Choosing Home Birth
A Conversation with Lexi Young Peck
SEASON 1 | EPISODE 16
As more expecting parents consider alternatives to traditional hospital settings, the choice of where to give birth is becoming an increasingly interesting topic.
In this episode of Being Different, Liz Durham talks with Lexi Young Peck about her experiences with pregnancy, home birth, and farm life. Lexi transitioned from city life to farm life with her husband in 2020 and has chosen home birth for all her children, embracing an approach that she says puts the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of the family at the forefront. Lexi shares the benefits, explains the support systems available, and addresses common concerns and misconceptions.
Plus, she talks about her recently published children's book, What Do You Say to a Dragon?, about facing fear and anxiety.
In this episode:
Lexi Young Peck Instagram | Website
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Liz Durham Instagram | Website
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Being Different with Liz Durham is a Palm Tree Pod Co. production
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Liz 0:40
Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of being different. Today. I am joined by Lexi Peck and I am really excited to talk to her kind of about her experience with having home births versus what she knows about hospital births. And you're also a doula, correct.
Lexi Young Peck 0:59
I am not a certified doula. I have do lead for a handful of friends.
Liz 1:03
Gotcha. Okay. So she's an interesting outlook on the birthing process. That's probably different than what I would say most traditional American women have at this point. And after having my first two kids, my viewpoints have changed a lot. So I think it's just something that's really cool to talk about. So Lexi, tell us a little bit about yourself, how many kids you have where you live? And then we'll get started with the birth questions.
Lexi Young Peck 1:31
Right? Um, so we live out in the Pacific Northwest and Oregon. I grew up in Oregon. My husband, Josh, he is a Maryland native who moved out here and stayed. He's been out here now. We've been married. Yeah. Oh, yeah. We've been married for 10 years, this summer will be 11. And he's been out here for about 13. So he loves it out here just as much as I do, which I appreciate. So does my family. We have three children. Vivian is eight years old. Xander is five. And our baby is a year and a half Lucy. And I am pregnant with my fourth. So I am just tomorrow, I think is 11 weeks. So early on this one. But we're very excited. That is
Liz 2:20
awesome. Congratulations. Thank you. Okay, and so you originally lived in the city and had kind of a quote unquote, normal life. And now you've given it up for farm life?
Lexi Young Peck 2:33
That's right. Yeah, we were in a very small suburb. Easy living where everything was always clean, and everything was always taken care of, I had time to do too much. Honestly, I had so much time on my hands that I had not realized at the time, I thought I was so busy. And I just worried about stuff a lot. And stuff that just I needed to fill my time and fill my space. And, and so I thought about stuff that was not very important. And I complained a lot about, oh, my gosh, I have to walk the dog to the park today. Like oh my gosh, I don't want to do that. And I was bored is what it was, there was just, it was very mundane, everything was the same every day I've I have completely changed my entire life moving to the farm. We had been interested in looking into our overall well being and our health and what we were in taking the inputs into our body. My husband is very interested in that and had been researching. And so inevitably, that ended up on what we were producing for ourselves. We were buying half cow's whole cows from local farmers. So eventually we're like, do we really want to live in a city where our kids have to be watched constantly because the road is 10 feet outside of our door? Or do we want to have space for them to run in, use their instincts and learn how to be responsible for their own bodies and their own actions. And so that was kind of the push to go to farm living. And we spent a year trying to find farms and learning as much as we could. But once we got here, it was a steep learning curve. It was It was wild, and we had cows right away. We had never had cows before. They were escaping in the middle of the night. It was there. It's like a lot there. But we have really appreciated what we've learned being out here. producing our own food, being able almost every meat we eat we've raised and so it's been a wonderful experience for us and our children. And so yeah, we love it.
Liz 4:56
That is really cool. I I aspire Have you like that one day that I probably won't we have 10 acres. And so, and it's not all like pasture, it's a lot of it is like sod pretty yard. And then the rest of it's all woods. And so my husband is we've got the chickens in a big garden, and I'm like, I'd like to get a cow. And he's like, Well, I'd like to get a horse and I'm like, then then I start thinking about I'm like, and then I'm going to have to take care of all these things. And that's a big time commitment that I don't think people realize, like, really ties in to an area, it's not like you can just pick up and go to the beach and ask your neighbor to walk over and milk your cow every day in a subdivision. That's not exactly the same. So like, maybe we will have a farm. I don't know I need to find somebody to like buy cows from for now. Because I don't like buying meat at Kroger. It's not my thing, but this one,
Lexi Young Peck 5:47
and it's getting expensive. It's actually cheaper to Ryan bolter. So.
Liz 5:51
Okay, so all of your kids, you have had home births on and are you planning to have one for your fourth as well?
Lexi Young Peck 5:59
Yes, we are. So Vivian was a kind of an introduction to home birth, she was at a birthing center in Portland. And still all midwife care. And then the other two were yes at home. And then this one will also be a planned home birth most birthing
Liz 6:18
centers have like doctors on staff, or is it just the midwives? Typically,
Lexi Young Peck 6:23
it is just the midwives. But the midwives are extremely trained in what they're doing. And I think that sometimes people imagine midwives as like, a, like a certification of delivering babies, but they actually go through a lot of training, and they have a lot of equipment, or emergency situations. And so when you're going in there you are with someone who knows what they're looking for who is paying close attention, and isn't just having a wish and a prayer that everything goes well. And
Liz 6:56
when you're going to do a birthing center or something like that, generally, you see the same midwife for every appointment leading up to the birth as well, you're not seeing like a group of them? Or is it usually a group where you see somebody different every time.
Lexi Young Peck 7:10
In my experience, I've worked with three up to three midwives. Typically they work in pairs or three, because then it allows them to get some time off. But through all of my pregnancies, there has been a consistent midwife I have seen and she has been with me. She wasn't at my son's birth, she was actually off call. But she went through my whole care with me. And I knew that the midwife that ended up being at his birth. But my girls, she delivered, she helped me deliver both of them. And she's also been in I've been in contact with her for this one as well. So that consistency of care with her she's seen my history, she knows me really well. She knows my kids, she knows my husband, she knows that we ask a ton of questions, and we don't just go with what is expected. So she's very aware of, of what I'm looking for and what we have done and where we're going. So yes, we you can end up with a couple of different midwives. But you know them because you've had a couple of appointments, at least with each of them.
Liz 8:16
So what made you want to even consider a home birth versus of hospital birth, I feel like it's very, like, scary to most people are just foreign, like they don't know anything about it. And so like unless you know people that have done it or you know, have been wife or something like that, like it's not something that would even be on your radar at all.
Lexi Young Peck 8:34
Absolutely. I did not come by it on my own. Actually, it was my husband to push for the home birth. My family, my extended family had always been in hospital births. That was just what I expected. It was. I didn't know anything. I hadn't done any research. There was no reason for me to even think of any other option. But he, like I said he's always been big on. When you introduce outside stressors, no matter what stage of life you're in, it's going to inhibit your natural process of your natural instincts, your intuition, your ability to go into a headspace where labor and delivery for if you have a healthy pregnancy, and you are a good candidate for a home birth because there are people who are not and they will not allow you to have a home birth if you're not a good candidate, because they do not want you to be the goal is not to have everyone be out of hospital just to say that they did it. The goal is to have healthy babies and healthy moms. So I had to go through that process of understanding from the ground up and it was it was a lot of anxiety for me the first pregnancy. They kept I remember, they kept offering me offering me like these nice remedies of anti anxiety Like concoctions like these natural homeopathic, they think that, yeah, I was like, I'm okay. It's just this is a lot like it's completely different. And when you have everyone around you telling you that you're crazy. And I was 23, when I had my first baby, I was young, I had been married for two years, everything was new, it was just a lot. So for me, I have the opposite of what people would expect that I was the one pushing for it. But my husband really championed me into the home birth realm. And he he was, and always has been through each of my pregnancies, very consistent, very calming, very helpful for me, because I tend towards being anxious. And when you're pregnant, you have hormones galore. And your instinct is to protect and to do the right thing. But the more that I learned, the more that I saw, if you have a healthy pregnancy, you are taking care of yourself in a full way you're exercising in getting out of the house, you're getting vitamin D, you're getting water, you're doing all of those things. And through your pregnancy, you have a consistently healthy outcome, then 98% of those women will have a healthy delivery no matter where they are, as long as there is not an induction method or an augmentation of some sort to their pregnancy.
Liz 11:28
Okay, explain what an induction method is for people who don't know.
Lexi Young Peck 11:32
So typically, so one in four women right now are being induced. And typically, it's before they actually have reached their 40 weeks. And they're now have, there's been many reasons why they will do it, but they give you Pitocin, which is an outside external synthetic hormone of the hormones that we actually have, that our body will produce to get oxytocin, it's oxytocin, but it's synthetic. So it will start your body having contractions. But if your body is not ready to labor, then it you'll have these really intense contractions that hurt very significantly, because your body's hormonal response is not keeping up with the synthetic outside indicator that you should be going into labor. And so what can happen is, a woman will go in for her induction, and maybe they do it at 38 weeks. The problem is, sometimes dating can be off by a week, two weeks, sometimes I've heard of a month off. And what we don't hear about is when an induction starts, and then you have a premature baby who actually comes and is born and ends up in the NICU because they were their body was not ready that baby was
Liz 12:56
on the documentary, you told me to watch the what's it called? Being born. The midwives were saying that it wasn't on the first movie, it was on the following like series afterwards. But they were saying it's not actually 40 weeks. 40 is just the average that for some wait for some woman, women full time is 38 weeks, for some women full term is 42 weeks. And I was like why are we not told that when we go to these appointments, like they're like, Oh, it's 40 weeks? This is your due day. And I'm like, I had my first son two weeks late. And I think he was ready to commit two weeks late. I don't say I think if they would have induced me at 38 weeks, it would have been an absolute disaster. So I'm like why don't we talk about this average thing? And I don't know, I just don't understand why they wouldn't do that.
Lexi Young Peck 13:44
Yeah, it that is a good question. And one that most people don't ask people have gotten so used to a doctor saying, Well, this is what's best for your baby. And not saying well, what if I'm not ready, what will happen to my baby. So if they're putting Pitocin into your system, this is a trajectory that normally happens, women will be so overloaded with the contractions that are having. And the pain is so much more intense than a natural labor, that they will then get an epidural. And so once there's an epidural in your system, they can up the Pitocin and you're not feeling it but that baby feels every single thing of Pitocin. The entire time, they're the contractions are harder and longer. They're stronger, the baby doesn't have time to break in between like they naturally would. And so there are a lot of issues with the baby, that then they're like, oh my gosh, your baby is in distress. And it was all of those things. Like you said that baby wasn't ready. The cervix wasn't ready. Your uterus wasn't ready to push that baby out. And so now an outside force is pulling on it. And then of course your baby's going to be in distress and it's going to be feeling Every single thing that they're doing, but we don't even think about that. And one of those, the series that you were mentioning, they said something that I had never even thought about, which is, maybe we've done some studies on what Pitocin does to an infant in the womb. But there have not been adequate studies to know what what happens when you have Pitocin, and an epidural, and any oral medication, and so and so many things at once. And we're not wondering about it, we're just allowing it to happen, sometimes. And I will say I will, there are some times when you need to get a baby out. And I will never say that you should try to do something natural that will put that will actually put you or the baby at risk is not what I'm saying. I'm saying most women who have a healthy pregnancy, who their body is progressing naturally. And there is not a definite sign of something you should do, will deliver in a much healthier and easier way than what we're putting women through.
Liz 16:10
I really liked that one OB that was on that show. And he said 98% of births will be fine. And then 2% of births will be sheer terror. And he said for the 98% of women that are going to be fine, that are healthy and everything like that he goes those births go much better if they are at home, or in a birthing center with a midwife then in hospital he was like obese are really for the 2% of the tear of birth. And the idea that Americans have put all women into a hospital is kind of foreign because in Europe right now, I think that that latest statistic said that like 70 to 80% of women in Europe use midwives in the United States only 80 or 8%, eight versus 70 to 80% as a huge difference. And so and then if you think about it, like for all of history, huge difference. Midwives have been used obese or it was a very new concept. And so it was a I thought that was interesting, from his viewpoint being an OB you think he would be pushing the hospital route. But he was saying it's actually much better. And he did, he actually said from his mouth. And this was you could tell he's very experienced, I've been doing it for a long time. He said midwives are better at natural births than we are because that's what they're trained at. And he goes, we are not trained in that we're trained for the 2% of the Year births, you know, and so I was like, oh, that's an interesting point, you don't really get that messaging from society or the media at all, you just think that you're supposed to go to a hospital. And I think that most women have accepted in their minds, like, I'm probably gonna have a C section. And they're okay with that. And that is actually insane. Is like a serious surgery, serious fact that like most obese, they won't say this. But there were a couple on there that said that they were like, the reason why we do so many C sections in America is because of liability. Yeah. And that's like, what, are you kidding me? And they're like, yeah, the mom probably, you know, doesn't need it at all. But we don't want to be charged with saying we didn't try everything we could. So we just go straight to the C section. It's easier that way. And we get it over with and the baby's out, and they're out the door, and we're on to the next patient. And I was like, this is literally all about making money. And it just pisses me off. Like why would you put somebody through a serious surgery, when you know, they're gonna go home, and they're gonna have to recover from a surgery, but they're gonna have to be taken care of a newborn baby, it just doesn't make sense at all. So it's kind of sad, but listening to you talk about the Pitocin. And listening to those doctors talk about it, it makes total sense, because I didn't have Pitocin for my first baby. And it was very, very painful, you know, like the most painful of experience in my life. But I did have Pitocin for my second baby. And it was even more painful. And that was the only thing that I will fault my doctor with because he was an incredible OB. And he told me, he had been doing it since ADA. So he's been doing it for forever. But his philosophy was like, just let the baby cook. And they'll come out when they're ready and like to come out. And I don't feel like most obese do that anymore. But he told me the only thing that he told me that was wrong that I to this day would like argue with him about is he said, well, we'll just go ahead and start jumping Pitocin. And I said, Well, is it going to be more painful with Pitocin? And he said, No, I've been watching the monitor since ADA Pitocin contraction is the exact same as a natural contraction and I can tell you, No, it is not a natural contraction is not as painful as a Pitocin contraction. And I was only on level two of Pitocin. And so I've had like two births without any drugs, no epidural or anything like that. And the Pitocin contractions were so much worse and I like couldn't tell you why before but now It all makes sense. It's like, because it's not natural. It's a synthetic drug. So of course, it's gonna be worse than if you just did it naturally. But nobody talks about that. Because no, who I don't know who, who makes Pitocin. Pfizer, let me guess, you know, how much are they making off of Pitocin, I'd like to know,
Lexi Young Peck 20:18
I am sure it is a lot because it is used a lot. So Pitocin is actually interesting because I have to get a Pitocin shot post birth because of my bleed. So I bleed a lot. So after my Labor's my uterus has a hard time catching up to the idea of like, Oh, I'm supposed to like stop leaving and stop contract, or I need to like contract to close everything back up. So I get a Pitocin shot directly after Labor I have in every single one. But that is something my midwives have, that is something that they bring with them, and they are ready to use. And then they have two other medications in case your bleeding keeps going. So my first I bled a lot. My second I bled a little less. And my third I bled a little less, but they are ready, they have the syringe drawn in case I need that intervention. And I have been absolutely fine. Every time it's I went into an OB so my insurance company doesn't doesn't help with out of hospital births at all, I have to pay out of pocket, which is another big thing for people because if you can't afford to pay out of pocket, it's $5,500. For me to do an out of hospital birth, that includes all care, that includes postpartum care as well. Which a beautiful thing about what is part of care, I don't even know what yes, they come to you. So you have your baby, they clean up everything. They wait a few hours after you have delivered until everyone's ready to take a nap or go to sleep whatever time of day it is, they make sure everyone is settled and good. They leave 24 hours they return to your house. And they do another check. They check everybody, they do any screenings for the baby, whatever it is you're wanting. And then they come back again three days later. And then. So it's about two weeks until you have to actually leave your house to go to your first appointment. They come to you. And they are checking in, they're making sure they are constantly available on the phone. So I've had mastitis and I have treated it with them herbal remedies. And I have called my midwife crying. And what do I do, I'm in so much pain, and they're always there they are the support that women don't have when they're just sent home from the hospital, and assumed to know what your body is going to do. Some people have a super easy time with postpartum and I don't, my body does not just kick right back into working and being able to go on a walk like, it takes a minute for my body to kind of calm down and then get back to normal. And I, if I were sent home from a hospital, and expected to know what all the different things my body was about to do, or the things I should be watching for. I would have not known what I was doing. And it's that is stressful. And that is scary. So that's another topic of like, postpartum care with midwifery is amazing. And I love that aspect of it too. And, and you don't necessarily think about the postpartum when you are having your first baby. It's like, I make it to the birth. And then we've done it. And then you're like, oh my gosh, my body is in a weird place. And I've never had these things happening to it. And we're not prepared. But that's another aspect of the midwives that has been invaluable to me. It is. It's so amazing. And then you have people there, like mothers who are coming around and making sure that you're okay. And that's how it should be. That's how it should be is you feel the warmth of, of safety around your birth, because it's it is natural, it is something we were created to do. It is something that if you are aware, and you've addressed your fears, because that's another thing. I think that a big thing when you choose a hospital birth. I mean, when you choose a home birth over a hospital birth, you have to address every single fear that you have, because you are taking responsibility for a birth that other people are going to look at. And if something does go wrong, even if it's a very small chance, people will say well, you should have been in the hospital. And so you have to go through every single well what if scenario, and then you have to own it, and you have to move into birth, accepting whatever it is that you've chosen. Um In a hospital, you don't have to do that. You don't have to own the fears. Because in our minds, we've decided that the doctor knows how to save us from this baby. And if something goes wrong, it's going to be their fault. It's not going to be ours. We did everything we could we went to a hospital where they're the experts. And if they don't get my baby outright, and something happens, I don't have to take responsibility for my labor. My delivery. Yeah. So the mindset. Totally different. It's totally different. And when you go into a birth, I've I've had plenty of people who have gone into a hospital to do unnatural labor, and they have and they've been successful at it. And it's been beautiful experience. You don't have to be home to do a natural labor in a way.
Liz 25:50
That was yeah, like you can. It was actually like, I would say, because my doctor was so old. He was just chill. And he let me he didn't have me laying down. I'd never lay down on all fours for the whole thing. I was like, up with my hands behind the bed when I delivered the baby. And actually, and you know what I've misspoke. My first one was delivered by Dr. Berry, but I had an excellent nurse, my first one. And she just like, let me do whatever I wanted. I was walking around the entire time. And this was what was crazy about my first one is when I went in to get checked that day, they were like, Oh, you're six centimeters dilated. And they're like, we should probably just go ahead and take you on over to the hospital. I was like, No, I want to go home and take a shower. They're like, okay, come right back. And I didn't come back for like, six hours, I was like, I'm gonna go get a milkshake, and I'm gonna go eat some sushi. And you're not supposed to do that. I was like, I know, they're not gonna feed me in the hospital. So I'm gonna go, ya know, eat and do all these things. And then I went home and labored for hours at home by myself. And then I went in and had the baby super quickly. But it was only because I had an awesome nurse and a cool doctor. That happened because my second experience was very different from that. And what's crazy is that people, they're like, why you didn't have any drugs? And I'm like, why do people act like shocked by this? Because for all of history, people did this with no drugs. Like why? Why is it like, I'm not it's nothing's Superwoman about me at all. But it does seem super woman compared to I would say, I don't know, the majority of women probably do have drugs, if they go to a hospital, wouldn't you think? Yep,
Lexi Young Peck 27:28
yep. No, they absolutely do. If you talk to someone in a hospital, even talking about natural labor, they'll be like, but you mean like with some sort of medication, you're like, No, this is like an all natural, no pain. But the interesting thing is that somewhere down the line, we as women have allowed the medical system to tell us we are incapable of delivering our own children, which is such an odd thing for women to be doing in such an empowering time of people's mindset about what we're able to do. And we're letting all of these outside forces come in and put us at higher risk without questioning it, and having our babies cut out of our body. And sometimes people have to have their organs removed to like get to the baby, like that is a high price to pay to like avoid a vaginal delivery. It like, why aren't we questioning that? And so I think the interesting thing being on a farm and why I would love for my daughter to be there during my next labor is because women were involved in natural trial, childbirth for ever, it was everyone came, they gathered around the woman, and they helped with the delivery. And when you're watching an animal, like a cow, a cow laboring is amazing because they know exactly what they need, they kind of go off to themselves. They get up, they lay down, they get back up, they lay down, then they start pushing and then they move around. It's like, if if everything is so natural about this, how have we come to a place of allowing us to like not get up, we need to stay in a certain position. And we think that's going to be helpful. It's really not.
Liz 29:20
It really doesn't make sense because if you think about like just gravity in general, like you need to be standing up the majority of the time unless you're in like an excruciating pain, you got to lay down for a minute, but when you stand up and then your pelvis is moving, then the baby can move around how it needs to to come out naturally. I think a lot of times when you hear about these, you know, women that have to have C sections because the baby was in the wrong position. I can't help but wonder if they didn't have an epidural and if they were standing up moving around, would that have actually worked itself out and then they wouldn't needed a C section because the baby your body does know how to move around and it's crazy how much that like your hips expand when you're giving birth. It's insane. It actually can't happen. And those things the baby can twist around the last Yeah. When you think like, oh, it's not possible, but maybe it's just not possible because you're laying on your back and you can't move. You're not helping the baby like the baby need your help, you know?
Lexi Young Peck 30:12
Yeah. Yeah, they definitely, I mean, to get out, they have to, they have to move their heads, they have to rotate to get through your polar
Liz 30:19
shoulders ever. Yeah, yeah. I watched this documentary The other day with my son about elephants. And it was weird, because I didn't know it was gonna go down the birth process so much with elephants, but watching elephants give birth and Africa, all the female elephants gather around the mom. And it's like this process that you're describing, like the women helping each other. And then the mom, you know, has the baby, the baby comes out. And then all the other elephants start helping the baby. So they're like, you know, taking like dirt onto it to like, stop the bleeding and all this stuff. And I was like, huh, like that, I just don't feel like our society is like that anymore. Like, you really feel like in hospital, like, you're this like, lab rat. You know, or that's how I felt at least I don't know, maybe other women don't feel that way.
Lexi Young Peck 31:09
Some people feel most safe in a hospital, which is fine. I, the the thing that is so interesting is when a woman walks into the hospital and says like, I would like to deliver naturally. But if I have to do this, that every other thing. So when I was a doula for a couple of friends, we had a conversation where I said, Okay, everyone mentally knows that if you need to have an epidural, we will do that. Like if you get to a point where you are so exhausted, that you cannot relax. Because if when you go into labor, there's two things that will stop your labor. One is fear. If you have not addressed your fears, your labor, labor will not progress. And when I was in my first delivery, I was I reached a point right about transition. And I had been to a birthing class and they said, You will hit a fight or flight moment that you have to either partner with your body and allow it to go to that next level of pain, or you're going to stop the progression. And you're going to hold your baby inside. And I had a very obvious and clear moment where I was like, if I let this baby drop into my pelvis anymore, I am going to be on fire. Like I know when I know what Yes, it's like there is no going back. And mentally, I had to get to a place of saying, I'm going to allow and trust that my body knows what it's doing. And I'm going to release and open. And so with my friends, I said, we know that the hospital has everything that we need, in case you get to a place that you need it by so we're going to say that one time, we're not going to talk about it again. Because we're going to talk about your labor, labor and delivery as a natural labor because that is what you have said you want. So we're not going to have a caveat every time we come to this conversation because it just puts it in your mind that you can't do what it is that you're wanting to do. And so one of those friends, she ended up having to be induced. And so her labor went completely different than she wanted. But because we had had those conversations, at the end of it, she was disappointed with how it went. But we were like we knew that if you're induced your chance of epidural is significantly higher because of that Pitocin is so painful. And when you're doing it for hours, yeah, if you can't relax your body, your baby can't drop and your baby cannot dilate you. And so you need help sometimes. And then the other one, she she labored at home for a long time her husband called me and I was like, Okay, let me listen to her through a contraction and I was like, How long has she been doing that? We need to get to the hospital right now. And she was eight centimeters dilated when we got there. And she she labored like a champion they the thing that frustrated about frustrated me about that is when you go into a hospital they're questioning you and asking you like a million questions when you are obviously in the heat of labor. Like that is not the time this
Liz 34:31
maybe I'll we don't need to like talk about it right now. Yeah, it's like let's what was my experience too, because by the time I got there, I was like about eight centimeters and then they broke my water and the baby came within 30 minutes and it was like that was it. And I remember them vividly like asking my husband the dumbest shit and I was like, hello, like I'm about to have a baby over here and I just remember my husband like, oh yes or no Here's a second I was like, literally like what is happening right now like, this is stupid. It's just like, these people are medically trained. And you think they realize like, this is not the not but
Lexi Young Peck 35:13
times commerce, like I say, where I have a chart, I have a chart, and I'm sure that every one of these questions answered,
Liz 35:21
Go find it somewhere else. It was so weird. But it's so funny that you say that because I when I went into it with my first I had the mindset of like, I'll go as long as I can natural and if I need an epidural, then I'll get one. But I want to try to do it natural first. And so I was demanding that like screaming for an epidural, and they were like, you're 10 like, his, his head's out. You know, like, you can't have it now just like give it to me. And so then I was like, Oh, I guess I can do these without epidurals. I do think that a lot of it is mindset, because I have like a lot of friends and family that like they just go into it. And they're like, I've got a low pain tolerance. So I know I'm gonna need one I'm like, actually, I think You're tougher than you think you are. But if you're going into it with that mindset, then you're going to end up with one, like, it's just gonna happen, but I don't think that they like, encourage people enough to try it. And at least try naturally. Like you don't have to. I mean, if it goes, the the goal is for the mom and the baby to be healthy, even if it doesn't go according to your plan, which probably most of the time it doesn't go according to women's plans. But, um, just try, you know, you're stronger than you think you are. But that's just not what's pushed anymore, which is kind of sad to me, because I also can say that, like, my experience has been so many different, so much different than many of my friends is afterwards, I got up and walked right to the bathroom. And then I could actually like take care of the baby immediately afterwards, where I have friends who were on epidurals for hours and hours and hours, and they, you're like paralyzed and you never have and then especially if you have a C section, like you're not taking care of your own baby, you just had major surgery. And so it's the afterwards part is totally different. If you don't have those things, too, which makes it easier for you and the baby. I feel like if you can get through that horrible pain of transition, and it's horrible. I don't like it when some women I think they lie about it. They're like, Oh, it was like so euphoric.
Lexi Young Peck 37:21
Yeah, I never know it.
Liz 37:25
I mean, like, I don't know what you were doing in your head, but it was not you for it for me. Like this is the worst thing in my life. Yeah. But it's a short amount of times. Very short amount of time of though the worst time of your life. And then afterwards, you're so happy that Yeah, forget about it. Yeah.
Lexi Young Peck 37:41
And it's amazing how fast it's like babies out and everything just like releases. And it's that is the most incredible part. You're like, oh my gosh, I did. Like, Oh, thank god. Yeah, then it's over. It's over it. Yeah. And your babies. Also, when you naturally deliver, they are alert. And they're looking around and they know what's going on. They know how to find your breath. They know all that stuff is instinctual to your baby too. And so when you have a baby who's come off of epidurals and a C section and whatever other drugs that they've been pumping through your placenta, then you have very sleepy babies. And it's very hard. Because you nurse never even thought
Liz 38:22
about that. The in the when I was watching that the documentary, I was wondering why the babies weren't crying when they pulled them out of C section. I've never watched like C section videos or anything like that. And none of them were crying when they pulled them out. I was like both of my children came out like
screaming. Yeah, so it was
I didn't even think about that. But then if you sit there and you're like, Oh, well, they're pumped full of drugs, of course. They're just gonna be like,
Lexi Young Peck 38:49
they're tired. They're like, I don't know why.
Liz 38:51
I'm exhausted. Yeah, so I've never even really considered that. And if you are, like, fresh out of a C section or on an epidural, and you've been through this long, like, horrific, grueling experience, I couldn't imagine trying to breastfeed them. It was hard enough for me to try to breastfeed after doing it naturally. And that's pretty alert after having the baby. So like, if you're on all that other stuff. Like, I couldn't even do it. I've just been laying there.
Lexi Young Peck 39:19
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, all of that stuff makes it more difficult. But like I said, we don't have these conversations. We don't talk about these things. And we've accepted it as well. This is just what people do. Because we are afraid to allow our bodies to do what's natural and to trust the process of it. Is is very few women who actually believe throughout the course of their pregnancy when even when they're told like everything's great. Your baby looks great. You look great. There's like this deep seated fear of being pregnant like we're sick. Like this baby is Yeah, at any Holman is going to turn on me and I'm going to become like, I'm going to die or they're going to die or, and the way that it's talked about is very much like I just went to a OB appointment, because I pair with my to get like bloodwork and stuff through my insurance. I go to an OB every once in a while through my pregnancy. And when I talked to him, and I said, I'm having a homebirth. He was like, Okay, well, I just have to let you know, like, they don't have any way to help you in case of emergencies, and yada, yada, yada. And I was like, I go, Well, they do have some stuff. But yes, I'm aware. And it's not being at a hospital. He was like, well, you're braver than me, because my wife and I thought about it, but then we decided too big of a risk and, and the obese
Unknown Speaker 40:50
at that. Yeah.
Lexi Young Peck 40:53
So he would be there. Yep. I'm like, Okay, what all right. But it's it's very interesting. The The other thing I will say that is a difference between midwifery care and OB care. When I go into an OB, I'm there for five to seven minutes, they asked me very generic questions. They barely know me, they don't even remember me, honestly. Then I'm out and on to their next patient with midwives. So you have a full hour every appointment. And it is essentially check on baby, make sure everything's good. Do your urine sample, do whatever you do. And then you sit and have like a therapy session for the rest of the time. How are you doing? What are you doing with your, with your days right now? Are you getting enough rest? Have you been sleeping? Well? Have you been eating well? What are the things you're snacking on? Like? They are gathering a full picture of your pregnancy. And so when you go into labor, they're not just looking at you as someone's name on a chart with your bloodwork and your screenings. They're looking at a full family that is coming into a birthing center scenario. And they are taking risk assessment based on what they know from that. They're taking risk assessment on how you are responding how the baby's responding. And they are watching you the whole time your midwives don't leave like the obese, you don't have seven nurse shifts through labor. You have the consistency of someone who is paying very close attention to you, who is watching everything you're doing. And if they worry in any way they will transfer you because it is not about sticking it and making it a home birth. It is about your well being. And so when we talk about healthy women healthy Labor's and deliveries being the majority of women, if there's no, if there's no drugs that potentially could have side effects, if they're laboring naturally, the 2% that go crazy, like what they send that document are like, those are the terrifying ones. The the idea in the office of like a doctor's office is like, oh my gosh, all of a sudden, something terrible happened with no warning signs, but it's like, was the woman and out in labor for 12 hours? How many people saw her? Did someone miss a sign? Were you actually watching for those things that were off? Did you? Who was paying that close attention? That's trained well, in risk assessment? And are you sure that those nurses didn't miss the red flag? The first one, the second one, and then it became an immediate Urgent Care matter? There are certain times when something crazy happens. And but that is not the norm. So
Liz 43:59
yeah, the fact that is when you told me 2% I was like no way. It's got to be like, you know, 25% or something like that. And so that was like googling it and doing research. I was like, Holy crap, like, I just they the media makes you feel like it's way more people having these horrible, terrifying things happen, and it's not. And so it's just interesting. Also, what I thought was interesting was one in four women in America have C sections now. Yeah, that's a huge number in it. They said it's about to be one in three. I was like, Oh my gosh, that is a ton of women having C sections like it's just crazy. And that's not what is in other countries at all. No. And also, this should be very alarming to American women. The infant mortality rate and the mother mortality rate during pregnancy right now, is higher now in America than it was in the 80s Yeah, a lot. Yep. And so it's like, well, wait a second, if we're some like advanced country that's doing so great. And we're so much better than all these other people. Why? Why are those numbers wrong? Yeah, surely that can't be right. But that's right. And so then it's like, it just kind of makes you question everything. My husband asked me because he was, he wouldn't watch the documentary with me. But he was like playing with baseball cards and insurance, so he could like hear what was going on. And he goes, Oh, God, do I need to start blowing up a baby pool in our living room? And I was like, you might and he goes, please don't make me he's like, you're already so weird. I don't know. Like, I, I feel like our country is very arrogant. And this is gonna sound really shitty, but I'm just gonna say it. When you look at people, like I'm a gardener, and a lot of the other midwives that they had on them. They look really like crunchy. And you can tell that a lot of those women actually are because like, they live on that farm. Farm places in Tennessee. Yeah, it's like a commune. And the whole reason they started is because they didn't like how things were going. This is back when like Woodstock and everything was going on. And they were also like touring, her husband was a musician or something like that. And so they just like had to learn how to have babies on the road. Yeah. But I feel like because of their appearance, and the way that they live their lives, people totally discount them as thinking like, they don't know what the heck they're talking about. Yeah, they didn't go to med school, all this and so I that's kind of sad to me that you would just judge a book by its cover, you know, you think like, oh, there's no way she can know as much as an OB can't when actually if you like read this woman's books and stuff, she probably knows more than it is amazing percent of the OBS out there just because of her experience and what she's done and what she's seen and everything like that. And so I almost in even the one that was in the main documentary, you know, they just don't look professional. Right? Right. And I feel like people, if you see a lab coat and scrubs and stuff like that, you think like, oh, they know what they're doing. So you just assume that the doctor is like, the end all be all. But you know, a lot of times these midwives, if they're experienced midwives, they probably know how to handle a natural birth better than an OB does that OB admitted on the show. And so I just wish that they didn't get that. Maybe not every woman has that judgment that I have, but because of the appearance, I feel like they probably just get discredited and just written off in people's minds and meeting Absolutely,
Lexi Young Peck 47:40
absolutely. Well, yeah. Like,
Liz 47:42
my husband made a comment. He's like, Yeah, he was like, what is it? Isn't it like a homebirth? Like, where people have babies in barns? And not, I mean, I'm sure it was for a lot of history, but like, not anymore. Like, it's a little bit a little bit I told him, you know,
Lexi Young Peck 48:00
that was Jesus more sanitary than that was just Jesus, everyone else has moved to Yes.
Liz 48:06
Exactly. You know what I mean? Like, I just feel like it's because of the way that they look, I think people assume that they're not knowledgeable and not Yeah. professional and experienced, and that kind of sucks. Yeah, because I feel like maybe more people would consider it at least. I know, like, my husband didn't say that or anything like that. But that was kind of the like, the way that his derogatory comments are leading. And I just, I wondered if I went home and said, I want to do a home birth, if he would just be like, Absolutely not like we're not even considering this. Or if he would be like, sure, whatever. Get the baby full else.
Lexi Young Peck 48:45
The amazing thing about midwives though, is you can have like with this pregnancy, I've I've had consultations, they see you for free and they talk and they answer all of your questions like they have time for you. You go into an OB and you ask them questions, most of the time, what I've experienced is that they look at you like you're an idiot, like why are you even thinking that you know what? You're talking? Yeah. Oh, this? Yeah, it's like I know, and you don't so why would you think you know anything? And it's like, I'm sorry, I'm, this is my baby. And I want to know what I'm going to be signing up for. And with midwives, when you go in, it is a completely different experience. And they do consultations for free. So if nothing else, you could literally go with the intention of not doing homebirth and just asking questions, and it would be worth your time because it it is such a different experience.
Liz 49:36
Was the birthing center experience similar to home birth, or was that very different? Yeah,
Lexi Young Peck 49:41
no, it was very similar. You just essentially, you go somewhere else that you don't have to be in your own space with your own stuff that feels like it needs to be picked up or cleaned up. It's like a beautiful hotel suite, a pool in there. I mean, a pool, a tub, a big tub, and a bathroom and a double bed so that you're or spouse can be in there with you. And the baby they're not like on some pullout caught that they don't sleep on like, and, and they have doulas that stay. So for me, the first experience really led me into like, oh my gosh, I'm a true believer in this because this is amazing. Someone was there all through the night helped me when I needed it. Every time I had to wake up to feed the baby, she came and helped me she would check on me, brought me food in the morning, she went out and ran and got us some food in the afternoon. And at night, they had a massage therapist come and give me a massage. The second day, they like set up a a sitz bath because I had torn and I was extremely sore. And so they set up a sitz bath. And then they cleaned it all up. And then they gave me an Epsom salt bath for the soreness. And then they like, it was amazing. It was truly a beautiful thing. And so I wish
Liz 50:55
that that was like a thing. Here when I lived in Nashville, tons of people use the birthing center was like really popular in here. Like, I don't even think we have one here. So I'm like, I wish that was the thing. I feel like, here. Everybody just thinks like, you have a baby, you go to a hospital. And that's how you do it, you know? And then the people that do have homebirths here are like, really crazy.
Lexi Young Peck 51:20
Oh, no, they're like, I don't know about that situation. Yeah, well, and then Yeah, crazy people. And it's a great conversation starter, because people are like, Oh, my gosh, all of your kids at home. And I'm like, yes, because I'm a healthy woman who has paid very close attention to how I treat my body the things I'm inputting the why we moved to the farm, every part of what we choose to do with our lives influences. How you will perform in every aspect. I was realizing how much issues we're having with people getting pregnant in general, and how many issues we're having with young kids starting their period at 10. And all of this stuff. And I'm like, if things are so on point, why am I looking around and seeing kids with mental disorders, kids who are having their bodies do things that are not normal at that age, and we're having women who should naturally be procreating, who want to desperately and can't like, there has to be something that's going wrong, and how we're putting our bodies into these positions. So taking responsibility, for no matter what you're doing in your life, is something that you have to come to a realization of, either I am going to change this for myself or my children, or I'm going to walk into a store and hope that the person who created that food that's sitting there with preservatives in it was looking after my kids more than I am, is it if nobody else is gonna save you from your life, you have to take responsibility. And that goes into birth. And it's really empowering. I
Liz 53:01
think that's a really cool mindset that the you have that you said, you have to take responsibility, but then own like all of your fears that come with it too, because people are going to criticize you if something does go wrong. But what I can tell and all this, that I've learned from you, you've also done way more research and learned about the entire process more than anybody does, like I unless somebody you know, is a OB nurse or an OB or something like that, like they can't have a conversation like you are right now and actually like, explain what happens with Pitocin. I don't think most women who have had Pitocin in their body, maybe even multiple times have any clue what it's actually doing inside their body. And so I think that that's cool that you, you own your fears. But then you also are going to like research it to death so that you understand what's actually going to happen so that you're prepared for what could come up. And I think that's really neat. More people need to do that in many facets of their life, but especially with their babies, because you know your babies like the thing that changes your life the most. I feel like that makes you grow up and turn into an adult. Yes. If you want if you lose a baby, it's also like the most devastating thing that can ever happen in life. So why wouldn't you want to learn as much as you can about the process and make it I think for me, at this point, I don't care if I have the baby at home versus in a hospital, I know that I'm not going to do the drugs and stuff because I have learned more through each pregnancy. But I for now I just don't want it to be like as stressful of an environment. And so that's where like my husband and I are going to have to have a conversation like if I can labor at home for a long time, which they don't like you to do. You know you have basically have to go against what's they're saying that I'm okay with that. But if I have to go be in a hospital for hours and hours and hours, it just makes it so much more stressful and then it's harder to let your body and the baby do what it needs to do. So my I don't know.
Lexi Young Peck 55:01
Yeah. Well, I am difficult. I think that when you have had labors that you've had so imagine with your first you had gone home, you did all of the things that when you're having a home birth, they would encourage you to do go eat, go to
Liz 55:18
a doula to for my first one. Okay, so we had kind of had like, several of these conversations, but she was basically pointless in the actual hospital because I went in and had the baby, right, like, right, just sat there. And she's like, well, all right. So that was that. But like that, but the thing that was good about her were that the conversations leading up to it, you know,
Lexi Young Peck 55:38
it helps you put it puts you in that mindset, but you hadn't. Let's say you hadn't gone to the hospital, you would have stayed in your home, maybe you had the tub. I love getting in water. And what I am terrified of is, people have told me like my cousin, she was having her baby literally having it and want it to be in the water. And because they couldn't get the IV and they would not allow her to get into the pool. And yeah, that's it's like, just based on policy alone, she had to stand and give birth to her baby standing next to the bed wash, he wasn't even prepared. Like, it was just ridiculous. Like, let the woman in the tub, she just wants a little bit of pain relief, if you're going to have a natural childbirth, the water is amazing. So you get to the point, you're eight centimeters, you get into the tub and you labor the rest of the time, and then you bring your baby out your son would have been a beautiful home birth. And it's the intuition. So here's here's another point. My first was four weeks early. And so I was right on the brink of you go to a hospital, if you're 35 and six, but I was six and one are 36 and one. So I could make the decision. Do I go to a hospital? Or do I have the home birth? And I sat with myself after going through all the anxiety of choosing an out of hospital birth for the first time. And I sat as I'm contracting on the toilet with my midwife sitting next to me and my husband sitting next to me. And she says to me, like, do you want to go to a hospital? And I like tapped into the deepest part of myself. And I knew that everything was fine. And I did not question it. And I did not question if my baby was going to be okay. And she didn't either. And that ability to tap into your instincts has been removed. And we just worried I was gonna say, I
Liz 57:39
don't know if I like have instincts like that. I don't know.
Lexi Young Peck 57:43
But that's what did you
Liz 57:46
did you have ultrasounds?
Lexi Young Peck 57:48
So I bled with my first. And so I got an early ultrasound with her during the pregnancy. Yeah, right when I was early pregnant with her. And so we did an ultrasound because the bleeding lasted a little bit. It ended up being like a little pocket of blood that was behind where the placenta attach. So it was fine. But I did want to see her. I was like, Is the baby still there. And then I did 20 week scan with her. My son, okay, just the 20 week scan. I didn't have any issues in my first trimester. And I wasn't questioning my due date. So we just did the 20 week with him. And then my third, I also bled. I had miscarriages before her. And I was because I had lost three pregnancies. And then I started bleeding. I was like, I just need to know if this baby's there or not. And so I checked in she was and she's great today. But so I did an early one because I was bleeding. And then we did the 20 week with her. This one they wanted me to check the other day. And I tracked my pregnancy enrollment periods really well. Dating I'm not worried about so I denied the first one. I just don't think it's necessary for me. And I am actually questioning the 20 week I haven't decided one way or another. But this is kind of the route that I have been going on since 2017. Of what are the things that have become medically necessary, and why are they necessary? And what does the cost benefit? Make sense or not? Like I asked my mom, I said, did you have ultrasounds with all of us because there's six of us kids. And it wasn't introduced until the fourth of her kids. So she had three without any ultrasound. And then she had three with it wasn't standard practice. And I don't I haven't come to a conclusion. Like I said, I don't know what I will do with this one at 20 weeks. But I have heard of many women getting so many ultrasounds and having a lot of scary moments where they're told something's wrong and then the baby comes out absolutely fine. i. So, yeah, it's all I am currently going through the process with my husband of trying to figure out what that 20 week will look like for this baby. And part of it is going into my instincts of being like, do I feel like there's something that needs to be looked at? Do I not all of those things are considered and questioned. I just think that when you come to a place where you just want to see everything, I want to see the baby, I want to see the toes, I want to see a TED I want to see and you're like, controlling as much as humanly possible. You miss out on a lot of the that instinct I was talking about a lot of the being in your body, and knowing that piece, and knowing Oh, my gosh, I feel like there's something that's off.
Liz 1:00:47
Yeah, I, my 20 week is in like a week and a half. I'm 20 weeks right now. But they've made it late, because I want to see the specific OB is really hard to see now because they are having all these issues. But I'm like, do I need to have it? I mean, we know it's a boy, we already did the sneak peak blood tests or whatever. And I'm pro life. So like, I'm going to keep the baby regardless of what happens and sort of like, what's the point? You know, like, there's not I'm low risk. I've had two healthy pregnancies before. So unless I want to, just like you said count fingers and count toes. And I don't know. I Yeah.
Lexi Young Peck 1:01:31
I think always questioning what's
Liz 1:01:34
I don't know. I also think it's interesting to like, there's so many questions about autism now. And is it vaccines? Is it this? Is it that whatever, but there
Lexi Young Peck 1:01:44
are 14 ultrasounds while you're pregnant? Well, they think,
Liz 1:01:47
you know, ultrasounds can change cells. Yep. You know, and so I'm like, for some people, if you're high risk, and they they're actually looking for something, and of course, go get an ultrasound. But for me, I'm like, I'm not high risk. I don't have any reason to think that anything is wrong. What am I going to gain from? I don't
Lexi Young Peck 1:02:11
know. Yes, no, that's exactly and again, exactly my, yep, I'm in the same spot.
Liz 1:02:17
Only thing I can think of is that if there is something very medically wrong with the baby, that maybe they can prepare for it. So when the baby comes out, they could treat it sooner or something like that. But I asked that question when they, you know, they offer the genetic testing and stuff like that now, and they actually push that really heavily. And I said, Okay, so if I do the genetic testing, and something shows up on their will the care that the baby receives, once it's born be any different, whether we did the genetic testing or not. And they said no. And I was like, then why in the world would I do that and then worry myself to death. Because a lot of times, they're wrong. Like, I have a friend that they told her that, that her baby had Down syndrome. And her entire pregnancy, she thought she was gonna have a baby with Down syndrome, and the baby came out totally fine. And so then I'm like, well, then it you put so much stress on your body and the baby too, for something that
Lexi Young Peck 1:03:14
was imagined. Why? Why needed? Yeah,
Liz 1:03:17
you know, I don't know, I feel like, so much is just pushed because of money now, people making money. And then why. And I do believe in western medicine, I think there is a time and a place for so much of it. But it's just so overused and pushed down people's throats. And it's because all these companies are getting richer, why would they not do it, but then it just has so many adverse effects on the moms and babies. And so I don't know, I'm trying to move to a more natural mindset of I'm a risk person. I was a banker for a long time. And so I know a lot about risk, because how you calculate interest rates and everything. And, you know, if you're a low risk, then why would you do something? Yeah, it just doesn't make sense. Like I was against all the training that I've had and everything else in life. So why would I treat this differently? You
Lexi Young Peck 1:04:05
know? Yeah. I think that's a great way to look at it.
Liz 1:04:09
You have been very encouraging to me, Lexi. I don't know. I'm actually I'm not gonna lie. I'm considering a home because of you and only because of you. You know, I would be honored.
Lexi Young Peck 1:04:21
I would be honored to give you any insight, because I really, once someone experiences a home birth, like my mom wasn't there for my first birth. She was there for my second she was worried she was not she had natural Labor's she had one injection. And she ended up with an epidural because Pitocin hurts. The rest of us were natural. But the idea was being in hospital. So it took her a while to understand like, why would you do this big risk like why would you put this risk that doesn't need to happen? But then she was at my birth with my second and For her watching me be able to do exactly what I felt like I needed to do like I'm very specific in the way that I labor, I like to have Josh and I like to not be touched or ask questions, unless I specifically asked for it. And then you go into a different place like you can just be inside of your head, you don't have to worry about when you need to leave, you don't need to worry about who's going to let you do this or that if I was eating peanut butter, while I was pushing my first out, because I hadn't eaten, because my water broke at seven in the morning. And so I was like, so tired, they were putting peanut butter in my mouth. Yeah. And I needed that because my blood sugar was so low, I was kind of like passing out because I was pushing so hard. And so in goes the peanut butter, like, and then you sit there, you have your baby, and you're in your own space. Your husband is right there, your kids are wherever you want them to be. But if they're close, like my daughter came in right after my daughter was born, my third and she, it was like, I don't want to be anywhere else right now. Like I'm in everything that's comfortable. Nobody is sterilizing me. Nobody's sterilizing my baby. And I can do what I feel like I need to do. And it is such an empowering experience. When that is a place that you walk into, as I feel safe here. This is where I have planned for and I can open up and I can accept the labor. And I think that, if that's what you choose, I will be your biggest cheerleader.
Liz 1:06:46
Well, you will see, I don't know.
Lexi Young Peck 1:06:50
He's gonna be emailing me and be like, You should stop talking to
Liz 1:06:55
me. He's like, I'm an attorney. And the answer is. He's so funny. I honest. I do think if I was like, here's all the data, let's meet with somebody and all that he might go along with it. It's just so foreign. Yeah, absolutely. And unless you know somebody, and I've talked to somebody that seems competent and not crazy. It just our country has made it out to be this terrifying thing. So I think it's very interesting. But do you have any other parting tips or words that you
Lexi Young Peck 1:07:28
want to say? I don't think so I just I think that in general, being as informed as possible, is the best way to bring your baby into the world. And so I think that if people take the time to understand not only the process of your own body, during labor, because it is incredible what we're capable of doing, and what we were created to do and think about your children, because I think about my girls, and I'm like, What experience do I want to pass down to them of labor and delivery? What do I want to impart to the next generation, because soon, there will be very few home delivery, or natural deliveries for our kids to learn about and no doubt. And I don't want to fear to be what leads them in having their children. I want them to be empowered. And I want them to be sure of the bodies that they were given. And so I think that what I'm doing will help that. And so that's my that's my hope for my self and my girls. That's awesome.
Liz 1:08:46
I love that. That's a very good way to look at it. And we're not sick. It's a cool thing that's happening in our bodies. It's really amazing. Incredible. So this, we don't need to act like no, we do not are dying.
Lexi Young Peck 1:08:56
We do not did you actually know that when you are pregnant with a male? They leave fetal cell inside of your body.
Liz 1:09:06
I have heard that before. Yeah, every single boy that you have, so that I think that is so cool. The more that I like learn about stuff. I'm like, I don't know how people don't believe in.
Lexi Young Peck 1:09:17
It is amazing.
Liz 1:09:18
I don't think a big bang. Just explain all this stuff. But that's just me personally. Okay, so also one thing I want to tell people is you have a kid's book. I haven't read it yet. I ordered it but it's Amazon's real slow these days. Apparently our world's having some issues. So I won't have it until like may 2 or something like that, but I'm excited to read it. If people want to check you out. Or I don't know if you want people to check you out or not.
Lexi Young Peck 1:09:44
I do have a website.
Liz 1:09:45
Where should they find that too?
Lexi Young Peck 1:09:47
It's Lexie Young. peck.com. I have the young in there.
Liz 1:09:52
And what's the name of your kid's book?
Lexi Young Peck 1:09:53
What do you say to a dragon?
Liz 1:09:57
Yes, okay. I'm excited to read that too. My son, I think that he's really going to like that he's into, you know, all boys. Yes. So yes, that's really cool. Okay, do you have like Instagram or Facebook or Twitter? You
Lexi Young Peck 1:10:09
know, that's the other thing that I do, but I have not been on it for a year. Once I moved to the farm, I realized how much stock I had put in those mediums. And so I've taken some time off and it's really been helpful for my being okay with living a very alternate lifestyle that doesn't look pretty all the time. So you can go and find stuff I have written in the past, but for right now, I'm not active on social media. So if there's email through my website, I believe. Yeah.
Liz 1:10:38
Okay, that's cool. Lexi, thank you so much for doing this. You have been very encouraging and inspiring to me and I have learned so so much. I really, really appreciate
Lexi Young Peck 1:10:47
it's been so fun and I love talking about this. So it's an honor. Thank you.
Liz 1:10:52
Being different with Liz Durham is a palm tree pod CO production it's produced and edited by Anthony Palmer. Thanks to Emily miles for digital support. The content for this episode is created by me Liz Durham.