Transcript
Felicia Devine: Hello, welcome back to episode 13. Hi, Natalie.
Natalie Richards: Hello, Felicia. I feel like it has been an entire lifetime, like an entire year, I feel like has gone by.
Felicia Devine: Yes, no, actually, we have, I know, two months.
Natalie Richards: and it's only been like a month and a half, two months.
Felicia Devine: We've had many life events happen since the last time we were supposed to record. So it's been a while.
Natalie Richards: ah We have.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: It has been a while. a lot of things have happened, good and bad.
Felicia Devine: Yes. Now I will start off by saying in this episode, we will be talking about pregnancy loss. So if that is a trigger for you, you can go ahead and skip this episode towards the end, but we'll start with something lighter, brighter.
Natalie Richards: Yes.
Felicia Devine: Well, actually, I don't even know.
Natalie Richards: I don't know.
Felicia Devine: What are we starting with? Natalie, what is your update? Do we need a trigger warning for it?
Natalie Richards: ah No, I don't have a trigger warning unless you're offended by mold toxicity.
Felicia Devine: Okay.
Felicia Devine: Not offended over here.
Natalie Richards: If you're offended by things easily, you probably shouldn't listen to us anyway.
Felicia Devine: I don't think you're on episode 13 at this point.
Natalie Richards: Okay. You're not here with us anymore.
Felicia Devine: Right, right.
Natalie Richards: um So I have a lot of updates, um not like any major things, but I'm trying to think to think back over the last couple months is very hard.
Felicia Devine: Okay.
Felicia Devine: No.
Natalie Richards: I'm like, what did me too?
Felicia Devine: ah That's why i like when we do weekly or bi-weekly because...
Natalie Richards: Because my brain does not work that way.
Felicia Devine: No, I can't even think of like anything.
Natalie Richards: It does not. no
Felicia Devine: I had to write myself a timeline before we recorded. Because I'm like, I need to remember what actually occurred on what day. Because I, like, if it didn't happen yesterday, i don't know.
Natalie Richards: I know I'm, it's like insane. So, um gosh, right when I'm trying to remember when we went to, to the Dominican Republic, I think that was like, well
Felicia Devine: Oh, I forgot you went on vacation.
Natalie Richards: ah you know, i think it was like April, the end of April, April 20th or something like that.
Felicia Devine: Wait, had to have been after we it must have been the next weekend.
Natalie Richards: I think it would have been the following weekend after we were supposed to record.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Um,
Felicia Devine: I know when it was. It was when I was in the hospital.
Natalie Richards: Yes. Yes.
Felicia Devine: Okay. So yeah, it was the weekend of the 20...
Natalie Richards: Foreshadowing.
Felicia Devine: 23rd-ish. Okay.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Okay.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. So I think that's the weekend. So Punta Cana was amazing. It was something else.
Felicia Devine: go Oh.
Natalie Richards: I'm going to drag you to our next one. I'll let you know when it is.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. I'm free now.
Natalie Richards: ah already have it booked. Okay.
Felicia Devine: Do you really? Okay. That'll be after the show.
Natalie Richards: So if you would like to join, it's going to be really fun.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Yeah,
Felicia Devine: What made you choose Punta... What's it called? Punta Cana?
Natalie Richards: yeah it's the Dominican Republic. It was really fun.
Felicia Devine: What made you choose that?
Natalie Richards: i don't, well, Kyle didn't want to go to Mexico. So when we were, we were originally supposed to go to Spain.
Felicia Devine: Correct.
Natalie Richards: I don't know if I even told you that.
Felicia Devine: No.
Natalie Richards: We were supposed to go to Spain to go to a Rufus de Sol concert in Spain, in Barcelona.
Felicia Devine: You did tell me that. we you Okay, I do know this story.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Okay.
Natalie Richards: So we were going to do that. And then it just kind of like was coming down to it. at the moment, international travel wasn't looking that enticing. And then i was just like, you know, i don't really feel like doing...
Felicia Devine: Mm-hmm.
Natalie Richards: like an active trip, he you know, where I'd have to like a walking trip where like i have to plan like all the little things that we were going to do and the hotels and the tours and the stuff.
Felicia Devine: Mm-hmm. Walking. cobblestones.
Natalie Richards: I just was like, you know what?
Felicia Devine: Yes.
Natalie Richards: I can't. And also it would have been hours
Felicia Devine: Mm-hmm.
Natalie Richards: nights in Barcelona only. like we wouldn't With the way the concert fell, it wasn't going to work to really go many other places.
Felicia Devine: Mm-hmm.
Natalie Richards: So i was like, you know what?
Felicia Devine: Mm-hmm.
Natalie Richards: That's not the Spain trip that I really want to take. I i want to like do a different one.
Felicia Devine: Right.
Natalie Richards: So we pivoted and i was like, well, why don't we go just go to an all-inclusive and just sit on
Felicia Devine: Mm-hmm.
Natalie Richards: a beach somewhere and do nothing.
Felicia Devine: Have you done inclusive before?
Natalie Richards: like When I was younger with my parents, we've done a couple of them.
Felicia Devine: OK.
Natalie Richards: I wouldn't say they're my favorite thing in the world because it's just not my type of vacation really.
Felicia Devine: Oh.
Natalie Richards: sun.
Felicia Devine: Oh.
Natalie Richards: sand son
Natalie Richards: water
Felicia Devine: They're getting better.
Felicia Devine: my god.
Natalie Richards: I always say the only thing i hate more than swimming is being hot.
Felicia Devine: Yes. Yes.
Natalie Richards: So like if I'm hot, maybe I'll go in the pool.
Felicia Devine: Right. And getting sunburned.
Felicia Devine: Oh my God. That's so funny. You're right. i I, didn't even draw the conclusion there.
Natalie Richards: It's not my thing.
Felicia Devine: You're a winter vacation girl.
Natalie Richards: And we, yes. And I will tie this all back in.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: But when I was 10, we went to Mexico and I got like massive sun poisoning within a day, like poisoning, like sick, like throwing up, like awful.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. okay
Natalie Richards: It's just, it's not for me. so
Felicia Devine: No, and once you get sun poisoning once, you're like way more susceptible to it.
Natalie Richards: but Yes. So now I've kind of like trained my myself to be okay with the sun. Like I can handle it.
Felicia Devine: Mm-hmm.
Natalie Richards: I am i can tan okay. Like I don't wear sunglasses anymore for a lot for that reason.
Felicia Devine: Mm-hmm.
Natalie Richards: and So my eyes can be like aware of the UV status.
Felicia Devine: Right.
Felicia Devine: Yes. It needs to prepare for.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. So it actually has helped. Like in the last two years, it's helped a lot. So I used to get like hives on my hands if I were to go in the sun. And now that didn't happen anymore.
Natalie Richards: Anyway, you know, so, but I will say the first day of this trip, we were out in, in the sun.
Felicia Devine: How grown up are you? Your body has matured.
Natalie Richards: It was nine 30 in the morning, nine 30.
Felicia Devine: no.
Natalie Richards: And I said, I'm going to give myself 10 minutes without sunscreen at nine 30.
Natalie Richards: horrible idea, horrible idea.
Felicia Devine: The first day.
Natalie Richards: The first day it was so dumb. So we were sitting and standing in the pool. it wasn't hot. It was like 75 degrees 30, nine 30.
Felicia Devine: Mm-hmm.
Natalie Richards: and it was nine thirty nine thirty
Felicia Devine: Girl, you're flirting with that equator.
Natalie Richards: God, I know. so it was So I got very burnt, but it wasn't like, then I did all my homeopathic stuff and I didn't really peel or anything. like It wasn't that bad, but I was very red for multiple days.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: And then I said, okay, I'm done with the sun now.
Felicia Devine: Now I need the shade and protection.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. So I actually put sunscreen on after that and It was in the shade. So, but it was really fun. We had, we walked on the beach a little bit. We drank coconuts, fresh coconuts.
Natalie Richards: We had great dinners. Like the resort we stayed at was really nice. So, so we're now going to a different, yeah, it was actually.
Felicia Devine: Okay. Was it rejuvenating?
Natalie Richards: Had probably the best massage I've ever had in my life there.
Felicia Devine: Okay.
Felicia Devine: Wait, you had a massage?
Natalie Richards: Yeah, a massage and a facial.
Felicia Devine: Wait, did it burn your summer?
Natalie Richards: And Kyle. Yes, for sure. It did.
Felicia Devine: Oh.
Natalie Richards: Kyle had a massage too.
Felicia Devine: Did he?
Natalie Richards: Yeah, and he loved it.
Felicia Devine: Wow.
Natalie Richards: I know. He doesn't like being touched by people. So...
Felicia Devine: Yeah, yeah, I can relate. Related.
Natalie Richards: I, he, he's doing very well, actually. Kyle's doing very well. He's, he's going to therapy, which is amazing.
Felicia Devine: Oh my gosh.
Natalie Richards: And he actually enjoys it.
Felicia Devine: Good.
Natalie Richards: So that's like really good.
Felicia Devine: Oh
Natalie Richards: So he, he has this whole setup with the VA now and it's wonderful.
Felicia Devine: my gosh.
Natalie Richards: So he's good.
Felicia Devine: Good.
Natalie Richards: yeah He's doing great.
Felicia Devine: We love a a healthy man. Good.
Natalie Richards: We love a healthy man. No kidding. So i think like that trip and all of that, like he was feeling really good after all of that.
Felicia Devine: Good.
Natalie Richards: So we had a fun time. um Came back to reality, you know, I think did I now I can't remember if I went to my Lyme doctor.
Natalie Richards: Did I go before that? Yeah, I went in March. So I I was still oh, yeah, because I was taking all my stuff when I was in Punta Cana.
Felicia Devine: Did you?
Natalie Richards: I did not miss a dose.
Felicia Devine: OK.
Natalie Richards: Can you believe it? I did not miss a single time of taking my things.
Felicia Devine: Good for you.
Felicia Devine: All your things and your million ounces of
Natalie Richards: I think in two months of doing everything, i'm i i think I missed like two total doses of things.
Felicia Devine: my gosh, good.
Natalie Richards: Isn't that crazy?
Felicia Devine: Now what's your like status?
Natalie Richards: So my status now, so I just went back last week. Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Oh, good.
Natalie Richards: Last week. Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Oh, we have an update.
Natalie Richards: Yes. We have an update update.
Felicia Devine: Oh.
Natalie Richards: Um, pretty much everything was like cut in half, which is amazing.
Felicia Devine: Oh.
Natalie Richards: So like every number and he actually looked at me, he goes, I'm very surprised that all of these, like, especially the mold went down in the way that it did.
Felicia Devine: That's incredible.
Natalie Richards: So I was like, Oh, perfect.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: I'm the perfect little student.
Felicia Devine: Yes, you're like, I don't miss.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Oh,
Natalie Richards: So my mold went from like eight to a three and a half, which is amazing. My biotoxin, same thing, went from eight to like four, I think.
Felicia Devine: good.
Felicia Devine: Mm-hmm.
Natalie Richards: And then um now like that that has gone down, now the Lyme and Bartonella are kind of like coming up as being a little more of like what we have to treat this time, which is great.
Felicia Devine: Um,
Natalie Richards: So I started, i think I got all my stuff yesterday. So I started it last night and I definitely felt it today where I was like, oh yeah, I'm feeling more of like the Bartonella symptoms because it's making it a little angered.
Felicia Devine: with detoxing?
Natalie Richards: So I woke up and my feet were like burning, like really painful on the bottom. And that's like a classic, that's a classic Bartonella symptom.
Felicia Devine: What? Is it? Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Where I have had it mildly in the past, I would never have been like, oh my God, my feet hurt so bad. I can't handle it, which is what most people feel like with Bartonella where they wake up in the morning and it's just like the horrible pain in their feet or all throughout the day.
Felicia Devine: Wow.
Natalie Richards: so foot pain is like, like foot fascia pain is like a classic symptom of Bartonella.
Felicia Devine: Oh my gosh. I had no idea.
Felicia Devine: Is it bilateral or unilateral?
Natalie Richards: Usually by almost always bilateral.
Felicia Devine: That's why you know it's a systemic thing and not just like your fasciitis.
Natalie Richards: Yep. If it's unilateral, sure, it's probably plantar fasciitis because hardly ever do you have plantar fasciitis that's happening on both sides at the exact same time when it's like true plantar fasciitis.
Felicia Devine: Right.
Felicia Devine: both. Flaring. Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. Right.
Natalie Richards: I definitely felt like I was flaring up from the Bartonella today. That's a good thing in my mind.
Felicia Devine: Yeah, yeah, because you're stirring it.
Natalie Richards: So I think that's where where people like have a little bit of a disconnect when you're going through active treatment of something.
Felicia Devine: Healing.
Natalie Richards: You are going to feel a resurgence of it a little bit. like It's going to have times where it feels good. It's going to have times where it doesn't. And that's good. like I actually want the symptoms to come back a little bit.
Felicia Devine: Right.
Natalie Richards: So I know it's coming into my system and I can kill it with the things that I'm taking.
Felicia Devine: and
Felicia Devine: Right.
Natalie Richards: So I'm now taking...
Felicia Devine: Right.
Natalie Richards: a couple different like herbal blends of like a bunch of different things. And then I'm doing like a tincture, which is Bartonella.
Felicia Devine: Okay.
Natalie Richards: It's like a specific Bartonella lime tincture. So it's, it's really good.
Felicia Devine: Cool.
Natalie Richards: So, and still doing, ah no, it's probably more now because I actually, I'm taking like the killing things twice a day.
Felicia Devine: So is it less steps? No.
Natalie Richards: And then I have to do the charcoal binders still at night, like right before bed.
Felicia Devine: Okay.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. Oh,
Natalie Richards: And that has helped. Like if I don't do that right before bed, I feel not good in the morning.
Felicia Devine: no.
Natalie Richards: So it's good overall.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Everything is getting better. I'm actually able to treat some of these these things.
Felicia Devine: Go ahead.
Natalie Richards: But what my, I don't know if I told you this
Felicia Devine: Go ahead.
Natalie Richards: I can't remember what we talked about in the last episode, but my mom, she goes, oh yeah, you you got bit by a tick when you were eight. I go, oh, okay.
Felicia Devine: Okay, Anita.
Natalie Richards: And then I was like, oh, I do remember that. I had it on the back of my knee.
Felicia Devine: Did you really?
Natalie Richards: Yeah. So then after that is when I started having just kind of like vague, like GI problems. Like I had all kinds of weird, just like very vague things.
Felicia Devine: Mm-hmm.
Natalie Richards: um And that's when my sun sensitivity started after that as well.
Felicia Devine: Oh my goodness. That's why it came full circle. Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Right. So i just, I've kind of been like putting a lot of like things together where I probably have had these like vague symptoms for a long time.
Felicia Devine: yeah
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: But now it just got revamped entirely when I had like my mold exposure in my apartment before I had Jean.
Felicia Devine: Okay.
Natalie Richards: Like it just was all these things.
Felicia Devine: Great.
Natalie Richards: And then like breastfeeding hormones and pregnancy and blah, blah, blah, whatever. And stress. Yeah. So I think all of that brought it all out again. But I think I've had that for a long time.
Felicia Devine: Wow.
Natalie Richards: Mm hmm.
Felicia Devine: That's crazy.
Natalie Richards: So there we are. So that's that update.
Felicia Devine: So here we are.
Natalie Richards: So much better. um Probably, i mean, i think i I think it's happening faster than he expected.
Felicia Devine: time
Felicia Devine: here
Natalie Richards: so And my mom my mom was like, oh, this is going to be years. You're going to be doing this for so long. I'm like, no, you have been doing it for years. Not I.
Felicia Devine: No, you're like, I am putting pedal to the metal.
Natalie Richards: No, no, no, no. no I am going to get better.
Felicia Devine: any Yeah. Yeah.
Natalie Richards: i am going to. so So I've been doing all my other stuff, my vibration plate and my red light and my saunas and my ridiculous things.
Felicia Devine: and Now was going to say, Yeah. All your things.
Natalie Richards: And he's like, yeah, that's probably why you're getting better so fast.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: He's like, people don't really do that stuff, even if I tell them to.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: So he doesn't, I don't even think he recommends that stuff to people.
Felicia Devine: Because
Natalie Richards: He just kind of does his testing and he just, he does his thing.
Felicia Devine: I won't do it. Ooh.
Natalie Richards: But So I'm like, yeah, I'm doing all my stuff. I got two new massive air purifiers.
Felicia Devine: What did get?
Natalie Richards: So I have three industrial size air purifiers. I have one Jasper in our bedroom.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: And then I have two of like the new, the brand new air doctors that I got when they had a sale.
Felicia Devine: Oh, cool.
Natalie Richards: So, so now we have three insane sized air purifiers in our house.
Felicia Devine: Nice.
Felicia Devine: Good. Right,
Natalie Richards: And that helps. I think that's, if there's anything actively in the house, it's going to help not get re-infected.
Felicia Devine: thank
Natalie Richards: So.
Felicia Devine: great right. Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: That's excellent.
Natalie Richards: I'd say that's about it. Yeah. And then like the potty training thing with Gene, it's so funny. Like he is fully, fully, fully potty trained. And then naturally he just stopped peeing overnight.
Natalie Richards: Like before he would wake up and he would wake up with a full diaper.
Felicia Devine: So, he wear a diaper or not? Okay.
Natalie Richards: And then all of a sudden it's just, he can go 12 hours without peeing.
Felicia Devine: Now, does he wear a diaper or no?
Natalie Richards: I still put one on because it freaks me out.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: It makes me very nervous.
Felicia Devine: Right. Right.
Natalie Richards: Like I don't, he like he wakes up totally, totally dry with it.
Felicia Devine: But he's dry.
Felicia Devine: Wow, wonder what the difference is.
Natalie Richards: It's insane. I have no idea. I think it's just as like, no, no.
Felicia Devine: Are you treating him for anything right now? No.
Natalie Richards: but But it probably would have been parasites at the time because I was, I was treating him for that.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. Yeah. Right. Right.
Natalie Richards: He doesn't really have the symptoms of that anymore.
Felicia Devine: Wow.
Natalie Richards: so
Felicia Devine: i need to I need to figure out what do. I think I want to work on a parasite thing with the sepi.
Natalie Richards: Did I send you, did I tell you the BioRay stuff?
Felicia Devine: don't.
Felicia Devine: I've heard of the bi-ray and then i've heard of the earthly bundle where it's like immune modulating too.
Natalie Richards: Uh-huh.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. Yeah. You could probably try one or the other. The BioRay, the BioRay will help bind heavy metals too.
Felicia Devine: yeah
Natalie Richards: Cause Gene had lead like long ago. Like when he was, I forget when they tested it.
Felicia Devine: I think it's at your, visit, two-year visit.
Natalie Richards: and It must've been when he was two year, year and a half. I don't know. But he, he tested like just, I think it's 18 months.
Felicia Devine: Oh, maybe it's the 18-month visit.
Natalie Richards: He tested just like barely high or or like barely into the moderate range.
Felicia Devine: How does that happen?
Natalie Richards: And I was like, that's weird.
Felicia Devine: he eating lead paint?
Natalie Richards: It's in everything. It's in every, especially like health foods. It's in a lot of like healthy snacks and stuff and cassava cassava is like huge for lead.
Felicia Devine: Well, don't use that for cooking or baking.
Natalie Richards: Right. But like, what was he eating at the time? o he was eating a lot of like the siete chips. He loved those at the time that are cassava. And then he was eating um the lesser evil little puff things, just like when we would go somewhere.
Felicia Devine: Oh, yeah.
Natalie Richards: And those are cassava. So at the time he was eating a lot of cassava.
Felicia Devine: Oh, you know what? He does eat cassava because he eats the serenity puffs or has.
Natalie Richards: Yes. the
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Those two. Yes. So it's like, it's one of those things.
Felicia Devine: Oh.
Natalie Richards: It's like, whatever, you can bind it out and be fine.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: It's not the end of the world, but it definitely contains it.
Felicia Devine: Right.
Natalie Richards: That's for sure. So I think I've like bound out most of his, his heavy metals at this point.
Felicia Devine: Geez.
Felicia Devine: Now, when you do the bio-ray, you just do the bio-ray by itself. You don't have to do anything else with it.
Natalie Richards: He, yeah, no, you don't have to do anything.
Felicia Devine: Oh, because the earthly is like a three-step
Natalie Richards: You could do, you could do a binder.
Felicia Devine: on top of that.
Natalie Richards: I don't feel like he, yeah, I don't feel like he ever needed it, but you could do like zeolite or something. Zeolite drops with it.
Felicia Devine: Steppy loves liquid charcoal.
Natalie Richards: ah Does he really? Oh, perfect.
Felicia Devine: Addicted.
Natalie Richards: So you would just do that. And he might be fine on the metal side, but he may not be, he may still have, have some parasites for other reasons.
Felicia Devine: We put it in a syringe and he's like, blah. Right. Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Who knows?
Felicia Devine: Yeah. Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Who knows? How is he sleeping?
Felicia Devine: Better, so much better.
Natalie Richards: Knock on wood.
Felicia Devine: Well, I digress about him being better.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. Yeah.
Felicia Devine: No, no. So overall at home, so much better.
Natalie Richards: Okay.
Felicia Devine: And like, we haven't traveled in a ah long time, but we we went to the beach last weekend.
Natalie Richards: Which helps. Yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh my God. And it was a disaster.
Felicia Devine: No, it was so bad, Natalie.
Natalie Richards: ah
Felicia Devine: So I was like, okay, well, we both worked all day. So it was like a Thursday. We worked all day, got home.
Natalie Richards: Yep.
Felicia Devine: And we were going to leave at like 7, 730.
Felicia Devine: so that he had time to unwind in the car and then would fall asleep by his eight o'clock bedtime.
Natalie Richards: sure Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: So we get him in his pajamas. He has a bath. Like we're ready. All right.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: Start driving. My parents are in the back seat with him. So my mom's in the middle. My dad's on the window seat and they're like reading books and like, you know, zero screen time.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: We don't do screen time.
Natalie Richards: <unk>
Felicia Devine: Okay. So he's chatting up storm. It's getting dark.
Natalie Richards: ahha
Felicia Devine: I'm like, okay, it's a little past eight. That's okay.
Natalie Richards: yeah
Felicia Devine: My mom starts to kind of like wean herself from like interacting with him. So she's like doing some like looking out the window. Then my mom starts closing her eyes in the car, like just resting her head back.
Natalie Richards: oh
Felicia Devine: Giuseppe is leaning over his car seat going, wake
Natalie Richards: Oh my God.
Felicia Devine: Wake up, Baba! Wake up!
Natalie Richards: Well, it's so exciting having her in the car with him.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. He was like, ain't no one sleeping in this car. Not on on my watch. And we're just like giggling because like, you know, it's exciting. We're going on a vacation. We pack the car.
Natalie Richards: Yeah,
Felicia Devine: The dog's in the backseat. Like everyone's excited.
Natalie Richards: it is what it is. Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: So I'm like not stressed because, you know, it it whatever. You don't fall asleep in the car. Who cares? It's only a two hour drive. Like it wasn't that long. It wasn't like, you know, the end of the world. So we get to the beach um house at like almost 10.
Natalie Richards: He was still awake.
Felicia Devine: Natalie, this kid this kid didn't go to sleep till 1245
Natalie Richards: Hi, you here you go
Felicia Devine: We ended up putting on Trash Truck from Netflix because Dan and I were literally, I mean, we worked full days of patience.
Natalie Richards: Yes.
Natalie Richards: We're dead. You were dead. Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: Dan had to drive to the beach. i I had to do all the packing. Like I was like exhausted.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: My parents are peacefully sleeping in the other room.
Natalie Richards: Oh, my God.
Felicia Devine: Well, I don't know how peaceful because Seth was crying a lot because I tried to put him to bed a lot.
Natalie Richards: yeah because he was. my God.
Felicia Devine: And he was sleeping in the other room. So there was a three, it was a three bedroom house. So he was in his own room, but his room had bunk beds in it. Oh my God, give a kid a bunk bed, he'll never sleep.
Natalie Richards: Oh my. And they go crazy. Yeah.
Felicia Devine: And he wasn't even sleeping in the bunk bed.
Natalie Richards: And it's new and it's just like so exciting.
Felicia Devine: He couldn't believe it. And he had a pack and play with a, I call it a coma cave.
Natalie Richards: oh my God.
Felicia Devine: It's that black cover.
Natalie Richards: Yes. The whatever.
Felicia Devine: We call it the coma cave because when he naps in it, you have to wake him up.
Natalie Richards: Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's out.
Felicia Devine: He's out like a light.
Natalie Richards: Okay.
Felicia Devine: So usually the coma cave like trumps all excitement because it's a blackout cave.
Natalie Richards: Okay.
Felicia Devine: So I'm like putting him in the coma cave and you can see on the monitor, he's standing up like a little, like mountainous mole.
Natalie Richards: Oh my God.
Felicia Devine: And yeah, he defied all odds and he was resilient to the sleep.
Natalie Richards: Oh my gosh.
Felicia Devine: And so then eventually we put on trash truck at like, I don't know, midnight. And then, so I tried for two hours to get him down.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Crazy.
Natalie Richards: Oh my God. And that's, oh my God.
Felicia Devine: Literally exhausting.
Natalie Richards: That's ridiculous.
Felicia Devine: anyway, so I tried to put him down for two hours. We ended up putting on trash truck in our bedroom and letting him sit there. And this kid is like, like not even fading.
Felicia Devine: And eventually at 1245, was like, okay, I'm just going to like put you back in your bed and we're just going to see what happens again.
Natalie Richards: Oh my word.
Felicia Devine: So I eventually just laid him in his bed and he cried for like two seconds, but he was exhausted.
Natalie Richards: Yep.
Natalie Richards: Of course.
Felicia Devine: So then he only slept till 6.15, which is crazy behavior because he usually sleeps till eight.
Natalie Richards: ah huh. Uh huh.
Felicia Devine: And I'm like, whoa, here we go.
Natalie Richards: Uh huh.
Felicia Devine: So we had three lives before most people wake up on vacation.
Natalie Richards: Uh huh.
Felicia Devine: And we did so many fun things. And it was the best weekend ever.
Natalie Richards: It's so cute.
Felicia Devine: And he slept like trash. And I didn't even care because we had so much fun.
Natalie Richards: No, it doesn't matter. You just kind of deal with it.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. And honestly, he was like getting us out of the house. Like he was like, I'm awake and I didn't want to wake our parents up, my parents up.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. Let's go.
Felicia Devine: So i was like, we're leaving.
Natalie Richards: Right.
Felicia Devine: um we went to the dog beach.
Natalie Richards: Bye.
Felicia Devine: We went out to coffee.
Natalie Richards: Oh, my gosh.
Felicia Devine: We like walked around. Yeah.
Natalie Richards: That's so cute. I love it.
Felicia Devine: It was so fun. um
Natalie Richards: That's so good.
Felicia Devine: But then, but then he went down for a nap at the house.
Natalie Richards: no.
Felicia Devine: I put him down for a nap in the coma cave and I sleep.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: And I go downstairs and I am taking a beat. I mean, I am like, we have had, we have been in, in the thick of it, right? Like nonstop, nonstop.
Natalie Richards: Yes.
Felicia Devine: So Dan and I are like looking through, Dan brought his like nice camera. So we're looking through photos and then I pulled up my phone and we're looking at videos from the day.
Natalie Richards: Right.
Felicia Devine: And I had been hooked up to the Bluetooth speaker earlier at the beach and
Natalie Richards: Uh-huh.
Felicia Devine: And so we're looking at a video of him like doing something. And I'm like, oh my gosh, it's playing on the Bluetooth speaker. Like it was so loud. I was like, oh my gosh, turn it off, turn it off. And then my dad comes, cause we're in like the sunroom, the sunroom of the house.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: My dad comes and he's like, do hear that? I'm like, yeah, I think it was my phone. And my dad turns around and looks up the stairs. Giuseppe was standing at the top of the stairs.
Natalie Richards: No.
Felicia Devine: He got out of his sleep sack.
Natalie Richards: he had. What?
Felicia Devine: He unzipped the coma cave.
Natalie Richards: What?
Felicia Devine: climbed out of the pack and plate, re-zipped the coma cave, and found his way to the stairs. That's not, I mean, it was like the scariest staircase with like no baby proofing.
Natalie Richards: Really?
Felicia Devine: And it was so steep.
Natalie Richards: Really?
Felicia Devine: Like, I was like, and he's, he's like confident on the stairs, but like, I was like, what happened?
Natalie Richards: go potty in that one, honey.
Natalie Richards: Oh, my gosh. That's so crazy.
Felicia Devine: And then he went in the room and he goes, seppy-doo, seppy-doo.
Natalie Richards: honey.
Felicia Devine: And he was showing me how he, oh, you're good.
Natalie Richards: go honey Oh my God. I can't. This is ridiculous.
Felicia Devine: Okay.
Natalie Richards: Gene.
Felicia Devine: So he literally escaped. And then we went back in the room because I was like, oh, maybe my mom's awake because my mom was napping too.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. To help him get out.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. And he literally goes, Seppi, do. And he's showing me how he unzipped the coma cave and escaped. And I'm like, Seppi, don't do. Seppi, don't do.
Natalie Richards: Oh man.
Felicia Devine: So then we had to move him into our room because I couldn't trust that because he could climb the bunk bed, but he couldn't get down himself.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: And I couldn't trust that in the middle of the night, he wasn't going to get a burst of energy and start climbing.
Natalie Richards: No kidding.
Felicia Devine: And so I had to lock him in my room with me. And then the dog in the morning, the final day woke him up because she shook her ears and he's like, mommy.
Natalie Richards: Oh my God.
Felicia Devine: And I'm like, just thaty
Natalie Richards: and That's all it took. Oh.
Felicia Devine: oh I know. So the sleeping was like absolute garbagio, but it is what it is.
Natalie Richards: It just was. Yep.
Felicia Devine: And vacation was so fun.
Natalie Richards: Oh my God.
Felicia Devine: And it was our first beach trip as a family.
Natalie Richards: That's so fun.
Felicia Devine: And i would do it again and again. I realized why people like the beach.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: I didn't like the beach until this weekend.
Natalie Richards: Well, when you have a kid who enjoys it, then yeah, it makes it really fun.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. It was lovely.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: And we so happened to stumble upon...
Natalie Richards: And it is kind of like real, it's relaxing. Like it's for the most part.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. No, it was. Cause like my kid doesn't eat sand. My kid doesn't run away.
Natalie Richards: Right.
Felicia Devine: He's not an eloper.
Natalie Richards: Right.
Felicia Devine: He listens to direction. I was like playing the sand in the shade.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Like it was, we're at the age where like I can have like a conversation with him and he can get the concepts.
Natalie Richards: Totally.
Felicia Devine: So I was like, and the water was way too cold for him to want to be in it. So like he wasn't eloping to the ocean.
Natalie Richards: Perfect. Perfect.
Felicia Devine: it was lovely. And I honestly, 10 out 10 would go back this weekend. So we went the weekend after Memorial Day, but the weekend before everyone graduates on this side of the world.
Natalie Richards: Yes. Yes.
Felicia Devine: So it was crime.
Natalie Richards: Yes. That's what we did for the lake too. And it's perfect. The weather is beautiful. It hasn't gotten humid yet.
Felicia Devine: Not too hot. Mm-hmm.
Natalie Richards: Nobody's there. It's great.
Felicia Devine: Yep. Yeah.
Natalie Richards: It's amazing.
Felicia Devine: So I'm going rebook for that, that vacation next year.
Natalie Richards: orderly Totally.
Felicia Devine: it was lovely.
Natalie Richards: Totally.
Felicia Devine: So we do it again. um i don't know.
Natalie Richards: Awesome.
Felicia Devine: I don't know how you get your kid to sleep on vacation. Like my kid's just like not flexible in sleeping.
Natalie Richards: I think it's just, it truly, it does, it's just how it is.
Felicia Devine: He's just not.
Natalie Richards: Gene is or was for the most part, just because we did it all the time.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Like we went to the lake a lot with him.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: So we were, but for a long time, it was horrible and I would sleep terribly up there, and but it was worth it because it was like the other parts of it were great, but
Felicia Devine: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah No, I know. And what's crazy is like, he's had so much exposure to traveling.
Felicia Devine: We go to Vermont, we go to Arizona, we go to Florida.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm. He has. you go You go a lot of places.
Felicia Devine: We got like,
Natalie Richards: It just for a long time, it just was trash.
Felicia Devine: yeah, yeah. But beyond that fabulous beach vacation, not sleeping, he actually is sleeping pretty well. He had been sleeping consistently through the night up until my incident.
Natalie Richards: That's good.
Felicia Devine: Um,
Natalie Richards: Right.
Felicia Devine: And he woke up in the middle of the night that night when my brother was at the house screaming for me.
Natalie Richards: Oh, really? ah see if no Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Felicia Devine: and he hadn't been waking up. ah he And my brother was panicked because he was like, you know something I don't.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. Oh my God. For real. Oh my God.
Felicia Devine: And so I told my brother, I was like, he sleeps through night, but if he wakes up and you can't get him back to sleep, because i truly am the only one that can get him back to sleep.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: I was like, just turn on PAW Patrol and just ride it out because today is not about saving anything.
Natalie Richards: And just, yep.
Natalie Richards: No, no, no, no, it's okay.
Felicia Devine: It's not about consistent sleep patterns. I was like, don't be a hero. So he he and my brother sat in my bed and they binge watched PAW Patrol in the middle of the night.
Natalie Richards: Okay.
Natalie Richards: Oh my God.
Felicia Devine: And it is what it is. um
Natalie Richards: It is.
Felicia Devine: you know And you know he's not a broken child.
Natalie Richards: It is. No, he's fine.
Felicia Devine: He's just, he's slept a night of sleep.
Natalie Richards: Yep. It's okay.
Felicia Devine: But yeah, so sleep has been pretty good.
Natalie Richards: Oh my God.
Felicia Devine: And then we've slowly gotten back on track since then. But I would say maybe three times a week he's up.
Natalie Richards: Good. Okay. Good.
Felicia Devine: Like last night he slept through, but the night before he was up at midnight. So it is what it is.
Natalie Richards: It just, it, it kind of still just happens.
Felicia Devine: Yeah, and like he has so many great qualities.
Natalie Richards: It just happens.
Felicia Devine: ah Middle of the night sleep is okay.
Natalie Richards: It's all good. It's okay.
Felicia Devine: It's okay.
Natalie Richards: And it really is not forever.
Felicia Devine: Right.
Natalie Richards: I had those moments where I was like, oh my God, it feels like this is going to be forever.
Felicia Devine: Right.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: But it's not.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: It it does get better.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. And like, honestly, I'm so adapted to the middle of the night wakings that like my, I still get like almost 90 on my sleep score because my body is like, we're awake and then we're deep sleeping.
Natalie Richards: Totally. You just get used to it.
Felicia Devine: And then like, you know, like it is so, know,
Natalie Richards: Yep. Yep. you still get enough deep sleep. Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. So I'm like still crushing it on my sleep scores.
Natalie Richards: I think that's the case for most, yeah. For most like breastfeeding moms.
Felicia Devine: Restfeeding.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: I think that's just how it is.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: um Oh, I forgot to mention something.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Then we'll get more into you.
Felicia Devine: Okay.
Natalie Richards: um I am, well, okay. Kyle, I kind of told you this already, but I have not told the podcast this already.
Felicia Devine: Oh.
Natalie Richards: Kyle, a couple weeks ago, few weeks ago, he was he was ah yeah yeah he was at my office and he was talking to Chelsea and I was like seeing a patient and I like kind of heard him chatting a little bit.
Felicia Devine: I have no details though. This is my first time hearing it.
Natalie Richards: And he was like, i think you know maybe I'd get like a mold dog or something. And I go, what? What are we talking about?
Felicia Devine: um again
Natalie Richards: And he goes, would hey mama, would you be okay if I like got a mold, if i trained a mold dog? And I was like, honestly, yeah.
Felicia Devine: I would love that.
Natalie Richards: Yeah, I would. i would. That'd be great.
Felicia Devine: Take them everywhere with us.
Natalie Richards: Because I've been like wanting him to find something that he wants to do that involves dogs, that is something that maybe could be a profession or maybe doesn't have to be a full profession, you know, just like something that can, yeah something that he can do with dogs that is meaningful, right?
Felicia Devine: Yeah. Like a side gig.
Felicia Devine: Mm-hmm.
Natalie Richards: So the second he said that, I was like, yeah, that would be perfect. That's amazing. And it like blends our two worlds together.
Felicia Devine: Mm-hmm.
Natalie Richards: So he is going to be training a dog to...
Felicia Devine: I know. It does.
Natalie Richards: to detect mold in buildings, like in houses. And these dogs are like, they're like 97% accurate in finding mold in houses, which if you do like a ah general mold inspection and you do air testing and dust testing, there's still a really high chance that it could be there and the test doesn't pick up on it.
Felicia Devine: Wow.
Felicia Devine: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: It's missed.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. So, and you pay like thousands and thousands of dollars to do these tests.
Felicia Devine: Because if it's behind. Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Exactly.
Felicia Devine: If it's behind a wall and the the the test isn't picking it up.
Natalie Richards: Exactly. Exactly.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: The dog could come in and go to a wall that looks completely inconspicuous and could say the mold is from here to here. And you know exactly like where to to rip out the wall or whatever.
Felicia Devine: I would pay for that.
Natalie Richards: It's insane. So like people should, because otherwise you're just spending thousands of dollars to maybe know it's there, but not know where.
Felicia Devine: Guessing.
Natalie Richards: So that's kind of cool. So I was like, okay, cool, Kyle. This is good. This is great. um And then I'm like, oh, we have to get a puppy.
Felicia Devine: That means we need a puppy to train.
Natalie Richards: And he had already been talking to,
Felicia Devine: Because let's say Duke isn't doing that.
Natalie Richards: no no and So it has to be like from the ground up, like you got to imprint these puppies on, on the scent and all of that.
Felicia Devine: Mm-hmm.
Natalie Richards: yeah, We have to get a puppy and it's conveniently going to be the same kind of puppy that Felicia has. She has peas.
Felicia Devine: Yay, it's GSP family. oh and you are getting a brown one.
Natalie Richards: So we're getting a brown one. She has a little tiny white little speckled paw. It's so cute. But for the most part, yes, yes.
Felicia Devine: The brown ones are the craziest.
Natalie Richards: I really wanted, i' really wanted like the spotted with like the like brown spots with the white ticked fur.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. Well, let's just say they do change over time.
Natalie Richards: But the Yes.
Felicia Devine: Because I was convinced that Josephine was fully ticked.
Natalie Richards: Oh my gosh.
Felicia Devine: Her baby photos, Natalie, she's like majority white.
Natalie Richards: What?
Felicia Devine: Yes. And then I was like, oh my God, did they spray paint her? Because her baby photo versus her now, like I even asked the vet at one point, I said, did her spots come back?
Natalie Richards: What?
Felicia Devine: And they're like, what? And like, she lost.
Natalie Richards: in What?
Felicia Devine: I should say lost, but her ticking changed.
Natalie Richards: That's so weird.
Felicia Devine: So it might change. You might notice, yeah, as she grows, you might notice like a shift in her patterns, but it was crazy.
Natalie Richards: It could change. It totally could change. Yeah. It totally could.
Felicia Devine: i was like, she, well, and then as she was a puppy, people would be like, oh, is that a lab?
Natalie Richards: That's crazy.
Felicia Devine: And I'm like, what?
Natalie Richards: Right. Because people, Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Cause she was like all chocolate.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: And now that she's getting older, you can see more of her delineations, but oh my gosh, it's crazy.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. That's so funny.
Felicia Devine: I literally was like, oh, I've been tricked.
Natalie Richards: that I don't know what the hell is going to happen.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Seriously.
Felicia Devine: I picked the white one.
Natalie Richards: That's funny. yeah
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: So like Kyle's friend, Kyle's friend, our friends here, they have three of them.
Felicia Devine: So it might change.
Natalie Richards: And this is like the breeder that they, that they use.
Felicia Devine: OK.
Natalie Richards: So it kind of was just like, it worked out that this was going to be the type of dog that we were going get in like three weeks.
Felicia Devine: OK.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. When do you get to pick her up?
Natalie Richards: No, two weeks.
Felicia Devine: Oh.
Natalie Richards: Oh God. God.
Felicia Devine: Natalie, i remember ah remember crying because Josephine would like attack me.
Natalie Richards: Wait, what day is it today? Hmm. two weeks.
Felicia Devine: And like attack me in the sense of like she was like a little puppy and she was just like seeing red.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. I remember I was.
Felicia Devine: And it wasn't vicious attackment.
Natalie Richards: h
Felicia Devine: It was just like it was just like she was just like a psycho.
Natalie Richards: no no, this is my playmate.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: m
Felicia Devine: At one point, I found her on my kitchen table.
Natalie Richards: I remember, I remember I was there.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Remember i babysat her when she was like 10 weeks old.
Felicia Devine: yes
Felicia Devine: Natalie, Natalie flew out to Pennsylvania to babysit her so I could go to a wedding. And she was a psychopath. She was like crazy.
Natalie Richards: whom
Felicia Devine: Yeah, no, she literally was like a little tiny couple week old puppy.
Natalie Richards: she was.
Felicia Devine: Anyway.
Natalie Richards: so I know what I'm getting into.
Felicia Devine: They're the best dogs.
Natalie Richards: They are great.
Felicia Devine: Yeah, they're the best.
Natalie Richards: And you know what?
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: It's not my deal.
Felicia Devine: Oh, you should tell Kyle to get puppy insurance though.
Natalie Richards: Jean, Jean was my deal. know, he for sure.
Felicia Devine: Yeah, right.
Natalie Richards: Well, Jean was my deal. I woke up in the middle of the night, every single waking, this puppy is not my deal.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: No, this is Kyle's passion project.
Natalie Richards: It's not my deal. Yeah, this is his child. And...
Felicia Devine: i I remember when we were crate training her, we would have to rock her to sleep in our arms.
Natalie Richards: Holy moly.
Felicia Devine: In the middle of the night after she went potty, we'd rock her to sleep. And when she fell asleep, we'd put her in her kennel like you would do for a baby in a crib.
Natalie Richards: Oh, my God. i don't i don't I don't know if I have this in me, truthfully, but it's a lot.
Felicia Devine: Crazy.
Felicia Devine: um Yeah, it was a lot. But honestly, the joy that a GSP can emit, like, it's just like, I don't know.
Natalie Richards: I know.
Natalie Richards: I know.
Natalie Richards: They're so sweet. They're so just like wiggly.
Felicia Devine: And they have so much personality and they're so goofy.
Natalie Richards: And yeah, they are.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: They're so cute.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. So I'm very excited for you.
Natalie Richards: They're so cute. It's going to be great.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: um And it just gives him, yeah, like he needs more to do, but it gives him something to do.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. No, but it's good for his mental capacity to pour into a project that's solely his and not into a project that's run by the government.
Natalie Richards: It is. It is. Yes.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Correct. Correct.
Felicia Devine: don't Don't cancel us, please.
Natalie Richards: Correct. It's going to be really nice.
Felicia Devine: Yeah, it's a personal project, not a government project.
Natalie Richards: he He can do his own.
Felicia Devine: We've done enough of those.
Natalie Richards: he can do his own thing. Yes.
Felicia Devine: no Yeah, yeah.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. he has He has been part of enough government run projects.
Felicia Devine: Yeah, yeah. So this is great.
Natalie Richards: um So yes, it's going to be great.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: so ah that's pretty much, I think that's my last update. I'm getting a puppy, a fourth dog in case anybody wasn't paying attention.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. And all these dogs have different needs.
Natalie Richards: They do.
Felicia Devine: okay
Natalie Richards: They do.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. You're going to be, wow. And Natalie, when I knew Natalie as like our roommate, she was like, I'm never having a dog ever.
Natalie Richards: No. No.
Felicia Devine: and now you have
Natalie Richards: Why would I want that? Yep. Yep. I like dogs.
Felicia Devine: Love this for you.
Natalie Richards: I am.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: I like dogs.
Felicia Devine: But you don't want them in your living environment and look at where you are. And you have two of the, well, three of the craziest hairy dogs.
Natalie Richards: The most insane hair.
Felicia Devine: Thank God you're not adding more hair.
Natalie Richards: i know.
Felicia Devine: if
Natalie Richards: i know. So at least it's not like a golden retriever or a husky.
Felicia Devine: Yeah, for a husky.
Natalie Richards: Like I'm not sure that they, I don't know if they do.
Felicia Devine: I don't even know if huskies have the capacity to do mold, but I don't know. I've never seen a working husky in the mold department.
Natalie Richards: no
Felicia Devine: They're really good at endurance activities. i don't know they're good at mold.
Natalie Richards: no
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: So we shall see. I'm going to have to like give her, give her like biotoxin binders too.
Felicia Devine: I'm excited for those future updates.
Felicia Devine: Yeah, ah right, because she's going be sniffing malt.
Natalie Richards: Poor thing. She's like in moldy environments all the time.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, geez.
Natalie Richards: I'll keep her healthy.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. Okay, should I start my updates?
Natalie Richards: Yeah, I think we shall.
Felicia Devine: Okay, so this is this is the trigger warning department.
Natalie Richards: h
Felicia Devine: We are entering the territory.
Natalie Richards: Wasn't on my end.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. Renting the territory of triggers. um okay so we'll rewind to the day. Let's rewind to the day that you and I were supposed to film this episode, April 12th.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. Right.
Felicia Devine: So for those of you listening actively, it is June 7th.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: This episode was supposed to be recorded April 12th. So I remember that morning my family went out, i don't know, like 40 minutes away to watch my brother do 10 K trail run.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: And it was like a chillier, sunny day, very windy. Um, I was like a little over eight weeks pregnant.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: Um, and it was just like an exhausting morning. I remember just like getting back in the car, we were coming home so that we could put step down for his nap. And then Nat and I were going to record the podcast.
Felicia Devine: Um, And I remember getting back in the car and oh she's like I think that wind just took every ounce of energy I had. Like, I was just like, oh I'm just feeling super drained.
Natalie Richards: As it does, wind like does do that.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. Like wind
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: I was overstimulated. was slightly cold. was mothering.
Natalie Richards: yeah Right.
Felicia Devine: was like, I'm just, I was pregnant. I was like, I'm just a little over the mold or not mold.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: I'm over the wind.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: So we get in the car. I text Natalie. I said, how, I remember this text. I go, how committed to recording are you today? And she goes, you read my mind. not committed at all.
Felicia Devine: And I go fabulous because we're driving home right now. I'm deadbeat tired. And I just like, I don't know if I have it in me to like shower, get ready, record. Like it was just going to be like another like lump I had to get over.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: And I think it it was a Sunday. So I was like, oh, and then we work tomorrow.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Like it just felt very overwhelming.
Natalie Richards: Like it wasn't supposed to happen. And I did too.
Felicia Devine: yeah And like, yeah.
Natalie Richards: i was, I forget what was happening that day.
Felicia Devine: And that was like, i no, you were like dead tired too.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. I was like, I can't, I'm, I'm, I am not able to do this right now, which is kind of funny actually.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. Yeah.
Felicia Devine: So I was like, oh, thank God. Because then I was like, I don't want to feel bad for like canceling because like Nat, you know, like I didn't want it to be just because of me. So Natalie was like, yeah, I'm also in the same boat, like feeling really run down.
Felicia Devine: So we were like, let's push it off. So we we get home from this event, this trail run. And i go to the bathroom and I'm spotting like very lightly, but I was like, well, that's weird.
Felicia Devine: was like, oh, I don't like that. So I texted my midwife or like called my midwife. And did I tell you right away? I can't remember remember if I, I think we were on the phone at some point.
Natalie Richards: Yeah, you you I'm pretty sure. i think we talked on the phone, i think before you even talked to your midwife. i can't Or no, maybe you talked to her first and then, i don't know.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. Yeah. Cause I think I called you that afternoon.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: So my midwife was like, we have a couple options because I wasn't due for my first prenatal visit with her for like a couple more weeks. I think I was scheduled to go at 11 weeks.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: um
Natalie Richards: That sounds right.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. So she was like, we can send you for blood work. We can send you for an ultrasound or we can um wait and see.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: I was like, okay. I was like, it's honestly, it was like the smallest hint of a spot.
Natalie Richards: Uh huh.
Felicia Devine: I was like, okay, let's just like wait and see. So it Sunday. I woke up Monday. it was like fine. Like I wasn't spotting anymore. It had like kind of subsided, went to work, whatever. Tuesday rolls around.
Felicia Devine: Now I don't work Tuesdays. um And I woke up and it was spotting again. And I was like, I just like really don't like this feeling. Like it was just like an ominous feeling of like unknown.
Natalie Richards: Yep. Yep.
Felicia Devine: Cause I had no bearings to go off of. Like I had nothing nothing to like point my direction at that point.
Natalie Richards: Right.
Felicia Devine: So i texted my midwife again and I was like, hey, i started spotting again and I'm very uncomfortable. And she was like, okay, what do you want to do? And I was like, I really think I need an ultrasound. And she was like, okay. so we kind of like weighed our options of what to do.
Felicia Devine: But I was like, I have a dermatology appointment today, like a big dermatology appointment.
Natalie Richards: Oh, yeah. That's right. all the at The whole list of things that you were dealing with.
Felicia Devine: No, it literally was crazy. So Dan took a half day because he had to drive me to set appointment. So Jane gets off work and we go to my dermatology appointment and I'm just like, no, I didn't.
Natalie Richards: Did you explain what this was for? The dermatology.
Felicia Devine: yeah
Natalie Richards: Okay.
Felicia Devine: So I had a mole that was like a little smaller than a quarter on my hairline, like right here.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Okay. It was like forehead hairline.
Natalie Richards: It was decent size, like definitely like nickel size.
Felicia Devine: It was big. Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: And it was like changing with time. It was like abnormal borders. It had abnormal color. It was textured.
Felicia Devine: Occasionally it would bleed. Like it had every sign of being like a bad news bear.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: And i was like, okay, so weeks and weeks prior to even getting pregnant, I scheduled the surgery.
Natalie Richards: Right.
Felicia Devine: I was like, ah!
Natalie Richards: Right. You were going to have major surgery.
Felicia Devine: So I scheduled the surgery. Yeah. So I got the surgery to have this mole removed on my face um well before I was even pregnant. So it comes to the day that I'm supposed to get this mole removed and I'm just like, oh, bad timing.
Felicia Devine: So Dan drives me to this appointment. They lay me back. They inject me with numbing stuff, which was fine. But the an actual like removal of this mole was just like horrible sounding.
Felicia Devine: So it was just like back, I was wide awake, right? Like I was just like laying on table and they stitched me up and they're like, okay, well, since you're pregnant, you like can't do anything about this.
Natalie Richards: Oh, yeah.
Felicia Devine: You just have to like wait it out. And I'm like, okay. Like as far as like pain management goes, oh my God, Natalie, the amount of pain I was in, it was like horrifying.
Natalie Richards: Right. Right. Good luck.
Natalie Richards: For real.
Felicia Devine: No, I was unprepared because a your scalp is not stretchy.
Natalie Richards: oh that's so true.
Felicia Devine: the pre-op they were even like if we get in there and we realize we can't even stitch it together because it's so tight like you'll have to go for like general anesthesia like in an or so I was like okay like fingers crossed I got stretchy skin like let's go after this well it turns out it's like there's nowhere for stuff to swell because you have no meat ah and you have no stretch so he stitched this thing together with like six stitches
Natalie Richards: Oh, oh my God.
Natalie Richards: Please, yeah.
Natalie Richards: Right, right.
Felicia Devine: And it, my eyebrow was like half above my, like it was, I looked like I got a facelift. was like, well, we're going have to do the other side. It was so tight. I had a raging headache, like raging headache.
Natalie Richards: I'm sure.
Felicia Devine: I had blueberries on my face, like driving home. I mean, it was...
Natalie Richards: yeah
Felicia Devine: It was so bad. I was like not ready for, I thought it was going to be like, oh yeah, like you had, like, I don't even know.
Natalie Richards: Just.
Felicia Devine: I don't get minor procedures ever.
Natalie Richards: No, no, i no.
Felicia Devine: Like I've, nothing in my life has ever been minor.
Natalie Richards: Minor. Well, exactly.
Felicia Devine: It's like either nothing or major.
Natalie Richards: I was saying that to somebody.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Felicia kind of has like major things that happened to her.
Felicia Devine: It's either nothing or it's everything. So like, i would consider this like a minor procedure, but like, I couldn't take anything palliative.
Natalie Richards: Oh my God. Right.
Natalie Richards: Right.
Felicia Devine: I was like struggling. So i'm like laying in bed that day. like we got home, dan's like, are you hungry? And I was like, no, I'm in so much pain. Like I need to go lay down. Like I can't even like use my head.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: So I'm laying down. And at this point I'm having time to reflect. So between Sunday and Tuesday, i'm like, I lost all my pregnancy symptoms.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. Yeah.
Felicia Devine: I lost every single one of them. And I was like, Dan, unfortunately, I feel like a normal person right now. And I don't like that idea.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: Like just felt really sickening.
Natalie Richards: Yep.
Felicia Devine: So I'm laying in bed like with peas or blueberries on my head.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: And I'm like, I think we need to go get an ultrasound. And he's like, okay, you say that you say the word and we'll like do whatever we need to do.
Natalie Richards: Right, right.
Felicia Devine: so his parents came over. like I had the mole removed at four. We were like driving to hospital at 6.30.
Natalie Richards: You went the same day.
Felicia Devine: Yes.
Natalie Richards: I did not know that. oh my gosh.
Felicia Devine: Yes. So i drew we, Danny drove me to the hospital. I'm like stitched up bloody, like, cause you can't like clean it.
Natalie Richards: Oh, God.
Felicia Devine: Like, and they couldn't put a bandaid on it. I looked ridiculous. Um, and we get to the hospital, we go to OB triage and they're like, okay, what's going on?
Felicia Devine: And I'm like, oh, I'm, um, almost. So I was a day shy of nine weeks. So i was like, I'm nine weeks pregnant. Um, um i'm starting to spot i lost all my pregnancy symptoms i haven't had any imaging can you do an ultrasound because at that point you're gonna have to do a transvaginal and they're like you're not 14 weeks we can't take you and i dan and i were standing there like i'm sorry come again they're like yeah you have to be yeah they're like you have to go to a private clinic if you need imaging i'm like no no like there's a problem i'm at the hospital
Natalie Richards: Right. Yeah.
Natalie Richards: What?
Natalie Richards: So where do you go?
Natalie Richards: what
Natalie Richards: Right. Yeah. This isn't just for me to come get an ultrasound.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: I think something that has happened.
Felicia Devine: I was like, no, no, like something's going on. And they're like, unfortunately, we just can't take you as a patient. They wouldn't even see me, Natalie.
Natalie Richards: ah This whole thing is just so ridiculous.
Felicia Devine: They're like, yeah, unfortunately. like so had I gone in there and probably lied about my gestational age, then they may ah might have taken me.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: What?
Felicia Devine: I don't know. They turned me away.
Natalie Richards: Okay.
Felicia Devine: So Dan and I had to walk back to our car in the parking garage.
Natalie Richards: That's crazy. That's crazy.
Felicia Devine: And I was just devastated because I was like, you show up at a hospital thinking they're going help you. And they literally are like, yeah, based on admins, like new rules, we can't take you until you're 14 weeks.
Natalie Richards: Wow. Wow.
Felicia Devine: OK, so you're not going to take the woman that's in like the highest risk for a miscarriage in that window.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Interesting.
Felicia Devine: Interesting.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: So we went home. just kind of like, I was just like, i don't feel good. Like I was just like, this is not fun.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. Yeah.
Felicia Devine: I'm in a bad space mentally. My head hurts so bad.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. yeah Wow.
Felicia Devine: I was like, oh, so we wake up Wednesday and Dan's like, let's start calling clinics because she was like, you have to go to a private clinic if you want imaging.
Natalie Richards: Wow.
Felicia Devine: And I'm like, okay, like at what capacity am I going to get in early for a ultrasound?
Natalie Richards: No kidding.
Felicia Devine: So I start calling places and I called um a ah maternal fetal medicine imaging center.
Natalie Richards: Sure.
Felicia Devine: And I'm talking to the lady and she's so kind. And I'm like, hey, this is the the issue. i went to the hospital. They turned me away, yada, yada. She's like, well, unfortunately, i don't have anything until Monday.
Felicia Devine: and I was like, okay. I mean, it's Wednesday.
Natalie Richards: Whatever. Yeah.
Felicia Devine: I'll take, like, I thought, i thought that was quick.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: I was like, okay, Monday it is.
Natalie Richards: but
Felicia Devine: At this point, my midwife moved up my prenatal appointment till Monday. So I'm like, okay, I'll get my ultrasound and then I'll go right to my midwife and like, we'll like, plan everything.
Natalie Richards: Okay.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: So i work a half day Wednesday afternoon. So I'm at home with Giuseppe. I had made those calls. We're out playing at the water table. And the lady from the the imaging center calls me back. She's like, hey, Felicia, I actually just had a cancellation. Can you make it here within an hour?
Natalie Richards: Oh, man.
Felicia Devine: Because we had a cancellation. and I was like, oh my gosh, yeah.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: Like, let me call my mother-in-law. Let me get ready for work. Like, I think I can make that work. It's only a 10 minute drive.
Natalie Richards: Right.
Felicia Devine: so I was like, yeah. So I called my mother-in-law. She's like, I can meet you with the parking lot. We met the parking lot. And I went into this clinic all by myself.
Natalie Richards: Oh God.
Felicia Devine: Oh, it was so terrible. So I go to the appointment man and they take my vitals. They look gorgeous. um They take me back into the room. They're like, what's going on? And I was like, you know, I've had some like light spotting. Like when I say light, I mean like barely, it wasn't like I was like even wearing a panty liner.
Natalie Richards: Yeah, it was just, yeah, you you could see it.
Felicia Devine: It was like when I wiped. Like barely spotting. Yeah. So they're like, okay, well, like we're going to start with like a over the belly ultrasound, but most likely based on like you being nine weeks today, um, we're going to need to do a transvaginal.
Felicia Devine: And i was like, okay, well, like, let's just like start with a belly. And if we have to, cause it's like more expensive, um, cash.
Natalie Richards: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Felicia Devine: Um,
Natalie Richards: yeah
Felicia Devine: So like, let's start there. So she's doing a belly one. She's like, oh, that's your ovary. Oh, that's this. Okay. Well, we can't see anything. So we're going to go in. And I'm like, okay. But I was almost like prepared for that. Cause she kind of prepped me up.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: Like we might not see anything.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: Well, we didn't see anything.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: So she was like, okay, so we're doing like the wand.
Natalie Richards: Yep.
Felicia Devine: And she's like, I'm going to start with everything else. I'm like, girl, get to the point.
Natalie Richards: Oh, great.
Felicia Devine: She's like, here's this ovary.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: Here's this ovary. Here's this cavity. Here's that. I'm like, okay. And then she gets to my uterus and she was like, yeah, there's no baby.
Felicia Devine: I'm like, what?
Natalie Richards: Oh, wait, what?
Felicia Devine: And she was like, yeah, here's your, yeah. She's like, here's your fecal sac. Here's your placenta.
Natalie Richards: Oh.
Felicia Devine: Like I had everything there, but like the baby, the fetal hole was like missing.
Natalie Richards: Oh.
Natalie Richards: Oh.
Natalie Richards: Oh, how interesting.
Felicia Devine: So that was like devastating because she's like, yeah, there's no, there's no heartbeat.
Natalie Richards: that's so sad.
Felicia Devine: And I was like, I like immediately like burst into tears. Right. Like I was just like, my God.
Natalie Richards: Right. well because you like had felt like it was going to be that way
Felicia Devine: Yeah. For a while.
Natalie Richards: But yeah, but to like know it is very hard.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. Oh, right. i like needed the information, but I didn't want the information.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. No, no, I know.
Felicia Devine: It was devastating. So I'm like, hysterical and she's like, finish the exam.
Natalie Richards: I know.
Felicia Devine: And she, I was like, apologize to her.
Natalie Richards: Oh.
Felicia Devine: I'm like, I'm sorry you have to give bad, like, this must be the worst part of your job.
Natalie Richards: I know. Literally has to be terrible, but.
Felicia Devine: Cause she probably has like a great part of her job being like, Oh my God, here's your baby.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: And then like this part of the job, which is like devastating.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. Is horrible. Hold on one second. Yes, Jean.
Felicia Devine: Okay, so she had to finish her exam and I'm like, I'm so sorry. she was like, don't apologize to me. I'm like, yeah, but I like also don't know what to say.
Natalie Richards: Yeah, but still. Right.
Felicia Devine: i'm like, I'm running out of words. Yeah.
Natalie Richards: God. And that's the thing in those situations. I have not gone through that situation, so I don't really know what that feels like.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: But I can't imagine. I've been on the other end of like hearing about it. Right.
Felicia Devine: yeah
Natalie Richards: And you really don't know. No, not either party doesn't know what to say.
Felicia Devine: No, literally, but I was like trying to fill space because I'm like, it's so awkward.
Natalie Richards: Right.
Felicia Devine: I'm just like hysterically crying.
Natalie Richards: Right. Right.
Felicia Devine: And I was like, nah, I don't know what to say.
Natalie Richards: Right.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: And like, I think like, I don't want to speak for you or speak for anybody who has had a miscarriage, but like, I feel like every single person needs something different in that moment. Right. And like her being the ultrasound tech, she doesn't know what that is.
Natalie Richards: so She probably just like, doesn't.
Felicia Devine: was like, ah yeah.
Natalie Richards: Oh, that's so sad.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. Yeah. So she was very sad for me.
Natalie Richards: That's so sad. oh
Felicia Devine: And then she's like, okay, well, I'm going to like step out so the doctor can come in. I'm like, okay. So she's like, you can like get dressed. And i was like, okay. So I get dressed.
Natalie Richards: My God, and you're by yourself.
Felicia Devine: I'm by myself.
Natalie Richards: That's so sad.
Felicia Devine: The worst part about this. Well, there's multiple worst parts.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: So well I get dressed and I'm sitting on the table and I'm like so upset, but you're in this tiny exam room waiting for a doctor to come in.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: You don't have a window until like when they're coming.
Natalie Richards: No.
Felicia Devine: I'm like, she could come in one second. She could come in in two minutes. Like I was assuming because it's kind of like, they want to get me out of there. Like why don't keep me waiting.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: so I was like, okay, I'm not even going to like touch my phone and like call Dan, call my mom.
Natalie Richards: And tell anybody and whatever.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. Yeah.
Felicia Devine: So I just sat there. The other thing is they have this gigantic TV, 72 inch TV. And she left all the images up. It was like blocks of...
Felicia Devine: i Natalie, I was in there for 20 minutes by myself.
Natalie Richards: What?
Natalie Richards: What? Oh, my gosh. You're just like sitting marinating in.
Felicia Devine: It was crazy. And then I would go through periods where I was just like sitting in silence and like doing nothing.
Natalie Richards: Yeah. yeah
Felicia Devine: And then I'd go through periods of like being hysterical.
Natalie Richards: yeah Crying. Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. So finally this doctor comes in and she's like, oh, I'm like, so sorry.
Natalie Richards: Oh my gosh.
Felicia Devine: And I was like, yeah. And then she had to go through this whole spiel. And honestly, i get it.
Natalie Richards: They do.
Felicia Devine: i get it. Because like, you don't know what mental state people are in but like, I am very emotionally tuned.
Natalie Richards: huh
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: I'm very like, um, practical, I should say realistic.
Natalie Richards: Yes.
Natalie Richards: Realistic. Right. Yeah.
Felicia Devine: I'm very like science is science.
Natalie Richards: Yes. Matter of fact. Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. So she's like, i just want you to know you didn't do anything wrong.
Natalie Richards: Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
Felicia Devine: I'm like, girl, we know.
Natalie Richards: Yep.
Felicia Devine: I did it all.
Natalie Richards: Yep.
Felicia Devine: I didn't do anything.
Natalie Richards: Yep. Trust me.
Felicia Devine: Like, I was like, yeah, I'm fine.
Natalie Richards: to
Felicia Devine: So she's like, you didn't do anything wrong and there's nothing you could have done to prevent this. And I'm like, move it along. Like I want, matter of fact, I don't want the squishy, gushy, you didn't do anything wrong conversation.
Natalie Richards: yeah For real. Nope.
Felicia Devine: So then she's talking to me all about like Giuseppe and my first pregnancy. And I'm like, uh, this could be relevant, but like, it's not like, I'm like, he's perfect.
Natalie Richards: Sure.
Felicia Devine: have the best kid ever.
Natalie Richards: Everything's great. Everything's great.
Felicia Devine: um And then she's like, okay, so moving forward, you have three options. and I was like, okay. She was like, you can do nothing and wait for this to pass naturally.
Felicia Devine: So that would be like a natural miscarriage.
Natalie Richards: who
Felicia Devine: We could take a pill, um which is what they would do to like help move things along.
Natalie Richards: Right. misoprostol or whatever it is that they do.
Felicia Devine: um Yeah. Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: I think it was like Cervidil or something.
Natalie Richards: sort Yeah. Same.
Felicia Devine: or the third option is a DNC elective. And I shouldn't say elective because nobody's elected do that.
Natalie Richards: Right. It's just the immediate, like right then.
Felicia Devine: It's just like, yeah, the next step. Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Right.
Felicia Devine: so you could go natural, medical medical or medicalized or surgical.
Natalie Richards: Right.
Felicia Devine: And I was like, well, I need to talk to like all parties involved. Obviously, I wasn't going to do anything in the office that day. She was just giving me my options.
Natalie Richards: Right, right, right, right.
Felicia Devine: And I was like, okay, I need to talk to my midwife. I need to talk to my family. I need to talk to my acting doula, Natalie. I need to talk to like... all my people. Okay. And I also like need to process this.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Um, so I like, I, yeah.
Natalie Richards: Definitely. More than your 20 minutes sitting in a room looking at your, yeah, that's crazy.
Felicia Devine: ah In privacy by myself. Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Which maybe was okay to like sit there in it and be done with it, but it's horrible.
Felicia Devine: Um,
Felicia Devine: Like, okay, when I left, I was the only person in this darn office. so I'm like, what was I waiting on?
Natalie Richards: Oh, no kidding.
Felicia Devine: So so I go to checkout.
Natalie Richards: Okay.
Felicia Devine: I'm like, I'm cash paying. So in the documents you sign, when you show up, they're like, you pay at the end of the service and like you have to pay the outstanding balance.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: So I go to pay and the lady's like, I can just like email you a bill. And I was like, no, I just want to like pay and be done with the process.
Natalie Richards: Be done. Thank you.
Felicia Devine: Like, I just like, don't want to think about this one more minute. So she's like, okay, like, let's just check you out.
Natalie Richards: Oh.
Felicia Devine: And I was like, all right. So I give her my card and she's like, di- didoooo-doo and she swipes it. She's like, oh, this declined.
Felicia Devine: What? Come again? ah That doesn't ever decline. Like that's our like main card.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: And I'm like, okay, my Natalie, it's like over $700.
Natalie Richards: Oh my gosh.
Felicia Devine: And I'm like, yeah, for the ultrasound, to find nothing.
Natalie Richards: For the cash pay.
Natalie Richards: oh my God. To find, right.
Felicia Devine: i was like, i was like, do I get a discount? Cause there was no baby. So, no okay.
Natalie Richards: over Oh my God. That is kind of just like the nail in the coffin.
Felicia Devine: I only have a sense of humor because yeah, I like, I am regulated and I can have a sense of humor about this stuff.
Natalie Richards: Yes. Yes.
Felicia Devine: So, okay. So she's like, oh, it declined. And I'm like, okay, well here I hand her my business credit card. I'm like, what an accounting nightmare this will be when they go back to my books.
Natalie Richards: No kidding.
Felicia Devine: And they're like, what's this?
Natalie Richards: What's this charge?
Felicia Devine: So she like takes my business credit card and she's like fidgeting on the computer again. and like, I'm standing here just like a disaster. Like I'm literally, I look like I was like run over by a school bus.
Felicia Devine: And she's like, oh, wait, I think it worked. And I'm like, what worked? And she's like, well, i think the first transaction worked. I'm like, oh, okay. So like the card didn't decline, but ba right.
Natalie Richards: Also, they never do this stuff because everybody goes in They never have to run a credit card.
Felicia Devine: No one ever pays, right? Then you're up during the card.
Natalie Richards: No.
Felicia Devine: So it ended up that it did work on our regular card. I didn't have to use my business card.
Natalie Richards: Okay.
Felicia Devine: Thank God.
Natalie Richards: Okay.
Felicia Devine: Cause I was like, I don't want to have to revisit this.
Natalie Richards: No kidding.
Felicia Devine: I don't want to have to come back to point, point this out.
Natalie Richards: No kidding.
Felicia Devine: So I like collect my cards and the lady looks at me. She's like, I'm so sorry you had to go through this alone. Do you want a hug? I look at her. I go, i think I'm good.
Felicia Devine: I declined her hug, which is so, like, I'm the type of person that, like, in order to prevent other people from feeling uncomfortable, i will do things that make me uncomfortable.
Natalie Richards: You will do. Yes, absolutely.
Natalie Richards: Yes.
Felicia Devine: I don't think a hug is going to like help me. Like i didn't need a hug.
Natalie Richards: No, that's not, no.
Felicia Devine: Right. I was like, I need, i need next steps. So I go to my car and the first person I call is my midwife and I tell her and she's like, okay, What I want you to do today is nothing.
Felicia Devine: Like ah in the sense of like game plans.
Natalie Richards: Just, yeah, you don't have to.
Felicia Devine: She's like, honestly, we don't have to decide a single thing right this minute.
Natalie Richards: No.
Felicia Devine: So she's like, go about your day, do what you need to do to survive today. And we'll like reconvene. and I was like, okay, great. I adore my midwife beyond belief. Like she has been honestly the most helpful person in this entire process medically.
Natalie Richards: Amazing.
Felicia Devine: Um, so she was like, okay, let's just like continue our day. So i had to leave that appointment emily and go straight to seeing patients. I had an entire afternoon of patients and everyone's like, just cancel your day.
Felicia Devine: and I was like, no, because I know in the future, however many days from now I'm going to have to cancel my day.
Natalie Richards: When you really need to. Yes.
Felicia Devine: And I was like, what is the point of me going home to sit by myself
Natalie Richards: No kidding.
Felicia Devine: And do nothing for no reason.
Natalie Richards: Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
Felicia Devine: so was like, I'm going to go to work. I'm going to see the patients. I'm going to put on a ah smiley face.
Natalie Richards: Because it's just what we do.
Felicia Devine: And like, obviously everyone knows I'm pregnant. So like everyone's coming in and being like, oh my God, you're glowing.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Or like, oh, tell me about this.
Natalie Richards: Oh, my God.
Felicia Devine: Like the amount of people that like unknowingly, and it's not against them. They just like, we're asking so many questions. Like I had this one girl, she was so excited for me.
Natalie Richards: And, of course, it was that day. Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. And she was like, my God, tell me about your home birth. Tell me about like your midwife, where she worked, like a
Felicia Devine: Girl, I'm lying through my teeth. i was like, oh yeah, we're doing that.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: Like I didn't have the heart to tell anyone. I told my staff because obviously like, yeah.
Natalie Richards: Mm-mm. I wouldn't have either. No, I wouldn't have. I would have acted like everything was fine.
Felicia Devine: But I like, I told my girls and I was like, this is like a hard moment for me, but we have to prevail.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: And if at any moment I get up and leave during a shift, you are to cancel my day and not ask questions.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Natalie Richards: You know why. Yes.
Felicia Devine: Um, and they were like, so supportive and they're like, whatever you need, take time.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: And I was like, I don't want to take time until I have to take time.
Natalie Richards: Yes.
Felicia Devine: Um, so I went about that day and I didn't do anything.
Natalie Richards: Yes.
Felicia Devine: And then I started like making the phone calls. I was like talking to my parents. I was obviously talking to Dan, um,
Natalie Richards: I can't remember when we talked. Did we talk before you went into work or I feel like it was after for some reason.
Felicia Devine: It might've been after, but then I, we talked for over an hour Friday morning, um, on the phone because I remember I was like in the playroom. So that had to have been a day off, which was basically Friday.
Natalie Richards: Yeah, I think it was probably that. Yeah.
Felicia Devine: And we went through options and we were just like, what does this look like? What is the risk here? What is the reward here? Like what, like mentally do I keep waiting?
Natalie Richards: right. Right. Right.
Felicia Devine: Um, so yeah, it was a lot of conversations that we continue to have in and the next few days. Why? Like, cause I also had to work a full day Thursday. So I was like, I can't really make a decision until I get to the weekend and we like fully digest this.
Natalie Richards: Right.
Felicia Devine: Um, and so that's what we did. We kind of like, right.
Natalie Richards: And again, you don't have to.
Felicia Devine: Like at that point.
Natalie Richards: and like i mean, you weren't having like active, active symptoms at that point.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. Yeah. At that point it was like, I had choices.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: And i chose to like wait till the weekend to like process things, um which was really comforting knowing that like I had so many people in my corner, which honestly, even though I went through like the worst moments of my life, had I had to do that alone because no one knew I was pregnant.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Crazy.
Natalie Richards: Exactly.
Felicia Devine: Crazy. i would do it over again. i would tell everyone the moment I'm pregnant again.
Natalie Richards: Absolutely.
Felicia Devine: I don't think I would change a darn thing about telling people I'm pregnant. Cause I know people are like, oh my God, you shouldn't told people so early.
Natalie Richards: Yep.
Felicia Devine: And go through that alone?
Natalie Richards: Exactly. Completely alone? Yeah. No.
Felicia Devine: Crazy.
Natalie Richards: No. Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: I couldn't imagine. So I would do it all over again. I would tell people when I told people. I would share my excitement when I was excited. Like there was not a moment in me that I was like, oh, this is embarrassing.
Natalie Richards: Exactly. oh No, no.
Felicia Devine: Nothing's embarrassing. And based on the statistics, how many people actually go through a miscarriage.
Natalie Richards: It's real life.
Felicia Devine: And then to think the statistics show that people don't tell people until they're 12 weeks. Crazy.
Natalie Richards: Yep.
Felicia Devine: I had such a team behind me. I had my whole staff. I had all my friends. I had my family. i had my midwife.
Natalie Richards: Yep.
Felicia Devine: I had everyone I could ever have and needed, imagined, like all that stuff.
Natalie Richards: Yep.
Felicia Devine: And honestly, i needed every single ounce of that because what transpired later on and what was to come in that next week was wild and insane.
Natalie Richards: It was.
Natalie Richards: I think that was great.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm. And...
Felicia Devine: Literally the worst week, no, worst day. I don't even know how you put it. the worst event of my entire life. So I needed everything.
Natalie Richards: Yes.
Felicia Devine: And if I did it alone or like be like, oh, sorry, not coming to work. I have a fever.
Natalie Richards: Right.
Felicia Devine: Oh,
Natalie Richards: Right? Oh, I just have the stomach flu.
Felicia Devine: o I sprained my low back.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: No girl, you had a very scary experience.
Natalie Richards: Mm-hmm.
Felicia Devine: So yeah.
Natalie Richards: No, no.
Felicia Devine: And then like there on out, like I've been very honest with patients of like what happened and like,
Natalie Richards: Yep.
Felicia Devine: I mean, I've been insulted a couple times, which is fine.
Natalie Richards: Oh, God.
Felicia Devine: And that's for another day. bye
Natalie Richards: Oh, no.
Felicia Devine: But like, honestly, I don't, I would not change. I will stand on that hill. I would not change a single thing.
Natalie Richards: I think that's a great place to be.
Felicia Devine: Yeah. So that's that's the next episode.
Natalie Richards: And we're going to get into the next things.
Felicia Devine: We'll share what transpired, but that was enough devastation for one day.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Right. It was a sad, sad experience for you to have to go through, but it is life and it is good to talk about it.
Felicia Devine: yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Natalie Richards: And I'm glad you are because it's
Felicia Devine: Yeah. I mean, honestly, i have like no shame in sharing all this stuff because it's like the amount of people that actually go through a miscarriage and then they go through it by themselves.
Natalie Richards: right.
Felicia Devine: I'm like, well, at least somebody can gain insight to like what it felt like to have people in the know.
Natalie Richards: Yep.
Felicia Devine: And maybe it'll help people share their experiences earlier so that if this does happen to them, they have a support system.
Natalie Richards: Yep.
Felicia Devine: But yeah, I don't know.
Natalie Richards: Yep. And it is something that happens so commonly.
Felicia Devine: Right.
Natalie Richards: Like it's not something to be ashamed of or or think that like your body's broken or whatever.
Felicia Devine: Right.
Felicia Devine: I'll be that doctor that sits down and says, you did nothing wrong.
Natalie Richards: you did nothing wrong. It wasn't you.
Felicia Devine: Nothing you could have done would have prevented this.
Natalie Richards: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: but
Natalie Richards: sa
Felicia Devine: So you're telling me if I took two more liver pills, this could have been prevented.
Natalie Richards: ah right
Felicia Devine: But no.
Natalie Richards: Oh, no, no.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: And that like, and that is the case in most cases.
Felicia Devine: It's interesting.
Natalie Richards: Like, yeah, you can't really do much about it. Like it's going to happen and it happens for whatever reason, whatever, whatever the reason is, it happens.
Felicia Devine: No. Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Felicia Devine: Yeah.
Natalie Richards: Um,
Felicia Devine: And like the reason that it ends up coming out to be, which like I will share all the hindsight information is like so shocking and so wild.
Natalie Richards: who
Felicia Devine: And let's just say, no, let's just say, trust your intuition because your intuition is not wrong.
Natalie Richards: and I don't think I know this yet.
Natalie Richards: There we go.
Natalie Richards: It is not wrong.
Felicia Devine: No. Yeah.
Natalie Richards: It is not wrong.
Felicia Devine: so let this be a lesson.
Natalie Richards: Oh, I cannot wait.
Felicia Devine: I know. So anyway, that will be for the next episode right now.
Natalie Richards: Cannot wait. Can we record another? or Can we record right now?
Felicia Devine: So we will talk next episode and share more about that. And then we'll get more of Natalie's updates. All right.
Natalie Richards: Bye.
Felicia Devine: Bye.
