21. Whooping Cough, Advocacy & Birth Education... Oh My!
Life Update! Well this is a mini update anyway.
Life has certainly had its ups and downs lately but nonetheless, I try to stay upbeat and positive because why not?! Nobody gets ahead in life by being miserable about their circumstances, it matters what lens you view it through.
Overview of this episode:
Luke and Leia having whooping cough, pneumonia, and a few other things 🤦♀️
Me following my intuition and advocating for my babies
The release of my AMAZING online birth education course
How life can be hard but some obstacles are meant to be there so you can remember what matters most to you
The journey of motherhood is a great one even though it doesn't always feel like it. It can take us to places we never expected and it can be a great thing. Sometimes we have lessons to learn and going through the trenches can be the only way to learn them! 😉 I'm right there in the trenches with you, we got this!
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Transcript:
I want you to get ready to embark on a transformative journey where there's no more suffering in silence, no more conforming to outdated societal norms. This is the podcast where we dare to crush those societal expectations and embrace the realities of pregnancy and parenthood. With one honest conversation at a time, it's time for us to rise above the shadows and ignite a movement towards a happier, more fulfilled world for every parent and child.
If that's you and you're ready to challenge the status quo and embark on this incredible journey with me, then I'd like to welcome you to the birth junkie podcast.
Welcome back to my neck of the woods in the Birth Junkie podcast. So I have to preface this episode with I'm pretty sure I'm sick. Um, all the kids have been sick. So if my voice sounds a little funky, I have coffee over here. Some hot coffee to help, but you know, it might not always help. So if I pause to take a drink.
You know what?
Okay. So, I just kind of wanted to do a few things here. So, I have been going back and forth with these poor kids that have been sick. And one of the things that I have Really had to focus on or come back to as a mom is advocacy. And I know I've talked about this in a previous episode and I've kind of sprinkled this throughout episodes that I've talked with guests on.
Um, But advocacy in, you know, pregnancy is really important, of course, but once you have your kids, you actually don't stop advocating, because, you know, not only could you be having to advocate for yourself, But now, because your kids don't have, you know, their own voice yet, especially depending on how young they are, you have to be their advocate.
And I've had to do this a lot in the past. Let's see, it's been, we're going on almost six weeks now. So, I'll start from the beginning. My, let's see, I think it was Leia, so Leia's three. She started coughing and, you know, it was like a very deep cough and, you know, it's change of season, so we thought it was just allergies.
And then Luke started with a cough and he's one, you know, and we're like, okay, well, you know, it's got to be the allergies and, you know, I have allergies pretty bad, um, especially when it's like windy and flowers are blooming and all that stuff. So, Uh, we just chalked it up to that. And then, you know, we're coming up on week two and then week three.
And I was like, you know what? This feels like it's more than just allergies, like just the way that they sound and the way that they are just there. They weren't be, I mean, they still were like happy and jumping around and you know, all that good stuff, but they just didn't seem like their true selves. So.
You know, I was like, it's more, there's something more going on that I can't see, you know, their body is. taking on something and it's fighting it. And so I ended up in which, you know, I don't hate doctors. Not, I mean, that's a strong word, but I just have had very bad experiences with doctors and not feeling heard, um, and not feeling like my choice or voice mattered when deciding things only myself, but for my children.
Um, so I'm always reluctant to go unless I actually feel like A medical intervention is needed, such as antibiotics, or, you know, something to that effect, something stronger. So, I made an appointment to go, and, uh, I took Luke because, first, uh, because he sounded the worst. Like, his cough was super deep, and you could hear his breathing with every breath he took.
It sounded like this rattling, just this horrible, wet rattling. Every breath he took and it sounded horrible. So anyways, I took him first and the doctor's like, oh, it's just allergies and Here's citrazine, which is an allergy medication. Just give it to him and he'll be fine. And You know, I would ask questions to them and you know, ask what are the side effects?
What would this actually help and you know, how long would they need to be on this? Would it you know need to be a lifetime thing? Like what are your expectations for this medication for him? Um, because I don't like it when they just throw the medication at me and they're like, okay, take this. Goodbye.
And I'm like, okay, like that was not helpful. Um, and so anyways, you know, she was saying, you know, this, it just depends, you know, you could try it and see if it works. Uh, we'll try a week and then, you know, you can come back in. And I was just like, I, that didn't sit well with me. So, you know, I agreed and just left.
And I, of course, I always research what the medication is and, um, the effects on the baby. And to me, it was not, um, worth it to even try, especially because I felt like it was more than just allergies. So I did not even go pick up the prescription from the pharmacy. I just left it and then took Leia to the doctor.
And, you know, it was the same thing. Allergies, citrusine, and goodbye. So, I didn't get the medication at all. I did not get the allergy medication. I decided against it because I did not feel like it was allergies. And I did not want to just throw spaghetti at the wall. You know, these are my children. These are real bodies.
This is their health. And I don't want to mess up their natural biology for fighting off you know, a disease or sickness because I'm throwing this medication that their body now has to metabolize. So I decided against it. And, you know, it was like another week and they were like, Oh, bring him back in, you know, we'll check for something else.
And because I told them it's more than just allergies. I feel it. Like I know it's more than just allergies. And so they, you know, reluctantly agreed. And we went in there and, um, I took Luke again first. And they. Were just like I'm really sure it's allergies and I told them I'm really sure it's not. You know, I know my child I'm with my child 24 7.
I know them and this is not just allergies. I know allergies I've had allergies my entire life like this is more and they said well, you know, sometimes allergies just present themselves different in children and They can have different reactions and I said, I totally understand that but I know my kids and I just have this gut feeling That's something's, there's something more and, um, they said, well, I don't know what to tell you and I said, I want you to test them for, um, whooping cough and, um, because I actually had whooping cough when I was pregnant with Leah, um, because my poor little nephew, he had whooping cough when he was three months old and I actually had watched him, um, And we didn't know it was whooping cough that he had at the time.
And I was pregnant and, um, I contracted it as well. Um, so I knew the symptoms. I knew, I knew the symptoms. I knew, you know, kind of what it was about. And to me, this felt like the same thing. And of course, there's a million and one things out there. So we never 100% know, but this is what I felt like it was.
So anyways, I had them test him for whooping cough, which is also known as pertussis. Leia, you know, same thing. I brought her into the doctor and they're like, oh, you didn't start citrusine. And I was like, no, I'm not going to because I don't feel like it's allergies. I feel like it's more. And, um, I told them, you know, the other doctor, uh, tested Luke for pertussis.
So, you know, maybe you can test her for pertussis too. And they're like, I don't think it is. So they wouldn't test her. And, um, they were like, let's just see if Brothers comes back positive. And then. We'll see, we'll take it from there. And I was like, okay. And at this point I was just annoyed. I wanted to get out of there.
We had already been there for two hours because you know, every time we go, it takes us were there for two hours to three hours and it sucks. So by the time the doctor gets there, I'm done. You know, I've already been having the kids with me. They're, they hate being at the doctor. You know, they're all over the place.
They just want to play. And then they start getting You know, they're tired of being there. So they're crying, they're upset, they're hungry, even though I always bring snacks and water and whatever, little toys, but they're done. They don't want to be there anymore. Um, so anyways, by the time the doctor gets there, I'm done.
And then, you know, when we're even in the office, by the time the doctor does come into the room, she's there for, you know, we've already been there an hour and a half, and she's in and out of our room within five minutes. If that, if that, it's insane. So, um, I was just like, let's get out of here, you know?
Um, and so I would call every day after, after Luke's, uh, pertussis test to be like, Hey, we get the results. Oh, Oh, I forgot. I forgot. They ordered an X ray for Leah because her lungs were sounding really bad at that point. Um, so. They didn't want to do the pertussis test, but they, she said, let's try an x ray.
Let's take a look at her lungs. So, I'm sorry, let me go back. And then, so, after that appointment, we actually left right away to go to get her x ray, um, because she sounded bad too. Like, with every breath, you could hear the rattling and squeaking, uh, noises that are coming from her lungs. So, We did the x ray, which was actually really fast.
We were in and out of there within like, 10 minutes, and which was super nice, and everybody was super nice, and, um, Anyways, so after that, then I would call every day, every single day, to try to get the results of the x ray and the pertussis test. Um, and you want to know how long it took before we got results for either test?
One week, one freaking week. Now when we went and got the x ray, the guy told us, the technician, he said, okay, the doctor should have the results within a few hours. So you should be able to have the results the next day. I was like, okay, cool. Um.
Um, so, you know, I was calling, and I'm not bugaboo mom, because I want to make sure my children are getting the proper treatment, and especially because they were not sleeping through the night like they were waking up coughing, crying, and just miserable. And I knew that they needed something more. And, you know, when you go through the doctor, you have to go through the quote unquote proper channels, get this test, get that test, and then, you know, we'll make a plan of action, then you have to make an appointment, and then we'll make a plan of action, and then you can come back, and then we can do blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, so, you know, it takes a while, um, so, it, it took a week to get the x ray, Results and she was like, Hmm, it kind of looks like pneumonia.
Um, there is some swelling in there. I'm not sure. And I was just like, Oh my gosh, these people are freaking idiots. So annoyed because I'm like, Oh, I felt like a crazy person. Cause you know, the kids are sick. And on top of all that. You know, I mean, I'm still working. I'm still working these overnight graveyard 12 hour shifts, and it's exhausting.
I'm still working on my doula business. I'm working on, like, I've been working on my, uh, birth education course. So... It's a lot, it's a lot, and I'm still doing in person stuff with my doula clients, you know, I'm doing in person birth education, I'm doing, you know, consults and prenatals, and I'm pulled in so many directions, and that doesn't even include, like, the typical everyday house stuff, you know, that doesn't include You Cooking, cleaning, and, you know, making sure the kids don't have too much screen time, making sure the kids get outside to play, and making sure that we're having quality time.
And, you know, there's so many different aspects to life in general, and it's hard. to try to balance or integrate everything, especially when you have sick kids and you have a provider that you're reluctant to go to in the first place and then they are dismissing all of your claims making you feel like you're an idiot and trying to back you into a corner or you feel like you're being backed into a corner anyway.
Before Luke's, um, pertussis, tests came back. We had had another appointment and I was like, look, I just need the results. We need a plan of action. And so I brought both the kids in and the doctor listened to both of their lungs. And she's like, okay, I really think it's pneumonia. And I was like, oh my gosh.
Okay. So anyways, they decided that they had bacterial pneumonia. So with bacterial pneumonia, they suggest that you take antibiotics. So I reluctantly agreed. I try not to give them antibiotics ever. Um, because I don't want them to build a resistance to it when they actually need it and. Side note, the, since Luke has his, um, renal reflux, so his kidneys, I don't know if I've even talked about this on here, but both of his kidneys have reflux, so what that means is his kidneys, the urine backs up, so it doesn't completely drain, it backs up, which, you know, is not a good thing, it's supposed to go the other way, um, so, One of the things the doctor suggested that he do for this so that he doesn't get another urinary tract infection.
That's how we first found this. He got a urinary tract infection when he was 10 weeks old. So maybe I'll dive deeper into this later. So they suggested he take antibiotics from then until the rest of time, I'm guessing. I don't even know. They've never specified. And I was.
And I did for like a week, but I decided, why am I doing this? Like he's going to be taking antibiotics for the rest of his life. No, that's not good for him. So I stopped and I said, you know what? I'm going to take care of him to the best of my ability. And, you know, we're just going to put our faith in the fact that he'll be fine.
Because I don't want him to be on antibiotics every single day for the rest of his life, unless it's absolutely necessary. But I don't feel like it is. Anyways, so, um. That was just a side note. I only give them antibiotics if I feel like they truly, truly need it because I don't want them to build up that resistance to them if they actually need it.
And so anyways, we started the amoxicillin for actually both of them, which that's the antibiotic that they prescribed for their bacterial pneumonia that they had. So started them on that and um, day six of Luke taking it, he was the first one to start, I got the call from the doctor. Saying his pertussis test came back positive.
So he does have whooping cough. So I'm like, okay, and During this time he had developed like also these little bumps and then he was always like grabbing at his mouth And I was like, what is going on? Like there's so many things happening right now. I don't even know what to do. You know, except for follow my intuition as best I can.
And so, you know, they called. And so, anyway, I made an appointment, um, to take them in. Well, no, okay. I made an appointment before the positive test for him, and so they had actually said that they thought he had hand, foot, and mouth disease. Oh my gosh. I'm like, okay, this is great. Oh, man. After that diagnosis, I was like, okay.
Well, they obviously both have it, because I had noticed red sores in the top, in the roofs of their mouth, and the back of their throat, as well as little bumps on like, Their, their arms and, um, leg area. Now, I googled what hand, foot, and mouth disease looks like. It, it doesn't look anything like the pictures that I saw on there, what they have.
But, that's, that's what they said they have, and, you know, I mean, I, I guess, I guess they all get it in different ways, but. Oh, and we had also gotten a diagnosis before the hand, foot, and mouth of strep throat. So, I'm just like, oh my gosh, what is it? Like, what? Can we decide? Can we do a test? I don't know. It seemed like they were just trying to throw spaghetti at a wall and see what stuck, because, oh my gosh, so many diagnoses.
So, anyways, okay, going back to, he tested positive for pertussis, and At this point, I was pissed because I was like, it took a whole week, a whole week and six days of him being on this unnecessary antibiotic because it was whooping cough. I'm thinking, not pneumonia, or maybe it was whooping cough and turned into pneumonia, because that can happen.
So... And at, okay, so by this point, where we're finding out that it's whooping cough, we are six weeks, oh no, I'm sorry, five weeks into them coughing and being sick, and so I'm just like, exhausted. To be honest, I'm exhausted. And so yeah, they said it was whooping cough. And then I was like, you know what? I'm, I'm just going to take them to the ER.
I'm just going to go make sure they get a full respiratory panel done. Cause my mom's a respiratory therapist and she had suggested it. And I just wanted to make sure all the bases were covered because I feel like they were throwing us so many different diagnosis that I was like, do they even know what they're talking?
You know, but this point just because I just felt like I was at a loss. And so anyways, I ended up taking them to the ER and you know, they took them in actually right away. This is the quickest ER visit I've ever had, which I was so grateful for because I took both little ones with me. And was by myself with them.
So I was like, please, please be good. Um, so anyways, we got there and like the ER, they did all the tests and they said like, they still have, you know, a lot of like inflammation and stuff in their chest. Um, but they felt like it was the whooping cough and they definitely had hand, foot and mouth disease.
Um, and they could have had pneumonia because of the, Whooping cough. So they did have all of these things and I did feel, you know, like more comfortable and confident with that diagnosis after going to the hospital because when I was talking to the doctors, they were like, I don't know, or like, they just Felt very unsure and they, they weren't looking at my kid's body as a whole, they were just kind of like pinpointing things and you know, and I, I realize that like a doctor is not a know all, be all, they're human too.
I understand that. But. You know, instead of just being like, hmm, huh, I don't know, I felt like it would have been more beneficial for me if they would have just been like, you know, I'm not sure, let me find out, or let me talk to my colleague, or how about we do this, but it was never that, it was like, hmm, no, it's not this, or, hmm, uh, I just, I don't, I don't, and I was like, okay.
Like, how do you have confidence in somebody that is not willing to do some, do some research or dive a little deeper into it for you? How? And if they're just going to sit there and act like they know it all, or be like, I don't know, or say they do know. But not seem sure of themselves, that doesn't give me confidence in them.
You know what I mean? And, you know, like I said, I don't try to put, I don't put all of that onto the doctors. I really try not to because I'm the parent, you know, overall, I'm the parent. And I know my kids better than anybody does. And that's, that's one of the big reasons why I continued to advocate for them to figure out what was happening.
Because It just didn't sit right with me and, you know, of course, I try to stay away from the medical model, but I'm not opposed to use it if I feel like it's going to give me peace of mind or, you know, it's going to be beneficial for my babies. And also, um, when we did go to the hospital, they did prescribe a nebulizer, which is like an albuterol aerosol.
Um. It's to help, you know, open up the airways just because there's so much swelling, especially in Luke's lungs. And he does have a little issues with, like, breathing fully and sometimes he breathes a little fast because he's trying to breathe well. And, you know, when you have swelling in those airways, your airways are like...
Tubes, so if there's swelling in them, those tubes become smaller, so then it's harder to breathe. So, anyway. We're going to try that. We haven't tried it yet. We tried the albuterol inhaler, um, but it's hard to do an inhaler on a baby without them trying to run away from you. So we are going to try the nebulizer and we'll see if it helps him.
But you know, in the meantime, we're just dealing with this. And then yesterday, so today is actually Wednesday when I'm recording this, I'm so behind. Like, on my business stuff, like I normally have an episode recorded like a week in advance at least, but this has been a crazy week and I've had to cancel like some interviews, podcast interviews that I had, um, which I feel really bad about having to postpone, but you know, your family comes first.
And. Yeah, I'm just taking it as it comes and I'm trying to really give myself grace because it's a lot, it's a lot to be a parent and to be the one that's responsible for making sure that your children are getting the best care and making sure that your children are heard when they don't necessarily have that big voice yet.
And so. Like I said, that's one of the things I wanted to talk about. Of course, I went in depth about it, but advocacy, advocacy is so important. Like in your pregnancy, it's so important to practice that because once your babies come out, you will never stop advocating for them, especially when they're little and they don't have their big voice yet, or they don't have any voice yet.
Because nobody, nobody is going to look at your children With their best interest, like you will, nobody is, nobody, of course, they want to try to help, but you are the ultimate person who is going to advocate for them the best and the most, because they're your kids, you know, you don't, you want to see the best outcome for them, no matter what.
So, anyways. Advocacy is so important, and I urge you to practice it now, and even if you're done having kids and you're in your postpartum season, continue practicing it, because it can be hard when you're in the face of a doctor, and I'm not saying it's easy. You know, I'm here as a mom of almost 20 years, you know, my oldest is 18.
And it's taken a long time for me to, to find that voice, to advocate for them, but it's so important because if you don't, who will? And you know, I'm not saying that I'm the sole advocate for my children because obviously I have, I have a partner, I have a husband and he can do that too, but you know, he works during the week.
So I'm the one who's here. I'm the one who takes them to appointments. I'm the one that has to do all the things in that way, you know, unless he takes off work. But if I feel like I can handle it, I'm never going to ask him to take off work. But Anyways, so practice, practice, practice, practice, practice.
Like I cannot preach that enough. And, um, so another thing I wanted to talk about is advocacy and how that relates to birth. So I have created a birth education course and I have been like recording videos this past couple of weeks to, you know, put it into this course program and Oh my gosh. So since I've been recording it, it's like reminded me of why I even started this.
Because sometimes when you're in the thick of it, you're like overwhelmed, you know, beyond belief. And you kind of forget your why. And as I've been recording this course, it brought me back to my pregnancy and it brought me back to planning for my VBAC. And it reminded me that. I have a purpose, and my purpose here is to help spread the word of advocacy and Autonomy and having taking radical responsibility for your choices and, you know, your birth and postpartum because everything that you learn in birth is going to roll into your postpartum.
It doesn't stop when you give birth to your baby. It's just a new journey that begins. And I've included so much in this birth education course. It is so extensive. And since I've been recording it, I'm like, Oh my God, this is so good. Like it is so good. And it is worth like it's weight in gold. Honestly.
Like I wish that I had a laid out plan that was exactly like this when I was pregnant, because when I was pregnant, I was just searching. I was Googling and researching and reading all these articles, you know, like. I would, I did the work, like I did the footwork, like I was in it and I would research for hours, like hours, a day, every day.
And you know, it was hard because I was all over the place because I was just trying to figure it out. And so anyways, I wanted to. talk about, just, just hit on the birth education course that I've created and I've called it Sacred Birth Academy and the reason I named it that is because I feel like everything entailing birth is sacred.
This is such a sacred journey that we are blessed to go on. No two journeys will be the same. They will all be different. And the way that this childbirth course is tailored is To do that, to make sure that you are making the choices that feel right to you. Everything I say in this course or teach is to help you hone in on your personal autonomy and helping you realize that you can make informed decisions and helping you realize that you have a choice and that even though your doctor says you should, you should, you should, you should.
That doesn't mean you need to because ultimately you are the one who's able to make that choice. This course is super jam packed so it's like eight plus hours of content but all the videos are done in bite sized videos so the videos range from five minutes to about 30 minutes and every video and almost every video comes with like a pdf download or worksheet.
Um, it comes with like questions that you can ask your provider. It comes with scripts that you can practice how to be your advocate. You can, um, practice that. It helps you. I also have worksheets that will help you break down your birth biases so that you can work through them and your fears, fear clearing worksheets and meditations.
And there's So much. This is so jam packed. And right now I'm, I'm still, since I've been going through all this craziness, I was, I was going to end the sale, but I'm extending the sale into July. And instead of $297, I'm selling it for $149. So that's 50% off. And so, it's worth way more than that, to be honest.
It also comes with a Facebook group, so there will be a Facebook community. And I'm so excited about it, because I want to connect with, I want to connect with all these moms. I want to connect with you. And so we can talk about all the things that you have questions about, or dive deeper into your birth biases, or your...
birth fears or whatever it may be. Okay, so I just wanted to hit on that because I haven't talked about it much with all the craziness going on, but I just wanted to give that little like life update, I guess you could call it. Um, And yeah, because I haven't, I haven't really talked about that much on here.
So anyways, thanks for sticking around. Also do want to talk about one of my sponsors. Um, they are called This Is Needed. It's a prenatal vitamin company, but they don't just have prenatal vitamins. They have um, fertility, um, Fertility pills that help, um, with your egg quality. And they also have, um, vitamins for men.
So it's really cool. They also have it for the fourth trimester, which is postpartum. They have electrolytes. Oh my gosh, so amazing and so tasty. It, it comes in powder form and pill form, uh, for the prenatal vitamins. So you can like mix it into your oatmeal if you need to, if you can't. handle taking pills because I know a lot of times prenatals can like make you feel sick when you're in the first trimester or whenever.
So anyways, I just want to plug that in because if you put in birth income true, then you get 20% off. Anywho, that is all for me today. If you have any questions or just want to chat, please go ahead and hit me up on Instagram. Send me a DM. Let me know what you thought about this episode, if you kind of like to dive into my life a little bit more, or if you just enjoy keeping it to strictly birth and guess.
Alright, now if you could also leave me a review, I would love that. And when you leave a review, that actually puts the podcast at a
I would love it if you would leave a review that people text me reviews and oh my gosh it's so sweet it makes my heart so happy. Alright well anywho I will see you next time but in the meantime if you need me I am here for you. Alright until next time buh bye!
