Three Birth Stories: IVF After Unexplained Infertility, Two Inductions, and Becoming a Gestational Carrier

Bryn Huntpalmer (0:04)

I think my water just broke. I felt like things really intensify.

Kate (0:08)

She was right there and she was coming.

Amanda Nelson (0:11)

It was an amazing feeling.

Kate (0:13)

I'm going to cry just thinking about it.

Amanda Nelson (0:14)

I could feel her head.

Bryn Huntpalmer (0:16)

We heard her cry.

We were squeezing hands and she was screaming.

I'm Bryn Hunt Palmer and you're listening to The Birth Hour. This podcast is designed as a safe place to come together and share childbirth stories. Stick around and join us to hear informative and empowering birth journeys from all over the world.

I'd like to take a minute to talk about this episode's sponsor, Aeroflow Breast Pumps. Did you know that breast pumps and milk storage bags, maternity compression garments, even lactation education and support can all be covered by your insurance? Aeroflow helps millions of parents unlock these breastfeeding and postpartum essentials by working directly with your insurance company to get these free essentials shipped straight to your door. Aeroflow offers all major pump brands including Medella, Spectra, Motif, Lansino, Amita, Elvie, Willow, and more. Visit aeroflowbreastpumps.com/birthhour to fill out their free and easy qualify through insurance form. Don't forget to use the promo code birthhour15 in their online shop for 15% off all supplies and accessories. If you've got enough on your plate, why not let Aeroflow Breast Pumps help support you on your breastfeeding journey.

At the end of this episode, I talked with Kate, not only about getting her breast pump for free through Aeroflow, but also about taking advantage of their online lactation classes. So stay tuned for that conversation. Before we get to today's birth story, I wanna talk a little bit about our online childbirth course. It's called Know Your Options, and this is the course you've been looking for if you just have that gut feeling that you know you should be taking a childbirth course, but maybe the one that's being offered to you by your care provider is not exactly what you're looking for. It might be more catered towards the type of birth they want you to have versus making you informed of all your different options and how to address different things that happen in birth, because as this podcast has shown us, birth is very unpredictable. So we would love to have you check out our 12 module course. You can go to thebirthhour.com/course to see detailed outlines of what is included in the course. You will also get a bonus course called Beyond the First Latch that is an additional six modules all about pumping, feeding your baby, going back to paid work if that's part of your plan. And we have a special coupon code for you. It's 1000FF for $100 off enrollment. Again, that's the birthhour.com/course. Another great way to connect with the Birth Hour community and with me is via Patreon. You can get information about that at patreon.com/birthhour, and you get access to our private Facebook group there as well as all the archived episodes. That's, I think, over 900 episodes at this point that are not in the main podcast feed that you get access to via Patreon. And last but not least, I just want to remind everyone that my book, The Birth Hour, is launching in October, and right now we have a pre-order bonus going on. You get almost $300 worth of goodies just for buying the book during pre-order, and it's a really easy form you fill out to collect those bonuses once you purchase. All of the information is at thebirthhour.com/books, and this is a book all of birth stories, so I hope you guys enjoy it as much as you enjoy the podcast. All right, let's get to today's episode. Today's first story guest is Amanda, and she has three stories to share. Her first were IVF pregnancies after unexplained infertility, and then she went on to be a gestational carrier, and she shares that experience as well. All right, let's hear from Amanda. Hi, Amanda. Welcome to The Birth Hour. Thanks for coming on the podcast.

Amanda Nelson (3:41)

Thanks, Brynn. It's so nice to be here.

Bryn Huntpalmer (3:43)

Yeah, of course. I'm excited to get to your stories, but before we do that, can you tell listeners a little bit about you and your family?

Amanda Nelson (3:49)

Yeah, absolutely. My name is Amanda Nelson.

I live in Chicago, Illinois, with my husband Matt and our two boys, Elliot, who's seven, and Jonah, who's four.

Bryn Huntpalmer (4:00)

All right. Well, where do you want to start as far as your first pregnancy birth story?

Amanda Nelson (4:07)

Yeah, I'll go ahead and start with Elliot, and then talk about Elliot's birth, Jonah's birth, and then I was a gestational carrier last year, so I'm going to share that story as well.