Gina’s Fourth Birth Story: The Home Birth of Zoe

Gina: Welcome to the MamasteFit Podcast. In this episode, I’m going to be sharing my fourth birth story with baby Zoe, who, if you’re watching the YouTube video, is present and accounted for.

[00:00:10] Roxanne: If you can’t hear her, if you’re listening to the podcast!

[00:00:12] Roxanne: You will

[00:00:12] Gina: probably hear her little baby noises throughout this episode as well. So I’m really excited to share my final birth story. So let’s dive in.

[00:01:11] Gina: So with Zoe’s birth story, we had some predictions on when she was going to be born, because I talked to some psychics, I did a star chart reading. I needed to know when was this going to happen.

[00:01:22] Roxanne: How many people did we ask?

[00:01:23] Gina: We asked two people.

[00:01:24] Roxanne: Was it two or three?

[00:01:26] Gina: I think it was just two. So I had a star chart reading earlier in my pregnancy because I’m into that stuff. I think it’s cool.

[00:01:33] Roxanne: We’re into the “woo-woo”.

[00:01:34] Gina: I want, I would like the predictions. And she told me August 23rd through the 25th because of the moon, where they were at- I don’t totally understand all this astrology stuff, I think it’s really interesting. It’s so in depth for me that I, it’s like beyond my capability.

[00:01:52] Roxanne: I don’t have time to learn it.

[00:01:54] Gina: There’s houses and you have different types of moons for different parts of your life. And anyways, she told me the 23rd through the 25th. That the labor would start on the 23rd, and the baby would be born by the 25th. And I was like, “That’s rude. I don’t want a 48 hour labor.” And even my midwife was like, “Oh gosh, why would she predict a three day labor? That sounds awful!” And I’m like, “But she did say the 23rd.”

[00:02:20] Gina: And then we had another psychic who actually predicted Sophie’s birth correctly, even though I did not want to believe her because she was like, “She’s going to be born at 41 and three.” And I was like, “That’s rude. I would like to not do that, please.” and she was born on 41 and three. So I asked her and she said August 19th, which was A super blue moon.

[00:02:42] Roxanne: It’s like a super moon.

[00:02:44] Gina: A super, and a blue moon.

[00:02:45] Roxanne: Was it a blue moon or a blood moon?

[00:02:47] Gina: It was both. No, not a blood moon. It was a super blue moon, which is like super rare.

[00:02:51] Roxanne: Which a lot of people went into labor on the 19th, that I know.

[00:02:55] Gina: So it was like once every 30 years this happens. And so I was like, “The moon is going to be so powerful that it will just force my baby out of my body.”

[00:03:04] Roxanne: I mean, it did.

[00:03:06] Gina: And then when I was 37 weeks, we had a tropical storm fly through the area, which brought on some prodromal labor, some contractions, but then nothing happened, which was not surprising. I was not going to go into labor at 37 weeks, come on.

[00:03:17] Roxanne: I mean, fingers crossed.

[00:03:19] Gina: But the super moon was at the beginning of my 39th week. And so I was like, “This is going to be it.” And I did start having contractions and I was like, “These don’t quite feel like labor, but they’re, they’re wave like sensations, they’re a little strong, and they’re coming at a frequency.” And I was like, “But it doesn’t quite feel like a labor contraction, but it’s close enough. It’s close enough.”

[00:03:44] Roxanne: We canceled all appointments.

[00:03:46] Gina: We did.

[00:03:47] Roxanne: We rescheduled our entire lives. I went and got breakfast, we were ready.

[00:03:52] Gina: The only person that was not at my house was the midwife, because she was like, “The timing will be perfect. This is not the timing.” And I was like, “Surely it is.” But it never got any closer. And it just kind of fizzled out as the day went on. My husband even stayed home from work that day because he was like, “Today’s the day!”

[00:04:06] Roxanne: I mean, it worked out because the birth photographer, Brittany, was also at a birth, so she was not available.

[00:04:10] Gina: So, prodromal labor, which I had not experienced in previous births, which I was always kind of like, when everybody was like, “I just didn’t know if it was it or not.” And I was like, “How did you not know? It’s so obvious what it is.” And in hindsight, yes, it was obvious that it was not labor. But I think I was like, “Maybe it’ll turn into it. Maybe it’ll shift into labor.” It did not. It did not shift into labor. It was just practice. But it had wave like sensations, coming at a frequency, but never got more intense, and then eventually just fizzled out. And so I was like, “Okay.”

[00:04:46] Gina: And then I was just like super crampy all week, and I was telling my husband like, “I’m good with her coming whenever she wants to come, I’m feeling very patient this time around. I just don’t want to be uncomfortable and crampy for three more weeks, this kind of sucks!” The random contractions at night and the crampiness throughout the day was, like, a new thing for me. And it was just, really uncomfortable and I’m like, “Can we not do this? Please?”

[00:05:16] Gina: But I was feeling very patient with she’s just going to come whenever she wants to come. It’ll probably be after 41 weeks. If I hit 41 and three and I’m still pregnant, I’ll start having conversations with my midwife about like things that we can do to kind of encourage labor. But I was feeling very, good about like, whatever happened.

[00:05:38] Gina: And I was talking to you about it, where with Sophie’s birth, I felt like I was preparing for a performance, I had this vision in my head of what my, what I wanted my birth to look like. I wanted that serene, goddess birth where like I pull my baby from my body and it’s like angels sing. And I did not get that. But I felt like pressure at the end of my pregnancy and during my labor to perform, in a way. And so this one I was like, ” I’m just gonna let whatever happens, happen. If I have a water birth that’s great. If I don’t It’ll be fine, I won’t be, my baby will still be born, just a land baby, as my children like to refer to themselves as, land babies.”

[00:06:24] Gina: And so I just didn’t have as much pressure on myself to have a certain type of birth. And I was also like, “Well, whenever she comes, she comes. I’ll probably be super late.” And I just kind of accepted that. But inside I was still like, “But what if she comes early?”

[00:06:40] Roxanne: What will we do?

[00:06:41] Gina: “Maybe she’ll come early. But how early? I’ve got some things still on my list of things that I want to do.” And so, on Wednesday of the week, so I think this is like the 21st, my friend came over and did some acupuncture on my labor points. Because I was feeling super crampy and I was like, “You

know what? If this is what helps me go in the direction I need to go, let’s do it. Let’s do it.” And so she came over, and she did some acupuncture on me, and nothing really happened. I think I had some prodromal labor that night, maybe, but nothing like… I knew it wasn’t labor, and I was like, “Well, this will either progress or it won’t, so I should go to bed.” and then I went to sleep, and I woke up, and I was still pregnant.

[00:07:27] Gina: And I actually had a midwife appointment that day. So I went and saw my midwife and I was like, “Yeah, I was having some contractions last night, but it was also like 11 PM,” so I knew well, “if this does progress into labor, it’s probably going to be the middle of the night when it picks up and I’m going to be really tired if I try to get up and do things to get this going. So I’m just going to go to bed. And if I wake up and I’m still in labor, then it was labor. And if I wake up and it’s not, then it was just prodromal labor again.” And she’s like, “Wow, you’re so wise!” I’m like, “Thank you. Thank you. I know I’m so wise.” It was not labor. It stopped.

[00:08:03] Gina: And so Thursday, just kind of went through the day and was like, “Well, eventually labor will begin. I’m feeling super crampy.” So I just had a feeling it was going to be that weekend. I was like, “I don’t think that I’m still going to be pregnant at 40 weeks, but. I’ve been wrong before. I’ve been wrong.”

[00:08:18] Gina: And so Friday morning we woke up. It was my, our brother’s birthday. In case you didn’t know, we do have a brother. He’s the younger one. He’s a computer engineer, kind of a big deal.

[00:08:29] Roxanne: Very smart.

[00:08:31] Gina: And it was his birthday. So at 6 or 7 AM, I woke up to some contractions that were distinct. And I’m like, “This is labor. Today. And this baby is going to be born. Or tomorrow. Hopefully not Sunday…” cause this was Friday at this point. So I texted him, I’m like, “Happy birthday! You might have a birthday twin today.” And he was like, thumbs up.

[00:08:56] Roxanne: Just like, “Cool….”

[00:08:58] Gina: You tell your dad life changing news, and he’s like, thumbs up.

[00:09:04] Gina: So I just kind of rested in bed cause I was like, “Well, this is either going to continue, which I feel pretty confident it is, or it’s not.” Which again, I knew this was labor.

[00:09:16] Gina: And so I told my husband, I was like, “Hey, I’m having actual labor contractions. They’re distinct. They feel just like the other ones. They’re different than the prodromal labor.” So for me, the difference is with the prodromal labor contractions, like they were that wave, like sensation where it built, it peaked and then it released. But it was kind of like my whole belly was like, I had the sensation. With labor contractions, it has that build, peak, and release, but it’s almost this, burning, pulling type sensation all in, my lower abdomen, so it’s much more, crampy, more of, a period cramp type thing, but it’s, very isolated to my lower abdomen, because I guess that’s where my cervix is, and so things are happening down there. And so it was very distinct, it was that, burning type sensation, and I was, like, “Cool.” But they were like, I think they were like 8 to 15 minutes apart. We took notes. So let’s see.

[00:10:08] Roxanne: They were pretty far apart.

[00:10:09] Gina: They were about 15 minutes apart. So I was like, “Alright, it’s gonna be a while.” Like, “I’m just gonna kind of rest in bed.” My husband had to go to the range that day for work So he was like, “Well, should I go? Should I cancel?” And I was like, “I think it’s going to be a while. You should just go. And then if I need you to come home, like you’re not that far, you can always just like scurry home.”

[00:10:32] Gina: And so he went to the range. My contractions started to get a little bit closer together once I got up and started moving around, they were like four to five minutes apart, but not quite to the point where I needed a lot of support, but I was also home alone with my three small children. And so I was very distracted by tending to their needs because they’re children. And so I wasn’t really able to get into like labor land. And I, by the time he got home around noon, I was feeling like pretty frustrated because nothing had progressed. And then I was trying to recognize like nothing was going to progress because you were tending to your kids. Like you didn’t have an opportunity to allow things to move and your body knew that.

[00:11:15] Gina: But everyone was just kind of like taking care of last minute things. And I was just like, “The labor’s never going to progress ever. I’m going to be pregnant forever. Everyone’s abandoned me.” And I got really like down on myself like really fast around like noon.

[00:11:32] Gina: And I had a massage that day and so I was like, “I’m going to this massage.” Like, “I am going to go. This is going to be my time away from everyone to just focus on myself,” because my husband got home, I think you were like getting ready to come over, like everyone who needed to be there was like starting to do that. And I was like, “I’m gonna go and just take some time for myself because I’ve been, I’m feeling frustrated because nothing is

progressing.” So I went to the massage. During it I maybe had four contractions that I can recognize, but they were stronger and I was like, “Okay, I feel more relaxed. I feel like I can sink in a little bit more.” And then on my drive home I was like, “Ooh!” Like with my contractions, ’cause they were much stronger! And I was like…

[00:12:17] Roxanne: It was the massage.

[00:12:18] Gina: “Oh no!” I had, I think I had two or three contractions on the way home and they were again like,

[00:12:23] Roxanne: And it’s a 10 minute drive.

[00:12:24] Gina: Yeah, they were like four to five minutes apart. But I was like vocalizing through them and I was like, “Oh, I don’t like this. I do not like this.”

[00:12:31] Roxanne: Did you drive yourself?

[00:12:32] Gina: I did. I drove myself. Cause I was like, “Nothing’s even happening!”

[00:12:35] Roxanne: But all morning, I was like, “Gina, when do you want us to come over? Do you want us to come over?” “No, I’m fine. I’m fine. You don’t need to come yet. Nothing’s happening.” Doesn’t want to tell anyone. I thought Barron was home this whole time, this whole morning, like helping her out. Nope, she’s by herself.

[00:12:50] Gina: I’m just like, “Everyone abandoned me.”

[00:12:54] Roxanne: “Do you need me to come now?” “No, I’m fine! We’re just hanging out.” “Okay.”

[00:12:57] Gina: It’s fine. It’s fine. Just nobody wants to hang out with me.” So my massage was over at, so my massage was at one, I got home probably around three from the massage. And at this point, I’m like, “Everyone, you need to come. The contractions are stronger now. I’m needing a little bit of support. Rush!”

[00:13:17] Roxanne: Gina went from zero to, “Please come now.” My daughter had her kindergarten orientation that day, so we were at her kindergarten orientation, went and grabbed a snack afterwards, and Gina’s like, “Come now. Contractions are two to three minutes apart.”

[00:13:33] Roxanne: I’m running across our downtown, with my daughter on my back, holding a cupcake, cause she’s like, “We need to get baby Zoe a cupcake!” And I’m like, “Okay! We gotta carry it with us all the way back to the school.” Sprinting across the town cause Gina’s like, “Come now! They’re very strong.” I’m like, “Oh no!”

[00:13:52] Gina: But then everyone showed up and they slowed down. Cause it was like a transition, like a bunch of new people in my space. Everyone had to come ask me questions. The birth assistant showed up and was like checking on baby and like talking to me and then I felt obligated to engage in conversation, which then brought my contractions to space out a little bit more. And then I was getting frustrated because everyone kept having like conversations with me about like random things and I was like, “Can y’all shut the fuck up?”

[00:14:21] Roxanne: But Gina would talk back, so we thought that she was fine, so it was very confusing until one time they were talking about a bucket and Gina just looks over and she’s like, “guys, I don’t need you in here talking about this bucket.”

[00:14:33] Gina: Because they were talking about what was on the bucket, and how we could use it to brew beer! And I was just like, I don’t care about the bucket, guys.

[00:14:43] Roxanne: Talk about the bucket outside!

[00:14:45] Gina: But it was a big point of conversation. So, previously, before I went to the massage, I was kind of setting up my space. I had everything out that needed to be out. I had the bed made. So the space was like all ready for me to be in labor outside of filling up the pool, which the kids were like, “When are we going to fill the pool? I would like to fill the pool.” And I was like, “We ain’t gonna fill the pool right now. Cause I’m here by myself and I’m not trying to lifeguard you three.”

[00:15:12] Gina: And so at three o’clock though, when I was like, things are more intense, and as people started coming over, that’s when we started filling up the pool and kind of finalizing the setup, like making sure like, All, the medical supplies were, like, readily available for when my midwife showed up, she could set up however she needed. And so everything was kind of, there was a lot of commotion happening because we were kind of finalizing the setup and so my contractions kind of spaced out. And then I was like a little bit guilty because everyone came and now my contractions are like eight minutes apart and we’re all just staring at each other and I’m like, “But don’t talk to me.”

[00:15:47] Gina: But then I also knew, and I think I kept repeating this as like an attempt to not feel guilty, was, once I shift into active labor, it’s going to be quicker, we’ll have a baby soon. And so I think I repeated that like a few times, like to myself out loud to like apologize for everyone just watching me hang out in my bedroom. I’m like, “Once the sun sets, I’m going to shift into active labor and we’re going to have a baby.”

[00:16:13] Gina: And so after everyone showed up and my contractions spaced out, I was like, all right, I need to go someplace where I can be like, kind of by myself. And I was like, the shower! No one’s going to follow me into the shower and like, talk to me.

[00:16:26] Roxanne: Except Roxanne.

[00:16:29] Gina: So I went to the shower. I had my breast pump with me just like the manual one, cause that helped last time and Sophie’s birth to kind of bring things a little bit closer together. And it did a little bit, I think contractions came back down to three to four minutes apart. And I was just like, all right, the, breast pump is not really doing what I want it to do, which is make me an active labor. And I think I just need to take a nap. Like maybe I’m just tired and this is my body’s way of communicating that I’m sleepy right now. Cause when you have a physiologic birth where you’re just laboring. It can kind of ebb and flow based on kind of your needs throughout the day. And so I was like, maybe this is my body saying that I need some sleep.

[00:17:08] Gina: And so my midwife had kind of shown up at that time and she was like, “Yeah, sounds like sleep is a really great idea.” And I was like, “Thank you for encouraging me.” And so,

[00:17:17] Roxanne: Validation.

[00:17:18] Gina: I took like a 30 minute nap, just in my bed. I had, my husband said I had a few contractions during it. And then I woke up and things were definitely a little bit more intense.

[00:17:27] Roxanne: While Gina napped, me and her oldest baked another cake. I made a chocolate cake with some strawberry frosting.

[00:17:33] Gina: I don’t think we ate it. Somebody ate it.

[00:17:35] Roxanne: Adeline ate it.

[00:17:36] Gina: Adeline ate it. So after I woke up from my nap, I wanted to go for a walk. And I was like, “Alright. I took my shower to kind of be in my own space. I took a nap to rest.” And I napped for 30 minutes and I was like, “I want to go outside and move and go for a walk.”

[00:17:53] Gina: And so, my midwife was like, “Okay, yeah, let’s totally do that. Do you want to get checked before, just to kind of see where you’re at?” And then I was like, “Yes. And then you could do a membrane sweep to see if we can encourage things to keep going.” And I knew they were going to keep going, but I was like, I don’t want it to be like 3:00 AM or 4:00 AM when the baby’s born. If we can do things to keep this going…”

[00:18:18] Roxanne: Let’s keep the train moving.

[00:18:19] Gina: Let’s do it. And then again, in Sophie’s birth, I had gotten a sweep and it definitely picked things up for me. So I was like, “We’ll get a sweep and then I’ll go for a walk.” And I was… what was I? Three and a half centimeters after almost 11 hours of being in early labor. But I was 100 percent effaced and the baby was super low. I don’t know the station, but I was like…

[00:18:39] Roxanne: She just said, “Super low.”

[00:18:41] Gina: I was like, “I know she’s super low. I can feel it.”

[00:18:45] Roxanne: Let’s take a quick break from Gina’s birth story to talk about our sponsor, Needed, a nutrition company focused on the perinatal timeframe that we both utilize during our pregnancies, postpartums, and beyond.

[00:18:55] Gina: So you might be wondering what to take now that you’re postpartum. I know this is the birth story, but I am postpartum now. And I still take the same prenatal that I took during my pregnancy. We get a lot of questions on that of, “Now that I’m postpartum, what postpartum vitamin should I take?” So you can just keep taking your prenatal.

[00:19:11] Gina: I’m currently taking Needed’s prenatal. They’re multivitamin, the eight capsule one. Cause there’s so much good stuff in it. And I’m also taking a lot of vitamin D to help with my milk supply and then also to give her some vitamin D as well. So those are two products that I’m taking from Needed right now in the post program to help support my healing and also to help support my milk supply, support my baby.

[00:19:34] Gina: And if you want to check them out, head to thisisneeded.com and use code MAMASTEPOD to get 20 percent off your first order or first month of subscription.

[00:19:41] Gina: But I wasn’t discouraged by the three and a half because I was a hundred percent, and I knew that I progressed quickly once things pick up. It doesn’t really matter what my dilation was. I really just wanted the sweep. She could have not told me anything and I would have been like, “I just want you to give me a sweep right now.”

[00:19:59] Gina: And when she does the sweeps, they’re not painful. I’m also like, my cervix is super soft and I’m dilated. So they weren’t going to be like, excruciating by any means. Like with my first birth, I got a membrane sleep when I was like 41 weeks and I was barely dilated. Cervix was very unripe and it was very painful. But in this labor, it wasn’t too bad at all.

[00:20:24] Gina: And so we went for a 30 minute walk. My son wanted to come with us. I walked through spiderweb and was like horrified, which probably stopped my labor. But the contractions were definitely starting to pick up. I was having to vocalize through them.

[00:20:38] Gina: We came back and I just kind of was like going between the shower and the tub and just kind of going back and forth between the two. The kids were like playing in the pool like with me as I was laboring. They were like, hanging out in the room because I was still in an early active laborer. So I was needing support during the contractions. I was vocalizing, but I was still like very present mentally in between them. And I was kind of like laughing and having like really small conversations. Like I was interacting with my kids, which was like super fun. But my son kept like splashing me in the pool cause he wanted to like practice swimming. And I was like, “Bro.” Like, “I’m loving this, but I do not want to get splashed in the face. Like you need to get out.” And so he was like distraught that he had to get out of the pool, but.

[00:21:27] Roxanne: Twice.

[00:21:28] Gina: Sophie was having a great time and she was. Like vocalizing with me and she was like hugging me during my contractions.

[00:21:36] Roxanne: So sweet.

[00:21:36] Gina: She was like feeding me water, giving me water from like our Easy Jug, ’cause we had this six foot straw on it. And so she would hold it to my mouth and be like, “Mommy!” And then she would drink it and then she would

hand it back to me, and she would just kind of go back and forth between the two. And then I would have a contraction and she would vocalize with me as my husband, squeezed my hips. So it was, like, very sweet. And then she wanted to practice kicking, and so she’d hold on my hands and, she’d be like, “Kick, kick, kick, kick!” and kick her little feet in the pool. She’s much smaller, though, and she was kicking away from me. My son was, like, directly splashing my face.

[00:22:12] Gina: But eventually, I wanted to get out of the pool, because, the temperature would start to drop after it was open for a period of time. And so usually, I think about an hour after being in the pool, it would start to get kind of cold, and I’d be like, “Okay, well, let me get in the shower where it’s hot. You guys refill this, put more warm water in it, and then I’ll come back.” And so then I would get out, go to the shower. Around like 8:30’s when the sun set, and I was like, “Active labor is going to start soon.” I was like, “Once the sun sets, active labor is going to begin.” And it did. And it did.

[00:22:46] Gina: So around 8:30, we have a video of me being like, “I’m just thinking about her getting squished,” because I saw like a reel where somebody was like, “During my unmedicated birth. I just thought about what my baby was going through. Like they’re just getting smooshed with every contraction.” And I was like, “She’s getting smooshed in there!” I’m sure she’s fine. It’s like a big hug!

[00:23:09] Gina: So I decided that I wanted to get in the shower around 8:30, like 9:00- ish. And I was like, I was having a harder time with these contractions. Like in my previous labors, it would build, it’d be this 10 to 15 second peak, and then it would release and let go. And I would like gas light myself to say my contractions are only 10 seconds long. These ones were like, peak, like 50 second peak, and then release. And I was like, “This is rude.” So I couldn’t do my normal, like mental tricks to relax during the contractions because the whole contraction was so intense. And so I was just like hanging on, and I was just thinking like the whole time like “Relax! Just let go, just try to let go!”

[00:23:58] Gina: And I would do like hip shifts during to try to stretch my pelvic floor to try to help me relax down there, and like really deep like vocalizations the whole time. It was like the only way that I could relax as much as I could. My husband was pretty much like right there the whole time, and anytime I had a contraction coming, I’d be like, “Barron, Barron, Barron!” and he’d come and squeeze my hips.

[00:24:22] Gina: But it was just like so much more intense with every contraction than in my previous labors. And so all my little tricks of like

progressive relaxation, start between the eyes and the jaw. No, I didn’t have time to think about that. Like I was so just like, “I need to just be in this contraction.” I should have asked you, “Can you talk me through it?” Because I was like, I couldn’t do it myself mentally, but I was like, also I couldn’t think enough to be like, “Roxanne, talk me through progressive relaxation. I need help.” I was just like, “Ah!”

[00:24:56] Roxanne: Holding on for dear life.

[00:24:59] Gina: It was just so much more intense. And I was like, “Okay, well it’s 8:30,” or I guess it was probably like closer to 9:00 at this point, and I was like, “My active labors are like three to four hours long. So we’ll have a baby before tomorrow. I just got, you know, two and a half more hours to go! It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine.” And so I was just telling myself, you only have to do this for three or four hours, hopefully. It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine.

[00:25:27] Gina: So about half an hour into that, I got in the shower, which I guess was where I was like 10 minutes ago, but I was in the shower and I was like, “Man, I’m like, I’m feeling like just more pressure in my butt.” And I looked at my husband and I was like, “I think the baby’s going to be coming soon. Like, I’m feeling just like more pressure. I don’t feel like I’m pushing yet, but I don’t think that we have much longer to go, but I don’t know what time it is. And so I think I still have two hours though.”

[00:25:57] Gina: And so, I was feeling more pressure, not quite like I need to push, but I was like, it’s probably going to be coming soon. And I kept trying to check myself to see can I feel anything? And I was like, I don’t know what I’m checking for. I’m like, “I must got a lot left to go, cause I don’t feel anything that feels like a head.” And so then I was like, “Okay, well, I think I have to pee,” but I had said that I felt pressure. So everyone was kind of panicking cause they were like, “She really wants to have a water birth, like she hasn’t had a water birth yet.” And so I’m like, “I want to go to the toilet to pee,” and I’m also in the shower, and so I think you and Barron were kind of going back and forth on what to do if I start pushing. And I remember him being like, “I will just carry her to the tub.”

[00:26:44] Roxanne: Yeah, we were like, “She wants to be in the tub for when she pushes.” I was like, “Barron, if she starts pushing, we just gotta grab her and throw her in the tub.”

[00:26:51] Gina: He’s like, “I will just carry her there. Like she’s going to be in the water. Like it’ll be fine.”

[00:26:55] Roxanne: We will take care of it.

[00:26:56] Gina: And I remember like kind of hearing this conversation and I was like, “Cool. Like I’ll end up in the water somehow if I randomly do start pushing in the shower.” And so I was like, “I really just want to pee. Cause I feel like that’ll help me right now.” I hate laboring on the toilet. Like I tried to pee…

[00:27:12] Roxanne: I kept telling Gina to just pee in the shower or pee in the tub. And she’s “No, I need to pee on the toilet.” And I was like, “Do you.”

[00:27:21] Gina: So I made my way to the toilet and I was like, “I’m just going to pee really quick and then I’m going to go to the pool.” And I sat down and a contraction started and I started to cry.

[00:27:31] Roxanne: Gina panicked.

[00:27:33] Gina: I was like, “The world is ending. Oh my God.” If I wasn’t in transition yet, I definitely hit it right there. And I started, I stood up. I think I did pee. I don’t remember.

[00:27:44] Roxanne: After you finished breathing.

[00:27:47] Gina: I stood up, I like was crying. I don’t even remember what I was saying. I was probably just things like, “I just feel really overwhelmed right now.” Or, I think I just start like narrating like my internal thoughts during transition. And so I’m like hanging on to my husband just like sobbing like, “I just feel really overwhelmed right now. This is, aaaaaaah!” And, and then I think I peed and then I was like, “I would like to go to the pool.” And he like helps me back to the pool and I labored in there for a little bit.

[00:28:21] Gina: And at this point when I was walking to the pool, my midwife was like, “Would you like to be checked to see, you know, for some like motivation because it might be, you might almost be there to push,” and I was like, “Nope, I will not be checked because I cannot be told that I’m anything less than it’s time to push and I know that you could just not tell me, but then I’ll know that I’m not ready to push and I just I cannot be told anything else. Like, I will either start pushing soon, or I will just not know what I am.” and she did this the last labor too, where I was like near pushing and she’s would you like to be checked? And the same thing I was like, “I do not. I cannot be told anything less than 10 centimeters right now. I know it doesn’t mean anything, but I will not be told anything less than that. I’m just going to guess.”

[00:29:09] Gina: And so I get in the pool and I’m like, yeah, definitely feeling a little bit more pressure and my children are surrounding the pool and they’re, watching and they’re like, “This is amazing!” And then I’m like, “Oh yeah, I have to push like this baby is…” And I didn’t like mentally think, “Okay, now we push!” Like my body was just like, (grunting noise) and we’re just going to do this. And I was very loud, not shocking. I was like roaring with it. And I checked myself and I felt a bulging bag and I was like, “Yes! Please break. Please break!” And so when I was pushing, I was trying to like claw at it. Cause I’m like, once this bag breaks, the pressure will decrease and my baby will be born.

[00:30:04] Gina: And so I only pushed four times before she was born. So the first contraction, I was like, okay, break, break, break! And then in the videos, I’m like, “Please break!” And so then the second contraction or the second push, I was like, same thing, I was trying to break the bag and then you were like, “Hey, why don’t you stand up?” Because for your labor, that’s what sometimes just changing positions is what pops it.

[00:30:30] Roxanne: Gravity! In the water, gravity is not as strong, so it can’t pull the baby down as much. So when you stand up out of the water that can help pull the bag down.

[00:30:38] Gina: Yeah. And so I was like, “Fine!” Because pushing is the most intense part for me. It’s just so much pressure. There’s just so much happening down there, but I know that I’m done. So I’m like, “All right, we can do this.” So I stand up very unhappily.

[00:30:57] Roxanne: No one’s happy to stand up.

[00:30:58] Gina: No one is really happy to do that. I’m like, “Fine, I’ll stand up.” And we actually have this really cool picture where like my whole belly is like pushing so hard that, I mean, we’ll put it on the YouTube video, but it was like, wow that’s really wild. So I stand up and this is when I like make eye contact with my youngest, who at this point is maybe, I don’t want to say she was traumatized, but she was scared because she thought I was hurt.

[00:31:24] Roxanne: Yeah.

[00:31:25] Gina: And so I am like roaring to push the baby out and I make eye contact with her and she’s just like, ” What is happening?”

[00:31:32] Roxanne: Screams. Scream cries.

[00:31:34] Gina: Scream crying, “Mommy, owie! Mommy, owie!” And I’m like,

[00:31:39] Roxanne: The video…

[00:31:39] Gina: Sorry, girl.

[00:31:41] Roxanne: It’s so sweet.

[00:31:42] Gina: The baby’s gonna come soon. It’ll be fine.

[00:31:44] Roxanne: At this point, they all run out.

[00:31:46] Gina: So my mom like grabs all three of them. I asked my son later, “Were you scared?” And he’s like, “No.”

[00:31:51] Roxanne: “No, I’m brave.”

[00:31:52] Gina: It was fine. We have a picture of him just like sitting on the bed when I’m an active labor, like eating a donut, like watching his iPad. Which is a big contrast from my last birth, he was like my mini doula. Like he was like hugging me and supporting me. And he did have moments during the labor where he was definitely more like nurturing, but it was really my youngest during this labor who was like, “Let me support you as I’m the student midwife. Let me help you.” So he was like, “I was fine. It was whatever.” My oldest was also like, “You were really loud and I was a little scared,” and I was like, “But it was fine, right?” She’s like, “Yeah, it was. It’ll be fine.”

[00:32:36] Gina: So my mom grabbed them and took them out as I am like finishing that push and I’m like, “I can’t stand anymore. My water didn’t break. I need to come down onto my knees again.” So I think that was like the second or third contraction or push at this time.

[00:32:53] Gina: And so as I sat down, or kneeled back down to finish that push, I reached into check again and I was able to snag my bag finally. And it broke, or it was just like timing. It just broke as soon as I sat down. And I think I might’ve been like, “It broke,” which nobody heard.

[00:33:11] Roxanne: No.

[00:33:12] Gina: I like whispered it, like, “The bag just broke.” And then, or maybe it was the very next contraction it did. I don’t know. Anyways, time is magic.

[00:33:21] Gina: So now the fourth contraction, is either this is the one that the bag broke, or it broke on the previous one. I had another push.

[00:33:30] Roxanne: I think you said, “Finally!”

[00:33:31] Gina: Yeah. I must have said just, “Finally.” And yeah, everyone was like, “Cool, the contraction’s over.”

[00:33:36] Roxanne: Yeah. That’s what I’m like, “Okay. Finally, the contraction’s over. Cool.”

[00:33:39] Gina: So the fourth push came. I pushed, either this is the one that it broke or it broke in the previous one, not that important. Her head was starting to come and I was like, you said something, but so I knew that her head was coming, and so I was like, I need to focus right now because I’m in the pool, nobody can see, and I need to not tear because I don’t want to get an unmedicated repair. I mean, you get local anesthetic, but I don’t want to get, I don’t want to have to get stitches.

[00:34:14] Gina: And so, I like focused, but I was like kind of coming down, but I’m still pushing at this point and you thought that I was in between contractions. So you were like, “Gina, just take a deep breath,” or you said something to relax.

[00:34:31] Roxanne: Because Gina’s just like (tenses whole body).

[00:34:33] Gina: I was like, “Oh yeah, I need to relax because her head is coming!”

[00:34:36] Gina: And so like you cued me and I was like, serene birther. Cause people keep asking, like, “How did you go from screaming or roaring,” because it wasn’t screaming like it was like a very deep roar, “to like this super calm, collected person?” And I was like, “Honestly Roxanne just said relax, or take a deep breath, or she said something to bring me back to calming down, and I was like, ‘oh, yeah, I need to do that while her head is being born.'” But I was still pushing and nobody thought, everyone thought I was resting in between because I was suddenly so quiet and like focused. And Barron, my husband, was like, “I knew her head was coming because I was right there!” and I think my midwife, I think my midwife knew that her head was coming.

[00:35:22] Gina: And so I like kind of said, “Her head is coming,” or, “The head is coming.”

[00:35:28] Roxanne: “Her head is out.”

[00:35:30] Gina: To my husband, but very quietly, that nobody really heard. And then I was like super focused cuz, okay I have to ease her head out so I don’t tear, and her head’s out, guys! And everyone was like, “What!?” So the birth assistant, later, was like, “I had no idea that her head was being born.” She’s like, “But sometimes you can’t really see in the water until somebody tells you.”

[00:35:53] Gina: So her head was born and I was like, “Cool. now, what do I do?” Cause I had never been able to do that in a previous birth. Like I’m always like out of my mind. Like, I’m just hanging on for dear life. There’s no way that I’m catching my own baby. And then for this one, I delivered her head all by myself. And I was like, “What do I do now?” And so my midwife was like, “Great job. You did amazing!” And I like kind of looked at her and I was like, “What do I do?!” And she’s like, “Well, you just got to let her rotate and then just push her shoulders out.” And I was like, “Okay!” So I actually felt her rotate, which was, I had never felt that before. And I think it was probably cause I was in the water. Maybe it was a little bit easier to feel. I don’t know.

[00:36:45] Gina: And so her head was born and then I felt her turn so that her shoulders are now aligned. And then I was like, “Okay, what do I do now? She rotated. What do I do?” And so my midwife, helped me a little bit at this point because I was just kind of confused. And I was also, in a kneeling position, and so there just wasn’t a lot of space between the bottom of the pool and my vagina. So, I think Roxanne was like, I just kind of wanted to tell you to sit back at this point so that you could pull your baby out. So I needed my midwife to kind of help guide her out at this point. And so she like kind of had, I had my hands on her and my midwife had her hands, and she was like, “Okay, you can push.” And I was like, “Okay.” And so I pushed and then she kind of helped guide her out with me. And then I sat back onto my chest and I was like,

[00:37:40] Roxanne: Onto your butt.

[00:37:41] Gina: Onto my butt, yeah, I didn’t sit on my chest. I didn’t drown my baby. I brought her to my chest and, I was just like, “Oh, God, what just happened?”

[00:37:51] Roxanne: Every single birth, first question Gina asks, “Where’s Adeline?”.

[00:37:55] Gina: I know. So all of my kids had left like a minute earlier because they were kind of startled. And so then they all come running back in

and they’re all like super excited. Adeline is like, “You finally had a water baby!” Or, “She’s a water baby!” And Sophie is like right next to me, like really excited. And she’s like, ” Baby! Baby!”, And then I’m like, “Wait a minute. Where’s my husband?” Cause he was on like one side of the pool holding my hands.

[00:38:24] Roxanne: And then you went to the opposite side.

[00:38:26] Gina: And so then he was trying to get the kids back in. And then I was like, “Wait a minute, where’s this dude?” And he came back and came behind me. And at that point she started crying and it was just like, this big emotional release happened for me and I was just like, “This is our last baby!” And I was like, “She looks like Adeline!”

[00:38:45] Gina: And it was just like the perfect ending to all my births. And these are happy tears. Just to feel so supported by everybody who just believed in me and nobody was rushing me during my labor. Everyone was just like kind of tending to my every need and I was just like, “Everyone deserves to feel this when they have a baby,” regardless of, you don’t have to, you shouldn’t have to give birth at home to feel this, you should be able to give birth in a hospital with an OB and feel just so supported by everybody who’s there. Everybody should be able to acknowledge that this is a transformative experience, regardless of how your baby is born or where your baby is born.

[00:39:43] Gina: And so I think like postpartum, I was like, I was feeling really sad for my first birth where I didn’t have that. I mean, I was surrounded by like you and like my family members that were all like, “We’re here to support you. We’re excited for you.” But I had this like other team that I didn’t know that was not as supportive. And so I think back to like my first birth and I’m like, man, like that really sucks that I only get to experience this four times in my life, and one of the times was like kind of traumatic. But the next three were really powerful for me, and I’m really glad I had those experiences, but I’m like, you know, I wish I had that for all four. Like it sucks that the first one was like a trial run. Cause I just didn’t know. I didn’t know what options I had or that birth could be this amazing experience. Cause I just, I grew up thinking it was the most pain you’ll ever be in, like this really scary, curse that’s put on women and, and so, for the majority of my first pregnancy, I was like, “Oh, you just show up and you give birth, and you get an epidural, and you just do whatever the doctor tells you to do.” And this is not to be like, you shouldn’t do what your doctor tells you by any means, but I went into that first pregnancy not realizing how important this experience was. Like, and I think part of it was like, as I was growing up, and even in my young adult life, pregnancy and motherhood were not these, super glamorized or important things. They were just like, you just give birth and then you get back to it, you go back to work and you contribute towards society, it was very dismissed, I felt, throughout my life. Until I went through it, and then I was like, “Oh my God, this is… this is a really big deal! Like, why have I been lied to my whole life?” Not in regards to, like, everyone should stay home, but it’s like, I could have moved through that pregnancy, feeling so much more confident and empowered by the experience. I could have prepared for that birth differently. I could have still given birth in a hospital, but I could have been more empowered, doing it. And so it was sad to me that my whole first pregnancy and birth was like this trial run that I didn’t need to have if there was just like more understanding of how important this experience was.

[00:42:19] Gina: So really glad that the last experience though, was so positive. It was very intense. It was the most intense birth, like from when active labor started to baby being born was less than 90 minutes, which was the fastest by far of all of my births.

[00:42:38] Roxanne: Fourth baby, I would hope.

[00:42:39] Gina: It was very intense. It was definitely the most, somebody asked me like, “Was it your easiest labor?” I was like, “I mean, it was the fastest one!” It was the most intense, though, so it definitely cemented that this was the last baby for us. I felt very powerful during it, very empowered. It was a good experience. I’m obviously glad that I did it, but I am also glad that it was the last time that I had to do that. Because Eoghan’s birth, the contractions felt super manageable. It was still very intense, but I was like, “I could do that again.” And then same with Sophie’s birth, the contractions were very manageable. I was like, “I can do that again.” And this one, I’m like, “I could do it again, but I would like to not do it again. I’m good.” The three times was enough for me.

[00:43:35] Gina: So this is our final baby. Of course, it’s like the end of an era, which is very sad.

[00:43:42] Roxanne: The last MamasteFit baby.

[00:43:43] Gina: But you can’t just keep having children. Like I mean, you could, it’s just not…

[00:43:49] Roxanne: It’s not sustainable financially or mentally.

[00:43:51] Gina: Or like mentally or emotionally. I feel even during my pregnancy, I just felt very complete as well, where I was like, “This is the final like piece to our family. Like I, I feel very like complete with it.” And I thought I would feel more sad during the pregnancy to be like, “Oh, this is, this is the last time that I’ll feel my baby kicking inside, or I’ll feel her hiccuping, or…” but I didn’t have that feeling of sadness. And even during labor, like, when we were on one of our walks, I was like, “People keep asking me if I am like sad that this is the last time and I just feel very complete like I, I’m not like sad for it.” And then during the labor I’m like, “I’m not sad that this is my last labor like I’m glad to go through the experience,” and it wasn’t really until postpartum that I was like, “This is my last baby!”

[00:44:45] Roxanne: Postpartum hormones.

[00:44:48] Gina: And it definitely hit me hard on day three where I was just like, “This is the final piece. I’m never gonna experience birth or pregnancy again, I’m never gonna have a little baby again, they’re all gonna grow up and move out and I’m gonna be left alone!”

[00:45:05] Gina: And so, some of the advice that I was receiving, because I think, obviously, I think, I would like to think that most people go through this, what they’re, what they believe to be their final child, or even just, I feel like I go through this every postpartum, because it’s like the end, it’s the start of a new chapter, and it reminds me that all chapters end. And so I’m just like, “Ah!”

[00:45:25] Roxanne: Oh, I know.

[00:45:26] Gina: It gets really dark real fast. So some of the advice that I was given was one, it’s okay to feel whatever it is that you’re feeling. And I definitely found that the more I had an emotional release, the better I felt. So I just started telling my husband what I was feeling, and I was like, “I’m feeling kind of sad right now because this is our final baby. I don’t want any more children. I’m very happy with the four kids. I feel complete. I’m not going to trick you into another baby.” I mean, I didn’t trick him. Like he always agreed. But after Sophie, I was like, “I won’t stop crying until you say that there’s a possibility we can have a fourth.” And he was like, “Oh my God, sure.” And here we are. I was like, “It’s not that I want another baby. I’m just like struggling with knowing that like they’re going to grow up and it’s just really hard.” And then one of my other friends, she’s in the same era as us of like very young children. And she’s like, “Everyone I work with has teenagers. And they’re all doing a lot of fun stuff with their spouses,” and she’s like, “So when your kids grow up, you’re not alone, you have your husband, who you hopefully like.” And I was like…

[00:46:39] Roxanne: Hopefully.

[00:46:39] Gina: Oh yeah, I guess he’s still gonna be there.

[00:46:43] Roxanne: And that’s, such a big part that a lot of people almost forget, and my husband has to remind me of when I’m frustrated with him, that he’s like, “After these children leave, Roxanne,” he’s like, “they will not live with us forever.” Hopefully, hopefully, they all move out. They live with us for 18 to 22 years, maybe a little bit longer, depending on their life trajectory. Hopefully they do not live with us forever. He’s like, “And after they leave, it’s just me and you. So I hope that you still like me and we kind of need to like each other still throughout this whole child’s raising years,” so don’t forget about your spouse.

[00:47:23] Gina: Yeah. So that really was comforting to me because I was like, “Oh, it’s not like they move out and then I’m alone.”

[00:47:32] Roxanne: Yeah.

[00:47:32] Gina: Like I still got this dude that I can hang out with, I guess. Also, I’m 36 years old and I see my mom every day.

[00:47:40] Roxanne: Yeah.

[00:47:41] Gina: She never got rid of me.

[00:47:43] Roxanne: She lives three doors down from me, literally. So yeah, she can’t…I know where she lives!

[00:47:46] Gina: She can’t get rid of us. She’s probably like, “Oh my God, can these kids just move?”

[00:47:53] Roxanne: She would like us to stop having babies, though.

[00:47:55] Gina: She’s like, “No more, please!”

[00:47:58] Roxanne: She can’t watch 8.

[00:47:59] Gina: Cause they’re like, “You have 18 summers.” I’m like, “I’m 36, and this woman cannot get rid of me. We’re good!” And so, that’s comforting in a way. And I also find that I don’t like long for my children to be like babies again because they’re all really cool at the age they are right now. And I’m like, “Oh, but if she was a baby, then I wouldn’t have my seven year old and I wouldn’t have my four year old or my two year old.”

[00:48:27] Gina: And so it’s like every new phase is just so cool that I’m like, like we have to go through them in order to experience them. And so it’s our final baby. And I’m glad that I had such a powerful experience to kind of finish. I finally got a water birth.

[00:48:48] Roxanne: You did it.

[00:48:49] Gina: I did. I did.

[00:48:50] Roxanne: You got a serene birth.

[00:48:52] Gina: It was. I caught my own baby, which I never thought I’d be able to do.

[00:48:55] Roxanne: Look at you.

[00:48:56] Gina: I finally did the gentle pushing that I see everyone talk about where they’re like,

[00:49:02] Roxanne: Maybe it’s the key is the water?

[00:49:03] Gina: “Gently breathe your baby out.” I’m like, “Bitch, I could not do that. Stop telling everybody that’s what they have to do because when they can’t do it, they feel like they did something wrong.” But I finally did it, so.

[00:49:15] Roxanne: So it must not be that hard then, Gina.

[00:49:17] Gina: Yeah, it just is, you know, I just needed some practice.

[00:49:21] Roxanne: Just have four kids and by the fourth one you’ll figure it out.

[00:49:23] Gina: By the fourth one you’ll figure it all out. So it was the perfect ending to a very positive chapter of my life.

[00:49:35] Gina: And I’m very excited to see what her personality is like. Right now she’s a potato, so she just kind of stares at us. And in about a week, she’ll start smiling and we’ll be like, “She likes us! She likes being here.” The kids are like super obsessed with her. I have to fight them because they all want to hold her like all the time. My oldest is definitely like the mini mom to her where she’s can I hold her? I’ll take care of her while you take a shower, so that’s all really nice and feeling very supportive in my postpartum.

[00:50:09] Gina: We’re kind of coming to the end of our little postpartum bubble where I’m actually emerging from my home and being, I mean, I was pretty productive, I was keeping a person alive and making all of her milk, which is incredible. Like the female body is amazing. I mean, like I made this person.

[00:50:27] Roxanne: Advertising a book.

[00:50:28] Gina: I made this person. I nourish her with my own body. I think it was breast milk from blood or something. I don’t know. I make her own food. That’s incredible.! Like, how did I not know that this was like the most amazing thing ever?

[00:50:45] Roxanne: Because we don’t talk about it.

[00:50:46] Gina: We don’t. Well, we talk about it.

[00:50:47] Roxanne: Well, yeah.

[00:50:48] Gina: Previously we didn’t.

[00:50:48] Roxanne: People don’t talk about it.

[00:50:49] Gina: And then my book was released. It was really good timing because I wasn’t in a diaper at the book launch.

[00:50:54] Roxanne: I know. So everything happened perfectly.

[00:50:57] Gina: It did. Thank you, Zoe. I appreciate you. She’s perfect.

[00:51:03] Roxanne: Yup.

[00:51:06] Gina: So that is Zoe’s birth story.

[00:51:08] Roxanne: The final MamasteFit Baby.

[00:51:10] Gina: Unless there’s an accident. The final planned MamasteFit Baby.

[00:51:16] Roxanne: Pray for me.

[00:51:17] Gina: I mean, my star chart lady did say that when I’m 40, I’ll have a fifth. And that child will change the world. Unless…

[00:51:24] Roxanne: The star chart lady needs to be wrong about these babies.

[00:51:27] Gina: I was like…

[00:51:28] Roxanne: We’re both supposed to have one more baby according to the star chart lady.

[00:51:31] Gina: I’m like, I feel pretty good with four though. And I, think we’re good. I think we’re good.

[00:51:37] Gina: My son is also starting to go through some mourning where he realizes he doesn’t have a brother. And he’s like, “When Zoe and Sophie are a little bit older, you can have another baby. And that baby will be a boy.” And I’m like…

[00:51:49] Roxanne: My star chart lady said if I had a fourth, it would be a boy. My husband said, “That’s not enough to convince me.” And I was like, “Me either, but I’m just saying…”

[00:51:59] Gina: Yeah, she’s like, “This child is going to change the world.” and I’m like, “Husband, we cannot take that from the world.” And he’s like, “The world will be fine.”

[00:52:08] Roxanne: Someone else, that baby will be born to someone else and it’ll be okay.

[00:52:12] Gina: Thank you so much for following my pregnancy journey with Zoe. And I think this is what, the fifth pregnancy journey that we’ve gone through or shared.

[00:52:21] Roxanne: Yeah.

[00:52:21] Gina: And for following my postpartum journey and for being interested in her birth story and for choosing us to support you throughout your pregnancies and postpartum and just motherhood journey. I was really glad to have this community that we’ve built over the past seven years. And yeah, just knowing that we’re still going to be changing people’s lives and helping people have positive birth stories, even though we’re done with our own, that’s helping me hold on, guys. So thank you for all your kind messages.

[00:52:52] Gina: If you want more support throughout your pregnancy, we do have a lot of support options with all of our free offerings, with our podcast, YouTube channel, Instagram, and we also have paid things, which helps fund all of this. We have our prenatal fitness programs that I did through our pregnancy, well, my pregnancy. Roxanne did it during her pregnancy. I really think that’s probably why my labor was so fast. We have our childbirth education course that teaches you the science of birth, because one of the things that makes birth a lot less scary is just understanding what is happening. Like this sensation that I’m feeling is a contraction.

[00:53:25] Gina: If you’re postpartum though, we do have postpartum fitness courses that I’m going to be doing here shortly. I’m really excited for it. We’re going to be doing a step back challenge, a walking challenge.

[00:53:35] Roxanne: Join us.

[00:53:35] Gina: Join us for that. And my book is released. You can buy the book.

[00:53:39] Roxanne: There’s so many options!

[00:53:40] Gina: There’s so many ways that we can support you. But if we have supported you during your pregnancy, be sure to DM us to let us know. Cause again, like I said, that’s what’s helping us hold on to the fact that we were outside of our childbearing years. We’re just vicariously living through all of you now.

[00:53:56] Roxanne: If you want to share your birth story on our podcast, you can DM us to get set up because we love hearing birth stories and we love sharing birth stories to everyone. I think that they’re a really great way to prepare for childbirth during pregnancy.

[00:54:09] Roxanne: And then, of course, this podcast is sponsored by Needed, a nutrition company focused on the perinatal time frame that we both utilize during our pregnancies and postpartums, and I still even take it now, one year postpartum. And you can use code MAMASTEPOD 20 percent off your first order or the first month of your subscription.