From Hyperemesis-Gravidarum to HypnoBirthing®: Vanessa’s Pregnancy & Birth Story with Special Guest Aly Romot (Part 1 of 2)
In this heartfelt episode of the Breath and Birth Co Podcast, Vanessa—hospital-based DONA-certified birth doula and childbirth educator—opens up about her deeply personal journey to motherhood. From navigating chronic endometriosis and infertility to finding calm through HypnoBirthing® amidst severe hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), Vanessa shares how it all unfolded.
She’s joined by special guest Aly Romot, a Certified Birth Doula, Certified Lactation Counselor, Body Ready Method® Pro, and Birth Photographer. Aly teaches HypnoBirthing® and Evidence-Based Birth® childbirth education classes in Columbus, OH. She taught taught Vanessa and Brian HypnoBirthing® and became their private birth doula- helping them tap into the power of connection, language, and trust during pregnancy. Together, they explore the beauty of preparation, partner involvement, and informed decision-making in birthwork.
💛 This episode sets the stage for Part 2, where Vanessa will share her full birth story—including how labor began and what it felt like to finally meet her son.
“ I think there's a big misnomer about hypnobirthing that it's for home birthers- it's for only people who want to have unmedicated crunchy births. And that's just not true.”
-Aly Romot
🔑 4 Key Takeaways:
Language Matters
With HypnoBirthing®, understanding the impact of words was crucial. Transforming 'contractions' into 'waves' or 'surges' changed how I perceived the birthing process, easing some of the inherent anxiety.
Partner Involvement
The approach emphasized the partner's role, empowering Brian (Vanessa’s Husband and Birth Partner) to become an integral part of the birthing experience. This sense of shared journey made the process less daunting and more connected.
Embracing Mind Over Matter
HypnoBirthing® allowed me to use techniques like color association to calm my mind. Visualizing serene, sea foam green hues helped maintain a peaceful state, allowing me to focus on the positive aspects of birth.
Your Provider Matters
We made decisions about maintaining my OBGYN during pregnancy based on my medical history and her involvement in helping me achieve natural conception. Stay tuned in Part 2 to learn how this impacted my birth story, and check out my FREE GUIDE The Trust Test: Choose (or Change) Your OB-GYN or Midwife with Confidence.
Mentioned in This Episode:
My Backstory of Endometriosis and Infertility
Before diving into the joy of expecting, my story was molded by the struggle with endometriosis and the challenges of infertility. It took years to receive a proper diagnosis, leading to a pivotal excision surgery. This surgery brought hope and change, ultimately leading to the fascinating moment of a positive pregnancy test.
In previous episodes, specifically Episode 1: "Beginning Middle Endo" and Episode 7: "One Good Egg, Perfect Timing, and a Clear Path," I delve deeper into this difficult yet transformative part of my journey. I also mention the “cheapies” I used throughout my journey in the episode, with options listed below:
A Joyous Announcement Amidst Anxieties
Finding out I was pregnant was an overwhelming blend of excitement and disbelief. Concerns about miscarrying lingered, which is why we decided to share our good news early with close friends and family. Despite the risks, it was important for us to celebrate this joy openly.
One of my cherished memories was telling my husband, Brian, that he was going to be a dad. I wrapped the pregnancy test and a little onesie in a belated birthday gift—a moment filled with surprise and happiness.
As we announced our pregnancy to more of our circle, including our families with personalized gifts, the love and support we received helped to alleviate some of my fears and reinforce the reality of our new adventure.
Embracing HypnoBirthing®: Finding Calm in the Waves
Fear and anxiety were constant companions due to my medical history. To address these, we turned to HypnoBirthing® under the guidance of Aly Romot, a birth doula with an incredible passion for empowering birthing individuals.
Aly did more than teach us HypnoBirthing®; she became our trusted doula. Her presence during my pregnancy and the eventual birth was invaluable. Aly's reassurance transformed potentially stressful moments into affirming experiences.
What’s Next? The Labor and Delivery Story
This blog captures the anticipation, preparation, and emotional highs before the big day. In next Thursday’s episode, we’ll recount the labor and birth experience itself with Aly by my side, from the moment Bry and I checked into the hospital to the ultimate meeting of our baby boy, Rhett.
As we await sharing more of this personal path, I am reminded of how crucial support networks, preparation, and open dialogue about fears can transform the pregnancy journey.
Connect with Aly
🌿 Want to connect with Aly or learn more about her services?
Aly Romot is a Certified Birth Doula, Certified Lactation Counselor, Body Ready Method® Pro, and Birth Photographer. Aly teaches HypnoBirthing® and Evidence-Based Birth® childbirth education classes in Columbus, OH.
You can find her @alyromotdoula or check out her offerings on her website.
Subscribe, Share & Review
💛 If you loved this episode, don’t forget to subscribe to The Breath & Birth Podcast so you never miss a moment of calm, connection, and confidence on your pregnancy journey.
📲 Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear this so they don’t feel so alone.
⭐️ And if you have a moment, leave a quick rating or review on Apple Podcasts —it helps more families find their way to empowered birth.
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00:00 Introduction to the Breath and Birth Co Podcast
00:50 Vanessa’s Pregnancy Journey Begins (after endometriosis and infertility)
02:58 Sharing the Pregnancy News with Friends and Family
18:39 Coping with Severe Nausea & Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG)
23:30 Meeting Aly Romot & Joining Her HypnoBirthing® Class
34:49 Partner Involvement in Childbirth Education
36:19 Choosing a Birth Doula (and why it mattered)
41:52 Using HypnoBirthing® Language & Mindset Tools
47:40 Preparing for Labor and the Unknowns of Delivery
51:55 Early Labor Signs & Heading to the Hospital
01:00:13 To Be Continued… Vanessa’s Birth Story Coming in Part 2
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Vanessa: Welcome to the Breath and Birth co podcast. I'm Vanessa, a hospital-based DONA- international certified birth doula, and passionate childbirth educator. I love to merge the power of your intuition with the precision of modern medicine to help you navigate pregnancy and birth your way. Each week, we kick off with Monday meditations to bring calm and connection to your pregnancy.
Then we build your confidence through insights, birth stories, and care provider perspectives during thoughtful Thursdays. Ready to feel supported, informed, and empowered. Hit subscribe to the Breath and Birth Co podcast today and let's embark on this transformational journey together. As a reminder, any information shared here is not medical advice.
For more details, visit breathandbirthco.com/disclaimer.
Vanessa: Okay. For today's episode, it's going to be somewhat of a two-parter with special guest Aly Romot, where we'll be digging into my own pregnancy journey and birth story. So far I've done episode one of the Breath and Birth Code podcast, which was called Beginning Middle Endo, and it focused on my journey to endometriosis diagnosis.
Then we last left off with my story in episode seven called One Good Egg, perfect Timing, and a Clear Path, which was my mantra and talked through the infertility piece of my journey. For today's episode, we'll dive into my pregnancy, everything from announcements to my hg, to finding Aly and her hypnobirthing course, and then hiring Aly as our birth doula.
Then next week we'll carry the story through my labor and Rhett's birth with Aly too. Okay, so we last left off with me testing positive right around Bry's 34th birthday. And as a recap, I had been diagnosed the year before with endometriosis.
Um, in April of 2018, I had an initial consult with an endometriosis specialist, Dr. Mini, here in Columbus, Ohio, and I had taken an eight month journey. From that initial consult to excision surgery where my mission was again, that mantra, one good egg, perfect timing, and a clear path.
I changed my diet and lifestyle. I tracked my basal body temperatures to determine that perfect timing. , We had all the hormone test levels tested. Diminished ovarian reserve and hypothyroidism were also diagnosed. And then eventually we came to terms with the fact that excision would be the next step. And I had that surgery in December of 2018, and then I tested positive in February, 2019, our first attempt trying after that excision surgery.
, And it just happened to be around, Bry's birthday that I was able to test. And I had tested positive. So I just got back from, a trip to Germany for work. I was feeling so good in my body after taking a significant break from work, travel, especially international travel. And that trip was go, go, go on my feet all day long days, traveling in a different city every day.
And I, I was doing really well in terms of pain, in terms of exhaustion. I just felt really good on that trip and I came home. , And I told myself I was not going to test on the trip. I didn't take any test strips with me and I just wanted to, kind of step away and take a break from it all and not make any assumptions and not get too excited.
So I came home and it was. I forget which day, um, post ovulation it was, but it was, um, definitely on the earlier side, but long enough where I could test. So I tested with just one of the cheapies, which I'll link in the show notes too, that I bought in bulk throughout my journey and. It was positive. I saw two lines and it was almost immediate that that second line popped up and I was in complete disbelief.
It was early in the morning. I had tested just by myself before heading to work. Brian was still asleep downstairs. I didn't know whether or not to believe it. I remember being super excited but also nervous and again, in disbelief. And so I was trying to plan out like, oh my gosh, I was not expecting this to be positive.
I've done these tests so many times over the last year, and none of them have been positive. So I didn't even think in my mind like, what would I do if it was positive in terms of how would I tell Brian? Do I want the digital pregnancy tasks or like more. Something other than the cheapies to test and like double, triple, quadruple, confirm.
So long story short, I ended up just going to work and on the way home I think it was, I had stopped at the store to pick up a set of the clear Blue tests. They were digital and I think I got, some like parenting books or something. And I was gonna wrap them up for Brian and I got him a belated birthday card.
Um, so we had already celebrated his birthday. I think his birthday was while I technically was, while I was in Germany. And so I just kinda made up the excuse of , Hey, I, I got you an actual birthday gift. And that is how I ended up telling him I put the pregnancy test in the box, the card. And a little onesie in a book.
And I gave him the card first and he read the card and was also in disbelief and then opened the box and saw everything in there. And so, um, yeah, we were just super excited, super nervous though. And like I said, both kind of in disbelief and I had an appointment scheduled, which was not my immediate post-op appointment, but several weeks out post-op appointment to go over how I was healing and whatever next steps were.
And in my mind, I had told myself that would kind of be the point where if we weren't pregnant by that appointment. We really would start talking next steps in terms of if we would want to pursue fertility treatments, which at the time we did not. But again, if, if we got that far and still weren't pregnant, we were trying to keep an open mind about that or adoption.
So, yeah, so that appointment I ended up needing to call my office to let them know that I had a positive pregnancy test, and that appointment ended up being my first. , Prenatal ultrasound appointment. And so, , so that was really fun.
And they were able to just literally take that same time slot and just swap it to a prenatal appointment for that day. Because I had real time, this whole journey, I was sharing pretty. Uh, openly and vulnerably, on social media among friends and family. And so it felt really odd to keep this information a secret.
And also I had really high anxieties around losing the pregnancy, and I had told myself early on in this process that I would rather share our happy news. Early, even if it turned into, um, sad, devastating news later and that our friends and family could help us celebrate the joy of becoming pregnant, even if the pregnancy ended up not being viable or not carying full term.
Um, and so that was a choice that we had made to share along our journey very openly. And so pretty soon after we tested positive, we. Actually had a game night on the calendar with our best friends who I talked about in previous episodes too, that were both, also pregnant and had announced their pregnancies already.
Part of that story was that it was really hard for me knowing that we were trying that whole time and not pregnant and really it being the dream that we could all be pregnant together and raise our kids in the same, same age group. So anyway, so we had a game night with those two, so we.
Um, both agreed that it. It was obvious that we were going to share the news that night with them, you know, with the premise that we're just telling close friends and family. At this point, it's still super early , like just peed on a test, but also we wanted to celebrate with them. And so we had, we bought Three Musketeers candy bars, um, again, 'cause it was gonna be the three kids.
And I forget even how we broached the subject. But we like showed the candy bar, I forget how many candy bars we had. And anyway, and everybody else in the room was in disbelief, tears were, shed hugs were given. We took a few pictures with like pickles and ice cream of the three of us, Bobbi, Gloria and I.
Um, and it was just like, I don't know, it was the start of, of that journey and it felt more real sharing it and. From there, we, share with our parents. I came back from Germany and this is how we told my parents was they knew that I went on the trip to Germany. I did bring back souvenirs for them from that trip, but I played it up that I had a souvenir for my grandma who lived with them. My grandma. And a souvenir from my parents separately. The one of the souvenirs was like a legit from Germany gift.
And the other was I had painted the little, , wooden peg people. I had painted our whole family. So my grandma, my mom, my dad, my auntie Pattie and her partner Dan. , My sister, her husband, Lucas, their son, Liam, and then Brian, myself, and I had a little baby, wooden peg in there too. And so we gave that box to my grandma who was just like, she thought, and I told them that it was like I.
I bought them or had them custom made or something over in Germany. That's how I tied it into that. And as she's looking at them, she is just like, oh my gosh, these are so cute. These are so special. I can't believe you got these, did you do these yourself? You know, all these questions. And my mom looks over.
And I don't think my dad realized at this point, but my mom definitely caught on like almost immediately. But she was trying to keep her mouth shut 'cause she wanted my grandma to realize what was going on. And eventually Gram got it and she's like, wait, who is this little one? No. Are you pregnant?
And so. That was a really fun story too when we all laughed historically. 'cause it did take her around quite a while to catch on. And then eventually too, when my niece Lana was born, we made Rhett like a, a small, child peg. And then that baby became representative of Lana. Anyway, so we told my parents that way and then we, drove up to tell Bry's parents, um.
I think with onesies we had some meals and spent some time up there with them and we shared, shared the news that way with them. And they were also , very excited, surprised. I think they gathered that something was up just based on how we were acting right before we told them, but also just very surprised and elated with the news.
And so again, that was really important to us, that we wanted to be joyful in those moments. It helped make the pregnancy feel more real. And along those same lines, we also decided to do genetic testing early. I think it was around eight or 10 weeks and. We ended, I ended up doing that testing right before we flew out to Kauai, Hawaii.
Which if you remember earlier in episodes one and seven, I might have mentioned that once I had come out of surgery and I was in the recovery phase. Brian and I really talked about wanting to celebrate this new phase of life. It really did feel like I had a whole new lease on life. And, um, we had never taken a honeymoon when we bought a house instead of going on a honeymoon.
And so we wanted to take a trip together, just the two of us, for the two of us. So we had booked a trip with all of my airline flight miles and everything for, for April. To Kauai. So we got the flights booked for free. We got an Airbnb. We went all out. We got doors off, helicopter tickets.
When, when I booked it, I joked like, can we call this a babymoon? Like in the dream of my mind, like that we could conceive on that trip, never even imagining that we would already be pregnant by the time we got there.
Um, and so that. Piece of the story is important just because once we got to Kauai, we ended up getting the digital results of that testing. And so we found out, that Rhett did not have any, of the major common genetic, abnormalities and that he was a boy. And I gave the phone to Bri to read it and tell me, we were on one of our favorite beaches that day.
And, he paused and then he said, oh my God, it's a boy. And we were both convinced it was a girl, which. For further context too. Brian's mom had four boys and a grandson already and all she's wanted her whole life was a girl. And so it was kind of like a joke in the family of Will we give her her girl and then my family is all girls.
And so anyway, so we just based on my initial symptoms, I had been really sick, which I'll get into that too in this episode. We had just assumed that it was a girl, and so I thought he was playing a joke on me. I didn't believe him, and I like stole the phone away from him and looked and it was indeed a boy.
So yeah. So we found out that he was a boy on one beach. We discussed his name, on another beach. We also announced on another favorite beach of ours on social media that we were pregnant while in, in Hawaii. It was early and we knew that it was risky in terms of if I ended up miscarrying, but that risk was worth it in our minds, especially my mind. In terms of just having that support and sharing our joy, and again, making it feel real.
And that ara part of, erasing stigma around infertility, and miscarriage is just speaking out about it. Um. So anyway, so we did announce Post It on social media. Everybody was super excited for us. It felt wonderful to share the news. It did not make my anxieties go away, but, definitely helped, that joy being infused in this whole time period.
And just Kauai really became a part of our story with Rhett. So once we came home and I started to plan his nursery design, for those of you that don't know, my background is in architecture and design.
So this was like a moment that I had been waiting for, for a very long time was like the theme and picking up the furniture and the artwork and everything that would go up on the wall. So I ended up finding a local Hawaiian artist, that I fell in love with, like mid-century style. And his nursery theme was Kauai, which again tied back to that trip and just how special it was.
We did wait a little bit, a few weeks after that to announce Rhett's sex because we wanted to have his name. And this was another important thing for me that I don't know if this might resonate with anybody else but it was important for me to be able to call him by name throughout the pregnancy just to make it feel real.
And he, he was, you know. He was real. And so instead of it or baby or what have you, I wanted him to have a name and I also knew that we wanted really unique names. On our list. I didn't want anything top 100. In fact, the name that , Brian and I had in the lineup, going into pregnancy that was decided years and years before was actually growing in popularity and was hitting the top 10.
And I was like, okay, I think we need to get what you consider, I want something a little bit more unique. So we got the kinder app. I actually dunno if it still exists. But it was like Tinder for baby names and you, you know, registered with your partner and you'd swipe laughter right for each name and it would just, you know, give you a bunch of names and anytime you matched a name with your partner, it would tell you.
And at that point, our original name was Landon, which I do still love that name very dearly. And it has since become a little bit less popular. But, much more popular than it was, 15 years ago when Bri told me that was one of his favorite names. So. Anyway, and Rut was the only other name that we had matched.
And so when we were talking on the beach, it was, Landon or Rhett, and we knew that I wanted his middle name to be Philip After my dad. I was supposed to be named after my dad. They thought I was a boy the entire pregnancy, and they were planning on naming me, Philip Michael and then my sister was born and my dad never got his namesake, so I kind of always felt like I, in some silly way I owed it to him to give him his namesake. So we knew it would either be Landon Philip or Rhett Philip.
And we didn't want to announce until after we had chosen the name because I also didn't really want anybody's else's opinion on what his name was going to be. I just wanted to be like, this is his name and this is what we're going to call him, and this is, you know, this is just what it is. I don't really care about your opinion, or I don't need your help choosing a name.
So yeah, so we ended up landing on Rhett, obviously Rhett, Philip. And we, I put together a little video with Scrabble pieces that slowly revealed what his name was and that was how we revealed the sex to our families and his name. And then eventually posted that video on social media too.
So during this time, one of my main symptoms was severe nausea. It. I came on around the, just after I had tested positive, I started to definitely feel that that nausea and it was hard for me to gauge what was. Normal, what was more than normal? Especially given my endometriosis experience before where for, you know, 15 years I was puking every month during my period.
That was just, that was normal for me. Um, and so it was hard for me to gauge at what point should I, raise a red flag to my provider in that like, I feel like this is more than just your typical. Hormonal, you know, first trimester nausea, and it eventually I came to terms with the fact that it was not normal.
I, I couldn't keep food down. I was actually losing weight. And, if you remember in an earlier episode too, I think I talked about how I, I had lost weight leading into surgery just with the diet and lifestyle changes naturally and. So when I got pregnant, I was literally after like post excision recovery, I was literally less than a hundred pounds.
I think I was like 97 pounds. And so to be pregnant and losing weight at already a 97 pounds was, was worrisome to me. And so I remember being at work and I. I wasn't holding down breakfast. I think I tried lunch that day and I, I puked that up too. And so I ended up calling the office that day and was like, I think this is an issue.
Um, what can we do? And so they prescribed me Zofran at that point. And I had done a little bit of research and admittedly I was not. I don't know. I never really felt good about taking it. And so at first, I just didn't feel comfortable taking it. And so I, I didn't, I only took it when it was really on really, really bad days where I knew that like I hadn't held anything down and, you know, weighing the, risk benefits in my mind of like, okay, well this isn't healthy for baby either.
Eventually I did talk to Dr. Mini and we, um, had, we got an alternate pill for me that I felt a little bit more comfortable taking. Um, but nothing really helped. Even when I took it, it didn't help. It didn't help the nausea and the puking. And so that didn't help in my mind that like, it's not even worth taking it because it's not helping me anyway.
And I did everything in the book in terms of when you're so nauseous and I'm like, oh, have you tried ginger? Oh, just have saltines on your nightstand. Just eat small meals throughout the day. Don't get hungry. Like I.
I did everything and I was still puking up everything. And so if you're out there and you're experiencing this or you have experienced this, I hope this resonates. It was really, really hard for me to be getting that advice and feedback in those moments because I was like, I am, I tried. It's different. HG is different.
I'm saying HG and it's hyperemesis gravidirum, and it's an actual condition. And, um. Some popular celebrities in the last, um, I don't know, five, five or so, five, seven years have also been more vulnerable and spoken out about it. So Kate Middleton, um, I'm trying to think of some of the others now.
Um, anyway, and so it has gained a little bit more recognition or just like people know the term hg and understand that there is a difference between, morning sickness, and hg, where you can literally be hospitalized, , from hg. Fortunately, I never needed to be hospitalized.
I was. Never dehydrated to the point where I needed to be hospitalized either, but I was, like I said, I was losing weight. It was absolutely miserable. It, did not help my mindset either, and my anxieties and it went. The other common thing with HG that's different then first trimester nausea.
Morning sickness, is that it can continue through your entire pregnancy. It did start to get better for me. Closer to the third trimester, but I was still puking regularly. It was just, I could hold down food too and I did start to gain weight eventually in the second trimester. So anyway, I see you, I hear you.
If you have HG it is not morning sickness and eating ginger and saltines will not subside your symptoms or the misery. So, my heart goes out to you if you're experiencing that.
From there, I think that might be a good segue to lead into when we started researching childbirth education methods and different classes and just more around the pregnancy journey.
So I've got Aly Romot here with me. Her pronouns are she her. She's a birth doula and a certified lactation counselor. She teaches hypnobirthing and evidence-based birth, um, childbirth class, and she is also recently professional body Ready Method Pro, and she's also a birth photographer.
And so yeah,
you have all of the letters, the whole alphabet after your name now.
Aly Romot (she/her): I have a few, I've accumulated a few over the years. Yes,
Vanessa: yeah. Um, so what brought you to birth work?
Aly Romot (she/her): my birth, um, many of us, either good or bad experiences , shift your trajectory. And , my mom and my sister both had unmedicated uncomplicated birth, so I really didn't know much different than that. That felt very normal to me. And I followed in my sister's footsteps that I took hypnobirthing.
I said, well, she had such a lovely experience, I might as well take this course. So I took that and I totally drank the Kool-Aid. I was like, birth is normal. I can do this. And so that was my goal. And I knew I wanted a doula, so I hired a Mount Carmel doula. I didn't know who I was gonna get, but I thought, this sounds great. When I had Gloria, I had Jen Bailey, who is now becoming a certified professional midwife to be a home birth midwife here in our city. And it changed my life. Like my husband was wonderful but this was his first birth, right? So he really took that lead from Jen, even though we had like good knowledge from our birthing class. But Hypnobirthing, I think gave me more tools
Vanessa: Mm-hmm.
Aly Romot (she/her): and doula Jen, like enhanced John's abilities, but also brought this, this comfort, this peace, and this like confidence to my birth. And I just kept going and I like knew silently after I had her. And I was like, holy crap, I could move a bus right now. If there was a bus in front of me, I could push it over and. was like, everyone should feel like this. Everyone should have, be able to have this feeling. And I kind of knew in the back of my head, I was like, I have to do this work someday. I don't know how that looks. That sounds crazy. I kept it to myself. Um, and then we started thinking about our second baby and the, the, the noise got louder that like, remember this thing, you're gonna have this doula again.
You're gonna go back through your hypnobirthing skills. And then I finally said it out loud and I said, John, I have to quit my really great career, my career that was growing. , And I have to be a doula and I have to teach hypno birthing. And he said, okay. And he supported me. And we figured it out and here I am.
And so, yeah, it was Gloria's birth. And I think it was also seeing some of my friends have really hard births and wondering like, what was the difference? And it was education in a doula. And also provider choice and a lot of other things, but like those, those were huge pieces for me. So here I am six plus years later.
Vanessa: Yeah. Wow. I guess now we can segue into how we met and, so Aly was actually our hypnobirthing coach and, private doula for Rhett's birth. So that's why she's here with me and we'll be sharing part of my pregnancy story. And then I'll do an episode as well talking about our birth story.
So Aly will help me fill in those gaps. And for this episode we'll dive into some of the hypnobirthing techniques and then, get into my birth story and how we called upon those skills. But yeah, so in terms of how we met, I.
As I've talked about before, I had high anxieties coming into pregnancy based on my experience with infertility and all of the gaslighting and trauma that I went through with endometriosis and just the constant fear that I was going to lose my baby. And I knew that could and probably would have an impact on the way my labor and birth rolled out if I didn't learn coping mechanisms or, learn the skills to call upon during labor.
So I had done some research on different childbirth education methods and narrowed it down to Bradley Method and hypnobirthing with Brian. And I had posted in a local, I forget if it was a mom's group or a doula group or something on Facebook asking and Aly, I. Responded and dmd me right away.
She slid into my dms and I grilled her and she answered everything perfectly. , And so,
Aly Romot (she/her): time I had tried to host my first class and got no signups, so I was desperate for someone to give me a chance to be an educator. Yeah, I
Vanessa: so, and I don't think I even knew that, but I did know that you were once we signed up for the course, I did gather that you were, you know, fresh on the scene and that, that honestly didn't bother me at all. Like I said, you had given all the right answers to my questions. I, at that point had a good, strong, like yoga and meditation practice and was just kind of more curious around like, what's the difference or like what.
What would you be teaching me in hypnobirthing that I wouldn't already know? And it was basically, the answers were more around just building upon that and relating it to birth and learning what physiological birth looks like., And we can go into details too, around the hypnobirthing method, but, but yeah, so we showed up and also shout out to Keeara, who was in our Hypnobirthing class too, and is now also a Mount Carmel doula.
So, I like to say, Aly, that is such a beautiful testament to you and your practice and how empowered you made us feel to not only go out there and do it. Keeara got her VBAC and. Inspiring us to feel so empowered, like we could also move a bus afterward. And again, relating that to like friends and family stories of what was different.
, Every birthing person deserves to feel how we felt. So how can we do that? We can be, doulas when and pass it on,
Aly Romot (she/her): it is pretty special. 'cause it really was my first, it was my first Hypnobirthing class. I had taught one couple privately, in their home. And then you two were the two that took the chance. And Keeara's doula was there.
Vanessa: uh
Aly Romot (she/her): and I had taken my doula training with her doula. So yeah, it was, I, it's crazy to think all those years ago and like what those births, what those babies did for, for both of you is Yeah.
I love it.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Aly Romot (she/her): Yeah.
Vanessa: I guess on that note, what would you like to share with the audience around hypnobirthing and, background on the method, what the course looks like, if anyone were to sign up for your course?
Aly Romot (she/her): Sure. So I think, I think there's a big misnomer about hypnobirthing that it's, it's for home birthers. It's for only people who want to have unmedicated crunchy births. And that's just not true. Hypnobirthing is one of the big comprehensive childbirth ed courses. So you can put them all in a bucket together, right?
You can put the Bradley method, you can put Lamaze, you can put hypnobirthing, and you could even put evidence-based birth all in the same bucket. Comprehensive courses that are evidence-based and then they differ by what they focus on mostly, or you know, how the content rolls out over those so many weeks.
You're with their educator. And hypnobirthing philosophy is that. One birth is really normal and best left undisturbed. And two, we can start training our minds and our subconscious to, be in a better place moving into our birth. So we do focus a lot on breathing on meditation, or you could, you know, you could say that's the hypnosis part.
It is, but it's also, you could call it meditation, you could call it relaxation. Um, we definitely, again, breathing, um, we talk about what is normal birth. So in, in my course, like I always say, like the first class, like, I am definitely going to desensitize you to what birth really. Like what it really sounds like, what are the things that come out of our body that's normal and good? And also give you the tangible tools. So not just for, for the birthing person, right, the breathing, the movement, all those things. But like, what about the partner who's never done this? And so how do I help them become little mini doulas the best that they can? I want to normalize birth for them.
I want to build them up in the best way I can. So hypnobirthing is five weeks in person with me at Proactive Health and Wellness. This is where I teach, it's where my office is at. So we're very comfortable and it's a very, you know. Open class. You know, there's no stupid question. There's no dumb question.
We get off topic sometimes and talk about things, but , we talk about it all. We, we talk about minute by minute sometimes when it comes to that birth and the head coming out and all the things. And really normalize what this is and also like opening up. So here's what I always tell everyone First class. I am not there to say this is the type of birth you should have. There is not a right or wrong way to birth. Everyone's gonna have different opinions, choices, things like that. But I am gonna show you your rainbow of options. So on one end of our rainbow is gonna be that super crunchy, right? You are having a birth in the field with, you know, fairies around you and no one touches you when you birth, right?
Nothing. Zero intervention. And then on the other side, you're okay with every medical intervention in the book. So I'm gonna show you all your options and you decide where you fall in that rainbow and what feels safe and secure and good in your heart for you and your baby. and so there's no judgment.
So there's a lot of talking about the range of things, right? The range of how your baby could be handled in a hospital. Are you, you know, do you want more hands off? Are you okay with the staff handling your baby certain ways? So we, we look at it all and it's so fun. . Everyone gets a book. I brought my book so everyone gets a book to read, so we kind of have like homework every week. Um, then these are new, Vanessa, you didn't have these, but these are well newer. But these are workbooks. So as we're in class, if I'm talking about something specific, it's gonna be in this nice bound book.
, And people can take notes and things like that. So yeah, it's a great class. I love teaching it. I've had many classes, , stay in touch and their friends or they have reunions and like, what better way to meet other people walking the same path as you.
Vanessa: Mm-hmm.
Aly Romot (she/her): Yeah, it's
Vanessa: Awesome. Thank you for sharing that.
Aly Romot (she/her): Welcome. And I think, let's see, and my list here.
Vanessa: Also emphasizing partners taking it together. If you do have, a spouse or a birthing partner, highly recommend going through any childbirth education together. Brian, like I said, he was on board with this. Our deal was, he said he would do hypnobirthing if I signed up for the infant care hospital course.
And I was like, Hmm. Five weeks versus a two hour class. Sure. At a hospital. I was like, I'll give you your hospital class if you take my hypnobirthing. So anyway, that was our deal. Ideal.
Aly Romot (she/her): like I think the partners are the ones that end up walking away with like even more knowledge sometimes, right? Where they feel empowered once they know like, oh, she's not gonna talk to me through a lot of this, or, oh. have, I'm her, I'm her main advocate. I'm
Vanessa: Mm-hmm.
Aly Romot (she/her): when she cannot have a voice, right?
If she's in labor land. So partners are often the ones being like, this is really wonderful, or Hey, this helped me really like lose some fear around what I thought birth looked like, and that's really important. , So yes, it is. Both of my classes that I teach are meant for, the pregnant couple to do it together.
Vanessa: Yeah. and I remember, Brian and I, I'm more of like a phone notes taker. , I do remember having the book , Brian had his own little notebook and he was taking notes and asking about the questions, and it was just really beautiful and endearing for me to see him step into that father role through the classes. And also, honestly, he was the one that convinced me that we needed a doula in general.
And I, in the beginning, before we started taking the class, had the perspective that, I just want this to be a private moment between the two of us. And then I learned through the class okay, this is an important piece of it. Um, but he was like, no, I need the doula. Like, I, now I understand that I'm your voice and I need help.
And then we were like, okay, who do we wanna hire? And I had followed a few different local doulas, on Instagram at that point, but it really just felt like such a natural choice to be like, well, Aly, of course, she's the one teaching us all of this stuff. She knows us and our story at this point.
So like, we can't imagine anybody but Aly being at our birth. So we approached you, I think during one of the classes and we're like, Hey Aly, you wanna be our doula? And yeah, you share your perspective of that.
Aly Romot (she/her): So when I think about like, when you even initally signed up for hypnobirthing, like you did, you grilled me. And I was like, there's, there's no way this girl's gonna take my hypnobirthing class. I feel, you know, that imposter syndrome, like new, like she needs like the experience educator and doula. So, um. was, yeah, I was taken back. But like, I obviously fell immediately in love with both of you during class. And now that you say that, like, I do remember Brian's notebook and I do remember him being like, I like him saying like, I really need the doula and he's just a sweetheart. Um, but I was not expecting that.
And I remember just thinking like, oh my God, like I've like hoodwinked to them. Like, am I, like, am I the right? Like, is this really happening? And then I think it was like $300 or like something like that. Like it was so,
Vanessa: Yeah.
Aly Romot (she/her): like
Vanessa: So, yeah, and I was gonna say, now that you mentioned that too, when we asked you if you'd be our private doula, you're like, I have to come up with a contra effect. And like you, I don't even think you knew what to, like, we asked you what you would charge. You're like, I don't know, I'll get back to you.
And then when you told us what you charge Brian was like, oh my gosh. We have to do this. We were, we were like, we'd pay you so much more.
Aly Romot (she/her): Like, why didn't I catch on? Well, I think, let me see. Yeah, so you are, um, I don't, I don't remember what months you took hypnobirthing, but like at that point, like I had Emma and I was breastfeeding her, so I hadn't
Vanessa: Mm-hmm.
Aly Romot (she/her): clients. So you were on the tail end of her like, kind of like ending our, she
Vanessa: Yep.
Aly Romot (she/her): journey, so I had only done one Mount Carmel birth before you. Um, and that was in September? Yeah. After Emma had, had stopped nursing. So like, yeah, it was, it was just an honor and I was nervous and unsure and I think it's good to reflect on that time looking back being a baby doula, but like. There's a lot of innocence and really good stuff that comes with like not knowing a lot too,
Vanessa: Yeah.
Aly Romot (she/her): like going into it with just like really rosy eyes of like, I'm just gonna support this mom and it's gonna be so beautiful.
Vanessa: Yes. And as a baby doula myself, I feel like, like the same, like, yeah.
Aly Romot (she/her): Yeah. But
Vanessa: it's fun for.
Aly Romot (she/her): appreciate that like you still are worthy regardless if you've been to zero births, one birth, or 500 births, like
Vanessa: Yeah,
Aly Romot (she/her): a doula in the room that working just for you and your best interest and your advocacy needs and comfort needs is worth its weight in gold no matter how experienced she is.
Vanessa: absolutely. And I hear it said often a lot of times where a doula doesn't need a doula bag. The best tool is just their presence.
Aly Romot (she/her): Yeah,
Vanessa: a lot of times you can get caught up in all of the trainings and all of the objects and everything. And really at the end of the day, I think the biggest compliment or feedback I get was that it was just my calming voice that got them through everything.
Aly Romot (she/her): yeah, yeah,
Vanessa: And like, nor, like you said, like normalizing birth, like things that felt maybe could have been more traumatic were not because I was there saying, yeah, this is, this is normal, this is, this is what should be happening. This is exciting. I know it's not comfy to puke right now, but this is a good sign.
Things are progressing and
Aly Romot (she/her): Yeah.
Vanessa: things.
Aly Romot (she/her): Yeah. So I mean, yeah, I remember being thrilled and shocked and like, oh my gosh, like I really can make this like. A career. You know, like I was just like not even scratching the surface of what my business looks like today, which still doesn't feel like a business. It feels like I just get to like, I, I don't wanna say play all day, but like, kind of play all day.
Like I, you know, like I, get to play all day. I get to have great conversations with moms. I get to prepare partners. I get to help people feed their babies. Like it's really fun.
Vanessa: Yeah. . Like when you love what you do, you don't work a day in your life or whatever, you know, like when you're so passionate about it, it doesn't feel like work, it's just
Aly Romot (she/her): like
Vanessa: your lifestyle.
Aly Romot (she/her): Mm-hmm. Yeah. It feels like part of my lifestyle for sure.
Vanessa: Yeah. In terms of the hypnobirthing piece I don't think we talked about yet was one of the things that I loved about Hypnobirthing specifically was the language and the framework around that. Like the semantics of the words that we use can impact how your brain processes.
Pain or intensity, you know, like instead of contraction, like what are some alternative words that we could use around that because of the perceptions that the word contraction literally holds with it. So waves or like, what are some of the other ones?
Aly Romot (she/her): Yeah.
Vanessa: there.
Aly Romot (she/her): I mean, yeah, waves and surges are, are what I like to think too, when I think about, a contraction, what happens to our uterus, right? It acts like it gets intense and then it lets go and it literally looks like a wave or a surge. So yeah, I mean, changing just. Simple language can make us, you know, call it a mind trick, call it what you want, but think about birth or labor differently, right?
So other language that we can change is like, no one's delivering my baby. I am birthing my baby and re someone's receiving or I'm receiving. But my baby is not a pizza. I'm not delivering something. I'm not catching a baseball. I am not catching a baby.
I'm receiving a baby. We can call our partners like birth companions instead of birth coaches. Unless some people need to be coached. I don't know, maybe that's not a negative connotation. So the Hypnobirthing book introduces these concepts and I always tell people like. of you are gonna drink all the Kool-Aid and go with all of this.
And some of you're gonna pick and choose.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Aly Romot (she/her): love this breathing technique. I love this mantra. This really works for me. And that is fine. We can also just choose not to use the word pain in our birthing experience. So, know, it is a physiological event that our bodies are meant to go through. And so is it uncomfortable? Is it intense? Is it pushing us to the brink of a cliff and then saying, Hey, jump and trust. Yeah . but if we continue to go into this experience saying, oh, this contraction's gonna be painful, this labor's gonna be painful, I'm fearful, then it will be right? Like so this is called the fear, tension pain cycle, FTP. once we're in that fearful place, we feel tension and we will feel pain. So if we can not get there and stay, and this is part of Hypnobirthing, really understanding the mechanics of our, autonomic nervous system, then we can think like this, I welcome that next wave because it brings me closer to my baby.
Vanessa: Mm-hmm.
Aly Romot (she/her): this intensity because this intensity is my body bringing my baby closer to me. Right? So that's a mind. It's a mind game. And it can work right? Like I can do one hard thing for 30 to 60 seconds and then I can rest and I can get ready for that next one because I'm excited to meet my baby and I know I'm capable of doing this. So there's a lot of prep that goes into that subconscious mind work, and we do that through the relaxation and things
Vanessa: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Another piece of the hypnobirthing that I really latched onto, like you said, some people drink all the Kool-Aid. Some people pick and choose. I feel like I, I drank the Kool-Aid, but like the big thing that I latched onto was the, birthing color and the concept that, like choosing a color that was really calming to me that I could call upon and
Aly Romot (she/her): color. I have your bag. Keep
Vanessa: Yeah.
And so, yeah, so my birthing color was like this, sea foam green color. And if, there was anything to buy while I was pregnant, it was that sea foam green color, like everything I own, my toenails were painted sea foam green all the way through like a year postpartum just because it, became such a big part of my story.
And then yet, Aly bought a sea foam green bag when, we were working together. And she's like, I, I got your birthing color.
Aly Romot (she/her): I literally didn't have a doula bag. Like I had nothing. And of course, I, I chose the worst type, right? All as doulas know over the shoulder would be the worst type bag, like a backpack is what we need. But I was so thrilled to find your birth color and literally my first private, you know, you being my
Vanessa: Yeah.
Aly Romot (she/her): private client, I still, this holds all of my candles now and is always with me.
It literally, I, it goes everywhere. So you're always with me. Always
Vanessa: and then too as our, as our gift to you. I got you. The wave pattern. 31.
, 31. Um, gifts and totes and stuff. And it was, I picked it because it had like this wave pattern on it and again, with the language around contractions and Yeah. And we had it in, embroidered with MINDBODY baby, which was your business name.
And oh my gosh, I love that so much that you so have it.
Aly Romot (she/her): I, it's all I use. I've never used anything else and I will continue to use it. It's literally the best thing ever. It is. What has towed it around to every hypnobirthing class, every evidence-based birth class with me and prenatals with me for the last six years.
Vanessa: Oh my gosh, that means so much. And now you have an office so you don't have to tote around as much as frequently. Right.
Aly Romot (she/her): out into the lobby. Yeah, with it still comes with me though.
Vanessa: Aw.
Aly Romot (she/her): it
Vanessa: Um,
Aly Romot (she/her): I guess now that we're like talking about it all like yeah, these, like these things are from you from the very beginning and like, means so much to me and they're ingrained and literally weekly, like every E they're always with me.
Vanessa: that's so crazy.
Aly Romot (she/her): Mm-hmm.
Vanessa: I'm so glad we're doing this. I, okay. So yeah, I guess I have some things that I'll probably fill in here on just like general pregnancy things that I was doing and going through, um.
Aly Romot (she/her): Okay.
Vanessa: And then, so leading up to labor, I did wanna talk about this. So
Aly Romot (she/her): Okay.
Vanessa: I was seeing, Dr. Mini was my OBGYN, she was my endometriosis specialist that I've talked about in several episodes so far.
And at the time she had an office in the building next to St. Anne's, and I knew that I wanted to birth in a tub at st or not birth in a tub, but be able to have access to the tubs at St. Anne's. That was very appealing to me. And in the course of my pregnancy , I learned that she was only delivering at Riverside, and we, I basically had to make the decision of like, is the tub important enough to me, or is it more important to me to stick with Dr.
Mini because she knew my history and she was. EssentiAly a, a lot of the reason why we were even pregnant to begin with. And I trusted her wholeheartedly. And she was the only care provider I'd ever had that like truly listened and heard me and like treated me like an autonomous human being. You know, like she allowed me to do so much during my pregnancy that was against the grain.
And so we opted to stay with her for those reasons. And then progressing later in pregnancy, she actually ended up closing that St. Ann's office altogether and only operating out of her Olengtangy office, which is across from Riverside. And Rhett ended up being one of her last OB births too. She ended up specializing.
Now she only does endo surgeries.
So anyway, but for those who are local to Columbus, that piece is important to this story. It because Ohio Health and Riverside is basically like a baby factory for the city. It's um, they want you in and out. So many births, huge l and d unit, high interventions they don't even report for, you know, like if you look up on Leapfrog, they don't even report episiotomy and C-section rates, which should tell you a lot.
So going into birth, we knew we were going to have to advocate this was not going to be a norm to have a targeted unmedicated birth in this facility. I trusted that Dr. Mini would help advocate or not push things too early. But we, I. We did understand that, like that was a risk in choosing to stick with her and birth at Riverside.
So that's, that's the introduction to some of these other things that we'll talk about in my birth story. But just to give you some full context for those that aren't local or aren't aware of that. Okay, so later in pregnancy I've talked about before in the podcast, Aly, I'm sure you talk a whole lot about this with your clients and your hypnobirthing and EBB students and everything that cervical checks will be offered to you in Your prenatal appointments
and you have the option to say no, you need to consent to those. It's not. Like, they don't just do that, you know?
Aly Romot (she/her): Yeah.
Vanessa: And I knew that it was an option, but I am a very data-driven person, and I, again, had a lot of anxiety around things. So I felt like it was good to settle my mind to just know the number instead of just constantly wondering and thinking about it.
Especially because I, I was carrying solo
Aly Romot (she/her): Yeah.
Vanessa: and we, and Dr. Mini, toward the end had suspected that I was having contractions and just couldn't feel them. And so I had consented to the cervical checks and at one of my last appointments, I knew that I was three centimeters already. And so all of that to say that when things started.
To move along. We knew in the decision to go to the hospital that I was at least three centimeters and that was gonna impact whether or not we had to stay. Um, and so this is before, way before active labor, but like I think I was 38 weeks 'cause he was born at 39 weeks and like a day.
Aly Romot (she/her): Mm-hmm.
Vanessa: And so at 38 weeks I started to have really bad back pain and I wasn't sure if it was back labor or if it was just, again, just the way that I was carrying and that he was so low.
And I'm a very petite person too. And so I, I wasn't sure too, suspicion that I had been having contractions, but perhaps not feeling them or understanding what they felt like, not just as a first time birther like we were talking about last night, but because of my endo, that it can be, I guess, really common.
I learned for endo warriors to have a different, I. Sense of pain and pain tolerance and that literally you can have nerve damage , from the endo itself or from an excision surgery or something that can impact the way that you feel, those sensations of the waves and surges and contractions or what have you.
And so anyway, I was at work and I was just like, is this labor? Is it not? And I remember texting you and I think you suggested that I just call the provider and, and see what they wanted me to do. I knew that I did not wanna go to the hospital at that point. And when I called, I think she said, just come in and we'll monitor you in the office.
'cause she didn't want me to go to the hospital either yet. And I felt comfortable with that because we could just go in, we can have a conversation like, let's see what's going on here.
And so we went in and it was Halloween. I do remember that because Brian wanted a Halloween baby so badly. He was so excited that we were going 'cause he thought we were in labor and they hooked me up to the monitors. And I have this picture I can post in the show notes blog, but like, just this view of like me in the chair, those like those reclining chairs when they monitor you.
It was just like the worst angle of me. But I was just huge and just like so uncomfortable. And they had the belly bands on me and stuff. And anyway, like everything looked good. I was, they confirmed I was having contractions. I was still, I think around the three centimeter mark. But he, Rhett wasn't moving the way that they wanted him to.
But he, my whole pregnancy was,, only active at certain times and he was really active then. But every time else he was just a very calm baby. And so I was like, this is actually my normal. And so they wanted to see more movement though. And so I remember they had me drink like apple juice or something and we sat there for a long time, like the office had actually closed and they kept me there just to make sure.
And eventually he like, did his thing flipped around and moved enough for them to be comfortable with sending me home. And all of the vitals and everything looked good. So. Anyway, so we just went home. I got in the bathtub. I tried to relax. Brian was on the front porch handing out Halloween d and d Halloween is his favorite holiday by the way.
Um, so that's why he was so, he wanted a Halloween baby so badly. And I think that that bath like stalled whatever was going on. It just was like, okay, we don't need to be here now. Yeah. And so that was on a Thursday and I took off work Friday thinking it's probably, it might start picking back up. I think I just need to relax in general anyway.
And I was just so uncomfortable that I'm like, it's okay. Like I'll just take the day off work, get through the weekend . I did lose my mucus plug now, which is hilarious to me as a doula because I see all the doulas posting about how, like, how many mucus plugs, pictures, they get texted to them and I'm like, I'm pretty sure I texted Aly a picture of my mucus plug.
Aly Romot (she/her): And
Vanessa: Like it,
Aly Romot (she/her): it's a great thing to celebrate and like, but it's definitely not a sign of labor. It's just our
Vanessa: yeah,
Aly Romot (she/her): is getting softer. Um, but like, yeah, we love to celebrate that stuff.
Vanessa: yeah, yeah. So like things like that were happening. But then like Monday rolled around, still nothing, , went back to work. Everybody at work was like, what are you doing here?
Aly Romot (she/her): Yeah.
Vanessa: And I was like, I'm working until this baby falls out of me, which I ironically then, I think I looked it up what day of the week was, I think it was a Wednesday then, so that I was in the office on Thursday being monitored.
Wednesday at lunchtime at work, I was walking to, our work was like campus style, so we had a cafe. So I left my building to walk to the cafe, and as I was walking, I was like, Hmm, I think I'm leaking
Aly Romot (she/her): Mm-hmm.
Vanessa: may be my water breaking. And at that point I had already been wearing adult diapers for for at least a week.
I, you know, between the bladder and like pelvic floor issues with the endo stuff. It was just like, I'm just gonna wear these just in case.
Aly Romot (she/her): Yeah.
Vanessa: And so I tell people like, my water literally broke at work and it did. I suspected that that's what it was. I think now looking back, I'm curious if some of that leakage that I thought was bladder leakage before when I, on that Thursday, like when we went, if some of that might have been.
Amniotic leakage. We'll never know. But either way, I went to the bathroom at the cafe, I was texting you frantically, like, I think my water just broke. It's clear. It doesn't smell. I'm gonna call my provider, but I don't wanna go 'cause I'm not having contractions. Like I know. I just wanna stay home in labor as long as possible at home.
And I know if I call, they're they're gonna want me to come in.
Aly Romot (she/her): Yeah.
Vanessa: And I think because of, like I said, being there the week before and then suspecting that maybe I was leaking the whole time I was convinced to go and, and also knowing that a week before I was three centimeters.
So, and having no idea, like I could be actually contracting and not feeling it now. So anyway, so we decided to go, but I wanted to stall as long as possible. And so I, I ended up driving myself home. I was in tears. I'm like, I'm not ready for the. This, my one male coworker was like, are are you driving home?
Like you can't drive home? And I was like, I'm not, I don't feel anything. Like I'm fine. So he walked me up to my car and he gave me a hug and he's like, text me when you get home. So I know you made it home safely. And I lived like less than eight miles from the office. Um, so anyway, so I get home, I gather the bags that we had already had packed and I can't remember if Brian like pulled up and parked on the opposite side of the street.
'cause we lived on the side of the street where coming in from the neighborhood, like he would've had, if he parked at that curb, he was facing the wrong direction, which is one of his pet peeves. And I think he did that. And then one of our really sweet neighbors that lived hou two houses down.
I think she was like walking or something, and she saw that he was parked like that and she saw us getting in car. She's like, oh my God, it's a baby time. And I just, I remember that and we were like, we don't know. Like we might be backing hour, but um, yeah, we weren't back for like four days after that.
Um, but anyway, I just remember, like I said, like it was just like so, so cute. He was just like so nervous, like, oh my God, it's go time. Like it's go time. Like, just like, just envisioning him like err, park the car, run, get the bags, get in the car. And I was like, I'm not ready. So like, I'm taking my time getting the bags and I realized I never ate lunch 'cause I was leaving to go to lunch to get food and then I never got food, so I'm like, I'm gonna need to eat.
We packed our snacks that I knew I was going to eat during labor. , And we get close to the hospital and I was like, I want. Let's go through the McDonald's drive through and I got like a, a huge, uh, McDonald's fry, which is one of my cravings. So I was just trying to stall as long as possible.
And then when we got to the hospital, you know, going through triage, they confirmed it was amniotic fluid. They confirmed on the monitors. I was having decently regular contractions, and I was at that point, I think you might have this in your notes, actually. I think at that point I was at least four centimeters
Aly Romot (she/her): Let's see.
Vanessa: and we knew at that point, typically four centimeters is around the point where they're like, you gotta stay or you sign an a MA to leave or,
Aly Romot (she/her): your
Vanessa: yeah.
Aly Romot (she/her): broken, so in the medical model, they're gonna keep anyone. And there's definitely some education there that like, you know, we don't have to go in when our water breaks if we have under certain conditions, and mostly that we feel really good. So, let's see. When I arrived at, on the, on the seventh at midnight you were still just five to six and not feeling anything negative, you, you're 80 negative two. So like if you progressed to five to six centimeters by midnight that night?
Vanessa: Okay. Yeah, so I, I think I was four when we got there.
Aly Romot (she/her): Yeah.
Vanessa: And then, like you said, because my water was broken, we decided to stay.
Okay, so I think this is a good stopping point for a to be continued in next week's episode, and we'll pick up right here where we left off, where Brian and I arrived at the hospital. We're in triage and we've decided to stay. My water's officially broken. I'm four centimeters and um, yeah, we'll take it from there.
And Allie will be on next week's episode with me to discuss the actual labor and birth experience. So see you next week. Bye-bye.
Vanessa: Thank you so much for spending time with me today. I hope you found this episode helpful and encouraging on your journey. Don't forget to hit subscribe so you never miss a future episode. And if you enjoyed today's conversation, I'd be so grateful if you left a quick review. It helps others find the show.
For more information, resources, and links mentioned in this episode, be sure to check out the show notes. You can also connect with me on instagram @breathandbirth.co for more support and inspiration. Until next time, remember. You've got this, and you're never alone in this journey.
