Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
#8 Rome's Birth Story
48 Plays1 month ago
The Bean Talk - Episode 8: Rome's Birth Story
In this episode, Riannon and Jeremy share the beautiful birth story of their son, Rome, and offer insights on how birth partners can provide essential support during labor. From the early signs of labor to the arrival of baby Rome, they walk you through each stage of the journey, including the importance of setting the mood in the birthing suite and sticking to your birth plan.
Jeremy also shares how his experience evolved through multiple births, including practical tips like using pressure points and staying calm during the intense moments of labor. If you're an expectant parent or supporting someone through birth, this episode is full of relatable and insightful advice for making the process smoother and more comfortable for everyone involved.
Join our conversation on Instagram at @mungbean_health. New episodes drop every second Monday.
If you want to book an appointment with one of our incredible naturopaths, visit our website https://mungbeanhealth.com/.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Rhiannon and Jeremy
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to The Bean Talk with me, Rhiannon, your fertility fairy godmother joined by my trusted partner in life and in the mission of Mung Bean Health,
00:00:22
Speaker
Hi guys and welcome back to another episode of The Bean Talk with Rhiannon and Jeremy, little Romy. ah We do have Evie somewhere running around like a little crazy gal. So apologies for all that sound that you probably are gonna hear in the background and Romy as well. He's so noisy. You boys are so
Discussing Romy's Birth Story
00:00:42
Speaker
noisy. Anyway, we thought we'd jump on today and actually talk a little bit more about the superstar, little Romy, and talk a little bit about his birth story and some ways that partners can support their birth partners through labor. Be there and yeah.
00:00:58
Speaker
what they can do and ways that I guess Jeremy supported me being that he's a little bit of a veteran now. He's done it a couple of times and things I guess you know a lot more I guess from Romy's birthright than just from when you were doing Eevee's. Yeah, for sure. I've learned heaps more along the way. yeah The transitions and like the different stages.
00:01:17
Speaker
of birth. Did you feel like in Evie's birth, did you feel like, oh my god, I don't know what the hell I'm doing? or Well, yeah, you don't know where you're up to in the labor, like how long is it going to take? What is the next stage? Like you're just learning and it's all new. Yeah, it's nice when you got that little bit of history, I guess. We also did do a birthing class before Evie, which was so good. I think it was it like 28 weeks? We did it and it was such a Great way to know how to birth and ways that your partner can help you in there and it was really good We definitely have kept some of those techniques along the way, haven't we? Yeah, absolutely. It was great Definitely doing the class learn some things and I felt like it would definitely helped through labor. Definitely
00:02:05
Speaker
Amazing. All right. Let's talk a little bit more about Romy's birth, shall we? So I guess we'll go from the beginning and work our way down towards him being here. Okay.
Signs and Onset of Labor
00:02:16
Speaker
So it all sort of started, look, it felt like I was going into labor for weeks. It felt like I was having so many painful Braxton Hicks, but I think he was just so low in my pelvis. And I guess when you have had more than one baby,
00:02:32
Speaker
to full term everything's like already easier to stretch out so like the relax and hormone your estrogen that makes everything really relaxed works a lot faster in the consequent pregnancies so I guess that everything just stretches a little bit easier so being my fourth baby I think he was just so low I felt like he was right there and engaged for like weeks before so It was like painful to even walk towards the end. I remember hobbling around the shops. It's just like, I need to have a break. And the Braxton Hicks would like pick up and yeah, it was a lot. Is it happening now? I know. Is it happening now? ah Seriously. And so it started at nighttime though, the night that it all went down.
00:03:14
Speaker
It was probably 8.30 or something at night and I went to the toilet and I felt a pop when I was peeing and I felt like a pop happened. I think it was when I'd finished so it wasn't like I thought my waters were about to break but no gushing of waters happened. I just had like a bit more of the mucus plug which it was it that day that I'd lost some early in the morning? I think so yeah a little bit in the morning. It feels like it's ages ago, even though it's only been five weeks. I think I'd lost some over that day. So I knew things were like progressing, which also makes you think, oh my God, is it it is it happening? And I had a little bit of blood, which that I actually haven't had any blood with any of the other babies. So I was like, oh gosh, okay, what's going on here? So let's just call the midwife because they tell you if you've got
00:03:59
Speaker
bleeding happening, if your waters break and there's like a funny smell to it or it's discolored because it usually means bubs pooped inside, anything like that, then give them a call or if you're worried at all. Anyways, I called up my buddy
Journey to the Hospital
00:04:12
Speaker
midwife. So I don't know if you guys know this, but in Australia and in New South Wales, each of the midwives had like a buddy so they can actually have a night off and get some sleep. I called up my midwife and it goes directly through to the buddy because she wasn't on that night.
00:04:25
Speaker
And the the lady was like, um, hi, yes. ah Okay. Like you've lost a bit of mucus plug. It could be weeks. And being that, you know, everything's progressed pretty fast with all of our other babies. I was like, I don't think so. Love. i think we're coming in Yeah, this is going to happen very soon. She was like, look, call me back if it progresses and let's just see how it went. So I was like, okay.
00:04:45
Speaker
waited at home but then I started to have contractions. They were very weak at that time but they were about seven minutes apart and then it started to progress and I was like I want to get to the hospital. We had our beautiful birth photographer Laura. yeah There she takes all of our photos for us whether it's business or personal and she's a beautiful friend of ours so we had her going there as well so I wanted to be there and be comfortable before it all went down and I wanted to get some nice photos as well. And get the room set up too with the fairy lights and the candles and just get settled in and get comfortable and get the music playlist happening.
Creating a Calm Birthing Environment
00:05:18
Speaker
and Yes, so probably half an hour after that i we called the lady back and I was like hey like I'm coming in I'm getting contractions and she was a bit like oh I think she was in like a bit of disbelief that it was going to happen so quick and so we were like we're coming down and I'm like call Laura actually our other midwife who was there for Winnie which is so lovely she helped birth Winnie and she really wanted to be there for this next baby so Rome's birth
00:05:45
Speaker
So even though it wasn't her night on, she's so beautiful, she wanted to come in. So her buddy midwife called, she rushed on in, got the bath started. And by the time we got down there, the bath and everything was ready. And then Jeremy and her set up the room nicely with some fairy lights and some candles, the fake candles. You can just get them from Kmart and they don't have it. They're like 10 barks and they come like, you know, a set of three and you can change the colors and just set the mood a bit. And you don't want to have it heaps brighten.
00:06:11
Speaker
um Stagnant, what would you call it? A really offensive light where it's just like in your face. Yeah, because that can delay the labour as well by having it like real bright. You want to make it real dim lighting. That's why people always freaked out that we're having natural deliveries in hospitals because they didn't want it to be that hospital-y, like white light and stuff. Now they've got the birthing suites really nice in where we're at. We're very lucky. It's like dim lights. The midwives are on board with trying to keep it as beautiful and like how you want it while still being a hospital, obviously.
00:06:42
Speaker
yeah So that's actually a really good thing that birth partners can do is make sure that they're on top of that. The birth playlist which Jeremy organised, the little fake candles and the fairy lights if that's what you want.
00:06:55
Speaker
And you can just stick to the birthing plan as best as you can as well and and be there and support your partner in what they want. Because sometimes say if you didn't get your midwife, they would not necessarily know the plan in which you wanted the pregnant labour to go. So it's important that your partner knows exactly how you want things to happen. Yes, they can advocate for you as well that like if you know something comes up and they're like hey no like she really wouldn't want this then someone's standing in there for you when you're feeling a little bit out of it so that's
Pain Relief and Support During Labor
00:07:26
Speaker
a big one. They got all that set up and I jumped straight in the bath because I wanted to get everything as soft and ready for Bub's arrival as possible and the bath's really relaxing as well.
00:07:38
Speaker
jumped in the bath for a bit and then we jumped out and jumped in the shower. And I can remember the shower from each of my bursts being an amazing tool. The water, ah just like the running water is so nice. And it just helps with that as a pain relief situation. So, and they've got double head like showers. You can take both of them off and we put one on my tummy and one on my back. And one thing we did this time, which my women's health physio suggested was do the pressure points where you push on, Jeremy push quite firm on my back, on my lower back when I was having a good contraction. It's meant to somehow get into the pain signal or trick your body to start focusing on that rather than the pain. Disconnect the pain from the contractions to pushing on the pressure points. Yes. yeah yeah um Don't quote me on how that's I've explained that. but
00:08:25
Speaker
The women's health physio explained it way better to me, but that's how it it essentially works. And with our birth plan this time, it was just verbal between us two because we know what we were sort of doing and what we were wanting. Essentially got in there in the shower, I was in there for a while, maybe like an hour or so, things were progressing. And I remember when we' we're in there and I was like bending over, sort of like hanging over Jeremy, doing like a hanging sway.
00:08:48
Speaker
for a contraction, I got this really bad cramp in my side back, just on one side. So I think it was when I was with Leo, I don't know, in that, for the contraction. And like it was so painful. And I was like, Oh my God, is this like a new pain that's going to be there for the whole time or what? But it went away after a couple of contractions. But that was a weird one for me this time. I was like, what is that? So every birth brings its own excitement. And then in new, absolutely new layer.
00:09:14
Speaker
And then we jumped back out, jumped back in the bath. And then I had a moment of, Oh my God. I got in my head. I was like, how much longer am I going to be in this for? Which in hindsight, we look back and hindsight is a beautiful thing because that was my transition phase. I was in the transition.
00:09:32
Speaker
and I was doubting myself, which is a very common thing. Some women actually get up and get out of the bathroom, try and grab their bag, and they're like, I want to go home, or I'm not going to do this, or I can't do this, or I don't want to, this isn't for me anymore. It's too bad you're about to have this baby. And it is a big moment of you're very close, but your mind tricks you being in the birthing realm and I got in my head and everything went really clear because before that you're out of it a little bit because you're in a fair bit of like pain. I know a lot of birthing duelers don't like the word pain because birth is beautiful which it absolutely is but it definitely has a layer of pain like it is what it is. If you're going unmedicated any of my unmedicated galleys out there they're going to know that it is
00:10:17
Speaker
but beautiful and I'd have it no other way. It does have a layer of pain. So essentially, I just got into my head and it was all clear and I was, oh my God, Rhiannon, how long are we gonna be in this for? And I started to think about all my other clients' birth stories of third and fourth babies. of Oh, they were in it for nine hours and 11 hours when they've had fast births for all of them. Started to doubt myself massively. Reminded that this is also the birth after Winnie. So it was a very different experience for me. And I was like, maybe I do want the epidural.
00:10:47
Speaker
And then I was like, okay, Jeremy, I think I want the epidural now. I just need to be out of this pain. And Jeremy was like. That's not the plan. Yeah. That's not our birth plan. Okay. And then the midwife knew our plan as well. And she knew that Brianna didn't want that or we didn't want it at all. So she was delaying it. Let's just ah check and see how far you dilated you are. And then it's going to take a while for the doctor to come down. So just like get relaxed on the bed and on your stomach, just to monitor the baby's heart rate and put the catheter in just getting prepared.
00:11:16
Speaker
And then it wasn't, I think at that point, Rhiannon's like, oh, there's relief coming, so she could relax it in. Yes, I just needed to know that whether either the baby was coming or the pain relief was coming, like something was going to get me out of that bunker really, really soon. I just, it was so different than Tate's birth or Evie's birth where I was, yes, I've got that new strength. I can get this baby out. I was just like, oh my God, shit, how long am I going to be in this for? So yeah, they put the the monitors on me, which is actually an interesting one because Look, when you have an epidural, yes, you want to be careful in watching baby's heart rate, but in a normal contraction without any of that, baby's heart rate goes down. So it's normal for it to go down, but it will come back up as soon as the contraction is finished. It's only an issue when it stays for a long time. So I know that in the past they have used that as an excuse for C-sections of, oh, well, the baby's heart rate's gone down, even though it's come back up. So you need to have a C-section, which is not cool because that is
00:12:11
Speaker
The epiduring causes the heart rate to lower as well. Yeah. yeah yeah Oh yeah. Absolutely. can For mum and bub, I guess. So they're monitoring both. Anyway, we definitely didn't get to that stage. I was on the bed and she was just like doing her things. And as soon as I got on the bed, the contractions were in intense and she felt, she had a like a feel to see and she said she could feel
Birth of Romy
00:12:33
Speaker
the baby, the water's bulging, which means it was very close to popping. And she said, I was like eight to nine centimeters. yeah And I was like, Oh God, thank God. But also get me out of this situation, get this baby here. And my waters ended up breaking up with that next contraction. And she was like, okay, why don't we just get back in the bath while we're waiting for the doctor? And then she was like, Rhiannon, do you want to have this baby or do you want to have an epidural? And I was like, I want to have this baby.
00:13:02
Speaker
And she was like, okay, let's like make this happen. So we got back in the bath and within like two or three more contractions, he was out. And he was like, I could feel, you feel your body change. It's such an intense feeling when you're in it because you feel your body go from like the contractions just happening to then your body like physically pushing the baby out. If someone told you, you cannot have this baby right now. There's nothing that anyone could tell you cause your body takes over and just like pushes.
00:13:30
Speaker
so that happened in the bath and it was only a couple and it just my body was like baby's coming out and pushed down felt him like crowning which is fucking intense that is like an insane feeling if you've been through it you'll know exactly what it's like So you can feel it like coming baby coming down and then it's very like quite quick though, it was for me thankfully. And then as soon as Bub's head's out, like he just like shot out. But his head was like three centimetres bigger than any of my other babies and you can feel that's noticeable. He was the biggest and heaviest. Yes. Yeah. Biggest and heaviest like in every way. And so once he was out, I did have a really minor tear. It was just from the past scar tissue. There's like a not a sensitivity, a weakness there. Yeah. Where the skin just like breaks a little bit, but I did all my ah massaging and everything before, which I definitely think helps because he was that much bigger.
00:14:29
Speaker
He even came out chunky, whereas all of our others have been so lean. And yes, he was earth side. that Thank God for that. And then I got out of the bath. Like I know some women like to sit in there and breastfeed, but I was like ready to get out and get on the bed, get out on the bed. And then I had to birth the
Postpartum Healing and Family Adjustment
00:14:45
Speaker
placenta. So your birth actually only finishes after you've birthed the placenta. And mine usually takes about an hour and a half. So I, which, you know, actually hospitals don't like you to go over an hour, but this is just the way my body does it.
00:14:58
Speaker
So we got out of the bath, onto the bed and then I waited. It was about an hour and then I was, okay, I'm ready to get up. I was breastfeeding, roaming and just like chilling. We're just relaxing, weren't we? Skin to skin in the bubble, which is so nice.
00:15:12
Speaker
Got out and then I ended up, you sit on the, a really good thing to do is like sit on the toilet to help bait the placenta berth. Cause really there's not much pushing it out. It's not like the normal contractions. It's like you get one as it's coming out. You've got to let it detach off the wall and then just sort of like work its own way out and then one contraction will push it through, but it's not as intense as the normal contractions. Anyway, got onto the toilet and the midwife had to set up a nice little catchment for the placenta. And it's probably about an hour 20 or so. And then I just like,
00:15:41
Speaker
Gave it a nice push. It was a bigger placenta as well. Bigger baby, bigger placenta, I guess. And relief. Yeah. And then we take the placenta home because we only get to encapsulate it. Yes. We use Jenna at the Seed Collective. She's done all of our babies for us. All the placentas. She's so amazing. She's based on the Central Coast and she comes and picks it up the following day and then brings it back within two or three days. She's amazing. And the capsules, I've found them really amazing for helping with energy. They're a beautiful way to support like iron levels, just like a really beautiful postpartum healing and replenishment journey. We took the placenta and then we just sort of chilled out for a while. You've got to wait there for like five hours where they like measure bar and make sure like they're breathing okay and just like do all those vital checks.
00:16:32
Speaker
and then yeah we went home and all the brothers and sisters yeah it was very cute yeah letting me like getting them and then tady was like so obsessed with romy he was like yeah i want to hold him like and he's saying my turn and then we're trying to hold his head and make sure he's okay and he's like pushing our hands away like mine mine yeah oh it's like the help from us and then we take took romy back and he was like screaming crying like yeah and Evie wanted to hold and she's just been really beautiful. They've been so good with
Reflections on Birthing Stories
00:17:00
Speaker
him. It's always a little bit of an adjustment with the bringing home a new baby, but they've been really good. And I think that's pretty much a wrap. It's pretty good.
00:17:10
Speaker
So yeah, that's Romy's little birth story. Well, we also did the birthing class. I don't know if you mentioned with Evie's when you were first pregnant, we did a birthing class, which I think really helped with both of us to know the stages and the way partners can support their pregnant partners through birth. Yeah. Totally. Yes. They do a lot of meditation, which I've tried to do in each.
00:17:32
Speaker
labor and they talk about what it's going to be like afterwards, what it's going to be like in there and what partners can do, which was super helpful because you really have no idea what you're doing the first time around. And that is the birthing person and the birthing partner as well. Like it's really, it's an experience and you don't really know what it's like until you've been through it. But birthing stories are amazing. And if you're coming up to like your first baby or third or sixth baby, I love birth stories and like learning from other couples that go through it.
00:18:02
Speaker
about their experiences. It's just really nice thing to... And I guess it's better to have a plan than have no plan. Like they don't always go to plan but it's better to have a plan there. But that is life isn't it? It doesn't always go to plan even when you've got your plan in place. So you just got to roll with the punches, go with the flow and it's so nice to have him here.
Episode Conclusion and Social Media Invitation
00:18:23
Speaker
Thanks guys. Thank you.
00:18:26
Speaker
And that's a wrap on today's dose of wellness. I'm Rhiannon, your fertility fairy godmother. Thank you for joining us. Stay connected with us on Instagram at mungbin underscore health.