Birth Story for Romy Hale
Romy is my babiest baby. I got pregnant with Romy in October of 2021. We weren’t trying for a baby at that moment, but we also weren’t preventing either. October is open enrollment for my husband’s medical insurance and we were planning on actively trying in the new year, so I was texting with Misty back and forth on what insurance would look like – should we opt into the best plan or just keep what we had? Which route would save us money? A week later, I found out I was pregnant. So all I have to do is talk to Misty and I get pregnant.
During that same week though, my household also tested positive for COVID. It was our first time actually catching it and I was terrified about my pregnancy. As per usual, Misty did what she does and talked me through research and best practices. Things I should be taking, things to avoid. What I should do going forward. We healed up alright and baby was fine.
As I entered my 13th week of pregnancy, I had a large bleed. My initial thought was a miscarriage and I was distraught. We immediately went to the ER and I called Misty on the way. She asked questions about what it looked like, how much, color, consistency, etc. I was on the phone with her for all of 3 minutes and she said, “It sounds like it could be a subchorionic hemorrhage, but go to the ER just to be safe.” For the next 4 hours I was at Renown all by myself not knowing if my baby was alive or not. I sat on my phone researching subchorionic hemorrhages, bleeds that were NOT miscarriages, and texting back and forth with Misty. I had blood work and both a transvaginal and abdominal ultrasound, but the tech wouldn’t tell me if my baby was alive or not. She said she couldn’t give me information and I needed to wait for radiology. My heart sank – because why couldn’t you just tell me if you see a heartbeat? Every other ultrasound I’d ever had, they let me see the screen at least for a minute or give me pictures.
After 2 more hours, the on-call doctor came in and said baby looked fine and was actually measuring ahead. They could see the bleed, but didn’t know what it was. The doctor told me, “It could be a uterine cyst, but at this point it could also be the start of a miscarriage. We (him and the nurse) have never seen anything like this before though and it will be best for you to follow up with an OB.” I asked him if it could possibly be a subchorionic hemorrhage since the baby and placenta were unaffected. He said he couldn’t be sure. When I finally got my results from mychart, it was in fact labeled a subchorionic hemorrhage. I’m not totally convinced he would have put that without me relaying to him Misty’s conversation with me.
This was my first real experience with a hospital when it came to one of my pregnancies and I was not impressed at all. Fast forward to my anatomy scan at 22 weeks, I was told that my baby was measuring in the 8th percentile and I was “borderline oligohydramnios” meaning there was very little amniotic fluid surrounding my baby. I panic and Misty and I decide it was best to have dual care – her still being my midwife, but also seeing an OB as well since I had covid, a subchorionic hemorrhage, and now very low fluid. At my first OB appointment, he told me that my fluid levels were fine and upon pulling my file found that the tech actually forgot to take pictures of the amniotic fluid pockets around the baby at my anatomy scan and the radiologist simply made a “subjective opinion” based on the pictures… with no measurements. It was a simple error, but instead of calling me back to redo the scan, the radiologist called it good.
I stayed up with dual care for about 2 months, but after the 2nd month of the OB being over an hour late to all of my appointments and the staff being off putting and rude, the last straw was the OB telling me at 30 weeks that my baby was transverse and we should probably keep in mind a scheduled c-section.
Romy was born on July 4th, 2022 at 6:35 a.m. at 39 weeks 5 days. 7 lbs 2 oz and 20 inches long.
She was absolutely perfect. She was not small, my water levels were perfect, and to this day she has not had one issue. This was my first baby with real experience in a hospital setting and it was the worst (and only lasted about 2 months.) Everyone who could have messed up at their jobs did. Anyone who could use fear to talk me into tests that I didn’t want (or need) did. These ranged from the gestational diabetes test to a damn c-section.
My labor with Romy was by far the hardest lasting about 34 hours, but Lindsay and Jackie were there as well and did amazing. If you’re in need of a doula Lindsay was the best I could have ever asked for! She had a perfect balance of coaching and empathy, but all while not annoying me (if you’ve ever had a baby before you know what I mean.) She had amazing tactics and techniques and gave better counter-pressure than my husband could. She carried me to and from my birth tub several times because I could not get this kid out.
If I didn’t have Misty and her team on my side, my pregnancy and delivery could have been very different and not in a good way.
There is not a time in my life where I will have a baby without Misty.
This woman deserves the world. She is a true gift from God and is the reason why I have perfect pregnancies, perfect births, exceptional postpartum periods, and am the mom I am today. Having met Misty goes way past just “having a baby”. She has taught me how to be a mom and so many aspects that go within that when it comes to their health and nutrition. Misty will always be one of our favorite people in this entire world and I wish I could give her something even close to what she has given my family.
