Kenzie and Oakly Zink

Kenzie has Type 1 diabetes. That requires special care during pregnancy.

“Right away we had a lot of appointments back-to-back,” Kenzie says. There were additional prenatal appointments in the last trimester, to monitor Kenzie’s blood sugar, blood pressure, kidney function and more, plus baby’s size and development.

“As first-time parents, we had no idea what to expect,” Oakly adds. “They know what they’re doing, and we knew we could trust them. That peace of mind was a big deal for me.”

Kenzie had a longer, more specific birth plan than most. OB/GYN Shannon Lau, MD “worked with my endocrinologist at Mayo Clinic to be on the same page,” Kenzie says. “It was important to me to be in charge of the diabetes part of it – to regulate my own blood sugar and take my own insulin until active labor started. Then I wanted them to assist with either a glucose or insulin drip to help regulate my blood sugar. They were very much on board with that. When labor got more intense, I gave them the reins and they totally took charge of it.”

When diabetes is a factor, babies can grow faster from higher blood sugars. With bigger babies, it’s common to induce labor before 40 weeks for the safety of mom and baby.

Kenzie was induced at 39 weeks. “Every step, they asked what steps I wanted to take next, explaining the options fully, the pros and cons of each – and giving their input, but in the end completely giving me the reins,” Kenzie says.

“All the nurses across all the shifts were so good about consistently checking in with me throughout my labor,” she says. “I wanted to wait a little longer for an epidural. The nurse assured me I had gone through a good amount of labor and to trust that my body was telling me it was time.”

Dr. Lau and the care team “made it feel that this is a natural, normal process, women do this every day. That made me so much more confident and comfortable,” Kenzie says. “Everything was so relaxed in the best way possible. Especially for first-time parents, it makes you feel like, ‘We can do this.’”

“At every step, they fully explained everything,” Oakly adds. “It made those moments that could have been stressful, calm instead. At the moment to start pushing, I was so anxious that it was hard to think at that point. It’s nice to have them do the thinking for you.”

Korra was born in that calm confidence. The nurse invited Oakly to cut the umbilical cord. “I was reluctant because I didn’t know what to expect,” he explains. “I wanted everything to go smoothly and didn’t want to pass out or cause a problem.”

The nurse gently encouraged Oakly; he accepted. “I’m glad that I did,” he says now. “That’s a moment I couldn’t remake again.”

After Korra was born, “she was in the room with us right away and we thought ‘Shoot, where did the adults go? Oh, we’re the adults now,’” Oakly laughs. “The questions we had as first-time parents, and the tips and tricks they gave us, helped a lot.”

Northfield Hospital was an easy choice for them. Kenzie had some maternal-fetal medicine care at Mayo early in her pregnancy; Mayo suggested she deliver there for continuity of care. “But my primary care is through NH+C, and I had amazing experiences there. When we took the Early Pregnancy Class and then toured the Birth Center and saw the queen beds in the recovery room and everything else, we decided to have our baby here.”

“The hospital and Birth Center are beautiful,” Oakly adds. “But the thing that made our experience great was the people, for sure. Everyone is so attentive and helpful. The comfort of that care was the biggest thing by far for us.”

Their advice for first-time parents: “Find a place where you feel like you’re really important to the providers,” Kenzie says.

“Ask a lot of questions,” Oakly adds. “We’d write down questions that came up between appointments. There’s so much going on during appointments that it’s easy to forget your questions.”

And appreciate each moment, and each person caring for you: “They gave us the best gift we’ve ever gotten,” Oakly says. “It’s just very, very cool.”