My Maine Birth - Brandi’s Maine Cesarean Birth Story
My Maine Birth - Brandi’s Cesarean Birth Story in Portland, Maine
Welcome to MyMaine Birth, a space where we share the real life stories of families and their unique birth experiences in the beautiful state of Maine. From our state’s biggest hospitals to birth center births, and home births, every birth story deserves to be heard and celebrated. From the first feelings of pregnancy to the first cry of your newborn, we explore the journey of childbirth in all of its beauty, intensity, and emotion. Whether you are a soon to be mom, seasoned mother, or simply interested in the world of birth, these episodes are for you!
If you are looking to document your own birth story, I highly recommend considering my Portland Maine birth photography services. I am a skilled professional Portland Maine Birth Photographer and am very passionate about capturing the raw and emotional moments of the birthing process. I design a personalized and intimate photo album, creating a beautiful and lasting memory of one of the most special moments of your life. For more information head over to https://www.mymainephoto.com
Today’s birth story guest is Brandi and we are going to be hearing her experience with an emergency cesarean that was performed at 31 weeks gestation at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine.
Join me and listen here to my conversation with Brandi. Scroll down for the full transcript.
Angela: Hi Brandi, Welcome to MyMaine Birth
Brandi: Hello!
Angela: So to get started can you tell me a little bit about you and your family?
Brandi: Yeah, absolutely! We live in Gardiner, Maine so a central area, and it’s myself, my husband, my daughter Harper. Also my brother TJ, he is 18 and a senior in high school, and my bonus son Gunner.
Angela: Awesome, so can you share a little bit about when you found out you were pregnant and your thoughts in choosing your care?
Brandi: Yeah, so I found I was pregnant…. actually I had a dream before I even took a pregnancy test, I had a dream that I was going to have a little girl. In the dream it was just so vivid, I could see her face, her features, I was holding her… and I woke up and looked at my husband and said, “I’m pregnant.”
So I woke up, took a pregnancy test, and it was positive. And so from there I decided to receive care from my midwife at midcoast midwives. I definitely wanted to go that route for more holistic type treatment rather than a regular OB/GYN. They were great at Midcoast, I went actually weekly. Not at first… I started going weekly due to some concerns over me having high blood pressure. So I started going weekly.. I would say, around the end of my second trimester. By then I was doing weekly appointments and regular blood draws because they were monitoring my blood pressure. Also Harper was measuring small, so we were also doing ultrasounds during every visit as well.
I thought the care was great. Looking back, I would definitely do a different route, with just what I know now. But for being a first time mom, and with what I didn’t know - it was the level of care that I thought that I deserved. So I would say around 31 weeks I went in for just a routine appointment, and while I was there my midwife had some concerns that Harper’s heartbeat sounded irregular. So she suggested that I be put on a heart monitor for Harper. So I was transferred to the regular hospital and monitored for a couple hours just to make sure that everything was ok. While I was there, they were constantly checking my blood pressure, and it was very high. I think looking back, I think I was just really stressed with thinking and hoping and praying that everything was ok with my little one.
So my blood pressure was really high and that caused a lot of concern for the midwives. So they decided at that time, because they could not lower it, they decided to give me a corticosteroid shot in order to develop Harper’s lungs. Typically this shot is given if they have concerns that the child is going to be born prematurely. So when asked about the shot, they were like - oh it’s fine, it’s just a precaution, we don’t have any concerns, it’s not going to harm her, it’s just precaution in case she does come early. So at this point I am very concerned, I am only 31 weeks pregnant. I don’t have anything ready at home. And yeah, so my husband and I are just patiently waiting and they can’t get my blood pressure down. So the next thing I know, I am being transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland.
So this was at 31 weeks, I was transferred because they weren’t able to control my blood pressure. They also had some concerns with Harper’s heartbeat being irregular. So I was transferred and I spent three days in the hospital.
They did give me medication for my blood pressure, they were able to get that under control. They were able to monitor Harper, she was doing great. I thought I was going to be able to be released on day 3, so my husband left for work. Then the surgeon came in and said - we need to prep you for a c-section.
And I was taken back, I thought I was going home. I didn’t even know how to respond, really. So I called my husband, upset - and was like, I need you to get back, we are going to have a baby, they are going to prep me for a c-section.
So the reason they told me that they were prepping me for a c-section was because they had the fetal monitors on me, and overnight Harper had very low fetal movement and so they felt that she was in distress and needed to complete an emergency c-section.
This was at 8am, so first thing when I woke up, that was what I woke up to. Like I said, my husband had already left for work. I thought I was being released that day. My blood pressure was under control, they had controlled it with medication. And they didn’t really give me an option, I had a ton of questions. I felt like the surgeon didn’t give me any other options - it was just a c-section or your child could be in danger.
So being a first time mom, I was like - ok. My husband was able to get back in time as they were rolling me into the OR. So at 31 weeks 6 days Harper was born around 9:44 am. She weighed 2pounds 4 ounces. She was immediately put on oxygen and sent to the NICU.
So at that time, because I had an epidural I was not able to see her for the first two hours until I was able to regain control from the numbness and was able to feel my legs and everything. So the first two hours I wasn’t able to see her, I wasn’t able to hold her or anything like that. So my husband spent those first critical moments in the NICU with her which is really hard for me looking back - I didn’t get to have that skin to skin contact with her immediately after birth. And with her being so small, skin to skin was pretty vital to her development. So for the next couple hours I sat in the recovery room, and then I was able to be wheeled down to the NICU to see her, and she was so tiny. Like I said 2 pounds, 4 ounces, in her little incubator - and all these heart monitors and wires and all of the things you see with NICU babies. But she was able to be off of oxygen within 24 hours because her lungs were fully developed and she was able to breath on her own. She actually came out crying when she was born. So she was really small.
I asked the surgeon - why do you think I had to have an emergency c-section, why did she have low fetal movement, why was she not responding. And she said that her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. (hmmm…) So doing the research later, I actually learned this is pretty common and not a concern for an emergency c-section.
So knowing what I know now, I definitely wouldn’t go the route of a medical midwife. I know that moving forward if I do decide to conceive I would love to have a physiological birth, and be in control and have that empowerment - because I did not feel like I had that with Harper’s birth.
It felt very much like a medical intervention that did not need to happen.
She is great, she is almost 5 now, but I wish I knew then what I know now - because things would be much different.
Angela: Wow, so how long was Harper in the NICU for, and were you able to have skin to skin with her?
Brandi: Yeah, she was in the NICU for about a month. The staff there was great actually with skin to skin, with myself and my husband they really encouraged it for her development. So we were able to hold her skin to skin really anytime we needed to, so they were really great with allowing us to have that connection with her.
Angela: Were you able to breastfeed or did you choose to go that route?
Brandi: So we attempted to - because she was so small, she actually got down to two pounds, so breastfeeding was difficult - she would get very tired during feedings. So for awhile I was just exclusively pumping, so she was able to receive breastmilk, she just was not able to breastfeed right away. She was never able to fully latch, so for the first year - I exclusively pumped. Then I used donor breastmilk until she was two and a half.
Angela: Are there any resources you would like to share or anything you would like to add?
Brandi: Yeah, I would just encourage mothers to do their own research, and really knowing how the body works and what physiological birth is - is really empowering.
Since Harper’s birth I have done a ton of research, even down to researching the steroid shot that was given to me - by my medical midwives. Research shows that shot actually causes low fetal movement. So it was interesting to do that research and see that was one of the side effects that resulted in me having to have an unecessary emergency c-section.
So I do feel that empowering yourself and having knowledge can be so empowering for you as a mom. So if I had known these things, I could have advocated for myself, because I feel like I wasn’t able to do that. I wasn’t able to do that because I didn’t know. So if I were to have a home birth and have to be transferred to the hospital, I know now - what I want and what I don’t want… and how I can explain that to the doctors and to the nurses. So really just being knowledgeable, and being sure of what you want in your birth, and what your dream birth is - because it is possible.
I am grateful for the experience that I had with Harper, because I don’t think I would be on this journey to figure out what my dream birth was if I hadn’t gone through that.
Angela: So you also have a fitness company, do you want to share a little bit about that?
Brandi: Yeah, so my husband and I own NorthBeast Sports Performance in Augusta, Maine. Our focus is to introduce middle school and high school athletes to strength training. My husband is a veteran, former army, and he has a passion for coaching and passion for strength training. So he is the basketball coach at University of Maine Augusta, he is the assistant Men’s coach there. And he has been training athletes for the last five years, and we really focus on building the strength aspect. That is really important for athletes to improve their performance in whatever sport they are playing. Even if they don’t play sports, our biggest thing is being active and getting kiddos in the gym and building that confidence.
Angela: So what is the best way for people to get ahold of you?
Brandi: You can find our business page @northbeastsports on Instagram or NorthBeast Sports Performance on Facebook, and also you can find my instagram @mainely.fitness on Instagram.
Angela: Alright, thank you so much Brandi for sharing your story today.
Brandi: Thank you so much for having me.
And thats the end of another MyMaine Birth Podcast! Thank you for joining me. I hope the stories shared here have been inspiring and informative for all of my listeners.
If you are looking to document your own birth story I highly recommend considering my Portland Maine Birth Photography services. I am a skilled professional Portland Maine Birth Photographer and am very passionate about capturing the raw and emotional moments of the birthing process. I also design a personalized and intimate photo album, creating a beautiful and lasting memory of one of the most special moments of your life. For more information on Birth Photograph in Portland Maine head over to https://www.mymainephoto.com/birthphotography and schedule a complimentary zoom consultation with me.
Thank you again for tuning in and I look forward to bringing you more amazing birth stories. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! And I will see you back here again next week!
