In a bustling city teeming with ambition and dreams, Alexis - an actress, dreamer, and now mother takes us on her journey into motherhood. From the grand stages of New York City to the intimate confines of a 5-story Harlem walk-up, Alexis prepares for the role of a lifetime. As she immerses herself in prenatal yoga, pores over all the books, and engages in birth classes, her transition is magnified by music, art, and deep-rooted determination. Facing an accelerated birth amid apprehensive paramedics, the ties of sisterhood bring comfort as her doula holds the fort. In the midst of chaos, Alexis gives birth at home, keeping her resilience flowing like a quiet undercurrent and a new star, baby Anita, is born. A tale of dreams, drama, and the divine journey into motherhood... This is the mesmerizing story of Alexis Field giving birth to baby Anita.
Resources:
The Business of Being Born (documentary)*
Yoga Birth Babies podcast & Prenatal Yoga Center (Manhattan & on-demand)
Sponsor links:
East River Doula Collective (find a doula, attend our free “Meet the Doulas” event)
*Disclosure: Links on this page to products are affiliate links; I will receive a small commission on any products you purchase at no additional cost to you.
Episode Topics:
Conceiving early, early pregnancy loss
Conceived Anita on a trip to Costa Rica
Friend is doula, built her confidence
Became a birth nerd – did tons of learning, prenatal yoga, birth classes, books
Hiring a doula – had trouble choosing but hired Dena Gold at 38 weeks to help husband Dan provides comfort measures and help advocate
Birth story:
Finished birth class, finished last class pass yoga class
On Nov 11 had prenatal with doula, who doesn’t think it’s going to happen soon, went over protocols for getting in touch in labor
Due date was 11/21, prepping to be pregnant for a while longer
Nesting in 5 story walkup in Harlem
Went to see a friend in a show
When they leave the show she tells Dan that she’s starting to feel done being pregnant
They hung out on their couch, didn’t go to bed as early as usual
Having trouble going to sleep, feeling period achiness, cramps
Around 2am still can’t sleep, goes to bathroom
Has some bloody show, calls Oula; they tell her to rest
Goes back to bed but can’t sleep
Things feel stronger than she expected for early labor
Goes to toilet, then vomits in bathtub
Midwife Nicole encourages her to call doula
Doula doesn’t answer
Getting in the (cleaned) tub for a bath
Started doing horse lips & vocalizing
Dan frantically packing bag
Gets really hot, gets frozen peas and frozen water bottle to cool off
Feeling urge to poop
Finding lots of rhythm to cope
Allows herself to push a little bit, fluid comes out
Doula tells her they need to go to the hospital
Alexis lets out a big scream, doula says Dan should call 911
Doula encourages her to get out of Bathtub
Goes to a rug to push on all fours
Baby starts crowning as ambulance is arriving
Paramedic wants her to get on her back; doula advocates for her
Paramedic asks for her consent to go to a hospital, Alexis says no
Midwife also advocates for her to stay put (via Facetime)
Births the baby more quickly than she wanted to because of paramedics pressure
Finding out she was a girl (they didn’t know)
Birthed the placenta in the vehicle on the way to the hospital
In the ambulance, paramedic shared with Dan some birth trauma she held from a home birth that needed to transferred
Arriving at hospital and meeting midwife
Breastfeeding was challenging, didn’t have great support in the hospital (aside from her great midwives)
Interview Transcript
Lisa: Hi, Alexis.
Alexis: Hi, Lisa. I'm so happy to be here.
Lisa: So glad to have you. Alexis took my birth class, right before she had her baby. And I loved having you in class. We'll get to chatting about that a little bit later, but go ahead and introduce yourself.
Alexis: So my name is Alexis Field. I live in New York City. I moved here in 2008 to be an actress, which is something that I have done and I'm still in the pursuit of doing and I love. and over that time I've done every other job under the sun, like matchmaking and babysitting.
I managed a baby and children's clothing boutique for five years. and now I teach baby music. So everything in my life surrounding my theatrical career has also led me down the vein of babies. And so now I am a mother and that is my proudest job yet. I'm so, so, so grateful to be at this point in my life.
And I'm so grateful to be talking to you. This is so cool.
Lisa: Ditto. And how long ago did you give birth?
Alexis: So Anita is just over 10 months old. So like about 10 months ago, she popped out of me and here we are. Her birthday is November 12th. So we're almost going to be celebrating her one year birthday.
By the way, I'm sorry it took me so long to be doing this with you, but it's kind of cool to be coming at this from this sleep deprived, you know, 10 months in perspective.
Lisa: Oh, absolutely. And that's not late because you know what I ran into one of my former clients yesterday when I was volunteering at CSA and at the end of my volunteer shift, I hear Lisa and I look over and it is someone who took my class almost eight years ago.
And we have been trying to schedule her podcast birth story sharing for three years. Oh my gosh. And she told me she's still interested. I finally was like, I'm going to lay off because maybe, maybe the moment has passed and she's not interested anymore, but she's no, I totally want to do it.
So you're not late. 10 months is nothing. Okay. Some people are like eight years later, I'm ready to share it. So I love it. And you have different perspectives at different points in time, right?
Alexis: And it's something that you never forget too, because for me, it's the most transformational, miraculous experience of my entire life. Not to talk a big game here, but it was pretty life changing. And so even eight years down the road, I'm sure I'm going to be telling some version of this story to anyone who will listen.
Lisa: Yeah, absolutely. Wonderful. And we're recording this in September. I'm not sure when this will air, but just for listeners' understanding of the timeline.
So, great. Welcome. Welcome. And I'd love for you to share, maybe after you share your birth story, we can chat about your music classes a little bit more. If you'd like to share more of that.
Journey Into Parenthood
So let's start off with sharing about your prenatal journey, or even if you wanted to share anything about the conception journey, you're welcome to do that. No pressure. What are the different ways that you prepared for the journey into parenthood? What was your pregnancy like anything, you know, physically or emotionally, to note?
Alexis: So like I said, I came to New York to be an actress and it's something that I've dreamed of doing for a very long time. And it is my major dream, but I knew that if I came into this world and I wasn't a mother, then I would have really missed my calling. and so, you know, it's, It's an interesting thing to find myself here in this place because the dream is actualized, but to backtrack and get into like that.
I met my husband in, what was it? January of 2016. I was in Florida advocating for my father. He was on life support. He's alive. He's doing well. He's living on the Upper West side. Big fan of our baby. But. It was a very rough time and I happened to meet my husband down there in that time and in 2019, he moved up here and in 2021, we got married and we both knew that we wanted to have a child together.
I mean, when we were dating, I would see him with our friends, kids, and he was just so adorable. And, I just knew that he was going to be a fabulous father. And so. We got married in October and we decided to start pretty early on to try and conceive and we were very lucky. The 1st time that we attempted, we succeeded and, but we ended up
Lisa: First time?
Alexis: It was very lucky and I don't take that for granted because I know that the conception journey can be really, really fraught for people and, You know, it's interesting, we all have our trials and tribulations in life. And thankfully, that was something that really worked out for us right at the jump.
That being said, about 6 weeks in I ended up miscarrying and I'm glad that I have the chance to talk about it here because it's something that most people don't have the opportunity to talk about and it's not something everybody says it's not something that we talk about enough. but, you know, it was difficult.
But it was something that we worked through together and we mourned that loss and well, I'm going to backtrack here. So we miscarried and I also got COVID at the exact same time. So it was like a double whammy. It was really, really tough. And so from my like miscarriage COVID bed, I said, screw all this.
Dan and I are going on a honeymoon and we booked a trip to Costa Rica and we had this fabulous, fabulous trip. But the very next time we could try to conceive it worked out again and 9 months later, we had our baby and it was pretty incredible. So in this journey of wanting to be a mom and all this kind of stuff, a dear friend of mine is a doula and mother of three, and I would have all these late night conversations with her about childbirth.
And she really set me up well, to think about this whole journey as being a really positive, beautiful experience. And so I credit her with that. And I'm so grateful. But 1 of the things that she would say is, it's the most natural thing that you could do with your body. And it's the only time in your life when you feel pain, but it's for a good reason.
And she said to me, Alexis, I know you, and I know that you can do this naturally. You're going to be such a rock star in labor. And she planted those seeds when my husband and I were just dating. And so I really do believe that mindset is such a huge part of going into this experience. And I deep down knew that, you know, like I could do this.
That being said, I definitely have my moments of doubt. So she set us up well. When we found out that we were pregnant, I was so excited and I got super nerdy about everything birth related and pregnancy related. I feel like when you're pregnant, you go through phases, or at least for me, I don't want to speak for everybody, but for me, I went through phases.
Phases of Pregnancy and Preparation
And at the very beginning of my pregnancy, I was obsessed with being pregnant. I wanted to know everything about what I was feeling and what was happening to my body. And it was more of a me centric kind of thing, for a little while. And then as pregnancy progressed, I became more interested in the things that I needed to know at that time.
At one point it became the registry and all the gear that I had to get. At another point, it became this fascination with labor and delivery, which led me to you, which I'm so grateful for. and it led me to a lot of literature. I was reading, not reading. I was listening on my AirPods to Ina May's book.
I was listening to the, natural, I believe it's called Natural Birth. It's this very generic title, but it's a fabulous book. I'll find it and we can put it in some show notes or something, but that was really great.
And I remember in that book, they went through all the stages of labor. And that was something that was really, really fascinating to me. And I realized, Oh, like a script for a show, I can understand the process a little bit and understand what I can expect so that I can kind of go through the process with ease.
And so I just devoured as much information as I could. I was taking yoga classes at the prenatal yoga center. And what was awesome about that was not only were we stretching our bodies, which was feeling very good to my very pregnant body, but in each class, they were going through techniques for labor and helping prepare you and prepare your mind for labor.
And so there were all these little nuggets and little experiences that I had that I felt led me down this path towards having this beautiful delivery. and I know that for a lot of people. It's not as easy and I know that babies come out in all different ways, but they come out and as long as they're healthy and happy, then that's really all that matters.
But it was interesting because I set up my birth plan. I was working with Oula, which, major shout out to Oula. If you're thinking about having a baby in New York City, I can't suggest them enough. They're just so wonderful. It's a practice that's all midwives and they have an office in Brooklyn and in Tribeca and you go in.
And when I tell you, they see you as a person, not a patient. They spend as much time with you as they need. When I went for my 6 week postpartum visit. They let me nurse Anita in 1 of their rooms. And when I tell you, there was a line of people waiting. They were like, take the time that you need, which I felt awful about, but it's just to demonstrate any question that you have.
And I am a person with a lot of questions. They took all the time with me. Anytime they did any kind of procedure. I mean, even so much as putting the Doppler on my belly, they were asking for consent, which was huge.
Lisa: And all too rare, right? That's called trauma informed care that everybody should be receiving. And yet most of us don't. So I love hearing that that's the kind of care you received.
Alexis: 100 percent and they made me feel so safe. They made me feel like everything was a discussion and that I was the one in the driver's seat and these were choices that I got to make. That being said, the plan was that I would deliver at Mount Sinai West, which I was excited about.
But I'm not super into hospitals. I'm not super into needles. If I could be delivering my baby in a bathtub in the forest with little angels dancing around and like a string quartet, that would be my vibe, but my husband, God love him. He's a very safety conscious person, which makes for a nice balance in our relationship.
But I think if we had our child, yeah, in the forest or in a bathtub in our apartment or something like that, he would have lost his mind, which you will find out. Or at least plan to, if I'd planned to. In actuality, it did not, he did not lose his mind. And we are still happily married. In fact, even happier because she's brought us so much joy.
Yoga Background
Lisa: Can I ask you for more details about your yoga background? And can you talk a little bit about the value that it held for you going to specifically in this time of life and just anything you'd like to share along those lines.
Alexis: Yeah, I would, I, gosh, I would love to talk about yoga all day long in the same way that I would love to talk about birth all day long and theater all day long.
So yoga came to me, came into my life when I was at Webster conservatory, and it was part of the curriculum. And for the first time in my life, my body just felt so good. It felt so luxurious to be in these poses. And, I found a deeper sense of self and a deeper connection to my breath and my being.
And on a yoga mat, it's where I've found a lot of grounding and a lot of focus. I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was a kid and, I have, I think a lot of people have a lot of voices and a lot of busyness that swirls around in their mind and, meditation practice has been something that I've had a loose relationship in my life, but yoga for me, has always been kind of a mainstay where I could really find my inner self, kind of quiet the noise.
And, I don't know, for, for me, yoga is that one place where I'm not going to look around and see what anybody else is doing because I'm just tuning into what's going on inside of me and, That, you know, led me to taking all different kinds of yoga throughout my 20s. And then, in 2016, I felt a sense of sadness about the world and I felt like I needed to do something to be a positive influence.
And so I went to Kripalu and I got my yoga teacher certification, which I've done very little with, but I did go deeper into my practice and I learned more about how to make yoga truly accessible for everyone. And so, when I was in my 3rd trimester, I decided I'm going to invest in myself and I'm going to give myself the opportunity to go to classes at PYC.
I also am a caregiver for my father and I, I think a lot of women have this quality, but I like to take care of everybody else. And so yoga is one of those ways, especially if I'm in a class and I'm on that mat, I can turn off my phone. I can shut out the world and I can just focus on me. And so that was awesome.
And those things go very well for if you're going to be an actor because it helps you really be in the moment and they also are great for birth because it's about really being in the moment and being aware of the sensation and allowing it. Allowing the sensation, just like in a yoga class. And so getting to go to PYC and learning about the body and internal rotation and external rotation and doing wall sits and thinking about a wall sit as a contraction and all of that. It was wonderful. And I felt so supported. And yeah, Deb and everybody there, they're really awesome.
Lisa: Absolutely. And if you haven't heard a different version of Alexis's birth story, you can tune into Deb at prenatal yoga center's podcast, yoga, birth babies, I'll link to it in the show notes. It's so fun.
Thank you so much for sharing all of that about yoga. I'm so glad I asked that because you shared some of some of the things that I also value on a personal level, as well as the reason that I spread the word to all of my birth class clients about please consider taking prenatal yoga because you're really connecting with your body.
It is a moving meditation. And what you said on a personal level about just all the monkeys in our head, you didn't say it that way, but that's how I say it. I have so many monkeys in my head and I have found that when I just try to sit still and do a guided meditation. I am quick to fall asleep.
And in that way, I mean, yeah, I'm relaxed. Great. But that's not really helping me in the same way that a moving meditation does, such as yoga. So really so powerful for life and for de stressing and for taking good care of yourself and going inward and, and dropping into the body in preparation for birth, especially really wonderful. So thank you, thank you for sharing that.
Alexis: Yeah, of course.
Birth Class Experience
Lisa: Are there any other things you wanted to share about your ways that you prepared for birth?
Alexis: Well, I took your class, and that was really, really awesome, and I'm so glad that I did. You know, I was emailing you, and we were, I was hemming and hawing about when to take the class, and I felt like I was a little late to the party, and I was really worried about enrolling in this class, because it's a 3 part class over weekends. And I was worried that the last weekend might be cutting it a little close to my birth, which I did. but you graciously allowed us to do the final class with a different group. So we started with the final class 1st, and then we did the final 2 classes and the last class that we did was the same week that I gave birth to our baby.
Which is crazy. So thankfully we did it that way, which was awesome. And we got to be a part of two fabulous groups of people. And I don't know, for me, that whole experience was awesome because I was such a geek about all of this birth stuff that, I got to go into your class and be like, Oh, I know the answer! I think she's going to say this.
And then you did say that. And, and then I got to ask super specific questions, because I had already done kind of like, The bigger picture work, and you were there to really help guide me. And I remember when I left the second class, which was our last class, I thanked you because when I left, I felt like I had the confidence to really go into this experience knowing that I was fully prepared.
And for me, that's huge. As an actor, you want to know your lines backwards and forwards. You want to know your intentions. You want to know that piece that you're doing so well that when you go in, you can let all of the preparation go and just be in the moment and go on the ride. And for me, that's what I was able to do with you.
And also I had to do a lot of work on my own before going into class because I don't know about you or anybody else, but I get a little bit of learning anxiety in my older years. And so, like, when I'm learning something for the first time, I can get really overwhelmed and I can get anxious about getting all the things.
And so being able to do my own work at home and then go in. I felt like I was relearning some things, but I was able to really allow things to sink in, in a deeper way. And that was really, really helpful.
Lisa: I think you more than anyone else had really studied up and knew so much coming to class.
And that is my ideal birth class student. Especially in the intensive format, because that's a lot of learning condensed into a really short amount of time, long classes, three very long classes. I have a longer six class series, to space it out for people who are able to schedule that. but, either way, it's a lot.
And so I love that you made the choice to and just had such curiosity and fascination with all of it that you had, sought out other ways and other voices because it lands differently. Even if you're hearing the same thing, it is so helpful. Like you're saying for it to process it on a deeper level, a more game changing level to hear it from different voices at different times.
In different ways, you know, so, and I, I loved your super specific questions . and it just was such a joy to have you in class because of that. And I love on the other podcast, how you talked about the dance audition and how, you just want to really know it back and forward.
And you said a different, similar thing here in a different way, but.
Alexis: Yeah, it just makes it again though, because that is my thing. Please do, because I love it! So, so here's the thing, like as an actor, you have to be a triple threat, right? You have to sing, you have to act, you have to dance. Well, Alexis moves, you know, so if I go to a dance audition, I want to know the dance before I go in. because then I'll be able to relearn that dance in the audition when the stakes are a lot higher and I'll have the confidence to really dance the thing fully and move through it. And so I feel like that's kind of what I did with Lisa's class. I learned that dance first. I did it on my own. And then I went in and really got to experience the thing fully.
Lisa: Yeah. I love that. Thank you. That just made my heart sing with my background in performing and musical theater and everything. I just was like, Oh, what a fun analogy; that's so perfect.
Alexis: And also if I never have to do another dance call again, that'd be the
Lisa: Same here, my friend, a singer. Not a dancer. I move. I love tap. I love tap. That's my, that's my favorite thing, but I'm, I'm not good at it. Even though I took nine years of dance of all kinds, I still am not a dancer.
Alexis: Yeah. So many hours at a ballet bar, you know, my ballet teacher said to me, I said, I said to him, I was like, you know, if he, if I like really, really work on this forever and ever super hard, do you think one day I could be in Fosse the musical?
And he said no. And that was the end of my dance journey. Oh, it's okay. He's a great guy. Sometimes you need a little truth in your life.
Lisa: True. Very true. The other thing that's popping into my head in terms of the benefit of coming to birth class, I'm interested to hear your take on it is a lot of people who come to my classes for those who have an involved partner that they're bringing to class with them. A lot of people are like, well, I've done all the homework. I know a lot of these things, but my partner really doesn't. So any thoughts on that?
Alexis: Absolutely. So I, you know, I don't want to out my husband, but I gave him a couple of books and he might have thumbed through a couple of pages, but I don't think he read them cover to cover.
Lisa: I don't think he shared the same enthusiasm about what was going on with my body as much as I did. often the case for partners.
Alexis: And so it was kind of like three last adorable dates together, where we got to go over to Astoria, go and get really good food, and then really invest in the time together to prepare for this.
And he did a really great job. Changing a diaper on a baby, and, you know, I definitely got pen on a baby and he did not. So that really instilled some confidence going into this experience. but yeah, it was, I mean. It was just really nice to share that experience with him and also to do some of the comforting touch for birth stuff and the partner work and to really go over those things.
I, I honestly don't think we could have, Gone over them too many times because it's just, it's different and your body is changing so much when you're pregnant. And so doing like a double hip squeeze at, you know, six months is very different than doing it at seven months is very different doing it when it's time.
And so to be able to do that instilled more confidence in him and the fact that he knew like the different parts of labor and the fact that he kind of knew how to time contractions and all of that kind of stuff instilled confidence in me and instilled confidence in him. And that was really helpful too. So it was really nice.
Finding and Hiring a Doula
Lisa: And then you hired a doula, right? Do you want to talk about the timing in which and how you found your doula?
Alexis: So I was the worst. I was like the worst, Lisa, at hiring a doula because I knew who my doula was. It was my best friend, Barri, who lives in Florida, who has three children, who is like the birth mother of the world.
And, you know, there were a lot of voices in my head saying, you know, you'll know when you find the right doula. And oh my God, when you meet your doula, it's like finding your long lost sister. And oh my God, it's going to be so meant to be. And you'll just connect. And my thing is, I love people and I can connect with a brick wall.
So I talked to a whole bunch of doulas and I was like, well, that one's great. That one's great. That one's great. That one's great. But who is my doula? You know, who's going to give just the right amount of touch. Who's going to, you know, be forceful enough. when it comes to helping Dan advocate for me and all of these things.
And so I ran it down to the wire. I was at 38 weeks when we hired my doula and I was at 38 weeks when I delivered Anita. Oh my God. But we ended up hiring Dena Gold and in retrospect, I couldn't have made a better decision. She was phenomenal. And when I was looking for a doula, the reason why I wanted a doula was because I wanted someone who can advocate for me, especially with all the time that I've spent in hospitals advocating for my father, I've learned firsthand that just because the doctor is coming in and saying something does not mean that that is the only way that things have to go.
And I knew enough about the cascade of interventions and experiences from friends of mine, it seemed like at that point that every friend of mine who had given birth, their birth kind of happened to them. And they didn't have a say really in how things went. And I didn't want that to be the case. I had a vision for my birth and I wanted to see it through.
And so the idea of hiring a doula was really to give Dan a break, you know, because I didn't know how long my labor was going to be. I didn't know what we were getting into. So to be there to support Dan by helping comfort me with physical touch and then to also help him advocate and help us make the best decisions for me at the time.
Because of course, I wanted, you know, no epidural. I wanted this whole thing to be as natural as possible, but I also wanted to prepare myself just in case things did not go that way. So Dena came on to the scene. We found her through Yiska Obadia who has a comforting touch for birth class that's really awesome. Dan and I couldn't go because that was the 2nd time in our life that we had Covid. Yes, both times I had Covid I was pregnant. Not with the same child, but yes, but we did it virtually, which was awesome. And then I spent a couple of hours on the phone with Yiska, who is just a birth doula goddess.
And oh my God, she's, she's so cool. So she had to be in Israel for my birth, you know, so she couldn't be around, but she's awesome. Yeah.
Lisa: So you were saying you had one prenatal virtually with,with Dena.
Alexis: Dena was amazing. So this is actually really important to talk about. One of the questions I was asking all of the doulas when I would meet with them was how many births have you attended?
And, when I was talking to Yiska about this, she said, you know, Alexis, I feel like I was just as strong at my 1st birth as I am now. And, You really need to just think about who you connect with. And so Dena had attended 7 births at that point. And so, because of that, she was very eager to make sure that she was doing the job to the best of her abilities.
And so part of that was before she even agreed to work with us, we did a virtual, which I would also say to people who are looking for a doula, Yes, you can give yourself decision fatigue, but I learned so much from every doula that I spoke to. Holy moly. The only reason I signed up for a birth class was because I talked to a doula and it was one of the doulas that we did not end up going with.
So, that was huge in my education and my journey. But, Dena only wanted to work with us after meeting face to face and so we went on a walk. She came and met us and I got really good vibes and still I did not commit to her because I was just a space case and worried about making the right decision.
But we met in person and that was awesome. And, Dena has a background in acupuncture and massage therapy. So that to me was a huge, huge asset. Also Brass tacks. I'm a Jew. She's a Jew. There's a shared kind of cultural understanding. And also a similar kind of curiosity and a little bit of defiance in a way that just vibed with me and Dan.
And she was incredibly, incredibly knowledgeable for someone who'd only attended seven births. She was just an encyclopedia of wisdom. And so she absolutely was a phenomenal choice for us. She's based in Sunnyside. And so we did, it's, you know, 11 months at this point, but she definitely did, an in person, like formal visit after we signed the contract with her.
And it was on the Friday before I gave birth, but that's more part of the birth story. So I'll, I'll leave that for later. Yeah. Yeah. Should we, should we just roll on into it?
Lisa: Absolutely. Go right on ahead.
Beginning of Birth Story
Alexis: So I always say like the story of our birth really started the week before our birth, because I think one of the reasons why this baby came when they did was because I, put the period on a bunch of sentences, a lot of things finished up.
So like I said, we had our last class with you the weekend before and then that Thursday I had an eight class card at PYC and I finished my last class on the card because I didn't want to go wasting yoga classes. They do not grow on trees. and then, Friday, it was like veterans day or something like that of that week and Dan had the day off from work.
So we decided to make it, like let's gear up and finish everything for this baby. And so that day, Dena came over at nine o'clock in the morning and she met with me and Dan and she helped go over more comforting touch for birth kind of stuff with him. And we went through my birth plan one final time and all of these things.
And when she left, she was like, ah, you're, you're carrying kind of high. Don't think that you'll go in early. You know, I'll probably see you after Thanksgiving. My due date was November 21st and this was November 11th. And 1 of the other things that we went over with her was the protocol for when to call. Now, in all of my studying, I read a lot about early labor.
And I did not want to be one of those people who went to the hospital too early. And I did not want to call my doula too early because I wanted her to be fresh and ready to help me when it was go time. And so, you know, Dena said to us, she was like, I have a bypass on my phone. If you think that you're experiencing some symptoms of labor and it's the middle of the night, maybe text don't call.
And I was like, I got it. I studied my birth stuff. I know what to do. I am not gonna give you a call. I'm not gonna alert you. I'm not gonna wake you up in the middle of the night. So that was clear. So anyway, she leaves and I'm like, wow. Another like two, three weeks of this. Wow. This is all right.
Let's do it. I'm ready to be pregnant for a while longer. I loved being pregnant. My hair was gorgeous. I felt so beautiful in my body. Every time I put something on, I just felt like my best self. Anyway, she leaves and Dan and I decide to tackle putting together the nursery, which is just a crib in our bedroom because we live in a one bedroom again in a five story walk up in Harlem. and so we're putting together the crib and I'm cleaning like there's no tomorrow.
I'm dusting out the corners and doing all of these things. And of course I was like, Oh my gosh, am I nesting? Hard to tell because I was really cleaning and cleaning makes me feel good. But in retrospect, I was completely nesting, that night. We decided to go see a friend in a show, down in midtown.
And in the show, there was a lot of screaming, well, not screaming, but yelling like a lot of very intense feelings. And the baby was moving around a lot and I felt this feeling of, I have a short torso and I felt this feeling of there's not enough room for us. And I was just very uncomfortable and shifting from side to side.
And we saw my friend after the show, and he was like, Oh, my God, you're so pregnant. Are you going to take a cab home? And I always remember this because I was like, no, I'm just pregnant. I'm just going to hop on the subway. I'm not going to have this baby for another few weeks. So, you know, I'm fine. I got to power through.
I'm a New York pregnant lady. So. We started leaving to walk towards the subway and I said to Dan, you know, I've really loved being pregnant, but I can understand why some women towards the end of their pregnancy say, Oh, get this baby out of me. I just, I, cause I just don't feel comfortable anymore.
So we had home and Dan was like just so wonderful when I was pregnant. He's so wonderful now as a dad to like, he was so nurturing and took such great care of me. And we're just like hanging out on our couch. Dan and I usually go to bed early, but this night we came home from the show and you can see these cute little selfies of us from the couch and we're just enjoying our life.
Labor Begins
And it gets to be about 12:30 and we say, wow, we should really go to bed now. So we go to bed. And I just can't get to sleep and I'm feeling some cramping pain and some pain in my lower back, kind of like period pain. And I'm not feeling great. And it gets to be about two o'clock in the morning. I still can't get to sleep.
So I decide to go to the bathroom. maybe I'll just go to the bathroom. I'll feel a little bit better. I go to the bathroom, I wipe and I see this light pink discharge, which I think, oh my gosh, wow, that could be my bloody show. Which means that I could be having the baby, but I'm not gonna get excited, because this would be very, very, very early labor, and bloody show can happen like even a week ahead of the pregnancy, and who even, the labor, but who even knows.
So I say, but I'm going to do the responsible thing and I'm going to call Oula up. And the midwife on call that night was a woman named Nicole. And she said basically everything that I'd said. She said, you know, get some rest. It sounds like you could be meeting your baby tomorrow and you'll want to rest up.
So I go back to bed and I just can't go to sleep. I thought, you know, Oh my gosh, if I go into labor at night, I'm just going to go back to sleep. Oh, like I'm gonna have a glass of wine. Like I thought, you know, early labor was just going to be this adorable thing where Dan and I are like flipping pancakes and watching White Lotus on TV and really like just having a grand old time at home and this was not the case.
So I'm lying in bed and I'm having Dan push on my hips on the side and I'm just not okay. I have this moment of this is early labor. Like I'm gonna, I'm going to have to go through pain even worse than this for a very, very long time. Who was I kidding? How am I going to get through this without an epidural?
Like I'm so weak. Who am I? So I end up going and sitting on the toilet. Which I read in my books is something that people like to do when they're in labor. And I'm sitting on the toilet, and it's making me feel a little bit better. And then I feel the urge to vomit, and I'm sitting on the toilet, so I can't vomit in the toilet, so I vomit into the bathtub.
And I say, you know what, Dan? We should probably call Oula again if I'm vomiting. And so I call Oula and, Nicole, the midwife says, you know, you should probably call your doula. And she says, let me, let me stay on the phone with you and listen to a contraction. And she's yeah, Alexis, it sounds like you're very much in active labor.
You should call your doula. I was like, I'm not calling my doula. I said, I wouldn't call my doula. It's too early. What if we need her like at 4 a. m. tomorrow night. I can't do it. And she says, Alexis, you're contemplating going to the hospital. It sounds like you're definitely experiencing some very strong sensations.
I would call your doula. So I say, Dan, call the doula. He calls the doula and she does not pick up. The bypass on her phone works, but she does not pick up. And at this moment, I am really in the throes of active labor, reaching transition, like already. And so I say to Dan, Dan, clean out the vomit in the tub.
I am getting in. Draw me a hot bath. I haven't had a hot bath for nine months. I'm going to have a hot bath, do or die. And I'm getting in the tub. And, our tub is actually really nice for living in the, you know, the five story brownstone in Harlem. there's actually jacuzzi jets in the tub, which was really, really nice.
I get in the tub and I am just making long, elongated sounds at this point. I am just using sound to kind of guide me through. Here I thought, you know, when I was in class and everything, I'm going to be making horse breaths for people who don't know what horse breaths sound like. They're like this. Because that was my move in yoga.
Lisa: That was so weird. I couldn't even hear it though. That was strange, it filters it out.
Alexis: Oh my gosh.
Lisa: Let me see if I can do it. Oh my gosh. Wow. Do you hear that? Oh, my goodness. It must be our fancy mics.
Alexis: Oh my gosh. I'm throwing this mic out.
Lisa: Imagine fluttering lips. The air is going through the lips.
Alexis: Yeah. You kind of sound like a horse and it kind of sounds like a cross between a raspberry and just breathing.
So I thought Oh yeah, like when I'm in labor, I'm going to be, you know, like horse breathing all over the place and it's going to be so great. And no, like what I needed was to just make a long, elongated sound on a note and not even necessarily a low note. I just needed a note. And that became my vision.
That was my mantra of sorts. that was what I could focus on instead of the sensation and that kept me that kept my face and my throat open, open throat, open vagina, as they like to say. And here I am in the bathtub and things are ramping up and Dan is starting to time contractions and contractions are crazy.
I think he said that there were like 16 in the course of an hour and they were all over the place. And this was just what I thought labor was. I thought wow, this just must be active labor. And so I'm in the tub. I'm starting to have these contractions very quickly. Dan goes from timing contractions to just running around in his underwear around our apartment.
And I was like, what are you doing? You're not even timing my contractions anymore. He was packing his hospital bag. So if your husband hasn't packed the hospital bag at 36 weeks, do it.
Lisa: Yes, yes, yes. listen to Alexis.
Alexis: Yes. and honestly, like next time, I think at 30 weeks, we're going to have all of this stuff on lockdown. But anyway, so Dan's running around in underwear, you know, just very frantic. I'm like, another one started and he's nowhere to be found. And I'm like, okay, I guess I'm birthing this baby by myself in my bathtub. Then I start getting really hot, which I heard that like, when you're going through transition and stuff like that, you could be having hot flashes and things like that.
I thought it was because of the bath water. And in my head, I was like, Oh, my God, I'm so hot. If I go to the hospital and they take my temperature, they're going to think that I'm running a fever. They're going to give me an epidural. They're going to do all these interventions. So I say, quick, Dan, get me some ice.
And so he runs to the freezer. He brings me a bag of peas. They put the bag of peas on my head. He brings me a water bottle, which we never put like water and water bottles and freeze them anymore. I used to do that in my twenties, but I, I don't know, somebody did that. And thankfully that was there.
And I have the bag of peas on my head, I'm in the hot water bubbling, and I've got this ice water bottle in my hand, and as the contractions are getting more and more intense, I'm just focusing on this ice on my hand, because in Lisa's class, we did the ice challenge, where we hold onto the ice cube, and I thought, what if I just think about my hand against this ice instead of these contractions right now?
And that really worked. I know that that was just to prepare you for contractions, but actually in the contractions, I could focus on my hand against this bottle. It was really about what can I focus on as that wave comes up.
Lisa: Brain distraction. huh. Yeah. Yeah. That's a first. I don't think I've ever had anybody say that they tried the ice exercise during labor.
Alexis: During. I mean, it was like. All distractions on deck was really the name of the game at that point, because at that point I was full on in transition. And so, I say to Dan at this point, I'm like, Dan, call the doula again, tell her I am in active, active labor, which is a new level of labor.
Doula Arrives
It's active, active labor. And he gets through to her finally, and oh my God, lickety split. She lives in Sunnyside. She was at her apartment within 30 minutes. She gets up the stairs. I think Dan met her in his underwear again, no time for pants. They come upstairs and while he's going to get her, I remember feeling this feeling of, oh my God, I think I could poop.
And I thought, oh my God, I feel like pooping. That's a stage of labor. This is very good. And I thought to myself, wow, Alexis, you've been constipated for four days now, you know, the worst thing that could happen is you could finally poop and feel a little bit better, but it's probably not poop.
It's probably a baby. And so, I haven't mentioned it yet, but a lot of the sensations I was feeling, I was having back labor, like low back pain, which I remember in class you said that you had back labor too. Very not pleasant. but this whole thing was doable. Here I am going through transition by myself in a bathtub and I'm okay. I'm really okay. I'm, I'm doing it. So anyway,
Lisa: Hydrotherapy makes a huge difference, right? And all the different coping things you were doing, but the hydrotherapy can be so powerful.
Alexis: All the different things. And also Oh, this reminds me. Remember in class when you were on the ball and you said that at a certain point in between contractions, you're no longer really clear headed and rhythm becomes really big.
So in between contractions, I'm still making sound and it's in rhythm and I'm just. I'm, I can't really focus on other people at that point in time. And so I feel that urge to poop and I lift up my left leg and I hook my arm underneath my knee. Like I'm in like a sideways happy baby pose and I just allow myself to push a little bit.
Some fluid goes into the bathtub. This fluid becomes a theme because my husband gets really freaked out by this fluid because safety 1st. So he comes upstairs with the doula. The doula, being as kind and wonderful as possible, says to me in her very calming voice, Alexis, we need to get you out of this bathtub and we need to get you down these five flights of stairs and we need to go to the hospital now.
And I was like, no, no, no, no, no, I am not going to the hospital. I'm not getting out of this tub. This baby is here. I am having this baby right now. And she says, I know. You think that you're in, you know, the pushing phase. I know that you think you're really far along, but I promise you, you need to get up and we have time.
We have time to get to the hospital. I'm like, no, no, we don't. And then the next contraction comes and I let out this blood curdling scream and she turns to Dan and she says, Dan call 911. Because a doula is not allowed to deliver a baby, right? We're not a provider. Yeah.
Lisa: That's why she said no, we need to go to the hospital. Cause I'm not a clinical provider. Even if she did realize that you were pushing.
Alexis: Yeah. Yeah. But at that point, no way was I going to get down five flights of stairs. No way was I going to get all the way from Harlem, upper Manhattan, all the way down to 59th street. But in that moment, by saying that, she said, I believe you.
And that gave me the safety to continue in this beautiful birthing process with the peas on my head. So that happens and Dan's like, I don't like this water. This looks really disgusting. I don't, I don't think this is safe. And she says to me, Alexis. I believe you that you can't get to the hospital, but I promise you, you do not want to deliver your baby in this bath water right now.
Getting Out of the Bathtub and Paramedics Arrive
And with that, I feel like I was through transition at that point because I felt clear headed. I had a break within between the contractions. She hoisted me up. And we got out of the tub and right outside the hallway, right over there, I can see it right now. There was a 20 dollar Ikea rug. And I thought, you know what?
Our friend's dog loves to pee on this rug. If it's good enough for Ollie, it's good enough for me. We're going to birth the baby right there. And I went straight to all fours because that was the position that I read about, that seemed the most natural to me and I was on all fours and I kept yelling at her back back back so that she would push the heel of her hand into my back to provide some comfort and I'm on all fours and then all of a sudden the first ambulance arrives and I say to Dan, please go down, let them in and then run back up because there was one other time that we had, some 1st responders come to our building and, you know, it's 5 stories and they're not used to it. And I just, I wanted my husband back and by my side as quickly as possible.
So he did put pants on. He went downstairs, brought them up and they came up and it seemed like maybe they were inexperienced with birthing, because one of the paramedics was really nervous and she kept going to our front window and kept saying, is the other ambulance here, is the other ambulance here. and at this point, I'm on all 4s. I am fully in the pushing mode and I take my knees and I, I go from having them parallel to an internal rotation.
So my hips can be wide. I am like, starting to feel a head and I'm like yelling out ring of fire, It's happening. And this other ambulance gets here and things are progressing. And at some point Dan gets Nicole on FaceTime. And she's having the camera move over to my back and she's seeing what's going on.
She said, there's no way you're getting to the hospital. Let's just keep progressing. And so I'm progressing and then. This woman who's the paramedic who's in charge, she is trying to get me to go to the hospital. And she's saying, Alexis, do I have your consent to go to the hospital? And I'm thinking, I am, Oh, I forgot a part.
I forgot a very important part. The first paramedics who show up, the first thing they tell me to do when they get into my house is they tell me to get on my back. And this is where my doula was worth every single penny because she said she is not getting on her back. You are not telling her to get on her back in her own house.
Absolutely not. And I was like, yes, Dena, we're doing this. Cut to ring of fire is happening. Everything's moving along. This other paramedic is Do I have your consent to go to the hospital? And I'm thinking, I'm delivering my baby right now. Stop arguing. And then he goes to the doula.
Do I have your consent to bring her to the hospital? And my doula is I can't speak for her. It's her body, you know? And then she says to Dan and Dan says, she said no. And I'm like, they're all arguing and I just want to deliver the baby. I just want to have a good time. And so anyway, she, Gets high and mighty, and she says to everybody, I'm sorry, but has anyone else here ever delivered a baby?
And Nicole on FaceTime says, actually, I've delivered over 500 and she's not going to the hospital. She's having the baby now, which was like another win, another win. And so in that moment, everyone settles and I start feeling the head come out and I studied this natural expulsion process. And I also really, really focused on the pushing process in the last couple of weeks.
And I learned that, you know, the most important thing to do is to allow the head to come down and then the head will come back up for a little bit. And then the next time the head will come down and it'll come back up. And so this was happening rebounding. That's what it's called.
Lisa: Yeah. So very important for baby and for you.
Alexis: So, so important and something that I was very much okay with and at peace with as it was happening and I was excited as I was feeling this head come out and then go back up and the next time he came out a little further and with each contraction, the paramedic who was in charge got more and more concerned and more and more worried and she started saying, No, I got to take you to the hospital.
Alexis, do I have your consent? This is not okay. We gotta get her to the hospital now. And in that moment, I knew that The only thing that I could do was push with all my might to get that baby out because there was going to be no end to this. And so on the next,
Lisa: I hate that you felt that strife.
Alexis: I did. I did. My vagina hates it too.
Baby is Born
Alexis: But on the next contraction, I just bared down and pushed as hard as I could. And I pushed past the contraction and then out and the blink of an eye was this mess. And then this paramedic said to me, do you want to hold her? And I was like, her? Because we didn't know she was a girl. And, she was here.
And it was just, it was incredible. And nothing else mattered in that moment because she was here and she was safe. And she was, she just was Pink and gorgeous. And then because I wasn't in the hospital, because I didn't have to make all of these consents already. And because I denied, you know, doing everything else, I was able to deny cord clamping and I could let her, you know, hold on to that cord until it went white.
And so, and for weeks after she was born, everybody was like, Oh, my God, her coloring is so great. Did you delay cord clamping? And, yeah, we did. And it was just wild. She was very slippery. And then when we were ready to cut the cord, it was wonderful. I had this moment of, okay, I'm ready to cut the cord now.
It's how every birth should be, I feel like. But the paramedic went to Dan and said, I said, I want Dan to cut the cord though. And the paramedic said, do you have anything to cut the cord with? And it was like, do you have anything sterile? And then he pulled out a scalpel, but it was wild. And then they had to get me down 5 flights of stairs to go to the hospital to get stitched up and that was an adventure. Two women paramedics carried me down the stairs. Go women, it was very painful because it was a metal seat. And we used the crib mattress that came with the crib so that it can be a little bit comfier, but it was awful and then contraction started happening for the placenta. I delivered the placenta in the emergency vehicle, which was so cool.
If you are giving birth, I didn't know about this. I was kind of grossed out by placenta until I saw my own, but. It was the most beautiful thing that I've ever seen. It was like a tree of life. It was gorgeous. I don't feel the need to like make art out of it or save any of it or eat any of it.
That's not my bag. I know other people like that, but looking at it and seeing this gorgeous tree of life and seeing this thing that sustained my child for this whole time, that was wild and wonderful.
Lisa: Beautiful. Wow. So anything you want to share about your postpartum experience at the hospital?
Unexpected Advocate in Paramedic
Alexis: Well, actually, I would love to share what happened after the baby was out with a paramedic. because this is really, there are no villains in this story, right? The minute that this baby came out, her name is Anita, the paramedic who is in charge, who is giving us so much resistance, she instantly was like this big proponent of skin to skin and all these natural, more evolved ways of thinking. She was just like pushing very, very harshly, but she was very into it. She was like, get that baby skin to skin. It's very important. It's very important. Then we got in the ambulance and she was talking to Dan and it turned out that she had had a home birth, for herself that she ended up having to transfer to a hospital and that it didn't go well.
So she had some birth trauma too, and so these times in life when you think that someone is just being a jerk, a lot of times there's just something underlying that they have a history or a trauma that we just don't know about. And, you got to cut them some slack. And so I was glad to have her there.
I'm glad that she was able to witness the birth of the most amazing baby on the planet. but, and I'm glad that we had that kind of full circle kind of moment with her. because it makes sense. So, yeah, and then, at the hospital, I met my midwife. It was pretty wild to be rolled into the hospital with a baby.
I remember waving to the staff as we were going by being like, yep, brought her in with me. BYOB.
Lisa: Love that. Oh.
Postpartum Hospital Experience
Alexis: So, yeah, and then, she was perfectly healthy. Thank goodness, and they stitched me up. Breastfeeding was not something that I thought would be difficult. You know, I did my research about it beforehand, but it's like riding a bike.
You just gotta do it. And that postpartum wise was a journey. and it didn't go the way that I'd hoped it would, excuse me. and that kind of started in the hospital, right? Because You have the changing of staff, so there were some licensed, lactation consultants who were phenomenal and there were some that were not and I had 1 for a couple of days who was not and it was.
Not the best start to our journey, but, you know, it is what it is. But 1 thing that was wild was the people from Oula would also come in to check on me and it was such a different experience. Some people at the hospital were phenomenal, but a lot of the doctors were very busy and it was just a very different experience and someone from Oula would come in the room and they would actually sit there and talk with me and hang out and answer all my questions, made sure that I felt comfortable, made sure that I understood what was going on. And they were there to field any of my concerns postpartum. And so that was really, really wonderful. And I was so glad that I felt like I had this extra team of my own people to really look after me postpartum.
Because it's interesting. You have the baby and there's this huge flash of like emotions and joy and, all these happy chemicals and, and dopamine. All the things. And then there's this drop and you're left with a body that's very different than what you knew before. And, yeah, I, I just, you know, every time I fed her after she was born, I would start to have contractions again.
I would get the chills. Dan would stay with me in bed and just hold me when I would feed her to kind of help me get through that. and so it was a wild experience. But, we brought her home and she was little at the time, she was six pounds and then she lost 10 percent of her weight, so we put her on supplements.
And now she's I mean, I have a waiter, but that kid has a lot to bring up these stairs now. And she is very giggly and very happy. And she earned her first paycheck yesterday modeling. So I mean, things are getting on like gangbusters.
Lisa: Wonderful. Oh, this is so sweet. So exciting. Thank you so much for sharing all of this.
Don’t Be Afraid of the Pain
Are there any final reflections in these months that you've been a parent now and you've had a little more chance to process the way things, went and played out just any final reflections on that and/or tips for, or insights, nuggets of wisdom for people who might be expecting their first or subsequent babies.
Alexis: Yeah. Yeah. Anybody who's pregnant now. When I offer my unsolicited advice, which pregnant ladies love. I loved it. But if you're open to advice and you're listening, what I would say is this is the one time in your life where pain isn't something to be afraid of.
This is, and you don't even have to think about it as pain. You can think of it as a sensation, but it's a real thing. Every time you feel the sensation you are getting closer and closer to meeting the most precious beautiful gift of your life And I don't even know if I would have said precious beautiful gift a couple months ago I mean, I love my daughter, but every single day I am Even more in awe of the fact that I get to be her mom and that I have this beautiful, beautiful human in my life.
And, it's wild, you know, you're pregnant and you have this baby and even when you want it, like I wanted it, you have these ideas of how it's going to be. And in some ways it's harder, but in my experience, it's harder, but it's also even more amazing than I could have ever imagined. So, if you're feeling a little fearful about your birth, try to turn that fear into excitement because they're just different sides of the same coin and allow that fear to be there.
Don't try to push it away, but just say, hey, fear. You can sit in the back seat and I'll be in the driver's seat and make sure that you have your team of people ready to corral around you and help you. That's, that's Deb's advice. She said you have to have your wagon wheel, which I think is also really good.
Lisa: Beautiful. Yeah. That mindset is so much of it, you know, as much as we can process through and put in the back seat. I just really love that visual, the fear and anxiety that's removing, it's allowing that oxytocin to flow and it's allowing things to go in your case, really efficiently, really fast.
Alexis: Oh yeah. I didn't even say. So. 2 a. m. bloody show, 5 a. m. on the dot, the picture of her popping out of me, so 3 hours in total.
Lisa: Whoa.
Alexis: Yeah.
Lisa: Whoa.
Alexis: Yeah. Yeah. They say the second one's going to be even faster. So Dan said that we can have an at home water birth next time. So thank you.
Lisa: You don't have to just plan a hospital birth, act like you're going to do that and then show him. Yeah. Yay. I'm really happy to hear that development. That's great. It's good to plan it if you can, if you're going to give birth at home, better to not have to call the paramedics and have that whole like strife, potential strife.
Alexis: Yeah. Better to have one of those nice inflatable pools, you know, have everything ready.
Lisa: Absolutely. Nice. Well, keep me posted on that if, if that happens.
Alexis: Absolutely. We shall see. We got to make another baby first and I still need a little bit more time to heal up and, you know, figure out where we're going to live. Cause one bedroom with a baby is getting a little tight over here, especially now that she's crawling and climbing on everything. So.
Lisa: Right. Yes. Yeah. And we had around three years of spacing and I had heard that was a really good spacing in terms of the closeness of the siblings. And we have found that to be very true. So for your consideration, not that we can always plan it. Ours ended up being a little under three years, just barely because we got pregnant the second time faster than we expected, but.
Alexis: The whole idea of a second one. It seems so crazy to me. Like we both want one, but also at the same time, it's like, how do we do with both?
Oh my goodness. How do we even do laundry or brush our teeth? Yeah. But I mean, my feeling is that if they bring even half the amount of joy that I need to bring into our life, it's going to be so, so well worth it. So.
Lisa: Absolutely. And it's really, really cool to see them interacting eventually once the second one isn't an infant, right?
Alexis: I know. I know. I'm going to be very emotional. A full on basket case seeing that. For sure.
Music and Yoga Classes
Lisa: Well, did you want to talk at all about your classes and share a little bit about that in case that's still available when this airs? If people are interested?
Alexis: Totally. So I'm mostly a stay at home mom these days, but it's very nice to get out of the house, and I love singing, and so I have a ukulele, and I have a whole bunch of toys, and all these different props and things, and I do baby music classes around the city.
Right now I'm doing a music class at the Children's Museum in Manhattan, which is so cool because it's in the actual exhibit, so music is kind of a smaller part of the class. And because we also get to explore, it's almost like sleep no more, but for babies, is like how I like to describe it. Cause it's this immersive music class.
And then I'm also starting up classes at the prenatal yoga center, which I'm so excited about, and that's going to be more music focused and that's going to be in this beautiful, beautiful space with this beautiful community of people. And so that is going to start up probably before this airs, but that's going to be so much fun.
Lisa: Great. Well, maybe I'll get from you, whatever links or whatever. And hopefully if you continue to do more rounds, subsequent rounds, then hopefully that link will be the same or I can update it or whatever. Yeah, that was one of my favorite things. I don't know if you've ever heard of music for aardvarks. I don't even know if it still exists anymore.
Alexis: No, but I love the name.
Lisa: Yeah, we loved it. It was very, really smart, urban centric lyrics for like city kids, city babies, city toddlers. Oh, very cool. Oh my gosh. And it's guitar, you know, just we loved it so much. And they have like recordings and things of all their songs.
And so we found ourselves always singing those as the kids were little and really fun. So such a great way to bond with your baby and, and connect with other families who have a passion for music maybe, and love for music. And yeah, so I love that you're doing that. I want to definitely spread the word and I hope that it continues beyond Anita, just being itty bitty and it be, you know, her being part of the class. That's really always exciting.
Alexis: Yeah. Well, we shall see. Time will tell, but that little girl is starting to do her little velociraptor cry, which tells me that she just woke up, which is kind of perfect timing, right? Perfect timing! Yes! Velociraptor! Yeah, she's a little dinosaur. Yeah. Dan, you go get her and I'll finish up with Lisa.
The Value of Birth Class
I mean, if anybody needs any encouragement, they just need to go and sit down in your living room. Right? Like they're there and they're going to know that they're in the right place and they're nobody is going to go into your class and not feel like they made the right decision, right? and not feel more prepared. It's important.
Lisa: You're very sweet; appreciate you saying that.
Alexis: No, you put a lot of time and a lot of energy into what you do and you care so much and you're so specific about the things and you give people a lot of information, but you don't overload them with too much information. You make it attainable, right? And you explain things in different ways.
And, you know, it's such a great, great investment for people. And it's, I don't know, it was wonderful for us. I had a baby. I hope you're still recording. I do want people to hear this. Like I am. I, Lisa, I had a baby in my apartment in three hours and I could do it because I took your class.
Lisa: Well, you, mama, you get all the credit,
Alexis: But could you imagine somebody who did not understand the way that birth works being basically alone, you know, but because of what I learned.
I understood what my body was going through and I was able to help myself cope with it and be okay with it so that it could be successful.
Lisa: Yeah. You're absolutely right. I mean, in my personal experience too, it's why I became a doula and a childbirth educator because I saw the difference that the education, the preparation, the yoga, the doula support, all of those things made…it's a game changer, right? Yeah.
Alexis: No, there's something like transition could be a very scary thing if you don't know that it's happening. I had this moment when I was giving birth and I didn't say it when I was telling the story, but like I had this moment where I was like, Oh no, no, no, not another contraction.
I can't, I can't do this anymore. And I was like, that must be transition. Cause we learned that. Yeah. And it was. Like, okay, that means that I'm like getting to the finish line. Yeah. It was very important for me to know. So yeah. Yeah.
Lisa: Thank you, Alexis, for taking the time. It's so wonderful to reconnect with you and
Alexis: It's so good to reconnect too.
Lisa: I just can't wait to share this with listeners.
Alexis: Well, I hope everybody enjoys. Anita, you want to say hi now? You want to say hi?
Lisa: Oh my goodness, cutie, there's a smile! Hi, Anita, oh, it's so good to see you. Precious, precious. Well, thank you again, Alexis.
Bye.
Alexis: Bye.