119 | Birthing in Light, Hope & Honesty - Alyestal Thomas

We first met Alyestal Thomas when she shared her first birth story with us (Ep. 19 |The Power Within) and were delighted when she reached out to share her second.This pregnancy would bring both mental and physical challenges for Alyestal to navigate. Her anemia had brought on intense exhaustion that would require continuous monitoring throughout her pregnancy. And while at times she would feel she had strong management of that, her mental health suffered quite a bit. Her prenatal anxiety was rising, with panic attacks about 4 to 5 times a week. She knew to be in a space to birth her baby the way she wanted to; she had to confront this challenge and be honest about it. So when she connected with her midwives, she was open with them about how she was feeling about her pregnancy. They were able to connect her with a therapist to unpack her feelings and fear. Therapy affirmed the challenges of being pregnant during a pandemic paired with not always having her husband present when she needed his support and advocacy. And that she was allowed the space to grieve missing and losing expectations that she had for this pregnancy.Through that heart work, she gained clarity about staying centered in her strengths and weaknesses when birthing her children. Alyestal knew that her original birth plan of laboring at home as long as possible and arriving at the hospital when ready would not be the best choice under the COVID restrictions. Having a home birth would benefit her best, and she began preparing her home and support team for that shift.With her first birth, Alyestal experienced a TV-worthy breaking of her waters. A concern she had this time around is that this wouldn't be the case, and she wouldn't know when she was in labor. However, a week before her daughter was due; she had another TV-worthy breaking of her waters. COntractions were a bit inconsistent, but she reached out to her midwives to keep them informed. As labor progressed, she and her midwives decided their arrival would be best. When they arrived at 1:30 am, they did a cervical check, and Alyestal was 2cm dilated. After some discussion about the next steps, she consented to a stretch and sweep. Her midwives left and instructed her to call when she felt they were needed again. That call came at 2:30 am with the midwives arriving at 3 am - and Alyestal soon after meeting her daughter 4 mins to 5 am. When describing her birth, Alyestal expresses that "birth was everything that didn't know she wanted it to be and birth was everything she wanted it to be." Feelings that she wishes for every birthing individual to feel - a sense of comfort and ease.Ad:The Birth Story Love Letter | a unique offering that captures your personal experience.This offering is a keepsake or memento of sorts. A treasured capture of your sacred life memory. A love letter to yourself, your children born or unborn, your family and friends, community and ancestors.This offering includes; recording space to share your story, edited audio of your birth story and transcription of your birth story in both a digital and custom created hard copy. This is our oral history gift. A story that should be honored by being heard, shared, and remembered. Stories shared in this manner are for the storyteller’s personal use, they will not be shared via the BSiC podcast.