MyMaine Birth, Miranda’s Holly No.7 Maine Birth Center Birth Story that involved a stay at Boston Children’s Hospital for a heart defect found after birth - followed by an uncomplicated home birth
MyMaine Birth Podcast - Episode 18 Miranda’s Holly No.7 Maine Birth Center Birth Story that involved a 2 week stay at Boston Children’s Hospital for a Heart Defect found after birth - followed by an uncomplicated home birth with the care again from the midwife team at Holly No.7 Birth Center in Bangor, 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 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 capture your own birth story, I highly recommend considering my Bangor Maine Birth Photography services. I am a skilled professional Bangor 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 with every birth photography session, creating a lasting and beautiful memory of one of the most special moments of your life. For more information head over to https://www.mymainephoto.com/birthphotography
Today’s birth story guest is Miranda and she shares her two positive Maine birth stories with us. The first was a Maine birth center birth at Holly No.7 in Bangor with a two week stay in Boston Children’s Hospital for a heart defect that was found after birth. The second was an uncomplicated home birth, again with the Holly No.7 Maine Midwife team.
Join me and listen here for my conversation with Miranda! Scroll down for the full transcript!
Angela: Hi Miranda, welcome to MyMaine Birth
Miranda: Hi!
Angela: So to get started will you share a little bit about you and your family?
Miranda: Yeah, so My name is Miranda, and I am married to my husband Ian, he is a pastor so we live in the parsonage here in the village on Maine Street in Liberty and we have our two babies Nora who is two and Ransom who is three weeks.
Angela: Great, so will you share when you found out you were pregnant with Nora and the care that you chose?
Miranda: I found out I was pregnant with Nora in September of 2020, so still full Covid time - and we decided on an unmedicated hospital birth at Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast, Maine - that was initially what we did. I was pretty confident about that because my mom had all positive unmedicated natural hospital births, so that just was kind of a natural fit - and we like Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast, Maine. But after some appointments, and my husband not being able to be at any appointments - and you would have to answer all the questions before you would go into your appointment - and I think at one point I think at like 16 or 17 weeks, I said yes to having a headache and fatigue, like because of pregnancy - but they were like ut ut ut, you need to take a test and then come back for your appointment. And I was like, I don’t want to do this anymore, this is too much of a rigamarolll, so I started researching what other options there were so we found Holly No.7 and interviewed with them at 20 weeks. And so that is when I transferred care after my anatomy scan and we had found out she was a girl, so there wasn’t really any testing left. We just transferred and I had the rest of my care with her, with Chris.
Angela: So what was your first appointment like over at the Holly No.7 Maine Birth Center?
Miranda: Well, first of all, I don’t know if you’ve ever been to their appointment space at Holly No.7 in Bangor - but it’s gorgeous! And there is like brick and all of this beautiful furniture - I was like oh my goodness, look at this beautiful place! And Chris of course was so lovely and her midwife assistant at the time was so lovely and it was very relaxed. And Ian could be there with me! This was the first time he was speaking to a provider about the pregnancy - so that was nice.
Angela: So what did the rest of your pregnancy care look like:
Miranda: I had regular appointments, I didn’t do any ultrasounds past the anatomy scan. I did my glucose testing with her as well as the GBS. But other than that it was very uneventful up until my due date. And first we went one week past due date, and we were like - ok this is not unusual, we are still ok with this. I was uncomfortable but I was still happy. And then we went two full weeks past my due date, and I was like ok - I’m feeling a little more nervous about this now. But Chris was amazing about it - she was not pressuring at all. I did have a non-stress test and an ultrasound at I think two full weeks past - and that was all fine. And I think we tried acupuncture, which was great - but didn’t put me into labor. I had an attempted membrane sweep - Chris attempted that, but I was not dilated enough for that. And then finally at two weeks and three days - I had been taking, Chris gave me black Cohosh to take and I started feeling some very light contractions. And that was a Saturday, we were at a family party.
So on Saturday we were at a family party, and it was outside, and its also like the soft opening of a restaurant - so I’m like serving food - and its hot, and I knew I was having contractions. I didn’t even think about resting or anything like that - I was just like well, I’m distracted, this is good. I’m not really thinking about it. So we were there the whole day, and my contractions were maybe 15/20 minutes apart - it was very minimal. And we got home from that party, and they got closer. And I just spent the evening on the birth ball. I was making a playlist on my Spotify and listening to music. And I did not want to call my midwife. I did not want to call Chris because I was so worried about not being far enough along to go to the Maine Birth Center, we were an hour and fifteen minutes away - so I was like - I want to really be in labor by the time that we get there. But I didn’t know what really in labor would look like. So finally Ian convinced me to call her and she was like - yes come in, its early, but I’m sure by the time you get here you’ll be in active labor - and I was.
And Chris was actually leaving to go to a home birth when we arrived at the birth center, and Julie the other midwife was just finishing a birth center birth. So she went and she slept in the other room, and we had the midwife assistant - and we got there at probably 10 or 11 in the evening. My mom met us there, and we just - I labored through the night. It was very restful, at that point I was pretty tired, so I was able to do some contractions on the bed and just kind of chill. Ian slept some, I think everyone slept some off and on. I was very much in the zone, I don't think I opened my eyes until the morning - just totally, I did not talk I did not open my eyes.
Then the sun came up on Sunday morning - and that was probably my favorite part of the birth. Because everyone was just - it was very peaceful and everyone was just making breakfast and making coffee - they have a little side room there. And I was in the tub, and everyone just took turns coming in and sitting with me. It was a beautiful day, there was lots of sunlight. And things kind of ramped throughout the day but it was very laid back. I did not have any urge to push, but Chris thought that I sounded pushy - so we attempted a couple positions, and then she asked me if I wanted to be checked - and I did. So she checked me on the birth stool, and she found that I had a cervical lip - and she held that through a contraction - and that was so intense, that was probably the most intense part of the birth.
After that, that got me to full dilation, and so it was looking like she was just going to be born soon, but I wasn’t really feeling like I was ready to push. As they were listening to her on the doppler, her heart tones were not good and she was not really thriving through the contractions - Chris just said, why don’t you get on the bed and try to push, I know you don’t feel it - but lets try to get some things going. And at that point I was just so tired, and I had been awake for 30 hours. And I kind of just laid on my back and was coached through pushing, which was not what I had wanted - but what needed to happen. I think I only pushed for half an hour - so it was not a bad experience, it was just like - is this really happening, do I really need to do this? Yes, you really need to do this.
And then she was born, her head kind of went in and out at the very end, so Chris kind of was like, this needs to be your last push, she needs to come out - and I was like, Ok I can do this - tell me I can do it and I can. And then she was born. Chris had maybe only been there for an hour and a half. So there were people there surrounding me on the bed, which was amazing. She was born, and she did need some oxygen - but she kind of perked up over the next hour or so and then she nursed right away. I did need stitches, which was uncomfortable - but it was just a little stitch. Yeah, it was beautiful, and everything seemed like it was ok - we stayed there for a couple hours and then we headed home.
Angela: When did you notice something was wrong?
Miranda: Yeah, so the oxygen right after she was born helped with her color and everything, and so we assumed it was just from the birth. And then they came to our house for our 24 hour check - and part of that was testing her oxygen, and it was at 75 or 80, and you want to be at 100 - so thats not good. And Chris said, obviously you are going to have to go to the hospital - but let me make some calls and see what the best plan is. So she called a friend that she had at the NICU in Portland - and the friend said - just go wherever is closest. So first we went to Bangor, and we went through the ER - which was a crazy experience with a one day old baby - because they are asking you all this information. And you're like - I don’t know - she was just born. She didn’t have any papers or anything.
Then we went to the NICU in Bangor, and we were there all night, and they just were testing her for everything - just trying to figure out why she didn’t have the oxygen that she needed - and why she could have supplemental oxygen at 100% and still only be at 85. So by the next morning - they had figured out what was going on and a cardiologist came in and talked to us about it. And we had been separated from her - which was really hard - because they were going to intubate her and do all of this stuff, and they said they needed a sterile room and we had to leave - which was hard. But then we were able to come back in the room and they talked to us about her diagnosis.
It was really intense. So they said they were going to fly her to Boston - they had told us, basically that her heart - the pulmonary veins that bring oxygenated blood was not returning to the correct side of the heart, the left - it was going into the right side, so her oxygenated blood and her unoxygenated blood were mixed. And she was alive because those two sides were eventually both filled with partially oxygenated blood - so she had some oxygen but not enough, and if we had just stayed home, obviously she would not be well - but she was not in critical condition. So they said drive down to Boston - we will meet you there, we are going to fly her.
She ended up actually not being flown because there were issues with the engine, like as they were wheeling her out. So we got a call and they were like, change of plans, we’re driving down - we will be there around the same time. And then we went down to Boston and we were in the cardiac ICU and we were there for the next two weeks. So immediate postpartum was spent in Boston Children’s Hospital.
Angela: Wow, so how was that, was breastfeeding possible?
Miranda: Yeah, that was actually kind of miraculous, because I was so out of it - that when we got to the CICU, she was on a ventilator, she was hooked up - she couldn’t be held. She was born on Sunday and she nursed on Monday - but then from like Monday night to Wednesday at 4am, she was not nursing. They had brought me pumps - and they were - like you need to pump. And just something in my mind was like - well if I start pumping, then I won't be able to breastfeed her - not thinking, you need to keep removing milk so your body knows you have a baby to nurse. And I didn’t, I didn’t pump at all - and thankfully, when she was off the ventilator - even though it had been a day and a half, she still was able to latch, and I still had milk and she was able to nurse. We exclusively breastfed through the hospital and when we got home as well, and I am very thankful for that.
Angela: Wow, did she have to have surgeries?
Miranda: Yeah, so we were there for two weeks and they gave her medication to take the strain off the heart so she could do the best with the oxygen that she did have. And they said - she was healthy enough to go home and she would have to have surgery, but it was kind of up in the air when we left - when that would be. They say 30 days after a baby is born, their chances for a successful heart surgery go way up. So they said we want you to get to a month old at least - maybe two, maybe three.
So we were just kind of waiting to hear the call about that. And then we ended up going back down to Boston at just two months. So the middle of August, we went and she had heart surgery - and they fixed the pulmonary veins and we were there for another two weeks and she had a perfect recovery. And she is doing great now! There are no long lasting effects from it, and she just have yearly scans now - so that is really awesome!
Angela: So now can you tell me about when you found out you were pregnant for the second time?
Miranda: Yes, so initially found out that I was pregnant in March of 2022, and I had a very early miscarriage. So that was hard. But then I got pregnant again in August, and went back to Holly No.7 but this time planning to have a home birth with them.
Angela: Wow, so what did your care look like going with them from the beginning of your pregnancy now.
Miranda: Yeah, it was really nice - all of the appointments are great. I think I even noticed a difference between a first time birth and a second time birth. Things were even more relaxed and even more up to what we wanted to do. And I just felt like from the beginning they had total confidence in us and thats a really good feeling.
I did standard bloodwork in the beginning and we decided to only do the 20 week scan to find out the gender and also to check for any heart defects. Like, just in case - we want to know - before he is born.
Angela: Yeah, even though with your first pregnancy you really didn’t find anything - even though you had gone overdue and did those late term pregnancy ultrasounds.
Miranda: Yes and the doctors as Boston Children’s Hospital - I think they really thought I had gotten, like no care during my pregnancy because they knew she wasn’t born in the hospital - and I think to them, they just thought that meant that I didn’t see any providers. And they were like - how could you not see this on an ultrasound, you really got ultrasounds? And we were like - yeah we got several. And it just never came up.
Angela: Where did you go for your ultrasounds
Miranda: We went to the hospital, just because of MaineCare, she was able to call over to Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast, Maine and set us up an appointment with them.
Angela: Ok so how did your labor start for you the second time around?
Miranda: So it was very uneventful again pregnancy. Really the only thing that happened was at 30 weeks, I was having cramping and I lost part of my mucous plug. So I went to the hospital just to have them check to see if I was having contractions, that sort of thing. Which I was not, I think I was having some maybe, dehydrated cramping. So that was fine, we went home after that. I was not on bed rest or anything - I just drank more water. I was fully prepared to go overdue.
I really didn’t tell people my due date at all - which is funny - because he was born on his due date. But when I would tell people, I would say - well he’s due sometime end of April beginning of May - we’ll see when we get there. So I was kind of preparing myself for that. But I went into labor on his due date, and we were again at a family party at the beginning of my labor - but I didn’t know I was in labor. I got a stomach bug from some family in town here, so the whole night before he was born - I was throwing up, and it was horrible. And the next day I was just sleeping all day, I still didn’t know I was in labor.
I woke up at like 4pm, my husband had been here all day, he was taking care of my daughter and I got up to go to the bathroom and I had some bloody show. And I was just like, what’s going on - I don’t want to go into labor right now, I’m sick. I haven’t eaten anything, I haven’t drank any water - this is not what is supposed to happen. And I was so upset - and I told Ian - I think I’m in labor and I don’t want to be - even though this is what we have been waiting for. I hope I don’t go into labor soon. So I called and I told Chris - I said I’m bleeding a little bit but I’m not having any contractions so I think it’s going to be awhile. I got off the phone with her, laid down again - and I had my first contraction - first noticeable contraction, I’m sure I was having some before that. So I got out my app and I started recording them, and like after putting four in the app - they said - it’s time to go to the hospital.
They were close together, they were long enough - and I was like, ok this is really happening - I need to get prepared because I had no idea how long it would be until he was born. So I called the midwife back, and she said she would come down from Bangor as soon as she could. I called my mom to come over, and my grandmother and my aunt - because I wanted all of these people here. I pretty much stayed upstairs in my bedroom for the rest of the night. My grandmother and my aunt took care of Nora, and my mom and Ian were upstairs with me, and the midwives came and I got checked in around 7pm.
I had a really sweet moment with Nora, when they put her down for bed, I called her into the bedroom and she stayed in my lap for much longer than she would have in normal circumstances. So I just held her on the bed and told her to have a good nights sleep - I didn’t tell her what would be there when she woke up. So that was really lovely. And then we just kind of did our thing through the night - used the yoga ball a lot. Everyone was just kind of moving around the house, the midwives would go downstairs and then come back. And I tried to get into a positive head space, just because I felt like I didn’t have time to prepare - I didn’t know I was going to be in labor so intensely, so quickly. So we just kept talking about the baby, like I’m so glad you're coming, I’m so glad you're about to be born. Like saying - this is how its meant to be - there’s nothing wrong with what’s happening - even if it wasn’t the perfect timing, that I wanted - I was just like this is ok, we love you baby - all of that.
I think around 9 or 10pm I was going through transition. It was very intense. The midwife who I had not met, but who was there with Chris - she was great at giving counter pressure - which was something that I had not had with my first birth. And I couldn’t really think of the word of what it was - so every time I had that intense back pain with the contraction - I was just like, help me, help me, help me - and she would run over and give me the counter pressure. And then around 11pm, I started getting the urge to push - which was so excited because I hadn’t felt that before - I was like oh my goodness, I think my body is going to do this, I think it’s going to push.
So I said I think I’m going to try to push - and I was on hands and knees on the bed - and Chris said Ok! And so, I pushed once - and she was like, if thats a try push - this baby is going to come soon. And so I stayed on my hands and knees through a couple of contractions and then my mom -I asked her for a washcloth. And Chris was like, no don’t leave - this baby is going to be born soon!
So maybe after two pushes, and his head came out - and his head was in the bag of waters - and his hands were both by his face - so my midwife broke the bag of waters so she could hold his hands on his face, so he didn’t push his arms out as he came out. And then another push and his whole body came out, and it was a much different experience with Nora because I was so out of it - they gave her to me and I didn’t know what to do - I was too stunned to speak. But this time I grabbed him up off the bed and I kind of stood up on my knees and was holding him - and I was just in shock. And everyone was like - sit down, sit down. And I was just standing there holding him - like, I just need to stay here for a second. I was able to lay down and hold him, and I did some pathetic coughing to get the placenta out. She said, if you can’t push, maybe just try to cough a little bit. And I was just like ahem ahem - and she was like, no you need to try a little bit harder than that.
I didn’t need to have any stitches and I was so excited - what a relief! And we just laid in bed, and got cleaned up. He nursed right away, he did have a little bit of a tongue tie - but she revised that at I think a week postpartum. But immediately there was no difficulty with latching. And they cleaned everything up and left us at 1am and we just had a great rest of the night - and my mom stayed to help us - it was really, really nice.
Angela: Do you want to share some of the resources that were helpful to you?
Miranda: Yeah, during my first pregnancy with Nora - I listened to just like 100 hours of Birth Story Podcast - and every kind of birth. Not just beautiful birth center, beautiful home birth - like I wanted to hear about the hospital birth, I wanted to hear about everything - so I could hear about peoples experiences no matter what their situation was and how they dealt with it. Yeah great books, whatever book your midwives suggest - read it, it will be helpful.
Angela: What advice would you give to expecting or new parents?
Miranda: I would say that when you're having your first baby - when your baby is born, you will intuitively know how to care for them. You might want to learn some technical skills, but the heart of it - the soul - will be there when they are born. And to allow people to help you - if they offer help - you are not a burden - you have just done something incredible, and people want to give and help you - and allow them to do that.
Angela: Yeah, I think that’s really huge, a lot of times we want to be like - we can do it all right away, just to prove something, but yeah, allowing help is super important.
Miranda: Yeah, absolutely!
Angela: Well thank you Miranda for sharing your birth story today!
Miranda: Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
To connect with the midwife team over at the Holly No 7 Birth Center in Bangor, Maine head to https://www.hollyno7.com
And thats the end of another episode of another MyMaine Birth Podcast. Thank you for joining me! I hope that the stories shared here have been informative and inspiring to all of my listeners.
If you are looking to capture your own birth story, I highly recommend considering my Bangor Maine Birth Photography services. I am a skilled professional Bangor Maine Birth Photographer and am very passionate about capturing the raw and emotional moments of the birthing process. With all Maine Birth Photography sessions 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 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 Maine Birth Stories. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! I will see you back here again next week.
