Crystal played roller derby for nine years and even that couldn’t prepare her for her first pregnancy. She not only labored for 30+ hours, had to transfer from the birthing center to a hospital, was diagnosed with gestational hypertension, and her baby had to stay in the NICU, but she was also stung by a swarm of yellow jackets at thirty-eight weeks! Despite all this, she’s able to look back on the whole experience and laugh. Though some people might never want to get pregnant again after all that, Crystal decided to try for baby number two and it turned out to be a redemptive and healing experience. After laboring for only 2.5 hours, she had the unmedicated birth she’d always hoped for and got to enjoy the “golden hour” which she did not get the first time around. Crystal’s birth story teaches us an important lesson: you must be prepared for the possibility that things may not go as planned. Birth is an unpredictable process that cannot be controlled. It’s beautiful to have birth wishes and you don’t want to go into the birth experience without knowing what you want, but it’s important to entertain all possibilities and be prepared. In this Episode, You’ll Learn About: -How different Crystal’s two births really were -What she wanted from her first birth and what she got -How truly painful birth can be -Why it’s important to remember that you can change your mind about your birth wishes -How her birth experiences differed in a birthing center versus a hospital -What is HIE and how can it be treated with cooling therapy or “therapeutic hypothermia” -Why it’s worth the time and energy to process the trauma that can occur from birth Full website notes: drnicolerankins.com/episode145 Check out The Birth Preparation Course Register for the class How to Create a Birth Plan the Right Way Take a quick, fun labor pain quiz