Bond Bosstick: The Birth Story | The Skinny Confidential

Baby Bond is about 12 weeks old now and recently I was ripped out of my maternity leave to record his birth story. Be sure to listen to the full episode here, but I wanted to share it on the blog as well.

I’ve mentioned before that this blog is like a diary of my life. Almost like a scrapbook of the last 15 years that I hope my kids look at one day to see the evolution of myself, our businesses, our life as a family and all the stuff in between.

So let’s get right to the day before Bond was born. BOND! He’s so cute. Such a dreamboat. And a big boy.

Anyway, on June 11 I went into the office, did 6000 conference calls, got my hair and makeup done and did all the things I needed to do to feel ready and prepared for the next day. I had it scheduled to be induced, because like I said, he was measuring big.

I went to bed early, read my Kindle (check out all my book reccommendations here), my bags were packed and things were calm. Until the next morning. We woke up and Michael was his usual panicky Susan. This is our 3rd child and every single time, the morning of, he is a nut. He gets so high strung and if you don’t believe me, watch this Reel.

He get nervous and I get it. But I’m not, so his nervousness projects onto me. So I really had to ZIP up. I literally woke up and did a Joe Dispenza meditation, I think, at 5:30 in the morning because I knew that he was going to be nervous and projecting onto me.

So I just imagined I was surroundied by a big ball of good energy and I wasn’t going to let him penetrate it. Again, I knew he’d be like this. When he acted like this when I had Zaza I was shocked, and he did it with Townes too, so this time I was more prepared for his vibe. He was a bit more calm, but still panicked. He was moving around the house, making noise at 6am while the other kdis were asleep and crashing around to push me to leave the house.

Finally, we get in the car. Keep in mind, there’s like no real, real urgency, we can be chill. We can be calm. We got to the hospital. He had packed about 60 bags. He brought his sleeping bag, a bag for hte sleeping bag, his hair gel, Old Blue (his hair brush), a silk pillowcase, chargers, video games, iPad. It was extravagant. As if he was going off to sea.

Meanwhile, I went minimal. Now I know you only use a handful of things. And one of the best things I brought were the Frida Mom ice packs. Your crack them, then they turn freezing cold. It’s heaven.

I’m pretty particular with the hospital, meaning I don’t want my stuff touching anything in the hospital. I just get nervous about the germs being brought into my home. I’m not trying to be offensive to anyone who works in a hospital, it’s just something I think about. So I just brought a bunch of little things.

Along with my Kindle, iPad and ice pads I brought an ice roller, some changes of clothes, Djerf Avenue pajamas (so comfortable – I got baby blue) and a Barefoot Dreams blanket. My hot tip for every mom in the hopsital is to get one and put it underneath you in the hospital bed. I brought another one to replace it after I gave birth and it was so nice to feel like I had a piece of my home.

Anyway, back to the hospital arrival. Michael is running around, still panicked. He can’t find anyone at the reception desk of the hopsital, he calls Katie at 6am (poor Katie), and finally we get checked in and we start the labor process. I was still feeling very chill, totally fine. Giving birth is something I really enjoy. It’s like you’ve done the work of carrying the baby and now you’re at the end of the line. It’s a relief to meet your baby and hold them in your arms, so I’m always very excited about actually giving birth. It’s liberating, cathartic and to be honest, I’d rather give birth then get an IV needle any day of the week. That’s how much I like it.

So I got an epidural, which I’ve gotten a lot of questions about. I’m super crunchy and non-toxic in most ways but I also have gotten epidurals with all 3 of my kids, wear makeup with chemicals in it, I like tequila, and I just wouldn’t do surgery or a major medical procedure without anesthesia. It’s very balanced for me.

The epidural makes the process a little more calm. I mean, it’s a lot of pain, so anything that can help manage that, I’m all for. The needle is huge, don’t Google it. They use this tape that I’m allergic to, we had to use a different kind, it’s a whole process. So the epidural starts to kick in and I’m still chill and relaxed. I turned on The Valley and Real Housewives and just kind of relaxed.

About 5 hours in, I suddenly have this horrible, debilitating pain, but it’s coming in contractions. And you know if this if you’ve had a baby, it comes on so strong, then stops and releases. So my legs were numb, my vagina was numb, but in my stomach area the epidural wasn’t working so I felt every single contraction. So if you’ve had a natural brith, my god, you’re a hero. Women are insane and so powerful, it’s crazy what we can endure. I say we, but I mean YOU, if you’ve done it with no drugs.

These contractions hurt so bad. It was this deep deep pain and the only thing that ever felt worse was when my appendix burst. Meanwhile Michael thinks I should get another epidural and wants them to fix the placement. It was sweet, he was trying to help me manage my pain but honestly, I just wanted him to shut up and bring a smoothie or give me a scalp massage. Every woman knows that when you’re in labor, the last thing you want your husband doing is… ANYTHING. Like, just shut up. So I didn’t end up getting another epidural. I breathed through the pain using Wim Hof breathing and my mediation. Basically I dissociated.

I knew the big push was coming so I made sure the candles were lit and all the overhead lighting was off. I had frequencies playing from the Soaak app (there is one for anxiety so I had that on the whole time) and it really helped change the mood and atmosphere. My surroundings and all five senses are really important to me so all these little details matter. I basically made Michael hang Christmas lights. He needed stuff to do. As if he was going to kick back and get cozy in his sleeping bag and play Nintendo the whole time. I needed him working and to be occupied.

The contractions continued for a couple hours then it came time to push. My strategy was to do one crazy push and the get the baby out. I’ve done this with all three of my kids and it worked really well. So I had my environment just right, I opted out of interns to have as few people as possible in the room, and some specific requests. Things like delayed cord clamping, no bath after, my own beanie for his head and a specific blanket for him (and me). So I kind of wanted to edit what I could, but I didn’t want to be too attached to those things.

A lot of people have asked me about this list of requests and edits, but I’m reluctant to talk about it. Everyone is so different and I think it’s important to do your own research on the WHY of these things and see what’s best for you and your family. It’s a very personal situation.

Anyway, it’s time for the push. Michael is up at my head because of course I don’t want him near my vagina. I’m all good, the nurse and the doctor are already down there, he doesn’t need to be down there too. The doctor says push so I push as hard as I can and it literally feels like a bowling ball is coming out of your butthole. Luckily it was quick and took about 5 minutes for him to come out.

Immediately we did skin to skin and he was resting on my chest. This is the best part. They feel like this slipperly slug and it feels so good, almost like a dolphin. Michael cut the cord when it was time, my doctor did her thing like a ninja, got the IV out and then gave us some space with the baby.

During this time we had my placenta in a cooler and ready for Dr. Amir’s team to pick up. I like to get my placenta made into pills and exosomes and I don’t what else. It’s realy out of my depth which is why he came on The HIM & HER Show to explain it all. We also did the cord blood registry thing and something with stem cells – Michael handled all this so I’m not exactly clear on the details.

I held Bond for about an hour, then I let Michael sit with him and do skin to skin while I ordered pizza and got ready to open a bottle of Brunello. The pizza made me so happy because you can’t eat while you’re in labor so you’re hungry and you basically just ran a marathon. It was all so peaceful and so nice to hang out just us three.

We stayed in the hospital for one night and left the next day after Josie Rushing came to the hospital room to give me alymphatic drainage manage. Michael got one too. She is amazing. You can listen to her on the show here.

Baby Bond was so cute the day he was born. He was absolutely adorable and it’s a special memory. And for me, it’s also nice to come on a mic and relive it because he’ll be able to listen one day and my other two kids can listen too.

When we got home Townes was awake, waiting, and gave him a kiss right away. Zaza met him the next day and is obsessed. She’s been helping me so much, holding him and being so involved. She was not like that all with Townes because she was still so young. Townes is a little aloof and it took him a bit. He was kind of ignoring Bond but curious over who was taking time from his mom.

The summer has been nice but also busy with three kids. I took maternity leave but still work from my phone and take some calls so having a night nurse has been amazing. She might come on the blog soon with some of her tips, but having her has been crucial. I value my sleep so much and it helps me show up during the day for all my kids.

We’re getting back into the swing of things with school and work so stay tuned for night nurse tips, new baby favorites, my postpartum plan and NEW TSC products.

Oh and I had the best nurses and doctor. Shout out to Olivia and Alexis who were just the sweetest, most helpful nurses with the best energy. If you’re in the Austin area, Dr. Amanda Halle is truly incredible. She delivered Townes and Bond and I had such a good experience with her. She took my whole list of concerns, helped me rework things that were important to me and is so open-minded. She talked through everything with me and was so collaborative with my requests.

Be sure to listen to the full story on the show to find out what I’m doing to get back on track with exercise, diet and wellness.

x, Lauryn

+ Check out my postpartum lifesavers (including activities for the kids).

++ Step inside Bond’s nursery.