Brittani D. | PPROM at 30 weeks, vaginal delivery with epidural, and a NICU stay.

On this episode of Moony Birth Stories, Ali sits down to chat with Brittani from St.Walburg, Sk. Brittani was under the care of an OB in North Battleford, Sk as her original plan was to deliver there.

 She had a pretty uneventful pregnancy until 30 weeks when she experienced preterm prelabour rupture of membranes (PPROM). Brittani was transferred to JPCH in Saskatoon where she was admitted to await the arrival of her baby. Labour began spontaneously where she goes on to have a vaginal delivery with an epidural. As her son was premature, they spent 28 days in the NICU. Brittani was delighted when they brought their son home. 

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Transcript

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 Hi, and welcome back to Moony Birth Stories. On today's episode, we are joined by Brittani from St. Walburg, Saskatchewan. She experienced premature rupture of her membranes at 30 weeks, where she was then admitted to the Jim Pattison Children's Hospital in Saskatoon to await the rival of her baby labor began spontaneously where she then goes on to have a vaginal delivery with an epidural.

Brittany goes into her NICU experience, including staying at the Ronald McDonald House, her pumping experience, and then also going home. Hi, Brittany. How are you? Good. How are you? Good. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Yes, of course. Let's start by telling everyone a little bit about yourself.

Perfect. So my name's Brittani and my husband Jesse. We live in St. Walburg, Saskatchewan. So it's northern Saskatchewan, about an hour and a half away from North Battleford. And then tell us your road to getting pregnant. So I was told at 1617 when I wasn't getting regular periods, so I went in and thought I would get it checked out, and they told me at 16, 17 that I had PCOS.

And they said that my chances of having kids without help would be next to none. So I knew that going into adulthood and it was always on my mind. So I was on birth control. That was what they recommended for my PCOS symptoms. I did try metformin and SelectOne as well for my PCOS, but for the most part I was just on birth control.

But it was horrible at taking it. I am not a good pill taker. That's fair. I would accidentally induce my period, like every two or three weeks, 'cause I would forget a couple of pills oh yeah. It was not the best the best plan of action for me. I think I took birth control until I was out of college.

And then I started dating my boyfriend and I told him very early on look, I have BCOS. My periods aren't even close regular. If I'm not on birth control, I just, I don't get a period. So we decided after a couple of years that I wouldn't, I would go off birth control and not, we wouldn't try, but if it happened.

But ideally we wanted to be married and be a little bit more set with our lives. But we also just didn't know how long it would take. Yeah. After a couple of years of that, nothing happened. And then we got engaged. Just to get ready for the wedding, I started losing some weight and my period started to get a little bit more regular, which was cool to see.

And at that point I was pretty involved in tracking my cycles. I don't know, I found a love for tracking my LH and taking all the test strips and all of that. And looking at all the forums. So I would track my ovulation and at that time I was like getting a period every two months, which was a huge improvement from every six months is what I used to get.

Yeah. So what do you feel like made the biggest difference? So yeah, you started to focus on losing weight, but what did that actually look like? So yeah, I lost weight. And I think it was a, like they always said, that was one thing that doctors would always say to me, if you lose weight, like you, your chances might be better.

I don't necessarily agree with that. But I think it's all about how you go about losing weight. So for me, I started eating pretty healthy. Like I had a very balanced diet at that point, so I was getting all the right nutrients, which I think for sure helped. With PCOS, it's all hormone based.

I think eating right can definitely help out with that. And I guess I should say too, I was also, at that time, leading up to the wedding, I started taking a lot of supplements. Like I was, I don't know, I can't remember if I was taking prenatals yet, but I was taking some supplements that, help with PCOS. So like a multivitamin and some other fancy supplements I can't even remember. They recommend so many different ones that help for different things. Yeah. So I think with a combination of that, it definitely helped with my insulin resistance. 'cause that's the type of P-C-O-S-I have.

Yeah. And then, yeah, I was down to I think 40 to 50 days between my cycles, which was really cool to see. Yeah. Awesome. It was a couple months before my wedding. Yeah. And then I actually surprisingly ended up pregnant. Okay. So that was exciting and nervous at the same time because I was like, oh my gosh, I am not gonna fit in my wedding dress.

Unfortunately though, that one did end up in a miscarriage, a very early miscarriage. Like a chemical pregnancy. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry to hear that. Yeah, it was tough. It like, as tough as it was nice to know that my body was starting to do things right. It was tough, but at the same time, like it, it also did lead to my son.

It's hard to lose a pregnancy, but it's also, I try to look at it as a positive because, I think it was five months later that's when I conceived my son. Yeah. So he wouldn't be here. But as much as I would've loved both them here, but, so yeah, we lost that. And then we had our wedding always great.

And then a few months later we started to really after the wedding, that's when I really started to get into, okay, like I'm tracking as much as I can, taking prenatals, everything. Making sure that we hit the days that I was ovulating or that I was like high fertility. Yep. So then about, I think it was like three or four months after that's when we got pregnant with my son.

Okay. And what were your feelings this time around? So much anxiety. Yeah, I bet. After a loss, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm sure anyone who has gone through a loss, like they would say the same. Like it's you just, you wanna be excited. And I was so excited, but at the same time I was like, the amount of pregnancy tests I took, it's not healthy.

I think I would take five or six strip tests a day and just compare the lines. And it was fun to do that, but oh my gosh. I would be like, oh my, this one doesn't look as dark. But I started to realize that different times of the day you're like, the lines were can be different. Like my first morning urine versus your third morning urine when you're a little bit more hydrated.

Yeah. So yeah, it was a lot of anxiety. But I did get blood work with this one, so I got every 48 hours I went and got my Beta G so I got to see the numbers rise and that put my mind at ease quite a bit. Yeah. Gives you a little bit more reassurance. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. And then, so when did you have your first ultrasound with that pregnancy?

We actually went in really early. I think I was just like six and a half weeks maybe. And at that point they, I believe they saw the sac and the gestational sac and the yolk sac as well. But they couldn't see a baby quite yet. It was pretty early. They actually said they wouldn't even give me like a due date at that point until it was seven weeks.

Okay. So I think I went in like a week later. Again, and that one we actually saw a baby and a heartbeat. So that was exciting. Yeah. Good. And then who is your care provider? So I went to an OB in north Battleford because we don't really have doctors around here too much. Yeah, my OB was in North Battleford about an hour and a half away, and it was Dr.

Yen and she was fantastic. Okay. So your plan was to deliver in North Battleford, correct? I was a little bit like it was. North Battleford. But at the same time, I wanted to go to Saskatoon because I'm actually from down south and now all of my family lives in Regina. Okay. So I wanted to be a little bit closer.

So my plan was maybe to stop in North Battleford when I went into labor, see how I was progressing. And if I could make it all the way, then I would try to Okay. And then we'll get there to see what happened. Yes. Okay. And then, so how was that pregnancy? Honestly, so easy. Okay. Like I, it was a breeze.

Like I, I was so nervous 'cause I wasn't puking. I had no nausea and I was like, what is going on? And that probably didn't help my anxiety at all because I was like I don't really have any symptoms. Yeah, I had sore breasts at the beginning, but other than that I guess I did have quite a bit of bad cramps too for.

Like five to eight weeks, I wanna say the cramps were like pretty intense. Like period cramps. Yeah. But then after that it was like nothing. That's pretty good. Yeah. Nice to not have too many negative symptoms to go with early pregnancy. Yeah, exactly. No, I was so scared. 'cause I've had quite a few friends and my sister-in-law and a few other people that have puked their whole pregnancy and hated pregnancy.

And I don't blame them because no one wants to puke every day, all day. Yeah. So I, I am very grateful. Yeah, for sure. Good. And then how were your feelings about labor and delivery? I wasn't too nervous for it. Like I knew that I knew my plan, like I wanted to get an epidural and I wasn't too scared for birth.

I have a few friends, like everyone that I've talked to said, it was hard, but in the end it wasn't that bad. So I wasn't too nervous. Okay. Good. Awesome. And then, yeah, tell us how labor started. Actually it was about like 28 weeks and I started having a lot of discharge.

Like it was an insane amount and it was like, it was gonna be a little TMI, but it was very like greeny and just like it almost. I honestly, this is me shameful being on Google. At the time we didn't have chat UPT really that much, but I would like Google my photo or Google photos of mucus plugs.

Yeah. Because I was like, am I losing my mucus plug already? What is going on? Yeah. So I actually went to my doctor for my regular checkup at that point and we talked about it and she did a check just to make sure that I wasn't dilated or my cervix was closed and it was all good.

I think we also screened for a UTI at that point and everything came back fine, so we just left it at that. And I don't know if that was an early sign, like if that was the, a sign that I was going into early labor, or if it was just normal for me, I don't know. Yeah. But then, yeah, about 30 weeks.

I actually woke up the morning and I was getting ready for work, like a year every morning, and. I felt like a gush. It wasn't, it was very small and I was like, okay, was this just a lot of discharge that came out at once? Did I pee my pants? Like everyone that's been pregnant there's questionable times where ah, I don't know if I just pee my pants.

Yep, yep. For sure. So I was like, so I changed my pants and I was like, okay. It was so weird too because I remember after I changed my pants and everything, I just got this feeling. I was like, I should take one last, like belly picture in the mirror. Okay. Yeah. I just had this like feeling. I was like I should just sit.

I don't know. But yeah, then I went on the day was at work. I, my work's a lot of office work, so I was just sitting down most of the day. I was actually training a new staff too. And I remember getting up. I was, I stood up and same thing happened again, but it was a little bit more intense.

Okay. And it like soaked completely through my pants. And I work in meadow, so it's about an hour away from home. Yeah. And it's actually right next to the hospital. So at that point I was like, I told my the girl I was training, I was like, Hey, I'm just I'll be back tomorrow, but I'm just gonna go get checked out at the hospital.

I'll be back tomorrow. I didn't really tell. Yeah, exactly. I was like, yeah, I'll be back then. I'm just gonna go and checked. And at first, like, when it first happened, I remember texting my sister-in-law, 'cause she just had a baby like in February. Okay. And I was like, Hey, did this ever happen to you?

Do you ever feel like a weird gush? Like at any point. And she's no, like I didn't. And she's do you want me to text all my nurse friends? 'cause she's a lot of nurse friends. I was like, yeah, sure, whatever. And I didn't tell my husband anything at this point. He was four hours away teaching.

Okay. He is a paramedic, so he is teaching some paramedic classes. Yeah. Four hours away. And I didn't say anything to him because I was like I don't wanna worry him. And then her nurse friends got back to her and they're all like, okay, yeah, you should probably just go get checked out.

So I was like, okay, I'll jump over to the hospital. It's right there. There's no harm in it, so Yeah. Better to get checked out than not. Exactly. Yes. And then I was I called my husband, I'm like, Hey, like nothing to worry about. I honestly, I think I just beat my pants. But I am gonna, the hospital just, and he is okay are you sure?

Are you okay? Do you want me to come home right now? And I'm like no. Don't stay there. You still have one more day of teaching. Everything's fine. Like I was so into now at this point I was like, no. I for sure it was either a lot of discharge or I peed myself. So I go to the hospital and I keep telling that to the nurses too.

I'm like, everything's fine. I, yeah, I just peed myself. I said that so many times that day, and I'm like, this is so embarrassing. I'm just telling everyone that I peed my pants.

Yeah. I was at the hospital. They sent me back. They checked baby's heart rate, and it was all good on the Doppler. I think I ended up waiting there for half an hour until the one doctor came on. In Meadowlake, they don't, they do deliver babies, but not super often.

So usually they don't have a lot of obs on staff. So I think the lady I saw was an OB and. She was just checking everything out and I was there for a couple hours and she did some swabs to see if it was my water that broke. And I don't know if I didn't really understand what was going on, but I was sure that everyone said oh no, like your water didn't break.

They checked my cervix, it was closed. But then she ended up calling North Battleford Hospital just to see what they wanted to do, if they wanted to see me or not. Okay. And it was actually my OB Dr. Yen that was on. And she said, yeah you know what just tell her to come here for a checkup.

At that point I was like, okay, I'm still in my clothes that are soaked. Soaked, yeah. And it's an hour and 45 minutes from Meadow Lake to North Battleford. So it was like asking the nurses and the doctor. I was like, can I just go home and then go there? Which would've been like, it would've taken me like two and a half hours if I went home and then to North Battleford.

Yeah. So I was like, oh, like I know everything's fine. I just, I really wanna get changed and just grab a bag just in case I have to stay overnight because they, I knew they wanted to do an ultrasound and the clinic there was already. It would've been closed by the time I was there. So there was a possibility that I was gonna have to stay overnight to get an ultrasound in the morning. And my husband again was four hours away, so I was like I don't really wanna hang out in these wet clothes, and I wanna pack a little bit of a bag. But the nurses were like, no, you need to head there. I got outta my car, I was driving and I remember people texting me like, do you want me to drive you?

And I'm like, oh, no. All good. Still in complete disbelief at this point. Yeah. I called my husband and he is okay, I'm coming home. And I was like no, it's fine. But he was like, no, I'm, I am, I'm coming home. So I was like, okay, that's fine. You know what, why don't you like, it was gonna be about the same amount of time, I think you would've had to drive through a small town to get to North Battleford. So I was like, please just stop and bring me a change of clothes. Yeah. Yeah. He was on his way, and then I was on my way to North Battleford. I got to the hospital and it was a direct admit, admit since I they talked and knew that I was coming in. So I got there and my OB actually ended up having to go on a different call.

She wasn't available, so it was a different OB at that point. And she was great. They when I came in, I remember the nurses saying oh, so your water broke? And again, I was like no, I'm just come in for a checkup. And they're like, no, I'm pretty sure your water broke. Okay. Because I guess, I think Meadow Lake told them that my water broke.

Yeah. But didn't really relay the message to you. Yeah. I don't know. I think I, maybe I was just like so in the moment and so like in denial. I was trying to convince Yeah, exactly. Like I was trying to convince myself like, everything is fine. And it didn't hit me that my water for sure broke until I was at the hospital, and then I started leaking consistently.

I remember asking, I was like, can I have a diaper? Because I was leaking so much and it's a lot. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, okay I'm like soaked now. I was soaking the bed. I was outta my clothes at this point and in a gown. But yeah, so they came in I was hooked up to an NST and I wasn't having contractions, which was great.

But at that point they gave me a steroid shot and put me on some antibiotics. And yeah, gave me the steroid shot to help with baby boy's lungs. And then they told me that they would be transferring me out to Saskatoon because I was only 30 weeks at this point. And they did not have a NICU or the staff that could deliver such a premature baby.

I wonder why then you, they would make you come to North Battleford and not just go directly to Saskatoon. Yeah, I'm not too sure. I think it was like I don't know. I don't know if it was like, you have to go through North Battleford to go to Saskatoon. Okay. Yeah. And they didn't really have the knowledge, maybe that's wrong to say, but I don't know if they knew exactly what was going on in Meadow Lake. So they thought that North Battleford would have a better idea. Yeah, that's fair. Yeah. So yeah, it thought there and at that point I called my husband. He was just getting to our small town and I knew I was going to Saskatoon.

I knew I was gonna be in for a longer stay if not giving birth in the next 48 hours. So I told him, I was like, okay, you gotta pack my bags. Yeah, this is real now. Yeah, I didn't even, I didn't have a hospital bag packed at that point, so I was just trying to tell him. I was like, you gotta bring this, you gotta find my freedom mom.

Diaper things and all of this stuff. So he's like rummaging through all of my baby totes, trying to find everything. Yeah. Good for you. For even having all that stuff at 30 weeks. Some people don't wind after. So it all right. It was all hand me downs from my, Okay, perfect. From my sister-in-law. So I was grateful that I had those things from her because they were definitely needed and very helpful.

But yeah, so he got to North Battleford. They did wanna send me by ambulance but we decided to go against that. Just 'cause we were, we would've had to wait a little bit. And we were just pretty confident. My husband's a paramedic and, I wasn't having contractions or anything like that, so we decided just to take your own vehicle.

Yep. So we did that. And I remember we were driving to Saskatoon, so it was about, it's about an hour and 15 minutes from Saskatoon, and this was at like midnight now, so it was quite late at night. I know the adrenaline was running high for both of us at this point, and we were driving to Saskatoon.

I was like, we don't even have a bassinet or a Crip, like so I was on my phone and I was ordering things as we were driving to Saskatoon. Yeah. So I was like, oh my gosh. Because they told me that I think what they said was I had a 50% chance of going into labor in the next 48 hours.

And then after that if I didn't go into labor by day seven, I would likely be able to make it. Close to full term. Okay. Because there was the chance that my waters could basically seal itself back up. Yeah. But they were full on prepping me to that I would likely give birth in the next 48 hours.

And I still, I really wasn't freaking out at this point. I don't know why. I, maybe it's just like a part of me knew that I was gonna be okay. I was so early, but at the same time I was like, okay, like I am 30 weeks. Like it, there is really great chances at that point. Yeah.

I did get the steroid shot too, so yeah. Were the doctors and nurses really reassuring. Yeah, for sure. I think they were just trying to keep me calm and tried to play nonchalant as much as possible 'cause I think the last thing you wanna do is freak someone out and all that anxiety and stress wouldn't have been good for either myself or the baby.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Yeah, so then we made it to, or Saskatoon at probably 2:00 AM got all checked out by the doctor and nurses. And we did like another, I think we did another NST and then after that they just told me to get some ruts. 'cause there was nothing really that they could do at this point with it being so late at night.

Yeah. And it was just waiting to see what your body would do exactly. Yeah. See if contractions would start or not. And I think around this point I started to, I think I was leaking still quite bad. But I remember, I think it was maybe the next morning I started to stop leaking as much.

It was still leaking a bit, but it wasn't as bad. And then that next morning they had us go in for an ultrasound. It was right at, we're in JPCH and the Children's Hospital and they actually had an ultrasound clinic right on that floor. So it was great. We just wheeled over and got an ultrasound and they checked for just to see like what my water levels were at.

Yeah. We had to wait a little bit for the results of that, but they ended up saying that my like, level of fluid actually was pretty good. So at this point we're like, okay, think the week had sealed itself up. And then after it was just a waiting game. So they gave me my second steroid shot.

And then I was on IV antibiotics and I just remember asking like all the time does anyone know what caused this? And no one could really give us a straight answer. Like it could have been a infection. Yeah, it could have been my cervix shortening. But my last ultrasound. They would've checked that was 20 weeks and my cervix was good then.

Yeah, it was nice and long, so we don't really know what had caused it, but they just considered it as prom. So premature rupture. Rup of memories of membranes. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. So we were in the hospital for a few days and I remember just asking them, okay can I go home yet? I don't think I'm going into labor.

There was talks about keeping me in the hospital until I gave birth, and then there was talks about maybe getting a room at the Ronald McDonald House 'cause we didn't have any very close family and friends that we could have stayed with there. And I just didn't feel like I wanted to. Put that burden because I knew I was gonna be on bedrest and I didn't want anyone to have to cater me, cater to me.

We were just trying to come up with a plan. I really wanted to go home and I was pretty confident that I could manage it at home with proper care, with my ob. So everyone was on a different page. Like some doctors were like, no, we should keep you in here until 36 weeks. Yeah. And that's, if I would make it to 36 weeks, that's when they would induce.

'Cause at that point the risk is pretty minimal because I'm very close to full term. Yeah. Just to clarify, so like when your water breaks early, the they do a risk versus benefit, like the risk of, delivering baby at this stage is greater than the risk of infection or anything when your water breaks, but then after that 36 weeks, it's okay, baby is big enough and healthy enough to be delivered at that stage that the risk is.

Greater to keep baby in there, basically for everyone. Yeah, exactly. Yes. Yeah, that's exactly it. It was just at that point was try to make it to 36 weeks and go through an injection. So that's what I was planning for and I was pretty confident that's what the outcome was going to be. Spoil alert, it was not.

Yeah, I was in the hospital, my husband was with me. It was just a lot of waiting around. I remember waiting a lot to watching a lot of tv. I was binging the Secret Life of Marin Wives at that point. It helped the time pass and. I was really progressing at all. Like my cervix was still closed.

It either closed or I was at one centimeter, I can't remember. But there was nothing to be concerned about. There was no early labor signs whatsoever. They did nst, so non-stress test a few times a day and everything came back. Baby's heart rate was fantastic. I think it was day six. And so at that point, if I made it to day seven, they would feel pretty confident in sending me home.

'cause the chances of going into labor after that were like very slim. Yeah. So it was basic six. And my husband actually had a golf trip that he planned, like he goes on it every year and I was like, you know what, just go like you're gonna be. Like not too far away. And I was like, there's no point in you just sitting around the hospital sleeping on this very un uncomfy couch.

You might as well go have fun and if anything happens, I'll call you and come back. So it took me a lot of, it took me a lot of convincing him to go. Yeah. But I was confident that nothing would happen. That night after he left, it was the day before I was supposed to go home. So I had a plan with my OB that I would go in twice a week to North Battleford for a non-stress test.

And the doctors were okay with that plan. So the next day I was supposed to go home, it was no. 12, I think. Yeah, midnight. I actually started to get some back pain. It was like on and off back pain and this was my first time ever having contractions. Yeah. So I didn't put together that it was contractions.

I just thought, okay, I've been laying on this bed for six days now and I like my back. I didn't walk around too much. Sure. We went around to the cafeteria and walked to down the RUH hallways a few times just to get up, but. For the most part, I was in bed, so I was like, okay, it's just my back hurting.

I did end up mentioning it to the nurse though. And she did hook me up to the NST and they couldn't detect any contractions at that point. So I think they were just very small. Yeah. Or she just didn't get any reading. So at that point I went to bed. And I woke up at a 4:00 AM and they were getting pretty consistent, like every, like five minutes or so.

Okay. And you were only feeling five, five to seven minutes in your back? Yes. Okay. Only my back like that was it. So it was hard. Like I know like people talk about back labor. But yeah, it really honestly just felt like back pain on and off back pain. So I didn't put together that, that's what a contraction feels like.

Feels like for some people. Yeah. So yeah, they hooked me up to the NST at that point and my contractions were reading and they were pretty consistently around every. Five to seven minutes. So I remember looking at it, I was like, should I call my husband? And she's yes, you need to call your husband.

Yeah. So I call him and he answers his phone like first ring. And he told me another crazy thing, like he told me that he woke up. Five minutes before I called at four in the morning and out of nowhere he just woke up and yeah, he just had this, I, he, I don't know if he had this feeling or what, but then I called him.

So he answered on the first ring and he is is everything okay? Like he just had this feeling too. Yeah. Wow. And I was like, no. Like he, yeah. Yeah. Like it was the same thing about how like I had the thought to take a picture in the mirror. Yeah. Before my water broke fully. So yeah, so he ended up bracing from he was at Candle Lake, so he ended up b racing all the way to Saskatoon.

And I just stayed on the phone with him the whole time, kept him in the loop of everything. And at that point, I think once we got there, they ended up checking me and I was at four centimeters dilated. They did try to somewhat stop. Contractions. I don't think they were trying really hard to stop contractions.

Like I, I think they gave me magnesium and morphine. Okay. And they said sometimes that can help stop the contractions. But at this point, like I was 31 weeks, I had my two doses of the steroid shot for his lungs. He was measuring not too badly, he's measuring on track for his gestational age. So they were just seeing what was going to happen.

And then, yeah, I was forcing centimeters dilated. So they were pretty confident at this point that I was gonna deliver within the next 24 hours. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So then he got to the hospital and they sent me off to the high risk delivery wing. And I am, I'm a Ws with pain meds, so I like, when I take any sort of pain meds, I am like so drowsy.

Okay. So I was just, I was trying to sleep so hard. The contractions were pretty painful at this point. But I would sleep in between every contraction. I was so tired. Yeah. I was just like trying so hard to sleep. And I was, I would fall asleep for five minutes, then get woken up with a contraction and then back to sleep.

It was probably the best 'cause I think it went by. Pretty quick. It maybe the next pregnancy, I won't take morphine because Yeah, sure. I wanna be a little bit more present because I feel like I did miss my whole labor. 'cause I slept the whole time. It doesn't sound like the worst thing, but No, it doesn't.

Yeah. And then it started progressing pretty quickly at that point. Once I was like a seven, they offered me the epidural and at that point, contractions were very painful. I remember just squeezing my husband's hand and he was just like, the look on his face. Like you could tell it was hurting him so bad, but he toughed through it.

Yeah. And so yeah I opted for the epidural and it, it went in really great. And then after that. I was smooth sailing. I was like, okay, this is my time. I am just going to nap. So my husband actually, he was the one, he would hold my little button when you wanted some more meds. Yeah. So when it was done, it's time out, you would press it again.

It was a good system because I felt amazing. Yeah. Yeah. See, I didn't, after that epidural, like I really did not feel my contractions. And do you know what time you got your epidural? I wanna say it was probably around like maybe 10, 11. Okay. In the morning. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I was about a seven when, that was when I got epidural.

I think a couple hours later, I believe it was around. About 1:00 PM they came in and so they was at a 10. And I was still so sleepy. And they told me, they're like, Hey, if you want, if you don't feel the urge to push, like you can just wait a bit, because his heart rate was pretty good at this point.

So they said that it could wait up to 30 minutes before pushing. Okay. And I was like, all for it. Let me nap a little bit before. Yeah. Little pre pushing nap. Yeah. Yeah. I think it was about 10 minutes and then they came in and his heart rate was starting to dip a bit. So they're like, okay, you have to start pushing right away here.

And that's when we got briefed a bit too. Sorry, this hate a little emotional about this whole part. So yeah they came in and they told me like. Don't expect a cry. And he might not be like, breathing on his own at this point because he was like only 31 weeks at this point.

So his lungs were a little bit they were very underdeveloped. Yeah. But yeah, they told us not to expect any cry and they were wheeling in all the equipment and stuff like that. And my husband who works in the medical field, like he recognized all the equipment and he didn't tell me this until like months later, but he was very nervous 'cause like he knew what all that stuff was for.

He saw them like prepping, like this stuff for intubation and things like that. I was actually pretty relaxed at this point. Like I was nervous, but I was just focused, I was just trying to focus on my, on getting this baby out and just going through the next steps that way. So yeah, at about, I think it was one o'clock, maybe just after they told me it was to start pushing.

So the high risk doctor came in and we had a whole team of people. We had quite a few people. The NICU team wasn't in there yet. They were just waiting because they outside. Yes. Yeah, exactly. They were just waiting until they gave him Okay. The okay. When we were pretty close. So the struggle I had though was the epidural was too good and I didn't really feel my contraction, so it was hard to know when to push.

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So it was tricky. Like I had to. Almost guess when I was having a contraction, like I could somewhat feel it, but it was, I would always feel it when it was too late. Like I would feel it when it was just coming down. Yeah. Not when it was building up. Yeah, I yeah, I just guessed when to push.

And were they directing? It worked out a bit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They were like, okay, I think you're about to have a contraction. So at that point I was trying to push with all my med, because it was hard to even tell, if I was pushing. Because I was I just, I couldn't feel anything at all down there like it was, it was like a double edged sword, right? Like it was great because I didn't have any, like much pain. I wouldn't say I didn't have any pain. Like it was definitely still some pain. Yeah. But it was a lot harder to know what my body was telling me what to do. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. I think I pushed for about half an hour at this point.

And his head was like, he was crowning. It was like the whole ring of fire and he would almost like I would push his head would come out a bit and then it would get sucked back in. Okay. Yeah. And yeah, and that would happen. Like it happened quite a few times. And then at that point, like he was pretty little.

So this really shouldn't be like. What's going on? The doctor stuck around right up there to try to see, and he was actually coming out like in a superman pose. Okay. So his hand was up. Oh, yeah. So it was like blocking him from coming out. So she said once she touched his hand, like it must have just shifted him a little bit because like on the next push, he came right out after that.

And he actually he came out and he was crying, so it was, yeah. It was really great to hear. It was like the sweetest, like tiniest little cry, like nothing like, your typical newborn cry. It was just these little like chirps and Yeah. And yeah. It, but it was so sweet to actually hear the cry.

Yeah. It was something to hear. Yeah. Exactly right. Because we were fully prepared not to hear anything at all. Yeah. Yeah. They took him and they actually, you know what, at this point they let me do, that was another thing they told me that I wouldn't be able to do any, I likely wouldn't be able to do any of the delayed cord clamping.

Yeah. Because of his breathing. But since he came out crying he, they let me do a little bit of a delay cord clamping. I don't know if it was the full minute, I can't remember but it was something Yeah. Which I was very happy about. I didn't get a hold of him right away but at least you got to look at him and he was near you for Exactly yeah.

Yeah, then they cut the cord and took him back to his little spot there. And they put him on. Some A-C-P-A-P, so they didn't need to intubate him, so that was fantastic. They did have to give him a couple of little puffs with their machine but nothing too crazy.

And they let us hold him for a minute once they wrapped 'em all up and had 'em all hooked up. Aw. And then, yeah, it was great. It was super great to be able to hold them. We got to snap a quick picture and then after that they wheeled them up to the NICU and I sent my husband there. 'cause I was fine to be alone, but I didn't want our son to be alone.

I wanted to know what was going on. Yeah, for sure. Up there. I wanted someone with him. Yeah, that was the birth. Amazing. And then how was like immediately postpartum or delivering the placenta and like, how are you doing at that point? I was good. I was actually, again, still so sleepy.

And so I think I ended up having a half an hour nap while they came in and did all the things they had to do, like the fun massage and things like that. So they just let me rest and did the funnel massage every however long that they had to. And then when I was good, they let me have a shower.

So they helped me have a shower and then I think it was about an hour after, and I called my husband and I said, okay, they're letting me come up. He had to come down and get me. And I remember at that point they were like, okay, like you have to go up in this wheelchair. And I was like.

But I like, I feel great. Like I can, like I'm good. Like I can just walk up there. I was just on another level. There's so much adrenaline. Yeah. But I did end up going in a wheelchair. Good. You just delivered a baby an hour ago.

Yes. There is something about moms like I, when they say moms are superheros, like for real, like you just like the pain is like, you forget about it all in that whole time. I remember directly after I was like, oh, giving birth wasn't that bad and I still talk about it now. I'm like, oh yeah.

Giving birth wasn't that bad. But I do remember having those contractions and when a, the ring of fire it was painful. Yeah. But yeah I'm happy. I'm happy that your overall outlook of it was positive. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. I think that was the best way to go about it. There were so many unknowns, but there was no point stressing on the unknowns because you couldn't do anything.

We really just tried to look for those positive moments and hold onto those, and I think it definitely helped for sure. Yeah. And then how was it he doing in the nicu? Really good. So they, I think they put him on. Sorry I'm not very great at the whole medical terms. That's my husband's specialty.

So he knew what exactly was going on. I did it so much. But they had him on, I believe, like a high flow at that point. So they took him off the cpep, like he didn't have the nose thing on. Okay. At all. They just had like those just nose prongs in. And yeah, he was on high flow for a little bit, or CPAP or something along those lines.

Yeah. And he was on there for three days. But everything else, like he was great. Like they came in and. Did all of the things like ultrasounds. They checked on his lungs, they did some x-rays, and everything was looking fine. Like at this point it was just worrying about him gaining weight and like he, yes, he had, he was on oxygen for a little bit I think it was seven full days before they took him off everything.

Okay. Or maybe a little bit after, but around that time. Yeah. Yeah. What did he weigh when he was born? He was three pounds and three and a half pounds. Okay. Three pounds, nine ounces. And he did dip as low as three pounds, two ounces just after birth. Yeah. Yeah. So he was very tiny. But to this day, like whenever I send pictures to everyone they, I'll say that he looked like a good preemie.

Like he was like. He he was a little bit yellow and red and all that, but like he didn't, from the pictures, like it was hard to tell that he was as small as he was. Okay. Because he looked pretty good. Yeah. Yeah. And he, it was actually funny. We did it. I didn't want anyone to worry that I was going into labor.

So like everyone knew I was in the hospital, but I didn't tell anyone that I was actually going into labor when it happened. Yeah. So I didn't tell, like I didn't tell my mom, my dad, my sister the only person that knew was my sister-in-law because she was actually supposed to come up and visit that day.

And I had to text her and tell her not to come. So she knew, but every, everyone else didn't. And we she just ended up FaceTiming everyone, all of our close family and friends. And it was just a FaceTime of our little baby. Aw. We gave everyone a little bit shock that way but it was good. I liked doing it that way.

It was so we didn't have to, because I know everyone would've been so worried. Yeah. It's, yeah. It's nice to show okay, baby's here, we're good. Give everyone Yeah. Reassurance. Yeah, exactly. Yes, for sure. Awesome. And then, so how long did he spend in nicu? So he was in the NICU for 28 days and he did really great in the nicu.

Like he they told us we'd have to be there until he was at least 35 weeks gestation. And really it all. All he needed to do was grow. So once he came off oxygen, like he, he still had his feeding tube in and all of the sensors and stuff. But at that point, yeah, he just needed to gain weight before we could go home.

I think around like probably two-ish weeks that we were in there, they started letting us try to breastfeed. And he didn't, he was just really tired and pretty weak at that point, so he didn't do super great at that. And then about a week later we started introducing bottles. And then once we, they told us once we were able to, get on bottles completely and have 'em good with that, then we could look at going home. Yeah. Yeah. I remember, like I, I would have quite a bit of visitors that would come and see us. Which was really great. I remember my dad was I went and got him down from the lobby of the hospital and we were on our way up and at this point, like no one really told us.

I remember asking the nurses every day, I was like, Hey, have you heard when we're going home at all? And everyone's I don't know it's so hard to tell. It all just depended on like the doctor doing rounds that day too, when they would decide like when they're going home. The doctor a couple days before was like, okay, like couple more weeks.

'Cause he was still pretty small at this point, like around. 26 days. Like he was just four pounds. Yeah, that is, yeah. And they won't, yeah. And they wouldn't let us go home until he was at least four pounds. I always thought it was five pounds, but I guess it was four pounds once they can fit in a car seat.

Okay. And when they're 35 weeks. Yeah. I was on the way up with my dad and I remember getting a call and they were like, Hey, you're going home today. Oh my gosh. And I was like what? I was not explaining that I didn't actually, I didn't even have our, my husband was back home working and I just stayed at the Ronald McDonald House at that time.

Yeah. Which, such an amazing resource. I was so thankful for that we had that opportunity to stay there. Yeah, that's amazing. To have and be so close to the hospital. Yeah. Yeah. It was amazing. So yeah, again, he was working and I was like, Hey, so we're going home. You gotta tell work that you have to leave and you need to bring up the car seat.

So I convinced them to let us stay one more night because I was like, I don't even have my car seat here. Like we were not expecting. Yeah. Yeah. And we were not expecting it. But I was very thankful. My husband, like during this time that we were in the nicu, he did have to work a bit. So every time he would have days off, he would come and spend.

Spend time. But he was at home when he was working. He was setting up the nursery. 'cause at this point we had nothing set up in our nursery. Yeah. Oh man. We had, yeah, like the crib wasn't built. We had this massive IKEA dresser that I was like, yeah, we can do this together. Yeah. No, that did not happen. He had to do it all by himself.

Same with the crib and everything like that. But he was amazing and he set that all up by himself and got everything ready at home. So once we got the call, like he just needed to come with a car seat and the next day we were on our way home. Good. And so throughout this time, were you. Were you pumping?

I was, yes. Okay. I was trying to keep on the, every, like three hour, three hours. I struggled a bit with it. I feel like I got seven pumps a day. I know at this point they were like, try to aim for eight to 12. And I was doing about seven. It was just really hard to balance, like going back and forth from the Ronald McDonald House and people were coming in and visiting and stuff.

I wish I was a little bit more diligent on the pumping, but I was also, I felt so discouraged too because I didn't produce a lot and nothing that I did helped me. I actually even went on a medication to help and the medication oftentimes helps a lot of people and it did nothing for me.

I was on the max dose. Oh, okay. Yeah, but I did, I was able to feed him for a bit because his stomach was so tiny that like I think I was only making around 60 mils, so two ounces every three hours at the most, like between 45 and 60 M mils. Yeah. And at that point it was enough to feed him 'cause he was so tiny.

So it was fine for a bit. And I was great grateful that I had that opportunity while he was so small. 'cause I know it was very beneficial because formula can be a little bit hard on preemie stomachs. Yeah. So it, it was nice to be able to have that. And we, we did have donor milk at the beginning too, which was great.

Okay. Yeah. Pumping can be a full-time job with actually pumping and then washing all your pump parts. Especially in the nicu It's, yeah. It could be so far away to go and wash your pump part. Oh, yes. It is crazy. Yeah. Like you have to and just like you, you pump for 30 minutes and then you have to gather all your pump parts and walk down to the pump cleaning room.

And by the time you get back and everything's all said, done, you have an hour and a half, two hours before you have to start the whole process over again. Yeah. Yeah. It's seriously a full-time job. And then finding time for, to take care of yourself and for you to eat and for you to talk to the doctors and nurses and have visitors.

It's a lot to keep up with pumping and then to wake up in the middle of the night when you just wanna sleep. Yeah. If it's time. Yes. Yeah. Like new appreciation for moms that just like that. Pumped. Like completely pumped. Yeah. Exclusively pumping. Yes. Because that's what we ended up doing because my son never took to breastfeeding.

We really tried, but with my low output and really having to focus on that ga the gaining weight we ended up deciding to stop with the breastfeeding, trying to breastfeed. 'cause he just he wouldn't, it'd be a few minutes and he would give up. He wasn't latching super great. So yeah, I went to exclusively pumping and.

No one. Like you think breastfeeding, like breastfeeding is very hard, obviously. You're on demand a lot with that. But yeah, exclusively pumping is very hard too. Yes, it is. For sure. It's 'cause yeah. You add on the whole part of washing all the pump parts. Yeah. And I know there is some hacks where some people put it, their pump parts in the fridge which I think can be very helpful.

In our situation, we decided not to, and we would clean all the pump parts and sanitize them every single time just 'cause he was so little. And I didn't feel comfortable with risking anything. So I, yeah, we washed the pump parts every single time. Yeah. With a preemie, you don't wanna take any.

Risks for sure. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And then, yeah, how were you doing? I know you sound pretty positively, but just with postpartum recovery, how was that? It wasn't too terrible. Yeah. I didn't have the hardest time. Like I, I did definitely go through some postpartum depression.

I think it was a lot more anxiety than depression. Just 'cause it was such a crazy situation and I was so worried once he was home. Like you, you get so used to when your baby's in the nicu, like you get so used to them on these monitors and they're okay. Yeah. But when you're home and like you, you.

You don't have those monitors, so you're constantly wondering is are his fats okay? Yeah. Is his heart rate fine? Like you just don't really know at that point. Yeah, you don't have, without those monitors, you don't have the monitors and you don't have someone, a nurse to call. That's exactly right.

Yeah. Like you, the nurses were just so amazing and they knew so much and they were so helpful and yeah, to lose all that help was, it was hard. 'cause the nicu it was hard, but at the same time, like I was able to, other than pumping, like sleep through the night. Yeah. Because I didn't, I did not sleep at the nicu.

Just with, I knew her stay was going to be long and. All he did was sleep. Like he rarely woke up at that point 'cause he was just so tiny. Yeah, I went back to the Ronald McDonald house and usually phoned once a night and yeah, other than that I got to sleep through other than my 30 minute pump ses a couple times a night.

So then you go home and it's okay, you're now having to do everything. So it was a big transition for sure. Yeah, I bet. But probably felt so good to have him home. Yeah, it was super great. Awesome. And then, so yeah, we'll just end with the two questions I'm asking everyone. So what is a piece of advice you would give to someone heading toward their labor?

I guess my piece of advice would be is to be open to change. So likely not everything will go the way that you dreamed. So just try to keep an open mind and try to go with a flow and stressing isn't going to help anything. So true. And then, what surprised you the most about postpartum? I think when they say that, like when people say to you like, the days are long, but the weeks fly by.

I didn't really understand what they meant, but that is probably one of the most truest things for your whole, like the whole right after you give birth up until a year, for your whole child's life. But it all of But all of motherhood is that. Yeah, exactly. But yeah, the days were long like having to wake up and having to function on really no sleep.

But the weeks do really fly by it's crazy, like how fast that time was. Like I, it's so hard to think back to that. Like I, I miss the whole, the newborn phase and stuff like that, like the days felt so long at that time. But just try to enjoy those days. 'cause they're gone in a flash.

Yeah, for sure. Enjoy the good moments. And during those hard moments, it's okay to wish them away sometimes. Exactly. Yes. For sure. Okay. Brittany, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story. I loved hearing it. Yeah. Thank you so much, ally. I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for having me.