<div>2025 has been full of surprises.
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<div><strong><em>It started with a suspected miscarriage, getting my wisdom teeth out, the loss of my grandmother and auntie, a miracle pregnancy surprise (a baby survived weeks of bleeding), the loss of my full-time AmeriCorps VISTA job due to government cuts, to most recently, a car accident, which led to a hospital visit where a pregnancy complication was discovered, and possibly losing my vehicle if declared a total loss, while expecting a baby girl in late August, 2025. </em></strong>
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<div>At first, I had only a fund on my baby registry to help offset the cost of my midwife. Now, these costs have become emergent, with supporting care to achieve a health, safe birth and recovery.
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<li>Midwife Jenna Hernandez, CNM: $7000
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<li>Acupuncture Specialist: $700
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<li>Prenatal Chiropractor: $420
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<li>Doula: subsidized by <a href="https://www.latchedsupport.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Latched</a> Support
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<li>Total: $8120
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<div>I am also looking possibly having to buy a new vehicle, and don't have maternity leave pay.
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<div><strong><em>I am hoping to raise $11,120</em></strong>, including $3000 to either support my postpartum recovery, or the down payment for a new vehicle, because if mine is totaled, the payout will be minimal, if anything.
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<div>My Baby Registry for those inclined to support through the purchase of items: <a href="https://my.babylist.com/alexas-ramirez" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">My Baby Registry</a>. All donations are recorded in both locations.
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<div><strong>+++++The Story+++++</strong>
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<div>In late December, shortly after finding out I was pregnant, I had a suspected miscarriage. Just after Christmas dinner, I went to the ER and confirmed that I was still pregnant, but they asked me to return in 2 days to check again. In those two days, the baby's heartbeat was no longer detectable. Two days later, when my midwife arrived, she showed us on her ultrasound that the gestational sac no longer had a fetus in it. For the next 7 weeks, I bled, my uterus dropped, and I was on bed rest for almost a month, and nearly all foods made me feel ill.
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<div>Towards the end of February, the bleeding stopped, and I was feeling well enough to carry on with life, still healing from a lot of grief. By mid-March, I started to feel unwell again, so I contacted my midwife for a postpartum follow-up. I shared with her what I was experiencing, and she asked if I was pregnant, to which my immediate reply was, this is impossible -- if you know what I mean.
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<div>Around the same time, I was also dealing with a tooth infection, while my grandmother was transitioning from this world. It was becoming a very stressful time, especially with being an AmeriCorps VISTA member, working 40 hours a week in addition to my other part-time commitments with the Texas Tribal Buffalo Project, and constantly needing to take time off.
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<div>At the end of March, I had two wisdom teeth removed and lost my grandmother to old age. I was afforded to travel home to NY for her funeral, thanks to my mom covering my plane ticket. The day of my grandmother's funeral, I took a pregnancy test which turned out positive.
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<div>I couldn't believe it! It felt impossible. I let my midwife know, and we scheduled a diagnostic ultrasound for when I returned back to San Antonio, TX from NY. When I went in for my ultrasound (which I had to pay for out of pocket because my insurance didn't cover any ultrasounds in the city of San Antonio!), there she was! 19 weeks and 5 days, a healthy baby girl.
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<div>That day, there was no guessing about my pregnancy. They also discovered that my placenta was low-lying at the time, which, then, was not to be of concern.
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<div>I immediately began to start looking at other natural medicine providers and began to see Dr. Erica Hernandez, whom I met in MX at a beautiful retreat led by midwife Tema Mercado. A couple of weeks after this discovery, I spotted, and it was scary. I let my midwife know, and so we went to get me scheduled with a Maternal and Fetal Medicine (MFM) specialist to get another ultrasound to see if everything was okay. But, with my insurance, I needed a PCP referral, and a homebirth midwife is not a PCP. I called the PCP on my insurance card, and they were booked out until September, to which I replied, what do I do if I am due in August? Regardless, we spent about a month trying to get me into a few MFMs, to no avail. It felt emergent because this pregnancy began with a lot of bleeding, and nothing had been "normal".
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<div>Eventually, both my midwife and I decided that, because everything else was looking good, to not worry about it, and to wait until my next planned ultrasound around 28 weeks.
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<div>But, then the government started cutting AmeriCorps. First, it was another branch, other than VISTA. Then came the phone call from my supervisor to let me know she just found out that they cut the VISTA branch. In just a matter of hours, <strong>I lost my full-time job and main source of income, at the end of my 2nd trimester.</strong> I took it in stride and leaned into my own organizations and had only to offer my prayers for how the future would turn out for me financially. The organization I had been dismissed from, Texas Tribal Buffalo Project, also had nothing to offer me in support, as far as financial assistance. This was overwhelming, as <strong>I have chosen to have a homebirth, which will cost $7000.</strong>
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<div>But I had faith. This pregnancy has been my prayer for many, many years.
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<div>A couple of weeks later, May 9th, I was on my way to my music teaching job and was about to turn just a block away when <strong>another vehicle drove into me</strong>. It took off the whole passenger side front end of my reliable and beautiful 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with 4WD. I called the EMTs and they came to take my vitals, which were okay, and then after the paperwork was over with the police, I went to the ER to get the baby checked up on. They kept me there for several hours of monitoring in the OB Triage and did an ultrasound to ensure everything was okay. They found that <strong>my placenta had moved directly over my cervix, which is where the baby comes out of when birthing, which is called complete placenta previa</strong>. The odds of this are SMALL, like less than 10%, and puts me in the <strong>high-risk</strong> category. It was devastating news because while it can still move out of the way, the chances are significantly less. And if it doesn't, I will have to have a c-section because otherwise, it is a life-threatening condition for both the baby and myself, and put on pelvic rest. <strong>I offered big prayers afterward because being able to have a natural birth, at home, on my homelands, as an adoptee, is part of my life prayer.</strong>
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<div>Since then, the insurance determined the other driver was at fault. But because of the damage to my vehicle, they will tow it tomorrow (May 16th) and determine whether it is a total loss or not. There is $5000 still roughly owed, and the vehicle itself is only valued at around $7000, more or less (I'm leaning towards less because it's well used). Should they declare it a total loss, I am then without a vehicle, and likely with a very small payout if anything amounting to a negligible down payment for another vehicle. As a person with poor credit, buying a vehicle is a difficult path for me. <strong>The thought of having no vehicle as I enter my 3rd trimester, with complete placenta previa on pelvic rest, and a minimal amount of income, looking at life postpartum with no income, is terrifying.</strong>
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<div>Currently, the cost of care is a lot. I am seeing a chiropractor ($70/session, every 2 weeks), a specialized acupuncturist ($110/session, 6 sessions total), and also my midwife ($7000). Plus the cost of lost income during my maternity leave. Why all of this, you ask? Because I believe in our natural medicines to assist my body to a place where I can have a natural birth. After all, our bodies are made for this, some of us just need support.
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<div>It's also important for me to note that <strong>all of my work is in service of my community</strong>. I run two small nonprofit organizations, as the Executive Director, working only up to 68 hours/month cumulatively, for The <a href="https://www.tcikh.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Traditional Center for Indigenous Knowledge and He</a>aling, and the <a href="https://www.ithacadoulaaccess.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Doula Access Initiative</a> , I work for the Eastside Family Coalition up to 10 hours/week, and otherwise, offer services privately through my own business <a href="https://flxstxs.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">F L X S</a> at a very limited level due to my newly found complications. I am also a birthworker, and have helped countless mothers prenatally through postpartum since 2017. Now, I am truly asking for community support as I navigate a myriad of challenges.
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<div><strong>I will continue to share updates and utilize this as a sort of blog!</strong>
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Rachael Lorenzo

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