071 -Birth Is a Gateway to The Presence of God (with Katelyn Morgan) [Prodromal Labor, Nuchal Hand, First Time Mom]

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SHOW NOTES:

Have you ever heard of prodromal labor? It’s more common in subsequent pregnancies but not so common for your first. Poor Katelyn had to deal with endless contractions for days on end for weeks at a time, always wondering is this really it? Am I actually in labor now? It’s a total mind game, and brings you to a place of complete surrender to God. Hear how the rest of Katelyn’s labor went when it actually did start, and why a few hours after birth, she was already ready to do it again!

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Shoot us a DM at @surrenderedbirthservices on Instagram, and give us a follow while you're there!

TRANSCRIPT:

It was just like so intense, the whole entire time, just praying like, Lord, please help me breathe my baby down.

Like, I don't know if I can do another contraction without you.

Like, please help me get through this.

And afterwards, I would say that like I've never felt the presence of God so much, like I've never felt so close to him.

It was just such like a, I don't know, just kind of stripped me down, just me and him, it was very intimate.

Yeah, I don't know.

I don't know how to explain that experience, but I just felt so close to God.

In that moment, because I truly believe, like, I don't know how I would have done it without him.

Hi, I'm Kayla Heater, follower of Jesus, wife and mother of five children, Christian childbirth educator in Doula, and your host of the Surrendered Birth Stories podcast, where we share God-centered birth stories, evidence-based birth education, and our pursuit of surrendering our birth plans to God.

Let's get started.

Hi, everyone.

Happy week between Christmas and New Year's.

It's always a fuzzy week.

It has been ever since I was a kid, and even into adulthood, because I know most people are off work kind of in that time between Christmas and New Year's, or at least mostly.

It's like you don't even know what day it is.

You just know it's that week between Christmas and New Year's, and you're still just kind of in that relaxed holiday lifestyle.

So happy holidays, everyone.

I hope your Christmas was wonderful.

I hope your New Year will be off to a great start.

It's been kind of a whirlwind over here.

I'm actually pretty exhausted, but hopefully here in the next few days, I can get a little bit more rest and get to feeling better.

It's just been, whew, it's been an exhausting few days here.

But this is somehow our last episode of the year, last episode of 2024.

So I thought it would be fun just to kind of go through, you know, especially if you are a regular listener or you love this podcast.

I thought it'd be fun for y'all to hear just kind of how our year went.

So we, as the Surrendered Birth Stories Podcasts, are in the top 50% of podcasts, which I know isn't like crazy.

It's, you know, top 50%.

But goals, you know, goals for 2025 is to maybe get into that top 25%.

That's kind of like the next tier.

They have like top 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50%.

So, maybe our goal for 2025 is to get into that top 25% bracket.

I know we're kind of a niche podcast, you know, like a Christian birth.

We lean a little more natural, not that, you know, you can't be on here and share your epidural story or c-section.

We obviously have that too.

But yeah, a little bit of a niche podcast, but still, still, I think one that many, many, many more people could listen to if they knew about it.

So spread the word, guys.

Spread the word in 2025 about the Surrendered Birth Stories podcast.

Also, let's see, our most popular cities, okay?

So the people who listen most, I really thought it would be Greensboro, considering that is where this podcast is from.

But it's not.

It is Charlotte, North Carolina.

So yay, Charlotte.

Shout out to Charlotte for being our most popular city of listeners.

The rest of them are in North Carolina, except also number five is Detroit, Michigan.

So shout out to Detroit, Michigan.

So all the listeners from Detroit, awesome.

We love you.

Way to go.

Cool.

Countries, obviously, United States is number one by a landslide.

However, it's always fun to listen to other, you know, or to see what other countries people are listening from.

So let's see, we've got Singapore, Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands in our top five countries.

So shout out to everybody in Singapore, Australia, Germany, and Netherlands.

We are so glad that you all are listening.

Welcome, welcome.

And maybe what you've all waited for, our top five episodes of the year.

So this is not top five episodes of all time, like since we started this podcast, but just top five episodes for 2024.

So we've got episode number 59, How Positivity Can Pay Off with Katherine King.

So shout out to Katherine.

If you guys haven't gotten a chance to listen to that episode, check it out, episode number 59.

Then we've got episode number 50, Triumph and Tragedy, A Captivating Story of God's Healing and Steadfastness with Dr.

Kim Snyder.

That was a phenomenal episode, quite a tearjerker in my opinion, but such a great, great testimony to the goodness of God.

So if you didn't get a chance to listen to Dr.

Kim's story, episode 50, go check that out.

Next, episode number 29, educating yourself is a crucial part of birth success with Aaron and Chase Hamrick.

Absolutely loved that.

It's always fun to have a husband-wife duo come on.

They were clients of mine.

They took my class, and they just had such a wild birth.

They had, it was their first birth, only birth so far, and it was wild.

It was just very unlike your typical textbook first birth.

So it's a really fun story.

So check that out, episode 29, if you haven't yet.

Next was episode 23, Painless Childbirth and the Art of Child Rearing with Sammy and Michael.

I always mess up their last name.

Let's say Sammy and Michael B.

Shout out to Sammy and Michael B.

That was also a husband-wife duo episode, I think our first husband-wife duo episode, and that was really, really fun.

Getting to know them, I had never met them before.

I simply got to sit down with them for the first time and hear all of their stories.

And congratulations to Sammy and Michael, who have now had their ninth child.

So Sammy and Michael have eight babies, and now they just had their ninth.

So maybe we can get them back on here and hear that story.

I would love that.

That was episode 23.

So if you haven't checked out their Painless Childbirth episode yet, go back and do that.

And then our number one episode of the year, shout out to Kylie Wright, episode number 26, Trusting in God's Plan for Your Family with Kylie Wright.

So, it's funny because it's our number one episode, so you probably have heard it.

But if you didn't, episode 26 with Kylie was our most listened to episode of 2024.

Amazing.

That's just always fun.

It's fun to look back and to see, you know, what resonated with people or, you know, what episodes, I don't want to say did really well, but I guess just like enough people enjoyed to share with other people.

So, that's really cool.

We have over 7,500 downloads now, which is exciting.

My goal was 10,000, but you know, we'll hit that at some point because we're going to keep going.

We have no plans of stopping this podcast anytime soon.

So, I often get people, they ask me, they're like, or they'll say, well, you know, if you ever need a birth story, I'd love to share my birth story, but I'm sure you have so many people, you know, banging down the door.

And so, I'm sure the list is really long or the waiting list.

So, like, don't worry about it.

As if I don't really care to hear their story, but that could not be further from the truth.

I absolutely love hearing everybody's stories.

So, if you are interested at all, even a little bit, even just thinking about possibly sharing your story on this podcast, we would love, love, love for you to do that.

I know some of you who have even been on the podcast are pregnant again.

So, congratulations, and we're looking forward to hearing your next birth story.

So, again, if you would like to, or if you're interested in, or if you know somebody who you think should really be on this podcast, there is a link in the show notes right at the bottom that says to click here if you're interested in sharing your story.

You can fill out a quick form.

It comes straight to me, and then I'll be in touch with you.

So, I would love, love, love some more amazing birth stories for 2025.

Woo, 2025.

I can hardly believe it.

Well, guys, it's been a great year, but let's go ahead and get in to this week's episode, the final episode of 2024.

Have you ever heard of prodromal labor?

It's more common in subsequent pregnancies, but not so common for your first.

Poor Katelyn had to deal with endless contractions for days on end, for weeks at a time, always wondering, is this really it?

Am I actually in labor now?

It's a total mind game, and brings you to a place of complete surrender to God.

Hear how the rest of Katelyn's labor went when it actually did start, and why a few hours after birth, she was already ready to do it again.

Welcome to another episode of Surrendered Birth Stories.

I am your host, Kayla Heater, and I have Katelyn with me today.

So, Katelyn, why don't you take a minute and introduce yourself?

Tell us about you and your life and your day to day.

Awesome.

Well, thank you so much for having me.

I am Katelyn.

I am 25.

I am originally from Colorado and currently living in Missouri.

My family, we just kind of talked about before we started.

I have a one-year-old son, and I am currently about 20 weeks along with baby number two.

When did you make the move from Colorado to Missouri?

We came out here in the spring of 2022, when my husband finished school and started his career out here.

And what does your husband do?

He's a gunsmith.

Oh, cool.

That's a fun job.

Yeah, he really enjoys it.

It's very niche, for sure, but that's definitely his like passion and his interests.

So nice.

Okay, well, let's jump in to this birth story.

So what was it like getting pregnant?

Tell us that story.

What was your experience like?

We got married in August of 2022, and we were very blessed to get pregnant.

It was the very next cycle, so we were very excited.

But I was getting negative tests for, I think like a whole week after my late period.

And so I had just kind of like given up.

I was like, okay, I'm obviously not pregnant.

Like I'm just stressed out.

That's why my cycle's late.

And then finally I was like, I'm going to take one more test.

I took the test.

I like got in the shower, forgot about it for probably like 20 minutes.

I was like, I'm definitely not pregnant.

So then to come out of the shower and see that it was probably almost super, super excited.

So yeah, I've kind of given up.

I was like, even though it was one cycle, it's like I've gotten so many negatives.

I'm not pregnant this cycle.

We'll just wait till next time.

So it's kind of a surprise that I did end up with a positive pregnancy test.

So that was really exciting.

And he's the first grandson like in my family.

So my family was really excited too.

And I'm the oldest of three kids.

So it was just kind of fun to get married and then be able to start our family so soon.

Yeah, that's really fun.

So with this pregnancy, was it like a smooth pregnancy?

Did you have any like sicknesses or complications?

Or how did it go?

Overall, it was pretty smooth.

I was nauseous for probably about 18 weeks.

And like the first trimester, just exhaustion.

But other than that, it was pretty uneventful until I got to like later in the third trimester.

And then I was just so huge and uncomfortable.

But yeah, other than that, it went pretty smoothly.

We didn't have any complications.

Just got to keep living life and kept going to work.

So how did you go about seeking care?

Like what kind of care provider were you looking for?

And had you researched that ahead of time?

Like, was it something you knew about?

Or was it something you learned like during pregnancy?

So I knew for sure we knew that we wanted to have a home birth.

That was something that I was really set on.

With like work and everything, I kind of was like, okay, depending on how expensive a home birth midwife is, there was one birth center that like my insurance would cover and like one birth center that we had that was like close.

So like that's kind of a last resort if we absolutely like we can afford it.

So I went through like all of the midwives that were listed on my insurance thing, because I wasn't sure how else to go about it.

And everybody that I talked to was like, no, we're in a hospital, acted like I was crazy when they asked if they did home birth.

But I was just like, okay, I know that some midwives do home birth.

So that's kind of where I started.

Figured out the insurance wasn't going to be the way to go.

So I just Googled local midwives.

And luckily, there are a ton of options around the Kansas City area.

So there are a lot to choose from, but we ended up going with the first one that I had, and we had a consultation with.

She was amazing and just starting her own thing.

So we got lucky.

She was pretty great, just the first one that we interviewed.

But that's kind of what that process looked like.

I was just kind of swinging in the dark, I guess.

Well, that's cool that you were even able to find them on Google.

I know here in North Carolina, a lot of times you can't even find home birth midwives on Google.

You have to go through Facebook groups and kind of look for them underground because it gets all sticky and complicated.

Yeah, absolutely.

There's not any state licensing here in Missouri.

So some people, I think, maybe would see that as a negative.

But for me, I ended up seeing it as a positive because there weren't any state regulations that my midwives had to be held to.

They just had their own kind of set of rules that they operated by.

So I found that helpful.

And like I said, really, really blessed.

There's a ton of options for midwives around Kansas City anyway, so.

Oh, cool.

Well, that's fun.

Yeah, each state definitely has their own, like, policies and laws and licensing and stuff.

Yeah, it's definitely different from state to state.

I know Colorado is a lot more strict with midwives and their regulations and licensing and everything.

So I was glad to find out that Missouri was not so much.

Well, good.

So did they do, like, home visits at your house, or did you go to, like, some sort of office, or what did your prenatal care look like with them?

So they definitely did have the option for all of your visits to be at home.

That was, like, the more expensive package.

So she actually, she had just started her own practice when I signed up with her.

So she kind of turned just, like, a part of her house into her office and clinic.

So it was very comfy, cozy, very homey feeling anyway.

Pretty normal prenatal care.

They were able to do, like, all of the blood tests there.

We did end up doing, like, one ultrasound there in her office, I think maybe around, like, 13 weeks.

And so basically the only thing that we, as far as prenatal care that I couldn't do there was, like, the anatomy scan.

Everything else was through them, which was really nice and made everything flow smoothly, I felt like.

Yeah, that's great.

I mean, yeah, because I know it differs with different midwife offices, how all that works.

So that's pretty cool.

You're able to do all that there.

Yeah, I really enjoyed it, especially, like, once you get comfortable with one person.

So I didn't have to be dealing with, there were two midwives that we'd have appointments with, but I didn't have to be dealing with, like, hospitals and clinics and people that I didn't know.

Yeah, and all the different on-call providers and getting rotated through everybody.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, absolutely.

So how did labor start?

Like, how far along were you?

What did all that look like?

So that's where things got, like, really interesting for me.

Around, like, 37 weeks, I started feeling, I guess I had, like, really terrible cramps before I got pregnant.

So what I would consider, like, light period cramps, but they were timable.

I could tell that they were lasting, like, 30 to 45 seconds.

And they were anywhere from, like, 5 to 10 minutes apart for, like, I think by the time that I finally said something, like, that had been going on for 2 days straight.

So I texted my midwives.

I let my parents know.

I was like, hey, I think maybe I'm in early labor.

Like, I'm having these sensations.

I don't know if I said it.

I'm 37 weeks at this point.

I, like, told my work that I'm probably not coming back, sent all the stuff for, like, training the new gal.

And so my parents drove out from Colorado and are kind of, like, waiting.

I'm still having contractions for, like, a couple more days.

And then they just, like, stopped for about 24 hours.

And this went on, like, contractions for three days at a time for three weeks.

And it was so mentally challenging and kind of physically tiring because I'm, like, out walking and doing all the things, trying to get things to pick up.

I'm like, okay, they would get to maybe a strength of, like, a super bad period cramp where I'd kind of have to stop and focus through it, like, breathe through it.

And then I'd text them at Wives and Dueler, like, you guys don't have to come yet, but I think maybe it's real this time, you know, for, like, the third time, and then it would stop.

As soon as I was like, okay, it's getting real, then they'd stop for, like, 12 hours.

So very classic, like, prodromal labor, like the start-stop, on-off.

Yeah.

Did they suggest doing the mile circuit or position changes or chiropractic care or anything like that?

So, yeah, I was seeing my chiropractor still, I think, twice a week at that point.

Doing the mile circuit, I was doing any, like, spinning babies, three sisters, balance, is that what it's called?

Where it's, like, the inversion and, like, the sideline.

Yeah.

And now I can't remember the third one.

So, yeah, I was trying to do all the things.

Definitely considered doing things to speed it up at points, because I was like, I'm so done.

I'm so big.

Yeah.

You know, I've been having these contractions.

I just want to see my baby.

And then also, you know, I've had all these false starts.

So I'm like, maybe I should just get it going.

So, yeah, it was really, really difficult.

I was doing all the things.

Looking back now, I'm really glad I didn't decide to take cast role or anything to speed it up, because he didn't end up coming until 40 plus three.

So obviously, at 37 weeks, he wasn't ready.

Yeah.

And in the end, I am grateful for it, because I think it got him in a great position, and it got my body ready.

And so actual labor was only like 12 hours, which I feel like is pretty quick for a first-time mom.

Yeah.

So I ended up working out, but it was definitely taught me patience.

Like I was having lots of long talks with God about, you know, please give me the patience to get through this.

I know your timing is best.

You know, and, you know, baby, we didn't know if he was boy or girl at that time, but you know, you know when baby's supposed to come.

So that was a long three weeks.

But finally, at 40 plus two, my waters started to like slowly break.

I was like, okay, this is an actual, you know, this means we're closer.

It still could be a couple of days, but like this means that we're closer.

Yeah.

So that was super exciting.

My waters broke on, it was like Friday, that Friday around noon.

And I called him, let my husband know.

I was like, maybe just kind of finish up the project that you're on.

You don't have to come home right now, but just know things might start happening.

And I did start having contractions just a couple of hours after that.

I was like, okay, you can come home now, and help me get everything ready for the midwives.

Get everything set up, make sure the pool has all the air in it that it needs and all the things.

So yeah, it actually went pretty quickly after that.

I think I started timing my contractions between five and six.

They were starting to get to where I needed to focus through them a little bit more.

So I started timing them that night.

About 10 is when I called the doula and let her know like, okay, I'm ready for more support.

I'm ready for somebody else to be here.

And then she called the midwives shortly after she got there because my contractions started stacking on top of one another.

So there was hardly any break between them.

So she went ahead and called the midwives around midnight.

And I was so excited because then I was like, okay, I can get in the pool when the midwives get here.

So I had my husband start filling up the pool while they were on their way.

Because I'm like, I want to get in that ASAP.

That sounds amazing.

Yeah.

So yeah, around, I think it was around 1, 12, 13 or 1 that I got into the pool and labored in the pool for a couple of hours.

And everybody was feeling really tired, especially me.

I got to the point where I was like, I feel like I want to push, but nothing's really happening.

I was so exhausted.

And my midwife suggested laying down in bed, my side with a peanut ball.

And later on, I had to apologize to her because I was very grouchy about it.

It hurt so bad.

I was like, this is a terrible idea.

Like, I hate this so much.

But again, that's one of those things that I look back.

I'm so grateful for because we were all able to sleep in between contractions.

I was sleeping in between contractions.

Everybody got rest, the doula, the midwives, everybody.

We all got some rest in the middle of the night.

Yeah.

And then I was waking up in between contractions to the most intense sensation I've ever felt.

And I was like, what's going on?

I woke up and my body was just pushing.

And then I was going back to sleep in between, like pushing contractions, which is so crazy.

So crazy to think that it took me a second to figure out what was going on because I'm like, my body is doing something.

I don't know what this sensation is.

So I still was sleeping in between those contractions for a little while until I couldn't anymore.

I was like, okay, I'm pushing.

I had to give myself a really good pep talk to get up and get back in the pool.

But that was really difficult because I knew that if I was sitting upright, that gravity was going to be doing more work, it was going to get even more intense.

And I was like, I don't know if I'm ready for this yet.

But yeah, we finally, I finally got back in the pool.

And I think I was pushing in the pool for maybe about an hour, doing different positions, going through what I would consider transition.

Like I was hot and then I was cold.

I was like, I need, you know, I need the heater.

And then I was like, somebody get me a popsicle.

So that was kind of like, I was like, oh my gosh, I'm going to throw up.

And then I'm like, no, I'm fine.

Definitely transition.

Yeah, it was very back and forth.

I was like, what is going on?

And one thing that just got me through like all of it, cause it was, I was very, very vocal.

It was painful, but it was just like so intense the whole entire time, just praying like, Lord, please help me breathe my baby down.

Like, I don't know if I can do another contraction without you.

Like, please help me get through this.

And afterwards, I would say that like I've never felt the presence of God so much.

Like I've never felt so close to him.

It was just such like a, I don't know, just kind of stripped me down to where it's just me and him.

It was very intimate.

Yeah, I don't know.

I don't know how to explain that experience, but I just felt so close to God in that moment because I truly believe like, I don't know how I would have done it without him.

Yeah.

I think lots of believers who go through natural birth can completely relate to and understand exactly what you're talking about.

Yeah.

Again, yeah, I don't know how to explain it, but it was such an amazing feeling.

And then finally he like started to crown, and I got really, really hung up on like the horsey lips and kind of like breathing to slow it down.

And I'm like, I think I slowed it down way too much, and that could have been over a little bit faster.

But then finally when his head came out, my midwife said like, oh, he has a nuchal hand.

And it's so funny watching the video back because in my like, birth, I'm kind of like half in half out.

I was like, of course, baby does like every time because both of the ultrasounds, he had his hands up by his face.

And then throughout the third trimester, every time my midwife palpated, she could feel his hands up by his face.

So well before I went into labor, I just kind of accepted like we're probably going to have a nuchal hand situation, like it might be uncomfortable.

So of course, his hand was right there.

Right.

And my midwife, she used her fingers to make sure his elbow wasn't sticking straight out.

That was very nice of her.

Very considerate.

Yeah, that definitely would have hurt even more.

I think his head was out for maybe like a minute or two before I finally had another strong enough contraction to get him all the way out.

And he was born at about 6.30, 6.40 in the morning.

So from the time that I started timing my contractions to the time he was here, it was just over 12 hours, which again, I think is pretty great.

Like being a first time mom.

That is.

I was definitely preparing myself for a couple of days, trying to mentally prepare myself for a couple of days' labor.

So I'm glad it wasn't because it was a really intense 12 hours for me.

Right.

Well, and it's overnight when you haven't slept, and it makes it that much more exhausting.

Absolutely.

And I felt bad for the team too because I was texting them in the evening, and I'm like, I hope you guys got a nap because now I'm calling you at 10 p.m.

at midnight to come over.

They're very used to that.

It's part of the job.

Yeah.

It really was just like such a beautiful experience.

And I tell everybody that I can about it because I hear so many sad stories or like negative stories.

And probably just a couple hours after, I was like, okay, so for our next birth, this like, I want to do this, this and this.

And my husband saying, hey, calm down.

Like, let's just heal from this one.

Our son is only a couple hours old.

Like, let's just get through this postpartum before we're planning our next birth.

But that's so funny.

I love that.

So a home birth is like that, though.

I mean, like I even had a hospital birth and had some birth center births.

In those moments, I was like, no, I don't want to do that again.

Or if I do that again, I went in epidural, like all the things.

But after right after both of my home births, it was kind of that feeling of like, wow, I could do that a hundred times.

Like, yeah.

So how did postpartum go then?

How was breastfeeding?

How was that time since you were already home too?

Like how, just how did all that go?

It was such a great feeling to just be able to get straight into like my bed with my robe and like my comfy blankets and pillows.

One thing that I thought was really special is like our dog was there watching the whole time, just kind of like keeping an eye on things.

And so the transition for her, I feel like having a baby was super smooth because I'm not bringing home this stranger that she's never seen before.

You know, she like watched it happen.

She knew that he was obviously we had to be very gentle with him, so she didn't go close to him for a long time.

She was like, I know this thing is special.

We have to be careful with this thing.

That's so cool.

Yeah, it was really fun to just especially look back on pictures, and she's standing there, you know, watching over the midwife bag, and she'd come, you know, check on me a little bit.

I didn't have to go anywhere.

I didn't have to, you know, see strangers.

I didn't have to worry about getting in the car with my fresh new baby right away.

We can just get straight into bed.

Breastfeeding, we were very blessed to have a really smooth breastfeeding journey.

He still is nursing now almost 18 months later.

It was pretty smooth.

There are definitely things now that I'm pregnant again that I'm like, okay, maybe I tweak this up.

I need to be better about asking for help, especially now that I'm going to have a toddler and a baby with this next one.

Yeah.

But overall, we had really good support through family and friends, and postpartum was really pretty smooth for us.

That's great.

That's so nice to hear too that it can be that way.

So just curious, what are some of the things that you said you would change for your next birth, when you were talking about a couple of hours after he was born, you were already making plans for your next birth?

What are some of those things you were thinking about?

This is kind of how we got connected, talking about free birth.

I had gotten introduced to free birth when I was pregnant with Augie, and we've kind of gone back and forth on if that's what we wanted to do, we were going to keep our team.

And we're like, well, we've already hired our team.

We love our team.

And so we went ahead with having a midwife assisted birth with him.

And although for a while I went back and forth, I'm like, I couldn't have done that without them.

And I'm like, maybe I could have, I don't know.

I think we are planning on going unassisted this next time, or just having our support look a little bit different, not be a medical professional.

But yeah, I don't know.

Just a couple of things where I'm like, I just maybe wanted more hands off or less people.

Because even if you have just your midwife team and no relatives or anything, sometimes it can get a little bit crowded, and there's a lot of people around.

So yeah, those were some things that I was thinking about tweaking.

I did end up getting a Tosun after I had my son, and I don't believe that it was 100 percent necessary.

I wish that I would have been able to try some herbs first and see how that went.

So that was something that I'm like, like I said, I don't think that was necessary.

I think I would have been fine without it.

So those were some of the things that I was not huge things, obviously.

But some of the things that I was thinking we could tweak, but like I said, overall, I'm so grateful for that birth experience.

I loved the birth team that we had.

We've gone and visited them a couple of times, you know, as Ami's gotten older and catch up with them every now and then.

So, yeah, those were some things that just right away I was like, okay, that could be different.

Yeah.

Well, that's cool.

That's exciting to hear, especially now that you are pregnant.

And when are you due?

Around the end of April.

Oh, cool.

I have an end of April baby.

It was really nice.

A good little spring baby.

Yeah.

I'm excited to not be like 40 weeks pregnant in the Missouri heat and humidity of like June.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

I've been there too.

So, what do you feel like God taught you or showed you or told you through this experience?

Definitely, like I mentioned, through the end of pregnancy, just patience and surrender was a huge one for me, especially when I was in that phase of padroma labor.

I remember just laying down, probably while doing the mile circuit, praying, Lord, I'm surrendering to you.

Please just let birth take me.

Of course, whenever you're ready, I kept having to try to remind myself that, even though I'm like, I want to go into labor right now, if I started contractions right now, it'd be great.

So yeah, a lot of patience, a lot of surrender.

And then also just leaning on him in those really, really hard moments, you know, in those contractions where I can't help, but like my body shaking and I'm like making these noises I've never made before.

Just leaning into him and praying like, Lord, please help my baby come down.

Please help me push this baby out.

I don't know if I'm going to be able to push this baby out.

So yeah, but it was really fun getting connected with you and seeing that your podcast name is Surrendered Birth Podcasts, because that was just one word that I felt like I kept coming back to in praying to go into labor.

Yeah.

Or, you know, not having gone into labor yet.

It's just like, okay, surrender to you.

I know that you have a plan.

I know that your plan is the best plan.

Your timing is the best timing.

And so I'm just really trying to like give that over to him and rest in knowing that things are going the way they're supposed to be going.

Yeah.

I mean, that's why it's called Surrendered, because that's the lesson I had to learn that God had to teach me through literally every single one of my births.

And still even in this fifth one, I still had to learn that.

Like, I'm like, I wonder how many times it will take.

Well, is there anything else you want to say as we wrap up?

Any advice you would give to any moms out there, or couples out there who are wanting to get pregnant or already pregnant?

What would you say to them?

Kind of going back to just leaning on him and surrendering, like, I enjoyed doing all of the reading, listening to all the podcasts, you know, watching all the birth videos.

But at the end of the day, like, you're not ever going to be fully prepared or fully ready, and you just have to...

For me, I felt like I just had to lean into it before I could actually go into labor.

I just had to relax and say, like, I can't prepare for everything.

I can't be in charge of everything, and that he's gonna lead us through it, I guess.

Yeah.

I mean, that's exactly right.

It's great to prepare.

You should prepare.

You should get ready for this completely life-changing event, especially in the culture that we have today.

But, you know, you can only prepare so much, and then you have to just leave it with open hands and see what happens.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I definitely think the more that I got latched on to one particular thing or, like, one idea of something happening, the more that he was like, okay, you need to let go of it.

And if it goes that way, you're just going to have to go with the flow.

Yeah.

So.

Be flexible and adaptable.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, thank you for coming on.

Thank you for being willing to do this and to share your story.

And we're excited for you and your upcoming birth.

I know it's still like four or five months away, but still happy for you and pumped that you get to bring another child into this world.

Yeah, thank you.

Thank you so much for listening to today's episode.

You can reach me at Surrendered Birth Services on Instagram, or email me at contact at surrenderedbirthservices.com.

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Also, if you're interested in taking my child birth classes, birth consultations, or having me as your birth doula, please click on the link in the show notes to take you to my website for online and in-person options.

Just as a reminder, this show is not giving medical advice, so please continue to see your personal care provider as needs arise.

We hope you have a great week, and remember, learn all that you can, make the best plans, and then leave it in God's hands.

Our five-year-old is like our sneaky one.

He's our very mischievous, like, if he wants to do something, he's going to make it happen, and he will watch for the moment when you aren't looking.

And I went to go let our chickens out, and when I came back in, he had climbed up on top of the refrigerator with a stool, and then on the counter, gotten a lighter, climbed back down, went over to our fireplace, got like tissues and paper and stuff, and put it in the fireplace and lit it on fire, and said, oh, I'm starting a fire.

And I'm like, it's like on one hand, you're so proud for the skill set that he just displayed, and then on the other hand, you're like, okay, this is not the skill set I want you to have right now.

Yeah, that could have gone a lot of different ways.

Good for him for it being in the fireplace.

Right, he does know it has to be in the fireplace and not just anywhere around the house.

It definitely has to be in the fireplace.

He's very aware of that.

But at the same time, I'm like, Jensen, you cannot do that without mom or dadda.

And I'm kind of like, where do I hide these lighters now?

Like, I need to find another spot to hide them where he doesn't know where they are.

So.