Episode 14 | Three Birth Stories, Three Miracles: Water Births, Motherhood & Trusting the Journey

In Episode 14 of Champagne Smiles & Magical Miles, Stephanie shares the deeply personal birth stories of her three daughters—Peyton, Piper, and Maddie Jo—and the life lessons that came with each one.

From a planned water birth at a birthing center, to a labor that nearly ended in the car, to an Easter morning delivery of a rare baby born en caul, these stories are filled with joy, surprises, resilience, and trust.

Stephanie opens up about preparing for natural childbirth, working with midwives and doulas, overcoming a postpartum hemorrhage, laboring without fear, and learning to trust her body through every stage of motherhood. She also shares why understanding childbirth changed her experience, the importance of having the right support team, and how each birth taught her something different about letting go of the plan.

In this episode:
 • Peyton’s water birth and postpartum hemorrhage recovery
 • Piper’s fast labor and almost-car-birth story
 • Maddie Jo’s extraordinary en caul birth on Easter Sunday
 • Natural childbirth, midwives, doulas, and birth preparation
 • What every woman should know before giving birth
 • The power of trust in motherhood and life
 • Why some of life’s greatest gifts arrive through unexpected detours

Plus Stephanie shares this week’s Word That Matters, Magical Mile Moment, and two powerful book recommendations for expectant parents.

Whether you’re a parent, planning a family, supporting someone through pregnancy, or simply love meaningful life stories, this episode is a reminder that the miles that matter most are rarely the ones we plan.

Connect with Stephanie:
 Instagram: @StephanieInTheParks
 Podcast: Champagne Smiles & Magical Miles

#BirthStory #NaturalChildbirth #WaterBirth #Motherhood #Pregnancy #BirthCenter #Midwife #Doula #PostpartumRecovery #BornEnCaul #ParentingPodcast #ChampagneSmilesAndMagicalMiles

Champagne Smiles & Magical Miles is a motivational podcast about living with grace, choosing joy, and celebrating the moments — big and small — that make life meaningful.

Hosted by Stephanie Parks, each episode blends mindset, self-care, family traditions, and everyday intention with a touch of Disney magic and real-life reflection. From the words we use and the habits we build to the kindness we extend to ourselves and others, this podcast is an invitation to slow down, show up, and live on purpose.

You’ll hear favorite segments like Words Matter, Magical Miles, Sparkle & Glow Up, and Sip of the Week — each designed to inspire, encourage, and help you leave every episode with simple, practical takeaways you can easily implement in daily life.

Whether you’re in a season of growth, rest, or celebration, this space is for you.

Because every mile matters, every word counts, and life is meant to be lived with grace, joy, and a whole lot of celebrating. ✨🥂

🎙️ New episodes weekly. Follow along and join the celebration.

Transcript

Speaker 0:13

Let's start this episode with one goal to make your day better than it was five minutes ago. This is Champagne Smiles and Magical Miles, and I'm your host, Stephanie Parks. Welcome home. Right here from my own backyard, I wanted to share it with you today. So today we're going to rewind back to 24 years ago when I was about to give birth to my firstborn, Peyton. Each of my three births are completely different stories, and I plan to share each of them with you. So until today, most people haven't heard the entire story unless, you know, a few people like my sister and my mom that were there. And I want to share this with you guys. If you feel like before we dive in that this isn't for you, I want to say something directly to anyone listening who may be thinking this episode is not for them. Maybe you have never given birth. Maybe that chapter is not in your story. Maybe it never will be. And that is perfectly okay. This episode is still for you because every single one of us has a daughter, a sister, a friend, a niece, a colleague who is pregnant or may be thinking about being pregnant or hoping to be someday. And information in this episode, I'm hoping, could genuinely change their experience. So if this is not your story, please share it with someone who might benefit from it. Tag me at Stephanie in the Parks, send it to them, and let them know it might be a gift that you're sharing with them. These three birth stories, none went exactly how I planned. Every single one of them was perfect. I planned Peyton the way I planned everything, meticulously. I finished my master's degree, I established my career, I bought my first home with the backyard in it. And my plan was to have a baby before 30, and somehow I managed all of it. I had been a vegan for two years before getting pregnant, eating only raw fruits and veggies, nothing artificial, nothing processed. I felt incredible. Then I started researching childbirth. And here's something that most people don't know about me. I actually first heard about water births in high school when I was in a family living class in the late 80s. One sentence in the textbook, a teacher mentioned it almost in passing, and it lodged in my brain forever. So when I got pregnant, what I did what I always do, I did a lot of research. I was disappointed to hear that in the early 2000s in Houston, there was not a single hospital offering water births. But I found a beautiful birthing center in the woodlands with certified nurse midwives, RNs, who had gone on to become master level clinicians in midwivery. Doula's, they had crash carts, and a trauma center was nearby. It was perfect. My midwife, Melanie, she made me feel completely at ease. She's now retired and I adore her to this day. Now, my mom, and I say this with so much love, told me that giving birth to my sister and myself was the worst thing that ever happened to her, and that she felt like she got died and gone to hell. Her spinal tap didn't work, and even after she began pushing, so that was my frame of reference going in. I decided I was going to do it differently. I didn't want to think it was a horrific event. So we went to classes, we learned the anatomy. I understood exactly what my body was supposed to do. And with that knowledge, I came in confident and prepared. It made all the difference. When you understand what your body is doing, instead of being in fear, it shifts your mindset. So those pregnancy cravings, after two years of being essentially vegan, my body decided it needed fried chicken. And you guys, I could tear down some fried chicken like it was my full-time job after two years of veganism. My sister, six years younger, came to live with me during these months and she brought me lemon pies in the middle of the afternoon. We walked together in the evenings. It was the last time we ever lived under the same roof, and it was one of my favorite memories to this day. Meanwhile, the entire skilled nursing facility where I worked with over 100 employees had a scoreboard actually mapped out on a whiteboard as to when I was going to have this baby. Peyton had other plans. Three weeks late, we tried everything, boat rides, tried to shake things up like farmers do with cows on railroad tracks. That's a nugget for my dad. We tried balsamic vinegar salads. No joke, nothing was working. Castor. But you know, Peyton, she was putting her lip gloss on, little last-minute touches, and that is exactly where she was supposed to be. June 19th, she finally arrived. Head full of beautiful hair. And she didn't have a name for almost a month. So I brought the birth certificate home from the Virgin Center. We tried different names on her until Peyton stuck. She was Mackenzie for a few days. She was Skyler for a few days. Anyway, the water birth was everything I'd hoped for. I went home within 24 hours and I had a healthy, beautiful firstborn. And I've never looked back. So Peyton was three weeks late, and on the morning of June 19th, I knew it was finally time. So I woke up having contractions and I called the birthing center. They said, just stay at your house. And when your contractions get one minute apart, then come on in. It was my first baby. I didn't know. Ate some pancakes because they encouraged you to eat, threw them up as your body would do, and decided to head to the birthing center. 18 hours later, after a long labor, Peyton Elizabeth was finally born. So once we arrived, after 18 hours, they encouraged me to continue to fuel and eat and rest. And then finally, after many hours, we eventually went to transition. My water broke. We got in the water. It's somewhere between like seven eighths during transition and the hardest part of the labor. Once you get past that, you get in the water, it's amazing. And the water was incredible. People call it nature's epidural. I completely understand why. The pressure eases your body and you relax and you finally feel some relief after hours and hours. Before long, it was time to start pushing. Unfortunately, I was a little too efficient. I was anxious to get her out and meet my baby girl. So about two and a half pushes, Paint was born. I pushed hard and fast, which caused some tearing and stitches afterward. But all I cared about that is she was here and I had my healthy baby girl. I did learn how to handle that in future birth. So one of my favorite memories happened right after she was born, the midwives allow you to let the umbilical cord continue pulsing before you cut it or before you clamp it. So Peyton was placed, I grabbed her as the first person to touch her, placed her on my chest. She immediately began to breastfeed. And then it was one of the most peaceful and emotional moments ever. I still remember it after 24 years. So what I didn't realize after Peyton was born is that I had begun to hemorrhage. A postpartum hemorrhage occurs when the uterus doesn't contract down all the way after delivery. Sometimes they think it's because the amionic sac was not fully intact. They checked it, it was. The amazing thing is that no one in the room knew that there was a problem. Not Peyton's dad, not our family members, no one. That's how calm the professionals and the experienced midwife team was. They quietly brought out the emergency equipment, gave me a shot of pitocin to help my ears contract. When it didn't completely stop the bleeding, they ended up giving me a second and a third shot. And I will tell you that it is the most intense cramping you'll ever experience. But they got it clamped down, they got it to stop. And after those pentocin injections, uh, then they were like, okay, you also want blood. We need you to start hydrating yourself with cranberry juice. Drink as much as you can. I I drink as much as I can. I can't drink anymore. So they decided to run an IV for hydration. So three shots of stitches from pushing too hard and too fast, three shots of Pitocin and IV for hydration. I was still home in six hours with my healthy baby girl in my own home. It was amazing. And I felt great the next day. I did learn a lot, and I was very grateful to my medical team for being so professional and understanding how to handle my situation. And with future subsequent births, I made sure to warn them that I may or may not hemorrhage. I did not again. So the next day, the midwives come to your house, they check on you both, and everything was wonderful, and everyone was healthy. So I know that natural childbirth isn't for everyone, and every birth story is different. For me, it was an incredible, beautiful experience. It was challenging, it was intense, it was empowering, and it was beautiful all at the same time. So here I am, more than 24 years later, and I still remember every detail of each birth, and I wouldn't have changed anything except for maybe the hemorrhage. Yes, I did have a little costume change thought I would represent, but I am still right here enjoying my backyard. I hope you are too. So I just finished Peyton's birth story. It was uh amazing and wonderful and scary and all the things and a beautiful outcome and a healthy, healthy, beautiful baby. So let's move on. All right, so three years later, I was back at the same barbing center with the same midwife team for my Piper Ray. Here's what I learned from Peyton's birth. There's no need to rush pushing. So with Piper, what did I do? I held and held and held and held until finally my midwife said, honey, you gotta fish this baby out. I didn't too. I also learned to labor at home as long as possible until that 45-minute car ride to the birthing center. And thank goodness my friend Amy was there with me to help me through the labor in the car ride because it was the most intense 45 minutes of my life. We called ahead to get the water running because I'm coming in hot. We almost had the baby in the car that day. So Piper arrived right on time, exactly in Piper Ray fashion. She was efficient, no nonsense, ready to get there and get it done. We called her Grumpy Baby because of her poor little sour patch face early on in every photo. Probably my fault for all the pushing and holding. She is now one of the most beautiful souls that you will ever meet. So after my divorce, I had made peace with raising my two beautiful girls and not having a third. I always quietly had hoped for a boy as my last, but I decided that chapter was closed. I was 41, on birth and kills since my 20s. And except for two planned pregnancies with Peyton and Piper, I had never had any accidents. And then I missed two kills. I was in a relationship single with a man who had never had children, both in our early 40s, no kids. And honestly, I wasn't sure that he even wanted them. So when I found out I was pregnant, I had absolutely no idea how this conversation was going to go down. So I was on a work trip to New York. Imagine that. And my colleague has five kids of her own. She was a close friend of mine. Shook one look at me head to toe. My boobs were huge. And she said, Steph, we're going to take a pregnancy test right now. So we turned the car around, we went to CVS and we bought a pregnancy test. Went back to the hotel. Picked on the stick and it was positive. So I'm like, oh, that can be a false positive, whatever. Blah, blah, blah. I'm ignoring this. We went and picked out with CDS and Walgreens that evening, bought every single brand they had, and we just kept joking because I not only all the tests were positive, she said, Stephanie, you're getting more pregnant by the minute. So came back the night, had our meeting, flew home, called Kyle and said, Babe, I need to talk to you. Um, when we get home, can you get me up from the airport? We need to have a serious conversation. And I started rehearsing on that plane for four hours, exactly what I was gonna say. So get home, I sit down on the bed, and I dump out a bag full of positive pregnancy tests. And I said, Kyle, I understand. If you need some time, I'm perfectly capable of raising this child on my own. I love being a mother. It's all gonna be okay. He cried, I cried, and he said, I was so afraid you were going to tell me our relationship was over. This is the most amazing news I've ever heard. I love you, and I want to raise this child with me. And he is an amazing dad. So I had to explain to this wonderful man how I intended to have this baby that I'm a freak show. So we found a midwife and a doula in DFW, took all the classes together, his first time. So we had a lot to learn. And it's been eight years since my last, so I had to relearn. We prepared and planned a home birth. Then my sweet Maddie Joe decided to be three weeks late, just like her older sister. My midwife called me after our weekly ultrasound and said, honey, we're having this baby today. And I just fell apart. It was not my plan. My cheese got moved, and I understood if we had to induce, I was most likely going to a hospital, and I was not going to have a water birth at home that I had planned. We found a hospital about an hour away that actually had a birthing tub and we allow my midwife and Jula team to be present for the birth. We used a natural induction method. It was a sailing balloon. I don't remember the exact name of the procedure, but I can look it up if anyone's interested. And instead of medication, we had a gentle induction of labor. So I told them I wanted to move as quickly as and safely as possible. And they said, okay, well, we'll start it in the morning. And I said, now that I'm going home to sleep in my own bed. I don't want to stay here in the hospital. And they went ahead and induced it about 8, 9 p.m. And at 3 a.m. I woke Kyle up there in the hospital and said, It's wake up, it's time to go. He said, Go extra sleep. It's three in the morning. What are you thinking? And I said, No, no, no, really. It's we have to go. Wake up, my team. This is happening, and it's happening now. Okay, so from three to eight, I labored with my doula, my midwife, and my husband by my side. My doula pressing on my hips during contractions. Write this down was the single most effective natural pain relief I experienced across all three of my births. Find a doula who understands and knows this technique. It is a game changer. So, something else I want to mention, I talked about it earlier is eating. Typically, it's not allowed during a hospital birth because of anesthesia, but or the possibility of having a C-section. But my midwife did encourage during natural childbirth light eating throughout the entire proceed, during the entire process. Watermelon, grapes, berries, easy to digest, natural sugar for energy hydration. It sounds so simple, but it made a huge difference in how I felt through the hardest parts of labor. Okay, so it's eight o'clock in the morning, Easter Sunday, tub of warm water, and Maddie Joe finally arrives, still inside her amniotic sac. There's actually a name for this. It's called being born in call, and it is an extraordinarily rare occurrence. It happens in fewer than one in 8,000 births. The amniotic sac normally ruptures before or during labor. When it does, the baby is born, when it doesn't, the baby is born completely enclosed in the membrane, like a perfect little bubble, protected all the way through the delivery. For centuries across cultures around the world, being born in coal was considered a profound sign. Sailors believed it meant the child would never drown and paid enormous sums of money for the preserved coal to carry as a talisman at sea. In ancient Rome, it was considered a mark of destiny and future. In ancient Rome, it was considered a mark of destiny and future greatness. In many Eastern European cultures, the call was carefully dried and kept, sometimes sewn into the child's clothing as a lifelong protective charm. We did not do this with bad ones. In Romanian folklore, a child born in call was believed to have the gift of seeing beyond the ordinary world. Scottish and Irish traditions held that an in-called baby would have would grow up to have an extraordinary empathy. And Scottish and Irish traditions held that an in-called baby would grow up to have an extraordinary empathy and the ability to connect deeply with others. I do feel like Maddie Joe received that gift. Across cultures from Asia to Africa and to the Americas, the consistent belief was the same. This child arrived protected. This child was meant to be here. This child carries something rare. My midwife and doula both went quiet when she arrived. And then they said, This child is fabulous. This is extraordinarily rare, and she is a miracle. She was already a miracle to me. And so here's something else I wanted to share with you guys. We planted a tree with her call and buried beneath it. It felt like the right thing to do. This membrane had protected her for 10 months and it carried her safely into the world still intact. We did not want to simply discard it into hazmat. Or so we gave it back to the earth the way it had given her. So there's a long tradition of this too. Burying the placenta or the call underneath a tree or in the earth as a way of leaving the child to a place, to family, to the world. Many indigenous cultures around the world practice this. It is an act of gratitude, of returning something sacred to where it came from. That tree is still growing, and so is she. So every time I look at it, I think about that Easter morning, about the plan that was not mine, about the bubble she arrived in, about the ancient sailors who would have paid a fortune for what we buried quietly in our yard. And then I think about who Maddie Joe is, the kindness awards every single year, her gracious spirit, the way she moves through the world, leaving it better than she found it. And I think maybe those old traditions were on to something. She was never our plan. She was always, she was always her own. You know that season at the end of the school year when the calendar completely takes over your entire life? The concerts, the awards ceremonies, the field trips, the clopouts, a cotillion final, the end of the year parties, all of it stacked up on top of each other. Like the school calendar had something to please. Every parent knows that season, and we all show up for everything, as we should. So Maddie Jo is finishing lower school, and somewhere between one of those ceremonies, I looked around and realized that I have had a lower school child for over 20 years. 20 years of clapouts and award ceremonies and watching little people walk across stages. She is my last one. Now her school has a character award, and every year, every single year since Madeline started in lower school, she has won the kindness award every year without fail. Like Cawker. She was born knowing something the rest of us are still trying to figure out kindness. This year she received the Gracious Spirit Award. I sat in that auditorium and I just had to hold it together, you guys. Gracious Spirit, my Easter morning, miracle baby, born and call. Some things just make complete sense. If you have a child finishing any chapter, put your phone down and be at every single event. Be completely there. These end of the year moments are the ones that you'll reach for later. So for this episode's word, it's trust. As a speech language pathologist, I have spent my career understanding how the words we use shape our reality. And one of the most powerful things that I know is this the people who get the best outcomes in healthcare, in motherhood, in life are the ones who learn to trust themselves first. Trust your body, trust your instincts, and trust when something feels wrong. Say something. When something feels right, lean in. Trust your team. Find the people, the midwives, the doolas, the doctors, the friends who will stand beside you and not just tell you what to do, but be your partner. And trust the plan, even when it's not yours. Maddie Joe was not in our plan. She was God's and she was the greatest gift I never knew to ask for. Trust. Use it, mean it, live it. So I have two books this week because the topic deserves both of them, and I cannot choose one. The first is Birthing from Within by Pam England and Bob Horowitz. If you are going to have natural childbirth, you have to read this. It's not a clinical book. It is not a checklist or a how-to guide. It is a book about childbirth and the human experience. It asks you to prepare not just your body, but your heart and your spirit for what is coming. And what stayed with me is the idea that birth is not a medical event to be managed. It is a rite of passage to be experienced. And the more present and prepared you are going in emotionally, spiritually, physically, the more empowered the experience becomes. The second Inna I Mae's Guide to Childbirth by Inna Mae Gaston. Inna Mae is the most respected midwife in America. This book is filled with real birth stories, honest, joyful, and powerful, and the science behind why natural childbirth works. When you understand and you trust the process, the idea that stayed with me is her insistence that the woman's body during birth is not something to be managed or controlled. It is something to be trusted and supported. Read Birthing from Within to prepare your heart and read Ina May to prepare your mind. Together, they are everything you need. So this week's magical mile moment, the miles that matter most are not always the ones you plan. Peyton was three weeks late. Piper almost arrived in the car. Maddie Jo came on Easter morning in a hospital when I had planned to be at home, birthing her in our home bathtub. She arrived in call, like the magical miracle that she was always going to be. None of it was according to my plan. Every single bit was perfect. Trust the detours, trust your body, trust the people beside you, and trust that sometimes the plan that is not yours is better than anything you could have written yourself. Okay, Maddie, let's take this episode home. She just finished lower school, and I have had a lower school child for over 20 years. Maddie Jo walked into that theater and her character award ceremony, the same ceremony where she has won the kindness award every single year since she started school. And this year they called her name for Gracious Spirit. I did have to hold myself together. Gracious Spirit for my Easter morning miracle baby born en caul, who has quietly changed the world around her one act of kindness at a time since the day she arrived. Maddie Jo, you were God's plan, and you are the greatest surprise and the greatest mile I have ever run. To the finish line and beyond, every single time. So next week we're back for part two of the story, and you don't want to miss it. We are talking about what happened after Maddie Jo arrived, the hospital that tried to keep me, and some other surprises that you will not want to miss, the surgery I never had, facts about childbirth in America that everybody needs to know and hear. Plus, everything I wish someone had told me about postpartum recovery. And that's it. I'm looking forward also to our next drop of our travel edition for the summer. So I hope you've enjoyed episode 14 of Champagne Smiles and Magical Miles. Share this one with someone who needs it. Tag me, message me, Stephanie in the Parks, any platform. Send me your birth stories. I read everything you send me. If you want a hat, message me. I have a few. Until next time, book the trip, read the book, sign up for the race, pop the champagne, do whatever it is that makes you feel alive and feel like yourself. Love, hugs, kisses. It's Maddie Jo time.