Maternal Wealth Podcast - Own Your Birth

Oriana Teeple: Giving birth abroad as a United States military wife while navigating placenta previa

• Stephanie Theriault • Season 1 • Episode 20

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Join us as we embark on an enlightening chat with Oriana Teeple, giving us a window into her motherhood experiences that spanned across the UK and Germany. Oriana’s journey begins with a captivating love story in Poland, where she met her husband under extraordinary circumstances. From her maternity care experiences in London, where she celebrated the support of midwives and birthing centers, to the hurdles she faced during pregnancy and delivery in Germany amidst the pandemic, her story sheds light on the intricacies of childbirth from various cultural perspectives.

Oriana outlines the differences in maternal healthcare encountered in the United Kingdom and Germany throughout her two pregnancies. Her candid reflections reveal the emotional layers of being a military wife, dealing with separation from her partner during crucial moments, and finding a community in an unfamiliar land. She shares powerful insights on the importance of open-mindedness when it comes to birth plans and the invaluable support that friends can provide in lieu of family.

This episode is not only engaging but offers actionable advice for mothers navigating the unpredictable journey of childbirth, especially when faced with the challenge of different healthcare systems. Oriana's story is a beacon of strength and adaptability, encouraging mothers to embrace the rollercoaster of motherhood. Tune in for a conversation that inspires, informs, and broadens our perspectives on maternal health. 

Music Credit

https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/good-times

https://uppbeat.io/t/hey-pluto/luxurious

https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/scrunchy

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Stephanie Theriault:

Welcome to the Maternal Wealth Podcast, a space for all things related to maternal health, pregnancy and beyond. I'm your host Stephanie Theriault. I am a labor and delivery nurse and a mother to three beautiful boys. Each week, we dive into inspiring stories and expert insights to remind us of the power that you hold in childbirth and motherhood. We're here to explore the joys, the challenges and the complexities of maternal health. Every mother's journey is unique and every story deserves to be told. Please note that this podcast is for entertainment purposes only. It is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult with your healthcare provider for medical guidance that is tailored to your specific needs. Are you ready? Let's get into it. Welcome back to the Maternal Well Podcast.

Stephanie Theriault:

Today's guest, oriana Teepley, is a mother of two children her eight-year-old Antonio Tony for short and a three-year-old named Sophia. Currently, she's a stay-at-home mom and a student at Cornell University. She is halfway through her program called Nutrition and Healthy Living. She was born in Poland, where she met her husband. It is because of his work that she had her two children in two different countries in Europe her oldest in the UK and her youngest in Germany. Currently, the US is her home. Oriana's husband serves in the US Army and she follows him wherever they send him. I asked Oriana what brings her joy and she responded traveling, sewing, thrifting and going on hikes. I'm excited for you all to hear her story. Welcome, oriana, hi, thank you for having me. Thank you for being here. I'm so glad we finally got our calendars together and we were able to connect and sit down and record an episode.

Oriana Teeple:

I'm happy. I'm happy you didn't give up on me, even though the calendars were busy, busy moms.

Stephanie Theriault:

Busy moms. Yes, that's what it's all about. One of my favorite ways to start the podcast or start the episode is with a love story. So if you could share a little bit about yourself, where you're from, where you live, and then how you met your husband.

Oriana Teeple:

Oh's, uh, that's a really interesting story. Okay, I was born and raised in Poland and that's also where I met my husband. I travel a little bit around the Europe before meeting him, but the story is really funny. At the time, I was working as an English teacher in a kindergarten and one of my friends also an English teacher. She was not dating yet, but talking to one of those dating apps with a guy who turns out to be an American soldier stationed in Poland, maybe 40 minutes from the place where we were both living and working. And because the troops were new in Poland, they had this rule that they cannot leave the military post for like about a month. That's the reason why she didn't meet him.

Oriana Teeple:

And finally, when the time came, my friend came to me and told me that they have another rule for safety and accountability. He cannot leave the post by himself. He needs to have, you know, another buddy, another soldier, with him at all times. And so he would bring in a friend and if I don't mind to be her friend, you know kind of a federal thing and, to be honest, I didn't want to. At that time I really wasn't into dating, but I just thought you, she's a good friend. I'm just going to do a good thing for her. She also told me well, maybe you should just go out and, you know, talk English, not with kids anymore, but with actual adults. Take it as a you know, a little bit of a learning experience too. So I agree.

Oriana Teeple:

I asked her, of course, for a photograph of the friend of her uh date. Of course they didn't have it. She never provided, so the only thing I was hoping for was that he's not gonna be a jerk. So we went for this double on my side, on my husband's side, blind date into a little local sushi restaurant, and it was fun, we had really lots of fun. So it started there. And my husband's side, a blind date into a little local sushi restaurant, and it was fun, we had really lots of fun. So it started there, and my husband's role was pretty similar. He also had no idea about me. He'd never seen my picture before. Meeting me also was doing a good thing for a friend. And here we are, years later. We just started dating there. We were in Poland, then I just well, my husband, all around, all around the world, cause we were stationed in in Europe and now in US. So that's, that's the story.

Stephanie Theriault:

How about the other couple? Did they make it too?

Oriana Teeple:

No, they didn't make it, unfortunately. We like to say that we made it because we had absolutely no expectations and we were like, pretty, you know, chill into it that it's going to be what it's going to be, and because we learn about each other. You know, in real life, not on the internet we didn't have that amount of just texting like you're a couple yeah, I can see that just like going into it.

Stephanie Theriault:

Like you said, no expectations, going with the flow, and then love blossoms. So you have two kids you have an eight year old and a three-year-old and you mentioned that you and your husband have traveled all around as he's in the military. So share with us a little bit about your experience of where you were when you had your first child, during your pregnancy and then your delivery.

Oriana Teeple:

So I was pregnant and delivered Tony, so my, our eight-year-old son, in London. We were in UK at the time. I have two different experiences with two of the kids, but both pregnancies went really well. Like I felt great. During my first one. I work almost until the due date. I saw, like maybe two weeks before, so I felt really great.

Oriana Teeple:

The pregnancy was I supported by midwives only. I really wanted to to have the whole experience as natural as possible and uk back then. I hope it's, uh, it's the same now too. I had a few options. I wanted to have a bird in a hospital and have like doctor's help so kind of I would say the most common around the world. And another one is to have midwives help you and have a bird in a birthing center by midwives only. And the third one was the home bird. That I considered. But because it was my first pregnancy I was a little bit scared that just in case something will go wrong, it will take some time to be transported to the hospital. So I went with the midwife and a birth center option. The birth center was based on a first floor of a hospital. You know, I was confident that, just in case that, you know, something goes wrong, I can always be transported. You know, just a floor up Like it is, you can't be any closer, so you had the midwives for your pregnancy.

Stephanie Theriault:

Did the midwives come to your house? Did you go to the birth center for your prenatal appointments?

Oriana Teeple:

I was going to the birth center and then I was a little bit surprised that they don't schedule the ultrasounds of the baby as often as I knew it's happening back in my home country in Poland, because I think there are only like two during the pregnancy first one around 12 weeks to confirm your pregnancy and another one I think it's around 20 weeks. You know, check on that well-being of the baby when they do the body scan. So there's not one where they will tell you about the baby gender. We scheduled that separately in like a little private clinic, so.

Oriana Teeple:

I think that was one of the big surprises from like what I might expected before, because, how I knew it, I'm in Poland, but all the appointments were with the midwives and I had to go to their birth center. They did come to the house for postpartum care a few times, so that was really nice.

Stephanie Theriault:

Okay, so you get to later in the pregnancy 38, 39, 40 weeks did you go into labor? Did you have an induction?

Oriana Teeple:

talk us through that I did went into the labor. I woke up in the middle of the night with what I thought was a dream, that a balloon popped.

Stephanie Theriault:

But that was my water how many weeks were you when you broke your water?

Oriana Teeple:

I was 39 weeks. 39, okay, yeah, so that's really close. I expected that. That, you know, can happen anytime but I didn't have really any rockstone hicks. I need anything that would tell me like oh yeah, it's coming, just because of you know the calendar. Okay, the date is coming. I was expecting it. My water broke at home. I called the birth center. They asked me to stay at home for as long as possible until the contractions are pretty close about. Oh, I want to say that anything between two to five minutes okay and that went smooth.

Oriana Teeple:

I just um, I stay in bed during that time, try to try to rest. That was maybe two or three hours and then early in the morning we drove to the hospital that had that birth center on the side, where I was admitted. They still asked me to walk around the corridors for a little bit because I wasn't, you know, ready to to deliver the baby yet when you were at the birth center and then your water was broken and they had you walk around, how were they monitoring the baby?

Oriana Teeple:

oh, so they were not monitoring the baby at the time okay they did like an initial uh well-being test and then they told me how they let it. I was I can't remember what was, but definitely it wasn't the time, you know, to push. Yet I got already a room. I really wanted to deliver in the water and that's what I did. I got a room they start. They didn't start the water yet but they, you know, just show me around there and, yeah, just ask to walk around because it is not time. And yeah, they did not check on baby for for that hour. Yeah, I remember that was that I was in a lot of pain and it made me feel sick. But let's not forget that was a birth center where we can't get any of the big drugs which I initially never wanted to take.

Oriana Teeple:

I wanted the birth to be natural and then, maybe after an hour of like walking around, we came back to the birth room. They start putting warm water into this huge bath. I was jumping a little bit on like yoga ball. The nice thing was that the room had like dimmed light, so that was like really relaxing, if you can say that it's relaxing during that. But that definitely helped that. You know, there were, uh, I think, no windows or they were like covered, it was like really dim light. So it's like in a casino you don't know what time is it and how much time you spend. And then I did agree to have students during the birth Because I'm like I need to help, like someone needs to say yes, so you know they have to. It was only so it was a midwife and then another lady student.

Oriana Teeple:

And she was super helpful, very warm. I remember her keep asking me if I want a toast. They offer toast in UK. I remember that I was in so much pain thinking, oh my god, this is ridiculous, I don't want any toast, I just want someone to take out that baby out of me I know you said there's like no big meds in the birth center, but did you use the gas like nitrous oxide or any iv medication?

Oriana Teeple:

no, the gas was there, it, it was available. But I keep telling them like, no, maybe a little more, like I leave it, like for the worst pain that's going to come, and I end up not using it because I keep you know putting it in.

Stephanie Theriault:

So how did you know what time to get into the tub?

Oriana Teeple:

Oh. So I went to the tub at the moment when it was ready, when they fill it up, because I knew it will help. It also slows down the whole person a little bit, but I knew it will help and I remember. Now it is a funny memory because I remember thinking before and talking to my husband like, okay, I'll be in the bath, so like I should get like a bikini top, you know. So I feel comfortable there. Yeah, you don't think about it when you're giving birth to the baby, you really couldn't care any less If anyone's worried about it. Just, my advice is please don't. You really don't care. You just want to be comfy and you're there with the father of the baby and you have those caring midwives and yeah, you, just you don't care. Once the bath was ready, I just I want to say jump it. I went in. It did help.

Oriana Teeple:

Another surprise for me was something I've never thought about. Like how do they check on the baby once you're in a bath? So one of the things that the midwives do is they take a mirror and they just put it into the water where the baby is in a canal. That was really interesting because, you know, I could see the baby too, when he was like really close. Also, it happened when I felt like, oh my goodness, I'm here like forever, like I really want the baby out, like are we really closer or you're just telling me this? So, so you know, I keep going and my son was like really close because the midwife told me, like you just need like maybe two more pushes, like I can see the head. And she told me you maybe can't see it, but you can't touch him. So she helped me do that. So I I touched a hairy head of my baby.

Stephanie Theriault:

How long did you push for, like actively pushing?

Oriana Teeple:

I went well, I went to the that's what they told me, because you lose track of time at six and he was born at 11. So the whole birth took four hours, but I'm not sure about the active push time.

Stephanie Theriault:

When he was delivered, did you catch him coming out or did the midwife catch him and pass him to you?

Oriana Teeple:

I did catch him and then he just like wiped the face a little bit, because that's also something that you decide about in your birth plan if you want the baby to be, you know, like fully washed after the birth or, uh, doing the baby as it is, um, you know, on your chest and that's what I went for. So they just, you know, make sure that he can breathe. And he was right on my chest and then I started breastfeeding, because they do wait for a little bit before delivering or ask you to deliver placenta. And for that, talking about the drugs, I did get a shot. Um, I have no idea what was it, but it was something that helps to deliver the placenta faster. That was also something like we decided before it was in a birth plan.

Stephanie Theriault:

Before, before the baby yeah, and most likely it was pitocin that they give postpartum to help with the delivering the placenta and the prevent any kind of bleeding. Did you have any lacerations?

Oriana Teeple:

Yes, and they did tell me that it looks like I am going to tear, right. I think that's the right word and that's what happened. But again, birth center midwives everything happened naturally, for which I am grateful, because I hear those horror stories again. So for me it was um all natural, but I I did tear and had to be sewn afterwards and the midwives did that for you.

Stephanie Theriault:

They sewed you back up.

Oriana Teeple:

Yes, anything to help with the pain I don't remember right now, but I don't think it could be anything other than ibuprofen. But before that there was one more thing that was also surprising, that you don't think about. And there's this beautiful birthing room that we just talked about. And then opposite to it they have, you know, your regular hospital birthing center room where you have a bed for mom, bed for the baby, your private bathroom. So what happens after the natural birth? I told you, I feed the baby.

Oriana Teeple:

Then after that, they give us a really long time. They check on the baby, let the dad stay with the baby, check all the stats. Then they have the baby ready. The dad stay with them, but with the baby. Uh, you know, check all this out. Then they have the baby ready and dad can walk with the baby back to the room. And they ask me mom, after all that I've just done, to walk too.

Oriana Teeple:

And I was just so surprised, um, and I walk like half banded. I mean, I'm glad that I that I did it, but it just felt so weird because you lose, you know, the baby weight, the placenta or the water and everything. It was just so weird to have that, you know, kind of empty belly. Yeah, but like that's what it did, like really super natural. They don't, um, push you in a wheelchair there. It was a few meters but it was still there. So I'm like, oh my goodness, I'm able to do that. Okay, and now I have, after having experience of the second third, I really love that they just leave you there in peace so you can rest.

Oriana Teeple:

They do come and check on the baby not very often, I wanted to say, and with the paperwork they tried to do you know everything at once and then someone you know comes when they deliver you your food and that's it. Rest again. It's like very dim light. Um, lots of you know private space because it was just us, no other family there, and beautiful thing about it, especially now living in the us, is the fact that it was all covered by the insurance. We didn't have to pay anything extra and that was the standard there. I know that in different countries usually a private room is sometimes something extra. You can, you know, pay and get that, but that's not guaranteed. While in that birth center that was the standard. Every room was for a single family.

Stephanie Theriault:

Did your room have a bed for your husband?

Oriana Teeple:

It had a little sofa, but the bed for the mom was huge.

Stephanie Theriault:

Yeah.

Oriana Teeple:

It definitely wasn't like a standard bed for one person.

Stephanie Theriault:

And then after 24 hours you go home. And then you mentioned that the midwife comes and checks on you and the baby at home. So just curious about when they come, like how many weeks after you delivered the baby they come to see you, and then how many times Well, that was eight years ago, I believe.

Oriana Teeple:

They came a few times, anything between three to five, and they do come, maybe like two days after you're back. So you're like two days back home, then maybe a week after that, and then again weekly, and I do believe that there was also an option to ask for more of those visits. But then it also flips into you can come and go to the birth center or any clinic to see them, but they definitely do come a few times. They do check on your well-being, on how you're healing, they do check on the baby. So that was really nice and helpful.

Stephanie Theriault:

We paused this episode for a quick message from our sponsor At Maternal Wealth. We aim to ensure that you have access to the best and the most appropriate care. That's why we created a Maternal Healthcare Provider Database. Maternal health providers can easily create profiles to promote their services and business, helping to increase access for those seeking their care. This is a one-of-a-kind database that offers a new and exciting way for women to search for and find maternal health providers near them and tailored to their specific needs. Profiles feature badges that highlight various services, such as TODAC-friendly practices, all-female practices, LGBTQAI plus inclusivity, language options, access to vaginal breach services and more. I'm curious to hear about baby number two. So this was a different experience for you and in a different country, correct?

Oriana Teeple:

yes, that's correct. Uh, totally different experience. Baby number two, my now three year old, was born in germany during crazy covid times. Very different experience. Um, just starting from the pregnancy, as I mentioned before, I felt really great. Maybe not the first three months I felt I was very nauseous and that gave me a little tip like, oh my goodness, that has to be a girl, because I feel self-sick, yes. But other than that I just felt great.

Oriana Teeple:

I was like, really active. I didn't work at that time because we were stationed in Germany because of my husband's job and my German. I had that at school, but it's very like survivor level. I know how to go to the store or to a restaurant and talk a little bit with German neighbors there, but definitely that wasn't enough to get a job, but I still stay active. A lot of our neighbors the military families were expecting the baby, so we were just going for hikes and walks. It was a really beautiful place we were stationed. Germany is very walking, hiking, being active and outdoorsy, friendly, so that was a really good time. But the care was different. There was no option for midwife. I mean, we uh do have a friend who's american and she's a midwife, but that if, if it would like her services, that would have to come out out of the pocket and it would be like home a visit what city were you located in or what area of germany?

Oriana Teeple:

bavaria. That's the region, and it was a little town, little village called um hohenburg, and the military post is also tiny and it's called hohenfels. The closest big city that hopefully listeners know will be nuremberg or munich, that's like three hours away. But so the care was in the clinic that was run by doctors.

Stephanie Theriault:

Was it a military clinic or was it a German clinic? No, it was a.

Oriana Teeple:

German clinic, the post where my husband worked. I was close to our home because we live off post, because the military post was just so, so small that there wasn't even enough space for the families. Uh, but that gave us great, great experience just living in germany and, uh, you know, just soaking in into the culture, doing shopping, the little uh stores there and you know, um, going for those walks and hikes. The clinic was German because there was a military American clinic on post but it had like really limited resources. That would be the place you know where you go when you get a cold or to get your like flu shots, but that's about it. So I believe military had those contracts with them with good amount of German clinics.

Oriana Teeple:

We did our little research, ask around and just chose one. The really nice thing was that everyone spoke english there. We always try with our german, but that goes into like some point. And then we had english switch to English. So that was really nice, that the doctor and the nurses, they had a really great English and any paperwork that I will get it would be translated to or they would give a little guide of like okay, when you get this test done or are you going to get a paper about this and that it gives like a little translation guide, like you know that's what it means. So, even if you know like a paper about this and that it gives like a little translation guide, like you know that's what it means. So even if you know like a lab will send I don't know my lab work back, I would know you know what is it about. So that part was really great.

Oriana Teeple:

The care was different because, yes, it was run by doctors, not by the midwives. I think the main difference between, I think, germany and us because in in Poland will be similar as in Germany was that when you're really early in pregnancy, when you're getting an ultrasound to check on the baby no, I don't know the right words for it, but um, europe they still use the wand that they put inside of your body because I had, okay, like a vaginal ultrasound so I think that was a surprise for some of my friends.

Oriana Teeple:

I knew that from you know, just because we do it the same way in Poland and I definitely didn't have that in UK either. The hard thing was that I was pregnant in 2020 and then I gave birth in 2021. So you know, crazy times. It was a restricted region in Germany About the restrictions, so my husband couldn't really accompany me there on those appointments. He was waiting in the car in the parking lot. He couldn't like even enter the clinic.

Oriana Teeple:

You know we weren't happy about it, especially because you know we shared the same household. I get it, they didn't want crowds, crowds there, but we're from the same home. So then at some point, because you know how it was, those restrictions were like on and off depending on all the different data. There was one appointment that he could come, but it was also like I spent in the clinic a little bit of time doing like some paperwork, talking with with a doctor, and then he's like, okay, tell your husband, in five minutes we will have the ultrasound of a baby and if he wants to come, you know, tell him to come.

Stephanie Theriault:

So he was able to see one ultrasound.

Oriana Teeple:

Yes, the rest it was like me recording on the phone, or, you know, just bringing those pictures, the prints, lots of pictures, at least that.

Stephanie Theriault:

Was it one OB that you had that you saw throughout the pregnancy and then that was the ob for your delivery? Or was it more like a group setting, where you saw a bunch of different obs and then, depending on who was on at the hospital would be your ob?

Oriana Teeple:

so it's a mix of um, because I did have a group of obs at the clinic, which was a surprise for me because I knew again from friends, from my Polish friends, that in Poland I think it's pretty similar to what it is in the US, that you choose your OB, you go into that one doctor and hopefully he'll be on a shift in the hospital that you choose when you are in labor and when you're about to deliver the baby. In Germany you can see one or many doctors at the same clinic. I did see a few. I didn't like all of them to the same level. So then I request either to see someone more or don't see a specific person. But I knew that none of them will see me in the delivery room Because to do that I believe I would have to go to the clinic that's in the hospital that I want to deliver.

Oriana Teeple:

But I was okay, maybe because it was my second baby. So I just wanted to go to the clinic of a choice and then go to the hospital of my choice and unfortunately the doctors were not the same. I was aware that it would be a stranger this pregnancy.

Stephanie Theriault:

did you go into labor also?

Oriana Teeple:

yes, and that was prematurely, which we didn't expect, because, as I mentioned before, the pregnancy was going well. The only thing mentioned to me was I have placenta previa and that might affect the way I deliver the baby, because I wanted a natural birth, again also in the water, in a hospital. But they offer that. Yeah, they mentioned the option of c-section in case the placenta won't move. And then during my visits my appointment it was moving. It was either you know appointment, it was moving, it was either you know, covering the cervix area or moving. So the version kept changing. Every appointment I heard something different. I just spoke with my husband, like okay, we have open mind about it, we just want the baby to to be healthy.

Oriana Teeple:

And then at 32 weeks I came home from being out with another friend who was pregnant. We were just like actually shopping for the babies and shopping for the babies I was taking pictures because again, I was away from the families. I always like to take pictures of what I found and send it to my family back home. And then I felt like that I like pee myself a little bit, so I just went to the bathroom and then I saw that I'm bleeding and like really, really huge call just came out out of me. I'm saying you something's wrong. I just called my husband, who was in a different room. I said that something's wrong and I'm bleeding. I think we have to go to the hospital.

Oriana Teeple:

By that time we had a four-year-old already, so he just called the neighbor and dropped him off there and we were again in a little village in the middle of nowhere. The nearest hospital was half an hour away. So he made a decision that it's faster if we just go now and he's just going gonna drive me there then to call the ambulance. So that's what we did and I was admitted right away. I got, I was admitted, I was checked. I uh start feeling a small contractions. I I did receive all the medication to stop it, to stop the contractions of the baby once come. Then I believe one of the next thing was getting a shot for baby lungs to develop better faster, in case she has to be delivered in very scary time. Can you remind me how many weeks were you?

Stephanie Theriault:

you were 32 weeks yeah, 32 weeks.

Oriana Teeple:

So I knew this is and we. At that point I was just hoping that the baby can wait three more days, because I believe that that was the time that uh, that shot for her lungs and needs to fully work so she can be ready to breathe in the outside world. And then again in a hospital, lots of midwives, nurses, the whole staff spoke english, which was really, really great, and the hospital is also ready for the american insurance. So you know at least that part. You know all the paperwork, or the official part. At least we didn't have to like really be worried about this. They just like take your military ID and they deal with the paperwork they have also it's like a patient advocate, someone who speaks fluent German and English and stands in between boards to help understand the process. And my husband was with me. One of the first things as well that they do was a COVID test on both of us, but he was able to stay with me all the time when I was in that ER room.

Stephanie Theriault:

So you said that you initially saw the clot at home. You felt the trickle and there was a clot, and then your husband drove you to the hospital. You got to the hospital. Did you continue to bleed in the commute and when you were at the hospital, or was it kind of like the one clot and then it subsided and then you went from there?

Oriana Teeple:

No, I continued to bleed. Before leaving the house, I put, like you know, one of those postpartum pads and I think I also took one of those pads to put on the on the seat because I was bleeding. It was our first. I think it was our first time at that hospital, because the hospital visit wasn't like the one where you you don't check the hospital, the birth room and all things like this. That was scheduled for later in the pregnancy. So he just like dropped me off. I still had to like go out from the car and I remember that I was wearing a dress and just like a waterfall came out. But someone you know at the door helped me, okay, and to you know, to get me inside. My goodness, the club was just so, so big. Yeah, we were both really scared.

Stephanie Theriault:

What did they decide to do when you got to the hospital and they gave you the medicine to kind of stop the contractions, to help with the bleeding? Did they recommend to proceed with delivery, or were they trying to hold off a little bit? What was their recommendation?

Oriana Teeple:

Or were they trying to hold off a little bit. What was their recommendation? So the recommendation was to try to hold off with delivering the baby just because it was still early and that's short for the lungs. So at least, of course, if possible, to wait at least those three days. But to you know, admit me in the hospital and just observe to see, you know, know if I will bleed again and you know how, how happy the baby in the belly. So that's what.

Oriana Teeple:

What was happening? So after that, like initial care, when they established the whole plan and started contraction, and they admitted me into the ward and that's the time when my husband had to leave. So I did stay and I stay in total for a month I think, and they never had the answer to when and if I could go home. I was on a strict bed rest because I kept like spotting every two, three days and they told me you could go home. Probably, if you know, for three days you're not spotting, there's no contraction, they can start those off, those pills that help me to not have the contraction, but that never happened.

Oriana Teeple:

I had to stay on that medication and the bleeding was still happening, but they were monitoring baby a few times a day, okay, so they were really on top of that talk us through the delivery you had the previa, you had the bleeding.

Oriana Teeple:

Did you end up having a vaginal delivery? No, I really hope for it, even though that after that emergency and staying in hospital, I was kind of thinking that c-section is the only option. But after, after some checkups, they told me like hey, if everything goes well and you go into a term, you know your placenta moved for the moment.

Oriana Teeple:

So you, can still have the natural bed that you wanted. But unfortunately, at 35 weeks I was bleeding more. It was late, late in the evening and I thought that I'm oh, I'm bleeding more than just the spotting that was like every now, and then I called the nurse and then they rolled me into into a room and check on the baby, say that baby's still happy, but looks like you know, they won't be able to stop that bleeding and they think it is time that they're gonna. Uh, it's time for emergency c-section. So I just asked if I have time to call my husband and he said, yes, we I'm so very thankful for all our friends were always wherever we are stationed, because you know, friends are the family you choose, especially if you're so far away from family. Because it was our another friend, who was pregnant too, that came and stayed. Because it was, I think, 10 pm in the evening when I called my husband and told him like hey, in half an hour the baby will be delivered. Like, please, come face up. Our son was asleep, so he called the neighbor and our friends chelsea, chelsea, if you hear it, I love you and I'm forever grateful. She came. She came and just stay with him so my husband could experience the birth of our baby. He drove when they came. They changed him really quickly. They, you know, rolled both of us to the room. I was just so happy that he was able to be there, that he made it and that you know we were at 35 weeks, not 32.

Oriana Teeple:

But I also remember shaking like a jello, uh, before, right before it. So they had a problem. What's what I'm looking for? They had a problem too for the epidural. Yes, thank you. Thank you, because I remember my husband already waiting for me, like to be on the table. He was all sterile there and ready and I was hugging a midwife to don't just stop shaking and I told her like, hey, I'm excited to have the baby pretty smooth again. Everyone spoke English, so that was great and they it's like they knew because I'm I am a little bit OCD person and they talked me through it. My husband was also telling me what's happening, because I hate the fact that you know you can't, which is for the best. But yes, one of the doctors, the anesthesiologist and then my husband were walking me through of like what is going on. So I felt like, okay, I am in control still.

Stephanie Theriault:

Yeah, that helps. I like that because it's hard when you can't see and there's so much going on.

Oriana Teeple:

And the funny part was that they had a radio on, so now the songs that were there are on like our Spotify playlist. So that was really nice. So it went pretty smooth. But then when it's a regular C-section, hopefully most of the times they give you the baby right after to like you know, so you can baby right after to like you know, so you can do cheek to cheek you know, face to face.

Oriana Teeple:

I didn't have a chance to do that because afterwards my husband told me that when the baby out she was all blue so they take her right away to to get her help and to, you know, check on her vitals, and invited my husband there, so he was the first one, uh, to do skin to skin, to feed her, okay, so they had their little time together and I believe that's the reason why she's such a daddy girl now, because I was so impatient, I was feeling good afterwards but, um, in germany they asked to wait two hours for me to feel better, to be fully aware, to make sure that I'm okay, before I'm seeing the baby.

Oriana Teeple:

So that's a big difference if you think that the first part was me catching the baby and putting the baby on my chest and breastfeeding. Actually, it's all good, everything was fine and we went home after two days. I think that's pretty fast, thinking that that she was a preemie yeah, absolutely so.

Stephanie Theriault:

She was delivered at 35 weeks. 35, 35, yeah. How was the recovery for you? Did you have anyone who came to your home or did you go to the hospital for your postpartum care? What did that look like?

Oriana Teeple:

No, I didn't have anyone coming to home. I saw a really big difference between the natural birth and the C-section in a hospital, because there was another mom there and on the next day she was up and running. I was in so much pain it was really hard to move even from the bed and I remember thinking like I want to be like that lady from the next bed. It definitely took more time. They had a great team while I was in the hospital they sent lactation consultants, so they just sent that to everyone. But once she saw that we don't have a problem with that, she, you know, just left saying hey, if, if you, you know, if you need my help, just call.

Oriana Teeple:

But I believe it's just, it's just experience, because it was the second baby, so I managed that fine. The nurse helping would like to move you from the birth, start, you know, walking around, help you with a fresh shower and everything, and then, before going home, they sent a technician that does. I have no idea what that machine was, but it's a massage for all your like abdominal part of the body that's supposed to help you with healing. So was that done at the hospital? Yeah, that was at the hospital, but then nobody comes home, so I was just going back to the clinic that I was visiting while pregnant.

Stephanie Theriault:

I want to go back to the machine that does the massage on your belly, because I haven't heard of that before. What did it look like?

Oriana Teeple:

It looked like a record player, a rectangular machine, and I believe that that technician has one hand on like a metal stick I want to say that's connected to it and one hand in a glove on your belly.

Stephanie Theriault:

Okay, and then it was massaging your belly, not near your incision, just your belly.

Oriana Teeple:

That's just the belly.

Stephanie Theriault:

I'm going to have to look that up. I'm curious. I'm sorry to have to look that up. I'm curious.

Oriana Teeple:

I'm sorry, I couldn't describe it anymore. It just came to my mind like hey, they actually come to massage.

Stephanie Theriault:

Was it like uncomfortable or painful, or at all, or nice?

Oriana Teeple:

It was nice, but I couldn't feel anything. I feel like maybe it had some currents, you know going through when I think about it, but it was definitely not painful. The other difference was that the nurses and doctors were very attentive, and I just want them to leave me in peace.

Oriana Teeple:

But they kept coming and checking. Again, I shared the room so they were checking, you know, on two moms and two babies, so that was a lot. I was just. I was the room, so they were checking, you know, on two moms and two babies, so that was a lot. I was just, I was tired of that. I know, they were just doing their job.

Stephanie Theriault:

How about your husband? Was he able to take some time off from work?

Oriana Teeple:

Yes, he was able to take 21 days and that was from the time when we were like back home, so that's nice that it counted from that day. Again, it was so cold so he was able to visit, but had to like schedule, kind of schedule that my son couldn't come. They didn't allow kids at all, even postpartum. But thankfully thankfully that we were there only two days after two days we, so he didn't wait a long time for his baby sister. Again, I'm thankful for friends who stay with him. One of them was that friend that's a midwife that lived like five minutes away from the hospital, and another one is my husband's friend, ian Thank you, you're the best uncle who also stayed with him, while my husband Because I think about it I was in the hospital for a month.

Oriana Teeple:

Our house was half an hour drive, uh, from it and then my husband had to juggle work and taking care of our kiddo too. So friends help and um, again he couldn't visit us. They did it once on mother's day. My husband just took my son and silently moved around the hospital and brought him to my room. It was just me there at the time, I didn't have any roommates, so it was really nice. We had lunch together there, but unfortunately the hospital staff didn't like that.

Stephanie Theriault:

They weren't too happy. No, they weren't too happy?

Oriana Teeple:

No, they weren't too happy, but at least I got to see my son and I think after that my husband dropped him off at my parents for some time.

Stephanie Theriault:

It was worth it right.

Oriana Teeple:

Yes, it was worth it and it was really nice that he got those 21 days.

Stephanie Theriault:

I think now it's up to three months okay that's changed at his work, which is just great what advice would you give to women who find themselves in a unfamiliar country and doesn't have family around somebody who's was in a similar situation to you, where you know there was a complication? What advice would you give them if they find themselves in a similar situation?

Oriana Teeple:

I think, first of all to have open mind, because my experience shows, I think, pretty well that birds can go either way, all those different ways. Go either way, all those different ways, and you just have to have open mind because you can plan it to the smallest detail. And we like to say that you can have a bird plan, but baby has your own bird plan too. So just have an open mind that it can go totally different than whatever plan you have in your head and educate yourself. So if you're in a different country, different place, that the whole procedure, how they, how they care about a pregnant woman, how the the birth experience could be in the postpartum just educate yourself, ask questions.

Oriana Teeple:

I always like to join facebook groups of the place where I live. This way you can get connected to the people that live in the same, in the same place and make sure their experience, their advices, they can share resources, so you know what to expect, what you can ask for, what is other people's experience, what they recommend. And then, if you're away from the family, friends are the people that you have to count on. So just say build your little village because you're gonna need them. Don't be afraid to ask because quite often there might be in a similar situation to you know, also away from the family.

Oriana Teeple:

So they definitely understand that's that's important because, yes, you and your partner are, are the family for them, for the new born baby. But it's nice to have a little home, even if it's, you know, just to vent about your experience or your feelings have you thought about potentially?

Stephanie Theriault:

is there a baby number three coming up? Are you completely satisfied with the two that you have?

Oriana Teeple:

no, we're done. No, I think we're done. We know we were. We're not thinking about um more kiddos now. We are both focused really on like raising the ones that we have, giving them our best and, just you know, improve ourselves.

Stephanie Theriault:

Enjoying life. Well, thank you so much for sitting down and chatting with me and sharing your experiences and being open and vulnerable so that other women can learn and heal and grow.

Oriana Teeple:

Thank you. Thank you for having me. I always love to share my stories and I love to hear it from other women and I love what you're doing in a podcast, because I think there are so many either taboos or things that we don't talk about, about the whole pregnancy, given birth, postpartum experience. So the more we share, the better prepared the next month.

Stephanie Theriault:

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