WEBVTT 00:00:01.240 --> 00:00:04.806 Do twins run in the family, which I'm always asked. No, no, they do not 00:00:04.839 --> 00:00:08.937 run in the family. This was totally unexpected. There was no IVF. It was 00:00:08.970 --> 00:00:14.056 just we were destined to have 3 kids. My husband and I had a daughter 00:00:14.089 --> 00:00:20.796 before the twins. She was about, let's see, 1.5. I took a pregnancy test 00:00:20.829 --> 00:00:24.285 because I was feeling kind of similar to how I felt when I found out I was 00:00:24.318 --> 00:00:30.105 pregnant with her, and it came out positive promptly after. That I started 00:00:30.138 --> 00:00:34.426 to feel the pregnancy symptoms, but like really crazy. I was smelling. We 00:00:34.459 --> 00:00:38.265 had some flowers that were dying. I could smell them dying two rooms over 00:00:38.298 --> 00:00:43.265 , and I never had that with my first pregnancy. It was bizarre. We had 00:00:43.298 --> 00:00:48.106 hired a midwife. We were going to do a home birth and she had similar 00:00:48.139 --> 00:00:52.835 faith to us and we were really excited to have just this really holistic 00:00:52.868 --> 00:00:59.065 experience, a mind, body, spirit, and um we went and visited her. And I 00:00:59.098 --> 00:01:04.105 said to her, I'm feeling crazy nauseous. Like, I mean, I was on the couch 00:01:04.138 --> 00:01:09.346 , um, just laid out and my fatigue was off the charts and I was feeling 00:01:09.379 --> 00:01:14.467 depression just like my body. I didn't want to get up and I was crying a 00:01:14.500 --> 00:01:19.855 lot. I'm like literally, I'm just not feeling pregnant, Jessica. I feel 00:01:19.888 --> 00:01:24.757 bizarro Jessica. And so I said, I really would like to take an ultrasound. 00:01:24.790 --> 00:01:28.995 I'm about 8 weeks right now, and I said, I know that's really early, but 00:01:29.028 --> 00:01:34.036 something just is not right with this pregnancy. So she said, uh, I don't 00:01:34.069 --> 00:01:39.915 like to do them this early, but something in her spirit also said, let's 00:01:39.948 --> 00:01:45.516 do this. So the tech was checking me out and she said, How do you feel 00:01:45.549 --> 00:01:50.516 about twins? And I thought she was just making conversation. And she, uh, 00:01:50.549 --> 00:01:55.025 I said, I guess they're OK. And she said, No, you're having twins, and she 00:01:55.058 --> 00:01:58.587 pointed to the screen, and there were two sacks with two beating hearts, 00:01:58.620 --> 00:02:01.587 which is amazing. I mean, there were so many thoughts that went through my 00:02:01.620 --> 00:02:04.266 head. First of all, I was kind of bummed that my husband wasn't there for 00:02:04.299 --> 00:02:09.376 the for the reveal, so my husband did show up and we let him know what was 00:02:09.409 --> 00:02:12.987 going on, and he, his knees buckled a little bit, but he sat down and we 00:02:13.020 --> 00:02:18.610 processed it together, we. I knew that here in Arizona you need to deliver 00:02:18.643 --> 00:02:23.329 twins in an OR. You can't do it in a typical delivery room. You actually 00:02:23.362 --> 00:02:28.249 have to do it in an OR. And so, uh, that's the ruling if you're in a 00:02:28.282 --> 00:02:33.390 hospital. And so my doula recommended a really good OB, very natural 00:02:33.423 --> 00:02:39.082 minded, and she was, she was lovely, uh, but we had so many issues with. 00:02:39.115 --> 00:02:43.873 Her staff and just ran into a lot of difficulties. And finally, I just 00:02:43.906 --> 00:02:48.311 said, Bob, I don't think that this is the right doctor for us. I really 00:02:48.344 --> 00:02:52.392 feel like God's slamming a door on this one. I said, I don't know what 00:02:52.425 --> 00:02:56.352 else to do because this is the most natural minded OB I know of and that 00:02:56.385 --> 00:03:04.385 our doula really likes. So um I had in the process of all of this. met a 00:03:04.528 --> 00:03:08.577 certified nurse midwife who in the state of Arizona is allowed to do home 00:03:08.610 --> 00:03:13.335 births for twins, but most will not do it because there is risk associated 00:03:13.368 --> 00:03:18.505 and you can be looked down on. We found out that they had their own 00:03:18.538 --> 00:03:20.896 placentas. Each of them had their own placenta and each of them had their 00:03:20.929 --> 00:03:26.217 own sac, so they weren't at risk of twin to twin transfusion where one 00:03:26.250 --> 00:03:30.017 twin is bigger than the other. They weren't at risk of tangling up in each 00:03:30.050 --> 00:03:36.088 other's cords. So it's the. situation that you can get for twins in terms 00:03:36.121 --> 00:03:41.648 of risk, so to speak. So I did a ton of research. He did research too. I 00:03:41.681 --> 00:03:47.727 put together a bunch of statistics. I interviewed other moms who had had 00:03:47.760 --> 00:03:52.129 twins, and we came to the same conclusion that for us that home birth with 00:03:52.162 --> 00:03:56.569 the twins was going to be the best option. I put together a birthing plan 00:03:56.602 --> 00:04:00.808 with my husband and my midwife, and it's really cool with a home birth. 00:04:00.841 --> 00:04:04.960 They're so of you don't have to worry about putting all the things you 00:04:04.993 --> 00:04:08.880 don't want because they're not going to force much on you. They're not 00:04:08.913 --> 00:04:13.041 going to force anything really, except if it's a life or death situation. 00:04:13.074 --> 00:04:17.080 I had a great pregnancy. Um, I mean, I was so grateful throughout the 00:04:17.113 --> 00:04:20.839 whole thing even though I was battling layers of the depression and the 00:04:20.872 --> 00:04:26.459 nausea and I was so tired, um, I really was just so grateful just knowing 00:04:26.492 --> 00:04:30.880 that not only was I carrying two babies, but they were healthy and that I 00:04:30.913 --> 00:04:34.832 was. to get to have the birth that I wanted. I wasn't being forced into 00:04:34.865 --> 00:04:38.351 something out of fear, and that for me was a really it was almost the 00:04:38.384 --> 00:04:43.551 theme of the pregnancy. It was love over fear. Choosing the the doctor and 00:04:43.584 --> 00:04:48.313 the hospital would have been the fear route, and I recognized that if I 00:04:48.346 --> 00:04:51.913 had to go there, I was, I was willing and happy to go there if if 00:04:51.946 --> 00:04:56.873 something did indeed go wrong, but going to a hospital I only was going to 00:04:56.906 --> 00:04:59.873 do because I was being told that that was what I needed to do, not because 00:04:59.906 --> 00:05:06.015 I wanted it. And having the babies at home was such an amazing thing for 00:05:06.048 --> 00:05:11.217 me because for my husband and me growing up, I can't say that our homes 00:05:11.250 --> 00:05:15.976 were places that we want to spend lots of time in and so to welcome our 00:05:16.009 --> 00:05:20.406 boys into the world in our home and make that a place that we wanted to be 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:23.776 and that they wanted to be, it was just something that I felt was 00:05:23.809 --> 00:05:29.656 redeeming. I went into labor. My husband contacted our doula and just gave. 00:05:29.689 --> 00:05:33.536 a heads up that I was starting to have contractions, they said just if 00:05:33.569 --> 00:05:36.455 she can have her get sleep because this is still early labor, have her 00:05:36.488 --> 00:05:40.786 rest as much as possible. Well, the labor stopped, the contractions 00:05:40.819 --> 00:05:45.015 stopped, and they said just go out to eat, get a glass of wine, relax. So 00:05:45.048 --> 00:05:49.736 we went to a nice dinner and I had a glass of wine, which is crazy for the 00:05:49.769 --> 00:05:54.015 customers looking at the pregnant woman drinking wine and uh which of 00:05:54.048 --> 00:05:56.575 course I'm sure they were wondering why are you in labor at this 00:05:56.608 --> 00:06:03.055 restaurant, but whatever. I went through labor of 11 days in and out. They 00:06:03.088 --> 00:06:06.856 would come and go. The team came a few days later. We thought it was going 00:06:06.889 --> 00:06:11.817 to happen. Um, the contractions were picking up. The whole team assembled 00:06:11.850 --> 00:06:16.507 here. They blew up the tub in the living room. They filled it. And the 00:06:16.540 --> 00:06:21.866 contractions stopped again. I was just crying. I said to my midwife, I 00:06:21.899 --> 00:06:26.026 want you to break my water, she said, Well, let me go talk to the team, 00:06:26.059 --> 00:06:30.226 but she said they recommend against it because if it doesn't work, you are 00:06:30.259 --> 00:06:34.947 going to the hospital and I know you don't want that. I said, OK, and I 00:06:34.980 --> 00:06:38.265 just laid there and cried, and one of the other team members came in and 00:06:38.298 --> 00:06:43.067 she um she just sat with me and prayed with me and it's amazing having a 00:06:43.100 --> 00:06:47.305 group of women just around you. So the night that I finally did go into 00:06:47.338 --> 00:06:51.546 real labor, I came home from my walk with my mom, and the house was quiet 00:06:51.579 --> 00:06:55.226 and she went and made dinner, and I just turned on some praise and worship 00:06:55.259 --> 00:07:00.026 music, deep meditative stuff, and just sat on my balance ball and just 00:07:00.059 --> 00:07:03.705 listened. There's one song that just really rocked me. It's called 00:07:03.738 --> 00:07:08.176 Beautiful Things and it's uh he makes. Beautiful things out of dust. He 00:07:08.209 --> 00:07:11.176 makes beautiful things out of us, and I just felt like that. I was just 00:07:11.209 --> 00:07:16.495 like I was leveled. I was just like ruined and I just just sat there in 00:07:16.528 --> 00:07:20.687 the ball and I just felt the contractions building and building and 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:27.455 building and I let them build and I just said I will not allow any fear of 00:07:27.488 --> 00:07:32.546 them not continuing to enter in. So I'm feeling in my hips, it feels like 00:07:32.579 --> 00:07:35.906 they're spreading. I'm like, oh, this is what labor feels like, this is 00:07:35.939 --> 00:07:40.705 what labor is. I was getting cold because it was a November night so I 00:07:40.738 --> 00:07:45.226 went to turn up the heat and they were starting to fill the pool at this 00:07:45.259 --> 00:07:51.026 point and they filled it with um as much hot water as they could get and 00:07:51.059 --> 00:07:54.906 then they were boiling water in the stove to warm it up even more and then 00:07:54.939 --> 00:07:58.507 I went to use the restroom and I was sitting on the toilet and my water 00:07:58.540 --> 00:08:04.546 breaks. I hopped into the water and felt amazing. It was like I can't 00:08:04.579 --> 00:08:09.697 describe it. It was just relief. I did everything as it came naturally to 00:08:09.730 --> 00:08:14.257 me. You, they tell you trust your body. Go with your body, move with your 00:08:14.290 --> 00:08:17.856 body. Get up. If your baby is telling you I need to be delivered this way 00:08:17.889 --> 00:08:21.776 , you move this way. If you feel like the baby needs to go this way, you 00:08:21.809 --> 00:08:25.536 just move with that. And so with the pushes, it's the same thing, pushing 00:08:25.569 --> 00:08:31.359 slowly so that the baby can just. Come out at its pace and and not too 00:08:31.392 --> 00:08:37.319 fast just trusting your body. I could feel um baby A starting to get into 00:08:37.352 --> 00:08:41.039 position. They were doing the Doppler in the water and they said, OK, baby 00:08:41.072 --> 00:08:45.029 A is descending and so everybody got into position. My husband got down at 00:08:45.062 --> 00:08:50.702 the bottom so he could watch and he came out. And he was screaming and 00:08:50.735 --> 00:08:54.231 happy and they put him right onto my chest. He just laid there and looked 00:08:54.264 --> 00:09:00.383 up at me and I and I looked down at him and right at that moment they were 00:09:00.416 --> 00:09:04.582 checking me for Baby Bee's position and he was ready to come out right 00:09:04.615 --> 00:09:09.557 after his brother. Baby B came out, my husband caught him. And put them on 00:09:09.590 --> 00:09:13.395 my chest, so I have two little boys on my chest. The cords are still 00:09:13.428 --> 00:09:17.275 pulsing and the blood is still flowing into them, and they tell me, time 00:09:17.308 --> 00:09:19.677 to get out of the water. I said, Can I just rest here a little bit longer 00:09:19.710 --> 00:09:26.476 ? They said, absolutely not. Time to get out. And I fell over. It turned 00:09:26.509 --> 00:09:30.116 out that my blood pressure dropped when I stood up because I had a 00:09:30.149 --> 00:09:35.586 distended uterus, I believe is the term. And so I stood up and passed out 00:09:35.619 --> 00:09:40.140 and when I came to, it was like Seconds later, I came right to, but it 00:09:40.173 --> 00:09:43.741 sounded like circus music was playing in my head. I just heard them saying 00:09:43.774 --> 00:09:48.662 , focus, focus, and they had me look specifically at one of the one of the 00:09:48.695 --> 00:09:51.500 team members and they just kept saying her name, saying her name, and I 00:09:51.533 --> 00:09:54.701 just was focusing on her and they pulled me out of the water and they gave 00:09:54.734 --> 00:09:58.150 me the medicine to help stop the bleeding. It was all planned. I mean, 00:09:58.183 --> 00:10:02.741 this was not a surprise to them. They said with with twins, it's likely 00:10:02.774 --> 00:10:05.782 this will happen. That's why I had this medication prepared. It was part 00:10:05.815 --> 00:10:12.096 of the birth plan. And um my husband had baby B and my mom had baby A and 00:10:12.129 --> 00:10:15.616 so the team started weighing them and checking to make sure their vitals 00:10:15.649 --> 00:10:19.417 were all good and all was awesome. In my heart I knew it was going to be 00:10:19.450 --> 00:10:23.645 fine. So I knew it was going to be fine, but it's hard to trust the bigger 00:10:23.678 --> 00:10:27.436 picture when you're in the details. It's hard to trust that there is a 00:10:27.469 --> 00:10:32.586 victory when you're doing the little battles along. Away so for me, I will 00:10:32.619 --> 00:10:37.476 say there was fear, but by the end of it when the actual delivery happened 00:10:37.509 --> 00:10:43.255 there wasn't any in the final in the final days of labor and the final um 00:10:43.288 --> 00:10:47.019 contractions it was no fear.