Pregnancy can have many emotions and surprises. My current pregnancy (5th) has definitely had it's ups and downs and I'm only a little over half way through it! This is my story so far and how it has affected my doula work.
A little back story:
The months leading up to finding out we were pregnant were filled with it's own ups and downs. I was showing symptoms of hypothyroidism and PCOS. I tried altering my diet and started taking some medication to help with the hypothyroid and PCOS symptoms. Although I wanted to have another baby I had settled into being okay that it wasn't God's timing for us right now. There were definitely days that were really hard to trust God and I was not okay with waiting, but also at the same time I was getting really excited about my doula work. I had a few births coming up and I was trying to get some Childbirth Education Classes going.
Baby!
It was about mid-September and I started feeling nauseous randomly. On the morning of my husband's birthday I took a pregnancy test. It was positive! It was such a beautiful yet terrifying surprise! This is what I was wanting, but now that it was happening, I was scared. I wasn't sure how far along I was but my best guess was baby was due in May. The nausea really started to hit and was worse this pregnancy than any of my others. A few weeks later I went in to see my midwife and we were blessed to see a 9 week baby with a strong heartbeat. A couple weeks later we found out we were having a baby boy! Everyone was so excited! This would make 3 girls and 2 boys. Finally, the fog from the nausea slowly started to lift and by 13 weeks I was mostly back to normal.
Turn of Events
14 weeks comes along and in the middle of the night I start having some awful pain and start bleeding. My initial thought was I was losing my baby. I cried out to the Lord and then in tears I called my midwife. She helped me the best she could over the phone and it was such a comfort to talk to her even though she couldn't give us any answers. She said I could either wait things out til morning and she would check me out or I could go to the ER. If I was losing the baby there's nothing that could be done. My preference was to try to wait til morning so she said a warm bath might help the pain and to try to rest. I took a bath and the pain subsided, so I went back to bed. I woke up a few hours later and was bleeding more. I called her back and told her I was going to go ahead and go the ER. I was a wreck.
At the ER there was a lot of waiting around, but also a lot of praying happening. During the check in process one of the ladies who came in to do paper work asked if it was okay if she prayed with us. She held me and prayed and I knew that the Lord was walking with us through this. A short time later we had a quick “see the baby” ultrasound. His heart was beating and he was wiggling around. Such a relief! My thoughts quickly changed from “Is my baby okay?” to “What's wrong with me?” After another wait we had a more in depth ultrasound. I started asking the ultrasound tech questions and chatting. It actually ended up being a sweet time of getting to see our baby. By the end of the ER visit I was diagnosed with Placenta Previa. That meant the placenta was covering my cervix and that was causing the bleeding. We were so happy! Maybe that's a weird thing to be happy about, but we went in to the hospital thinking we had lost our baby and came out knowing he was alive and healthy. I was put on moderate bed-rest to prevent further bleeding. Both the ER doctor and my midwife said that with Placenta Previa there's a 90-95% chance that the placenta will move off of the cervix by the end of pregnancy. However if it didn't move off then I would need to have a C-Section.
I spent the next 6 weeks on moderate bed-rest until my 20 week ultrasound. It was definitely a challenging time and we were blessed with a lot of help with my older kids and keeping our home running. I was even able to attend the 2 births I had scheduled with a few limitations. During this time I made the hard decision to not take any more doula clients going into the New Year because of my limitations. I chose to turn my focus instead to teaching Childbirth Education. Even with my limitations I could still teach! We had a lot of people praying that the placenta would move and that I could go back to caring for my children and our home. By God's grace the placenta not only moved off of my cervix but it was now 6 cm out of the way! I am now officially off of all the restrictions and back to homeschooling and caring for our home. I also hope to be teaching some Childbirth Education Classes soon!
Blessings
The emotional roller coaster this pregnancy has been real. We are so blessed to have this little boy, and we are already so in love with him. God has brought us through the roller coaster of the first half of pregnancy and I am confident He will continue to walk with us. This little boy is truly a gift from the Lord. I have questioned the Lord's plan for our family and for the doula work He has called me to do. I have seen him slowly unveil His plan, and I am in awe of it. I am so excited for my own pregnancy. I am also excited for the doula work that God has in store for me.
I share my story for a few reasons:
Number 1: To give God the glory.
Number 2: To be real with my readers and to connect through motherhood and doula work.
Number 3: Explain why my birth doula work is temporarily on hold. (But I'm still offering Childbirth Education!)
Pregnancy and birth are a blessing, but that doesn't make it easy. It doesn't mean things will always turn out the way we want them to. No matter what the situation is, we can trust that God is who He says He is.
Catharine is a birth doula and a stay home/homeschool mama of 4 (plus one on the way!). She has a passion for serving women on their motherhood journey. Catharine believes the memories surrounding birth are some of the most precious memories in a woman's life. How she is cared for during this precious and vulnerable time will make a big impact on her life. Each birth is unique and Catharine seeks to provide education and support so each mother can make informed decisions that are best for her. Her desire is that each mother can look back on her birth knowing she was loved and well cared for.
Catharine is currently offering both private and group Childbirth Education Classes. If you are interested in taking a class, don't hesitate to reach out!!
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