October is here and it is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. Join us all month long as we honor and celebrate our babies who have gone to heaven far too soon.
Can you imagine having a doula and midwife, but still experience a stillbirth? Today’s guest had that experience. She was healthy, ate right, worked out consistently, and even worked with a midwife and doula at a birthing center throughout her pregnancy. At 36 weeks after a babymoon life changed for Tierra Hucke. She went to the hospital because she didn’t feel the baby move and was told the baby did not have a heartbeat. In this episode she shares her journey through grief, getting pregnant 2 months after loss, and delivery of her rainbow baby 11 months after she lost her son Jameson. This episode is for you to listen to if you have experienced a stillbirth, and want to know what pregnancy after stillbirth journey is like.
Blog, Brand, Biz Name
Manners & Merlot
Description of Who you Are (Short Bio)
I am a married mother of one angel and one rainbow baby, both boys. My rainbow is 7 months old. I work as an event planner and I enjoy wine, cooking, and writing.
Tell me about your journey to motherhood? What obstacles have you overcome?
I became pregnant with my first baby, Jameson, somewhere near January 2017. I was super excited and immediately started following every piece of advice given by my midwives. I ate right, got active, and put my trust in my body and its abilities.
I had a fairly easy pregnancy. No real sickness or discomfort. It was nice compared to what I’d heard.
My husband and I had just come back from our babymoon in Williamsburg, VA. I noticed that I had not felt the baby kick in awhile. I was just told that week that baby wouldn’t move as much. I chalked it up to that. But that evening, I felt such a heaviness. I wasn’t in pain, but I felt very very heavy. I went to the birth center and called the midwife on call. She tried to find the heartbeat and couldn’t. We went to the hospital. I was still very positive, drinking cold juice and moving into different positions. They took me back to the room to do an ultrasound. That’s when I heard the worst phrase I’ve ever heard in my life: “I’m sorry, there is no heartbeat.” I don’t know what happened in the next few minutes. I was numb. I couldn’t see anything or hear anything. The world stood still. The doctor said to me “It’s nothing you did wrong. But we need to run tests. We should schedule you for a c-section.” I blurted out, “No, I’m giving birth naturally.” The doctor said, “You know you don’t get any brownie points for that.” I mentally cursed her out and prepared to alert my family and friends. I sent out a mass text and Facebook inbox message.
I was given medication to induce me. I labored naturally at the birthing center. When I was ready to deliver, we went to the hospital. I delivered Jameson at 36 weeks on October 5, 2017 at 2:31 AM. He was perfect. I was able to have my doula and midwives dress him and take pictures of him. I read to him and sang to him and introduced him to his teddy bear, Fritz.
We opted to have all the tests done that we could. Nothing did it. Nothing caused it. It was a fluke. Physically, I was fine.
Right away, we decided we needed a baby. We had so much love to give. With lots of tracking and planning, we were pregnant in about 2 months. That was a scary 9 months. I knew I was pregnant at just 4 weeks, so I spent a very long time scared. This pregnancy was fairly easy as well. Though I wanted to deliver naturally at the birth center, I ended up going to the hospital because of a gallbladder issue. The baby needed to come out immediately. So they induced me. He wasn’t coming. I ended up having an emergency C-section. Maverick was born just 11 months and one day after Jameson. My heart is empty and so full at the same time.
Any books, tools, resources that have helped you on this journey that you want to share with the audience?
Nora McInerny’s It’s Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool, Too).
Join the Sisters in Loss Online Community Here
Healing and Prayer Summit Registration its FREE!
Living Water Doula Services
Book Recommendations and Links Below
You can shop my Amazon Store for the Book Recommendations
You can follow Tierra on Social
You can follow Sisters in Loss on Social
Join the SIsters in Loss Online Community
Join the Free Sisters in Loss Facebook Group
