On episode 67, Kiersten was a personal trainer for about 20 years, lives in South Carolina and originally from California. Being a personal trainer gave her flexible hours, as a mom. It was a great job. She loves health and fitness. Kiersten was three months postpartum during the recording of the show. Kiersten was pregnant in her 20’s and 30’s with a previous marriage. She has a 14-year-old daughter, 7-year-old daughter, and twin boys that are six. She thought she was done having children and never planned on having more. She really thought that chapter of her life of being pregnant was closed. She ended up meeting her soulmate, the love of her life at 41. When they met, she had her four kids, and he had his two daughters who are 21 and 22. When she met Chris, they joked about having a baby together which led to more serious talks. She didn’t think she could get pregnant at 41. She didn’t know of any other women that had. They talked more and prayed about it.
OMG, I’m 41. I didn’t think I could actually get pregnant.
When Kiersten was trying to get pregnant with her first daughter 15 years ago, she remembers the doctor telling her she didn’t think she would be able to have babies on her own, and that she had PCOS. She ended up getting pregnant with her daughter on her own, but it was a bit more stressful because of what the doctor told her. She wasn’t trying to get pregnant this time, but what she was doing helped prepare her body for pregnancy. After she would drop the kids off at school, Kiersten would sit on her back porch in the sunlight, have a cup of coffee, read the Bible and pray or just think about the day. It was a great way to start off every morning. She heard that getting sunlight has a lot of health benefits which she didn’t originally know. She did it because it felt good. She was eating healthily, like drinking raw milk, and getting local meat and vegetables from a farmer. She was also working out at home 20-30 minutes a day with weights. She said she really put it up to God to decide. Because she had six kids between her and her husband, she didn’t feel the pressure to have a baby. She wasn’t tracking her cycle. She didn’t get to that level. She got her first cycle when she was 16 years old. Now, she normally has between 6 or 7 cycles a year. Kiersten wasn’t one of those women whose cycle was like clockwork each month, so to her, her cycle was always unknown. It was her husband that suggested she take a pregnancy test. She brushed it off at first, but finally decided to take a test since she already had one. It turned positive instantly. It was about three months since they decided. She was in shock. She explained that it doesn’t matter if it’s your first baby or your fifth, there is still this feeling of wonderment and excitement.
She didn’t have an OBGYN, so she asked around for a recommendation. She wanted a doctor with a good bedside manner and experience. She went to a female physician, but she was afraid she would be treated differently because of her age. She was relieved when her doctor told her she just helped deliver a healthy baby with a patient that was 48. She wasn’t treated any different and wasn’t label.
When she first got pregnant, she felt like she was the only pregnant 41-year-old on the planet. Hearing other pregnancy stories of women over 40 gave her encouragement and strength. When she went in, the doctor asked her what the first day of her last cycle was. For her, that’s never an easy answer. She guessed about 6 weeks ago. The ultrasound showed an empty sack, and they wanted her to come back in two weeks for another one. She knew she was pregnant, but hoped everything was alright. It was hard to wait. Two weeks later she saw a heartbeat. It was really scary, but they suggested it was just too early to see the baby that first time. The first trimester was horrible. She’s never had morning sickness with any of her other pregnancies, but she was sick and tired for the first 15 weeks with her pregnancy at 41. She only threw up a couple times. The second trimester was the best she felt because she wasn’t nauseous anymore. During her pregnancy, she got the flu and decided that she didn’t want to take any kind of medication, not even Tylenol. She laid in bed and drank lemon water for two days and that helped. She was so tired, she went to the doctor. She wondered if it was because of her age, and the doctor agreed with her. Kiersten felt like it was something else. New bloodwork showed her iron levels were very low. She bought some good prenatal vitamins with extra iron from her chiropractor that made a world of difference. The next time she had bloodwork done, her iron levels increased and she felt a lot better. She worked out with every other pregnancy but this one. She had never felt so tired in her life. Her mind wanted to work out, but her body told her different. She did keep her healthy eating habits, though. Interestingly enough, she gained the least amount of weight during this pregnancy. She only gained 40 pounds. She gained 60-80 pounds with all the others. She didn’t have gestational diabetes and her blood pressure was great. It was a very healthy pregnancy. At 35 weeks, her baby was breech. The doctor mentioned the possibility of a c-section which she hasn’t had. She was panicking a bit about the possibility of a c-section. She did some spinning baby techniques to help turn the baby which she recommends. One technique was where she knelt on the couch with her forearms on the floor. It’s hard to do that being 25 weeks pregnant. The other technique was lean on the counter where her belly was a hammock to create space. Going to the chiropractor also helped rotate the baby. Kiersten has a history of having big babies, so she was worried this baby at 42 would be too. She asked to be induced, but the doctor recommended because of her age that she be induced at 39 weeks anyway. Kiersten was so tired, too. She was worried her baby wasn’t going fit for a vaginal birth. The doctor said if she had a vaginal birth with a nine-pound baby, she can do it again. This was a very hard pregnancy for her. The nausea, the fatigue and her body hurting.
She and her husband were so excited to find out what they were having. She chose to have genetic testing through bloodwork that also showed the gender. She was at work on Valentine’s Day when she got the email with the results. She read the results of the test alone, and she read she was having a healthy baby girl. She would have liked to have opened it with her husband, but it was too late. She called her husband on the phone to celebrate. They now have five girls, and two boys.
Kiersten didn’t have any baby items left. Her ‘Mom Tribe,’ she calls her group of friends that meet once a week, threw her a baby shower. With her first she bought all of the things, but this time she only bought things as she needed it. She kept it simple this time. She found a great deal on a bassinet that was barely used for $50, new it was $250. She also got a lot of hand-me-downs from friends.
A few days before she was scheduled to be induced, she was checked to see if she was dilated. She was not. At 39 weeks she went in to be induced. Since she wasn’t dilated, she went back on Sunday while she started to have contractions on her own. Her doctor wasn’t scheduled to arrive until 7am the next morning, so they weren’t going to start anything until he got there. She was bummed. She was told once she started the induction, she wasn’t allowed to eat. That was concerning. She knew she would need fuel. Monday morning they started the Pitocin about 7:00 AM but not much was happening. About 2:00 PM, one of the nurses asked if she wanted an epidural. She had no idea she could get one so early. She says contractions are just different from a natural labor, so she wanted that epidural. The anesthesiologist was super rough. Based on her quick birth with the twins, she assumed this one would be about the same, but it wasn’t. At 4:00 she still wasn’t progressing quickly. A new nurse came on at 7:00 PM. Kiersten could tell she had wisdom. The new nurse put the peanut ball between her legs with her knees together while laying her side to help the baby descend into the birth canal. She did all these movements with her and the peanut ball using gravity. Kiersten was numb, so she wasn’t able to do much. Kiersten’s step-daughter’s birthday was the next day. She wanted this baby born today, so the girls to have their own special day. It was almost 10:00pm. Because it was taking so long, she assumed she wasn’t going to give birth until the early morning. The new nurse asked her to do a couple practice pushes. Kiersten hesitated without the doctor being there but went ahead and pushed. The new nurse observed and changed her position. The epidural was starting to wear off, and she was starving and tired by this time. She said she moved her so she wouldn’t have to push so long. Whatever that new nurse did, worked. The doctor came in about 10:45 PM for a few practice pushes. She was ready. Kiersten only pushed for ten minutes on her back. The nurse worked with her from the start of her shift until the baby was born at 11:03 PM. Kiersten believes it was the new nurse that made all the difference in her labor and birth. The doctor put her baby on her chest with a crawl. Her baby picked up her head and looked right at her husband. She’ll always remember that moment. She was very alert and cried right away. She wanted the delayed cord clamping and the skin to skin and bonding immediately. She latched right away just like all the other ones.
Kiersten’s recovery was pretty good. She only used pain meds for a day or two. She had a small tear that healed well. She believes the key to breastfeeding is to have someone come to your house and help. She had that with her first which set her up for success with all of her babies. She also thinks breastfeeding helped because she could feel her uterus contracting and tightening and getting smaller. She’s feeling good about only having 10 pounds left to go of the baby weight. She’s had postpartum depression in the past, but this time mentally she’s really good. She tries to be a little extra aware and cautious. She believes having a good support system decreases the chances of having postpartum depression. She feels very blessed to have a healthy baby.
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