The courageous Corinne K, Davis (9), Alden (6), and Ryan (4).
Corinne is a previous project participant from our Portland tour stop in 2013. You can view her previous image here.
Getting in-tune with her body in order to conceive her first baby was an interesting process for Corinne. She was blown away by how much she learned and was grateful to get pregnant just three months after she and her husband married. Corinne was constantly nauseous and very ill throughout her pregnancy and needed Zofran to get through. Davis arrived 6 days after her due date following a soft induction to soften Corinne's cervix. Labor had begun at home and Corinne went to the hospital early that morning where she labored with an epidural. The epidural hit hard and she recalls it feeling like she was wearing a big hoop skirt wrapped around her body. Davis arrived early that afternoon after 2.5 hours of pushing with a side cone head, indicating she had her head tilted through the birth canal. She was healthy and strong and they were able to go home within 24 hours.
Alden was born 4 days after his due date following an overnight induction and Pitocin in the morning. Corinne got an epidural again but recalls asking for it to be a lower dose than her first. Alden's heart rate began dropping so they had her transfer to hands and knees. Corinne remembers vomiting stomach bile and crying thinking how awful things were but once she turned back around was able to push Alden out in just 20 minutes. The cord was wrapped around his neck so he had to be taken away for a moment but everything was okay and they went home within 24 hours again.
Corinne had a surprise pregnancy between Alden and Ryan and didn't know she was pregnant until she was 9 weeks along. At 12 weeks things looked good but she had been bleeding through the entire pregnancy so they decided to have an ultrasound at 16 weeks. During the scan they saw many red flags and sent her immediately to maternal fetal medicine. They retrieved cells and learned that her baby had a genetic mosaicism and a chromosome had been dropped leading to calcifications in the babies body. Corinne was devastated with her loss and was able to connect with a friend who had a still birth previously to help her through her grief.
Corinne always knew she wanted a third baby but was scared by her previous experience. Ryan came 6 days early much to her surprise as Davis and Alden had arrived post dates. Labor came on quickly, she remembers lots of vomiting and feeling like everything needed out of her body suddenly. Corinne's mom wasn't in town yet to help with her older children so she had a friend who was also pregnant come by to sit with her children. Within 30 minutes Corinne needed to head to the hospital and arrived 8 cms dilated. She was able to get a last minute epidural and Ryan arrived very soon after. They were able to leave the hospital a few hours later.
Knowing she's done having children and that these chapters are closed has provided release for Corinne. She chose to participate in this movement again as she enjoys being part of something bigger than herself.