Angie's Journey

In a recent survey, respondents voted hosting a dinner party with family as the number one stress inducer during the holiday season. Yeah, right. Angie Christopherson’s tale includes a positive Covid test on Christmas Day and a rescheduling of her inducement date, moved from December 26 to January 3. Oh, and because Santa’s gift to her regular OB/GYN was appendicitis, Christopherson would be meeting a brand new provider for the delivery of her second child.

Good thing Christopherson is the kind of person who can go with the flow.

“Long story short, I was given Dr. Brubaker,” said Christopherson, “and she was the greatest gift to me.”

But let's try the short story long and let Christopherson tell the tale of her experience as only she can:

My original provider ended up getting appendicitis, so then she was out. So I was just gonna have a random provider do the birth. And I was like, ‘Yeah, whatever.’ It’ll make things interesting because it’s someone I never met before. Honestly, I was okay with it.

I was supposed to get induced on December 26, but on Christmas morning I woke up and felt awful. Probably the sickest I’ve ever been in my whole life. I’m usually the kind that can push through things, but this time I couldn’t even get off the couch. Felt like I was going to pass out all day. So I called the nurse and asked if we should still get induced, because I honestly didn’t think I was capable of pushing a baby out.

The nurse told me I should take a Covid test just to make sure and rule that out, then we’d go from there. I had an at home test and, yep, I had Covid. And then it all made sense. We canceled the inducement and had to wait for a new date because of the quarantine protocol.

And then my husband got Covid.

And then I was notified that my doctor got appendicitis.

And I was chasing a toddler around too.

We ended up scheduling the inducement on January 3. I was like 40 weeks and five days, so yeah, I was ready. We went in, got the Pitocin, and everything was moving along well. At eight centimeters they sat me up to see if they could get me to ten, but I felt like I was going to pass out. I didn’t, which was good. But when I got to ten centimeters, all of a sudden a bunch of nurses came running in. I’m thinking, ‘Okay, why are all these nurses here?’ 

Things had started to go a tad bit sideways: they couldn’t find my baby’s heartbeat. 

Enter Dr. Brubaker, who was downstairs with another patient. I don’t know if they press a button or something when they can’t hear the baby’s heartbeat, but Brubaker must have launched herself up the stairs, because she was a little bit out of breath when she got there. I asked her if everything was alright. ‘I just sprinted up here!’ she said. 

They ended up finding my baby’s heartbeat, but it just kept dropping, mostly because he was kind of in the birthing canal. So it was kind of a scary thing. But Brubaker was so calm, went through the options if the heartbeat continued to drop.

Maybe this was where I was a little too go with the flow, because out came, ‘I don’t really know, so why don’t you pick!’ 

That didn’t fly with Brubaker, so I think I went with, ‘Okay, whatever’s safest.’ But I knew I was to keep pushing, and pushing, and pushing. For like an hour and a half. (And I thought the second delivery was supposed to be easier!) Anyway, the pushing continued and I’m not entirely sure what happened, but basically the baby’s shoulder got stuck. They did some maneuvering and voila!

Charlie was born! 10 pounds, 13 ounces!

He was a large guy. One nurse asked me if other nurses could come in and see him. At this point I was so relieved that I just said, ‘Sure! Bring ‘em in!’

And the nurses were like, ‘Holy cow! This is the biggest baby we’ve ever seen!’

So yeah, it was kind of a hoot, I mean once the scary stuff had passed and we could push out this almost 11-pound baby.

Sometimes when you hear stories about women giving birth, or just being in the hospital in general, you hear about how they just felt like another patient or another number. But I truly felt valued, and I felt Dr. Brubaker truly cared about my baby’s health. She was able to deliver him with ease while keeping me educated about possible outcomes during the entire labor.

She was so professional, so calm, and we absolutely loved her.

 

 

 

Sarah's Journey

Serendipity can be a powerful thing. 

When Sarah Hanaway’s insurance changed and she needed a new OB/GYN, she decided to call Women’s Care of Wisconsin in the hope that they had a provider who was accepting new patients.

Sarah Hanaway, meet Dr. Adriana Schaufelberger.

Hanaway was being introduced to her new provider just as she and her husband were trying to get pregnant for the first time; they were instructed to try for three months.

Which is exactly what they did, but they weren’t getting pregnant.

“At my first visit with Dr. Schaufelberger, I told her I didn't know how moms that try for years handle it, because we were already feeling kind of disappointed,” said Hanaway. “And so that day when I got there, she had everything ready for what kind of fertility things we could do, she had already checked into my insurance and everything. She was prepared for me and knew me as a patient before I even knew her.”

Hanaway acknowledged her fears that a long and difficult road to getting pregnant was just beginning for them, and then made another admission: because she had been let down a couple of times, she hadn’t taken a pregnancy test for a while. She took one then and there and was given the news.

“You are the least pregnant a person can be,” said Schaufelberger.

Hanaway was excited and scared, but she said Schaufelberger countered that by being informative and reassuring. Throughout the first pregnancy Hanaway, like most new moms, had a plethora of questions.

“I could get ahold of her at any time, and asking her questions was so easy,” said Hanaway. “And that first pregnancy went great, and we delivered Rory.”

The second pregnancy was more challenging, as the baby wasn’t moving at 37 weeks. It’s uncertain whether it was related to her preeclampsia or had some connection to her bout with COVID, but Hanaway developed blood clots that fortunately did not get to the baby. Schaufelberger induced labor and delivered baby Rosella early.

“That might have been the world’s fastest delivery ever,” said Hanaway. “Schaufelberger told me she was going to go home and eat dinner, come back, and I was going to have a baby. She didn’t get the chance to eat. Labor was 30 minutes, tops.”

Complications followed after Ella’s birth, as Hanaway dealt with postpartum preeclampsia, which presents briefly at the end of pregnancy and can cause early delivery. The condition lingered, and instead of being able to focus on recovering after childbirth and caring for her newborn, Hanaway spent a considerable time just being very sick. This resulted in the most difficult circumstance of the pregnancy.

“I had to leave Ella at home and go back to the hospital,” Hanaway said. “That caused a lot of hard emotions that Schaufelberger acknowledged and kept in mind when we were pregnant with number three.”

And with their third, the complications continued.

“Anything that can happen when you’re 37 years old and pregnant was happening to me,” Hanaway said.

Preeclampsia affected Hanaway’s pregnancy again, and to complicate matters further she developed cholestasis, a condition that lowers liver function that can cause complications for mother and baby. At her twenty-week appointment, Schaufelberger told her to come in for testing every two to three weeks. 

One day Hanaway called and said she didn’t feel the baby moving. Tests became weekly.

“She saw this was making me anxious,” said Hanaway. “She cares a lot about the patient and the baby, and she just let me know she was going to do everything in her power to make sure we were being taken care of.”

The delivery of her third child, Rynn, was not a speedy affair like the second. Hanaway assumed it was just a really large baby, but it turned out the baby was flipped and “turning all over the place.” Despite the acute sickness she felt during delivery, Hanaway recognized something that was a constant with Schaufelberger.

“She keeps the delivery room lively and treats the entire family, not just the mom. She makes sure she knows everybody,” said Hanaway.

Certainly that includes Hanaway’s husband, an inquisitive person who spent most of Rory’s delivery barraging Schaufelberger—in the midst of all the action—with a seemingly unending set of questions. For Ella’s delivery, Schaufelberger pointed at mom’s head and said to dad, “You stay up there. I’ve got the area down here covered.”

Now with three children four and under as well as a new puppy (“potty trained but not yet behavior trained”), the Hanaway house is an active and joyful place. Asked to pause for a moment and reflect on Dr. Schaufelberger, mom and dad were in alignment.

“We both agreed that we had such an amazing experience with her and she made us feel comfortable every step of the way in all three pregnancies. What sets her apart from other doctors is that she doesn't just get to know you as a patient; she knows you as a person and she knows and cares about you and your entire growing family.”

After three pregnancies with their fair share of complications (by the way, Hanaway had gestational diabetes with each), she ends by highlighting a Schaufelberger quote that resonates with her, deeply.

“Dr. Schaufelberger always says ‘I trust a mother’s instinct.’ That’s so reassuring to hear, to know that she trusts you to know when your body isn’t feeling right.”

So a chance appointment with “any available provider” becomes a bond of strength, a relationship based on confidence and trust.

Serendipity indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sam's Journey

When you call a mom with an 11-month-old for an interview, leading with the question “Are you good to go?” is a given, even if you know what the answer will be.

“Got a baby right here but I’m ready,” was Sam Hawkinson’s reply.

Of course she’s ready. She’s a mom.

Hawkinson is the proud mother of 11-month-old Louie.

She’s proud of her five-year-old son Finn, too.

And Archie, age seven.

Jack too, who’s nine.

“My husband is one of three boys, and his dad is one of five boys, and his dad’s dad was one of eight boys,” said Hawkinson. “I prepared myself for boys.”

Following the delivery of boy #1 (aka Jack) by her regular OB/GYN, Hawkinson needed to find another provider—not due to anything negative, simply retirement. While Hawkinson was satisfied with the new obstetrician she started with during her second pregnancy, due to unforeseen circumstances she was unavailable to meet with Hawkinson at several appointments.

Enter midwife Kay Weina, who stepped in and introduced herself at Hawkinson’s 20-week appointment.

“Kay walked in the room that day and I don’t know what it was. Her overall presence, an aura of calm,” said Hawkinson. “Whatever it was, it just made me feel like she was who I needed to have deliver the baby.”

Admittedly, Hawkinson had been curious about midwifery and had pondered how that approach might impact the journey. Their initial conversation proved to be a tipping point.

“Meeting Kay and understanding the midwife’s point of view, which is to be there with you and for you, was an immediate aha moment for me,’” she said. “Kay’s calm and loving presence, and the fact that she began by taking time to get to know me, was a huge difference-maker.” 

Following that appointment at 20-weeks, Hawkinson made the provider switch.

“It wasn’t that my provider wasn’t a good fit,” she said. “It was that Kay was the perfect fit.”

Fast forward to the birth of Archie (boy #2), where Hawkinson went into labor but her contractions ended up stalling. Kay was with her through the entire night in what culminated the next day in a somewhat non-traditional birth.

“Well, I started to birth right there in the shower,” Hawkinson said. “This baby was coming out, and there we all were—Kay, my doula, the birth team, my mom and my husband—all in this small bathroom. Pretty wild.”

With baby boy #3 (Finn), Hawkinson went into labor, got to the hospital, and the labor stalled once again. Kay (“calm and collected as always”) broke her water, and Finn was delivered.

She noted that there was another similarity with those births.

“I was standing up both times when I delivered,” Hawkinson said. “Using gravity seems to work for me.”

And let us not forget boy #4, baby Louie who, at 11 months now, was in mom’s arms during the interview. Hawkinson described the birthing experience with Louie as the toughest yet—“He just really didn’t want to come out”—but he’s doing great and growing well.

Hawkinson ends with a comment about Kay that aptly punctuates the discussion.

“Kay just makes you feel really grounded, basically like you can do anything,” she said. “Like have a baby!”