plans.

And it was like eight o'clock, eight o'clock in the morning.

And I sent the kids outside to pick flowers from our flower garden, because I was like, it's going to be too hot.

Historically, my births have been eight hours, six hours, and four hours.

And so I was like, we might only have two hours before this baby comes.

And by then it's going to be the heat of the day.

And we're not going to have a garden birth like we had planned.

Like two hours from like, or sorry, eight, six, and four hours from when...

From my first contraction to baby in my arms.

Yeah.

And it gets quicker each time.

And so I had been praying for three hours because I figured that would give us enough time for the midwives and our birth team to get here.

Because I was like, if it's two hours, you might be cutting it too close because midwife lives an hour away.

I sent the kids out in the garden and they went and picked a beautiful bouquet of flowers for me.

And I put them in my little birth space.

And we were like in baby mode.

Things were going to happen.

My contractions, I was still having prodromal labor and it was still just coming and going.

And nothing was progressing.

Nothing was progressing.

But I knew I was having a baby today.

And my midwife was going over these.

I was going over our texts and our calls.

While I was trying to put together my birth story.

And she just kept saying, yeah, you know, just try to rest.

Make sure you're eating well.

You could have a baby tonight or you could have a baby a week from now.

And I was like, thank you, but don't say that, please.

Please don't put that on me.

It's not what you want to hear.

And so I was still convinced that labor was going to happen.

And then I think around two o'clock, I took a magnesium bath.

And things started picking up and I texture and I was like, hey, my contractions are like every six minutes and they're getting stronger.

And then I texture like 10 minutes later and I was like, nevermind.

They stopped again.

It was terrible because I was like on the ball ready for this to happen, expecting a really quick birth.

And my labor just didn't start.

And so I was like, disappointed.

My back was super achy.

My hips were really achy.

And I've always had back labor, but my contractions always like have a starting and a stopping point.

And my back doesn't hurt in between, but my back was just achy this whole day.

And so I was really discouraged.

I was not in the right head space because I was like, I should have already had a baby by now if this is when things were starting.

But my labor never started.

And I took a nap.

I took my magnesium bath and I took a nap.

And then my mother and father-in-law came and picked up the kids for evening service so they could take them to evening service.

And we were thinking maybe if the chaos of the house had quieted down a little bit that maybe things would start.

And I was like paying attention to my contractions, but also trying to ignore them and go about the day.

Because I know in my brain that I should just ignore things and go about my day and rest and focus on eating well and all that.

But in my heart, I was like, we're having a baby today.

This is going to happen.

I need to pay attention to my contractions because I'm about to go into labor.

So the kids got picked up.

I was discouraged.

I took another nap from like 6 to 8 p.m.

And I woke up at 8 o'clock and it was like dark outside.

I thought I was having these early labor signs 12 hours ago and nothing happened.

So then I was kind of resolving to, okay, this wasn't it.

I might really be pregnant for another week, like she said.

And I remember I got out of bed and I went over to our nursery and picked up Hope and got her out of bed.

And we were going to go in the living room and watch TV.

And in my walk down the hallway to the living room, I was holding Hope and my water broke.

Oh, has that happened before?

My water broke with Everly, but I was already having contractions when it broke.

The other ones had broke in the pool as I was pushing.

So this is the first time it would have started by your water breaking.

Yes.

So I was still just having random pro drama labor.

No, nothing timeable, nothing serious.

But then my water broke.

And so then I was all geared up again.

I was like, yes, we're really doing this this time.

This is actually going to happen.

I'm having a baby within at least a day.

Right.

So I was super excited.

I called our midwife and I was like, my water broke.

She's like, OK, that's great.

And things were a little bit more intense.

My contractions were a little bit more intense, but they were still super unpredictable and just all over the place.

And like a good midwife, she said, she told me to ignore them and rest.

And go to focus on.

Even though you had just woken up.

And I was like, fired up.

I was like, yes, I'm too excited.

I'm having a baby tonight.

My husband was excited too.

We ended up having like a movie marathon in the living room.

And we stayed up until one o'clock waiting for labor to start.

Oh, and then finally I was like, OK, this really might not be happening tonight.

So maybe we should go to maybe we should do what a midwife said, and we should go to sleep.

So we go to sleep at one a.m.

And at 2 17, I called my midwife and told her that I was having contractions that were getting stronger and closer together.

And they felt like the real thing.

Like, did did you wake up at 2 17 or is that like just when I decided to text her?

Yeah, it was like right at two o'clock.

I woke up.

So we laid down at one and I woke up at two because I was like, OK, that one was a little bit more intense.

And then I had a few more.

And so I called her to 17 and I was like, all right, this is actually happening now for real because I have been fired up for 20, almost 24 hours now about this happening.

It didn't happen.

But this is the real deal.

And they were still really sporadic.

I always had like this on switch where I knew this was it.

This is labor.

I'm in labor.

But these were just like my progenital labor was just getting stronger and more uncomfortable.

And I still didn't really trust it because I had been let down so much that day.

Birth is like a roller coaster for sure.

So she told me to get in the pool.

Not in the pool.

She told me to get in the tub.

She's like, take another bath and see what happens because if it's not true labor, it'll taper off again.

And then you can go back to sleep.

I said, okay.

So I got in the bath to see what would happen if things would pick up or if they would taper off.

And I had three strong contractions back to back, five minutes apart.

So I called her again and I told her, I was like, all right, things are picking up.

This is really, really the real deal now.

I keep saying that because I couldn't believe it in my head, I think.

And so she said, great, that's great.

So get out of the bath, go into your living room and just sit and be really still.

Because my uterus was so irritable.

And this is her words.

I have an irritable uterus.

And that's why I have prodromal labor.

But it was so irritable that every time I moved, I would contract.

And so it was hard to tell what was the real contractions and what was just like my regular prodromal labor and just having an irritable uterus.

So she told me to just go sit.

And it was 2.30, 2.45, I think, at this point in the morning.

And so the kids had stayed the night at my mom and papa's house.

So it was just hope here at the house with us because our oldest three were at mom and papa's.

And she wanted me to just go sit in the living room and sit on the couch and just stay really quiet and still for like 20 minutes and then tell her what was happening.

And it took me 30 minutes to get out of the bath and down the hallway to the living room, because every time I moved, I was having a contraction.

And I was like, I don't know what's happening.

Super buff uterus.

Yeah, my irritable uterus was on the job at that point.

So I woke up my husband, we went out to the living room and things were getting pretty quick.

And every time I moved, I would have a contraction.

So at this point, he's awake and we're back in the living room.

And after about 20 minutes of sitting and continued contractions, we were ready for them to come.

And so we called our birth team.

It was 3 44 a.m.

So it took me 30 minutes to get down the hallway, get out of the bathtub, get down the hallway, then spent about 20 minutes on the couch trying to be still and be quiet.

And things were really picking up.

And my midwife told me, she's like, you know, we want to be there to support you.

But we also don't want to just be sitting around staring at you and making you uncomfortable if things aren't progressing.

And I was like, no, I really think you guys should come.

So that was at 3 45 or 3 44 is when I called her.

I stood up in the living room at that point and was kind of leaning into like our bookshelf and swaying through my contractions.

My husband started filling up the pool, which we had filled up in the middle of the day the night before, because I was like, we're having a baby today and we got the pool filled up.

And if you heard my other birth stories, we are notorious for not having enough water in our pool because we don't get it filled up in time.

So I got a smaller pool this time.

It actually is not a birth pool at all.

It was like an inflatable portable bathtub.

So it's literally like the size of a really deep bathtub.

And so we had it filled up.

We had it covered and trying to keep it warm.

The water got cold.

We took water out.

And then that's before we went to bed.

So he's refilling the pool.

And I'm having strong contractions.

And I'm like, okay, I'm ready to get in.

So we got it full.

I got in the pool and I set up my camera to start recording.

And I'm so thankful I did because that's the only reason I know any of this information.

I set up my camera on the tripod to start recording and literally pushed record.

My husband was moving the camera around.

I got in the pool.

I was in the pool for 14 minutes and I started pushing.

And I was like, I'm still kind of blown away by this.

I just did this math a little while ago because I was watching the video.

So I got in the pool and this is the first time I'd actually labored in the pool because usually I get in and just start pushing.

And still it was only ended up being 14 minutes.

But I got in the pool and I remember saying at one point, I just want to get to the pushing part because I don't really like this.

And he's like, it's coming.

It's coming.

So 14 minutes in the pool, I started pushing.

And we realized that my midwife is not going to get here.

And I'm telling my husband in between contractions, I'm like, okay, you need to get the towels.

You need to get the little bulb suction thing.

And I was telling him, you can hear me in the video.

I'm like, okay, so when the baby comes out, make sure she stays under the water until her whole body's out, make sure her head doesn't bob up or anything, and then make sure her cord's not wrapped.

And I'm like telling him this, and then I'll have a contraction.

And then I'm like, I get done with my contraction.

And I'm like, okay, so if my eyes are closed and you need my help, just tell me to open my eyes.

And here's birth coach.

I was like going through all this in my head.

And then I started pushing.

And I like I was talking myself through this.

The video is hilarious because we got it all on video.

And so you can hear me.

I'm talking.

I don't know if I'm talking to myself or him at this point, but I'm like at one point I'm like, okay, this is the ring of fire.

I need to pant through this.

I'm like.

I'm watching this video, and I'm like, oh my gosh, it's hilarious.

But yeah, and we had prepared for a short, fast labor.

And so even our midwife told us, like make sure the things that you need right away are at the top of your birth kit.

Like make sure you have towels at the top of your kit and things that you might need Matthew to grab in a moment's notice.

Make sure he knows where all that is.

So we went through and reorganized our birth kit weeks ahead of time.

And so he knew where everything was, and he had everything on hand on top that he would need in an emergency, unassisted accidental birth.

So I had, looking back at the video, I 14 minutes and I started pushing and I pushed for a minute and 48 seconds and she was born.

Whoa, it was insane.

And at one point you hear my husband, like I start pushing and my husband says, are you sure you're dilated enough to start pushing?

Oh, nope, there's her head.

I would love to have been there for that moment.

I was like, I'll send you the video.

I'll show you.

But it was it was incredible because I was basically yet coaching him along in between contractions.

Like, OK, our birth team's still 30 minutes out.

This baby's coming right now.

And, yeah, I pushed and she came out and it was such a blessing because all of my babies have been born so quickly that they don't realize they've been born.

And so they're kind of asleep and they don't take their first breath right away.

And if we would have been in this situation and that would have happened without seeing it beforehand and how our midwives had handled it in the past, it would have really scared me.

But the Lord was gracious enough that we'd been through this already.

So when she didn't breathe right away, we weren't scared.

And I remember with Allison, our third, she really needed a little bit of extra support.

And I remember our midwife's assistant picking her up and holding her kind of upside down.

And they call it the postural drainage.

And that kind of alerted her to take her first breath.

And so I remember watching them do that with Allison.

And so when when Lauren was born and I pulled her up to my chest and I realized like she wasn't breathing right away, I just I was I just I kind of held her upside down and I was telling Matthew what I was doing.

I was like, OK, I need the suction.

But first, I'm just going to kind of tip her upside down a little bit.

And I did.

And I was talking to her and holding her like kind of at an angle, like 45 degree angle.

And then she took her first breath and cried.

And it was amazing.

I've got it on video.

I can share the audio with you.

Oh, I love it.

I figured out the time to share so you don't hear all of the pushing in between.

And speaking of time, what time did she end up being born?

Thankfully, my husband had the sense to look at the clock.

Because he was like 446.

She was born at 446 a.m.

And it was insane because things happened so quickly.

But our midwife had texted me.

She was like, okay, we should be there at about 520.

And he had asked me when I...

I could tell when she was descending because the moment I made that comment that I just want to get to the pushing part, the next contraction, I felt her move down.

And I was like, I was kind of bearing down.

I could tell she was right there, but I wasn't ready to push yet.

And I started pushing within two contractions of that, of saying that.

And he had asked me, he's like, do I need to call the midwife?

And I said, no, right now I need you all hands on deck right here.

Like, do not be on the phone right now.

Um, and so we, she was born.

I brought her up to my chest, kind of tipped her upside down a little bit.

And we got her to make that first cry.

And then I said, okay, now you can call her.

And so he calls, he calls our midwife and, um, she answers, but she didn't recognize his number.

And so she's like, hello.

And he's like, Hey, it's Matthew.

Um, Lauren was just born.

And she goes, Oh, congratulations.

Um, she's like, so how does she look?

How was her color?

And we're sitting in the dark.

Like our only light is a salt lamp.

And Matthew has a flashlight that he was like shining in the water because he had seen the midwife do that before.

So he knew that was what his job was.

Um, so he's like, um, well, I don't know.

We haven't looked at her yet.

And we turned the light on and she's like purple.

We're like, well, she's a little purple.

Um, she's like, okay.

So we kept doing what we were doing.

And I suctioned her nose and wiped off her face and everything and suctioned out of her mouth too.

And then, um, she pinked up beautifully and started crying.

And it was great.

I'm going to play this video.

It's 45 seconds, but it's her being born.

And then, um, me talking to her.

You can hear my husband say, as soon as she comes out, he's like, oh, praise God.

It's really sweet.

I'm going to play this really quick.

I got her.

She's trying to breathe.

There we go.

Come on, baby girl.

I need you to breathe for mama.

Oh, come on.

Yes.

Okay.

I'm going to tip her a little bit upside down more.

Come on, baby.

There we go.

There's a little cry.

Um, yeah, just the edge of it.

I'm gonna wipe your face.

And that's what I said.

Okay.

Now you can call the midwife.

But yeah, it was just my husband and I in the middle of the night in our living room, and we just had our baby.

I'm so happy.

That is so sweet.

And it was just really perfect.

And the big kids weren't here, which they had wanted to be part of it, but the Lord just knew what we needed.

And Hope was asleep.

She sleeps through the night and she was solid.

She was fine.

And yeah, so he called the midwife and we got her to pink up and everything was good.

I had no bleeding at all.

And so she's like, okay, so just add more hot water to the pool and just hang out there if you're okay hanging out there because we'll be there in like 20 minutes.

I'm like, okay, perfect.

So I hung out in the pool with the baby and they got there and then we stood up and got out of the pool and got cleaned up, delivered the placenta and then went to our room and we, and we did our little newborn exam and everything was beautiful.

It was perfect.

And by the time, by the time they left, our birth team left, it was really perfect because of course, you know, they clean up everything and you go to bed with your baby and then your house gets like a little turnaround and the laundry's washed and you know, everything's good.

And then it was morning time and Hope was waking up and so Matthew went in the room and got Hope and brought her in and she got to meet her sister.

And then my in-laws, I think we took a little nap.

We slept a little bit and my in-laws brought her, brought the big kids over around lunchtime and they got to meet their sister.

And so it was just, it was really sweet.

It was really a blessing and it was funny because I prayed for a three-hour birth and it was two hours and 44 minutes, 46 minutes.

And I was like, thank you Lord for answering my prayers, but my birth team still didn't make it.

But it was, it was, it was really perfect.

And I'm thankful that we had had the experiences we had prior.

So that things that might have been a scary moment weren't, weren't scary for us.

Like we were, we had the peace and the confidence and we knew what to do and how to help her.

And everything was, was really great.

It was, it was really beautiful.

So how has life been taking care of a newborn and also taking care of Hope?

So we have three under three right now.

Allie and Hope are both two years old.

Hope turned to a month after Lauren was born.

So it's been okay.

We had a little like nursing shortage.

We had some scheduling issues and one of our nurses went to Japan the week after she was born.

So that was interesting, but it worked out perfectly because my husband was home from work because we just had a baby.

And so we had all hands on deck here at the house and I was able to do the five five five like rule of postpartum.

So I spent five days in bed, not ever getting out of bed except for to use the bathroom like the kids and my husband brought me all my meals and everything with the baby.

And so I stayed with the baby and we nursed and we slept.

And then I spent five days on the bed where I would get up to do little things, but I would stay or no five five days in the bed, five days on the bed, and then five days around the bed.

Yeah.

So that helped my postpartum healing a ton.

I didn't have any tearing or any issues like that, but I just felt so much better doing that because in the past, I've always just kind of been right back in the living room with all the kids and all the chaos.

And this time I really prioritized that rest and my husband was able to stay home for the first week.

And then my mom came and stayed for the second week.

So it was like 15 days and it worked out perfect for me to do the five five five and really prioritize healing and resting and bonding with the baby.

I didn't do any of hopes, cares or anything during that whole period.

My husband managed all of it and we had nursing, her nurses came obviously came back from Japan.

But yeah, it worked out really seamlessly and I was so thankful because I really planned and prepared hard for us to be able to do that and for me to be able to get that postpartum rest.

Yeah, I mean, it makes a huge difference when you prioritize that postpartum.

From experience as well can say that it's a game changer taking this first couple weeks to just really rest and bond.

Well, this is so sweet.

You're my first third timer, but hey, I mean, if you and your husband aren't preventing anything, maybe you'll be a Chris's record.

I don't know.

He'll probably record a few more before.

We'll see.

We'll see.

But, Kayla, I really appreciate you coming on.

Is there anything else you want to share before we wrap up?

I don't think so.

I think that's it.

It was really short and sweet.

Short and sweet.

I know a lot of women out there who would love to have had that story.

Yes, that's my restitution for going through the nightmare of pregnancy that I go through.

That's my reward at the end of it.

I hear you and I feel you on that, but I almost would be like, hey, can we switch that up?

Can I have an amazing nine months and then one really horrible 24 hours?

Yeah, maybe.

I'm sure my kids would probably appreciate that more than having to deal with mommy being pregnant for 40 weeks and sick.

Oh yeah, I know mine too and my husband especially.

Yes.

Well, here's to maybe having you back for a fourth time.

Maybe.

You never know.

My husband says we need more bedrooms in the house, but then he also pointed out that we have two bunk beds that are still open.

Ah, well, there you go.

So you've got at least two more spots before you have to move.

Thanks for having me, Kayla.

Of course.

Thanks again for joining us today.

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