The Berman Method
The Berman Method
Episode #169: Baby Berman #3 Birthing Experience Part 1
Welcoming a child into the world is an experience filled with joy, challenges, and unexpected twists, and our journey with little Walker Ryan was no exception. Diagnosed with a minor urology issue at 20 weeks and starting antibiotics from birth, Walker’s arrival was a testament to the importance of self-advocacy in healthcare. As parents navigating the complexities of C-section births and gut health concerns, we took proactive steps to ensure Walker’s well-being by focusing on nutrition and breastfeeding. Our personal experiences underscore the critical need to treat underlying problems rather than just symptoms, offering insights and encouragement for families facing similar journeys.
With every birth story comes a unique set of medical challenges. For us, sleepless nights and unplanned hospital stays due to my blood disorder tested our resilience. Reflecting on past experiences with our other children, Stella and Vera, who each faced their own hurdles, we share how these moments taught us valuable lessons in advocating for our family’s health. Join us as we navigate these emotional rollercoasters, offering a candid look at the unpredictable nature of bringing new life into the world. We invite you to connect with us through the Berman Method podcast and explore our online resources, knowing that you are not alone on this journey.
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This is the Berman Method podcast, featuring Dr Jake Berman and physician assistant Jenny Berman. We are here to treat problems and not symptoms. Disclaimer this podcast is for entertainment purposes only and not to treat anyone or to give medical advice. If you are interested in any information that we are giving and would like to use this for yourself, we recommend that you contact your primary care physician or reach out to us and ask us questions about yourself specifically. Enjoy.
Speaker 2:And we are rolling with the Berman Method podcast, with a brand new, fresh little baby, with a brand new, fresh little baby, just a few days old, laying right here. Five days old Little Walker Ryan just sitting there, laying there all snuggly Snug as a bug in a rug.
Speaker 1:He's been knock on wood Pretty chill, easy. How many times?
Speaker 2:have. We said that we should go back in time and start at the other podcast right after Vera. I'm pretty sure we definitely said it was Vera because you were holding her.
Speaker 1:I was holding her while we podcasted, yeah, and she is not chill. She's not. No, she was chill for about nine months.
Speaker 2:Yeah, now she's the opposite of chill.
Speaker 1:And she's 100 miles an hour, keeps us on our toes all the time.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So here we are, the Berman Method podcast focused on treating problems and not symptoms, and we're going to talk a little bit about that today. We're going to give you some of the behind the scenes events that played out with this birthing process, with Walker Ryan laying here so cute and snuggly. Walker's a boy. So those of you that didn't know, we had a boy six pounds, 13 ounces, 20 inches long, by far the biggest baby we've had, out of all three of them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it was a very interesting chain of events, the way things played out. So we want to take some time to give you some of the background on what happened and to prove the point that you do, in fact, have to be your own advocate. You have to be in charge of your own health. You've got to take the bull by the horns. You cannot just sit there and do whatever they're asking you to do or telling you or recommending that you do, because it's not most of the time, it's not focused on treating problems, it's focused on treating symptoms, and we're going to give you some explicit examples on what we just dealt with and are still dealing with.
Speaker 1:Yes, for sure, and if any of you guys have followed along our stories the past several years, you know that bringing babies into this world has not been an easy process for us, for any of them, but this one was unfortunately not much different, as far as eventful, we should say. So, yeah, just wanted to walk through kind of our birth story. You know some people don't love hearing about all these details, but it is right up the alley of our podcast and treating problems and not symptoms. So really wanted to break it out. And something I said to Jake throughout this whole process is we have to keep being our own self-advocate. They are looking for they by the doctors, are looking for textbook, perfect examples of diagnoses that we may not be following, but we still know that something is not going right. So, starting off, you know we'll back up, even a little bit is we found out at 20 weeks into my pregnancy with this with Walker, that the baby had a minor urology issue, and so we had been being followed by our OBGYN, by a high risk doctor and by a pediatric urologist from 20 weeks on until the end of our pregnancy, and actually this was the longest two-term pregnancy that I've had. We actually made it all the way up to 39 weeks, which has never been the case for us. We in the past had delivered at 36 weeks and then 37 weeks. So that was first off very different for us to be able to make it what they consider full term for a pre-planned C-section. And we knew going into this pregnancy that we would have another C-section because I had C-sections with the prior two for other reasons. So we knew this was going to be planned. But going back, starting at 20 weeks, found out we had a minor urology issue. We had been following via ultrasound, following with pediatric urology and before delivery we found out that the baby was going to have to start antibiotics from day one of life because of this urology issue until we're able to have the issue potentially surgically resolved or to have it surgically repaired. I guess is the right word of saying that To have surgical intervention we are going to have to go on antibiotics from day one of life, all the way through until they're able to actually do the intervention for him.
Speaker 1:And I was very distraught by this. Just with my functional medicine background and the fact that we know how important gut health is for our immune system development. He already was going to be at a disadvantage as a C-section baby. If you don't know, c-section babies naturally have poor microbiome meaning environment of the gut because they don't actually go through the vaginal wall and get exposed to the bacteria of the vaginal wall. So C-section babies naturally have a poor microbiome from the start, as is, and on top of that now he's having to start antibiotics right away.
Speaker 1:So before we even delivered we knew this was going to be the case and of course I'm already thinking how can we help with preserving as much of the healthy microbiome as possible? What can we do as soon as possible to help with the microbiome? Obviously with my eating and with pumping milk for Walker so we do exclusively provide breast milk to him that I'm going to be focused on my own gut health and providing him as much of the nutrients and the probiotics and prebiotics as I can through breast milk. But then we also have to research from here. What else are we going to be able to do to help his immune system as this tiny little infant who now is on antibiotics from day one?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So it's like what in the world? Our whole world revolves around saying no to big pharma, saying no to this corporate medicine, western medicine, way of life that is focused 100% on treating symptoms and not the actual problems. And now it's like a backhanded slap. Guess what? This brand new baby? From day one they have to take this pharmaceutical medication. And I'm going. What in the world is happening right now?
Speaker 2:So just to give a little more backstory, the urology issue, I'm going to say it in layman's terms so that hopefully you have a better idea of understanding it. One of the valves is kind of blocking the urine from flowing out the urethra. So it's creating this backup, this buildup of pressure. So the bladder walls are thickening, hypertrophy, the ureters were thickening and getting hypertrophied because of this backed up pressure. So the surgery is a relatively minor one. They go up through the urethra and essentially cauterize this valve so that the urine can flow freely. However, before any of that can occur, we have to monitor it because it can resolve itself over the first week to two weeks of life. However, because he's not circumcised yet, he has this backup of urine, he's at high risk for a UTI. So Western Medicine's answer to this is well. We're going to put him on this low dose of amoxicillin.
Speaker 2:Amoxicillin so a sillin, a penicillin from the family of sillins, just to help potentially prevent a UTI. And Jenny and I are looking at each other going what in the hell is going on right now? Like this kid is minutes old and it's like here, let's shove these antibiotics down his throat and get them started on this. And we're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Going, trying to be a doctor, trying to be a parent, and trying to be a doctor, trying to be a parent, and trying to dance that fine line of how do we know that we're not overstepping our boundaries, of what do we know is best for this infant. So it was a battle, still is a battle.
Speaker 1:It is and we have to think about the pros and cons of it is yes, we're giving him a pharmaceutical, we're giving him an antibiotic from day one of life which is obviously impacting his entire immune system and microbiome from the get-go, which certainly we can continue to heal and repair as he grows. But we also have to look at the other side of if this four, five, six-day-old infant gets a urinary tract infection. We have bigger problems ending up in the hospital and with IVs and potentially bigger surgeries ahead if he were to get a urinary tract infection. And so we certainly have to understand that at times Western medicine is necessary but at the same time, coming from a functional medicine standpoint and treating problems and not symptoms, we have to do everything we can do from our side to make sure that from here on out we are helping his microbiome and helping the gut health and helping his immune system to develop and to be stronger, to not cause long-term effects of having to be on an antibiotic at such a young age.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:That was the start of all of this right Coming into this pregnancy, and this is probably going to be a two-part series where we're talking about the birth story and bringing Walker into this world and what unfortunately or fortunately that I had to go through through this process. So where do you want to start?
Speaker 2:Wait, we didn't start.
Speaker 1:Where should we go next as far as this birth story goes?
Speaker 2:next. As far as this birth story goes, I think that one of the biggest things that we should do is explicitly outline the decisions that we made over the past five days, because this was supposed to be relatively easy. We were supposed to go in 5.30 in the morning Tuesday morning and we were supposed to leave Wednesday night. It was supposed to be in 5.30 in the morning Tuesday morning and we were supposed to leave Wednesday night.
Speaker 2:It was supposed to be that easy. However, because of this urology condition, the neonatal renal neonatal is that right?
Speaker 1:Neonatal neonatologist.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So the neonatologist comes over and vetoes that, overrides it and says absolutely not. You have to wait 48 hours before we can do an ultrasound of walkers, ureters and bladder to see what the direction is.
Speaker 2:Is it going to be resolved on its own? Do we need to start the antibiotics? Do we need whatever the plan is going to be? Do we need to start the antibiotics? Do we need whatever the plan is going to be? So okay, we're going to spend an extra night in the hospital. If any of you have spent a night in the hospital I'm sure everybody listening to this has at least spent one night in the hospital. It's the most comfortable, relaxing, serendipitous experience that you can ever even imagine. Like, oh my gosh, please don't kick me out of this haven right here. Please let me stay for as long as I possibly can. The first night was an absolute disaster. There was no sleep that occurred. The charge nurse is in every third hour, then the rounding nurse is in every other third hour and then the tech is in every third hour. So between the three of them, somebody is in every hour.
Speaker 1:And we had to have blood drawn at 3 am.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'm going what in the world? Who came up with this prescription Like? Who does this Like? Where?
Speaker 1:did this come from? There was no rest for sure.
Speaker 2:There's no rest. So this is how we start off this adventure. So, luckily, the second night I had to lay a little ground rules and say, okay, we're technically supposed to be discharged this afternoon. So nobody, please do not come in this room after nine o'clock. You don't need to check vitals. So you're literally saying that to the charge nurse you do not need to come in here and check vitals, please do not come in here because we're supposed to be home this afternoon.
Speaker 2:Just because we're spending the night again doesn't mean you get to keep coming in here every hour, because I think they just get bored. Right, the night shift, you know, 7 pm to 7 am, you can get bored. So let's justify getting paid and let's just go wake people up. So the second night was much better. I'm still on a rant right now. They only came in one time, at three o'clock, and okay, we get up at four o'clock anyways, so let's go ahead and start the day anyways. And then it gets better, right, but wait, it gets better, right, yeah, but wait, it gets better, because we haven't even started talking about. This is where we're gonna have to bring in the part b to this episode, because all we've done is talk about walker. So far, and in the grand scheme of our three kids, walker has really been the simplest yes to date?
Speaker 2:yes to. In the first week or two of life he's been the simplest. Stella was four days in the ICU or the NICU. We're pleading with her to drink five mils of milk so we can be discharged. If you know what five mils of milk looks like, it's nothing.
Speaker 1:It's a drop, a dropper Probably the amount of vitamin B12 dropper that you take every morning. That is, five mLs yeah. It's actually one mL, but it's very similar.
Speaker 2:And then Vera. For some reason I'm blanking on Vera, but she, what did we do with Vera?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think she was a relatively I mean she was just early, but I think in the hospital she was relatively easy.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Trying to think I don't think I'm. The tough part with Vera was that I had to go under anesthesia for the C-section. So that was. It was a very brutal first 24 hours with me coming out of of anesthesia and having uncontrolled pain from not being able to have pain medications during the C-section. But we talked about that on a prior podcast and so, yeah, that was just an. It was eventful, but she overall was relatively simple.
Speaker 2:Okay, then we had Walker, that which was supposed to be the simplest. We were supposed to be in and out. We were only supposed to spend one night in the hospital. We're going to be home. Things were going in our direction. It was supposed to be another anesthesia surgery.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then last minute.
Speaker 1:Right? So to kind of give everybody a little bit of a backstory, if you haven't listened to our prior birth story podcast and you know, definitely I'm not going to go into all the details that we went through with having Stella, which was, you know, ended up in an emergency C-section, and her being in the NICU and Vera having to go under general anesthesia. So certainly go back and listen to those prior podcasts. We can tag them in the show notes so you can easily click back to them. But just to give a little bit of a backstory is I have a underlying blood disorder where my blood does not clot appropriately, so I have low clotting factors, and it's always been this kind of borderline diagnosis where I bleed a lot but the blood work doesn't always align exactly, like an individual with von Willebrand's disease. So it's always been very confusing to health care providers, which why wouldn't I be confusing, right? And so coming into Walker's C-section is our hematologist had declined me having a spinal anesthesia, meaning I was not going to be able to be awake for the C-section. I was going to have to go under general anesthesia and actually be put to sleep to have the C-section, just like it was with Vera, and was going to have to go under general anesthesia and actually be put to sleep to have the C-section, just like it was with Vera. And the reason they have declined the spinal anesthesia is because the risk of bleeding in the spine from the actual spinal tap and so we had planned another general anesthesia C-section.
Speaker 1:Went into the hospital at 5.30 am, as Jake said for our scheduled C-section, planned to go in for general, which we weren't looking forward to. It's just, it's eventful. I have to go to sleep. Jake can't be in the room, he has to meet me in the PACU, which is the recovery Kind of knocks me out for the first day of life of the little one because I have to come out of anesthesia. They have to get the pain controlled, since they aren't able to get pain medicine during the C-section, they don't want it to pass to the baby. But we knew what we were coming into this time, as opposed to with Vera, we had never experienced it before. So this is where you want to jump in last minute.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So last minute all the stars align and they say you know what we're going to do? A spinal. Because this was two days before Thanksgiving and all of the doctors that we had on our team for the entire pregnancy were out of town on vacation. So we were with a different surgical team, different anesthesia team, different renal team. Everybody was different.
Speaker 1:Except for our OB. The OB was the only consistent here, yeah.
Speaker 2:So they're all looking at Jenny's lab values, which were really, really good values, and then they're saying why are you going under general anesthesia? Because it's a high risk thing, to usually only high risk individuals have to go under general anesthesia to give birth to a child Everybody.
Speaker 1:I mean an hour's worth of every single doctor, nurse, tech that walked in that door. All said the same exact thing where they're like why are you going under general Right? My labs looked the best this pregnancy that they had ever looked and that maybe can be part B of this episode of why I believe my labs look so good this time around. But yeah, they all didn't understand, based on how good my labs looked this pregnancy, why we still got declined having a spinal.
Speaker 2:Yes, and it essentially came down to ACYA cover your ass, where the hematologist to cover his ass did not want to sign off and say you know what? You don't need to do this, go ahead and do a spinal. Because his justification was the risk was too high for bleeding from inserting this little tiny 17-gauge.
Speaker 2:No 22-gauge for a spinal 22-gauge needle into the spine to deliver local anesthesia. The risk was too high for bleeding, creating a hematoma, that they would rather do this massive invasive surgery with scalpels and cauterization and flay open the abdomen, flay open the uterus, pull out this baby. I mean, are you effing, kidding me? The risk for bleeding was, quote unquote, lower from this massive surgery than it was from sticking a needle into the spine.
Speaker 1:Right, that was his argument.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I'm going this does not make sense and we spent weeks battling this. We had the OB calling this guy trying to battle it. We had everybody trying to.
Speaker 1:The anesthesiologist that normally works with my OB even tried calling him and saying this doesn't make sense, but he wouldn't let up. But anyway, coming back, the anesthesia team that morning because it was a different, you know different team decided that based on my labs, they okayed me to do a spinal anesthesia instead of having to go under general. So literally minutes before we were walking back to the operating room to deliver Walker, the anesthesia team decided this. So we went. I walked back to the OR and had a spinal anesthesia instead of general. Jake got to be in the room. I got to be awake. I was able to talk to the OB through the whole entire procedure. She's telling me the anatomy and what she's working through and the scar tissue she's cutting through after two C-sections and got to hear Walker cry for the first time. We got to hear Jake got to cut the umbilical cord for the first time out of three kids.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was as close to a normal delivery as we've had out of all three and it was absolutely amazing. It was, yeah, absolutely amazing.
Speaker 1:Got to hear his weight got to. I mean all the things that we didn't get to do with either one of them. You know, with Stella she was taken off by the NICU team so Jake really didn't get to be involved with her Bura obviously being under anesthesia. Jake wasn't even in the room and I didn't get to hear or see anything. So, yeah, it was very normal. So that was awesome. It was great to be able to go straight to recovery and hold him and be awake with him and talk to Jake right through the surgery onto the recovery room.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not groggy or anything. It was great, it was absolutely amazing, absolutely amazing, and I think we should go to part two. We should end here because but wait, there's more, there's way more. This is just the tip of the iceberg Way more. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The next episode is going to be all about how you've got to be your own self-advocate, because we actually had a complication with Jenny. Go figure, jenny had a complication and it was a 2% chance that this would happen, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which is something again, if you go back and I really encourage you to listen to some of our prior episodes talking about our birth stories, because we've been through a journey to be able to bring three kids into this world I have fallen into the 2% club many, many, many times, going through infertility issues, losing a baby a baby boy, actually at 16 weeks, which again is less than a 2% chance of happening losing a baby in the second trimester. We've gone. This was actually our seventh pregnancy. So you know we've been in this 2% world for a very long time trying to bring healthy kids into our lives, but again, it always ends up being a positive journey. So, yes, we had a complication, fell into the 2% category again.
Speaker 2:Yep, so we're going to talk about that next episode and talk about Jenny's 2% Club continues.
Speaker 1:Next week tune in.
Speaker 2:So make sure you like and subscribe this, share this with somebody else that you know is going through infertility issues, because this is another one that people just are not talking enough about. So everybody's got to know at least somebody that's battling infertility. Ivf asymptomatic oh wait, what is it called?
Speaker 1:Oh gosh, now you're going to Unexplained infertility.
Speaker 2:Yeah, infertility, or secondary hypothalamic amenorrhea. All of these ridiculous things. Share this episode because we are not going to hold back on this one or the next one or any of them.
Speaker 1:Yes, ciao for now. Thank you for subscribing on your social media and podcast platforms to the Berman Method Dr Jake Berman with Berman Physical Therapy and Jenny Berman, physician Assistant, with Berman Health and Wellness. You can find more information on our website wwwbermanptcom for physical therapy, bermanptcom forward slash wellness for the health and wellness. You can also find us on social media, facebook, instagram and on your podcast platform, so be sure to follow us, like us, subscribe to us and, if you would like any further information, definitely visit our website and reach out to us. You may also find our free reports on the websites as well, where you can download this free information for yourself. Have a great day.