- Hi.
I'm back.
It's been about three months since
I had my baby.
For those of you just tuning in, my name is Shayla.
I vlogged my entire pregnancy,
and then I fell off the face of the earth.
For those of you who are not just tuning in,
hey, I'm back.
I'm making this video to tell you about labor and delivery,
because I feel like people go into this black hole
of labor and delivery.
They're pregnant, they go into this black hole,
and then they come out the other side with a baby,
and you're like,
"But what happened when, what happened?
"What happened in there?"
Especially when you're pregnant,
you're like, "What's this going to be like?"
There's no good indicator for when you're going into labor.
Probably week 37 and on, and they're like,
"Well, you could have your baby at any time!"
And you're like, "Okay, what should I be waiting for?"
"Oh, you could lose your mucus plug
"two weeks before you deliver, or you could never."
Your water could break, it could never break.
Your baby to come out in the sac.
Dilated for weeks, or not dilated at all.
Two days before I delivered, I was at half a centimeter.
I've never heard of half a centimeter before.
I feel like she was like, "Oh yeah, sure,
"a half a centimeter!"
I'm like, "All right."
Contractions can start and stop.
It's a weird time.
All right, let's go.
So I went out on Friday, I had an appointment,
and then I told them there,
"I haven't had any Braxton Hicks."
They're like, "Hmm, yes you have."
And I'm like, "Hmm, I don't think so."
They're like, "You just must have a high pain tolerance."
All right.
So Saturday, I started feeling, with my fingertips,
my stomach would get really hard,
and then then it would soften.
But I didn't feel pain.
It got, that's not,
it got more intense, that's not the whole story.
That's how I could tell that I was having contractions.
And it progressively got a little bit more,
and Seth was like, "Should I go to work?"
"Yeah, this is nothing, it's going to,
"I will know when you need to come home."
"Are you sure? Because they told you
"you have a high pain tolerance."
"I'll know."
He went to work, and that night I had contractions,
very inconsistently.
If you're watching this and you're pregnant,
get a pregnancy tracker.
I'll put the one that I used.
But it's just good to know
how far apart your contractions are.
They were wildly inconsistent.
And then in the morning, the contractions were gone,
and I was not happy.
So I was looking into how to get labor started.
I went on a two-mile walk, and I did curb walking,
"Three Sisters," if you know, spinning babies,
eating spicy food, diffusing clary sage.
Watching the baby.
So around three, Seth has to go to work.
The contractions are five minutes to an hour apart.
"You can go to work."
Three hours later, my contractions
are now five to 15 minutes apart, and I lose my mucus plug.
Seth's at work.
It's six o'clock, 6:00 PM.
And my contractions are now
between five and 10 minutes.
Seth's coming home from work.
I feel good.
We're just going to keep going, and keep progressing.
And I just ordered some Chipotle from DoorDash,
because, (chuckles) Corona.
I'm glad that Seth's coming home,
so that we can walk, and he can
kind of help me through it all.
Exciting!
He gets home at seven,
and we go through some contractions.
I have back labor,
so everything is felt in my low back.
I feel nothing in my belly.
Back labor, all of it.
I'm like, I have to contract
like this for every one of them.
So I'm on my pregnancy ball, my medicine ball.
And I'm like, "Push on my back!"
What really helped was Seth counter pressure.
So he was pushing on me, on my back,
and I would be like, "Higher! Lower!
"More! Less!"
And then he just did it.
My cousin had just gone into labor, and she was like,
"The one thing, because it's COVID,
"you can't go get snacks."
So at nine, Seth was like, "Should I go get snacks?"
And I'm like, "No, I'm having contractions,
"pretty consistently.
"I don't really want you to leave.
"I like your counter pressure,
"this is working out for me."
He leaves to go get snacks.
When he's gone, I'm talking to my sister,
and I'm tracking my contractions still.
I'm like, "I think my contractions are five minutes apart."
And five minutes is like, three to five minutes is like,
you need to start getting ready to go to the hospital.
So I call the hospital, and she's like, "Yeah."
And just as Seth comes to the door, they're like,
"You should go to the hospital,
"and if anything changes, dial 911."
And he's like, "What is going on?"
And I'm like, "It's fine.
"We just need to go to the hospital."
Seth wanted to take his merry freaking time,
trying to figure out what he should pack for his thing!
"I don't think you understand."
And then I have a contraction, I'm like,
"I don't think you understand how serious.
"We need to, they just told me that we need to go.
"We need to go."
Because of the snacks, he had the Yeti,
but the Yeti was sticky.
So he wiped out the Yeti.
I am doing Hypnobabies.
During your pregnancy, I'll do a whole video on this,
but during your pregnancy, you do,
practice hypnosis, your, meditation, just to relax,
because, phew.
I'll do a whole video on this.
But basically, if you have fear, you have tension,
which causes your body to go into fight or flight,
which doesn't allow you to relax and have your baby,
and it causes a lot more pain and time.
So if you can kind of just meditate,
and basically get out of your own way
and let your body do its thing,
it will do its thing with less pain and in less time.
I'm also in a bunch of these pregnancy in COVID groups,
which I have gotten out of.
And it was like, "What are you getting your husband
"for a hospital gift?"
And I was like, "What?
"Well, I don't know, what,
"what do you mean hospital gift?
"I never thought of that."
And some of the women were like, "A baby,"
and other women were like, "I'm getting him coffee and gum."
And I was like, "Okay, yeah,
"I want to be one of those women.
"I want to be one of those women
"that has a cute little gift thing for dad in the hospital."
So I ordered him a girl dad T-shirt.
I got him a little nip of Jameson, which was
so awkward buying at nine months pregnant.
"Yeah, I'm doing this thing,
"I'm getting, you know, a girl, and,
"can I just get a little Jameson thing?
"It's not for me." (imitates laughing)
And he's like, "I've had four kids.
"It's okay if it's for you."
And I was like, (chuckles)
"But it's not, it's not for me."
He's like, "Yeah, it's okay."
And of course I'm buying this tiny little
shooter of Jameson.
"It's really not for me."
Anyways.
I have that, and then iced coffee,
but the iced coffee couldn't sit in the back
of my car where the bag was packed,
so I had to put it in the fridge.
Seth found out about it, and I was like,
"Well, I was making like hospital bag for you!"
I'm plugging in my Hypnobabies,
I'm in the car, this is great.
And Seth looks at me in horror.
"I forgot the iced coffee."
And I looked back at him.
"I don't think you understand what" (babbles)
So we get to the hospital.
I'm listening to my hypnobirthing
all the way up to the room.
(elevator dings)
- [Seth] So we're at the hospital,
and it's about to go down.
She's killing it.
How are you feeling, boo? (elevator dings)
- We get up to the room,
and I change into my hospital gown.
They check me. and they're like,
"Oh, you're at seven centimeters.
"You'll be staying."
I'll be staying, of course I'll be staying!
- [Seth] Like, six o'clock, she was like, "Um,
"They're pretty regular, you should come home."
And...
Now she's, 10:30,
so it's been an all day thing, so,
we didn't come in right away.
- [Shayla] Will you help me take off my pants?
- I got you, boo.
- "Can I get in the tub?"
They get the tub ready.
Because of my hypnobirthing, I was in a different place.
Or maybe this is just how labor is.
Only had one baby, I don't know.
I don't know, I think I fell asleep
between some contractions.
And I would squeeze his leg when a contraction started,
and he would counter pressure me, and then,
he would let off.
I got little squeezers, little chia squeezers from Target.
Get those, because you just squeeze them in your mouth,
and it's a little bit of sugar to give you some energy,
and there's no spoons or anything.
The water was getting, I'm sure, just kind of gross,
and so Seth wanted to wear gloves.
Well then Seth was off eating a snack or something
when a contraction came on, and I was like,
"Yo, what are you doing?"
And he's like, I can hear him fumbling,
trying to put the gloves on.
And I'm like, "Push on my back!"
Other than that though, my eyes were closed,
I didn't really talk to Seth.
My expectations for the hospital were completely off.
I was thinking I'd be doing the baby momma dance,
and I'd be calling people, and texting them, and keeping up.
But I didn't even know where my phone was.
I didn't even think, "Where's my phone?", ever.
Oh, I guess my phone, I had my phone,
because it was playing the hypnobirthing.
I had my phone the whole time!
Literally just realized this right now,
I wanted to get some vlogging in there.
Nothing.
No.
And because it was COVID, it was just Seth and I.
I'm laboring in the tub,
and I feel, it feels like when you pee in a pool,
or when you used to when you were little.
"I think my water just broke."
So they called the nurse in, the nurse checked,
she's like, "Yes, your water did just break.
"And I don't know how to explain this,
"but at some point, you're going to feel like pushing."
If you've ever waited to go number two
for a really long time, and then all of a sudden,
you're on the toilet, and you,
it's like now, your body just goes,
(grunts) and pushes, that's what it feels like.
It feels like you need to push.
After my water break, my contractions got
a little bit more intense, and I started shaking.
And Seth was like, "Are you cold?"
And I'm like, "No, Seth.
"This is transition,"
because I had done so much research on labor,
I knew that when you started shaking,
it meant you were going into transition,
which meant that you were getting closer to labor.
So then I started feeling like pushing.
I was like, "Okay."
And your body's just pushed.
And I'm like, "Okay."
And Seth said he didn't really believe me,
because I wasn't like, "I feel like pushing!"
I was like, "I'm kind of,
"maybe you should get the nurse,
"'cause I feel like pushing."
And she checked me again, and she's like,
"Yep, you're ready to go,
"so we need to get you from the tub back into the bed."
My midwife had a flat tire, so my midwife never made it.
I think midwives can deliver in the tub, I don't know.
Laboring in the tub helps with tearing.
It helps with pain, it's second into an epidural.
I didn't want an epidural, but I was kind of open to
if I got tired and needed it to help progress.
Whatever, I was open to all the things.
I never once thought, "I need an epidural."
The thought never even came into my head.
When I get out of the tub, I'm again,
on all fours, and I'm just shaking.
And I just remember,
I said, "I can't even twerk like this when I try!"
And Seth said him and the nurse
just looked at each other like, "Oh my god."
And then the baby's heart rate dropped or something,
so she's like, "You need to lay on your side."
And I was like, (laughs) "I can't."
She's like, "You have to for your baby."
I was like, "Okay!"
It was kind of pushy again, and my water broke again.
I guess it can break in two different places or something.
So they got me out of the tub at about
probably 1:45.
They call the doctor, and the doctor comes and sets up,
she just puts a huge trash bin at the end of your bed.
I'm like, (laughs) "Okay."
But then, my midwife knows all the things that I want.
Only vitamin K for the baby, I want tummy to tummy,
I want delayed clamping.
Tummy to tummy, what's that called?
Skin to skin.
I don't want pitocin unless I need it.
There's all these things that I want.
I don't want to be, so I'm pushing.
They're like, "Okay, push."
I'm like. (grunts)
And then I'm going, "I don't want an episiotomy!"
And she's like, "I'm not going to give you one,
"unless this diverges," "Okay."
"Okay, push." (grunts)
"I want delayed cord clamping!"
And she's like, "That's what we do."
I was like, "Okay."
And I'm trying (laughs)
to make sure she knows all the things.
Seth is still
on that counter pressure on my low back.
He's right here, and he's just like,
"You can do this, Shayla.
"Your body was made for this.
"This is what you were meant to do."
And I'm just like, "Yeah!"
I had talked to him about labor and delivery
so much that he knew exactly what I needed to hear.
So she starts to crown, and the doctor goes,
"I can see the head.
"Do you want to feel it?"
And I was kind of prepared for that question,
and I probably would have done it,
but I felt like all my weight were on my hands.
There's no way I could have done it.
And I was like, "I can't do it, I'm sorry!"
And they're like, "It's fine, it's fine!"
"Okay!"
When I was pushing, at one point, I was screaming.
Screaming!
I can't believe I was screaming.
Another point, I yelled the F word.
And I remember apologizing.
"No, I'm so sorry."
"What happens in labor and delivery
"stays in labor and delivery."
"Okay, great."
I started pushing at 2:00 AM,
three hours after we got to the hospital.
At 2:24, she was born.
So she comes out with her hand up by her head.
So there was a lot of stitching after she was born.
And her cord is short, which is fine.
So that means she can't come all the way up to my chest,
she just has to come to my belly.
I thought that I would be like, "Oh my god!"
I was just like.
'Cause as soon as she came out,
this fog lifted, and I was just in the room.
"Oh, there's five of us in here?"
We did skin to skin.
When the cord stopped
pulsing, Seth cut it.
I didn't know that Seth cut the cord,
until later.
He said it was like rubber,
which is kind of gnarly.
After the baby comes out, you deliver the placenta.
And she's like, "This is going to feel kind of like a relief."
And it did, it was like. (sighs)
And I didn't want her washed.
I wanted to keep her vernix on there.
These are just my things.
I didn't keep the placenta,
I feel like some people are going to ask that.
But I did get a tour of the placenta,
like, "Show me it,"
and so they showed you it, and it was really gnarly.
Baby girl started feeding right away.
She was on it. (snaps fingers)
And I was like, "This is amazing."
And we just kind of had our little family moment.
It's really weird to look down at this baby, who...
She's unfamiliar.
You don't see, I didn't see myself in her,
I didn't see Seth in her.
It was just so strange to be like,
"I don't recognize you, and I know that you're mine."
I don't know.
I think some people are just going to be like, boom, in love.
Some people I've talked to have said two months later,
they're still like, it took two months for them
to get that connection. (snaps fingers)
I think all are normal and natural.
If you know anyone who just delivered a baby,
and you're like, "Oh, I wish I could do something.
"I can't go see them,"
give them a DoorDash gift card.
You can text it to them.
You go on DoorDash, because then they can order something
from outside the hospital and get it delivered.
It was the best gift that I got.
I distinctly remember, right after she was born, being like,
"I don't think I could do this again."
And now three months later I'm like, "Ah, it was fine!"
Yeah.
That is my labor and delivery story.
What are you looking at?
(baby cooing)
- [Seth] What?
Really?
(baby cooing)
(Seth laughs)
(baby cooing)
(Shayla laughs)
You're just doing all of it, aren't you?
- [Shayla] Good morning!
(baby cooing)
Oh, wow!