Trish: [00:00:00] Hey mamas, welcome back to another episode of the birth experience with a labor nurse mama aka me. Today I'm thrilled to be joined by an amazing mama to three babies who has such an inspiring birth journey to share with us. She is a doula. She is a fitness expert. Her name is Anna, and I am super excited about this conversation.

Hello, everyone. Today's guest is Anna McClellan. And she is like a jack of all trades. She's a doula. She does fitness. And I'm so excited to have her on here today because she's also in Nashville, and very close to me, which we just talked about. discovered. So welcome, Anna. Say hello and tell everybody just a little bit about you.

Anna: Hello. My name is Anna McClellan. And like you [00:01:00] said, I am right outside Nashville in the Spring Hill area. I have been married for eight years. I've got three and I have kind of just married my two loves of birth and fitness and motherhood. And that's kind of the realm that I've been working in for the last few years, which I've thoroughly enjoyed and it's, been a really big blessing.

So I love working with other women and other mamas and it brings me a lot, a lot of joy.

Trish: I love that, Anna. So you've been busy in the last 10 years since you moved to Tennessee.

Anna: Lord have mercy. I've been so, I have been so busy. And I have been busy the last, um, couple of years. It just seems like the more busy my family gets, the more busy, even like my, my own personal and my husband's lives get, you know, it's just, it's, he also runs a business as well and I help him with that.

And so it's been, it's been pretty nuts in a good way, in a [00:02:00] really good way.

Trish: I love that. So you guys, is he from Tennessee?

Anna: He is. Yeah. Yeah.

Trish: Okay. So you moved here. Oh, wow. That is where, I'm pretty sure that's where, no, my daughter's boyfriend, I think lives there.

Anna: We just have all the connections. It's fine.

Trish: We do. Oh my gosh. This is so meant to be. I know, right? So you married your husband and then boom, boom, boom. You're very much like me. You know, I have seven kids. So a lot of, I, I had a lot of them. Right back to back. So you wanted to be a doula and I I loved what you said in your little download you gave me beforehand.

I was reading that you love it, but it's really being a doula is very hard when it when you're raising your own little babies. And I, you know, I went to nursing school to be a labor nurse, and I was going to be a midwife. That was my goal. [00:03:00] But I, the same thing I realized, like, you can't have a life or you schedule everyone for inductions to have a life, which I don't believe in.

So it was like, okay, nevermind, but I'm such a birth geek. I love birth so much, but I love how you've combined it. So tell us about your, your business and what it is that you specialize in.

Anna: Well, after I went through doula training, you know, like I said, it just was not realistic to be on call. With my own littles.

I was like, this is just not, this is not gonna work. And so I had been training actually, personal training and training boxing classes for years. That's actually how me and my husband met. And, which is super fun. But, I just realized, like, I would love to take the two components of, you know, you know, Going through this season of motherhood and a lot of changes happening within your own body.

And I was learning that at the time I had had my daughter after I'd gone through doula training and I was just like, I want [00:04:00] to be able to help women who are like, what's going on with my body? These changes, I think a lot of times we want to get plugged into fitness classes or have accountability and have community, but yet there's not a lot of tailored to mamas and the specific means that their bodies.

Have, you know, and so that's kind of the course that I went down. I went and got, several different certifications for like pre and postnatal, corrective exercise, athleticism, coaching, and a few other movement, certifications that really, that weren't even really geared towards pregnancy and postpartum, but I utilize all that knowledge that I gained in those certifications and apply it to the population that I work with now.

And it has, I mean, and I've got to trial and everything on myself, you know, that's been really. cool to experience and go through this process myself while I'm also getting to work with women in the same exact season that I'm in. So I, I adore it.

Trish: I, I love that. And let's go back to the boxing because I did read that and I forgot about that.

So [00:05:00] you were working in some kind of like boxing type thing. And do you bring that into your programs now?

Anna: A little bit. I, I will say like, I have certain movements that are kind of, you know, Boxing styled within my staff, depending on my programs. But a lot of, you know, a lot of what I trained within the boxing realm, it was a lot of breath work, a lot of, breathing on cue with certain movements, and learning able to being able to like move well on your feet, which.

I didn't know it at the time, but highly applied, and, and was very effective for like, kind of the season of life that I was in. I did not do any birth prep for my first two babies, and so the only thing I had on my side, really, with them was When I make a decision about something, I follow through with it and my breath.

And I worked with a lot of breath work at that time, and that really, really aided me in my births with both of my first two [00:06:00] babies, because I really didn't get into the birthing realm until after I had my daughter. And so, and learned a lot about that. So, yeah.

Trish: I love that, because as soon as you said that, I'm like, So this is what I tell my students all the time.

If they want to go unmedicated, you have to marry that decision. Like, it's like when you get married, you don't like say, Oh, I'm going to try it out. We'll see how that works. Cause that ain't going to go well. And I say the same thing about unmedicated birth. If you're going to go unmedicated, you have to marry that.

So I love that you said that. Um, because it is, it's, it's a mindset, it's a commitment because it's hard. It really is.

So did you

have your babies unmedicated?

Anna: I had all of them unmedicated without any intervention and I loved it. I would do it all over again every single time.

Trish: Where did you, where did you deliver?

Anna: So all of them were different. All of them were in different places, in different positions, , with different people. But it was cool because I kind of, I. Had the exact outcome that I kind of wanted to have the birth that I kind of wanted [00:07:00] to have and I learned from each Birthing experience. And so I have my son wade He is about to be six And I had him, I was supposed to be in the birthing center with him at St.

Thomas in Nashville. And it ended up they were full, or they had some, something went haywire when we went in there. And it was just kind of, everything was like kind of crazy. My OB went on vacation the day I went into labor. And so he wasn't going to be there. And, so I ended up being in like a regular hospital room with a doctor.

I didn't know with people that I didn't anticipate to be there. And I was shooing everyone away, like flies, like just to leave. Don't give me your opinion. Cause I don't like your opinion. You're trying, you know what I mean? I was like, just leave me alone. I'm doing no fat. I'm doing fine. Doing okay. And I had sole back labor with him.

Like I had sole back labor with Wade. So

Trish: he was in a weird position. He

Anna: was. And I learned now I probably rec I was very active with him all throughout pregnancy. However, whenever I would say, I'm gonna put my feet up, I did just that. I put my feet up and I would recline back. And now I know that was probably [00:08:00] not the best, the ideal position I needed to be in.

And so that gave me a lot of back labor. And I ended up birthing him on my back because I just. Like I said, I didn't do any really birth prep going in with him. I was just very determined. I knew how I, I didn't want any intervention. I just wanted to kind of go for it, you know, and I utilized my breath and that was really all I did.

I ended up birthing him on my back. And, and everything went fine. I remember the doctor coming in and he was like, Alright, hold your breath and push, you know? And I just remember like, this is going against every single grain in my intuition to hold my breath. And so I just was like tuning everyone out after that.

I felt like that first push was just a waste. And after that I was like, Okay, I'm gonna breathe this baby out. And that's exactly what I did on the next contraction. And so, if you would have asked me after him, I thought that birth went fine. Great because everything I wanted kind of happened out of it, you know, until you go.

And then I had my daughter and I ended up having her in the birthing [00:09:00] center at St. Thomas. My OB didn't go on vacation that day, so he was able to be there. And it was just very seamless. It was still a longer labor. It was about 15 hours start to finish with both of them. It just slowly progressed. With her, I had her on my hands and knees.

Thanks. And you know that, fetal ejection reflex where, you know, yeah, well, I very much experienced that with her. I wish that I would have kind of held myself back a bit more instead of like, okay, let me just help and aid and push. But there was no stopping her from coming. I just remember she came out in one good long contraction and it was just, it was, and her birth was awesome.

Trish: Yeah.

Anna: Yeah. And so, that was. That was their birth, both at St. Thomas and Nashville, and then I ended up having Waylon at home, so. And how old is she? Dani is, she just turned four, two days ago.

Trish: So, for both of those babies, I was working at St. Thomas. What? But the other one, [00:10:00] yeah. Oh my god. Yeah, I was working at the one in Murfreesboro though.

Anna: Okay. Yeah. That's awesome. Funny.

Trish: I used to go down to say, I used to go down to the other St. Thomas, like if we had classes or whatever. Okay. And then how old is the baby?

Anna: He just turned, he's 3 months. So. Oh. Oh my

goodness. He's tiny. Yeah. I love it. I feel like he

should be tinier. I feel like that newborn, you know, he's like worked his way out of that newbornness and I'm like, Oh, go back.

You know, I love when they grow, but I'm just, you know, it's so fleeting. Oh, they, yeah. Is all of a sudden they're nine,

Trish: like all of a sudden. So tell me about that birth because you said all three were different.

Anna: Well, Waylon, I had him at home and it was, I mean, just from start to finish, very different with him because I had never experienced any type of false labor with my other two.

It was like once construction really

Trish: can wreck your brain,

Anna: but I will say it wasn't bad with him. It wasn't like, Oh, I'm having [00:11:00] like just terrible and just nonstop false labor. I remember waking up on my due date and I only had about 30 minutes, but they were like pretty consistent contractions, but they weren't.

I knew, you know, I've been through labor before, so I knew I wasn't an active labor by any means, but they were just more than Brock's picks. I was like, okay. There's a difference to these, you know, well, I got it when I moved around and then they totally faded out. So I was like, okay, and I thought a little bit during the day, but just nothing that made me like made my ears perk up, and, so then the next day.

Or that night I ended up having, pretty much hours of a little bit of false labor, but I was able to sleep through it. I just remember it waking me up a little bit, you know, and I was like, Oh man, this is more than Braxton Hicks, but it's definitely not active labor. And so, The next day I got up I moved around they faded out like they had, you know prior And so that afternoon I was like texting my midwife and I was like, hey I'm having a little bit of contractions, [00:12:00] but they're not consistent and they fade out.

I'm thinking, you know Position and she agreed like maybe his head was just cocked in a not ideal position. Yeah Yeah, so I agreed with that. She recommended mile circuit. And so I kind of got on the floor for that I I honestly and I know some people love mile circuit. I was i'm just not a fan I felt like it wasn't as intense as what I needed So I ended up going in my living room and I got into I got on my ottoman like my couch ottoman And did inverted breathing, so I got my hind end pretty high up in the air and did several breaths in that position just to try to create more space at the bottom of the uterus, you know, and I did several, like about three sets of a few breaths of that, and then I sidestepped my stairs.

And then I had about a round of 30 minute contractions again. And I remember thinking, okay, this is kind of picking up. And I text my midwife. She said, well, I'm not far. Let me just come and see where you're at, you know? And I was like, okay, I don't think this is it. But she was like, let [00:13:00] me just come, come by.

So she did. And I was still only like two centimeters dilated. I wasn't fully a face. And so I was like, you know, so she left at about 415. And I said, I'm going to do these movements again. So I inverted breathed again. And then I sidestepped on my stairs and those contractions started coming back, like pretty good.

So I said, I'm going to go take a bath and I see if this is actually labor, then it'll probably kick up. But if it's not, then it'll kind of, you know, get my contractions to subside a little bit. I took a bath and by, 637, they started rolling in and I started timing them at about seven o'clock and I texted her.

I texted my midwife again at 730 and this is only a couple hours after she left. And I said, Hey, things have definitely shifted. Like I'm having some intense contractions and I'm talking, you know, with my other two, it was like. Early labor lasted several hours, you know, slow [00:14:00] and steady. This was like, boom, once my contraction started getting consistent, they got intense and I remember leaning over my bed and I was like three, I mean, just breathing through a contraction and I texted my husband, I said, get up here.

And, my parents were actually in town. They had just come in town the night before, so they were there to help, which was great. They had my kids downstairs. And so I. Called my midwife and I said, Hey, here's where I'm at. She listened to me breathe through a contraction. She said, Hey, I'm, I'm going to head back.

I'm going to head back your way. And so she ended up getting there. I went from, what was it? Like four centimeters, eight centimeters in about 45 minutes. We were rolling at that point. And so I ended up having, yeah, I ended up having him by 10 35 that evening. So labor. Once it really started going was only about three and a half hours.

Trish: I love it for those of you guys listening This is why I say dilation does not matter.

Anna: No, you're not [00:15:00] matter. Yeah Yeah, it really doesn't be

Trish: nothing to everything so quick

Anna: And I will say I labored with Wayland so differently than I did my other two I laid a lot on my side With the other two, I used a peanut ball, which was great.

I mean, at the time I thought I could feel, I mean, I could feel myself dilating. I thought this is working. It was just slow and steady. With Wayland, I completely changed that approach and maybe it's just because I've learned a lot, you know, and so I had a very different mindset going in. I was not fearful at all.

All I was so welcoming of every single contraction that hit me. I was like, bring it on. If it was like taking, more than I felt like a minute, I was like, what's happening? Where are they at? You know, bring them on. Yeah. And so I stayed standing a lot with him in labor, just leaning over my bed.

That's

Trish: so powerful. And I

Anna: would even bring a knee, one knee up onto the bed. So I would kind of give like a bit of a pelvic tilt and I could feel him engage and move down and I would give like a tiny little [00:16:00] squat with it and I could just feel him, you know, and I was like that. So I just stayed in that.

And if I needed a break, I would like get on the bed and lean over the peanut ball, just kind of like, you know, kind of swaying back and forth.

Trish: Yeah.

Anna: But I was constantly giving that forward and kind of moving through it. And it wasn't like, You're out doing lunges or squats and deep squatting or anything.

They were small, very intentional movements

Trish: that that's what it takes.

Anna: And it's in the mindset. It's so intense, but I was so ready for that. And it was really powerful because we actually lost a baby last summer. And I, it's, it's strange because. You know, that process with that baby, I ended up, I ended up carrying that baby for about a month before I miscarried from, it was a miscarriage.

And when I went through that process, it took about 13 hours from start to finish. And it was, [00:17:00] it was miserable. It

Trish: Yeah.

Anna: And I remember leaning on my side of my bed. And I just remember feeling myself go through that process. It was, it was extremely sad. And I just remember after that, I had envisioned having and laboring with another baby in that same spot, in that same position.

And that's exactly what I did with Waylon. And it was just, it was such a redemptive and healing experience. I was just about to say

Trish: the same thing. It was

Anna: so redemptive. It was so healing for me. I just remember, like, Smiling in labor with him because I was like, this is what I have longed for. I have longed to be here with this healthy baby doing this exact same thing, knowing the outcome that's about to come, you know, that's that we're about to have versus what we experienced last year.

And so it was such, it was, it was really healing for, for me as a mama and just for my family, you know, to finally

get

to that [00:18:00] point. And I think it's a really different, It's a really, when we talk about mindset too, I think I can even grasp that even harder leaning into the intensity because I know I've been in the intensity of, you know, when you go through that intensity with something that doesn't have a good outcome, when you know that the outcome is about to be so beautiful, you're just like ready to take hold of it, you know?

And so I just, it was really, really awesome. Really such. I love that. I'm

Trish: so sorry for your loss. I and I really appreciate that you are talking about the pain of it because Women don't talk about how painful miscarriages can be and when I had my first miscarriage, I had been a labor nurse for a very long time and It feels like labor.

It's really tough. And oh, yeah, I agree with you. It's a it's a completely It's just it's a completely different experience Because you know, like there is [00:19:00] no good outcome to this and I love that you got your redemptive birth It's beautiful.

Anna: Thank you. We actually we had lost our first son seven, seven years ago.

And we had named him Jace and so my baby, his name is Waylon Jace. So I feel like we have come full circle with our little family and just being able to, I don't know, it's cool to hear my kids even say his name, they'll call him Waylon Jace all the time. And it's just sweet. That we've included, you know, I feel like all of our babies in such a beautiful way.

Trish: I love that. Yeah, my little rainbow baby is now nine. So it is it's so beautiful

Anna: And it should be talked about more though. I will say that I feel like that's There's so much stigma around it And I think it's because women feel shame and they feel guilt and they feel like what did I do? And I just want to put that out there that i'm sending a lot of encouragement because it is way You Not, it's just not talked about as much as it needs to [00:20:00] be.

And I've always said it is the worst club to be in. It sucks to be in this club whenever you lose a baby, but I will say, I'm glad it exists because you don't feel alone. You feel isolated going through it already. You feel a lot of isolation and confusion. I mean, there's a lot of emotions that go. Into losing a baby and not only just figuring it out mentally, but like it resides within our physical being, you know, and there's a lot of guards that can come up for yourself, like personally.

As a woman with your marriage with your own children that you have and so I just feel like We've got to talk about that or else we go crazy, you know, it's no I agree. Yeah So,

Trish: yeah, I agree and even more so because I have friends that have experienced Late term loss and fetal, you know and having a fetal demise is what we call it in the industry and They want to talk about their babies and they want to talk about the names of their babies and their [00:21:00] experience and other women.

I feel a lot of times it's so hard to hear and then you put yourself in their place. And so, yeah, all around loss needs to be something that we're able to speak to one another about. The experience like so that you don't go into it. I'm prepared. Yeah, because it is very hard and it's Emotionally devastating.

So it really does for those of you guys listening. I have two pieces of advice Listen, but don't over talk You don't have to say things. You don't have to fill the silence. You don't have to say things like, well, God has a plan because that hurts in the moment and you don't want to hear those things. So err on the side of caution and just listen.

And I would say if you're going through it

Anna: to find people who have either been there. You know, and can hold your hand in that because it's, it's nice to talk to people who can relate to it and who resonate with it, but also [00:22:00] to, you know, from someone who has experienced, you know, pregnancy after loss and going through that, and I know I was extremely guarded while I was pregnant with Waylon,

but I

would be, I always erred on the side of caution, you know, of talking, you know, With women who are pregnant or about to have babies about my loss.

Like, I would not go there because I think that that puts their headspace not in the best headspace. Right? So it's like kind of being choosy on both aspects of, okay, I'm going to talk to this. Talk about this from my standpoint and my emotions and what I need to kind of work through with people who are in a place to be able to help me with that.

But I think going to people who are pregnant or who are about to have a baby may be hard for that person to get on your level, you know? So yeah.

Trish: Yeah. Well, and it's hard for you. I remember when I lost the baby before Grayson, I had several friends that were pregnant at the same time and to watch their bumps growing and then it was hard.

It was a really difficult season. But yes, we do need to support one another. [00:23:00] But the problem there is that a lot of like, you know, I have my, my mama membership and a lot of them. Haven't told many people that they had losses So it does have to become something we talk about more so that we know who has gone through.

I agree

Anna: I fully agree

Trish: and I can't when I had my own because I had three losses when I had the first I Couldn't believe how many of my friends had had losses and they had never told anyone I know. And it was like, I wouldn't know how.

Anna: Both of mine, I had already told everybody I was 15 weeks and 13 weeks along.

And so we had already told, we had already, I'm, I'm a type though, too, where I think it's okay if you don't wait till a certain time to tell, like, if you're pregnant, you're pregnant. And I think that if, whether you go through something or not. Whether it's hard, I think it's important that we, that we have that community.

So if you do, then they know, and [00:24:00] they know how to love on you, and they know to check on you, and they know that they can support you versus you actually feeling isolated and being alone. I just don't think any woman needs to go through that, ever.

Trish: No. I agree. So no matter and that's I'll

Anna: say that doesn't matter if you are six days, six weeks.

Cause once you see that line, you're already dreaming about that baby and planning for that baby. I mean, it doesn't mean that, that it's any less than just because it was early, you know?

Trish: Oh yeah. That's so rotten. Yeah, I'll tell you, my own losses changed me as a labor and delivery nurse because I was able to connect with my patients in a much deeper, different way after having had the losses and understanding that.

Like, Mm

hmm.

It's one thing to say, well, any loss is a loss until you have a loss that's early and then you realize the pain of that because I think [00:25:00] before you have a loss, you think, Oh, well, it'd be easier if it were early, but it's not at all. I agree with that. Well, thank, I'm so glad that you came and this was such a diverse conversation.

I know. Which I love. From one over here to one over there. I love. I love. So can you tell everyone where they can find you?

Anna: Mostly on Instagram. It's just at movelikeamother. com. Or well, that's my website, movelikeamother. com. And then, yeah. Instagram is the same handle, but like a mother.

Trish: I love it. Mother, right?

With a

Anna: name. Yeah. And people ask me all that. And I'm like, it was just because mother was taken and I was the type of the time where I was like, I really want to do this. I'm just going to go for it. And that kind of sounds fine and it's got a, it's got a ring to it. So I just rolled with it. I really didn't put a lot of, like we're moving.

We're rolling. Let's go.

Trish: Well, and that is like a mother. Yeah, that's for sure. That I don't think we ever stopped.

Anna: No, 100%. Yeah.

Trish: Well, thank you so much for coming today. I loved [00:26:00] this conversation. And for those of you guys who are listening, go give Anna a follow. And I will see you guys again next Friday.

Wow, what an incredible conversation with Anna. I love how each of her birth stories and her losses played into her passion for birth and Preparation and fitness and faith. If there's one takeaway from today, it's that you are in control of your birth experience and it can be beautiful. No matter what, as always, thank you for listening.

Hit subscribe, write a review, and I'll see you again next Friday. Bye for now.