Real Women. Real Experiences. – Brynn H
Q: Tell me about yourself. Where are you from? How many kids do you have?A: My name is Brynn H - I’m from Alton, Illinois and currently reside in O’fallon, Missouri with my boyfriend Josh, and my daughter Zaviah. I currently am into all things pilates, organizing, interior design and basically anything that has to do with spending time with my family. I’m a coffee and animal lover!
Q: How was your pregnancy? The good? The bad?
A: My pregnancy was truly an amazing experience for me. Most of that had to do with having a very supportive and encouraging partner that was there with me every step of the way. My pregnancy had its challenges, when I got pregnant, I was living with my 2 best friends Alyssa and Kelsey. I had actually just moved in with them to have the best senior year ever and finish college with a bang. As I was finishing college, I was super stressed about where Josh and I were going to live, and how we were going to juggle everything with a baby. He played college football, had his own place on campus and we didn’t know where to go from there. So, we started looking at houses, finally found and bought a house after 7 offers. I graduated college, we both got amazing jobs, and then I had my daughter. God works in the best ways.
Q: How was your labor and delivery? Did you birth at home? Hospital? C-section?
A: My labor was a great experience and definitely kept me on my toes. I had hospital birth and delivered vaginally. I was set to go in for an induction on 9/21/22, and on 9/20/22 after having ice cream with family I went home and started cramping. I just thought I had gas, truthfully. Haha! I woke up at 1 AM and started having contractions 2 minutes apart, so Josh drove me to the hospital. We went to OBtriage and I was only dilated to a 1! I was SO shocked, and was in so much pain. They wouldn’t send me up into a room until my doctor got ahold of them and said take her upstairs, that was a huge relief because the nurse almost wanted to send me home! I went upstairs and immediately got an epidural while dilated to a 1. As soon as they gave me the medicine I dilated to a 5. It wasn’t until 8:45 PM until I had Zaviah, so I had about an 18 hour labor. It was a very smooth process, though. Near the end my epidural started to wear off, my back was hurting so bad from the injection of the epidural because the doctor hit a vein. Finally got that under control and had my sweet baby. The actual delivery itself was magical and I would do it a million times over. I pushed for 20 minutes and she was out!
Q: Describe your postpartum experience. Did you experience postpartum depression? Postpartum anxiety? Postpartum rage? Were you aware of these things postpartum?
A: Postpartum honestly hit me like a ton of bricks. I was not prepared for what was coming. The recovery itself was so hard for me, I’m 3 months postpartum and just now fully recovered. Not only that, the mental games my mind played was very frustrating. I would say I delt with and still deal with a mix of the depression/rage/anxiety. I call it more of a funk. I have good days and I have bad days.
Q: Did you breastfeed? If so, how did that go for you? If it was challenging, what were your challenges?
A: I did breastfeed for about a month after Zaviah was born. Truly, I wish I would have done it longer. After giving birth I went through a lot mentally just trying to adjust and it was very hard for me to keep track of a healthy diet, as I wasn’t eating enough to be nourishing my baby through breast milk. I think breastfeeding is such an amazing experience and I enjoyed that time I had with my baby.
Q: Did you have any pregnancy cravings?
A: I didn’t! It’s so crazy I looked forward to the cravings but I literally had none. I mean I always wanted sno cones from bahama bucks but that’s really it. Lol
Q: What’s something you never knew about until you were pregnant?
A: I would say just the feeling of being pregnant and feeling your babies kicks, moving and just having the connection with your baby. I never knew pregnancy was anything like that until I had my experience.
Q: What was something that surprised you about your postpartum journey?
A: Something that surprised me about postpartum was how strong woman are. After I gave birth I was walking around, and making sure everything was taken care of although I just gave birth. Women can really do it all.
Q: If there was a gift to give a new mom, what would it be?
A: Honestly, a dock a tot. I literally don’t use many things. Babies truly don’t need anything but the ones that love them. I was shocked at how many things I actually don’t use.
Q: If you could give a new mom some advice what would it be?
A: My advice would be to stand strong on what you feel is right for your baby. Protect them. Opinions of others and how they raised their children can get overwhelming, I always just reassured people I knew exactly how I wanted to raise my daughter. Your child is the only thing in this world that is yours, you make the rules!