Our Baby Is Here! Riley Shares Her Birth Story & Delivery Recap
Episode Stats
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219.26697
Summary
In this episode, we discuss the third trimester of our little girl's life, labor and delivery, and what it was like to be a new mom. We also talk about what it's like being postpartum and adjusting back into a healthy lifestyle.
Transcript
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With a towing capacity of 3,500 kilograms and a weighting depth of 900 millimeters,
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Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Gains for Girls podcast.
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If you're watching on YouTube.com slash OutKick, which you should be,
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that's where you can find all things Gains for Girls,
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you would see that sat in the seat next to me and today's co-host,
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my most favorite co-host, is my husband, Louis.
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Yeah, I guess last time we were on, we had just announced some exciting news
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that we had a little girl on the way, and I guess it's only fitting to have another update
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She made her way into this world on September 29th.
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We figured we would do an episode today to kind of go over all things labor and delivery.
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The episode that we did a few months back when we had announced the pregnancy,
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I talked a lot about my pregnancy, especially, of course, the first two trimesters,
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I think at that point going into the third trimester, what that looked like for me,
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I guess we can kind of give a little update on the last little third of that pregnancy
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But I've had so many of you guys, really you gals, lots of women who have reached out
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She has made her warm welcome to this planet, to the Barker family.
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I've had a lot of you reaching out, asking about what was labor like.
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I think it's super cool because a lot of young women, especially, just inquiring.
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You know, maybe pregnancy and labor delivery is something that has scared them in the past.
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So put something up on my Instagram a few days ago saying, you know, ask all the questions
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So we have a list of questions we're going to go through, but figured we would start off
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by, I guess, I think it's important to go over kind of that third trimester.
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Anything of note to you, I will say kind of like if you didn't watch the episode when
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we talked about our pregnancy and how that had been, especially on me and my fitness and
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sleep and all the different things, all the symptoms that I had, I will say I was very,
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very blessed and till that point had a fantastic, easy peasy pregnancy.
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So I thought you were good up until probably the last 10 days and then you'd wake up every
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And if you were going to like try and move around, like to readjust in bed, it would seriously
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No, honestly, my worst symptom, like truthfully, and I say this with my full chest, the entire
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I'm so excited now to be in this state where I think, especially with breastfeeding, like
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you can't drink enough water because you're losing fluid.
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So like that has been the best, like outside of her being here, getting to love and snuggle
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The best part of her being here is not having to pee all the time.
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So the last trimester was just as easy as the first two, to be honest with you.
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So if you're watching this, if you're a woman who, you know, hopes to get pregnant,
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wants to, maybe is scared to, we hear a lot about the bad stories, like the horror stories.
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And look, I am not here to discount what some women go through, but I am here to shed light
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on there are pregnancies and labors and deliveries, as we will get into, that go super smooth.
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We live in this world where there's so much like, what about ism, where people feel scared
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to say they had a good pregnancy because they don't want people coming after them saying,
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You see it on TikTok all the time, on social media.
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But I'm not ashamed to say that I had a fantastic pregnancy.
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I think a lot of it as well, like in all seriousness, was the fact that you were so fit
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I really think that that helps you out tremendously.
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I think prioritizing fitness prior to conception, maintaining that fitness through my pregnancy
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and now being postpartum, it's been a week and about two days since she made her way
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But even still getting out and walking and of course, listen to your doctor, trust your
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doctor, let him guide you on what that kind of looks like for you specifically.
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So fitness is definitely a key player in, I think, how you feel during pregnancy.
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I wanted to do this whole thing as natural as possible.
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But I kind of told myself, knowing her due date, that I did not want to go into October.
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And if that was something that was going to happen, I would rather be induced than go
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Honestly, this is like a super stupid reason why.
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And that is the most like, that is so, I'm recognizing that is like so silly, but that
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That was your competitive side where I don't even think it was much the birthstone.
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I think you just wanted to beat your due date or try to beat your due date.
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I think it's like the athlete and you like, you feel like that's kind of like the threshold
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It was already prepared given that it was kind of scheduled.
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When you're being induced, this was something I didn't really know.
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I thought you just get there, take the Pitocin.
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Like I really was kind of in the dark about this, which I should have done more research,
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You get there and they give you this thing called Cytotec, which kind of, I guess the intention
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It's supposed to like ripen the cervix, help you dilate a little bit.
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It's like this little bitty tiny pill at 4 p.m.
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I pretty immediately started feeling like different.
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It wasn't full-blown contractions at this point, but I could feel things starting to,
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I mean, be the beginning stages of labor, I guess.
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This is when I could really start to feel contractions.
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And again, for all the women watching this, like pretty intense, like menstrual cramps,
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So this to me was like, oh, is this what a contraction is like?
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There wasn't really like a set reason as to why I didn't want one.
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I think for just of the conversations we had, I mean, talking it through, just thinking,
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you know, trying to think logically about this stuff.
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If you wanted to get on the squat bar, you can get on squat bar, whatever.
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So that was kind of the, I think that was some of the thought process and not doing an epidural.
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You know, if anyone was going to do it naturally, we were like, you could do it.
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And that was, I think with the epidural, again, not really knowing a fear of mine was, I mean,
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you're essentially paralyzed as it had been told to me from the waist down.
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And that's kind of like a scary, I don't really like relinquishing control of my body, right?
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I'm typically someone who's so in tune and self-aware with, with my body and bodily functions.
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It scared me to not be able to move my legs in a critical, like really important thing, such as childbirth.
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So anyways, menstrual cycle cramping type thing, took my third and final dose of Cytotec at midnight on,
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I guess at this point, going into Monday morning.
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So going from the 28th to the 29th of September.
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Immediately upon taking that third dose of Cytotec, my contractions like amped up to a level I was just simply not prepared for.
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I basically had what I think can really only be described as like an hour and a half long straight contraction
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because my contractions were so close together with little relief.
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And so I sat there for about an hour and a half.
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He was awake in the chair next to me, like consoling me.
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I was contracting from like my traps down to my toes.
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I really tried to tough it out for about an hour and a half.
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There was a moment where we thought you were just going to ascend into heaven.
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This is the worst pain I've ever felt in my life.
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So I'm like, you have this like little red button on your hospital bed that you can click and the nurses will come in.
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And they were coming in periodically and checking on me.
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But I was too, honestly, too prideful to say that I was in pain.
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Everyone in this unit, I would imagine, is in pain.
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And again, being a first time mom, you don't know what these things are supposed to feel like.
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I'm like, look, I know I said I don't really want an epidural.
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And it, like, went into effect pretty immediately.
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The lady was asking me, because I saw the needle and stuff.
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But I stood, you know, facing you when your back was away from it.
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You may not have wanted anything to do with that had you seen it.
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And like I said, I thought you would be kind of paralyzed from the waist down.
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But I could still move around, which I appreciated.
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At this point, my blood pressure starts to plummet.
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It got super duper low, which I will say I felt fine the entire time, especially after the epidural.
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Like, I was like, everything from this point on was really a breeze for me.
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And, you know, they have all these wires hooked up to you and monitors and sensors.
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And they could tell that the baby's heart rate started to drop.
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And I think it's because my contractions were so frequent.
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The way that she was positioned on the umbilical cord was causing her blood pressure to – or her heart rate to drop.
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Yeah, the way that they described it was, you know, if her heart rate drops during a contraction, they're not terribly concerned.
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So they said that, okay, that's a blood flow issue.
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And they didn't necessarily like that all that much.
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And, again, this is – this went on from 1.30 in the morning to 4.30 in the morning.
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Like, all the nurses are in this room and they're kind of freaking out.
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But it's always – I think it would be of concern to anyone when, you know, you've got five nurses in there, the charge nurses in there.
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I mean, I think I'm typically a very low-stress person.
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So I was just happy I couldn't feel my contractions anymore, to be honest with you.
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I was a little bit more of a nervous wreck, but we were good.
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And I will say at this point, too, they don't let you eat in the hospital, especially when, you know, you're being induced.
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Because if you have to have a C-section, they don't want you to have, like, a full stomach contents.
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And so hadn't eaten since, like, 11 a.m. the day prior.
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So if you're going in for an induction, make sure you eat before you get there because they don't let you eat when you're there.
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The little gummy, like, sweet, sour little Haribo things.
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I had Cheez-Its, actually, in my little, like, gown pockets.
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So anyways, from 1.30 to 4.30, the nurses were kind of stressing out with the whole oxygen problem.
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Anyways, they had to end up giving me a shot of this thing.
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I don't know what the medical, like, analysis name for it is.
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But that basically slowed down my contractions to a much more steady rate.
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So I slept from, like, 4.30 to 7.30 that morning.
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He said, look, I'll be back in just a little bit.
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You're dilated at this point to the, you know, amount you need to be.
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It was right at noon when they broke your water.
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I think I pushed through maybe four or so, like, contractions.
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It's basically three 10-second pushes in one contraction.
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One thing I did that I did not think I would have wanted to do.
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Like, I felt like I was missing out on something.
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But I think especially with people that are competitive.
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Like, it gives you that, oh, like, she's there.
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And so I think it was a little motivation for you to keep working.
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So they put, like, a mirror down there that I could see.
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Which, again, like, not a sight that I want to see again, necessarily.
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But it was really cool to see, like, her head and all the hair that she has.
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Because, of course, being blonde, I just assumed that she would have lighter hair.
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And there is a picture where every single vein in my forehead, from trying not to cry,
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And honestly, I could tear up thinking about it.
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Because looking at him holding this baby that I had, I mean, you talk about her for nine
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months, like, whatever it is, like, even, like, with pregnancy cravings, like, you kind
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of make a joke of, like, well, Margo is craving this.
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Like, this was the little girl we had talked about.
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I had felt her hiccup inside me so many times, like, all these crazy things.
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And it was just, like, the most beautiful, surreal moment.
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One of the things that I knew I wanted to do was a delayed clamping and cutting of the
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cord, just making sure she got all of, like, the last and final dump of nutrients from
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And so the doctor let us sit there for probably, what, like, three or four minutes?
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Yeah, I was probably, yeah, three, four minutes.
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I think pretty much our only thing was just, like, from everything that we'd read and spoken
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to the doctor about, wait until the cord turns white.
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Once it turns white, it's, you know, done patting everything through that it needed to.
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But he seriously just, like, handed me a pair of scissors.
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And he was, like, he's going to be, like, cutting through a hose pipe and just go away.
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Like, I feel like I would have a hard time as a spouse, as a wife.
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But watching you, like, in a hospital bed go through this pretty traumatic thing.
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Like, how was it for you watching that happen, like, to me, your wife?
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Like, they were so, I mean, they were moving with purpose.
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But, like, they kind of emitted zero stress, which was great.
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So I think I was comfortable in the environment we were in, which definitely helped.
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I didn't know what was good or bad at that point.
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And so I was, you know, more so, I mean, we were just figuring it out as we went along.
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So I think it was kind of a blessing in disguise being a little naive to all the ins and outs of what happens.
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You know, my concern was just making sure that you were as comfortable as can be while going through all that.
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I was anxious because, you know, our world was literally, you know, minutes away from changing forever, which you can't prepare for that.
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But, yeah, I was just almost anxious for the anticipation of that.
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But I really wasn't nervous or stressed for you.
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You've, like, gutted a deer and, you know, all this stuff.
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But I feel like that, in terms of, like, the blood and gore of it kind of prepared you for that.
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You know, when the placenta comes out and all that stuff, sure, there's a little bit of blood.
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But it really, yeah, I mean, if you've ever hunted or even fished for that fact, you've seen just about as much blood as, you know, there's more involved in that than there is.
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So she came, was delivered, sitting on my chest.
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They took her, they weighed her, 6 pounds, 10 ounces, 20 inches long.
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It's also, like, when the baby comes out, especially if you are having, like, a vaginal delivery, kind of has, like, a cone head.
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One of those, like, Aztec skulls that you see in, like, history books.
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Okay, she's going to listen to this and be like, dang, my parents were roasting me.
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This is, like, to speak to how amazing, I mean, our bodies are, especially a little bitty baby.
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Like, their skull, the way that it is, like, the fissures that it has, like, it's meant to do that.
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That's the only way you can, like, physically get a baby out.
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If the head wasn't, like, malleable, if you will, it wouldn't, like, it wouldn't be the same process that we go through.
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And so definitely came out with a little bit of a cone head.
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But it was, like, within 12 hours, like, a normal human baby head.
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It is kind of funny, though, because when she came out, I was like, this is the most beautiful being that has ever, you know, lived on this earth.
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And then we look back even 12 hours later at pictures and we're like.
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I think that's, like, a universal experience, though.
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You know, they do all the tests and things that she was Coombs positive, meaning, it sounds kind of scary.
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So when she was in the womb, our bloods were basically fighting each other.
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Like, her blood was forming antibodies to my blood type and in the process was breaking down my red blood cells, but also breaking down her red blood cells.
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Any, like, medical professional listening to this, like, if I got that wrong.
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That's kind of how it was explained to me, at least how my mind understood it.
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It didn't really mean too much in terms of what this would require, but she had high bilirubin levels, meaning she had a smidge of jaundice.
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So the treatment for this was basically just exposure to blue light.
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So her first night on this planet, she slept in like this.
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It was like, it looked like from the Avatar movie.
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And she was in our room the whole time with us.
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This incubator, if you will, with these, like, bright blue lights and this blue blanket she was on, just, like, soaking up all the, it looked like a tanning bed.
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She, because the light is so intense, like, they give her these little goggles.
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And so I can't wait to show those to her when she is old enough to understand the, I guess, comedic relief, if you will, of a little bitty baby in these goggles.
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Maybe three nights, including the Sunday that we got there.
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So bring a pillow, bring a blanket, bring hoodies, and bring some Tylenol PM.
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It is not, for the faint of heart, sleeping on that recliner.
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I should include a picture of you looked like sleeping on that recliner.
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There is a very violating photo that you took of me.
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I slept four hours and 48 hours from when we first got into the hospital.
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And so when I did, I had an hour sleep one night.
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And so when I passed out on that second night, it was the ugliest sleep I've ever had in my life.
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One more thing that Louie did in the hospital, which was super sweet and he surprised me with,
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She digs and dives and snoops and she's going to try and find everything she can.
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One time when I was probably in middle school, even like my Christmas presents when I was younger,
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my parents would wrap them up and put them under the tree.
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And so my parents wrapped a pair of Nike tennis shoes, which now I don't wear Nike.
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But I thought these tennis shoes, they were like the neon color, which was super like middle school core.
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A few, I mean, think of 2012, like the neon Nike shoes.
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I opened the present, like unwrapped it, wore them to school, came back home, put them back
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So all that to say, I'm pretty hard to surprise.
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But he surprised me with what we have deemed or what has really like across the board been
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But don't not fall for it because you're going to get in trouble now.
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I feel like, and this makes sense in my mind, like I carried the baby for nine months.
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That's kind of like my present to him, if you will, to both of us, but like to him.
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And so a push present, the present that I get for pushing, that only makes sense.
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You probably can't really see it, but it's this one.
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And it's got a band of diamonds, a band of sapphires, her birthstone, and a band of diamonds.
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You know, I wanted to do something that we can always add on to.
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So I thought about a little necklace for a while, but I was like, okay, how do you add
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I mean, when I was in high school, I'd buy and sell watches, shoes, bags, whatever,
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you know, whatever I could do to make money, but I've always appreciated jewelry.
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And so I was trying to think of something that we could always add on to and you don't
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And then I guess when we have the next one, it'll be whatever the birthstone is.
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So you go three, five, seven, you can stack it.
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So there's some continuation to it and each of them get their own little set.
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And the idea is eventually when, I don't know how we want to do this, but either when,
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when we pass or when the time is right, each child gets their push present.
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So it's kind of like a cool family heirloom type of thing too.
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And it was, it was cool because he handed me the ring as they took the baby off my chest
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to go do the height and weight and all that stuff.
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So we've been home now for about a week and I truly believe that we created a perfect angel
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Whether it's feeding, whether it's sleeping, which is, I mean, those are basically like
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Which I don't know if I was, I didn't know what to expect when we got home.
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I did not expect her to sleep like 16, 17 hours a day.
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The only time she cries is when changing her diaper and the wipe is wet and she immediately
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I, you know, you've grown up with kids around, you know, nieces, nephews, siblings.
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And so I was, I mean, I was absolutely inexperienced when it comes to babies and kids and all that
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But it's all, what I've, I mean, what I noticed even within the first 24 hours is that there's
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If they're crying, they're either cold, tired, hungry, or they need the diaper changed or they
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If that's not it, move to the next, move to the next.
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Just follow the, honestly, like it is, there's kind of like a little checklist of things to,
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to figure out, decipher when she's, she's upset.
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Um, for sleeping, I've had to wake her up to feed.
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Uh, I mean, pretty immediately upon coming out again, doctor puts her on my chest.
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She's like, it's amazing how like instinctual, like she's like immediately searching for her
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The only way that I can describe that is feral.
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She really was like, like eyes weren't really open, but if there were, they would have been
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Um, figured we would get to some of the questions that you guys left.
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Weird because at first when the baby, like the first few days, like.
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There is a picture of the first diaper change in the hospital.
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Black tar is the only way to describe the, the first, what, three or four days.
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It's, it's not for the faint of heart, but you'll get through it.
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Now it's transformed into like, and this, this probably is so like entry level to most.
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I mean, anyone watching with kids, like you're like, duh.
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I can't even believe we're talking about this again.
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She's going to watch me like one day and be like, I can't believe you were talking about
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what my feces looked like to a, a community of people online.
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We've probably been pretty equal because I think I'll do more during the, well, no,
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Someone asked, someone has picked up on the fact that we haven't shown her face on social
00:27:02.020
I think, you know, more so just to look at it, just to protect her.
00:27:05.560
I think respectfully, some people can be crazy.
00:27:10.340
And so I think just in terms of limiting her exposure, especially when she's so little
00:27:15.660
and so young, we'll probably hold off on, on showing her little sweet face.
00:27:20.620
This was something I didn't feel too strongly about.
00:27:25.260
This was more of like protective dad, which I value and I respect.
00:27:28.660
Um, and so not releasing that information, number one, like you said, people are crazy
00:27:37.500
People will, I think, especially when Margo has a mom, both are parents really, who's like
00:27:43.580
major cause and what has given me the platform that I now have is, is ultimately the trans
00:27:49.060
The people who lobby for the trans stuff are insane.
00:27:51.960
Like if they're crazy enough to believe that a man can become a woman, they're crazy enough
00:27:56.440
as indicated by the political assassination of Charlie Kirk, they're crazy enough to kill
00:28:00.780
Like they're willing to risk their lives to prematurely end yours.
00:28:05.100
And again, you hate to say it makes sense, but if you're deluded enough in the mind to
00:28:09.720
think that men can become pregnant, why would we expect these people not to be deluded enough
00:28:15.760
And so that in terms of protection and there are just creeps online.
00:28:19.200
Like there are, yeah, just, yeah, I think whenever, I think it would be nice.
00:28:26.440
Naive to think that we can fully shield her from any exposure ever.
00:28:32.140
I mean, that's just not realistic, but you know, sorry, we're not just going to hand
00:28:38.300
So I think it's just, you know, doing what we can, being realistic to shield her from some
00:28:45.180
I think, you know, let's let her be a kid and grow up.
00:28:50.320
Like, I'm so proud that we created this and it's so beautiful.
00:28:52.940
And like the bluest eyes, he has really blue eyes.
00:29:02.440
It's hard not to like want to show her off, if you will.
00:29:05.220
But I think definitely for the time being, just protecting that.
00:29:07.940
We'll definitely revisit as she grows a little bit.
00:29:10.520
And, you know, but I think for the time being, we'll, we'll keep that just for us.
00:29:15.020
Lots of people have asked if Margo is a family name.
00:29:17.060
Which Margo is not, but it was really cool because her middle name is Jean, which is my
00:29:29.760
My grandma, I didn't, I like, we knew we were going to, we decided this probably maybe like
00:29:34.600
halfway through the pregnancy, we decided her name.
00:29:36.340
And so I didn't tell my grandma, like my grandma has turned into such a sap in her old
00:29:43.740
Even today we were out eating lunch and the host came up and said, you know, thank you
00:29:49.940
Like, and my grandma is sitting there in tears.
00:29:53.020
I'm like, Gammie, you don't have to cry, but she's just turned into a sap.
00:29:55.960
And so anyways, we made it the whole way without telling her this.
00:29:59.100
We had this idea and like this plan of how we were going to tell her in the hospital that
00:30:10.100
She was up in the nursery and there was a quilt that said Margo Jean.
00:30:13.320
And my grandma turned it over, had it hidden, folded, put away so she wouldn't see it.
00:30:16.620
And she turned it over and she just immediately was in tears.
00:30:22.760
People have asked, um, ideal birth plan and how far it was from reality.
00:30:26.500
Again, the intention, the idea was to be as natural as possible in a hospital setting.
00:30:31.020
I knew I wanted to give birth in a hospital, like give it home birth.
00:30:34.680
I think the women who do it are literally like superheroes.
00:30:38.680
Um, after going through what I did and, and kind of like experiencing that hour and a half
00:30:51.980
My thing with home birth as well is that, you know, again, as husband, dad, I definitely
00:30:57.720
wanted us to be in a place where if something wasn't quite going right, which, you know,
00:31:02.600
for a lot of pregnancies and deliveries, things don't go quite to plan.
00:31:05.840
And, you know, God forbid you need an emergency C-section or, you know, needed any additional
00:31:13.840
I wanted us to be there where we could get it right away.
00:31:21.980
I just, it was more so again, a toughness thing.
00:31:27.820
Um, and I think if I were to, or maybe when we eventually is the better way to say it,
00:31:32.500
eventually God willing, have more kids, uh, I imagine I will definitely get the epidural.
00:31:37.920
My take from the start on the epidural was I, again, I just want you, I wanted you to be
00:31:42.220
as comfortable as possible and I could not push out a baby after seeing that.
00:31:51.020
And so I, I was, I was glad to see the almost immediate relief after you had the epidural.
00:31:59.440
They've asked about vaccines and what we did there.
00:32:02.440
First of all, highly, highly, highly recommend, um, the book that we read called the vaccine
00:32:09.740
I forget the doctor's name who, who wrote the book, but he's awesome.
00:32:13.240
Turns out this book was written like, I think nearly 15 years ago.
00:32:17.480
And the book like was awesome because it basically just presented you with information, do with
00:32:22.520
I guess there was like a little, like he, there wasn't much opinion.
00:32:25.760
I think there was maybe a little guidance, like this is what's in the vaccines.
00:32:31.080
This is, you know, all the information is there.
00:32:38.220
I think, uh, I think, I mean, you can get it on Amazon, uh, and it's much, much more conservative.
00:32:43.080
And it goes to show you the information that I think healthcare providers and healthcare
00:32:47.580
professionals and what really we as the general public have come to understand and realize
00:32:51.800
over the past 15 years and the shift that we have seen, I think, especially from young
00:32:55.980
people, like more younger people are starting to question big pharma, uh, largely to thank
00:33:04.040
I think a lot of that opened so many people's eyes, including my own.
00:33:08.940
I think as well, I was, I don't know if you're the same way, but I was almost.
00:33:13.680
I don't want to say nervous, but when, like, when you kind of check in at the hospital,
00:33:19.860
Um, and they were asking, you know, post-birth, what do you want to do?
00:33:23.040
Do you want to do, there's the vitamin K, there's this eye ointment, there's hep B.
00:33:26.940
I think that they're all, that they all try to do day one.
00:33:29.360
And wasn't, I don't want to say ashamed, but almost interested to see the reaction from
00:33:35.880
the nurses when we said, okay, like we didn't do the hep B, you know, Riley doesn't
00:33:42.640
You know, like, I don't want to say that we were ashamed, but there's almost like
00:33:49.220
I will say the staff at the hospital we were at were fantastic.
00:33:52.440
And like most of, I mean, virtually all the nurses came in and they were like, yeah, we're
00:34:00.120
And I think a perk of living in a place like where we do in Tennessee, which everyone was
00:34:04.680
But there is, there's like guilt, especially like if you post online that your child's
00:34:08.340
not vaccinated, you have all these people who come for you saying like, you know, order
00:34:13.040
Or I mean like really horrific things, which is just crazy.
00:34:16.160
And, you know, and we're not anti-vax, you know, period through, yeah, period.
00:34:22.180
But it's more of a, okay, we're going to wait a second.
00:34:25.860
You know, we've looked at, you know, like what would they do in England?
00:34:28.060
I don't think, I think it's six weeks before they do anything in England.
00:34:30.960
You know, so we're going to take our time, figure out what we think is important.
00:34:35.120
You know, again, we'll speak to our pediatrician and say, look, what, what, you know, what
00:34:41.780
Listen, we're going to, we're going to do what we think is right for our child.
00:34:44.520
My thing when I thought about this is again, learning what's in these vaccines, like aluminum,
00:34:49.700
or as they say in England, aluminium, aluminium, learning that there's aluminum and mercury
00:34:55.180
in these vaccines was mind blowing to me because we've made this huge shift as a society to not
00:35:00.160
have like deodorant with aluminum in it, but we're going to inject little bitty babies
00:35:03.860
with like 30 times the FDA recommended amount of aluminum.
00:35:07.860
And mercury, I wasn't allowed to, or what they say during pregnancy is you should be
00:35:14.480
They say some doctors may say portions or once a week or whatever it is, but you're
00:35:18.320
not, you're not supposed to ingest high amounts of, of things like salmon because of mercury.
00:35:22.980
We're going to give babies vaccines with mercury in it.
00:35:28.040
They're like, yeah, you got to stay away from the real fishy fish.
00:35:30.200
So we ended up doing no happy, no eye ointment.
00:35:33.540
We did the vitamin K, but we did it preservative free, which is an option.
00:35:37.700
If that's something that you want to do, um, make sure.
00:35:40.720
I mean, I think it's standard where every hospital is supposed to have a preservative
00:35:47.680
Um, so if that's of interest to you, make sure you request it because they won't tell
00:35:54.460
Like, you know, once you cut the umbilical cord off, it doesn't bleed, but when the umbilical
00:35:58.860
cord falls off, you know, once it dries out, there's a chance that it can bleed.
00:36:02.500
And so helping out with stuff like that, she's got real sharp little nails.
00:36:07.780
And like, if you're a boy getting circumcised or whatever it is.
00:36:20.040
They say, yeah, you're not supposed to get up after the epidural for so long.
00:36:33.840
It probably took like three days for my like uterus to kind of shrink back down.
00:36:39.780
So now I already, like I've, I've been able to put my pre-pregnancy jeans on, which feels
00:36:44.740
Uh, that's been fantastic going on walks again.
00:36:54.840
Uh, I've been cleared to, you know, kind of take it slow, but I feel, I feel awesome.
00:37:02.320
Um, how has it been to watch your significant other become a mom or a dad?
00:37:06.180
And I will say it's like a different kind of love watching your husband become a dad.
00:37:15.120
Like the love that he has for her is like the most like beautiful, wholesome thing ever.
00:37:23.400
And then watching him with her, it's like a whole new kind of love.
00:37:28.560
It's been, it's been, it's been really neat watching you.
00:37:32.140
You've always had a real maternal instinct, but even, I mean, you've blown up.
00:37:36.160
Blown me away, seeing it, like actually seeing it play out.
00:37:44.160
Cause we had talked about prior to her being here of like how we're going to parent and
00:37:48.040
what like parenting style we're going to use, discipline action, like all these different
00:37:51.880
things that I think moms and dads should talk about.
00:37:55.060
Um, you know, we're having those conversations.
00:37:57.960
I mean, it's important to be on the same page more than anything, but for us, I've always
00:38:02.760
wanted to set the example of what a relationship should look like.
00:38:10.740
Um, but the way that I described this to Riley is that I want Margo and however many
00:38:16.160
other kids we have to look at us and be like, Oh yeah, mommy and daddy together.
00:38:23.100
You know, I want them to see that, that me and Riley are a team.
00:38:31.560
We are one that, you know, in terms of, I, the one thing that I would hate more than anything
00:38:36.220
is for some, one of, you know, Margo to run to Riley and say, Hey, can I do this?
00:38:41.140
And then she comes to me and I say, yes, that inconsistency is something that would drive
00:38:44.840
So the example that I gave Riley and she was like, there's no way you're going to stick to this.
00:38:48.120
And it's, it's already been hard, but I'm going to try my best is when I get home from
00:38:53.380
work or when we walk in, not sidelining Margo, but making sure that the first person that I go in
00:38:59.980
and give a hug and a kiss to is Riley and then Margo, you know, I want them to see that,
00:39:07.720
And then, you know, we still love, we still, you know, obviously love them, want them to feel
00:39:11.740
loved, but I want them to know that we are a team more than anything.
00:39:14.340
That's like, it's so hard for me to, like, not just want to, you know, walk in, but I
00:39:21.560
And I think the way that he put it and saying like, mommy, daddy, Margo, um, at first you
00:39:32.320
And I think to set that example is an example that kids are lacking.
00:39:35.600
Number one, like we see that and how, whether it's, it's, I mean, kids who think there are
00:39:42.280
Um, kids who are kind of lacking that direction or example in the home and we see it in the
00:39:46.080
world or in our culture or in society or in school or whatever it is.
00:39:49.320
So to be that for our kids, I think is really important.
00:39:51.600
I think it's, I mean, most important thing for us is we've got to set an example and you
00:39:59.000
And I think it's especially important in relationships because what's the statistic now that 50% more
00:40:06.120
I would hate, you know, we're not going to be that statistic just so you know.
00:40:16.620
And so I want, she needs, I feel like it's important to have an example of what a loving
00:40:27.220
But the one thing that I got big on when we first got married is that it doesn't matter
00:40:32.540
how irritated we are with each other, whatever has happened, we're not going to be that
00:40:38.320
There are so many parents that do that now and the kids think it's normal.
00:40:43.400
And so I think just setting that example is something that I want to be really, really
00:40:48.440
If you follow me on like Instagram or TikTok, especially that's where I post, I feel like
00:40:55.880
We've got three hounds, three little domestic terrorists.
00:41:16.120
They are like, I mean, prior to like having Margo, they're like, I mean, they felt like
00:41:20.980
And like, there's probably like a thing about that.
00:41:22.640
But there's, to me, like nothing like a dog's love.
00:41:31.460
Like when we pull in the driveway, like I love that.
00:41:36.980
Lots of people have asked, how have our dogs been with her?
00:41:41.240
So I'm sure, I mean, if you've seen any of her stuff on socials, Lady has been, I mean,
00:41:46.340
from the start of pregnancy, so intuitive about it.
00:41:50.200
Yeah, about pregnancy and knowing that something was different.
00:41:54.880
I think we knew from the start that she was going to be fantastic.
00:41:58.260
You know, she's, she's always been a mama's girl.
00:42:02.420
The other two, it was interesting when we first got home because so Dumbo, the baby or
00:42:12.920
He was kind of just like, oh, hey, another person.
00:42:19.040
And so I think we were, I mean, I wasn't nervous about him being around her, but you just pay
00:42:23.640
a little closer attention to, to him, you know, around babies and kids and stuff.
00:42:27.960
And so I was interested to see how he would react.
00:42:30.340
But I mean, when we opened that car door, he hopped right up, he was sniffing her hand,
00:42:38.760
He almost knew to be gentle, which I didn't, I didn't think he would know.
00:42:43.400
I thought he'd still just be a bull in a china shop, but he did know to be gentle, which
00:42:47.620
So they just kind of watch over her all the time.
00:42:48.980
Like when she's in the little bassinet, they're just sitting there staring at her, like, you
00:42:52.480
know, wanting her to like give them a belly rub, which one day, one day she will.
00:42:59.360
We were doing tummy time where, you know, you put Margot on her belly and one of the
00:43:03.460
little, I don't know what you'd call it, play thing.
00:43:07.800
And one of the things on it squeaked and we didn't realize it squeaked.
00:43:10.980
And so I think you squeezed it together and it squeaked and Buddy is a fiend for a squeaky
00:43:16.660
But yeah, and so he sits up, his ears kind of poke up a little bit and lady, as soon
00:43:22.780
as he like sat up too fast, oh, she, she growled.
00:43:27.300
She was, she was, she was putting that boy in check.
00:43:29.900
Got between him and Margot like, okay, don't move that quick around her.
00:43:35.140
She really, she, she's going to keep him in check.
00:43:42.400
You know, honestly, I have kind of mixed, like, I think truthfully, yes.
00:43:45.680
And naturally so though, you know, I don't think shift maybe isn't a good word.
00:43:49.160
Like, of course I will still talk about the things that I've been talking about.
00:43:52.360
Obviously the trans issue of free speech, like all the cultural stuff, of course, like
00:43:55.740
to continue speaking to that and providing my input or insight or, you know, interviewing
00:44:01.240
different people on this podcast, which we do so well, like, of course we'll still continue
00:44:05.300
But I do think there are some different lanes that I kind of want to like dive into.
00:44:10.780
Number one, learn more about like from other people, other creators, other, other, I mean,
00:44:15.140
just people, you don't have to be an influencer, if you will.
00:44:18.760
Um, one of those topics kind of being motherhood.
00:44:24.280
I think there's a niche for it, especially on the conservative side of things.
00:44:27.280
So I would love to be able to produce more like content surrounding motherhood.
00:44:33.080
Um, and I think secondly, another thing that I've always been passionate about, something
00:44:36.600
we've talked about in this podcast is fitness and like the fitness side of things.
00:44:39.700
And so one of the things that I want to do, especially coming back now from, I say from
00:44:44.860
maternity leave, she's literally a week old, which I'm so fortunate to have the studio in
00:44:51.340
She's sound asleep in her little snuggle me little thing.
00:44:54.000
Um, but would love to kind of get into like the fitness side of things, which we have
00:45:00.240
awesome people on the conservative side who talk a ton about like health and wellness.
00:45:05.080
But I feel like the fitness piece has kind of been missing from conservative culture conversations.
00:45:11.980
And so that is something that I would love to do.
00:45:14.400
I feel very passionately about, and I think it could help women, especially all people,
00:45:19.300
Everyone needs, you know, that, that sort of drive.
00:45:21.820
I think it's a fantastic outlet to get anger, frustration, stress, anxiety out.
00:45:25.800
Like it makes everyone feel better, but I think especially for women.
00:45:29.240
Um, so I'd love to be able to contribute in those ways, I think.
00:45:36.300
Thank you for tuning in to the Gains for Girls podcast with my co-host, Louis, the best
00:45:41.860
The best husband, the best dad, which is still kind of just crazy to say.
00:45:49.360
It is cool, especially now, like, obviously with, with the passing, I mean, the murder
00:45:54.700
of Charlie Kirk and to see all these things and to recount on conversations that he and
00:45:59.840
I had had where it was, you know, have as many kids as possible.
00:46:03.340
Now having a child like that, that legacy that he left behind.
00:46:12.640
The first thing that you said when the doctor asked how you were doing, he said, great.
00:46:18.560
Like this was like minutes after pushing out the baby.
00:46:20.340
My y'all hit the floor and he was like, no one has ever said that to me before.
00:46:25.700
So that, yeah, I think you are a little crazy, but we'll see.