Kodi’s Birth Story: Hospital Induction & Surprise Breech C-Section

Gina: Welcome to the MamasteFit Podcast Birth Story Friday. In this episode, Kodi is going to be sharing her hospital induction birth story that turned into an unplanned C section due to surprise breech. However, Kodi has a really positive outlook on her birth experience, and so she was really excited to come on the podcast to share her story, even though it had a lot of unexpected turns.

[00:00:20] Gina: Throughout her pregnancy and during her labor, she felt incredibly supported by her birth team, to include her OBs throughout her pregnancy, the nurses on labor and delivery, and then her OB during her birth. And so she was really excited to share her story because she wants other people to know that you can still have a really positive hospital birth experience, even if it wasn’t what you were expecting.

Gina: Welcome to the MamasteFit Podcast Birth Story Friday. In this episode, we have Kodi here, who is going to be sharing how she prepared for birth, her birth story, and also a little bit of her postpartum story. So thanks so much for being here, Kodi.

[00:02:15] Kodi: Thank you for having me. I’m really excited to be here.

[00:02:18] Gina: So tell us, how did you prepare for birth? what were you doing during your pregnancy to figure out what you wanted to do for your birth?

[00:02:25] Kodi: So I was one of those people who I had no knowledge coming into being pregnant. I got pregnant really quickly and it was kind of a surprise. So, all of the knowledge that I accumulated over my pregnancy was after the fact. But I think I found you guys on Instagram in my second trimester. It was on my For You page and one of your videos popped up.

[00:02:50] Kodi: And I ended up scrolling through your feed and was thinking, “Oh my gosh, this would be such a good fit for kind of my personality.” I grew up as an athlete, I played water polo in college. So like the really, I don’t know, biomechanic focus, like body, all of your workouts they were really, what I was used to seeing, as an athlete.

[00:03:13] Kodi: So I signed up for your birth course or no, first it was your pushing webinar. So I signed up for the, that webinar, I took it, loved it, signed up for the full birth course, and then ended up buying your third trimester, what is it called? Third trimester Strength On Demand program, which I loved. So all of the knowledge honestly came a lot from you guys. And it was so overwhelming when I first started looking for online courses and things like that because there are so many out there, and a lot of them, I really was unsure. I had never thought about whether I wanted to go medicated, unmedicated, like what route I wanted to go. So I really liked learning both sides and being able to come and choose for myself, which is something that I really appreciated about your course in general.

[00:04:00] Kodi: And just the amount of knowledge that you guys provide because like I said, I was starting from ground zero, so it was, it was very helpful. Especially for me, and for my husband too. But yeah, it was kind of a slow roll throughout the whole pregnancy, just pacing myself and taking your classes like 30 minutes a night, the different modules and stuff.

[00:04:25] Kodi: But yeah, that was kind of my approach. It was, let’s see, I think like halfway through your course, I started thinking, “Okay, maybe I could do the unmedicated,” I really was unsure. And. I had always envisioned myself getting an epidural, but it would really piqued my interest in learning kind of like the phases of labor. And it was really interesting for me to think like thinking, could I actually do this? It was more of a challenge, I guess, if you think about it that way. I was like, I wonder if I could actually do that because my mom did it and I had never really thought about it. So that was when I really started thinking, “Okay, I’m going to prepare as if I’m going to go unmedicated, but I’m totally fine if I end up having the epidural or whatever happens once, once I’m in labor and, and get there. But yeah, that was, I don’t know if that even answered your question, but.

[00:05:20] Gina: Yeah! No, it did!

[00:05:22] Roxanne: It did.

[00:05:22] Gina: So let’s make it to the end of your pregnancy. How, how was the very end of your pregnancy, like going into labor and then we can just dive straight into your birth story.

[00:05:32] Kodi: Sure. So my, I guess overall, my pregnancy was really uneventful. It was pretty textbook. I had no issues. I didn’t have any morning sickness, like no real symptoms other than regular kind of aches and pains. So being able to, you know, I was doing a lot of walking. I did Pilates until 30 weeks. I did your guys’s third trimester program, which helped just a ton with staying active and not even having to think about what, you know, just show up and do your video and not even have to think about it. That was really helpful.

[00:06:04] Kodi: So towards the end, it was really focusing on, okay, like we’re getting close. This is, this is really exciting. I went into my 37 week appointment and had elevated blood pressure which, I had, I developed a little bit of white coat syndrome throughout my pregnancy with the blood pressure. I would come in and it would always be a little bit high and my OB knew to kind of take it at the end and then it would be normal. But I got really anxious about every time we’d listen for the heartbeat or have an ultrasound just in case something was off, I don’t know.

[00:06:34] Kodi: So I go in, my husband comes with me. He hadn’t been coming to all my appointments because they were all kind of quick and in and out. And My blood pressure was pretty high. She said, “You know, it’s a little elevated. It’s a little odd. Last week was a little bit elevated too. So it’s trending upwards, which makes me a little bit nervous.” so I stayed there for, I don’t know, 30 minutes. They took it two more times. It wasn’t going down. And so. She looks at my husband and I said, okay, I’m going to send you over to labor and delivery, which was across the street. And we looked at each other and I said, “Excuse me, we’re going, we’re going where?” We’re in like the middle of a workday. I don’t have anything. I just have my purse and my husband, like we’re staring at each other saying, “The hospital? Like the hospital?! Labor and delivery right this minute?” And it wasn’t my OB, I have a rotating (practice), he was out of town, so I had a different OB. So it was the first time I’d met her and we were just staring at each other. “Okay. I guess we’ll walk over there.”

[00:07:33] Kodi: So we walk across the street and get checked in and basically they just monitored me for several, I think we were there for four hours, taking my blood pressure every 15 minutes. They did a urine test and a blood test. And, my blood pressure was high and then it would come down a little. It was kind of hit or miss. And then there was one thing on my blood test, I can’t remember what it was that was also flagged that in combination with my blood pressure, they were a little bit nervous about me developing preeclampsia. They, we were in the little triage room, the nurse comes in and at this point the OB on call hadn’t come in to to talk to us yet. She had been busy. And so the nurse said, “Okay, well I think we’re gonna admit you for induction right this second.” And so we go into a labor room and we’re looking at each other, “Holy crap. I cannot believe this is happening.” Cause I felt completely normal too, which was the hard part. Cause I was like, “Are you serious? Like I’m not, we’re not ready on the car seats not even in the car.” Like we have no idea what, and this is our first kid, by the way, if you can’t tell already. And so, finally, the OB comes in and at this point I was actually 36 weeks and six days. And so I think the general feeling that we got was if we hadn’t been induced that day, we would have had to jump through a million hoops with the baby in order to get discharged. Just like it added a layer of being pre term. and so she said, I was just, she said, “Look, you, have had the healthiest pregnancy. These markers are definitely concerning that I’m worried you’re going to develop preeclampsia if you stay pregnant for X amount of weeks until you’re full term. But I’m comfortable sending you guys home today. If you come back tomorrow to get induced.” And so we said, “Yes, we’re like, we live five minutes from hospital. If I start feeling, whatever, other symptoms, we’ll come right back,” whatever. So luckily we got to go home that night to kind of let everything sink in.

[00:09:43] Kodi: And so we came home, packed our bags, had dinner together, stared into each other in silence in our apartment. “Oh my gosh, tomorrow is, is

the day.” And I ended up taking a shower that evening and I swear my water broke while I was in the shower and continuing after. And so I was like, “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh, it’s happening right now.” Like I’ve heard stories where this could happen. So I looked at my husband, I’m like, “My water just broke. This is crazy.” We drove back to the hospital. My water did not break, which was mortifying. and so.

[00:10:19] Roxanne: But what was it?

[00:10:21] Kodi: I don’t know. I swear. I mean, like I hadn’t peed myself like the entire pregnancy. I don’t know what happened, but there definitely was… something.

[00:10:31] Kodi: So we go in there for monitoring. We go in at 9:40 are there until midnight, they send us home. But the good thing was they were able to monitor my blood pressure again and kind of see that everything was, was going well. So we finally go home for the second time, have a great night’s sleep. My induction wasn’t scheduled until 11 PM the following day. So we kind of had a normal day. I woke up and was, I remember being pretty emotional, just kind of thinking, wow, this is not, I didn’t plan on getting induced and nobody does. But just thinking this is not necessarily how I thought this would go. I had a good cry in the morning and then after that, I was like, all right, we got to get ready to go. So I went down to the beach and went on a really long walk and listened to positive hospital induction stories on your guys’ podcast. I just scrolled through and found a few of those. And those are really encouraging. And had a great lunch. We kind of were just preparing. We went and saw my parents. They live, they’re our neighbors. hung out with them for a little bit and then went back to the hospital for the induction.

[00:11:45] Kodi: So this brings us to, so I’m 37 days, or weeks, on the dot. So 11 PM, we check in. Our hospital, I was pleasantly surprised with how… I don’t know what the right word is, but the induction process is super slow. Like they really want your body to be able to react and go on its own. So they warned us like, “This might take a really long time, but we want your body to be able to react and see how you react to different medications and things like that.” So we were really excited, or pleasantly surprised, with how that whole situation went.

[00:12:21] Kodi: The first thing they did was they entered in Cytotec, Cervidil, excuse me, overnight. So I was able to sleep. We woke up in the morning, had, it was a pretty uneventful day, just kind of waiting for something to happen. I was having, they told me I was having contractions every, I think six to eight minutes, but I wasn’t feeling them which was, Great. And so we’re kind of waiting all day. They removed the Cervidil at noon. I guess I should start with

the fact that I was 0 percent dilated and 0 percent effaced when I came in. So it was, not, not very favorable from the beginning.

[00:13:03] Kodi: But after the first round of Cervidil, I was 1 centimeter dilated and, I don’t remember, it was, my cervix was starting to soften. So that was promising. And then they decided to move on to Cytotec, which is the pill, correct? So they inserted Cytotec at one 1:00, and by 3:30, I want to say, the contractions started getting super close together. I still wasn’t feeling them, but on the monitors, they were getting a little worried. The baby’s heartbeat, or heart rate, wasn’t really handling it very well, so they would come in and have me flip, you know, side to side, go on all fours. They gave me an IV bag, so it kind of got a little scary for 30 some minutes, when things like weren’t… and that’s the crazy part, and we learned about it in the class, but they can’t remove it once they put it in. And my body obviously, and the baby wasn’t handling it very well.

[00:14:01] Kodi: So they ended up giving me an IV and then giving me a medication to slow the contractions out. It starts with a “T” I think.

[00:14:11] Roxanne: Terbutaline.

[00:14:12] Kodi: So they gave me that it worked immediately and baby was doing great.

[00:14:17] Kodi: But it was a little bit disheartening because it was like we were making progress and then we took two steps back. The contractions slowed a ton and then we were kind of back to square one. So we had already been in the hospital for almost a full day and it was just like, all right, well, you know, what’s, what’s the plan here?

[00:14:35] Kodi: So we just hung out that night. They ended up giving me a second dose of Cervidil because that had worked the first time. So that was probably around 7 or 8 PM. And let’s see, we were kind of starting to wind down getting ready for bed. We were watching March madness, which was fun. And then at 10, around 10:30, my water broke on its own. Which was amazing. So we were looking at it like, “This is great!” My husband and I am like, “Woohoo! It’s working!” And so the nurses were all fired up, and they kind of warned me like, “Hey, now things might start picking up. Just a heads up.” And I had planned, I had my little bag of tricks, which once we checked into the hospital, I started getting a little bit nervous that I hadn’t hired a doula. I was thinking I have all of my things that I want to do and my husband’s on board. He was so supportive and great with everything, but I was like, “Can I do this?” I started really panicking that I was way in over my head, just like, how am I thinking that I could do this all by myself?

[00:15:47] Kodi: And I guess I should have started with, I had a birth plan that I gave to the nurses. They were so on board, they were thinking, you know, “We can do this, you’re gonna be great!” And they were awesome about providing feedback or input, but then also kind of just letting me do my thing. I can’t say enough good things about our nurses and the doctors. Honestly, we had the best experience.

[00:16:08] Kodi: So my water breaks, immediately I started feeling contractions. I hadn’t felt them up until that point. And so I was like, all right, we’re doing it. It’s happening. And so I told my husband to go to sleep because we had been up all day. So I’m like, I’m going to need you in a few hours, I’m assuming, right now it’s pretty chill. So just try to get a couple hours of sleep.” He was like, “Great.” So he goes and takes a nap. And I start kind of going through my bag of tricks. So I had a birthing comb and, was focusing on breathing. So I had little, I wanted to use the birthing comb and breathing as long as I could, and then I had a TENS unit, and then there was a jacuzzi tub in our hospital room.

[00:16:53] Kodi: So, I kind of had this plan of attack as far as, do each step until I couldn’t handle it anymore, and then move to the next one. So, I had the birthing comb, and I was really pleasantly surprised with how well, how much it helped me. I really didn’t have a high expectations just because it doesn’t seem like it would do much, but it really was effective. So I just put my, put my AirPods in, put a good playlist on. And I had my six in, six out breathing and my birthing comb and that got me through, I think it was like almost three hours before I woke Ryder up. Ryder is my husband.

[00:17:32] Roxanne: That’s awesome.

[00:17:34] Kodi: But, it was a lot of bouncing- they had a big yoga ball, so I was bouncing on the ball. I was walking around. I was holding on to the bed and doing deep squats. That felt really good. And listening to all the podcasts and your class, it was, I always was nervous that I wasn’t going to be able to move intuitively because you guys are always like, “Oh yeah, you’ll know kind of what feels good or what, what your body’s telling you to do.” I’m like, “Am I going to? Am I going to know? I really, I really am unsure.” And it, and it totally was true.

[00:18:07] Roxanne: Are they lying to me?

[00:18:09] Kodi: Yeah. I think, “You know, that sounds all great and dandy, but I really don’t know if I’m gonna have that clarity,” but I did. So it was nice to kind of move around and see what felt, what felt good. So after a couple hours, I woke my husband up and said, “Can you help me put the TENS unit on?”

Which I had purchased the one that you guys have posted about, and it’s specific for labor. And I’m not even really sure what a TENS is. It’s electro… magnetic? You guys could probably explain what it is better.

[00:18:43] Gina: It’s like electric massage, essentially.

[00:18:45] Kodi: Oh, well, perfect. So it’s these patches that you put on your back and it kind of sends like a buzzing. And it has a little button on it that when you’re having contraction, it’s like a surge button. So it kind of gets a little intense and you can turn it off. And it was magical. Like that little machine was the best hundred bucks I’ve ever spent, seriously. And the nurses were like, “This is great! I’m so glad you have this!” They were so supportive. And I kind of had, I don’t even know how many levels it had, but I just started at level one and then when that wasn’t kicking anymore, I went up to level two. So that one, that thing took me another couple hours. And things really started to get intense. I think my contractions were like three to four minutes apart. At some point in there, I got checked and I was four centimeters dilated and a hundred percent effaced. So we were making progress. I was feeling really good.

[00:19:40] Kodi: Kind of just, I remember just looking at my husband and being like, “I’m doing it! I’m doing it! We’re doing the thing! Like, all the the things we’ve been researching and, you know, talking about!” And he was so great. He kind of was just sitting in the wings waiting for me, giving me some water. I had some electrolytes. We had applesauce. He was giving me food and whatever, hip squeezes and things like that. But it was funny the next day he, he was laughing because he was like, “It was so dark in the room,” because I wanted all the lights off, but he was like, “I was trying to read your face, if you needed things, but it was so dark in there, I couldn’t even see you. I felt like I wasn’t, I felt like I wasn’t doing anything!” And he’s like, “But I didn’t want to get up in your face and see!” And we were laughing at that after I was like, “I didn’t even notice. I thought you were doing great.”

[00:20:26] Kodi: So, yeah, we’re moving through, it’s probably three or four in the morning at this point. And things really started to ramp up at around four, where I was thinking, like I was vocalizing at that point, which really also helped. I mean, all these things that you learn on the podcast, it actually helps. This is great. Vocalizing the really deep, low, kind of moaning noises was super helpful. But I was getting to a point where I was like, I need the tub, is going to save me. I really hope that getting in the tub makes us feel better because this is getting gnarly.

[00:21:07] Kodi: So I asked the nurse, she fills the tub up. I had brought a little nightlight. So Ryder plugged that in, in the wall. He came and sat in there with me and I got in the tub and was immediately, so relaxed. Like it, I just was able

to lay back, they put the peanut ball behind me. So I was kind of propped up, but it was really comfy. And the contraction slowed a little bit, but I was able to fall asleep in between them. I had my comb in my hand and obviously took the TENS unit off. But it was really, as far as like a Zen, like in the zone, I felt really great in the tub and I was so happy that I had saved it, kind of towards the end.

[00:21:48] Kodi: So I am in there and I’ll note that the baby felt like he was moving a ton while I was in the tub. I just remember that in the back of my head, “Oh, this is interesting. He feels like he’s wiggling around kind of for the first time during labor.” Cause when I checked me, they’re like, “His head’s really low. this is great. Keep doing what you’re doing.” We had the peanut ball out and all that stuff, but I got in the tub and was like, “Oh, he’s moving a lot.” So I finally, I think I was in there for an hour and a half and decided to get out. I was getting a little bit cold. And got out and the first contraction that hit me out of the tub almost was unbearable. Like I, one, I was hanging over the bed begging my husband to put the TENS unit on. He’s like rifling through the cords trying to stick the things on my back again because it was so painful and probably lasted twice as long as any contraction that I’d had before.

[00:22:44] Kodi: And so I’m looking around, I get a little tiny break, they’re like back to back to back. And after I think the third one, I called the nurse and I said, “You have to check me because if I’m not at least eight centimeters, I need the epidural. I cannot handle this.” And so she, I like, they basically lift me onto the bed. I’m in so much pain and she checks me and she’s like, “Okay, you’re doing great. You’re seven centimeters.” But I’m feeling, you could tell by her face that something was a little off. She’s I’m feeling what I think is a fore bag.” Is that the right term? Where she’s like, “It’s a little squishy, it’s leftover fluid or something blocking his head.” and I was like, “Okay?”

[00:23:28] Kodi: So I’m clinging to the bed. I don’t even know what she’s saying. I am just survival mode at this point. Tell me if we’re close or not, because I need the drugs if, if it’s not anywhere close. So she said seven centimeters. And in my head, I’m like, “Oh gosh, like that’s just enough where I don’t know how long I’ll have to like the last, whatever, three centimeters are going to take me.”

[00:23:50] Kodi: So I’m in my head thinking, “I don’t know if I can do this.” I am the low guttural noises have gone out the window. I am like screaming at this point. And my husband’s there holding my hand, thinking, “How the heck am I supposed to help her right now?” And so she said, “I’m going to go get a second opinion. Let me go grab another nurse.” So I don’t know how long she was gone, but I just remember thinking, “This is the worst.” Like I was ripping

the handle of the bed off. The TENS unit was not doing much anymore. And looking back, I think I was going through transition, or whatever.

[00:24:26] Kodi: So the nurse, the other nurse comes in and she checks me and she’s “Oh my gosh, you’re nine centimeters.” and then starts feeling around and looking at her face and the way that she was looking at the other nurse, my husband and I were like, “What’s wrong? What is going on? You guys look like there’s an issue.” And she was like, “Okay. I’m feeling… not his head. But I’m not sure. I just want to confirm. So we’re going to call the doctor in with the ultrasound.” And I was like, “I swear if this kid is breech, I’m going to… I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

[00:25:00] Kodi: So, I don’t, again, I don’t know how long it was until the doctor came. So at this point they’re like, “9 cm!”. I’m like, “Woo! This is horrible, but at least I get to push soon.”

[00:25:09] Roxanne: You went from 7 to 9 quick!

[00:25:10] Kodi: And so then the doctor comes in with ultrasound and she puts it on my belly, up here and it’s his head. Up in my ribs. And I about passed out. I was like, “You have got to be kidding me.”

[00:25:23] Kodi: So he had flipped like a, he was in a Frank breech position. His butt was coming down. So they felt his butt instead of his head when they were checking me. And so he flipped late at that. And I think it was when I was in the tub. I’m like 99 percent sure. Because I also, looking back, I could feel a difference in the pressure from when I got in to when I got out. So then all of a sudden it was, “You need an emergency C section.”

[00:25:55] Kodi: There were a million people in the room. It was like 0 to 100. And I’m looking at my husband like, “Oh my gosh, you’re freaking joking me. I labored to nine centimeters and I don’t even get to have this baby vaginally. I’m so pissed.” So I start immediately crying. Like I was just beside myself and, and I should have mentioned before that I had this sneaky feeling my entire pregnancy, that the baby was breech, just the way that I was feeling kicks and, I don’t know what it was. Like, I just was like, “This kid, I have a feeling that he’s breech.” He checked, my OB, checked me out my 36 week and said his head’s really low. and at that point I had felt a difference in the way that he was positioned. So I think he did eventually go head down and then he was head down when I arrived at the hospital because they checked me a million times and I could feel it. And then he just snapped right back up, at some point during my labor. So, it was gnarly.

Kodi: So then they’re coming in ready to prep me. My husband’s trying to stay with me and kind of hold my hand while I’m losing my mind, crying. Just kind of, I was just so overwhelmed. And at that point I was like, “Give me something for these contractions because as this is for nothing, like I don’t want to feel them anymore.”

[00:27:13] Kodi: So they, I’m pretty sure they gave me IV pain meds and then they gave me more terbutaline to slow the contractions down, because at that point they were two minutes apart. and I think the intense contractions when I got out was maybe my body trying to flip him back. I don’t know what it was, but it was a lot, a lot was going on at that point.

[00:27:36] Kodi: So then a million people are coming in. They’re giving me the consent form, the doctor is reading me all the things, and I was like, “Yes, yes, yes. If he’s butt down, there’s no way he’s coming out.” I felt very comfortable with having a C section. It just was a total 180 from what I thought was going on, what was going to happen.

[00:27:55] Kodi: And luckily, I mean, the funny thing was a good family friend of ours, she’s a nurse, and she was the charge nurse that night, and had kind of popped in and out. So, she came in. She was holding my hand and saying, “It’s okay to be sad, let it out. Like you did so great, and we’re going to take great care of you.” So it was really nice having her there just to kind of talk me down from what is going on because I, I kind of paused. But my husband was with me, but then they came in and said, “Put these scrubs on, pack all your stuff up! We need to get you guys into recovery.” So he’s like packing our suitcases in the back of the room. Like, “What is happening? We could leave this stuff here. We don’t need this anymore.” And so I’m with, at the bedside with Leslie and they’re starting to, you know, disinfect put all the stuff on my legs and I was just laying there thinking you have got to be kidding me like this is the craziest thing. They’re like, “This never happens. Wow. What the? This is wild.” And so all of a sudden I’m getting worried.

[00:28:52] Roxanne: Maybe not the best thing to say.

[00:28:53] Kodi: I know. It was like, I mean, maybe they said that after the fact, but they were just, everyone’s faces looked, probably looked like mine. “Oh, my gosh, what a crazy turn of events.”

[00:29:03] Kodi: So then, got wheeled to the OR. I had to get a spinal because I hadn’t had the epidural. And so, and all the doctors were, and nurses were so great. They were very comforting and kind of like talking me through every step. I also didn’t mention that I had the worst labor shakes. I would say for the last four hours of labor, I was really taken off guard on how much I would be

shaking. Like full convulsing. My husband was looking at me like, “Is that supposed to happen? Because you did not warn me about this.” I’m like, couldn’t even control my body. And it, I think it got worse in OR, like with the spinal medication, like whatever. So I was shaking like a crazy person. They finally get the spinal, place. I’m whatever, ready to go. My husband’s next to me. they’re walking us through, you know, “Just don’t be worried if your baby doesn’t cry right when he comes out. Sometimes C section babies take a little, you know, a minute,” whatever.

[00:30:04] Kodi: So they’re doing the surgery. She’s “Oh, there’s his butt! There’s his head.” She pulls him out and he’s screaming right away. So we felt, so it was just the craziest thing, hearing him cry. And they gave him to the NICU team. They checked him out. My husband got to go cut the cord, and hang out with him for a little bit. And then they brought him over to me and they were asking me if I wanted to hold him. And I was kind of, I was like strapped down to the table. I was like, how am I supposed to hold him? Please don’t give him to me right now. I’m shaking on the bed. Like it was the weirdest, weirdest question to ask me. But they put him cheek to cheek with me and I got to see my baby and then, yeah, they finished up the surgery and went to the post op room.

[00:30:49] Kodi: And I feel like at that point, I just remember like I was sitting on the hospital bed, I had, I was doing my skin to skin and staring at my husband and sitting at the front of my bed and they were asking, “Oh, do you guys need anything?” And he was just like, “Can I just have a cup of coffee? That’s all I want. That was just a lot.” Like we had been up all night. And so we just were kind of staring at each other. wow, that was the craziest last hour of our lives because it was really quick. So from the time that they figured out he was breech to when he was born was maybe 30 minutes. And they had to wait for the anesthesiologist, that was kind of what took even longer. So it was just a total whirlwind.

[00:31:34] Kodi: But Baby, he was healthy. and I mean, all things considered, I was really glad to have the option of the C section because if I had started pushing, who knows if he would have gotten stuck. I just don’t know what would have happened if we hadn’t noticed that he was breech at the time that we did.

[00:31:54] Kodi: Yeah, that is, that’s how it went down!

[00:31:59] Gina: It sounds like you were incredibly supported by your medical team, your entire labor though, which is amazing.

[00:32:05] Kodi: Yes, and that’s honestly one of the reasons I wanted to come on. This is a little bit outside my comfort zone, but I wanted to come on here and share this because it was, an induction for preeclampsia. It was, you know, trying to go unmedicated turned into emergency C section. Like, hospital birth. I feel like in general, you hear such negative things about traditional OBs or hospital, you know, workers and things like that, but we had the most wonderful experience. And as far as everything going “wrong,” quote unquote, I felt very much as an active participant in the whole labor. And I feel like they really listened to me and to my husband and were very accommodating of my whole birth plan.

[00:32:51] Kodi: And, you know, I always felt a little nervous saying, I want to go unmedicated as a first time mom, because you can kind of get the “Oh yeah, just call me when, you know, call me when you get your epidural kind of thing.” And so I always felt like I didn’t tell anyone, I didn’t even really talk about it leading up to it. Cause it’s also the thing where you say, “Oh yeah, I’m going to go unmedicated,” and then you don’t, and then people are like, “Told you so!” so I don’t know. I was pretty private about it leading up to the whole thing, to the, to the birth. But we felt so great about everybody that we worked with, the nurses in all of the OBs. it wasn’t even my OB, he was out of town, so we had the rotating, I met her for the first time and she did my C section, she was great. But, yeah, absolutely, super positive experience having, having a lot of things go wrong and have it still be something I can look back on and say that was, about as good as it could have gone. Considering the circumstances? It was great.

[00:33:48] Gina: So throughout your prenatal care with this OB clinic, did you feel like pretty good about, like working with them? Did you have like good vibes your whole pregnancy, and so it made sense that when you made it to your birth, it was like, yeah, of course, like this is going to be a supportive team for me?

[00:34:04] Kodi: Yeah, I definitely felt that. I mean, my, I saw the same OB I think I only met, I think there’s five in the practice that rotate on call and I had only met one other one. But I loved my OB. He was, I mean, it was definitely a traditional where you come in and it’s not like I’m spending an hour with him, but I really thought that whenever we had questions or, you know, we’re asking, I don’t even know, I just felt like he gave us really genuine answers and was really, you know, in tune or, attentive during all of our appointments. And so I felt super supported by him. And then, yeah, I mean, it also helps that I had an uncomplicated pregnancy. so there weren’t any real hurdles that we had to overcome in any of our appointments.

[00:34:54] Kodi: It was just like, “You’re doing great! You’re amazing!” So it’s hard to complain when they’re just telling you how great you are all the time. But yeah, overall, super, super positive. Like I would, for our next kid, definitely go back to the same practice.

[00:35:10] Gina: Well, that’s amazing. It definitely probably wasn’t what you were expecting for your birth, but I think it makes a huge difference to have a team that like truly supports you and is like on board with like what decisions you want to make during your birth and are like essentially like your biggest cheerleader throughout, but also helping you navigate if there was a change in your plan to help you still be an active participant. So yeah, it was definitely probably not what you were expecting, but it still sounds like it was a really positive experience.

[00:35:41] Kodi: Yeah. It, it was. We always joke that he, my son let me have a easy pregnancy because he was saving all the drama for the very end. Because he really threw us through a loop there, but.

[00:35:55] Gina: So how was your postpartum experience? Did you guys, you guys probably stayed about a day or two in the hospital, like how was the transition into motherhood for you?

[00:36:04] Kodi: It was, it’s honestly been so much better than I anticipated. I hadn’t really thought much about C section postpartum care. I don’t know. I listened, I prepared all, with everything going up to it, but then I hadn’t really thought about what you do after the fact. And so, we stayed, he was born in the morning, so we stayed Thursday, Friday, Saturday, two more nights.

[00:36:31] Kodi: and then, and it was honestly great. I had, I think the worst part was coming off of the spinal, like waiting for, to get feeling back. I just felt really. icky, just kind of sitting in bed all day and not being able to, I don’t know, that just was not, it’s not my jam. I did not like being in bed for an entire day.

[00:36:51] Kodi: But they let me stand up at the end of the day. I think it was like 7 PM to kind of walk across the room with people next to me and whatever. So the following day was so much better. They let me go on a little walk around the hospital. I was feeling really good. I was able to take a shower. You know, holding the baby and my husband being there to really do everything except for, I was just kind of sitting in bed and trying to breastfeed and do all that, but even coming home, it really is just moving as if you’re still pregnant. That was kind of how I thought about it, like not doing sitting up super quick in your bed, like just moving really gingerly everywhere I went. And luckily my husband works

from home and he was taking time off, but I really did not lift and I did not do anything. I did really short walks, which was great.

[00:37:44] Kodi: But as far as cooking, cleaning, like anything around the house, my husband did everything and he’s a rock star. We love him. But, it’s gone really well. Like I’ve been loving walking. I just got cleared for, all kinds of activities. I’m seven weeks out. So it’s been kind of a slow roll, but easing into it and figuring out parenting is like drinking through a fire hose.

[00:38:10] Gina: It is.

[00:38:10] Roxanne: Oh yeah.

[00:38:11] Kodi: It is a wild experience.

[00:38:14] Gina: Once you feel like you, you know what to do, they change and you’re like, you got to figure out all this new stuff.

[00:38:21] Roxanne: You’re like, that doesn’t work anymore. Try again.

[00:38:23] Gina: Exactly.

[00:38:23] Kodi: Yeah. The newborn, I’m like, can you just tell me what’s wrong? I really wish you could talk because we are going through the list of things and we have no idea what’s wrong with you.

[00:38:32] Kodi: So, but you know, he’s been a little sweetie. He’s been a good sleeper. Breastfeeding has been great. He latched from the very beginning, which I was a little bit nervous about with him being early. So gaining weight like a champ, and he’s just the cutest little nugget. We love him so much and it’s, it was all worth it.

[00:38:53] Kodi: I would do it over again in a heartbeat. I just wish I knew it was a C section. We could have just planned it!

[00:38:58] Roxanne: Yeah, you could have skipped all of the labor.

[00:39:01] Kodi: Skip all the labor, just go straight to the good stuff.

[00:39:05] Gina: Well, it sounds like you did really well during her labor that you’re coping well, you got to experience it.

[00:39:11] Kodi: Yeah, honestly, looking back, I think that’s the most positive part is I can look back and say, I did all, I mean, I really was looking forward, I wanted to try to push. That was the part that I felt like I was going to be actually good at.

[00:39:24] Kodi: But, I can look back and say I did everything that I wanted to do. I really, I followed my plan. Rider was there to support me every step of the way. The nurses were great, and I really feel proud of what I did. And it didn’t end the way that I wanted it to, but at the end of the day, there’s no planning anything. So it’s not a surprise that something went a little bit haywire.

[00:39:49] Kodi: But yeah, I’m super proud of myself, and I think it, the preparation really did help, and it’s so mental, I think your body can handle so much more than your mind can. And you’re really, if you decide you want to do something, you can absolutely do it, and I, I’m hoping for a VBAC for my next one, I’m already thinking about it.

[00:40:11] Roxanne: Seven weeks out, already preparing for the next baby.

[00:40:13] Kodi: Which would be great, but, Yeah, we’ll, we’ll see about that, maybe in a couple of years.

[00:40:21] Roxanne: We’ll be here.

[00:40:22] Gina: Well, thank you so much, Kodi, for coming on the podcast and sharing your positive birth story. I know it probably was not what you were expecting, but it’s still really empowering, I think, to know that things can not go the way that you were planning and you could still come out of it feeling really good about the experience because of the support team that you’ve chosen, the preparation that you did. And I’m also very proud of you, so. You did awesome.

[00:40:45] Kodi: Well, you guys were my, my teachers the whole time. I really appreciate all the content you put out and your classes have been, I’ve already signed up for the postpartum return to fitness. Like I am all in, I’m your biggest fan. And we’re just moving through all the different courses, so.

[00:41:06] Gina: Well, we got, we got a VBAC course for you when you’re ready for it.

[00:41:09] Kodi: Amazing. Oh, I will bookmark it.

[00:41:12] Gina: Well, thank you so much, Kodi, again, for coming on the podcast. We really appreciate your time knowing that we supported you throughout your pregnancy and really appreciate you sharing your story on the podcast.

[00:41:22] Kodi: Of course. Thank you for having me.

[00:41:25] Roxanne: One of the medications that Kodi mentioned in her birth story was terbutaline. So terbutaline is a tocolytic, which means that it’s relaxing our uterus. So stopping uterine contractions, most likely. This can be given either preterm- so if you go into preterm labor- to stop the uterine contractions, as well as during labor for different reasons.

[00:41:44] Roxanne: The reasons that we would give it to you during labor is if your contractions are happening too close together or they’re too strong that it’s starting to affect baby and we can’t do anything like turn down your Pitocin or turn off your Pitocin, this would be the medication we would use if you’re either in spontaneous labor, or in Kodi’s case, the Cytotec caused the uterine contractions to be too close together.

[00:42:07] Roxanne: So, reasons that we would give the terbutaline during labor is because one, either your contractions were too close together and too strong and there’s not another intervention that we can stop, such as turn off or turn down the pitocin. This would be given either when you were spontaneously in labor or in Kodi’s case, you were given that Cytotec and that’s what caused the contractions to get too close together. The terbutaline can be given to slow down those contractions so that we can either restart the labor, or at least allow baby’s heart rate to recover.

[00:42:34] Roxanne: Or, we can give it at the end of labor, if again, those contractions are being too close together and it’s affecting baby’s heart rate and we are moving towards that C section, this can allow baby to rest and recover a little bit before having to transition to life outside of the womb.

[00:42:49] Roxanne: It can also be given again, if we’re moving towards a C section to stop those contractions, because one, we don’t need the contractions anymore. And if baby is too far down into that pelvis, it can make the C section just a little bit harder.

[00:43:01] Roxanne: With terbutaline, the side effects are it can cause your heart rate to feel like it’s beating out of your chest. So it feels like you just drank like 70 shots of espresso and your heart is beating really, really, really fast. That is probably the most common side effect that I hear about after getting

terbutaline and it’s one of the things that I always kind of prepare people to experience after we give terbutaline.

[00:43:25] Roxanne: Another thing is the goal of terbutaline is to cause uterine relaxation, to allow the uterine contractions to stop. And depending on how soon it was given prior to a C section, or prior to birth, it could potentially not allow the uterus to contract down and lead to a postpartum hemorrhage. This thankfully did not happen in Kodi’s case, but it is a risk factor that some people will bring up prior to giving it.

[00:43:50] Roxanne: Terbutaline is a drug that is not very often given. It’s not a very common one that I have even given myself as a labor nurse of over 12 years, but if you have any further questions about Terbutaline with more side effects, more risks and benefits of getting it, this would be a great thing to bring up to your provider before going into labor.

[00:44:07] Gina: So thanks so much for listening to Kodi’s birth story and to Roxanne’s information about another birth option that is available to you.

[00:44:14] Gina: If you want more support throughout your pregnancy, be sure to check out our online prenatal fitness programs. Our online prenatal fitness programs are designed to help you stay strong throughout pregnancy, pain free, and also to help you prepare for birth, and we offer it in two different formats.

[00:44:27] Gina: We have our app based program, which is a self paced workout. It’s a list of exercises with short demo videos. And then we also have our on demand program, which is what Kodi used, which are full length workout videos that you follow and you work out with at the same time.

[00:44:40] Roxanne: And if you’re looking for more education to prepare for childbirth, check out our online childbirth education course, which covers the science of birth to help take away that mystery that surrounds births to make it less scary.

[00:44:50] Roxanne: We discuss not just the anatomy and physiology of labor, but also labor positions you can utilize, different levels of your pelvis, along with birth options, because if you don’t know what options are available to you, you have none. And this is all to help prepare you for either hospital birth or even an out of hospital birth.

[00:45:08] Gina: You can check out all of our online courses to support you throughout your pregnancy on our website at mamastefit.com and use code STORY10 to get 10 percent off anything that we offer online, including

prenatal fitness, our childbirth education, our postpartum education, postpartum fitness, and even our professional courses.

[00:45:25] Gina: And so if you want to learn more from us as a professional, you can earn CEUs while also learning from us with our professional courses and save 10 percent off with code STORY10.